[Currawong]

Guessing most people would choose susvara over d8k pro.

I think it'd depend on the system set-up. With the right amp, the Susvaras are incredibly exciting to listen with. But the D8000 Pro is easier to find a good amp for, not being as demanding.

I'm lucky in that I have two great systems for the D8000 Pro:

Hugo 2 → Moon Audio Silver Dragon ICs → ALO Audio Studio Six (2C51 with adaptor, Brimar 6V6GT, Mullard metal plate rectifier)
Schiit Yggdrasil → Van Den Hul The Mountain ICs → Audio-gd Master 9

Direct from the Hugo 2 is also great.

 

[smodtactical]

I think it'd depend on the system set-up. With the right amp, the Susvaras are incredibly exciting to listen with. But the D8000 Pro is easier to find a good amp for, not being as demanding.

I'm lucky in that I have two great systems for the D8000 Pro:

Hugo 2 → Moon Audio Silver Dragon ICs → ALO Audio Studio Six (2C51 with adaptor, Brimar 6V6GT, Mullard metal plate rectifier)
Schiit Yggdrasil → Van Den Hul The Mountain ICs → Audio-gd Master 9

Direct from the Hugo 2 is also great.

Hey CW. How did you get past the fit issues of the d8k pro giving you a headache ?

I got he9 and pass x350.8 so excited to try susvara and d8k pro. The best headphone sound I ever heard was a d8k OG out of a hugo 2.

 

[Currawong]

The D8000 Pros aren't as comfortable as either the Utopias or Empyreans, but they don't give me a headache.

 

[lafeuill]

After more than a week listening to the D8000 Pro, I'm sold. Love them.

But.

I encountered the 'bass problem' that some have described in this thread. With bass heavy mixes, there's contact between the membrane and the perforated metal plates in front of the magnets.

The whole purpose of the AFDS seems to be defeated when reaching a certain volume. Unfortunately, in my case scenario, a Lotoo PAW Gold on high gain at 60 (75 is the max) is enough to generate the issue. Not a weakling, the LPG. But not a powerplant either.

An example of tracks triggering the issue is the first one of Blade Runner 2049 OST. I captured the sonic result for those of you owning the Pros and not keen on pushing them.

click here to view (won't play with some vpn active)​

I used a Yamaha PR7 with a 45/60 REC level @ 24bit/96kHz. Saturation is not due to the recording. Here's the waveform to demonstrate.

What puzzles me is that after reading the whole thread, whether D8000 or D8000 Pros, some have the problem and some don't. But some of those who don't clearly specify that they listen to bass heavy music such as dub at loud volumes and even EQ adding 4dB to the lower end, which is huge.

Another incoherency is that the Pros are advertised by the makers likeso :

Differences in sound quality between the D8000 and D8000 Pro Edition
The D8000 Pro Edition is a new product that leaves the delicate sound quality of the D8000 intact and has undergone retuning of driver units which adopt the Air Film Damping System (AFDS) in accordance with actual use for professional sound recordings upon the request of recording engineers who wish to listen at louder sound volumes than ordinary consumers. As a result of the new tuning, which takes into consideration the human auditory characteristic by which low frequency range becomes easier to hear as volume increases, the D8000 Pro Edition provides sound quality perceived to be of higher clarity when listening to rock, pops and other selections featuring a narrow dynamic range in contrast to the D8000, which is suitable particularly for classical music and other selections that feature a wide dynamic range. The following figure shows the difference in sound quality tendencies between the D8000 and the D8000 Pro Edition.

There's no way a redbook mastering of a movie soundtrack played straight (no EQ, ATE...) with an LPG should make a set of pro headphones go bonkers.

The problem occurs at a volume that is by no means ear-splitting. It is loud, but below my usual max level. The D8000 Pro I tested is a first hand set, low usage, carefully handled by a good friend who listens at low volume and was thus unaware of the problem.

The headphones are going back to Japan for inspection. It would be very useful to have as much feedback from you guys as possible for @Final Audio to be aware of a potential malfunction of these otherwise fantastic cans.

Please contact me if you need samples to test yours. Thank you all.

LINKS to previous posts addressing this issue (still updating)
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/final-audio-d8000-planar-magnetic-headphone.845567/post-14857363 (and following)
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/final-audio-d8000-planar-magnetic-headphone.845567/post-14858863 (and following)
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/final-audio-d8000-planar-magnetic-headphone.845567/post-15959691 (and following)
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/final-audio-d8000-planar-magnetic-headphone.845567/post-15970596

 

[Tekunda]

After more than a week listening to the D8000 Pro, I'm sold. Love them.

