[flargosa]

Quote:

When I auditioned the Ed8s, I had a moment where I was like "that's it?". It turns out the positioning on this thing is very fickle, so try and mess around with it.
What exactly is disappointing you?
 
JB
 

It is bright and sibilant.  Mids sound unnatural, and shrill on the top end. Bass is good, but lacks the clarity I have come to expect from a $1k headphone. Having owned the HD800 and LCD-2, I would expect the ED8 to play at the same or very close level of fidelity.  I was expecting it to have a somewhat larger soundstage due to the S-logic but it is seems average in width, and height. 
 

 
Quote:

They do need burn in. Both my Ed. 8s did...out of the box they were too bright and the bass was flabby. After 20-30 hours they changed quite a bit....thankfully.

Thanks, I will be burning this in.  
 

 

[dallan]

Quote:

They are bright and sibilant.  Mids sound unnatural, and shrill on the top end. Bass is good, but lacks the clarity I have come to expect from a $1k headphone. Having owned the HD800 and LCD-2, I would expect the ED8 to play at the same or very close level of fidelity.  I was expecting it to have a somewhat larger soundstage due to the S-logic but it is seems average in width, and height. 
 

 

Thanks, I will be burning this in.  
 

I don't find the ED8 to have the same level of fidelity as the HD800s but for a closed pair, esp closed and portable they sound great.  I love the sound sig. esp since so different than the HD800s.  As far as comparing to the LCD-2, I am not a fan of those at all so the ED8 kills those in my book, hands down.  
 

 

[JoonBug]

Quote: Originally Posted by JoonBug When I auditioned the Ed8s, I had a moment where I was like "that's it?". It turns out the positioning on this thing is very fickle, so try and mess around with it. What exactly is disappointing you? JB It is bright and sibilant. Mids sound unnatural, and shrill on the top end. Bass is good, but lacks the clarity I have come to expect from a $1k headphone. Having owned the HD800 and LCD-2, I would expect the ED8 to play at the same or very close level of fidelity. I was expecting it to have a somewhat larger soundstage due to the S-logic but it is seems average in width, and height. Quote: Originally Posted by MacedonianHero They do need burn in. Both my Ed. 8s did...out of the box they were too bright and the bass was flabby. After 20-30 hours they changed quite a bit....thankfully. Thanks, I will be burning this in.

Yes, my audition was with an Ed8 with hundreds of hours, so considering the brashness wasn't present then, it should eventually level out... I'll post some first-hand burning-in notes when mine finally gets delivered.

And really, the bass is great, but not LCD2... Many people have unrealistic expectations due to the price tag, but the Ed8s are still a closed phone. Just think of the Eddys as a leap up from a D7000 with J$ pads and that's what you should get.

The 8s are a kind of can that you appreciate after hearing for a while. During the span of 6 hours, my opinion of the cans just grew and grew. Bass started to kick in faster and tighter, and detail retrieval increased. But as always, YMMV.

JB

 

[FrostyMMB]

 
Quote:

It is bright and sibilant.  Mids sound unnatural, and shrill on the top end. Bass is good, but lacks the clarity I have come to expect from a $1k headphone. Having owned the HD800 and LCD-2, I would expect the ED8 to play at the same or very close level of fidelity.  I was expecting it to have a somewhat larger soundstage due to the S-logic but it is seems average in width, and height. 

Thanks, I will be burning this in.  
 

 
Are you getting a good seal with the earpads? Until I positioned the Edition 8 properly to get a solid seal, I didn't get a full sound. Without the seal the sound is fairly anemic and bright, and the lower bass octave doesn't come through.
 
I actually find the Edition 8 to be the cure for sibilance. However, to my ears the mids are not quite natural, so I'll agree with you there. I'll reference the frequency response measurement at InnerFidelity and Headroom—steep drop from 1k-2k and a valley at 4-6k. Guitars and a snares can lack energy and realism with those cuts, and some vocals are further back in the mix. If I'm using tubes with the Edition 8, those with a forward midrange pair best. The soundstage size doesn't compete with open cans, but for being fully closed and isolated, it is as good as I'd expect, and the imaging is very good. Fidelity can mean a number of things, but resolution, separation, and detail of the Edition 8 are all very good. I think open cans will typically take the crown in terms of 'fidelity' and can better achieve excellence in these areas. Then again, the Etymotic ER-4 has yet to be dethroned by any other can I've owned in terms of resolution and clarity to my ears, and those are IEMs and by comparison fairly inexpensive. I think that more linearity in the midrange and just a bit more treble energy in the Edition 8 would increase perceived resolution. The old Denon AHD-950 are the only other (semi) closed can I have to compare, and they have a more believable upper midrange and treble presentation by comparison. I can't comment on how these compare to current Denons, though. Regardless, the Edition 8 does so many things well that for a closed can, they are impressive if not perfect.

 

[flargosa]

24 hrs of burn-in has even out this headphone, the brightness has reduced and everything sounds better overall. The soundstage though average in width and height is very cohesive and pleasant to listen in.  My only remaining complaint is its presentation of the mids, the upper mids is still harsh and peaky, more Grado like than LCD-2/um3x. Headphone is very dynamic and fun to listen to, bass seems somewhat emphasize, like it is 15 - 20% stronger than it should.  Back to burning it in. 

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

24 hrs of burn-in has even out this headphone, the brightness has reduced and everything sounds better overall. The soundstage though average in width and height is very cohesive and pleasant to listen in.  My only remaining complaint is its presentation of the mids, the upper mids is still harsh and peaky, more Grado like than LCD-2/um3x. Headphone is very dynamic and fun to listen to, bass seems somewhat emphasize, like it is 15 - 20% stronger than it should.  Back to burning it in. 

