A8 vs K3
Brief blurb, as I'm up way past my bedtime because of working very late trying to catch up. But, while I was working away at the computer, I was doing several hours of listening and going back and forth and then back again.
I keep coming back to the A8 and K3, and it took me quite a bit of listening to be able to verbalize a good comparison. At times, I thought the K3 was may be better, but more times than that, I thought the A8 was better. The bass on both is definitely "felt." The bass is fun and engaging and plays very well to my genre of music; electronic (chillout, melodic progressive, liquid dnb, chillstep, downtempo, etc). However, I found myself getting a little frustrated with the K3.
The highs, although detailed, are just too elevated. Consequently, the A8's highs sounded more realistic and natural. At the same time, the A8 gave me more texture. The soundstage on the K3 was a little bigger, IMO, but everything else was hard to pick out because of those highs.
Finally, I gave in. I brought everything from 2K to 8K down about 2 notches. That's when I found the K3's really shined. Suddenly, there was that potential giant-killer/giant-competitor that I was hoping for. The mids came out and showed me their detail, the instrument separation seemed more spacious, and the lows could flex their biceps. I like them more now, and I can see myself going to them frequently.
I'm not a particularly high-sensitive person, but these are definitely peaking in that range. Its not in a way that's only for an audiophile to appreciate, its in a way that is unnatural. Maybe the K3 isn't consistently so on every unit manufactured (which would be a Quality Control problem), but the ones I have can pierce the skin at times.
The genre makes a big difference though. With electronic, you've got a lot of high-hats and miscellaneous blips and tweets that reoccur in that range. When I put something like Skylar Grey on, with more of a hip-hop sound, the highs don't seem to need tweaked as badly. But, if you've got a lot of highs in your music, be forewarned. If your music mostly is in the low and mids, the highs, when they appear, may seem fun and refreshing to you. However, when Skylar Gray sings a "..so much.." in an emotional moment, that 'S' is very sharp.
Alright, so I am going to back off from the long-winded tirade of the K3 highs. I wish there was a way to permanently adjust a headphone's tuning, because they were just 2db's off in the highs from a phenomenal headphone. Now its a Ferrari with a big dent in the fender. Still looks nice and you'd like to take it for a drive, but you still say 'aw, its too bad that dent is there...' But, if you can EQ just a smidge, then its like taking a plunger and popping that dent right out.
Without the EQ, I'll take the A8. In fact, I may take the A8 anyway, but counting the EQ in the picture, I'm not so sure.