[xanlamin]

Bass was never a problem for me. I can understand if you have been listening to T90 and then HD7/8 will be too much bass.

 

[Fuzziekiwi]

Bass was never a problem for me. I can understand if you have been listening to T90 and then HD7/8 will be too much bass.

It's making the mids sound bad that worries me. M50's were always said to have not so good mids but actually I love them. Their loose bass and soundstage & metallic treble (over exaggerating here though) is what kept me from buying them. Michael Mercer said some pretty good things about these, I wonder what the fuss is about!

 

[Stereolab42]

I just picked up an HD8 DJ on a whim. Was looking for a new portable headphone, and one with endgame isolation. (On Tyll's site, these win out over all other headphones in the isolation graph by more than 5db at 1000hz!)
 
* Build quality is, of course, phenomenal. Everything fits very well (which means as well as can be expected for portable headphones; they're never going to be as natural-fitting as the DT770 or the Shure 1540s, for example). The clamping pressure does not bother me much. They are just big enough to fit perfectly around my ears... but I would not want them even a bit smaller. So far I've only tried wearing them with the pleather cups, not the velours.
 
* SQ is outstanding. Out of the box they are a touch dark, as has been mentioned, but with a little EQ they compare extremely favorably to my 1540s on all types of music, which I consider a gold standard. Even acoustic guitar and Kate Bush sound great! EDM is of course superb. Sub-bass is great, and _does_ bring the rumble with appropriate EQ. (Not to the degree of apex predators like the JVC-SZ2000, but not really so far off.)
 
* I find that the extremely high sensitivity makes up for the high impedance. For example, at the same source volume, I found perceived volume to be the same between the HD8s and the 1540s, despite the 1540s being 46ohm and the HD8 being 95 ohm. You shouldn't have any problem driving these from an (ungimped) portable source.
 
* I have not yet tested the isolation claims for myself, that's my next task. I'll see how the pleathers perform against the velours. I prefer velour in general so hope that they will be able to isolate equally as well as the pleather.
 
* If I have a gripe here, it is that I wish it was more obvious that the earcups have been snapped completely into-place again after you remove and re-insert them. I got a scare when I re-inserted one cup for the first time and found that one of the channels seemed much louder than the others. Turns out it was just due to that cup not being fully in-place (I think).
 
In conclusion, these will definitely find a home as my new portable cans. And maybe even find a place as office/home cans next to my 1540s for certain scenarios.

 

[Stereolab42]

More impressions on the HD8:
 
* Isolation is indeed excellent. I don't have precision measuring equipment so I can't give numbers, but it certainly is endgame.
 
* Cannot detect a SQ or isolation difference between the velour and pleather earpads. Thus I will use velour since that's my preference.
 
* These are endgame cans for EDM, period. Look no further. Just don't.
 
* They put up a valiant effort on rock and other genres, far better than any other DJ or bass headphones I've ever had, and much better than I thought they would. However they cannot match straight audiophile cans like the 1540s, which have superior soundstage, imaging, and precision. Again, I'm talking non-electronic/bass genres, and this is with a $2000 DAC and a setup which allows me to A/B with the flick of a switch and a minor volume change! I think the HD8s would be great as primary cans, and I intend to use them that way when I travel.
 
* Another minor gripe: I wish the headband had a little bit more resistance when extending or retracting.

 

[volly]

Thank you for your review, it sounds like hd8 are a fun sounding headphone. Love me some edm music, will have to check To check these out soon!

 

[Stereolab42]

Thank you for your review, it sounds like hd8 are a fun sounding headphone. Love me some edm music, will have to check To check these out soon!

 
Just listened to a bunch of Maya Jane Coles, Ferry Corsten, Above&Beyond, and classic Underworld on these headphones. Simply glorious, especially with the bass EQ'd up even further.

 

[Fuzziekiwi]

Just got my HD7's.
Okay, the amount of bass you guys say it has seems over exaggerated. What I have to say is, you are really paying a lot for the build quality, pads, and case. They sound excellent though and I don't see me selling these anytime soon. 

DAMN the bass is good, it sounds so good with modern pop and electronic. Such a fun can. These can really compete with the M-100. Those looking for accuracy look elsewhere. 
 
EDIT for like the 10th time: These sound similar to the M50's or is it me?

 

[mesamitch]

Just got my HD7's.
Okay, the amount of bass you guys say it has seems over exaggerated. What I have to say is, you are really paying a lot for the build quality, pads, and case. They sound excellent though and I don't see me selling these anytime soon. 


DAMN the bass is good, it sounds so good with modern pop and electronic. Such a fun can. These can really compete with the M-100. Those looking for accuracy look elsewhere. 

I agree 100% on everything you just said

The bass is not over kill I actually EQ the bass a little more in these head phones
They sound great with electronic / some top 40 music I don't like them with rock music for some reason I think the sound stage is not large enough or something I was hoping these would be my one pair do it all head phones because I want a pair of head phones amazing for games / music

I'm using a sound blaster zx sound card and waiting in the mail today for my schiit modi and magni hoping they make these headphones everything I want

But your thoughts on the headphones are the same as mine

 

[a_recording]

 
EDIT for like the 10th time: These sound similar to the M50's or is it me?

 
Hmm. I think the M50 has a bit of a metallic edge to treble that the HD's don't have, but I agree they have a vague similarity...

 

[Fuzziekiwi]

 

 
EDIT for like the 10th time: These sound similar to the M50's or is it me?

 
Hmm. I think the M50 has a bit of a metallic edge to treble that the HD's don't have, but I agree they have a vague similarity...

Take away the metallic treble, add more bass quantity, make it slightly tighter. Little bit bigger sound stage, better build quality. There you go. 

 

[Btd31]

I have been using the hd8 dj for a few weeks now. Seems really good for trance, techno and dubstep. The bass is a little heavy for rock. I had to mess with my phones eq for a while to get it to sound right with stuff like led zeppelin and nightwish. With most of Lindsey stirlings stuff the higher notes of the violin seem to be distant but I may have to play with my settings a bit, lately I have just left my eq flat and do minor adjustments as needed, mostly using the default samsung music player and poweramp

 

[a_recording]

  Take away the metallic treble, add more bass quantity, make it slightly tighter. Little bit bigger sound stage, better build quality. There you go. 

 
Dont' forget to add a whole heap of isolation and clamping force! Hehe.

 

[Btd31]

I didn't find that these isolate very well or clamp very hard but ut could just be me or my particular set

 

[Fuzziekiwi]

Yeah, I expected more isolation, but clamp force is not much more than the M50's. 

 

[Btd31]

The clamp force isnt much more than with my sony mdr x10