I have the AKG k702 and, as expected, it’s a way different sound... I still have them burning in but from what I’ve heard so far I could be happier and I’m excited to listen to them as they continue to burn in!

  I am a very picky listener, I’ve always been that way.   I have scoured the earth for the past 15 years simply trying to find the right portable for me, I have not had any success in my quest until recently.  I have been through dozens of sets just this year alone and perhaps hundreds over the past 15 years...never have I encountered anything even remotely close to Edition 8.  It is a journey ender, nuff’ said.

The Edition 8 is without question the best portable headphones in existence that I am currently aware of.  You know that one, perfect set you strive to find your entire life? This is mine.  The overall presentation is extremely natural sounding, it is not neutral nor warm.  I feel it to be closer to what my ears pick up on naturally.  That "natural" and unbiased coloration ( or lack there of ).  It is far from cold, but is is also far from warm which makes this set unique in my opinion.  This is the type of sound I have wanted since the beginning.  A very natural and open sound in a small, circumaurial closed back set. 

Lets talk a bit about the S logic tech and the overall soundstaging, as that is usually what smacks you in the face first.  I have never used a closed back portable set even remotely close to the Edition 8s size that had a sound stage that could compare.  Believe it or not, the Sennheiser HD 598, which is known for having an excellent sound stage is a match for the overall width, height and depth of the Ed8 sound stage.  This is kind of incredible if you ask me.  I’ve been comparing the two for the past few days and feel comfortable in saying the size of the sound stages are very close.  However, the HD 598 stage is without question more aired out and spacious in nature, but equal in width and height.  Gives more of an airy sense to the presentation over the Edition 8.  Separation is just good, it is nothing special.  They are a very forward sounding set, something I strive hard to find in my portables.  I want a close up, engaging sound that places me deep inside the music.  The Edition 8 more than satisfies this need.  The soundstage does not compare to the other open back Hi-Fi sets commonly seen in the audiophile world.  Sets like the Beyerdynamic T1 or the Sennheiser HD800.   They are also no competition for the Ultrasone Pro 750 or the Pro 900 models.  I think both of those models had a taller and wider experience, but lacked the Edition 8s excellent stage depth and overall dynamics.  For a closed back set of this size nothing on the market comes close that I have owned or used. It is the king of portable sound staging.

By the way, the edition 8 is allergic to CROSSFEED.  With crossfeed active the sound stage moves to something more like a sennheiser, distant and wider than tall and takes you out of the center placement, there is a very noticeable dip in overall sound quality and bass distortion becomes a serious problem.  Beyond that, I get some nasty vibration problems and the inner mesh material in the center of the earpads end up bouncing around and touching my ears every 2 seconds.  It is immensely annoying. 

The build quality is top notch but I have a few gripes.  The cans squeak a little when you handle them, I feel it comes from the area that allows them to rotate ever so slightly.  When I twist them gently, I hear some squeaks. Annoying when I put them on my head as well as when I take them off, but not enough to merit any serious whining.  I think every single portable that is circumaurial and "portable" should use the design of the edition 8s headband.  If you know me, I have a problem with headbands, few things on this earth upset me more than poorly designed headbands that do not conform to your head, those sets that make you look like a radar dish or a satellite?  You know what I am talking about.   Ultrasone makes a few of those...Anywho, the headband is a dream come true.  It is light, durable and conforms perfectly to my head without leaving any gaps.  This is a godsend to me.  It seems to be made of solid metal throughout the set, I am going to say aluminum due to its light weight feel all around.

Now, I am sorry but I have a gripe about the Palladium earcups that I must address.  My first impression was a negative one, it felt like this was Palladium COATED, as in a very thin layer of this strong material over a much much much cheaper metal used to fashion the earcups.  This made me immensely unhappy because it feels very hallow.  I expected something more sturdy feeling and heavier...and for $1500 I definitely want to feel that weight, that little voice in the back of my mind that says "yes, I am made of solid metal, gently caress and love me to no end..."

Well, that voice is absent as the earcups feel of a lower quality than I had hoped for.   The cable is nice, its a dual strip that I would rate at medium thickness.  Most portables use a much thinner cable, but I have also seen some with thicker.  I really like the cable, it never gets in my way and is the perfect weight to make me feel like its solidly constructed.  It is also the perfect length and leaves just the right amount of slack out of my pocket when i am using a portable media player.  The adapter head is a standard mini plug, so I couldn’t be happier.

