Don’t know, I got it from TMR. I guess contacting them is my best bet…
Just got the D8000pro in today on loan. I’ve been waiting a long time to try these headphones and can’t wait to run them through their paces. I’ll be primarily using a Eddie Current Studio B but I also have a Cavalli Liquid Gold as well to try out, both being fed with a Lampizator Amber 3.
Impressions soon
Duuuude niceeee. Those really have always interested me as well, just seem like awescome cans! Looking forward to ur impressions.
After spending some time with the d8kp I thought I’d share some thoughts…
Chain is spring 3 to Allnic and mostly compared to utopia…
Tldr: Both are great hps. Utopia if you want something analytical smooth, d8kp if you want something forward energetic.
First impressions of the d8kp other than bass were not that good. But that was listened through a not so ideal situation so fast forward. The stock cable btw isn’t so good, glad it was suggested not to get the balanced version (lol).
So bass is nothing short of sublime. I don’t think I need to rave about it anymore than the thread already has. Truly makes the utopia bass sound “meh” by comparison at least on this chain. It’s one those qualities where it makes you think you’ve never heard bass properly before. Nothing short of exceptional. Very organic, nuanced, textured, you name it. The only nitpick really is that I’d like a bit more decay and a slight subbass boost would be great (at least on this chain). But this just mostly comes down to preference. Other than that I’ve got nothing else to say, truly.
Mids took some time getting used to. It sounded nasally most of the time for the first few days but after that I didn’t really hear it anymore. Mids compared to utopia you get a more forward approach but nothing that causes problems imo. Tonally, I find it pretty even across the board even though bass and treble are relatively boosted just slightly. While utopia does have more presence in the upper mids making it sound clearer by comparison; especially with female vocals in general. Overall the mids on d8kp have great presence, weight, and texture. I prefer utopia for the most part with the music I listen to but generally d8kp is more well-rounded. Both are more complementary than anything I feel.
Treble on the d8kp has good presence and resolution. It is more forward than utopia and it can get a bit hot at times (at least on this system). I find that the d8kp treble isn’t as refined or as airy as the utopia. So, overall I think the utopia, in terms of treble performance, beats out the d8kp in general. Still good though it’s just not a standout compared to its other qualities and especially against the utopia imo.
For technical performance I find they’re pretty evenly matched on this chain. One just focuses on a certain aspect more than the other. Specifically, the utopia focuses more on micro detail, nuance, and dynamics. D8kp is generally more balanced in what it focuses for technical performance, but I do find it more distinct and sharp for separation. Overall they’re pretty much at the same level on my current system. Timbre is also good on the d8kp but I’ll give a slight edge to the utopia for the music I generally listen to. In terms of staging, I find the d8kp wider than the utopia but not by that much. Depth-wise I think the utopia wins here but just by a bit. For its presentation, the utopia feels more like you’re sitting at center stage, while the d8kp feels more up front and closer. I also feel the utopia is more holographic in its placement and presentation. But I think that’s mostly due to its overall presentation and/or source gear pairing. In closing, I find the d8kp a better all-rounder than the utopia, while the utopia excels more in organic music in general. Also I noticed that d8kp is more forgiving with recording quality over utopia even though the utopia is smoother.
For downsides, I wish the d8kp were better at lower volumes. This is a crank-it-up type of hp and I mostly listen at lower to moderate volumes in general. Not a deal breaker but it is worth mentioning.
Yeah I don’t think I’m missing anything. If I am I’ll probably include it in an article or mini update or something. Both are great hps for sure and are pretty good complements to each other. Though you can probably say that with any dynamic vs planar hps (lol). Ultimately, if I had to keep just one it’d be the utopia based on my preferences, but both are great (so I’m keeping both for now).
Did you ever get this resolved?
Couple of questions quizzical statements about these for you guys.
I know they’re supposed to pair well with everything according to the testament.
So of course, I plug the Pro into an HPA-1 and I’m finding it a bit too bright. I know I have a low tolerance for bright cans, I pretty much remember having to throw the 177X go out a window… couldn’t sell them fast enough. That was in a previous life when the importance of synergy hadn’t yet been a consideration for me.