But.

I encountered the 'bass problem' that some have described in this thread. With bass heavy mixes, there's contact between the membrane and the perforated metal plates in front of the magnets.

The whole purpose of the AFDS seems to be defeated when reaching a certain volume. Unfortunately, in my case scenario, a Lotoo PAW Gold on high gain at 60 (75 is the max) is enough to generate the issue. Not a weakling, the LPG. But not a powerplant either.

An example of tracks triggering the issue is the first one of Blade Runner 2049 OST. I captured the sonic result for those of you owning the Pros and not keen on pushing them.

click here to view (won't play with some vpn active)​

I used a Yamaha PR7 with a 45/60 REC level @ 24bit/96kHz. Saturation is not due to the recording. Here's the waveform to demonstrate.



What puzzles me is that after reading the whole thread, whether D8000 or D8000 Pros, some have the problem and some don't. But some of those who don't clearly specify that they listen to bass heavy music such as dub at loud volumes and even EQ adding 4dB to the lower end, which is huge.

Another incoherency is that the Pros are advertised by the makers likeso :


There's no way a redbook mastering of a movie soundtrack played straight (no EQ, ATE...) with an LPG should make a set of pro headphones go bonkers.

The problem occurs at a volume that is by no means ear-splitting. It is loud, but below my usual max level. The D8000 Pro I tested is a first hand set, low usage, carefully handled by a good friend who listens at low volume and was thus unaware of the problem.

The headphones are going back to Japan for inspection. It would be very useful to have as much feedback from you guys as possible for @Final Audio to be aware of a potential malfunction of these otherwise fantastic cans.

Please contact me if you need samples to test yours. Thank you all.

LINKS to previous posts addressing this issue (still updating)
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/final-audio-d8000-planar-magnetic-headphone.845567/post-14857363 (and following)
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/final-audio-d8000-planar-magnetic-headphone.845567/post-14858863 (and following)
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/final-audio-d8000-planar-magnetic-headphone.845567/post-15959691 (and following)
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/final-audio-d8000-planar-magnetic-headphone.845567/post-15970596

Please give us the name of the song and a time stamp, when exactly the bass issues show up.

 

[lafeuill]

Blade Runner 2049 OST, track 1, right at the start. And then throughout the last third of the track.

@Tekunda
YGPM

 

[jmills8]

Blade Runner 2049 OST, track 1

@Tekunda
YGPM

If you hear this issue on more than one track then exchange it. I play a lot of bass music and I eq for more bass with no issues.

 

[lafeuill]

Thank you for your testimony.

As soon as there's subbass aplenty, the problem occurs. Many examples.

Here's another one :
track : Pour, by recondite

Low to medium volume ok, but push it a bit more and it occurs.

 

[jwbrent]

Thank you for your testimony.

As soon as there's subbass aplenty, the problem occurs. Many examples.

Here's another one :
track : Pour, by recondite

Low to medium volume ok, but push it a bit more and it occurs.

Sorry to hear about your experience with your Pro. I had the same problem with my D8000 and final replaced it. I can still get the bass to distort if I listen loudly with bass emphasized tracks.

I’ve learned to listen at lower levels when I use my D8000 so the problem doesn’t occur, good for my ear health as well.

 

[Bonddam]

I use to have D8000pro and the problem was only in one ear. Think I should have bought the D8000 version.

 

[Tekunda]

Blade Runner 2049 OST, track 1, right at the start. And then throughout the last third of the track.

@Tekunda
YGPM

I could cleary hear the rattle in your example file but not with my Final D8k Pros.
I even equed a 4dB raise from 10Hz to 85Hz but both of the songs you mentioned play fine, even when turning up the volume. You clearly must have a defective unit. I hope very much that Final will sort things out.

 

[lafeuill]

Thanks for conducting the test @Tekunda , and @jwbrent & @Bonddam for your feedback.

 

[Currawong]

I tried the Bladerunner 2049 soundtrack and my pair seems to have the problem on one side as well.

 

[silversurfer616]

I don’t have it but then again...I only went to 11 on my GSX-mini...the music is too scary to get higher on the volume knob!

 

[lafeuill]

I don’t have it but then again...I only went to 11 on my GSX-mini...the music is too scary to get higher on the volume knob!

Sorry about that

I tried the Bladerunner 2049 soundtrack and my pair seems to have the problem on one side as well.

Thank you very much. First time you encounter the issue ? I tend to think that @jwbrent has been right all along in that it's a conception limitation. Those who don't notice it either benefit from unit variation or don't push the volume high enough, I'm guessing.