[mcemce13]

​Yes, make sure they are 2016 production. I had two 2015 EL8s before and finish up selling them since I didnt like the sound or thack thack noise in the earcups.
 
However, a month ago I got my hands on a pair of July 2016 model and is true, they have changed the internals and now they sound much better than the originals. And they also fixed the noise in the earcups, obviously was some design flaw that got fixed in newer revisions.

 

[Criss969]

 
​Yes, make sure they are 2016 production. I had two 2015 EL8s before and finish up selling them since I didnt like the sound or thack thack noise in the earcups.
 
However, a month ago I got my hands on a pair of July 2016 model and is true, they have changed the internals and now they sound much better than the originals. And they also fixed the noise in the earcups, obviously was some design flaw that got fixed in newer revisions.

Well, bad news (i guess).. they are the 2015 model.. specifically from 12-30-15. They sound fine to me.. no crinkle sound, but very bright. Which is what I wanted. We shall see what time will say.

 

[greenkiwi]

I thought that the El 8 actually changed late in 2015.

 

[natalieann]

I have a pair made last month and I swear they are the best closed, I have ever heard

 

[mcemce13]

  Well, bad news (i guess).. they are the 2015 model.. specifically from 12-30-15. They sound fine to me.. no crinkle sound, but very bright. Which is what I wanted. We shall see what time will say.

​With burn-in the brightness should go down, it happened with my LCD-XC and also with the EL8s. I still equalize them down in the treble region because they are little too bight for my taste, even compared to the HD800s they are brighter.

 

[doraymon]

Well, bad news (i guess).. they are the 2015 model.. specifically from 12-30-15. They sound fine to me.. no crinkle sound, but very bright. Which is what I wanted. We shall see what time will say.

Very bright?
I understood they were warm...?

 

[mcemce13]

I thought that the El 8 actually changed late in 2015.

​Not sure exactly when was announced vs. actual new production started. I remember purchasing on the apple store a pair made on dec 2015 and they had the noise issue in one of the earcups.

 

[Criss969]

UPDATE**
 
So, there IS a crinkle when I put them on as well as more bass in the left driver. Why, oh why, God!?

 

[jodgey4]

I remember one time I sent headphones to get repaired, and in the meantime, I must've damaged my right ear because when I got them back, I thought they were broken because the left was louder and with better bass, lmao. The crinkle shouldn't be a problem, right? Though obviously bass imbalance probably is. Make sure it's the drivers themselves and not some other factor!

 

[Criss969]

  I remember one time I sent headphones to get repaired, and in the meantime, I must've damaged my right ear because when I got them back, I thought they were broken because the left was louder and with better bass, lmao. The crinkle shouldn't be a problem, right? Though obviously bass imbalance probably is. Make sure it's the drivers themselves and not some other factor!

It isn't really a big deal, just a tick-off for such a costly product. However.. he crinkling is nothing compared to what happened last night when I put the headphones on. The left ear cup snapped off.
 
I emailed Audeze and they got back to me right away telling me to ship them back for a replacement! Thank you, Audeze!!!!

 

[greenback]

I just received a pair of closed EL-8 headphones today and I am really enjoying them.
 
These are my first planar magnetic headphones and they seem really smooth compared to the other headphones I own. I don't know what the complaints were about with these things. Maybe the 2015 version was terrible, but these are really nice. They seal really well, and the bass has some impact while not overpowering everything else. It will take some time to compare them to my other headphones, but they are definitely more enjoyable than my 1540's.

 

[kenchar]

New to the EL-8 Closed
 
I recently took advantage of the Adorama deal for a refurbished EL-8 Closed headphone.  (Not sure about how refurbished they are since they appear new.  Maybe they updated a bunch of the original ones to the 2016 spec and have sold them as refurbs.) 
 
Very excitedly I took them out of the package, hooked them up to me Zero DAC/AMP and prepared myself to be blown away.  Well that definitely didn't happen.  I wondered if they were broken, built wrong or something else was wrong.  The sound was horrible.  No bass, thin thin thin in all octaves.  Very disappointed.
 
I tried various types of music for an hour or so and thought they were starting to sound better.  It was getting late so I decided to listen to them before going to sleep and hooked them up to my Hifiman HM901s.  Started with some Diana Krall and started to become amazed.  Wonderful music I did hear.  Still thin on the bass in my opinion but magical otherwise.
 
My go to home headphones are a well used pair of DT-770 80 Ohm version.  For portable use the IE-800's.  After listening to the EL8c for maybe 4 hours over the next couple of days I decided to give my old standbys a listen.  The DT-770's just sounded really boomy, muddy and not well defined.  The sound of the piano actually hurt - (I am really sensitive to this and female vocals.)  Back to be amazed by the EL8c's. 
 
I was really missing the great bass  I was used to (or so I thought)  so after listening to the EL-8c I went back to the IE-800's.  Once again I was amazed at how much bass and mid bass there was.  OK for some EDM and not bad for some Diana Krall but the mids and highs weredefinitely not as nice as the EL-8c. 
 
What I would like to know is will bass become more present/fuller as they break in?  Can someone suggest a better IEM that will provide the magical midrange of the EL-8c and some accurate bass - although I would still like a little more of it than I am currently getting with the EL-8c.  Finally, is there a headphone with more bass, but with the same mids/highs of the EL-8c that I should consider?  The only other contender was the DT-1770 should I have bought that?
 
Looking forward to continuing to explore my music library with these and any comments or insight is greatly appreciated.
 
Ken.

 

[Criss969]

Sorry to hear of your experience, Ken. I loved their bass for the whole hour I had them before they broke. It was my rendition of "perfect". In contrast, I find the bass on the UE900S to be boomy, so maybe that gives an idea of my interpretation of sound.
 
I would love to comment on their break-in period, but that will have to wait until I get my replacement pair. By then I'm sure you'll have it figured.
 
Looking forward to hear from somebody with DT-1770 experience!

 

[inthere]

The bass fills in a bit but if the highs are thin and harsh return them because they're defective.

My 1st pair had no bass and harsh highs, very thin. My 2nd pair all was good and i still have them.

 

[kenchar]

The highs and mid are awesome.  I don't think there is anything wrong with them.  I think the problem is what I have become used to and accustomed to.  The DT770's were a lot of fun and had a ton of bass as do the IE800.  I am just not sure how accurate those are.  I listened to a couple of Enigma albums from the 90's with the EL-8c and was really very happy with the sound overall.  Definitely hearing things that I hadn't heard before.
 
I will have to spend a bunch more time listening to some music instead of worrying about what is the "correct" sound and get over my preconceived notions of what the music should sound like and enjoy what it does sound like. 
 
Edit...time to figure this out for myself.  Ordered the DT1770 from Sonic...looking forward to deciding which I prefer.  Really hope I can choose just one of them.