I am using the silver cable so I’m sure there’s some wiggle room there, but the problem in this chain (BF2 as the DAC) wasn’t the quality of the highs it was their elevated relative level. So turning the volume down brought everything back under control.
Given this and knowing that this wouldn’t be my chain (I was just testing). The next evening I plugged them into my LTA Int + and let them rip. The source there is the Weiss 502, again using the silver cable.
Trying to push the high end, I listened to Killing In The Name and it was a sublime experience. The balance was just perfect, the cymbals, the the bass guitar in the the intro, the detail, the ability to focus in on one instrument, whether low in frequency or high it was just a wonderful experience. Given the same chain, a pair of VC simply didn’t have the same “energy” on this track. It’s an entirely different animal to my VC and that’s what I was looking for, not something better because I love the VC, but something in a different direction.
I won’t lie, I missed the planar slam.
Yes and no. Final audio support never got back to me or TMR unfortunately.
But I did more digging and @Delta9K helped me out by sending a pic of his. His was the same as mine except his was black and mine silver. So I’m pretty sure the one with the black mesh is for the d8k not the d8kp. You don’t have to remove the pads either to see. Shining a light through the earpad opening will do the trick.
I do wonder if this is more down to synergy than anything else. D8KP is absolutely prone to getting a bit hot up top, but I found that my impression of refinement of d8kp vs utopia pretty largely depended on chain. One something like phantasy II (which afaik should be at least somewhat similarly voiced to the 3000) the utopia took the cake by quite a long ways (d8kp just got way too hot way too often) but on MK 428 they swapped places with the treble of utopia sometimes getting a bit glarey while the D8KP maintained perfect coherency. That said, its also obviously totaly possible that utopia trebble just suits your preferences better in general. Either way, I would love to try both these cans on more highly synergistic systems at some point.
hard agree here. This played a fair role in why I sold on my set. They simply sounded best at levels well above where I usualy listen.
Over all, I agree with your impressions basicaly entirely in terms of the d8kp
Well you’ve heard more stuff than me, so you know how it goes. Synergy is everything.
It’s also worth noting I used a danacable lazuli ref on both and perhaps it just clicked more with the utopia (which I feel does). In any case, I could listen to utopia treble all night long on this system and also, swapping the power cable really helped a lot w/ d8kp treble fwiw.
I just never found the D8KP treble hot, but it might just be what I drove it with.
I don’t really find the Utopia treble excessive on either of my setups, and it’s almost relaxed on the DNA.
I think @Draaly is probably right, it likely comes down to synergy.
Narrator: He then proceeded to ask zero questions
The headphones must be that good.
you fucker…
I’m getting “Bastion” game narrator vibes.
Shoot that reminds me. I didnt pick up the bastion soundtrack in my recent soundtrack mass buy.
Just revisiting this post to say that this closely resembles my thoughts on the D8KP vs the Arya, hence the reason I’m selling the latter.
To go on a bit of a tangent, I’ve had the soundstage bug for years, having more recently sought out and owning the HD800S and Arya V2. With just a few months of ownership of both, my current experience w/ the D8KP has solidly shaken off that bug. I dare say (given it’s a planar) there’s a hint of HD800S-like DNA for some of the D8KP, particularly in the tonality of the upper registers, but it does everything else better in spades. In my current configuration (Crossfeed + Resolve’s EQ w/ +8db on the bass shelf) it’s visceral and tactile while also remaining relaxed for a significant subset of the genres I like (funk/jazz/acoustic/etc.) I also find it does the near-to-far with image placement a lot better —overall just more immersive, imo.
My LCD-5 should be arriving Monday, but I think given the way the D8KP sounds vs the descriptions of the LCD-5’s sound (and my experience with the LCD-XC), they should serve as pretty good compliments to each other whilst still remaining within my preferences. (Then off to find a super warm/intimate TOTL for male opera to complete the open-back trio…perhaps the ZMF Aeolus)
Spent some time last night with the D8KP but I did it in a new way.
