So the auteur vs the eikon, the auteur is a bit more spacious but is more neutral, where the eikon is more fun and impactful, but they are similar. The aeolus is pretty different
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Man if i could get Aeolus look with eikon sound hahaha
Whats different about the Aeolus? I like a decently wide soundstage, good separation and imaging. Bass doestnt have to be huge but I love to hear bass especially bass guitar. Im a big music lover and love playing music. So i like to hear what the recording what artist intended with seperation and detail of the instruments. And then i love what tube amps can do to vocals especially female vocals. Regina Spector or stevie nicks for example. I like to get ālostā in a song
So for me the big things about the aeolus is itās smoothness and the warmer thick sound. Personally I find it too smooth and lacking on the technicalities for the price, but if you wanted something to just listen and not care about technicalities itās pretty sweet. For what you are after, the eikon/auteur sounds more up your alley imo
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I mean, right now Iām listening to Rhiannon Giddens. Sounds great (then again she always sounds amazing). Same thing with almost all the female (and male) vocals Iāve heard so far. The thing is, vocals are decidedly not in your face. All the instruments feel very nice and separated and volumes feel appropriate. Idk if itās the balancing of the cans or the mixing of the tracks, but I donāt hear a lot of things stick out unless the track was poorly done.
Bass is not overpowering on the Eikon, but gets punchy when it needs it. The sub-bass is what makes the bass on this thing so fucking pleasant. The extension is the same or better than both of my Planars. The power Iām guessing is cause itās closed-back and dynamic. I think bass guitars sound great, but if youāre a basshead itās prolly not gonna be enough without eq.
Yea, the technicalities are not flawless, but they are a damn sight better than both of my planars (cause everything is just crystalline sounding in a lot of ways to my ears).
Keep in mind these are initial impressions (have been listening for 5 hours).
I would say the strong points on these cans are separation/imaging, bass/subbass, neutral tonality, and vocals. I think that lines up with most reviews Iāve read.
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Currently using akg712 and starfields and like the way those sound and what they can do. Would the autuer/eikons have similar soundstage/imaging/details?
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The eikons would be a very very large step up in terms of resolution and imaging, with a tad less width than the 712 but a way more accurate stage.
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That sounds really nice. 712 do get so wide sometimes its almost dizzy hahah
Theyāre a large step up in imaging, resolution, and clarity even from the Sundaras and PM-50s too imo.
I would say it all depends on what type of soundstage you really like / want. If you listen to folk / blues / acoustic these will do wonders because they sound almost like you are in the studio / room with the players. Sundaras sound like 5th row of a concert hall, PM-50s sound like first row of a concert hall. Intimate vs expansive.
I personally really like the imaging / separation and am used to playing music / listening in pubs, houses, and smaller rooms. So these scratch that itch really well. Was a big reason I went for these.
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https://tidal.com/browse/track/1338001 = Good example of a tune that this does great on.
Soundstage feels like a house concert if I had to make a comparison. The slight reverb from the wood cups and the natural tonality I get from these / Monolith LP / Enog2 make this sound like a personal house concert.
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What amps and dacs are you using? I have a darkvoice, atom, geshelli enog. Prolly will get geshelli Erish and possibly a liquid platinum down the road after I purchase a zmf and maybe a denifrip dac
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Reference above 
For clarity my current setup isā¦
ZMF Eikon + Monolith Liquid Platinum with stock tubes + Geshelli Labs Enog 2. Using optical into my desktop. Fully balanced.
When my cables arrive Iāll try it with my Archel 2.5.
Also am in on the Geshelli Erish pre-order, so Iām reallllllllly interested as to what these sound like with that.
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Same with this https://tidal.com/browse/track/51156847
Feels like Iām sitting in the circle with the players.
Live music like this https://tidal.com/browse/track/77613042 sounds like Iām like a third of the way into the crowd. I think the Eikon faithfully replicates the recording as much as it can.
Hahah awesome, yea I emailed recently and they are all full but not too worried. Still gonna buy it haha. Use it with my starfields until a zmf comes in haha. Looks like we have similar tastes!
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Hell yea. Iāve had such a great experience with their support / customer service in addition to the quality of the hardware that Iām sold on the company. Even if I donāt expressly need the Erish Iāll grab it to support Geshelli Labs. Iām also really curious as to any improvements / differences from the Archel.
I know that the Monolith LP will likely still be the better Amp, but itāll be good to have a balanced amp at my desk at work. But I might be surprised
I do have starfields on the way as well lol
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Very curious to check out the erish when it comes out, lots of potential there
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No, not yet. If the normal 6 weeks production is still valid, then mine are done at the end of next week. But I canāt tell by looking at the excel sheet. I donāt think it is 100% correct and last time my Aeolus arrived while they were listed as āAssemblyā.
But the wait is fine, it makes it even more great to finally get them 
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Starfields are great and when Iām out and about and relaxing somewhere. They dont really need a lot of power but I have the ifi hip dac and they make them sound really really good.
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Hahahahahaha. I have the iFi nano BL. Tastes seem to be very similar. I wish I had the hip dac though. The BL is way too bulky for real pocket portability.
Yea. I need an excuse to take more walks. With no sailing, commuting, or any other forms of normal activity sanctioned Iām too sedentary. Wearing 770s and walking around looks a little weird lol.
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Zach descibes them as 97% closed if I remember correctly, but would you say even less?
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