[BobJS]

I have quite a collection I'm pleased with and have no need to even consider this at its apparent price point.

But I don't understand all the griping about costs vs price. Unless the manufacturer is a philanthropic organization, they are doing their shareholders (or owners) a disservice by selling at anything under what the market will bear, barring marketing strategies like loss-leaders, good-will, name brand awareness.

Geez, folks did you forget basic economics and a supply vs demand graph?

If it's priced too high and it can't sell at sufficient numbers, the price will go down.

 

[Whitigir]

Good lord, no. Cost is relative of course, but anyone who says headphones should cost this much, may wish to put things in perspective. To be clear, in the end it is absolutely a personal decision, and I have no doubt that for those who can afford such prices the cost is well worth it. You could take this headphone and lay it down on the hood of a brand new vehicle that incorporates airbags, collision avoidance technology, advanced cabin electronics (there of course are levels of advancement) air-conditioning, a stereo etc. You can arguably get a very nice little vehicle that will last for years, many years under the right circumstances from as little as $18 000 (again yes, I know there are levels).

That new car has so much R&D, testing, licensing fees; it has to be manufactured and has so many materials incorporated, and by way of comparison orders of magnitude more engineering. Then it has to be shipped to the marketplace with various layers of profit through the whole chain. And on top of that, people can earn a living through having a vehicle. So when you consider that perspective, how on earth can this (or any TOTL headphone) comparatively simple machine be called cheap?

I am not saying that it isn't worth the money being asked, that is not for me to decide, it is for those who buy it (and for the record I have no doubt that it will sound spectacular). My point is saying that such a price is cheap requires some pretty amazing mental gymnastics.

Thank you! I agreed with all that you have stated out. Sadly, as a cables can be priced at $4K, any TOTL headphones being released would be full of “shame” isn’t it ?
When comparing between engineering and technology, the complexity goes toward the headphones

So, when a cable can be moved at that price, that is when I said any TOTL headphones being priced like that is Cheap!

The problem for all of us is that …. Even a cable can keep on selling!!! Then the crazy price trend will keep on going

I have quite a collection I'm pleased with and have no need to even consider this at its apparent price point.

But I don't understand all the griping about costs vs price. Unless the manufacturer is a philanthropic organization, they are doing their shareholders (or owners) a disservice by selling at anything under what the market will bear, barring marketing strategies like loss-leaders, good-will, name brand awareness.

Geez, folks did you forget basic economics and a supply vs demand graph?

If it's priced too high and it can't sell at sufficient numbers, the price will go down.

Agreed, supplies/demand !!! The crazy price trend will only stop when the demands stop. Otherwise, expect to see more TOTL being released at 4K and higher

 

[XGeneX88]

I have quite a collection I'm pleased with and have no need to even consider this at its apparent price point.

But I don't understand all the griping about costs vs price. Unless the manufacturer is a philanthropic organization, they are doing their shareholders (or owners) a disservice by selling at anything under what the market will bear, barring marketing strategies like loss-leaders, good-will, name brand awareness.

Geez, folks did you forget basic economics and a supply vs demand graph?

If it's priced too high and it can't sell at sufficient numbers, the price will go down.

I 100% agree with this. As long as people are willing to pay $4000, they would be crazy not to charge it. In fact.. if they sell out in hours... then I would argue they priced it too low and should've priced it significantly higher simply because apparently enough of us audio hobbyists are willing to pay it. Maybe we can even take it a step further.. performance/quality/r&d/cost should no longer even be correlated with product price; only what people are "willing" to pay. As long as you can market it and convince people; you win. We call this the Beats by Dre model . Now let's feed the machine with our money!

 

[Whitigir]

I 100% agree with this. As long as people are willing to pay $4000, they would be crazy not to charge it. In fact.. if they sell out in hours... then I would argue they priced it too low and should've priced it significantly higher simply because apparently enough of us audio hobbyists are willing to pay it. Maybe we can even take it a step further.. performance/quality/r&d/cost should no longer even be correlated with product price; only what people are "willing" to pay. As long as you can market it and convince people; you win. We call this the Beats by Dre model . Now let's feed the machine with our money!

Agreed! May try to fuse with scalpers methodology as well when you are at it

 

[fuhransahis]

As long as you can market it and convince people; you win. We call this the Beats by Dre model . Now let's feed the machine with our money!

This sounds more like the NFT model, NFHP maybe?

 

[AudiophileJargon]

Summit-fi is heating up! CANJAM SOCAL Sep 25-26 2021 here I come!

 

[HeadAmpTeam]

Just wanted to mention we’ve got got units arriving in stock today and available to ship!

 

[musicday]

This one of the very few headphones that I would like to own together with Chord Dave.
It is what I am after.

 

[Undun]

This one of the very few headphones that I would like to own together with Chord Dave.
It is what I am after.