I’m not an EQ guy but I do happen to have a world class DSP that does EQ. So after reading watching some of the commentary I started to fiddle. This isn’t final but it was a good first round. I have to say it really does “change” the cans in a very small but very noticeable way when you A/B it. (easy to do since you just enable or disable on the fly)
The slight bass shelf boost wakes up the sound much earlier in the volume range, adding a subwoofer type of effect that is not “slam” but room information and a sense of 3D space. The teeny 3k peak just brings the center image and vocals a bit more into focus and provides a slightly more intimate presentation. ( I will play with this a little more) I mean, tiny little bumps don’t let the graph fool you, it’s at 0.5 dB scale.
It’s weird because part of this post could be copied pasted to the Weiss thread. The reality is that maybe my not even considering EQ has been a myopic (using a visual descriptor heh-heh) position as the owner of a Weiss?
Interestingly enough, I hadn’t ever had the desire to EQ the HD600 or VC, but the 8KP certainly benefits from it in spades.
I’ve been loving my D8K Pro. I didn’t need it, but it’s given me an entirely new perceptive and a level of technicality that I was simply missing with my VC.
I liked the stock cable sound but I wanted something lighter, it’s simply too heavy and the texture of the cable is sticky on certain surfaces like leather or anything that has a smooth surface surface with poly anything, like floors so any time you move the cable “sticks” and tends to pull on the earcups. I’m starting to think the reason they have the locking mechanism is because of that pulling.
So I made my own cable pics posted in the DIY thread.
I used Furutek connectors which I will say are better quality and feel than the Neutrik I typically buy. It’s a high end can, so I splurged but it was well worth it. The 3.5 mm connectors are the tricky part in making a DIY cable for the D8000/X because of the damned locking mechanism. I found after some trial and error and measuring and test fitting that the dimensions of the Moon Audio branded (Furutek 3.5) TRS connectors worked excellent. They fit with a resounding click and I can hold the headphone by the cable and give them a good tug and they will not budge. $20 bucks for a pair of 3.5 TRS connectors which is expensive but in this case they’re well worth the price.
For the cabling however I wanted to try something out. I went the hybrid route, as the silver plate on the stock cable seemed to me as if it was pushing everything too much towards the analytical. I wound up buying some 6N OCC copper cable 24 gauge with PTFE (teflon) insulation and combined that with a 6N OCC silver plated cable again with the PTFE insulation. PTFE is a little harder to work with, more finicky to cut/trim but I’ve fully bought into the difference it makes over PVC insulation in improving sound.
Twisted the copper pairs clockwise using a drill, did the same with the silver plated pair, and then twisted the two pairs counter clockwise creating a nice tight channel. One for the left and one for the right. So 8 cores total. It’s more metal than comes on the stock cable for sure. I then attached the two channels with a cotton string, and then put that into a cotton sleeve before then running all of that through a 3/8 paracord sleeve.
I dragged my feet getting this thing completed because… life. But I’m glad I stuck with it. It does transform the D8KP into something meaningfully different than the stock cable. It adds a noticeable amount of slam, perhaps due to the increased gauge in the cable or maybe it’s the copper hybrid, but it also brings the mid range a little forward, adding a touch of warmth that wasn’t there with the stock cable. The cable does trade a little of the high shimmer and air for that bit forward slam and warmth in the mids but given the technicality and starting point for the headphone, I think it’s an easy tradeoff to sign off on.
Total expense, about $145. Good bulk cable is expensive and I have about 65’ of cable in it. I’m sure there’s a boutique brand out there that would sell something that would be prettier and move the signature in the way this did but there are advantages for going the DIY route. Besides the obvious cost savings there’s a lot of satisfaction and I knowing I can build myself different flavors. I may try the same thing but with a 20 gauge silver plate variant but for now, these are my cable of choice for the D8KP.
So, ive been seeing this headphone different places for $299 and its got me curious. Wondering if anyone here has ever heard these and what the general sound signature is like and if its s good buy at $299.
Admin note: Thread initially about Sonorous models
I haven’t heard them, but from the reviews and feedback I’ve read, they have a mid bass boost and a gigantic narrow band treble peak around 8 to 9 kHz.
Oof that scares me