Audeze EL-8 Closed Version Impressions Thread

[luisandre]

Does anybody know's how does the AK 100 II drive the EL-8 Closed?
They are just 30 ohm but they are plannar magnetic...
Thanks!

 

[inthere]

  I called them up and they told me thats how it is. It is not defective. I might just need a better amp, I am using the FIIO E17. I will be buying the Oppo Ha-2 soon.

 
  Piercing, bright highs is a common issue and has been discussed frequently in other EL-8 threads, even in this thread. I had the same problem and my left ear cup failed about 3 months later.....the failing cups are also a common defect with this headphone. I'm extremely surprised Audeze told you this, as they're very aware of this problem. You should talk to them again and insist on them replacing it or least investigating it.
 
 Anyway, I got my replacement pair and they sound great, the piercing highs are completely gone.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/764120/fatal-flaw-with-audeze-el-8

 

[inthere]

Hey... just looked at your sig...you own the Ether C? Can you comment on the isolation? Those look interesting. Thoughts? Thanks, Brian

 
 Sorry for the late reply, I thought I replied already but I didn't. The Ether C has great isolation, better than the EL-8, and it's much lighter than the EL-8 too.

 

[emann56]

   
  Piercing, bright highs is a common issue and has been discussed frequently in other EL-8 threads, even in this thread. I had the same problem and my left ear cup failed about 3 months later.....the failing cups are also a common defect with this headphone. I'm extremely surprised Audeze told you this, as they're very aware of this problem. You should talk to them again and insist on them replacing it or least investigating it.
 
 Anyway, I got my replacement pair and they sound great, the piercing highs are completely gone.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/764120/fatal-flaw-with-audeze-el-8

Thank you very much, the rep found out what happen. Apple Canada had the old defective model and they are replacing it free for me.

 

[inthere]

  Thank you very much, the rep found out what happen. Apple Canada had the old defective model and they are replacing it free for me.

 
 Hmmm, somebody else in Canada also got an old defective pair from an Apple store, his pair had a different defect though, it arrived with a crack in it. 
 
 It's a shame that the Apple Store finally stocks Audeze headphones and they get ahold of the bad batch

 

[emann56]

   
 Hmmm, somebody else in Canada also got an old defective pair from an Apple store, his pair had a different defect though, it arrived with a crack in it. 
 
 It's a shame that the Apple Store finally stocks Audeze headphones and they get ahold of the bad batch

 
They finally shipped my replacement headphones out. They ran out of stock but they told me I got the latest batch that was just made! So this should have zero defects. Tony at Audeze was really helpful and responded at a timely manner. 

 

[mcemce13]

I tried the EL8C for a few days, these were the platinum version with the lighting connector which includes de DAP and Amplifier. Really they sound very good out of the iPhone with the lighting, obviously Audeze tuned the components so they sound good. Compared to the line out is really a huge difference.
 
Now I can understand about the piercing highs, I believe is some peak frequency there making the issue, because I enjoy analytical and bright headphones. However, when I was turning the volume up it was the highs always stopping me from going higher. Other than that planar has very nice low extension and they are very confortable.
 
I tried them out of a MOJO, but still they sounded better with the lighting connector.

 

[sheldaze]

  I tried the EL8C for a few days, these were the platinum version with the lighting connector which includes de DAP and Amplifier. Really they sound very good out of the iPhone with the lighting, obviously Audeze tuned the components so they sound good. Compared to the line out is really a huge difference.
 
Now I can understand about the piercing highs, I believe is some peak frequency there making the issue, because I enjoy analytical and bright headphones. However, when I was turning the volume up it was the highs always stopping me from going higher. Other than that planar has very nice low extension and they are very confortable.
 
I tried them out of a MOJO, but still they sounded better with the lighting connector.

That is a very interesting comparison between the Mojo and Cipher.
Thanks!

