Final audio thread, D8000 / Pro / X8000 / Sonorous II / III / IV / VI / VIII / X

Headphones
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1266 is technically the better headphone, and it’s a noticeable gap.
On my source gear, which while not as insane as M0N’s is outside most rational territory, I’d consider the D8KP to be a step down from Susvara/1266 and MySphere.
But some of that can be offset because of the broader choice of amplifier it can support, I like the presentation of lower powered SET amps like the EC/DNA, those give you a sub optimal experience on a Susvara/1266, but are really nice on a D8KP.

I’ve considered moving my D8KP a few times and every time I go listen to it for a while it ends up staying, because it isn’t the same experience as other headphones I own. At this point I might consider moving the 1266 (though I’m also torn about that) over the d8KP based purely on listening time.
But in my setup the 1266 is competing for listening time with the Susvara and MySphere and the D8KP only with the MySphere because I use it in a different setup.

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62

I personally think in order to get to the point where the susvara/utopia/mysphere/1266 are a solid step ahead, you want to be in that 10-20k range (retail) chains (cheaper and more feasible used of course). I think with for example your yggy+550 chain the aforementioned will seem like a bit of an upgrade from the D8KP, but not a large step ahead and it would somewhat depend and will trade blows with each other

Yeah I can’t say it’s rational, it’s basically as far as I’ve found worthwhile going, can’t say there’s really value there though

Would agree

My typical chains at this point

For example, the common things I run those headphones on at this point (excluding some upstream components, not including cabling or power conditioning):

Susvara: Antipodes K50 → Totaldac d1-reclocker-mk2 → d1-direct → d1-drivers-mk2 → Grandinote Demone (about 80k retail? didn’t pay anywhere near that used)

Mysphere 3.1: Antipodes K50 → Ideon 3R master time blackstar → Lampizator Pacific → Angstrom Stella headphone MK2 (about 70k retail? didn’t pay anywhere near that used)

Utopia: Antipodes K50 → Ideon 3R master time blackstar → Lampizator Pacific → Eddie Current Studio T (about 60k retail? didn’t pay anywhere near that used)

1266: Rockna Wavedream Sig → Pass XP32 → Viva Egoista 845 (50k retail? didn’t pay anywhere near that used)

Only reason I’m noting pricing is because it can really show the amount of investment in purely source to take these headphones to their limits, so far each move up has still been justified to invest in, but the returns are starting to trail off now so I’m stopping here lol. I think it’s fair to say the chains I have do present an unfair comparison since the 8KP just can’t take advantage of the chains as well as the others can

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63

They might fill a similar role, I can’t say I’ve heard the non pro enough to really make any detailed comparisons though

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64

Pricing is important as kind of a scale to see the bigger picture for sure.

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Sure, but it can be misleading if considering new. For example, a fully loaded Pacific is around 40k new, but you can pick them up used around 20 at this point. Or for example the Viva, 12 ish or higher new, around 6-7 ish used, so just assume the prices above I ended up paying more around 50-65% retail used (although some things just don’t drop in value used so not always reliable).

But I do think that’s really where the D8KP can shine for some, the amount of money you want to put in for them is a reasonable bit less than you would for other headphones. The susvara is a great example of being more expensive than it seems, used or dealer deal it’s around 3.5-4k, but if you really want to take advantage of what it has to offer you will find yourself wanting to invest 3-5x that in the chain. If that’s too daunting, I’d personally rather suggest someone to go for a HEKSE instead and put the saved cash toward better source

With a D8KP, you can typically find them used around 3k last time I looked, and honestly you can get a fairly solid experience out of them with a chain only 1.5-2x that cost, so it’s a better value if you don’t plan to (or can’t afford to) go higher in source gear. Yes you can still be rewarded going higher than that, but it’s not going to be as drastic of a difference as you would experience with a susvara

Anyways regardless of how they compare to other options, I still love these headphones, still use them pretty regularly, and liked them enough to rebuy them after I sold them at one point (which I seldom do), one of the better I’ve heard

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66

Awesome write up, glad to see you are still enjoying the d8000… despite wanting to sell them :stuck_out_tongue:

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67

hahaha. I made a spread sheet of my gear and that was a bad move if I wanted to continue denying I was a hoarder…

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68

Not to get too off topic, but I am in the same boat now - but thankfully most of my stuff is not near as high end as the rest of you here lol. Going idle from forums for a while definitely keeps me away from seeing new cool stuff I want to buy though, which is good… but also bad, because I miss interacting with everyone after a while haha.

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69

I’ve been listening to the D8000 (non-pro) for a handful of days now and I have to say that I am completely floored by it and the quality with which it presents almost any song played through them.

After speaking with @Draaly and doing a little bit of my own further research I learned that, at least on paper, the D8000 was my ideal sound signature. It wasn’t until I actually got them on my head did I realize just how true that was.

