[gazzington]

Hey everyone. Does anyone have a link to good balanced cable for the a8000. Also where would I get more dust filters from?

 

[Somatic]

Just listened to Kind of Blue - Miles Davis using the Dave. A8000 do a great job in depicting the realness of the instruments. Pretty cool.

Edit:
Timbre of the instruments were perfect. I ended having a euphoric music high for several minutes. Tear went down one eye. F c kin amazing.

 

[Alex92]

Which cable for A8000 reproduces the largest music scene?
What's better CEMA Pipa оr EFFECT AUDIO Lionheart / 4wire

 

[Somatic]

Anyone using pure silver cable with the A8000? I used to want a copper cable with my old chain as it sounded on the edge of sibilance. Recently I'm running Chord Dave and Farad3 upgrade. With the LPS installed it makes things sound a lot more analog and smooth. All details are there but sibilance is all gone. Trying to get a bit of the edge back with 100% silver cable. Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[Somatic]

So, some impressions if anyone is interested :

Compared to Odin (battling a God) :
Odin is just a better performing iem, but Odin performs betters than pretty much anything else, at least for me. Having said that, they trade blows in my setup. I started with putting A8k on sale, a few things happened and they are not on sale anymore ... let me explain.

While Odin is technically a better, faster, more precise iem with a better sound stage, imaging, texture, bass precission, mids, highs ... A8k is not that far behind on it's own, and it bests Odin in 2 things : natural and effortless presentation and sub bass slam. The bass on A8k is a lot more loose (or maybe on the Odin is just a lot more tight), but the effortless and natural sounding slam of A8k will make anyone who likes deep and thundering bass smile. Now for the effortless presentation, it's less precise than the Odin which I find laser sharp, but Odin feels really tightly tuned and calculated, while A8k sounds more natural and effortless ... I'm probably repeating myself at this point

And then there is running A8k from tubes ... which I will get to more at the end.

Compared to Utopia :
It's the same setup, and it has much the same traits as the Utopia. Same effortless speed, same levels of detail (mind you Odin is better, there I said it, to my ears Odin is a step up in detail from Focal Utopia ... take it with a grain of salt, your milage may vary but for me it's acutally quite a bit better especially in bass precision and midrange) ... anyway, A8k I find to be on the level of Utopia which is no surprise give the tech. For me personally A8k is a better Utopia, both objectively and subjectively ... the objective part only applies if you're after harman curve tunning and sub bass presence ... the subjective is that for me it's quite a bit smoother all around than the Utopia, and I prefer the harman curve. It also has a very similar staging (relatively small but deep) and imaging to Utopia (precise and sharp).

I recently sold my Utopia, I really love this headphone, we had a love hate relationship, but it's one of the very few sets I would buy again. I was going to sell the A8k because Odin, but ... I got my hands on a HA6a tube amp in the meantime.

Tubes :
I also got my hands on a tube amp in the meantime ... and while for some sets it doesn't make a huge difference (like for Odin, it does a bit obv but not massive) on a dynamic driver iem it makes a HUGE difference to the sound stage and presentation. What was already effortless and natural is even more natural, to a point where it feels organic ... as cliche as it sounds ... soundstage expands ... probably about x2.5 times ... and turns into a proper out of head experience ... and the bass ... the bass just thunders. It's not a technical listen, but it is hugely enjoybale, like a good vinyl : )

So ... the moral of the story is, Odin is a better set (no suprises), but A8k has some really unique traits, and on Tubes I would say it bests Odin, and most things I've heard ... it is spectacular on tubes! This is a true endgame setup.

Downside :
The only real downside I've found is that on really complex and highly compressed tracks with a load of bass the single driver setup will find it's limits ... but ... those are very very few and far between. I'm talking really extreme drum and bass here, or acousic ensables with huge dynamic range, bass hits overlayed with complex passages, that sort of thing. It's really hard to find those limits, but I have to mention it here.

All in all, my A8k is no longer for sale, and I doubt it ever will be to be honest after hearing it on tubes. Plus I love how the set looks and feels! The build and feel is trully excellent!

Have you tried adding some Master or Ultimate Lavricables to the A8000? Wondering how this paring would be .... thanks .

 

[Infoseeker]

Been using the A8000 with my desktop amp, but with the gimmick of my iFi Gryphon as the source.

This is quite the nice combo for a bass boost. No need to apply the Gryphon's extra Presence-boost cause it already has a big ear gain.

Fun combo.

 

[jwbrent]

Hey guys, I’m selling my final Shichiku.Kangen for $1,350 down from $2,900. This is the special edition A8000 with better mid-bass and slightly warmer trebles. Please message me if interested.

 

[NickL33]

Recieve New Azla Max tips.

I match A8000 amazingly.

Early impression it reduce the hot highs and push vocal foward and increase lower mids by touch without sacrifice the transparency and speed of the driver

 

[JayF]

Recieve New Azla Max tips.

I match A8000 amazingly.

Early impression it reduce the hot highs and push vocal foward and increase lower mids by touch without sacrifice the transparency and speed of the driver

What is the full name of the tips or the model number? Several options popped up when i did a Google search. Thanks!

 

[NickL33]

https://store.azla.co.kr/collections/sednaearfit-series/products/sednaearfit-max-standard

 

[Infoseeker]

Recieve New Azla Max tips.

I match A8000 amazingly.

Early impression it reduce the hot highs and push vocal foward and increase lower mids by touch without sacrifice the transparency and speed of the driver

That sounds like a similar change of increasing the nozzle impedance. Similar to using smaller bore tips.

Or adding a second mesh filter in front of the nozzle.

Which this Azla Max tip seems to accomplish both. Having a quirky silicone filter and seems the bore is small.

 

[JayF]

https://store.azla.co.kr/collections/sednaearfit-series/products/sednaearfit-max-standard

Thank you, will give them a try.

 

[tunes]

https://store.azla.co.kr/collections/sednaearfit-series/products/sednaearfit-max-standard

How do you know what size to order??

 

[NickL33]

How do you know what size to order??

I order base on my e tips ear size as guide and order set of 3 in which my size is MS/M/ML

 

[NickL33]

That sounds like a similar change of increasing the nozzle impedance. Similar to using smaller bore tips.

Or adding a second mesh filter in front of the nozzle.

Which this Azla Max tip seems to accomplish both. Having a quirky silicone filter and seems the bore is small.

Yes, it seems like it