[crixnet]

Oh, the wood finish!
 
What a tragically first-world problem.
 
Mine are coming in next week and I'll be perfectly happy to put them on my head, over my ears, where no one will have to bear witness to the horror that is the wood finish.
Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!    

 

 

[kapanak]

Oh, the wood finish!

What a tragically first-world problem.

Mine are coming in next week and I'll be perfectly happy to put them on my head, over my ears, where no one will have to bear witness to the horror that is the wood finish.
Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!      

Okay. Good for you.

I happen to have more than just me in the house, so when I put on headphones, if I can't see it, doesn't mean nobody can see it

 

[bfreedma]

Is looking at yourself in a mirror with headphones on some kind of "thing" I'm not aware of?

If they sound good, they could look like anything short of two satellite dishes (or those custom Abyss pics) and I'm not going to worry about it.

 

[bfreedma]

Oh, the wood finish!

What a tragically first-world problem.

Mine are coming in next week and I'll be perfectly happy to put them on my head, over my ears, where no one will have to bear witness to the horror that is the wood finish.
Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Okay. Good for you.

I happen to have more than just me in the house, so when I put on headphones, if I can't see it, doesn't mean nobody can see it

Dim the lights

 

[crixnet]

Okay. Good for you.

I happen to have more than just me in the house, so when I put on headphones, if I can't see it, doesn't mean nobody can see it

Thank you. Thank you, very much.
 
I will hide my EL-8s so as not to optically offend anyone/thing.

 

[Tribbs]

 

[alishafai]

I am definitely in the minority, but I love the look of this headphone exactly as envisioned and produced by Audeze and BMW Designworks. I think it looks elegant, distinctive and way above its price point/class. 

 

[Jazic]

Yeah, just about any non-staining oil will darken the wood and further protect it I'm sure. If its coated then I'm sure most dirty fingers will rub off clean but if it's untreated it'll soak up anything on your hands.

That said, I'm sure Audeze knows what they are doing. I'll be honest the XC is the most gorgeous piece if wood work, selection and finish I have ever seen I believe. It's texture color changes are you rotate the cups. I've seen the TH900 and I'd still put the XC above them in the wood. Overall the style goes to the Fostex but the wood definitely good to the XC.

 

[crixnet]

  I am definitely in the minority, but I love the look of this headphone exactly as envisioned and produced by Audeze and BMW Designworks. I think it looks elegant, distinctive and way above its price point/class. 

I'm with you. Personally, the wood finish doesn't bother me a bit. What I care about most is how great these cans will make my music sound.

 

[Jazic]

I'm with you. Personally, the wood finish doesn't bother me a bit. What I care about most is how great these cans will make my music sound.

I'll second that.

Most of the judgements are from people who don't have them. Most everyone who has a pair says they are awesome in person and look much better than photos.

 

[MacedonianHero]

  I don't believe there's a difference between cables (sorry Macedonian), but isn't the O2 balanced?  I've heard lots of people love their O2's.

I don't believe that there's much of any difference with cables either. 

  I think you missed my point as it was based exclusively on the amp's topography. The O2 is a single ended amp FWIW. The GS-X Mk2 is a truly balanced front to back amp...and as a result you NEED balanced inputs and outputs to activate the amp's full circuitry and power. Otherwise you're only using 50% of the circuitry and power. No cable hocus pocus here...just design and physics. If you don't believe 2X the power will make a difference (especially in orthos), well that's something else. 

 

[MacedonianHero]

Look what I just picked up from the FedEx depot tonight:
 

 
I personally love the way they look and are built. Everything from the packaging right up to the new headphone band. They are quite comfortable (though the LCD-2/3/X/XC were pretty good for me too) and the construction is classic. Sound wise, they share the Audeze house sound, with flat deep bass that hits hard, but never lingers more than is called out for. The vocals are beautiful and upfront and the treble is along the lines of the LCD-X (my current favourite Audeze headphone).
 
These headphones are so good, they actually have brought family together. Funny story, I went to pick them up from the downtown Fed Ex depot here in Toronto (about 22 minutes away) and when the girl noticed the spelling of my last name she asked me if I was Macedonian. While I'm Canadian born and bred, my background (if you can't tell by my username 

) is indeed Macedonian. So I confirmed. She then noted the village her parents were from. Funny enough...same village my mom was from. Then a few more of do you know so and so...and then she mentions she was one of a quad of babies born to her parents. Then it clicked...my mom had a first cousin who had a set of quads. Now this is not a regular occurrence and what do you know...we're second cousins. I doubt I ever met her (my mom had a VERY large family) or if we did meet it was over 30 years ago. So there you have it...great headphones that can bring together families. 

 That and small world...even though the greater Toronto area is huge!
 
Back to the EL-8s (BTW, these are the open headphones), I'm about 90 minutes into them and I'm really enjoying them so far. I'm listening to Beck's "Morning Phase" (and YES he is a real artist) and they sound open, spacious, clean with bass that hits hard. More to come...

 

[lamode]

   If you don't believe 2X the power will make a difference (especially in orthos), well that's something else. 

 
...and 2x the noise (well, 3dB more)
If you don't need the extra power, it's pointless.

 

[MacedonianHero]

   
...and 2x the noise.
If you don't need the extra power, it's pointless.

 
Obviously you haven't heard the GS-X Mk2. Noise floor is non-existent..even with IEMs. Depends on the amp...plus balanced operation gives you a lower noise floor to begin with as the ground is separate for each channel (that's one of its advantages).  
 
So far I don't think the EL-8s need that kind of power (as they're sounding very good out of my Concero HP right now)...but the LCD-X, LCD-XC, LCD-3, HD800s and HE-6s really benefit from it, especially with complex high res. music. Why would you buy a car with 8 cylinders and only set it up to use 4? If you're only driving yourself around, then 4 is fine, but when you're car is loaded up (i.e. with headphones that respond to more power) then why not go for a good pair of balanced cables to run all 8 cylinders? Notice, I didn't say a $800 Stefan Art Audio pair of cables?

 

[Jazic]

Look what I just picked up from the FedEx depot tonight:




I personally love the way they look and are built. Everything from the packaging right up to the new headphone band. They are quite comfortable (though the LCD-2/3/X/XC were pretty good for me too) and the construction is classic. Sound wise, they share the Audeze house sound, with flat deep bass that hits hard, but never lingers more than is called out for. The vocals are beautiful and upfront and the treble is along the lines of the LCD-X (my current favourite Audeze headphone).

These headphones are so good, they actually have brought family together. Funny story, I went to pick them up from the downtown Fed Ex depot here in Toronto (about 22 minutes away) and when the girl noticed the spelling of my last name she asked me if I was Macedonian. While I'm Canadian born and bred, my background (if you can't tell by my username  ) is indeed Macedonian. So I confirmed. She then noted the village her parents were from. Funny enough...same village my mom was from. Then a few more of do you know so and so...and then she mentions she was one of a quad of babies born to her parents. Then it clicked...my mom had a first cousin who had a set of quads. Now this is not a regular occurrence and what do you know...we're second cousins. I doubt I ever met her (my mom had a VERY large family) or if we did meet it was over 30 years ago. So there you have it...great headphones that can bring together families.   That and small world...even though the greater Toronto area is huge!

Back to the EL-8s (BTW, these are the open headphones), I'm about 90 minutes into them and I'm really enjoying them so far. I'm listening to Beck's "Morning Phase" (and YES he is a real artist) and they sound open, spacious, clean with bass that hits hard. More to come...

Opens?

I love the bass of all Audeze cans. Very very deeeeep.