That will smooth out too with more burn in.
 
What amp/source are you using with them?

 

[flargosa]

Mainly use with this one, HM-801(stock amp) >> ED8
 
but also use for this as well. Marantz SA8001 >> LYR, no smoke came out,just music and  Minibox ES >> ED8
 
 
Quote:

That will smooth out too with more burn in.
 
What amp/source are you using with them?

 

 

[JoonBug]

24 hrs of burn-in has even out this headphone, the brightness has reduced and everything sounds better overall. The soundstage though average in width and height is very cohesive and pleasant to listen in. My only remaining complaint is its presentation of the mids, the upper mids is still harsh and peaky, more Grado like than LCD-2/um3x. Headphone is very dynamic and fun to listen to, bass seems somewhat emphasize, like it is 15 - 20% stronger than it should. Back to burning it in.

Let us know if the mids do even out!

JB

 

[FrostyMMB]

Quote:

24 hrs of burn-in has even out this headphone, the brightness has reduced and everything sounds better overall. The soundstage though average in width and height is very cohesive and pleasant to listen in.  My only remaining complaint is its presentation of the mids, the upper mids is still harsh and peaky, more Grado like than LCD-2/um3x. Headphone is very dynamic and fun to listen to, bass seems somewhat emphasize, like it is 15 - 20% stronger than it should.  Back to burning it in. 

I have to disagree here. The Edition 8 upper mids are definitely not like a Grado. Compared to all of the Grado that I'm familiar with, the Edition 8 is a completely different flavor in that region. The Edition 8 has a huge suckout centered around 2khz which is the opposite of a Grado's signature. The Edition 8 is mellow by comparison to my ears.
 

 
I can see how compared to the LCD-2 the Edition 8 would sound peaky, though. The LCD-2 is as smooth as it gets it seems. Too much attenuation up top for my preference, but of course plenty of people really like this presentation.
 

 
The bass response of the Edition 8 is inaccurate on these Headroom graphs. This is what having a poor earpad seal gets. With a solid seal the response is much flatter and extends to around 30hz as measured at InnerFidelity. The bass punch from the Edition 8 is really nice–very clean and dynamic down low.
 
I'm a few hundred hours in with my pair and as expected they've improved nicely from what they were early on.

 

[Curly21029]

Well, I received my LE today... and I have to admit that I'm not entirely happy. It's nothing performance-wise as I obviously intend to burn thee in extensively before getting any head time in, but there are a few cosmetic issues. On the headphones themselves, one of the wood inlays has a decently-sized pit in the finish. It's not in the wood, mind you, but in the clear coat. I noticed immediately. Before I even seen the headphones, however, I noticed a large finishing imperfection on the latch of the box. It's like a big spot of corrosion that covers about a quarter of the lower latch. I left RMC a message as their offices are closed and am hoping they don't just refer me to Ultrasone as I heard they can be a bit silly with their communication.

Has anyone else had similar cosmetic issues? Do you think I should just call Ultrasone or even utilize the representative's info that was posted a few times? Coming from the absolute perfection that was my Rutheniums, I'm disappointed in the quality control of what I feel qualifies as an ultra-premium product.

 

[Rasmutte]

Can you show us some pics?

 

[flargosa]

Will do, aiming for 300 hrs of burn-in.
Quote:

Let us know if the mids do even out!

JB

 

 

[rrahman]

This was the combo that convinced me to buy the edition 8.  It sounded amazing to me, but I wouldn't buy the Burson specifically for the edition 8. For most low impedance headphones I have heard, I prefer the concerto.  That being said, on an unrelated topic I think the Burson pairs extremely well w/ higher impedance cans especially the 600 ohm beyers.
 
Quote:

Just ordered a pair of these.  Wondering about its synergy with my current amp.  I have a Burson HA-160D (the DAC/Amp combo) anyone have experience with 8's and burson?

 

 

[Curly21029]

Can you show us some pics?

I doubt the combination of my terrible camera and my wretched photography skills will allow for it, but I'll try tomorrow. I really don't feel like hassling with anything tonight.

On the bright side, this HP TouchPad is actually pretty great! It was a bit mediocre out of the box, but after patching her up and overclocking it makes for an excellent tablet experience. Convenient and intuitive... and I love having an icon in the launcher that gets me to Head-Fi with a single touch.

 

[JoonBug]

Well, I received my LE today... and I have to admit that I'm not entirely happy. It's nothing performance-wise as I obviously intend to burn thee in extensively before getting any head time in, but there are a few cosmetic issues. On the headphones themselves, one of the wood inlays has a decently-sized pit in the finish. It's not in the wood, mind you, but in the clear coat. I noticed immediately. Before I even seen the headphones, however, I noticed a large finishing imperfection on the latch of the box. It's like a big spot of corrosion that covers about a quarter of the lower latch. I left RMC a message as their offices are closed and am hoping they don't just refer me to Ultrasone as I heard they can be a bit silly with their communication.

Has anyone else had similar cosmetic issues? Do you think I should just call Ultrasone or even utilize the representative's info that was posted a few times? Coming from the absolute perfection that was my Rutheniums, I'm disappointed in the quality control of what I feel qualifies as an ultra-premium product.

Ooh, sorry to hear that. I hope RMC treats you well on this. I seems to remember a no headphone-return policy -- keeping my fingers crossed.

JB