[raypin]

Mmm.....then turn the volume down to avoid disturbing them. Buy 2 WA8 = good for a 6 hour flight. Lol!

 

[kikouyou]

 
Open headphones may cause problem for others if it is, say, a long flight - just saying, in case you actually use the HD800S combo on the plane. Also, not sure whether the power outlets on planes can charge/power the WA8 for the duration for entire flights.

I do not see the point of listening to an open headphone in a plane, unless you like to listen to the plane engines that is

 

[raypin]

Mmm....depends on where you are seated. If you are seated farthest away from the engines and on the upper deck of, say,  the A380 or the venerable 747, you just have to pump up the volume to drown the ambient noise, which becomes tolerable once the pilot throttles down the engine  to cruising speed. It is not ideal but still listenable. Casual listening mode and only if your neighbor does not mind the sound leakage. I vastly prefer a less-than-perfect headphones listening than the incessant gossiping of noisy passengers or, worse, babies crying. It also helps me avoid panic attacks by focusing on music than endlessly worrying about the tin can falling like a rock and burning me to a crisp.

 

[LouisArmstrong]

  Mmm....depends on where you are seated. If you are seated farthest away from the engines and on the upper deck of, say,  the A380 or the venerable 747, you just have to pump up the volume to drown the ambient noise, which becomes tolerable once the pilot throttles down the engine  to cruising speed. It is not ideal but still listenable. Casual listening mode and only if your neighbor does not mind the sound leakage. I vastly prefer a less-than-perfect headphones listening than the incessant gossiping of noisy passengers or, worse, babies crying. It also helps me avoid panic attacks by focusing on music than endlessly worrying about the tin can falling like a rock and burning me to a crisp.

Wouldn't something say a TH900 or LCD-XC be much easier though... I would highly recommend that SZ2000 for travel. Cheap and satisfying. Simply has the best bass (quality not quantity) than all the high end headphones that I have had, however amped, and quite decent overall SQ for its price.  I just use IEMs like Layla, SE846 or K10 on flight. If it's for a holiday, I may bring a nice portable headphone setup. Also the new AKG N10Q is something to watch out for.

 

[raypin]

OT: mmm.....yeah, I use closed-backs (like the TH 900, Ether C and the Kennerton Magister) , iems (like the KSE 1500 and AKT8iE) and ciems (like the Zeus XIV)  which are more well-suited for noisy environment listening.

 

[danielleesq]

Are the Focals the new flagship referenced in this video?

 

[jude]

  Are the Focals the new flagship referenced in this video?

 
Hi @danielleesq, yes, that was the flagship headphone I was referring to at 4:15 in the video. I wasn't sure anyone would remember that, or make the connection. 

 

[LouisArmstrong]

Glad to see more traditional brands like Goldumund, McIntosh and now Focal going into the Head-fi market. Some of these products really show what Hifi really is - not just some startup brand marking up the price and then claiming that they are the best (because they are the most expensive). In the Hifi world, cables aside, price is usually in proportion to quality - sadly that is not the case in Head-fi, especially in recent years. Even sadder is there are people who buy into that scam - a lot of people can't afford proper Hifi gear (or the space required for such gear), but can easily afford the top end of Head-fi gear, so they thought they'd just buy the most expensive Head-fi stuff and they would have bragging rights. I feel sorry for them. 

 

[bmichels]

Jude stated that it output 350mw x 2, i am also interested to find out at what impedance.

 
The online manual says: "Max Output: Approx. 350mW @ 45 ohms"
 
Tomorow morning I will be able to test A/B/C the WA8 against the TU-05 and the HUGO.   I will take pictures & report.

 

[bmichels]

Testing right now. . .



Thanks to Pierre Costers from Belhifi (a dealer near Bruxelles), I had today the opportunity to try during almost 3 hours the WA8 against the HUGO alone and the HUGO+TU-05.


Will write a report later but first conclusion Is that WA8 using it's own Internal DAC make much more sense that line in !

WA8 DAC+Amp > HUGO + TU-05 > HUGO + WA8

 

[raypin]

mmm......agree 100%. To my ears and after testing it with a number of configuration, I prefer using the WA8 Eclipse in standalone mode and fed by my laptops and bettered only by the AK 380 cu + WA8 but the margin of difference is not that substantial. The amp and dac are a perfect match. So, are you buying the Eclipse?

 

[bmichels]

mmm......agree 100%. To my ears and after testing it with a number of configuration, I prefer using the WA8 Eclipse in standalone mode and fed by my laptops and bettered only by the AK 380 cu + WA8 but the margin of difference is not that substantial. The amp and dac are a perfect match. So, are you buying the Eclipse?

At the End of the demo I asked if I could buy the demo unit but It was not possible because It was réserved for the Press. So YES I Will buy one.

 

[bmichels]

So.... My modest complete WA8 review is published here 
 
 
 

 

[LouisArmstrong]

  So.... My modest complete WA8 review is published here 
 
 
 

Great review - I find the notion that WA8 sounds better than Hugo to be extremely hilarious though. Woo Audio. LOL.

 

[uelover]

Great review - I find the notion that WA8 sounds better than Hugo to be extremely hilarious though. Woo Audio. LOL.

I don't quite get the joke or pun or whatever that is intended. Haha.