[Music Alchemist]

  So true, and there is no "perfect" for everyone anyway, regardless of the price of a headphone someone will always want it brighter or darker.
People are not using high quality digital EQ nearly enough, in my opinion.
I would never pick a headphone based solely on its frequency response, which can be easily corrected in most cases, but instead other factors such as rise time, ringing, distortion, etc.

 
Indeeeed. How a headphone sounds *after* it has been equalized for a balanced frequency response is far more interesting than differences between stock tunings. I'm beginning to think that the material used in the drivers has a huge effect on the sound. I had a headphone with mylar / titanium alloy drivers that sounded so much better than most others it was ridiculous. (It helped that it already had a very neutral sound in the first place.)

 

[HarleyZK]

Can we get back on track about the EL-8 please, this dac discussion seems it is a matter for the sound science sub section.
 
Meanwhile I'll be eagerly awaiting a chance to demo the El-8 closed backs at my local dealer when stock comes in. Has anyone tried using theirs out of the house yet?

 

[money4me247]

Spoiler: sry posted this continuation of the dac discussion after harleyzk's post, hidden for people not interested in the discussion

  Why would that matter to you? I'm not here to convert anyone, just made a general observation that simply ruffled some feathers it seems, won't be the last time I'm afraid.

lol my comment wasn't directed at you. i agree with you that dacs and amplifiers make the least impact on sound quality out of your entire chain. I was curious at kman1211's different dacs to see if I noticed similar jumps with the equipment he was using (need a reference point when talking about improvements). 
 

Typical isn't it, someone describes all dacs as having "negligible" difference and then in the following post goes on to describe actual demo differences between some examples. The misuse of the English language is always regrettable given how much money is involved in niche audio.

It is important to demo for yourself as it is your money and your ears. The problem with audio forums is to weed out the extreme views that exclude nuance.

The opinions that describe a "huge" difference just because there is a new edition outer case made from another metal are probably as unhelpful to buyers as those at the opposite who say buy nothing

 

I never made a claim of negligible as it is a personal decision whether that sort of expenses for subtle sonic changes are worth it to you. LajostheHun did stand by his claim though and stated that the differences were due to file formats rather than his different dacs. I would tend to agree more with LajosthHun's statement than others as within certain price brackets, the differences in dacs are more akin to different subtle sound signature tweaks rather than a drastic jump in sound quality. It is more sensible to save the money for such an investment until after you personally do a direct comparison yourself rather than just believing other people's subjective impressions that may not have been volume controlled and are using different set-ups that give different results. If a person has a $700 pair of EL-8s and goes off to purchasing a $1,500 to $2,000+ dac to scale up or adjust the sound signature to their preferences, I would honestly just recommend investing that money to upgrading or swapping headphones for a more immediate and more drastic change in sound signature and sound quality. ime ymmv.

 
back on topic: i will be receiving a closed back el-8 in late april, so will be writing a comparative review against the pm-3, k553, and alpha primes. (I think those are good reference points for sound performance for closed back headphones at that various price points, may try to get my hands on some other closed headphones if anyone else a good suggestion for closed headphones to use as a reference point).

 

[HarleyZK]

 

Spoiler: sry posted this continuation of the dac discussion after harleyzk's post, hidden for people not interested in the discussion

lol my comment wasn't directed at you. i agree with you that dacs and amplifiers make the least impact on sound quality out of your entire chain. I was curious at kman1211's different dacs to see if I noticed similar jumps with the equipment he was using (need a reference point when talking about improvements). 
 
I never made a claim of negligible as it is a personal decision whether that sort of expenses for subtle sonic changes are worth it to you. LajostheHun did stand by his claim though and stated that the differences were due to file formats rather than his different dacs. I would tend to agree more with LajosthHun's statement than others as within certain price brackets, the differences in dacs are more akin to different subtle sound signature tweaks rather than a drastic jump in sound quality. It is more sensible to save the money for such an investment until after you personally do a direct comparison yourself rather than just believing other people's subjective impressions that may not have been volume controlled and are using different set-ups that give different results. If a person has a $700 pair of EL-8s and goes off to purchasing a $1,500 to $2,000+ dac to scale up or adjust the sound signature to their preferences, I would honestly just recommend investing that money to upgrading or swapping headphones for a more immediate and more drastic change in sound signature and sound quality. ime ymmv.

 
back on topic: i will be receiving a closed back el-8 in late april, so will be writing a comparative review against the pm-3, k553, and alpha primes. (I think those are good reference points for sound performance for closed back headphones at that various price points, may try to get my hands on some other closed headphones if anyone else a good suggestion for closed headphones to use as a reference point).

 
ZMF Blackwood is a good one to check out, they compete well with the Mr Speakers range being also based on the Fostex drivers.

 

[Music Alchemist]

So I am about 70% of the way there to affording the EL-8 Open-Back. Just need a bit more resources.
 
@chowmein83 told me in a private conversation how the HE-400i and EL-8 are fairly similar, but he basically prefers the HE-400i slightly. However, he only heard the pre-production EL-8. If anyone can tell me more about how they think the EL-8 and HE-400i differ, their strengths and weaknesses, and so on, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm asking this because I would probably only be able to get one or the other in the near future. (And I could possibly get the HE-400i almost immediately, but would have to wait longer to get the EL-8.)

