[sunneebear]

Quote:

I keep spending money on upgrading, a few hundred at a time going upwards, decided that I'm too poor to do that and might just go for the 8.A and end the sillyness.
I know this is a completely rubbish question being posted in the 'Heir audio appreciated thread', but, are the 8.As actually worth it? I was very unimpressed with the 4.Ais coming from DBA-02s and I realize that spending $1,800 for 8.As the priceerformance will be even lower still, which is hard to justify, but it'll stop this madness of buying slightly better, then I can concentrate on the music. Is there anything that maeks the 8.A standout amongst other flagship CIEMs? Alien ears also do an 8-driver CIEM for several hundred less.
 
As an added question not necessarily Heir audio based, do you think a high-end CIEM such as the 8.A could compete against LCD-2s? I've love to completely lose my headphones and use only earphones and a DAP/AMP, but I'm unsure if this would be a good idea at the minute.
 
Cheers!

 
To my ears, the 8.A is the perfect middle between the LCD2 and the HE6 (w/o speaker amp).  Not being able to go portable with the two headphones was the reason I got the 8.A.  Although the 8.A does sound better with a portable amp, I found the performance of the 8.A good enough straight from a DAP without a amp.

 

[23t23dS]

Quote:

 
 
     As others have requested, would you be willing to post photos you sent me on Head Fi?

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Right

 

[Sorensiim]

In addition to what has already been said, the 8.A is a very detailed headphone, without being analytical. There are just gobs and gobs of details in the music - if you listen for it. Just want to lean back and enjoy the music? No problem, they can do that. Want to hear exactly who's coughing in the audience on the 1975 Köln Concert? They can tell you that as well. They are incredibly balanced and with a much bigger sound stage than the 4.Ai. The treble just keeps going but never gets shrill or piercing. How Heir does this without treble rolloff is something my puny mind will probably never understand.
 
Oh, and if called for, they'll match the bass kick and depth of the UM Merlin and FS Atrio. But only if it's in the music. Like I said in my 8.A review: It's very nice of Heir to offer $70 re-shells for second owners but these babies aren't going anywhere. Ever. They sound good straight from my phone but they'll scale with the source and amp. My daily rig is the DX100 -> Heir Audio Magnus -> Heir Audio 8.A and trying the mighty Alo RX mk IIIb didn't make me want to make any changes to that setup. 

 

[Sorensiim]

Quote:

Left

 
Right

You have to insert them with a twisting motion, so the top bit goes inside that little "flap" (pretty sure that's the medical term). I made the same mistake with my first customs 

 

[racoiaw]

yeah its not correctly inserted fully. will feel uncomfortable and not get the seal to fully enjoy the iem. 
 
should get something like this:

 
 
note that its not fully inserted, just to show how its done

 

[23t23dS]

At the risk of sounding stupid... how does one get the 'hump' on top to go under the flap? I'm already using a twisting motion to wear them

 

 

[racoiaw]

you can try using a mirror. pull ur ear back using the hand on your other side and insert. it should go under the flap but you need to get used to it though. itshould feel more comfortable.

 

[Sinocelt]

Ouch. Yes, this part, circled in red, should slide under the flap of skin it's currently crushing.
 
[Edit:] Oh, look what I've found! Though in your case (as in mine), you'll need TWO rotations -- the second one forward, so you can slide the part circled above under the skin flap.
 
It sounds complicated, but it's awfully simple, actually. It's just something you need to get right once, so you can get it right without thinking every time afterward.

 

[project86]

Quote:

I keep spending money on upgrading, a few hundred at a time going upwards, decided that I'm too poor to do that and might just go for the 8.A and end the sillyness.
I know this is a completely rubbish question being posted in the 'Heir audio appreciated thread', but, are the 8.As actually worth it? I was very unimpressed with the 4.Ais coming from DBA-02s and I realize that spending $1,800 for 8.As the priceerformance will be even lower still, which is hard to justify, but it'll stop this madness of buying slightly better, then I can concentrate on the music. Is there anything that maeks the 8.A standout amongst other flagship CIEMs? Alien ears also do an 8-driver CIEM for several hundred less.
 
As an added question not necessarily Heir audio based, do you think a high-end CIEM such as the 8.A could compete against LCD-2s? I've love to completely lose my headphones and use only earphones and a DAP/AMP, but I'm unsure if this would be a good idea at the minute.
 
Cheers!

 
 
As most people around here know, I'm not usually one to bash other companies. In fact I generally go out of my way to not say anything at all unless I can say something nice. But Alien Ears deserves special mention - they are not a good company to deal with. If you search back on this forum by a few years, you can find people who tried their single, dual, and triple driver models and were very disappointed. I can't recall many other custom IEM companies with as many dissatisfied customers, except maybe LiveWires/Fidelity Customs. The build quality was poor, and the sound was unimpressive at best and borderline defective at worst. Icing on the cake was the lack of good service, culminating in a complete ignoring of some "problem customers". 
 
This is a company who used to make fun of others for using too many drivers. Now they have their own 6 and 8 driver designs. Go figure. I'd stay far away if I were you, despite the price seeming attractive. 

 

[23t23dS]

Would like to say thanks to everyone who chipped in!
 
Am I wearing them correctly now? It took quite abit of twisiting my ears and the CIEMs to get this, lol
 
Left

Right
 

 

[Sinocelt]

I'm not sure I see it well enough on the left, but the right side looks fine. How do they feel now?
 
By the way, here's a picture of my own CIEM in my own littl' ear:
 

 
Yours should look more like this one, I guess, position of the cable notwithstanding:
 

 

[WayTooCrazy]

 

[23t23dS]

Feels pretty much perfect now, the seal is pretty 'locked in' so to speak. I've had them on for about 15 minutes and they've pretty much melted into my ears. Only issue I foresee is getting back the seal next time round as it took close to 20 minutes of twisting and tugging on my ears to get the 'hump' under the flap. Hmmm...
 
You mentioned about a 'two twist' method you used, could you elaborate on this?
 

 

[tranhieu]

Quote:

Would like to say thanks to everyone who chipped in!
 
Am I wearing them correctly now? It took quite abit of twisiting my ears and the CIEMs to get this, lol
 
Left

Right
 

 
^ no, I don't think so...
the conchas need to be filled in completely, there's still a bit left outside. try rotating the earpiece slightly while gently pushing it inward until you feel a slight pop in your conchas.

 

[WayTooCrazy]

I had to lubricate mine (with a little saliva rubbed on with a finger) when I was learning to insert mine.