[dfkt]

That's a bit pricy, methinks. In Austrian stores they mostly go for EUR 169, and we usually have higher prices than elsewhere.

 

[blackburner]

Yep it's a little pricey but here vat is @23%

Anyway got them at an fnac store.
 
I only use them in my sony walkman or on my ipod classic, since with my macbook or the creative thingy there's lots of noise. The worst part is that the built in audio from my macbook actually has less noise that the creative xmod.
Maybe someday I will grab an fiio e7 or something similar.
 
Still I'm with dfkt they are expensive for what they are. Probably due to the many accessories that they come with (for me they are mostly useless).

 

[thegame531]

 
Quote:

That's a bit pricy, methinks. In Austrian stores they mostly go for EUR 169, and we usually have higher prices than elsewhere.

That's pretty cheap.  It's £182 in amazon.co.uk, but having trouble finding cheaper deals online (for the authentic ones at least).  Feel like I gotta pull the trigger soon. 

 

[MusiCol]

I got mine last year from Amazon.co.uk as that was the cheapest I could find them (£175 then). I also think the accessories are excessive. And so much investment in packaging - which obviously does nothing whatsoever for the sound (unless it's for someone who judges quality by the look of the packaging and the cost instead of using their ears!
 
But they do sound good - especially now mine seem to have just passed a critical burn-in time (no idea how long but at least a few hundred hours), the sound has really opened up, gained a kind of sparkle and become more clearly defined across the spectrum without loosing any bottom end punch which is also better defined. Much better balanced with nothing aggressive, just a nice warmth.
 

 

[HawkinsT]

Got a pair of these recently, only about 80 hours of pink noise burn in on them so far, so I'm holding off on commenting (probably until the often stated ~300 hour mark), but I am concerned about a certain lack of detail in some songs (even after eq'ing) which my old apple iem's (the pre-addiem ones) have no problems with. I'm really hoping this clears up, but at 80 hours so far I am starting to get concerned.
 
A perfect example of this missing detail is on the slayer song aggressive perfector... there is a second guitar playing in the intro that is quite clear with my apple iem's, but can only be heard very faintly in the first few bars then disappears on my ie8's.
 
I'm wondering if a matched amp such as the icon mobile would fix this, if it just needs more burn in, or if the ie8's genuinely can't show details a £30 pair of iem's can. Would appreciate someone more knowledgeable's input on this seeing as I have next to no experience with high end iem's, having only owned said apple iem's and cx300's previously.
 
edit: decided to create a 4 second crop of the song I was just talking about to illustrate what I'm saying, with my ie8's the second guitar mirroring the first at a higher pitch is just about audible in the first half of the clip but isn't audible at all in the second half. Perhaps someone else with ie8's could let me know if they get the same result as me or if not what their setup is. BTW my source is an iphone 3gs, though have also tested this through my pc using a creative audigy 2.
 
clip: http://www.sendspace.com/file/jff24q

 

[kadath]

I've found that pairing my IE8s with an iBasso T3 amp I picked up a while back results in a slightly wider soundstage and a bit more of an airy feeling to the sound. The mids and highs are also a little improved. I was wondering if anyone else uses an amp with their IE8s?

 

[cn11]

Yep, use the Headstage Arrow. It helps tighten up the bass too, as well as making the soundstage wider, and lending some of that extra air to the sound. I think they take amping quite well. 

 

[PANGES]

^ I agree. The Headstage Arrow was one of the best investments I've made for pretty much all of my portable/easy to drive phones.

 

[cn11]

Yep, and even not so easy to drive phones... people have reported decent results with the Senn HD650. And it drives my Pro 900s remarkably. They're so full, punchy, and clean sounding out of the Arrow... (as is the IE8).

 

[dfkt]

Running my IE8 straight from my Cowon J3 with these settings:
 
80Hz Wide +2
500Hz Wide -2
780Hz Wide 0
4.1kHz Wide +3
6.9kHz Wide +2

BBE 3
M3B 7
3DS Off
MPE On
SE 6
Rev Off
 
... you don't know what hit you.

 

[cn11]

I think one of my highest priority upcoming purchases is the J3. My Sony X1060's battery is losing capacity, and I want to maybe try something different.....

 

[PANGES]

Quote:

Yep, and even not so easy to drive phones... people have reported decent results with the Senn HD650. And it drives my Pro 900s remarkably. They're so full, punchy, and clean sounding out of the Arrow... (as is the IE8).

Yeah. They can actually drive my HD650's quite well. I actually found that I really like Grado's w/ the Arrow as well. I had good results with both the SR80i's and the RS1i's.
 
I threw my IE8's up in the FS section earlier today. I like them a lot, but at the moment, I need something that isolates better for school, so once they sell, they're going to be replaced with Shure SE535's or Westone 3 or 4's. I got Etymotic ER4S to compliment the IE8's, but I can't bring the ER4S out either, because the microphonics on them are ridiculous. lol.
 
Aside from the isolation, the IE8's are easily one of my favorite phones in my collection at the moment.

 

[kadath]

Well the Arrow sounds pretty amazing so I'll keep it in mind. Unfortunately, at $300, it's out of my budget right now. Thanks for the recommendation, guys.

 

[CEE TEE]

Quote:

I think one of my highest priority upcoming purchases is the J3. My Sony X1060's battery is losing capacity, and I want to maybe try something different.....

Very interested in what you think of the J3, cn11...can you hold onto your X long enough to compare them?  I have my eye on the X7...

 

[dfkt]

Heh, that is going to be disastrous for the Sony X.