[Arkitecc]

Sorry I misread it haha, I can tell you about Forza cable but they're in EU

What price range are you comfortable with for this cable? Is it balanced? Single-ended? Would you need it to do both?

All those answers would help formulate an answer.

Regardless, you'd have to comb through earlier posts here for pictures of the narrow/body 3.5mm cable jacks that are thin and long enough to work with this headphone (ie, that can evade the cable-locking mechanism). More than likely any cable vendor you go to either won't be aware of the D8000's internal jack construction; or won't have suitable jacks on hand (but can get them).

I have such cables--actually a pair of 6" connector cables that allow me to use Audeze/ZMF style balanced cables with this headphone. But those come from an EU vendor.

Toxic Cables in UK has nice locking plugs that fit perfectly. He a nice guy too, nice cables.

If in the US, Norne and Arctic are 2 that I would highly recommend BUT........they have a long wait time due to high demand, so patience is necessary.

Arctic has a slightly better advantage in terms of communication as Norne has been known to accidentally miss replies as he is a 1 man show as opposed to Arctic who are a duo hahaha

Another vendor that I'd highly recommend is AudioEnvy for their ToneKraft cable. But they are relatively unknown as opposed to the above 2. Though there is a review here that commends it and is regarded to be as good as the Final Silver cable for the D8k.
I had both and they are comparable in terms of sonic signature.

Before I moved on I wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions! I ended up finding who I want to go with, they aren't US based but their work is truly amazing so I plan on going with them anyways haha. Skedra from Viking Weave Cables is who I ended up deciding on.

 

[Benno1988]

A fine choice.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Before I moved on I wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions! I ended up finding who I want to go with, they aren't US based but their work is truly amazing so I plan on going with them anyways haha. Skedra from Viking Weave Cables is who I ended up deciding on.

Congratulations on finding what you want/need.

I'd like to think that Viking Weave also offers high end hair extensions for the Scandinavian market...

 

[Arkitecc]

I've been listening to the D8000 for a handful of days now and I have to say that I am completely floored by it and the quality with which it presents almost any song played through them.

After speaking with a new friend who was selling them I learned that, at least on paper, the D8000 was my ideal sound signature. It wasn't until I actually got them on my head did I realize just how true that was.

Bass - Floored, absolutely floored. The D8000 has in my opinion, the perfect amount of bass. However, the D8000 has more than simple quantity of bass. It's heavy, encompassing, and impactful. I feel it in my chest, particularly on tracks with well implemented kicks and 808s. Infected Mushroom is godlike through these cans. The best part of the D8000's bass is that it doesn't come at the sacrifice of the rest of the frequency range, like is the case with many other cans.

Mids - Mids shine on this set of cans if you ask me. Vocals, both male and female, are buttery smooth, like heavy cream being poured into my ears. I HIGHLY recommend anyone with a set of these to listen to the entire Dreamland album by Glass Animals and thank me later when you have one of the most magical experiences of your life.

Highs - The highs in my opinion present well overall and are not over-emphasized or sibilant. There were only a few tracks where I felt like I would have wanted to EQ just a tad, but ultimately wasn't enough of a problem for me to bother EQing.

All of my listening has been done through the A90/D90 stack, but I have the OOR + HYPSOS stack on the way in addition to a Benchmark DAC3 b that I can't wait to listen to these gorgeous headphones through!

 

[Necro82]

I've been listening to the D8000 for a handful of days now and I have to say that I am completely floored by it and the quality with which it presents almost any song played through them.

After speaking with a new friend who was selling them I learned that, at least on paper, the D8000 was my ideal sound signature. It wasn't until I actually got them on my head did I realize just how true that was.

Bass - Floored, absolutely floored. The D8000 has in my opinion, the perfect amount of bass. However, the D8000 has more than simple quantity of bass. It's heavy, encompassing, and impactful. I feel it in my chest, particularly on tracks with well implemented kicks and 808s. Infected Mushroom is godlike through these cans. The best part of the D8000's bass is that it doesn't come at the sacrifice of the rest of the frequency range, like is the case with many other cans.

Mids - Mids shine on this set of cans if you ask me. Vocals, both male and female, are buttery smooth, like heavy cream being poured into my ears. I HIGHLY recommend anyone with a set of these to listen to the entire Dreamland album by Glass Animals and thank me later when you have one of the most magical experiences of your life.

Highs - The highs in my opinion present well overall and are not over-emphasized or sibilant. There were only a few tracks where I felt like I would have wanted to EQ just a tad, but ultimately wasn't enough of a problem for me to bother EQing.

All of my listening has been done through the A90/D90 stack, but I have the OOR + HYPSOS stack on the way in addition to a Benchmark DAC3 b that I can't wait to listen to these gorgeous headphones through!

Fortunately, You are going to listen the D8000 with something serious. You will be blow away: if the current audition is like you say, with the new chain you will be stunned...

 

[joseG86]

Fortunately, You are going to listen the D8000 with something serious. You will be blow away: if the current audition is like you say, with the new chain you will be stunned...

