Audeze EL-8: The EL-8 is a must-hear at CES 2015 | Page 89 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

mikemercer · Jan 11, 2015 at 6:58 PM

toxicdrift said:
can anyone please please try these with the lambert play it by ear amp? .. im planning to pick the el 8 by june/july and will have the amp much before them... so if anyone can give their views on the combo. it would be great!! thanks

Hell yeah!
I'm ON IT

Been wanting to do that - but today is for the wifey...
Just getting the desk shut-down.

But I'm going to use my Lambert Play it By Ear (I bought the demo unit) w/ both EL-8s FO SHO!
Actually it was the first desktop amp I thought about using when I initially heard the closed EL-8s.

YtseJamer · Jan 11, 2015 at 7:36 PM

Comments from Tyl in another forum :

"I agree the closed EL-8 was too bright, but I'd also say the open one was bass-light and a tad strident. They aren't quite finished with the tuning of them yet, so I expect we'll see some changes before release.

Fang's HE-1000 was an astonishingly pleasant surprise. Really clean, wonderfully well balanced, best thing I've heard from him in orthos to date. Really, really nice.

I found the Nighthawk a disappointment. Had a muffled sounding lower mid-range. mid-mids and up were very nice, but I suspect 5db too low relative to the bass to lower-mid range.

Now, did anyone else hear the Enigma Acoustics Darma headphone? No? We'll, holy **** you missed out. A real stunner. Hybrid dynamic w/estat tweeter. Crossover at 8kHz. Expected price at $1.5k, I think. This and the HE-1000 were the best things I heard at the show.

Didn't hear it, but Pass labs was showing a new headphone amp. (Not designed by Nelson.) That's one I'm looking forward to hearing."

Stillhart · Jan 11, 2015 at 7:39 PM

dreamking said:
Nice the HE-560 are the headphone I want for my next purchase. I thought the EL-8 might compete with them before I read all of the impressions and comparisons from the show floor. HE-560 are currently $695 open-box on razerdogaudio. How's the EL-8 compared to the HE-560? I doubt they stand any chance at all just from more than 1 person saying they have a sound quality on par with 400i but thought I'd ask.

Sorry, I didn't spend enough time with the HE-560 to really make a call here. My gut is that the HE-560 is better as I recall being very impressed with the performance for the price (as opposed tot he EL-8). But I wouldn't put to much stock in it... I'd wait for more impressions.

jeffa said:
On another site Tyll described the closed EL-8 as too bright and the open version as bass light and strident. However, he said Audeze was still refining the tuning. He also said he was disappointed with the Audioquest Nighthawk. Was very impressed with the new HiFiMan and the Enigma Acoustics Darma hybrid headphone. And Pass Labs has a headphone amp on the way.

Interesting that Tyll seems to agree with my impressions. Kinda vindicating in a way.

Beagle · Jan 11, 2015 at 7:41 PM

Well, there's two pre-orders to cancel....YIPPEE!

Uberclocked · Jan 11, 2015 at 7:44 PM

Too bright...
might this be the next HD700?

Beagle · Jan 11, 2015 at 7:51 PM

Anyone just a bit puzzled as to why Jude would praise the EL-8, comparing it to the LCD-X, and Tyll has it sounding like crap?

TMRaven · Jan 11, 2015 at 8:00 PM

Jude praises everything.

Tyll only reviews headphones he likes, which is respectable. It wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't review the new Audezes (at their current tuning). He also probably wouldn't have made the same comments regrading the new Audezes on Head-Fi so easily as he did on the other forum.

Stillhart · Jan 11, 2015 at 8:14 PM

beagle said:
Anyone just a bit puzzled as to why Jude would praise the EL-8, comparing it to the LCD-X, and Tyll has it sounding like crap?

Well the EL-8 does sound more like the LCD-X than the other two. And Tyll didn't say it sounded like crap.

Head Injury · Jan 11, 2015 at 8:27 PM

beagle said:
Anyone just a bit puzzled as to why Jude would praise the EL-8, comparing it to the LCD-X, and Tyll has it sounding like crap?

I'm not surprised by much on Head-fi.

bfreedma · Jan 11, 2015 at 8:30 PM

beagle said:
Anyone just a bit puzzled as to why Jude would praise the EL-8, comparing it to the LCD-X, and Tyll has it sounding like crap?

There are some interesting takes on what Tyll posted being stated here. If you actually read a post where he calls them "crap", you read a different one than I did or have been able to find.

People are making a lot of "definitive" statements about the EL-8 based on second hand interpretations of the impressions from a tiny handful of people who heard them at a show. IMO, it's getting ridiculous (not the impressions). Maybe they will be awful. Maybe they will be great. Most likely, they will be like the vast majority of headphones and personal preference will dictate how much individual listeners like them.

NZtechfreak · Jan 11, 2015 at 8:32 PM

Tyll is very sensitive to brightness and stridency, so him saying that doesn't really help me adjudicate the sound signature for my own preferences much (if anything Tyll finding them bright means I may be more likely to enjoy their treble energy than if they had an LCD2.2 type treble, which was very much to his liking and not at all to mine).

Still though, overall it does however mean that most opinions seem to now be converging on this as the current tuning of this headphones (where n=~4-5 opinions now).

TMRaven · Jan 11, 2015 at 8:39 PM

I'm more concerned about his saying that the open ones lack bass.

Wildcatsare1 · Jan 11, 2015 at 8:46 PM

tmraven said:
I'm more concerned about his saying that the open ones lack bass.

+1, Tyll's taste in treble is at odds with mine (sometimes), but, his finding that the open EL-8 is lacking in bass is a big concern.

diamondears · Jan 11, 2015 at 9:07 PM

I find Tyll's comments almost always spot on.

The Life · Jan 11, 2015 at 9:07 PM

nztechfreak said:
Tyll is very sensitive to brightness and stridency, so him saying that doesn't really help me adjudicate the sound signature for my own preferences much (if anything Tyll finding them bright means I may be more likely to enjoy their treble energy than if they had an LCD2.2 type treble, which was very much to his liking and not at all to mine).

Still though, overall it does however mean that most opinions seem to now be converging on this as the current tuning of this headphones (where n=~4-5 opinions now).

Yeah, he thought the TH900 was "too bright." I almost chocked on my food when I read it.

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