 

[Music Alchemist]

  I'm listening to the open EL-8s tonight and some Van Morrison and I am thoroughly impressed by them. I'm thinking like a baby-LCD-X in terms of sound signature. More reference / neutral than warm. But still very engaging and musical with that killer Audeze bass. Comfort is likely the best of any Audeze headphone I've heard and for under $900, I can't recommend a better headphone.

 
What about the HiFiMAN HE-400i and HE-560? Do you feel the EL-8 has better overall sound quality than those two?

 

[gnarlsagan]

What about the HiFiMAN HE-400i and HE-560? Do you feel the EL-8 has better overall sound quality than those two?

To chime in here, I found the 560 to be much more linear than EL-8, with less mid-bass and more forward mids. Treble seems to be a bit too forward on the 560 for some people, but I'm not one of them. It's definitely less forward than the HD800 for example to my ears.

 

[Music Alchemist]

To chime in here, I found the 560 to be much more linear than EL-8, with less mid-bass and more forward mids. Treble seems to be a bit too forward on the 560 for some people, but I'm not one of them. It's definitely less forward than the HD800 for example to my ears.

 
Thanks for the info. So I guess you didn't hear the HE-400i? (That's the one I might get if I don't go for the EL-8 right now.)

 

[Music Alchemist]

I added the product pages for the EL-8 in the Head Gear section, so if anyone wants to publish full-length reviews, add them to your lists, etc., you can do so there.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/audeze-el-8-open-back
http://www.head-fi.org/products/audeze-el-8-closed-back

 

[Music Alchemist]

Meow! ~(=^‥^)_旦~
 
If I don't find enough info about the EL-8 surpassing the HE-400i in one or more areas within the next day or two, I may just go with the HE-400i, since I can get that right now...unless the guy I'm trading with decides to bail. So if anyone out there wants to help me out in time, please do so!
 
猫
祝福

 

[aCuria]

So I am about 70% of the way there to affording the EL-8 Open-Back. Just need a bit more resources.

@chowmein83
told me in a private conversation how the HE-400i and EL-8 are fairly similar, but he basically prefers the HE-400i slightly. However, he only heard the pre-production EL-8. If anyone can tell me more about how they think the EL-8 and HE-400i differ, their strengths and weaknesses, and so on, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm asking this because I would probably only be able to get one or the other in the near future. (And I could possibly get the HE-400i almost immediately, but would have to wait longer to get the EL-8.)

I posted a comparison of the two in this thread. Personally, I found the EL8 open better than the HE400i and it was quite noticeable. (Out of an iPhone, lossless files, amped). The EL8 is also better put together, looks better and has a warmer more engaging signature

To my ears the difference between the HE400i and the HE560 is small. Maybe the HE560 is slightly smoother, but it's really not that noticeable. I would pick the 400i here, for cost reasons. If they looked identical, it would take awhile for me to tell them apart.

For me, the question is open or closed.... I do think the open sounds better, but closed cans tend to be useful in more situations. It would be nice if someone else compared the two EL8s too

 

[Music Alchemist]

I posted a comparison of the two in this thread. Personally, I found the EL8 open better than the HE400i and it was quite noticeable. (Out of an iPhone, lossless files, amped). The EL8 is also better put together, looks better and has a warmer more engaging signature

To my ears the difference between the HE400i and the HE560 is small. Maybe the HE560 is slightly smoother, but it's really not that noticeable. I would pick the 400i here, for cost reasons. If they looked identical, it would take awhile for me to tell them apart.

For me, the question is open or closed.... I do think the open sounds better, but closed cans tend to be useful in more situations. It would be nice if someone else compared the two EL8s too

 
Thanks! But I'm about to finalize the deal to get the HE-400i, so I'll have to get the EL-8 later.

 

[aCuria]

Thanks! But I'm about to finalize the deal to get the HE-400i, so I'll have to get the EL-8 later.

If I owned the 400i I won't be getting an EL8 to, they kinda check the same boxes

 

[Acquire]

Would an EL-8 be a noticeable downgrade from an LCD-2.2 non fazor?  I need something with more comfort and my LCD-2s are just painful at this point. I figure as long as they sound pretty damn similar I'd be ok.  Their comfort looks like it'd be magnitudes better than the LCDs.  I need to be able to listen to these things for hours at a time.  I'd just need to decide between open and closed, probably open since I want more soundstage and I don't need isolation for where I'll be using these.

 

[money4me247]

  Would an EL-8 be a noticeable downgrade from an LCD-2.2 non fazor?  I need something with more comfort and my LCD-2s are just painful at this point. I figure as long as they sound pretty damn similar I'd be ok.  Their comfort looks like it'd be magnitudes better than the LCDs.  I need to be able to listen to these things for hours at a time.  I'd just need to decide between open and closed, probably open since I want more soundstage and I don't need isolation for where I'll be using these.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/754938/planar-pad-for-audeze-hifiman-fostex-t50-rp-modders
 
your comfort issue with the lcd-2 has been fixed. or you can try this. i have both, the lobh mod is nice because it distributes the weight and makes it feel lighter. the seat belt wrap gets rid of the annoying bumpyness of their headbands.