I completely agree. I bought some used a few months back, and they are simply superb. The combination of spatial imaging, articulation, detail, and bass thump is ridiculous. These headphones are like a massage for my tired ear drums.
Absolutely love my pair of Edition 8's. I agree with every trait you listed and in addition this is all in a closed back headphone from 10 years ago?!!
They are amazing. Every time I listen, I'm smiling. Not sure how they did it, but they are fantastic.
Plus they also require nothing in the name of equipment to power - they sound perfect plugged straight into my laptop.
In the last six years, I have gone through more than 30 sets of headphones. The first ones to blow me away were the Grado GH2's three years ago. And they are still my favourites.
Since then, my next revelation were the Focal Elex's.
One more I forgot about: I have been looking for a bassy closed back for Years. I have bought and sold many, at a loss of course. I finally found one that makes me grin constantly: CFA Cascades. Too bad the headband is crap or it would be my "on the go" headphone.
Way back in the early '00s, the ATH-M40FS were the first decent over-ears I'd ever heard. In the almost twenty years since, I've had the good fortune to try almost everything I've wanted to. Many were huge upgrades: DT-880s (600Ohm), my beloved (though long since failed) HE-560, the HE-6SEs, and my Auteurs. But all those were quantitative improvements.
But the M40s were a qualitative change that I don't think I've quite experienced since.
My first "Wow" moment was back in the 80's with the Porta Pros. Next oddly enough were Beats by Dre with the batteries in them. The bass was incredible to me back then. Interestingly, they are what started me on this journey. Most recently the Arya's soundstage blew me away. I was running it from a THX 789 and thought it was the best thing I ever heard until I got the Phonitor X amp... HOLY S***!!! I am currently waiting on a Wells Audio Milo amp as I have heard it synergizes well with the Arya. I also have the HEDDphone. It is amazing despite it's size and weight. Arya still my current favorite though.
LCD-X (2021) - Huge step up from my trusty HD650’s. Even though my new X16 & SA-1 haven’t arrived yet they’ve already hit wow territory on my Mimby / Vali 2 stack.
My current HD650 is maybe the headphone that wows me the most. Coming from the Susvara the first 5 minutes are meh but then it sucks you into the music in a magical way. Even more impressive when you consider its price and age.
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