Hey Stimul I actually sold my 8As a while back. I'm currently getting the Spiral Ears SE5s (should be shipping out by Monday the latest). Personally the 8A was not up to my expectations. It was way over-hyped and the experience I endured to get a completed IEM without defects was a joke. Basically they had it out for me and were purposely giving me ****. I would never give them my business again just based on that experience alone.... But regarding the sound. It's not what the hype will lead you to believe. At least not my pair that is.
The best I've heard the 8As honestly sound was out of my Hisound Nova N1 player. Otherwise there was generally way too much bass, cluttered mid-range, and the presentation was dull overall. I did however find the 8As to pair best on the 1.21 firmware as it leaned out the bass noticeably (I think 1.21 lacked power) but this worked well with the 8As. Still not the best sounding IEM for me. I even feel the Flat 4 Sui and Kaede are superior to the 8As personally.
Hi lee736, and thank you for your feedback. I can see from the Heir thread, that you have had your share of troubles, and can only imagine the agony in the process of dealing with a producer on the other side of the world when in trouble. Very contradictory to my own experience which turned out very well from A-Z thanks to Dr. Moulton.
The 8.A was my first set of CIEMS not sounding "shallow" and "hollow" like traditional onstage monitors for musicians. I believe that the 8.A is first and foremost built to play music, and I find them to be very musically engaging. But they are as you say bass heavy.
As you probably understand, I absolutely love them and they are accompanying me all over wherever and whenever. The sound signature is also somewhat similar to my desktop setup, so that might also explain my enthusiasm. Isn't it great that we can have so different experiences with the same product? Absolute beautiful.
Anyway, the reason I asked about your opinion of fit in the AK120 and 8.A case, is that occasionally I find the bass to be blurred / bloated (on some specific tracks) and not as tight, dry and punchy (albeit slow) I know they are capable of.*
Initially I believed it to be the monitors themselves, then bad recordings and/or mastering but after testing it on my desktop setup (Violectric DAC V800 and V200) with 8.A , UE Pro 18 as well as LCD-2.2, I abandoned that hypothesis. Same songs with same equipment sounded significantly tighter when using the desktop setup vs. AK120.
So after going back and forth, testing these tracks over and over again, AK120 vs. desktop setup, I tend to believe that the AK120 is either somewhat "loose" in the bass section and/or that the fit between AK120 and 8.A is good but not exceptional with all tracks, again according to my ears.**
Listening to pop, rock, metal, alternative metal, new age, jazz as well as some classical music, I in general find my new portable combo absolutely beautiful. However, occasionally some R&B / hip-Hop / rap tend to disrupt my pleasure, e.g. "Coming home" with P. Diddy, and I'm really looking forward to trying out the 901 with the 8.A.
P.s. The cost of the AK120 is equivalent to US $1.750,- in Norway.
* I use the Silver Poison (Toxix) cable. It opens up the mids and highs as well as tightens the bass to the extent that one can hear an audible difference (significant) vs. the accompanying Magnus upgrade cable.
** No EQ added anywhere. Desktop setup with JRiver 19 (WASAPI) with optical out from MOBO to DAC anf balanced cables from DAC to V200.
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