At only 30 ohm, this is the most efficient sounding hi fi headphones I have ever used.  Nothing even comes close this that I have used in the past, even in the open back world.  The sound that comes out of my Sansa Fuze is excellent, despite the fact that the fuze is poor quality and should not ever be used with it.  I am actually stunned at how great it sounds directly from crap sources.  I think amping for portable needs is not required, as my Fuze + SR71A combo did almost nothing for it.  I think the Edition 8 is more source dependent than anything else for your portable needs.  The SR71a did almost nothing but boost clarity slightly over just using the fuze alone.  Get yourself an excellent dap and dont worry about portable amping unless its a slim amp.  If your portable rig is not truly portable, then the extra amping doesn’t seem at all worth it unless you are using a balanced cable and something like the SR71B in balanced mode where you will notice changes in the overall dynamics and stage.  The overall bass experience is not only powerful, punchy and deep, but of excellent clarity and slightly warm to my ears.  The set is never sibilant, there are no OWWWW moments even on tracks I’ve known to be extremely harsh.  It is an absolute pleasure to listen to on every single genre of music I have tossed at it.  I am fond of Gypsy Jazz, acoustic guitar, bass and backup guitar music, I have had trouble finding hifi sets that handle this genre well.  The Edition 8 powers through it, its just breathtaking at times.  With that, it also plays rock, jazz and classical equally as good.  This set is the only closed back set I am aware of that is a true all around set that does not just handle it "well"...it handles all genres on a grand level to my ears anyway

*Note that I did order a Colorfly CK4 which is supposed to sound incredible.  I will report back soon as to how the Edition 8 sounds with it.

The Edition 8 scales up something fierce!  My home computer doesn’t even have a sound card of its own so when I use the ed8 directly out of the 3.5mm jack in the back, the sound is dissapointing.  However, once comboed with the SR71A, the sound quality and experience forced me to completely ignore the outside world for a solid hour until I came to my senses.  Now, later that day I skipped merrily to a buddies house who has an excellent sound card in his rig, this comboed with the SR71A actually sounded so great, I became sad for some reason.  Maybe because I knew I had to go home shortly after?   The point being the Edition 8 scales up to wonderful levels, with a good mp3 player the sound is excellent and far beyond anything else you can get that I am aware of in the portable world.  With a good portable amp comboed with a good media player, the sound is stunning.....

...with an appropriate full sized media player of some type with something like the Woo Audio 6 tube amp...the sound quality sky rockets to a degree I thought not possible in a closed back set of this size.  It is truly amazing.

I am not fond of the leather material used.  This ethiopian lamb skin does not feel as "quality" as the leather bag that came with the edition 8 as seen here. I feel like this type of leather was used just to jack up the price to astronomical levels.  Despite there being three versions of the Edition 8 in the Rutherium, Palladium and LE I really feel like there should be a 4th version with the absence of these "super metals" and poor choice in leathers.  That would drastically reduce the price and make the Edition 8 THE BEST OVERALL VALUE OF ALL TIME.   We do not really care about this type of leather and especially so when the included case is made of a nicer feeling material! Also, the foam used in the earpads seems generic and this is absolutely 100% unacceptable.  It is not special in any way and it feels like the same material foam you find in some common cheap sets.  This foam should have been much softer and pliable, something more reflective of $1500.

Now, despite all the positive things I have said about it, I am not at all happy with the $1500-1700 price tag for the Palladium.  I realize it is not fair to compare closed backs to open backs, but the Audeze LCD2 is less than half the price and sounds noticeably better.  Its no where near as efficient and needs more amping for a portable rig but it along with the T1 and HD800, even the new Hifi Man elite sets sound more dynamic and clear than the edition 8 at a few hundred if not a thousand dollars less.  Is this a good buy for the casual listener?  Absolutely not.  But for some like me who desire a specific sound and happen to find it in the Edition 8...the set becomes invaluable and priceless.   I would have paid triple this price and never thought twice about it just because i love the sound so much.  It is precisely what I have longed to hear for many years.

It is not justified in its price tag, not even remotely.  The sound quality difference between it and the pro 900 is not worth of $1000 and beyond.  In my opinion you are paying equally as much for the overall sound qualities as you are for building materials.  This should not happen and I feel saddened by it from a financial standpoint.

DESPITE THAT it is worth every penny to me and them some.  Due to the edition 8 meeting 99% of all my needs and desires and closing the book on 15 years of trying to find the right portable set, I would have paid triple for it and still have been very happy.

-Mike ( swbf2cheater )