[Nomad Girl]

  NASA technology AND BMW design? The price will be OVER $9000 

LOL, I was thinking the same thing....

 

[greenkiwi]

  From Facebook::
 

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The EL-8 Open and Closed-Back Headphone features revolutionary Fluxor™ magnetic technology and a Uniforce™ diaphragm material that was originally developed by NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration for lightweight electronics to withstand the rigors of space. Audeze re-engineered this super strong material to work as a planar magnetic driver.
Hear the EL-8 at South Hall 1 Booth 22018 ‪#‎CES2015‬

 
It's interesting, they seem to have taken the reverse approach to HifiMan, they have a once sided magnet, but it is on the "ear" side.  I would have thought that not having anything between the diaphragm and the ear would have been simpler and you wouldn't need to have the fazors in there as much.

 

[money4me247]

  It's interesting, they seem to have taken the reverse approach to HifiMan, they have a once sided magnet, but it is on the "ear" side.  I would have thought that not having anything between the diaphragm and the ear would have been simpler and you wouldn't need to have the fazors in there as much.

 
what's the benefit of having the magnets on the earside? seems to me that on the outside makes more sense.

 

[vaibhavp]

will EL be a series like lcd?
 
maybe its flagship will be under $1000 and rest will be much lower in future.
 
That would be one way to make planer technology accessible to wider audience.
 
 
also when embargo will be over. i believe mods should place a timer in OP.
 
Personally would like to see a competitive model at $500 from audeze in near future.

 

[kahkityoong]

 

[Sundown]

New technology=high price. I was hoping for a fair price but selling a kidney is too much. I want to try an Audeze headphone but they cost too much.

 

[EddieE]

I would be surprised if these were more than 1k at this point.
 
Looking at it's size next to a phone, and the cutaway diagram, it clearly has a much smaller driver than the LCD range, which would mean less expense on magnets even if it was two sided (but obviously it's only one side so that will make it cheaper to manufacture again).
 
Yeah it has high quality of materials and build and design and so on, but come on, it has a smaller, one sided driver. It's not going to be the flagship.
 
Have to say I much prefer the way they look in that second pic... maybe because the wood veneer is less prominent.

 

[kapanak]

TBH I wouldn't wear or be caught dead with something that has wood veneer on it out in the public, even if forced to.

 

[lamode]

  TBH I wouldn't wear or be caught dead with something that has wood veneer on it out in the public, even if forced to.

 
I guess Audeze will get this feedback at the show and if enough people comment about it, there will be a veneer delete option offered.

 

[EddieE]

  From Facebook::
 

---

 
The EL-8 Open and Closed-Back Headphone features revolutionary Fluxor™ magnetic technology and a Uniforce™ diaphragm material that was originally developed by NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration for lightweight electronics to withstand the rigors of space. Audeze re-engineered this super strong material to work as a planar magnetic driver.
Hear the EL-8 at South Hall 1 Booth 22018 ‪#‎CES2015‬

 
Is it just me or do those magnets look like they are shaped so they continue the line of the Fazor assembly? So rather than go from flat magnets to angled Fazor, the whole assembly angles like a horn together?
 
Maybe that is what "Fluxor" is?
 
Also looks like there is a nice amount of space behind the driver for damping materials for the closed back version. 
 
EDIT - The cutaway also seems to confirm my earlier guess that the wood grain is in fact a strip of veneer adhered to the metal chassis. 
 
Should be simple enough for them to offer a version sans veneer, since that seems to be what most on this thread actually want (or I do anyway).

 

[IAMBLEST]

i dont care what my headphones look like - who cares about the veneer? otherwise id wear beats by dre like every other teenager. 
 
If i cared about looks i wouldnt own the LCD3s for a start.  Just give me the price and specs....

 

[kapanak]

  i dont care what my headphones look like - who cares about the veneer? otherwise id wear beats by dre like every other teenager. 
 
If i cared about looks i wouldnt own the LCD3s for a start.  Just give me the price and specs....

 
That's not the point. I don't care what my headphones look like when I'm at home and listening to it and enjoying my music. I also quite enjoy the retro look of wood or anything that looks out of century today ... but at home.
 
However, while I want to get the best sound possible out of headphones when on commute or out in the world (for which I use my SE535), given that the listening conditions out in public aren't ideal, I also don't wish to look like a dork wearing what could possibly look like they are from when TVs were still black and white, and radios used tubes.

 

[arnaud]

   
what's the benefit of having the magnets on the earside? seems to me that on the outside makes more sense.

I'd venture to say it's to make sure the membrane does not suffer from drop in emag field strength on the positive impulses - drum kick for instance where you expect the largest membrane displacement.
 
Now, that does not save you for sinusoidal signals but Joe from JPS Labs (the first to implement an asymmetric magnet arrangement - quite a bold move) was saying the potential non-linearities from one-sided magnet array are bit blown out of proportion considering the maximum membrane displacements relative to the emag field depth. Considering how much praise the Abyss got for its bass output (where you'd expect the largest distortion), one could presume Joe was probably more right than wrong and Hifiman / Audeze are now following suit to produce  lighter transducers.
 
Now, the EL-8 design is so much cooler and more professional / industrial looking than all the other ortho competitors, can't say Audeze has been sleeping in the past year .
 
Arnaud

 

[Nomad Girl]

If these headphones sound as amazing as the rest of the Audezes, I'd wear a wood veneer jumpsuit (IN PUBLIC) just so I could match my fantastic awesome new headphones lol now...about the price...that's my deal breaker....how much are they???

 

[Somphon]

  i dont care what my headphones look like - who cares about the veneer? otherwise id wear beats by dre like every other teenager. 
 
If i cared about looks i wouldnt own the LCD3s for a start.  Just give me the price and specs....

 
 
LOL!
 
I'm (along with thousands of people here) wonder what it will sounds like. I'm sure we'll know soon enough. 
To contribute to the speculations I would say it aimed at wider market = less expensive than the LCD line, more portable, probably younger market as well - pretty much what most seems to speculate.
 
My only hope is that it does not sound better than my 4 months LCD-3!