Agree, A90/D90 is a good setup for the price but won't make justice to D8000

I had it as my very first setup for Arya and Clear and had to sell it the 1st month due to extreme sterile music experience but still, very good for beginners

 

[Necro82]

Agree, A90/D90 is a good setup for the price but won't make justice to D8000

I had it as my very first setup for Arya and Clear and had to sell it the 1st month due to extreme sterile music experience but still, very good for beginners

Totally agree!!

 

[OctavianH]

For me D8000 shines on tubes. I have tried it on TT2 and sounds very good, but when it is amplified on tubes it has an additional level of emotion added to the music. And this does not make it loose technicality. Of course, my amplifier is hybrid, so it does not suffer from the "faults" of classic OTL designs, even if I think amps like Euforia sound very good with it. I also see this D8000 a mixture of planar/dynamic sound but with better bass and more texture and precise sound than on normal dynamic headphones. It sounds organic, natural, fast and if you put it on tubes you just add some life to it. I love it.

 

[Arkitecc]

I've been listening to the D8000 for a handful of days now and I have to say that I am completely floored by it and the quality with which it presents almost any song played through them.

After speaking with a new friend who was selling them I learned that, at least on paper, the D8000 was my ideal sound signature. It wasn't until I actually got them on my head did I realize just how true that was.

Bass - Floored, absolutely floored. The D8000 has in my opinion, the perfect amount of bass. However, the D8000 has more than simple quantity of bass. It's heavy, encompassing, and impactful. I feel it in my chest, particularly on tracks with well implemented kicks and 808s. Infected Mushroom is godlike through these cans. The best part of the D8000's bass is that it doesn't come at the sacrifice of the rest of the frequency range, like is the case with many other cans.

Mids - Mids shine on this set of cans if you ask me. Vocals, both male and female, are buttery smooth, like heavy cream being poured into my ears. I HIGHLY recommend anyone with a set of these to listen to the entire Dreamland album by Glass Animals and thank me later when you have one of the most magical experiences of your life.

Highs - The highs in my opinion present well overall and are not over-emphasized or sibilant. There were only a few tracks where I felt like I would have wanted to EQ just a tad, but ultimately wasn't enough of a problem for me to bother EQing.

All of my listening has been done through the A90/D90 stack, but I have the OOR + HYPSOS stack on the way in addition to a Benchmark DAC3 b that I can't wait to listen to these gorgeous headphones through!

I forgot to say that the previous headphones I was working with were the HiFiMan Arya v2’s. And while the Arya’s do have a much wider stage than the D8000’s do, I feel like you are missing out on a lot of what makes the D8000 so enjoyable with the Arya.

I had heard once someone describe the Arya’s soundstage as a party trick. I honestly forget who I heard that from or I would credit them for it, but after hearing the D8000 I have to agree with them. Arya has great bass extension, and great soundstage, but it’s missing out on a lot of the finer details and liveliness of the D8000 that in my opinion make it a much better experience.

 

[xtr4]

Here's a brief upgrade path that I took for those who are interested.

HEKSE > D8000 - Better bass slam, more natural presentation, slightly better timbre, slightly decreased staging and imaging
D8000 > Solitaire P-SE - Slightly better bass presentation, slightly better timbre when it comes to wind and string instruments, improved staging and imaging

The D8k is great value in the used market but to my ears, the Solitaire P-SE improves on the D8k on the technicalities that matter to me.

 

[betula]

I forgot to say that the previous headphones I was working with were the HiFiMan Arya v2’s. And while the Arya’s do have a much wider stage than the D8000’s do, I feel like you are missing out on a lot of what makes the D8000 so enjoyable with the Arya.

I had heard once someone describe the Arya’s soundstage as a party trick. I honestly forget who I heard that from or I would credit them for it, but after hearing the D8000 I have to agree with them. Arya has great bass extension, and great soundstage, but it’s missing out on a lot of the finer details and liveliness of the D8000 that in my opinion make it a much better experience.

IMO the Arya is a bit overrated. Sure it impresses with the huge (tall) soundstage, but in this arena-like sound presentation you loose out on dynamics, impact, tightness, control, texture, intimacy and so on. I prefer the LCD-X to the Arya. My preference: Arya > LCD-X > Empyrean > D8000 > Elite.

 

[OctavianH]

That's what I call... Finalized.

 

[joseG86]

That's what I call... Finalized.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Here's a brief upgrade path that I took for those who are interested.

HEKSE > D8000 - Better bass slam, more natural presentation, slightly better timbre, slightly decreased staging and imaging
D8000 > Solitaire P-SE - Slightly better bass presentation, slightly better timbre when it comes to wind and string instruments, improved staging and imaging

The D8k is great value in the used market but to my ears, the Solitaire P-SE improves on the D8k on the technicalities that matter to me.

I try not to think about the 2 endgame T+A planars--especially because my preference for tuning would be the very expensive "P" model. I would fully expect either of these to exceed the D8K in some way(s), because that's how it goes in TOTL-land.

(and now I will return to not thinking about T+A planars)

 

[Pharmaboy]

That's what I call... Finalized.

Your cup(s) runneth over...