[ScornDefeat]

Now you need to put some Obituary on them. By the way I just saw lately a movie with an american football team and understood your avatar. LOL

You know my comparison write-up will sure include Chopped in Half .

My avatar is from an american hockey team....but that's essentially football on ice, right?

With stock pads I thought the D8000 was at least competitive with any open-back planars I'd heard/owned up to that time (a fairly long list); with the "G" pads the bass got even better and now IMO this is easily the best all-rounder of any planars I've heard.*

Sorry to hear about your medical issue, hopefully you're getting well and recovering from that! The Caldera is certainly one of the more intriguing options in the market right now and also something I'm excited to finally hear (CanJam NYC).

I echo your sentiments on the D8000 Original; the dynamism, clean bass, resolution yet musicality was something nothing else has quite matched for me. I also tried them with the G Type Pads and found, like you did, that it added some bass presence.

A dream of mine now is being able to directly compare the D8K OG, D8K Pro and D8K Pro LE in a single session lol. But that won't be easy to pull off, so I'll settle for comparing LE to 1266 TC for now lol.

 

[Pharmaboy]

You know my comparison write-up will sure include Chopped in Half .

My avatar is from an american hockey team....but that's essentially football on ice, right?



Sorry to hear about your medical issue, hopefully you're getting well and recovering from that! The Caldera is certainly one of the more intriguing options in the market right now and also something I'm excited to finally hear (CanJam NYC).

I echo your sentiments on the D8000 Original; the dynamism, clean bass, resolution yet musicality was something nothing else has quite matched for me. I also tried them with the G Type Pads and found, like you did, that it added some bass presence.

A dream of mine now is being able to directly compare the D8K OG, D8K Pro and D8K Pro LE in a single session lol. But that won't be easy to pull off, so I'll settle for comparing LE to 1266 TC for now lol.

I like your dream!

I'd settle for comparing my D8K to the Meze Elite (had the OG Empyrean & sold it; heard the Elite last year & liked it) and of course, the Caldara.

I'd put the T+A Solitaire on that list, but at least for me, it's not a real-world (the price is bonkers).

 

[vonBaron]

D8K are not even close to 1266 TC smh...

 

[ScornDefeat]

D8K are not even close to 1266 TC smh...

I've owned D8K OG and 1266 TC and disagree with that assertion that it's "not even close." I'll test it again with D8K Pro LE.

Your absolutist statements are a bit antithetical to the subjectivist nature of this hobby, wouldn't you say lol?

 

[Tano]

I've owned D8K OG and 1266 TC and disagree with that assertion that it's "not even close." I'll test it again with D8K Pro LE.

Your absolutist statements are a bit antithetical to the subjectivist nature of this hobby, wouldn't you say lol?

Coulnd't say it better.
Not only the sound is objective, but also the comfort, design etc...

 

[Slim1970]

I've owned D8K OG and 1266 TC and disagree with that assertion that it's "not even close." I'll test it again with D8K Pro LE.

Your absolutist statements are a bit antithetical to the subjectivist nature of this hobby, wouldn't you say lol?

Fully agree with you. The AB-1266 Phi TC's are not perfect and have their own issues. I've owned the last two iterations of them and can attest that nothing sounds or performs like them, but every headphone isn't trying to. The D8K Pro's absolutely can compete with the TC's in my opinion. In my system, the D8K Pro's did some things better, especially in the midrange where music lives. The D8K Pro's may not have the bass output of the TC's, but it's better defined, more layered and is by no means a slouch. There are no absolutes in our hobby. It's all subjective as everyone hears differently. I also think there is no such thing as endgame, but that's just me

 

[adrianm]

Curious, can the D8k LE still be found in Europe? I've had no luck with the one dealer i've found. Sold out.

 

[ScornDefeat]

The D8K Pro's may not have the bass output of the TC's, but it's better defined, more layered and is by no means a slouch. There are no absolutes in our hobby. It's all subjective as everyone hears differently. I also think there is no such thing as endgame, but that's just me

Absolutely concur with your last statement; I think part of the joy of this hobby is that there's never an end-game, there is always something to explore, old and new, and tastes change and progress over time, as well. On top of that, different things offer different values; as you noted, the 1266 TC has qualities some other headphones just cannot match (that bass impact is otherworldly!), but it has some deficiencies, as well. It's not remotely perfect, especially in its physical design, but it is definitely up there at the apex.

There are many times I prefer just using my ADX5000 over my 1266 TC, and now bringing D8K back into the fold, I suspect I might use the D8K more than either; as you said, there is no end game, there is no one perfect solution.

 

[Tano]

Curious, can the D8k LE still be found in Europe? I've had no luck with the one dealer i've found. Sold out.

Looks like it's still avalaible here
https://www.headonist.fr/products/d8000-pro-le

 

[adrianm]

Looks like it's still avalaible here
https://www.headonist.fr/products/d8000-pro-le

Oh nice, they even have the new Yamahas....that's going to be a touch choice.

 

[Tano]

Oh nice, they even have the new Yamahas....that's going to be a touch choice.

Haha yeah. Im really interested in the Yamahas too, but cannot afford them, sadly.
There's gonna be a non limited edition Yamaha soon that would be cheaper. So hopefully id get one used in the future at a decent price.

 

[betula]

Looks like it's still avalaible here
https://www.headonist.fr/products/d8000-pro-le

What a fitting store name for this hobby!

 

[adrianm]

I like your dream!

I'd settle for comparing my D8K to the Meze Elite (had the OG Empyrean & sold it; heard the Elite last year & liked it) and of course, the Caldara.

I'd put the T+A Solitaire on that list, but at least for me, it's not a real-world (the price is bonkers).

I'd settle for comparing the Meze Elite to the D8k Pro LE to see if it's actually an upgrade

 

[adrianm]

Haha yeah. Im really interested in the Yamahas too, but cannot afford them, sadly.
There's gonna be a non limited edition Yamaha soon that would be cheaper. So hopefully id get one used in the future at a decent price.

Oh there is no way I'm paying that sticker price. Plan is to get the non special edition straight from Japan at less than half that price. A bit of a gamble on the warranty though.

 

[adrianm]

Was good to be able to compare Final D8000 Pro and D8000 Pro Limited Edition side by side again. Hadn't done that since Munich. There's definitely a difference and more pronounced than I remember. D8000 Limited is slightly more technically proficient than the D8000 Pro, whilst also being a little less analytical in the treble. It's a bit more natural overall.

It's sort of like if you took the D8000 Pro, added ~10% detail, and then nudged the tuning slightly toward the original D8000. It's definitely my favourite of the three. How much of it is the pads and how much is the headphone itself I'm not sure. One person found that the D8000 Limited goes louder without clipping so it does seem that there may have been some slight adjustments to the driver or damping but in any case, it's a gorgeous headphone.
(Photo of both headphones taken by Alan Yuen aka @MasterZen , D8000 Limited closeup taken by me)

Any comparison to the Elite, Susvara, other flagships?