Did you get a chance to hear it? I recall you also had a favorable impression of the SE Master 1, any comparisons?

 

[musicday]

Did you get a chance to hear it? I recall you also had a favorable impression of the SE Master 1, any comparisons?

No, sorry not yet.

 

[Magol79]

Can someone dig up a frequency response graph already..?

 

[macdonjh]

I get what you're saying, but I have to say I'm not seeing a lot of the trickle down effect in personal audio. Where's a cheaper Sennheiser with the HD800 ring radiators? Where's a cheaper Meze with an Empyrean driver? A cheaper ZMF, a cheaper Focal, etc etc. You get where i'm going. I'm not saying it never happens. Actually Dan at DCA does a decent job of taking yesterday's flagship tech and making mid-tier headphones like the Aeon. But it's just not common enough for my tastes. I hope we see more trickle down in the future compared to recent history.

And to stay at least somewhat on topic this is even more reason to attend the socal canjam! Between the Stealth and this, and my desire to test a Stellia, there's a ton of gear i'm dying to try out.

I get you, too. I will keep this short so as not to hijack/ derail this thread. I see quite a bit of trickle down in IEMs. Think about multiple drivers, dynamic drivers, electrostatic drivers, planar drivers. All those fairly new devices are being used with increasing success in less and less expensive IEMs. You mentioned DCA, I think I can add Audeze and HiFiMAN to the list of companies using variations of high-end tech in less expensive head phones. I, personally, wouldn't put ZMF into this group: Zack makes boutique headphones in small quantities so he doesn't make money making things less expensive to increase sales quantity. Now, Sennheiser? I haven't owned a pair since my HD-580 fell apart so I won't comment.

I'm having high hopes for this one! The Empyrean OG to me was perfect for anything but sound. The build and aesthetics, extreme comfort and light weight, and on top of that they are easy to drive too. In terms of sound, I don't hate the dark sound signature but from my short impression, the detail/speed/clarity level is more in line with Arya/Clear and not Utopia/LCD4/HE1000SE/DianaPhi.
If the Elite has technicalities that matches other headphones at this price, then I'd say it's definitely the most competitive of the bunch considering all other factors.

That was hilarious. I know what you mean, but it was hilarious anyway.

I can't make CanJam CA, so I really hope @MezeTeam organizes a tour for these. I like the "planar sound". My long term reference is the HD-500 (I chickened out and failed to buy the original HE-6 when it was available). I've heard the Aeon closed, LCD-X and the Ed-X. I'd love to hear the Empyrean because I'd like to hear what Meze does with planar drivers.

 

[Miniculthero]

I’m tempted to try these out with sp2000. People with the knowledge what are the totl 2.5mm balanced cables, any advice welcome

 

[enb141]

Good lord, no. Cost is relative of course, but anyone who says headphones should cost this much, may wish to put things in perspective. To be clear, in the end it is absolutely a personal decision, and I have no doubt that for those who can afford such prices the cost is well worth it. You could take this headphone and lay it down on the hood of a brand new vehicle that incorporates airbags, collision avoidance technology, advanced cabin electronics (there of course are levels of advancement) air-conditioning, a stereo etc. You can arguably get a very nice little vehicle that will last for years, many years under the right circumstances from as little as $18 000 (again yes, I know there are levels).

That new car has so much R&D, testing, licensing fees; it has to be manufactured and has so many materials incorporated, and by way of comparison orders of magnitude more engineering. Then it has to be shipped to the marketplace with various layers of profit through the whole chain. And on top of that, people can earn a living through having a vehicle. So when you consider that perspective, how on earth can this (or any TOTL headphone) comparatively simple machine be called cheap?

I am not saying that it isn't worth the money being asked, that is not for me to decide, it is for those who buy it (and for the record I have no doubt that it will sound spectacular). My point is saying that such a price is cheap requires some mental gymnastics. And I do know that a full cost analysis of manufacturing an automobile would reveal many hidden costs paid for by tax payers where the vehicles are made, and in that sense my analysis is very simplistic, but I hope the central argument remains sound.

Yes you are talking about cars, but those cars you are talking about are the equivalence of headphones in the $50-$150 rank, in other words, those cars are mass production, so that's why they are cheap to produce, and most likely those cars use cheap parts as well.

So this time we are talking about expensive/exclusive/etc headphones, so the equivalence would be Ferraris, Lamborghinis, etc. those cars used to cost $200,000 and people said, that a rob, guess what, those cars now have TOTL at $3,000,000 or even more, so yes, those are hugely overpriced but guess what, people are buying them, to be precise, Lamborghini just release a new version of the iconic Countach, guess what, is already sold out at the price of $3,500,000.

 

[walakalulu]

I’d like to see these compared with the Final D8000pro but guess I may be waiting a while.