[Tribbs]

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/solid-state/137044-balanced-preamp-outputs-why.html

Tribes thanks for that article, will be interested to read up some more on it.

Realize that if your using your headphone for your iPod you don't need 51" balanced cables

 

[Hunter220]

Realize that if your using your headphone for your iPod you don't need 51" balanced cables

Tribbs yeah I get that, mainly just interested in learning more about the options available.

 

[PacoTaco]

   
Why would anyone want balanced cables if their amp wasn't balanced? 

 As mentioned, to run in fully balanced mode, amps like the GS-X, need both balanced inputs and outputs...otherwise, its 50% of the circuitry and 50% of the power.

-shrugs- His question helps others with balanced cable questions. I have a balanced amp/dac myself, so I was curious to see what the answer was going to be in case I ever decide to purchase the EL-8.

 

[Barry S]

Lucky EL-8 owners--thank you for your impressions. It would be very helpful if you could remember to mention whether you have the open or closed version when you post--thanks!

 

[caracara08]

  Was excited to receive my EL-8 today but the left driver is dead There are some significant tears to the inside of the Audeze box so I'm guessing Fedex dropped it from a height. Gutted.

 
Ouch, I am sorry to hear that.  I am sure it will all be taken care of but I would be sad if I finally got my EL8 and it was all messed up.

 

[musicman59]

  I had a chance to demo both the open and closed EL-8s today in Ann Arbor at a Head-Fi meet. Jude brought these and they were quite popular. I had a chance to grab both to compare back-to-back. Unfortunately, as meets are generally rather loud, I didn't get great impressions of them. I can say, however, that they are extremely more comfortable than the LCD line. I was quite happy with the comfort after the half hour I spent with them. I was running Foobar > Oppo BDP 105 > Ragnarok > EL-8 and they sounded very good. Personally, I preferred the sound of the open vs. the closed. But, since the conditions weren't optimal, I won't speak too much to the sound. I will say, though, that I am very excited to receive my open EL-8s in the next week or two. I think they should easily dethrone the HD600's that I keep at my desk at work... that is if they make it away from my home rig.

 
I was also at the AA meet Saturday and had the chance to compare both models of the EL-8 in an A/B setting both driven at the same time by the Violectric V281.
 
First I need to say that I have never got into the Audeze headphones not because of the sound but the inconsistency in quality control and the related failures. I actually love the sound of the LCD-3 and in a point of time bought 2 different pairs and compared them to Jude's pair. The two I bought were not even close in the quality of the sound I heard from Jude's pair or at RMAF when they were launched so both went back.
 
That said, I think the build quality and design of the EL-8 is the best effort from Audeze so far IMO. The are nice looking with a sold feel (compared to the LCD-2/3) and much comfortable. The only potential issue I saw and actually experienced is the connectors. Twice happened on both (closed and open) that when I put them on one channel was not producing sound even that apparently the connectors were inserted. The connector of the not sounding channel was in place but not totally inserted. As soon as I push it in the sound came on. I would recommend to implement a chance in the connector to add some kind of retainer mechanism to avoid the connectors to come loose so easily.
 
Sound wise I agree with DVass13 I also prefer the sound of the open version. The closed one when you get a good seal creates a vacuum feel in my ears that I personally don't like. Also, IMO the sound was not as clear and neutral as the open version. I am not a basshead so the bass of the open version was plenty for me but I can see somebody liking more bass going for the closed. The open version due to its design has a bigger and IMO better soundstage presentation.
 
I liked the open version enough to consider them for my collection after sometime in the market to ensure driver failures are not a problem with this model.

 

[lamode]

  First I need to say that I have never got into the Audeze headphones not because of the sound but the inconsistency in quality control and the related failures. I actually love the sound of the LCD-3 and in a point of time bought 2 different pairs and compared them to Jude's pair. The two I bought were not even close in the quality of the sound I heard from Jude's pair or at RMAF when they were launched so both went back.

 
Interesting, has anyone else had similar experiences? In what way were Jude's headphones so much better? With the same enclosure, magnet structure and diaphragm, it is difficult to see how the sound could vary much. I don't know how Audeze applies tension in the diaphragm - that seems potentially the most variable aspect of production

 

[musicman59]

   
Interesting, has anyone else had similar experiences? In what way were Jude's headphones so much better? With the same enclosure, magnet structure and diaphragm, it is difficult to see how the sound could vary much. I don't know how Audeze applies tension in the diaphragm - that seems potentially the most variable aspect of production

Jude's were more balanced and clear sounding. The other two were a little muddy. I don't know why but we found what I call a significant difference in the ear pads. The ones I had were softer and compressed a lot more. We even took pictures of them back then and post them in the LCD-3 thread. I think Audeze took note and took care of that.

 

[OrganMonster]

Hi MusicMan59, were these EL-8 headphones the production models or were they prototypes?

 

[Dark Ayla]

   
 
First I need to say that I have never got into the Audeze headphones not because of the sound but the inconsistency in quality control and the related failures. I actually love the sound of the LCD-3 and in a point of time bought 2 different pairs and compared them to Jude's pair. The two I bought were not even close in the quality of the sound I heard from Jude's pair or at RMAF when they were launched so both went back.
 

Now I have to live the rest of my life with concerns about my LCD3 sound quality.
I have no access to any other LCD3 for comparison

 

[musicman59]

  Hi MusicMan59, were these EL-8 headphones the production models or were they prototypes?

No idea. Jude brought them and I did not ask him.

 

[musicman59]

  Now I have to live the rest of my life with concerns about my LCD3 sound quality.
I have no access to any other LCD3 for comparison. This is shame if it is true. 
How come a company that claims being a hifi and can't maintain consistency along their products?!!!

Don't loose sleep over this if you like the sound of yours is the only thing that matters.

 

[Jazic]

  About the supplied cable nice surprice by AUdeze 
 I did some tests  to the cable :
 
first of all  , each connector is made of 8 contacts (eight pins for left and eight pins for right) and not 4 ...
the 4 contactcs of each row are shortened and another 4 pins shortened  gnd,gnd,gnd,gnd --R,R,R,R  the other  connector gnd,gnd,gnd,gnd --L,L,L,L
all the gnds are connected in the 3.5mm (as it had to be)
the total added resistance to each side is less than 1 ohm , those results shows that audeze made  a very good quality cable and will not do any harm to the SQ 
so for those jumping to change the el8 cable do not rush by now
 

 
 
So basically one side was the channel and the other side was the ground/return correct? Wonder if the headphone actually uses all 4 pins.

 

[DVass13]

  Hi MusicMan59, were these EL-8 headphones the production models or were they prototypes?

 
I believe these were both full production models. Jude mentioned that he bought both of them at full price (rather than at whatever discount he might get) after the break-in a few weeks ago. I didn't ask specifically when he received his pairs, but that should have been recently enough that they were production models.

 

[NZtechfreak]

One wonders if QC could have been affected by the thefts, what with the pressure to fulfil orders.