[Ubetit]

Anyone heard or have any input about the B&O earphones. We have a new store by us that carries them and they look promising, but B&O stuff often sounds horrible.

 

[mcbiff]

From what I've heard/read they really do sound quite awful. Certainly not worth the money at least.

 

[KR...]

Quote:

they look promising, but B&O stuff often sounds horrible.

You nailed it right on the head, nothing but bad reviews. Stay far away and get some real headphones.

 

[dlorde]

It continues to amaze me how many people post 'opinions' based on hearsay. I wonder how many of these people have actually listened to these earphones. I realise there are some differing opinions on these earphones, but uninformed comment is no use to anyone.

I will repost what I posted on HeadWize.com in response to this question:

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I have a pair of the B&O A8 earphones, and I'm very happy with them. I was previously using Sony MDR E888 buds, and I find the A8s are more neutral and more detailed, which I prefer. They are a bit light on the very low bass, but that's small transducers for you - only canal phones like the Etymotic can really do justice to deep bass with small transducers.
One point to bear in mind is that a good proportion of the price must be tied up in the precision engineered turned aluminum and rubber skeleton frames. When I bought them, the adjustable comfort and practicality of these frames was a deciding factor - I wanted earphones that I could wear on the move, that wouldn't pull or drop out, and that I could wear for hours without discomfort. These frames do exactly that for me. A superb design, in my view.

On first listening, I found the sound to be very bright and sibilant, but now I've had them about 3 months, used about 3 hours a day, I find them very well balanced, the bass seems to have improved, and the detail is excellent. I don't know whether it's a question of burn-in, or my own mental adjustment. I recently bought a pair of Etymotic ER4P canal earphones as a reference, and to my ears, the A8 have the same neutral balance, although obviously lacking in detail and veiled in comparison.

If you look back through the posts here (or search for Bang & Olufsem and A8) you will find recent comparisons I have made, and discussions that followed, with some (friendly) difference in opinions. You will also find some very negative opinions of the A8. My good opinions of them seem to be in a minority here, although I'm not convinced that everyone who has dissed them has actually heard them.

Given that my opinion seems to be in a minority here, I could point you to some other reviews (http://www.communique.qut.edu.au/cybercentral/new%20technolgy.htm, http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-5EA2-16624E26-3A35D1F5-prod4, http://www.danchan.com/feature/2000/10/30/bno/bno.htm), but ultimately, it's your ears that will be listening, so make your own judgement.

If you can, take your favourite/most demanding music along (with your mobile player if that's how you listen), and give them a good workout. The A8s are very adjustable, and it takes a little time to get them right so that the transducers sit in just the right position and all is comfortable, but once adjusted, they stay that way and are extremely comfortable. They are quite sensitive to being positioned correctly, so don't rush it the first time.

They're expensive, but for me they are just right. I prefer them to the Sony E888s but you may not.

You'll only find out if you give them a try, and let us know the result - I for one am very curious to know what you think.

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Sorry that those URL links aren't clickable, but they get screwed up if they're parsed as URLs here.

 

[coolvij]

dave - you intrigue me......however, you said that the A8s have the same neutral balance as your Ety 4Ps - some (coughVERTIGOcough) say the balance of the 4Ps is WORSE than the ~$40 Sony EX70s! Hmm....

 

[dlorde]

coolvij - people say all kinds of things. Have you compared the ER4Ps with the EX70s?

Have you heard the ER4Ps at all?

 

[MacDEF]

I have listened to the A8s. They're not in the same class as the Etys IMO. I would spend $20 on the Sennheiser MX-500, or $30 on the Koss KSC-35, and save myself lots of money. The A8 look great, but I don't find them to be very good audio devices.

My opinion, of course.

 

[livingplasma]

I personally DO NOT THINK SO!

I find my 4P's to only be slightly tilted towards the bass because of it's slightly lowered upper midrange to treble (compared to when using the 4P to 4S adaptor to get a frequency response like the 4S). With an amp, the 4S's bass to lower midrange response sounds just like the 4P's to me, but better balanced by the upper mids to treble. MY EX-70's on the other hand have too much bass, a cold midrange (not enough lower midrange) and treble which has some irritating peaks. Granted I haven't done any more tape and foam mod adjustments on them, but even when I was I could never tame the treble peaks without making the sound totally dull.

 

[coolvij]

ask vertigo

personally, I don't care - If i went with Etys, I'd get 4S....

 

[Vertigo-1]

I concur with my feelings on the Ety 4P...IMHO, they sound like a pair of 888s that have been burning in from some power amp at maximum volume nonstop for a year. After owning the 4Ps for about 4-5 months, they just gradually turned into something that had lots of midrange, lot's of lower midrange, lots of tight bass, and no treble. And yes I swapped the filters. I even removed the filters, and while improving the treble a bit, it still wasn't enough. Even my 888s, pads and all without any mods, had more treble than them. And sounded more pleasant to boot.

With that said, it's no surprise I find the leaner sound of the EX70s to be "better balanced" than the 4Ps, once the tape mod has been applied. At least there's some highs to speak of, along with a clean midrange, and nice bass. I love my 4S, as those have the balance just right, but I dunno about the 4Ps.

As usual, read my sig.

 

[dlorde]

MacDEF - I certainly agree, the A8s are not in the same class as the Etys. However, I think they're better (closer to the Etys) than any of the other earbuds I've used. But then I think the stock buds that came with my Sony minidisc recorder are better than the E888s, so what do I know?

Interestingly, from people who've said they actually listened to the A8s, I've seen only a few adverse comments, and many extremely positive comments (from people who've previously owned decent headphones). This suggests that there's a good chance that a new user will find the A8s to their liking. People seem to either love them or hate them.

Vertigo-1 - my Ety 4P sound absolutely nothing like my 888s and have far better treble and highs. I doubt that variation between different pairs of ER4Ps and 888s is sufficient to account for the differences in opinions expressed about them. I suspect the variation between individuals (physiological and psychological) outweighs the variations between supposedly identical model transducers (unless they've been modified of course).

YMMV.

 

[Vertigo-1]

I'm thinking my pair of 4Ps may have just been very well burnt in. Perhaps a bit too well burnt in.

 

[dlorde]

Vertigo-1 - I suppose it's possible, although I'd have thought the Etys were typically less susceptible to that kind of damage or degradation in normal use because they isolate so well they don't really need the high volumes other ear buds need... OTOH they are highly sensitive instruments - perhaps they got one too many accidental blasts of high volume?

I have to say that most of my listening to and assessment of these ear phones has been done with portable sources (minidisc, CD, MP3 player) which have a noticeably different balance to my (better quality) static home kit, so it wouldn't surprise me if there was some difference between my assessment and others based on higher quality sources.

 

[Ubetit]

I finally listened to the B&Os yesterday. I'd like to spend more time with them because they are comfortable. The problem is that they don't sound the best to me when they are the most comfortable and vice versa. When they were comfortable they sounded thin to me, but I need more time and music to decide.

 

[dhwilkin]

Well, I'll throw my vote in w/ the camp that believes Etys have nicely balanced highs. They certainly have more than my 580s, that's for sure!

Now is there any common store (i.e. Circuit City, etc...) that would carry the A8, so I can give it a try?