Is the AUD-8X as coherent across the crossover points, between the drivers, as the Miracle, or do the 3 crossover points make themselves known - can you tell where each driver begins and ends, frequency-band-wise?
I've been using the 8X everyday since it arrived and don't sense any cohesions issues in the presentation or between the drivers. In fact, the 8X might be one of the
most cohesive sounding phones (BA or otherwise) that I've heard. Being that this is a pretty complex phone (with a lot of different drivers & multiple crossovers), driver cohesions was one of the first things I looked for. After a lot of listening these last few days, the 8X has a very 'unified' feel as far as presentation.
The soundstage and imaging is excellent.. I find very nice proportionality between the three axes (depth, width, height) and there's ample space & articulate layering between all the instruments that I listening to music feels more like a live experience than some clinical exercise. Personally speaking, my ears often find IEMs that possess poor soundstage (depth/width/height) to actually become
fatiguing over time... this, opposed to those that
just find certain freq. characteristics (i.e. excessive bass, aggressive, harsh treble, and/or uncomfortably bright, boosted upper-mids/treble) as fatiguing. None of this is an issue with the 8X.
I've found the 8X to have a very full, smooth, neutral sound.. though it never comes across as thick, slow, or dull (anywhere in the tuning). The bass capability is simply outstanding. I listen to a lot of liquid drum & bass and the 8X delivers the fast, deep, visceral, low end (that's often found in this genre) with amazing precision, realism, & accuracy. I'd recommend pairing it with a neutral or slightly bright upstream gear. It's got enough warmth and fullness that it doesn't need upstream gear that's going to further those characteristics (unless of course, that's your preference).
Like the the 7X was inspired by the ES5, I wonder if a different phone (aside from the 6X) was the inspiration for the 8X's tuning? Average_Joe might know.. if not, I'll ask Mitch as I'm quite curious. I haven't heard the JH13 but it seems that could be a candidate... though I get the feeling it might be some other phone we haven't mentioned.
I'm also interested trying a few other custom IEMs (while keeping my IEM collection as tidy as possible) so we'll see if I keep the 8X. I certainly like it a lot and given the price, I find very little, if anything to be a glaring weakness. Most of my listening is with my full sized phones (and desktop rig), so I'm more willing to be a little adventurous with my IEM hunt (albeit, in a judicious manner).