Bass - Floored, absolutely floored. The D8000 has in my opinion, the perfect amount of bass. However, the D8000 has more than simple quantity of bass. It’s heavy, encompassing, and impactful. I feel it in my chest, particularly on tracks with well implemented kicks and 808s. Infected Mushroom is godlike through these cans. The best part of the D8000’s bass is that it doesn’t come at the sacrifice of the rest of the frequency range, like is the case with many other cans.

Mids - Mids shine on this set of cans if you ask me. Vocals, both male and female, are buttery smooth, like heavy cream being poured into my ears. I HIGHLY recommend anyone with a set of these to listen to the entire Dreamland album by Glass Animals and thank me later when you have one of the most magical experiences of your life.

Highs - The highs in my opinion present well overall and are not over-emphasized or sibilant. There were only a few tracks where I felt like I would have wanted to EQ just a tad, but ultimately wasn’t enough of a problem for me to bother EQing.

Previously, I was working with the HiFiMan Arya’s. And while the Arya’s do have a much wider stage than the D8000’s do, I feel like you are missing out on a lot of what makes the D8000 so enjoyable with the Arya.

I had heard once someone describe the Arya’s soundstage as a party trick. I honestly forget who I heard that from or I would credit them for it, but after hearing the D8000 I have to agree with them. Arya has great bass extension, and great soundstage, but it’s missing out on a lot of the finer details and liveliness of the D8000 that in my opinion make it a much better experience.

All of my listening has been done through the A90/D90 stack, but fear not as I have the OOR + HYPSOS stack on the way in addition to a Benchmark DAC3 b that I can’t wait to listen to these gorgeous headphones through!

Expect some updates once I’ve had a bit of time with the new stack!

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70

So I was wondering how the comfort is on the 8kp?

Couldn’t find anything on the thread regarding comfort so I’m assuming it isn’t a problem for most. For reference, I have a relatively small head and the utopia I only find comfortable sitting on one specific spot on my head. All other positions, I get a hotspot every time. Since I’m pretty sure these are heavier than utopia, I’m curious on others’ exp w/ comfort…

Also, how much is a fair price on these used? I see around $3.2k…

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71

It’s fine imo, but the headband can sometimes slide on your head to sit lopsided which can get irritating to think about lol, the cups lack any sort of ratcheting or slotting on the headband so they will slide freely (not super loose, but loose enough to where it would shift around for me over time). But otherwise I don’t have any issues with it (but I’m also not as sensitive to hotspots on my head because there’s a noticeable dent on there from headphones that I’ve developed over the years lol). I do think I like the comfort more than the utopia personally

Depends on the cable you are getting with it as well, but I think that’s around the price of what I see pro go for

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72

That chain investment you mentioned is in msrp or used prices? It can be for sure in both just curious what you meant.

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73

In that context I was thinking more in line with also used, but it could potentially be new as well depending on what it is

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74

Would you say in sus case, amp should take larger part of budget or it would be 50/50?

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I would honestly put more into the amp over the dac if possible in this case, but it really depends on what price point you are looking at. Because with the susvara I think finding an amp with the combined power and quality is more costly than some other headphones (like with a utopia you don’t have to worry as much about raw power and can take a stronger quality focus at the expense of some power and it’s a fine trade off, with a susvara it’s not)

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76

It surely feels more challenging to find something solid used at least here. I am pretty happy with dac and no plans to upgrade but amp is still something I keep searching for. With that said my price range is where amps do not get limited by aqua if that makes sense.

Spending more time with sus on v550 it is pretty enjoyable but feels like there is more to get from them. More I listen to them the more I enjoy them.

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77

Your in a price point with headphone amps where the used gear is less frequent, much of it is available infrequently and often at prices closer to retail.
WA33’s turn up fairly frequently.
Cavalli LAu’s are probably the best budget option, but you have to actually find one for sale.
AIC10’s are available maybe two or three times a year used, at not very much of a discount over what a dealer would give you.
Bakoon’s sell for pretty much retail because of the current head-fi hype

Used Integrated’s in this price range are probably easier to find, but your not going to find a lot of feedback on specific amps.

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78

HMU if you want one @Salguson. Its in the US but converting voltages is easy on them. There is also one out of singapor iirc thats 220v

Honestly, i think discounts have decreased recently. Even my go to guy wasnt able to give much leway. I ended up paying a fair amount over the last few used prices tbh

Rofl, yup. That one is pretty wild to me. I am fairly certain my 13R is worth damn near rrp when it spent years trading hands for like 4-4.5k

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79

I just realized I’m missing this small circular black mesh on the d8kp…I wonder if it majorly affects the tuning? I don’t think it does because it looks like it’s just the magnet structure in that section, and the mesh is there to prevent things from getting stuck but I could be wrong. Anybody know?

Screenshot_20220410-093717
Screenshot_20220410-0937171440×2789 1.93 MB

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80

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess yes, it’ll affect the signature, I’d assume it’s some sort of damping.
Did the previous owner remove it?
I’ve never taken the pads off mine so I can’t confirm it’s there.

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