FullBright1
Headphoneus Supremus
Written for the benefit of anyone who is considering ither of these 2 headphones and wants to know ......
Now...keeping it simple... for the sake of clarity..
I dont think you can find 2 more different sounding headphones.
The He560 is as opposite a sound from the Audeze EL-8O as i could ever dream of comparing.
They are black to white, Ying to Yang, .....incredibly opposite sounds.
Now the fact is, music lives in the midrange but the details live in the treble.
So, THAT is always the give and take, the missing link, the "issue", when listening to and comparing quality sounding headphones that dont quite satisfy.
At the end of the day, if the headphones do not sound really good, then all chatter about depth and soundstage and articulation and amazing bass and so forth, really doesn't matter.
See, if your headphones are articulate, have a wide soundstage, are comfy, but their sound SUCKS, then you have nothing but wasted money strapped to your ears.
So, with this it mind, let me give you some insight regarding these polar opposite but fine sounding headphones, and i'll be brief.
The HE560 is like listening to a laser, or a microscope, as its so clearly designed to be "utter" detail, that it forgets to offer you any musical midrange.
It really has a harsh-ish Grado like treble that is not balanced with enough midrange info so that you get a sense of musicality or beauty when you listen.
You do however get some 3D and one of the most analytical and detailed headphone ever created, and based on that merit alone, the headphone is perhaps worth the money.
Im still debating this over time and i have a real love-hate relationship with this set of headphones, at this time.
So, if you want smooth, or warm, or rich, sound your headphones, then the HE560 offers NONE of this....at all.
Its a trebly spiked ultra detail machine with a nicely "added on" excellent bass response.
And its comfy., and its expensive, and it has a cool cheap wooden wood box that it's shipped in.
To say the HE560 is "thin" in the midrange, is to be very kind indeed.
Now, lets look at the polar opposite sound, = Audeze EL8o.
This headphone is the juicy lush midrange that Fang forgot to include in his HE560s.
The Audeze EL8 has such a BEAUTIFUL and organic analog sound that you can almost forget that the upper frequencies are quite dialed back.
You can almost forget.
But you never quite do.
I have to say that if if were not for the slightly missing high end that reduces these fine cans strictly to the world of the sweet and rich round sound, they would perhaps be the best sounding headphone for $1000, and certainly @ $700 USD they are the most analog sounding you'll find, BUT, the cost to get that sound is that you
lose enough detail in the high end that matters toooo much.
You listen to the Audeze EL8o and you keep thinking...."wow, if it just had more detail, detail, detail, detail....as it sounds so good.""
So, put some of that HE560 extreme detail in the Audeze EL-8o, or put some of that amazingly organic-y analogy mid bliss offered in the EL-8o into the ultra thin mids of the HE560, and THEN in both cases you have a stupendous headphone, perhaps, the best.
But being that this is not the case, you end up with what i consider nearly fatal flaws regarding both cans.
FB1
Now...keeping it simple... for the sake of clarity..
I dont think you can find 2 more different sounding headphones.
The He560 is as opposite a sound from the Audeze EL-8O as i could ever dream of comparing.
They are black to white, Ying to Yang, .....incredibly opposite sounds.
Now the fact is, music lives in the midrange but the details live in the treble.
So, THAT is always the give and take, the missing link, the "issue", when listening to and comparing quality sounding headphones that dont quite satisfy.
At the end of the day, if the headphones do not sound really good, then all chatter about depth and soundstage and articulation and amazing bass and so forth, really doesn't matter.
See, if your headphones are articulate, have a wide soundstage, are comfy, but their sound SUCKS, then you have nothing but wasted money strapped to your ears.
So, with this it mind, let me give you some insight regarding these polar opposite but fine sounding headphones, and i'll be brief.
The HE560 is like listening to a laser, or a microscope, as its so clearly designed to be "utter" detail, that it forgets to offer you any musical midrange.
It really has a harsh-ish Grado like treble that is not balanced with enough midrange info so that you get a sense of musicality or beauty when you listen.
You do however get some 3D and one of the most analytical and detailed headphone ever created, and based on that merit alone, the headphone is perhaps worth the money.
Im still debating this over time and i have a real love-hate relationship with this set of headphones, at this time.
So, if you want smooth, or warm, or rich, sound your headphones, then the HE560 offers NONE of this....at all.
Its a trebly spiked ultra detail machine with a nicely "added on" excellent bass response.
And its comfy., and its expensive, and it has a cool cheap wooden wood box that it's shipped in.
To say the HE560 is "thin" in the midrange, is to be very kind indeed.
Now, lets look at the polar opposite sound, = Audeze EL8o.
This headphone is the juicy lush midrange that Fang forgot to include in his HE560s.
The Audeze EL8 has such a BEAUTIFUL and organic analog sound that you can almost forget that the upper frequencies are quite dialed back.
You can almost forget.
But you never quite do.
I have to say that if if were not for the slightly missing high end that reduces these fine cans strictly to the world of the sweet and rich round sound, they would perhaps be the best sounding headphone for $1000, and certainly @ $700 USD they are the most analog sounding you'll find, BUT, the cost to get that sound is that you
lose enough detail in the high end that matters toooo much.
You listen to the Audeze EL8o and you keep thinking...."wow, if it just had more detail, detail, detail, detail....as it sounds so good.""
So, put some of that HE560 extreme detail in the Audeze EL-8o, or put some of that amazingly organic-y analogy mid bliss offered in the EL-8o into the ultra thin mids of the HE560, and THEN in both cases you have a stupendous headphone, perhaps, the best.
But being that this is not the case, you end up with what i consider nearly fatal flaws regarding both cans.
FB1