 

[inthere]

I tried the EL8C for a few days, these were the platinum version with the lighting connector which includes de DAP and Amplifier. Really they sound very good out of the iPhone with the lighting, obviously Audeze tuned the components so they sound good. Compared to the line out is really a huge difference.

Now I can understand about the piercing highs, I believe is some peak frequency there making the issue, because I enjoy analytical and bright headphones. However, when I was turning the volume up it was the highs always stopping me from going higher. Other than that planar has very nice low extension and they are very confortable.

I tried them out of a MOJO, but still they sounded better with the lighting connector.

Please investigate........the highs are not supposed to be piercing on that headphone. My 2nd pair were completely different from the 1st pair I got that had the piercing highs. It'll be worth it!

 

[mcemce13]

Please investigate........the highs are not supposed to be piercing on that headphone. My 2nd pair were completely different from the 1st pair I got that had the piercing highs. It'll be worth it!

Ok, will try another pair in few months, hopefully the production issues will be solved by then. Because the platinum were my 2nd pair actually, the first one (regular, not platinum) had the issue of pop sound, like some cracking plastic bag inside when you were moving around your ears, even with no sound. Its an issue reported as well by other users. My second pair did not have this issue...but of the piercing highs.
 
It seems that Audeze really have some quality control issues with these headphones :-/

 

[inthere]

  Ok, will try another pair in few months, hopefully the production issues will be solved by then. Because the platinum were my 2nd pair actually, the first one (regular, not platinum) had the issue of pop sound, like some cracking plastic bag inside when you were moving around your ears, even with no sound. Its an issue reported as well by other users. My second pair did not have this issue...but of the piercing highs.
 
It seems that Audeze really have some quality control issues with these headphones :-/

 
   I also have the Mojo and if the Cypher cable sounds better than that you'll have something special when you finally get a good pair. All i can suggest is to find an audio store where you can demo a good pair and hear the difference.............I found a good pair at Can Jam and I knew I had a defective pair when I heard it. 

 

[Jeremy]

I have a perfect pair of the EL-8 Titanium. The sound is really good out of the Cypher lightning cable. No piercing highs, just very smooth, crystal clear and tight extended base. I'm really happy with mine.

 

[inthere]

 
I have a perfect pair of the EL-8 Titanium. The sound is really good out of the Cypher lightning cable. No piercing highs, just very smooth, crystal clear and tight extended base. I'm really happy with mine.

Yeah the highs are pretty smooth out of the EL-8 and I have a very hard time explaining that the piercing highs are a defect.

 

[sheldaze]

Regarding the shrill highs - perhaps it would help if someone could post a YouTube video link? It should be something that prior to the fix sounded bad, and with the corrected headphone sounds good. Or, if someone could point out the specific frequency at which the issue occurs?
 
I cannot say, yay-or-nay, if mine has the issue. I like these, but I do not like them as much as say an HE400i or an HD800. I use these because they're a) closed and b) comfortable. But if I could have one of the aforementioned headphones in a closed format, I'd pick it instead. And I've found that I'm particular on which equipment I use these headphones. My best amplifiers all sound really good with these. While many of my lesser, now sold, USB DAC/AMP just don't sound good with these at all.

 

[inthere]

  Regarding the shrill highs - perhaps it would help if someone could post a YouTube video link? It should be something that prior to the fix sounded bad, and with the corrected headphone sounds good. Or, if someone could point out the specific frequency at which the issue occurs?
 
I cannot say, yay-or-nay, if mine has the issue. I like these, but I do not like them as much as say an HE400i or an HD800. I use these because they're a) closed and b) comfortable. But if I could have one of the aforementioned headphones in a closed format, I'd pick it instead. And I've found that I'm particular on which equipment I use these headphones. My best amplifiers all sound really good with these. While many of my lesser, now sold, USB DAC/AMP just don't sound good with these at all.

I wish I could do it myself but I've long since returned my defective pair and gotten new ones. My defective pair had a huge bump at 2k and 4k