I'm going to keep this short, as I am exhausted today and not feeling well.
My notes that i wrote at 34 hours of burn-in said: "I compared the NE-8 to my Denon C700 which had thousands of hours on them, and the NE-8 with stock medium tips make the C700 sound positively muddy in comparison. The C700 have a more boomy bass and recessed mids with more sibilance. I can't believe I paid $199 for these Denon in May 2007. I also like the NE-8 right out of the 3G nano headphone out. I might still like the NE-7M better, with their extra bass impact and fit. Having gotten so used to my Westone 3, I'm still not 100% with the sound of the NE-8 yet in that they have less bass than NE-7M or W3, and they still have a hint of sibilance that I'm hoping burn-in or a change in tips might take care of."
Now at 160 hours I think they are fully burned-in, and I have settled on choosing between the stock bi-flange tips and the Complys T400 tips. Jason at Nuforce didn't have a recommended burn-in period for these, and asked me to help determine the number. At this point ALL trace of early sibilance is gone, and the bass has indeed improved with 150 hours of burn-in. I have to really get them inserted deep with the Complys to get a good seal, and then the bass is more than acceptable and timbre and tone are nice with more detail and mids than the NE-7M. Live performances are very easy to enjoy with them, due to a little extra transparency. With the bi-flange I do not have to push them in so deep, and they are close to the performance with the Complys but not quite as neutral. No matter how I wear them they beat the Z.buds overall because of the nice timbre tone and detail and speed, without the cloud of bass hovering over the music that I got from the Z.buds.
To get the NE-8 mashed into my ears deeply, I have to slightly rotate or tilt them on the horizontal plane to avoid pushing on the bumps in my external ear where the pressure can become uncomfortable, so the cable part is tipped out farther from my ear (preventing unwanted pressure). However, with this positioning the sound is better than the NE-7M by a small degree. I fear the typical user is not going to try as hard as I have to get the fit just right, and wont keep trying till something works, but rather will give up. Once I found the right fit I can say I got more bass than I experienced with my ER6i, but as a basshead I would not want them to have any less. Bass is not deficient but neutral, depending on the fit and burn-in.
I wanted to let people know what they have to do if they want the best results with the NE-8 which is (1) a good seal which may mean larger or longer/deeper than normal tips, aftermarket silicone tips, or Complys foam tips, + (2) 150 hours of burn-in, or (3) bass boost amp is optional but helpful. Most of my listening is with the iPhone 3G which has enough bass un-amped if the seal is just right with Complys or bi-flanges. As far as amps go, the Practical Devices XM5 amp with bass boost makes the fit of the NE-8 less critical and I don't have to stuff them halfway to my brain to get a good seal for more bass.
All in all, I would still reach for the NE-8 over the Z.buds or Denon C700 despite them having powerful bass, because the rest of the sound spectrum is so important that neutral bass and clear crisp detailed sound trumps sloppy bass. Also, the NE-8 beat my de-podded IM716 when un-amped, as the IM716 are difficult to drive and sound flat and lack dynamics without an amp. Having said that, I will probably still pick the NE-7M over the NE-8 in my particular case because of (1) No Mic and (2) the difficulty of a attaining solid comfortable fit and seal with the NE-8. Not everyone's ears will have the issues I did, and the cost is low enough to make it worth giving them a shot.
Here is the best reason to do business with Nuforce. I wrote to Nuforce with these impressions first, and the response was nothing less than I would expect of a company that listens to it's customers and wants to make the current experience and the future products better:
"Hi Larry,
Thanks for your frank feedback and we don't mind your honest comment on the forum. I think we can look into making a custom foam ear tips for NE-8.
Jason"
