[Aero Dynamik]

I’m not sure about the design. It looks too sophisticated; more like a premium car than a device for high fidelity sound. Definitely not designed for Head-Fi’ers but for people who what to look like they know something about sound. And no offense Jude, but you look like… I don’t know… like a Teletubby in it (I probably would too, so nothing personal).

​

Anyway, if it sounds really good I’m all for it. I might even pick up pair (despite their looks). The LCDs on the other hand look the way hi fidelity phones should look.

 

[Stillhart]

   
 
Can you really hear the subtleties of a $700 headphone on a bus though?  

 
If it's got good isolation you can.  
 
But I agree, if I were wearing them on a bus, I'd rather have CIEM's for the same price.  They're less obviously expensive (very important!) and they are more likely to isolate better.  And if they do get stolen, you get the satisfaction that they can't use em.  lol

 

[EddieE]

   
 
Can you really hear the subtleties of a $700 headphone on a bus though?  

 
Yep.
 
So long as it isolates outside sound well enough, of course I can. 

 

[EddieE]

   
If it's got good isolation you can.  
 
But I agree, if I were wearing them on a bus, I'd rather have CIEM's for the same price.  They're less obviously expensive (very important!) and they are more likely to isolate better.  And if they do get stolen, you get the satisfaction that they can't use em.  lol

 
I guess their looking less expensive is a good argument for the veneer-less option, but seriously though, no one is going to try and rob me on the commuter bus. 
 
I already have some IEMs I like in the IE800, I'd like a full-sized headphone option of the same or better quality.
 
I have no interest in CIEMs. Over complicated, no resale value and I can't let anyone experience how nice they sound. Part of this hobby is turning other people on to great audio for me. 
 
Universals are the future, and now we are getting genuine high end universals starting to appear I think we are getting closer too that. Still a few advancements needed to get them there, but they will take over.

 

[AxelCloris]

  Just watched the video again and noticed Jude keeps calling it "the E. L. 8"...
 
Was anyone else reading it, and thought it was supposed to be pronounced as "the Elate"?
 
I was!

 
I too read it as "elate" at first. But E.L. makes more sense when you think about the rest of their brand. We call the rest of their line LCD, not El City. But you're right. It's very similar to a drink from the midwest called Ale-8-One (A late one).

 

[Aero Dynamik]

Spoiler: Just to save space

Originally Posted by bassboysam /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 

   
It's all relative isn't it? 
 
Audeze are a high end company, so a $700 Audeze model is welcome. 
 
Every headphone suits different applications and isn't for everyone.
 
For me, I spend an hour every morning and an hour every evening sat on a bus going to and from work. That's one of the key times I get to sit with myself and enjoy music these days, and listen pretty much exclusively through speakers when at home, so quality portable products are always on my radar. It doesn't matter how big they are, I'm ultimately going to be sitting in a seat with them, so long as they isolate and sound good they tick my boxes.
 
Before these showed up I was about to pull the trigger on some JH Audio Roxanne universals to offer some listening options alongside my IE800. 
 
These are cheaper than they would have been and offer a genuine different option in form and function to another set of IEMs, so if the closed ones turn out to the good for me, I've saved some money going for them.

 

 
 
Can you really hear the subtleties of a $700 headphone on a bus though?  

Sure! A true audiophile can even tell the difference between a FLAC file and an Apple Lossless file standing next to a freight-liner passing by! Well, seriously, if you go for the closed version, the volume isn't too low, and the buss isn't too noisy you probably could. I might pick this up (the open version, that is) but I wouldn't be too surprised if it ends up as a classified on Head-Fi. Not because I think or expect it to be bad sounding, but because I get such great fidelity out of my old reliable Sennheiser HD650 at half the price (or so) and my Carbo Tenore (for $ 38 on Amazon).

 

[Stillhart]

   
I too read it as "elate" at first. But E.L. makes more sense when you think about the rest of their brand. We call the rest of their line LCD, not El City. But you're right. It's very similar to a drink from the midwest called Ale-8-One (A late one).

 
Wait, nobody else calls them the "licked too", "licked ex", "licked zic" and "licked three"?

 

[EddieE]

   
Wait, nobody else calls them the "licked too", "licked ex", "licked zic" and "licked three"?

 
They were actually named after a Spanish member of the Audeze team who had a bit of an over-the-top porn habit. They called him El Seedy too.

 

[reiserFS]

It might not look pretty to some people, but at least it looks thousand times better than the HE-1000.

 

[conquerator2]

And it also won't sound anything like it,at many times less the price 

 

[thomascrown]

  It might not look pretty to some people, but at least it looks thousand times better than the HE-1000.

 

[mrip541]

Originally Posted by EddieE /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I have no interest in CIEMs. Over complicated, no resale value and I can't let anyone experience how nice they sound. Part of this hobby is turning other people on to great audio for me. 
 
Universals are the future, and now we are getting genuine high end universals starting to appear I think we are getting closer too that. Still a few advancements needed to get them there, but they will take over.

 
I've had customs going on 3 years now and have no interest in universals. You couldn't pay me to switch back, even if comfort was the only factor considered. Well, you could, but you get the idea.

 

[Neo Zuko]

I watched the video again and I get the impression the these look better in person than in a still picture. However I still think some options for that wood band would go a long way. Black or dark brown leather, metal, other kinds of wood - should satisfy most.

 

[mrip541]

   
If two headphones sounded identical, would you not choose the one you preferred the look of?
 

 
Well yeah, but it seems like some people scratch various headphones off their want list based on looks, which I guess I'm just not on board with. 

 

[EddieE]

   
I've had customs going on 3 years now and have no interest in universals. You couldn't pay me to switch back, even if comfort was the only factor considered. Well, you could, but you get the idea.

 
So it's a bit of a tangent for this thread but I'd like to very quickly explore this:
 
If you had a set of customs, and a set of universals and they were:
 
1) Identical in sound quality
2) Identical in comfort
3) Identical in isolation
 
Why would you not go for the universals?