[EddieE]

  i love how a $700 headphone is now "cheap".  I personally would not wear a $700 headphone out on the street or consider them "portable".  these might be nice to travel with, but if you travel once a year then that's a waste of money.  

 
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.

 

[takato14]

I whipped up another render of the plain black option:

This is the ONLY style of the EL-8 I'd consider buying.

 

[madwolfa]

This is the ONLY style of the EL-8 I'd consider buying.

 
Take note, Audeze!

 

[EddieE]

  Wow sorry for being frank, they are ugly...

 
Even the dark grain?
 

 

 
I find them rather fetching...

 

[lamode]

This is the ONLY style of the EL-8 I'd consider buying.

 
Perhaps you should write to Audeze and let them know. The more people who express a preference for the plain black, the more likely it is to happen!

 

[goldendarko]

Plain black is a little boring to me, if they are supposed to be portable then a little showy and different is perfect to me.

 

[madwolfa]

  Plain black is a little boring to me, if they are supposed to be portable then a little showy and different is perfect to me.

 
They need to offer replaceable "rings" for customization. 

 

[blackwolf1006]

Awesome. I think we are going to see a lot of LCD-X and XC on the for sale section.

 

[mogulmaster]

Looks-wise I think these are above-average; however, I still prefer the classic Audeze design. It's just so unique and nowadays, a bit iconic in the headphone world. Although they are so humungous that they look fairly goofy once on a medium to small sized head.
 
I think they are moving in a good direction with the weight but they have a ways to go. It seems once you get below 400g paired with a suspension design or something, you get the weightless feeling. Which IMO is a part of transparency. Regardless of how transparent a headphone sounds, your attention can still be drawn to the artificial experience of having a heavy object on your head.

 

[akarise]

These are intriguing, especially the closed-back version. I'm a bit worried about the weight though; a can for portable use that's heavier than my desktop cans?? Doesn't seem right. Really curious how they would sound out of just a smartphone though. If they do well, I might just consider it down the road.
 
Personally, I think that wood veneer is just downright ugly. I think one of the main reasons it's not working for me is because the wood grain is horizontal and not vertical; it just doesn't look right. I think the darker veneer with wood grain going vertical, similar to the HE-560, would be decent. I would prefer something like a gunmetal finish though, something not totally black so that it has enough character but still elegant and understated.

 

[Kiwikat]

  Awesome. I think we are going to see a lot of LCD-X and XC on the for sale section.

 
Pfft.  You'll have to pry mine off my cold dead ears.

 

[takato14]

These are intriguing, especially the closed-back version. I'm a bit worried about the weight though; a can for portable use that's heavier than my desktop cans?? Doesn't seem right. Really curious how they would sound out of just a smartphone though. If they do well, I might just consider it down the road.

High weight actually works better for portable because you're moving around more and most likely won't be having them on your head as often as you would at home.

That being said I use my 460g DR-Z7 all day every day and I've never gotten neck pain from it. You can condition yourself to it, especially if the weight distribution is done correctly...

 

[goldendarko]

So it looks like Audeze's sight is down, showing "under maintenance". Hopefully it will be back up soon and with some more information, would really like to know exactly how efficient these are.

 

[EddieE]

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!

 

[goldendarko]

Of course, the Audeze EL-8, pronounced - Odyssey Elate, duh!