Comparing between four different amplifiers, the Grace m902, the Lavry DA11, WooAudio 6 with Sophia Princess, and the SPL Auditor, I find the best sinergy is achieved with the WooAudio 6, where the treble gets a little smoothing treatment, and an added body in the midrange. With the Sophia Princess tube, I find the WooAudio 6 to give a really good imaging that’s 2nd only to the Lavry. The Grace m902 is always wide in soundstage and always musical, and so it’s my next favorite amp for the Edition 8. The amplifier section of the Lavry DA11, though gives the best detail and imaging (perhaps largely due to the fact that I’m using its DAC, thus no signal degradation from external cabling and connectors), is not as refined as the others I use in this review. Perhaps the DA11 still needs more burn in time, cause it’s fairly new at this moment. The Auditor, though also very good in imaging, is not fully burnt yet, and it lacks the added body offered by the WooAudio6.
If you are trying to find one area where the Edition 8 truly excels, you’d probably find none. This is one of the reason the Edition 8 lacks the wow factor of a lot of other headphones. But don’t make a conclusion yet, cause if you take a long listen, the Edition actually does very well of immersing you to a wide variety of music. I find that a lot of headphones that have a very strong coloration, or excels in one area, normally is very weak in a different area. Thus headphones are often very limited to a certain genre. The Edition won’t win any one comparison, but it does everything right, and in such a way that really adds that instant
The Edition 8 is for people who wants great hi-fi with no strings attached. While I personally love oversized amplifiers and top end sources to feed signal to my headphones, I can understand that other people doesn’t want to deal with the mess. There are also times when I just don’t have space for the full size hi-fi rack, yet I still want to be able to enjoy great music. The Edition 8 is superb for these purposes. It’s begging to be plugged in to an Ipod, and it still offers great sound out of that set up. If you have an extra budget, an external DAC and amplifier combination like the Lavry DA11 or the Grace m902 is compact enough, yet the improvements are clearly felt on the Edition 8.
System for auditioning:
Headphones: Ultrasone Edition 8, Sennheiser HD800
Source: MacPro via Toslink to Lavry DA11
Amplifier: Lavry DA11, Grace m902, WooAudio6 with PDPS and Sophia Princess, SPL Auditor.
Interconnect: Transparent Musiclink Plus XLR, Purist Audio Design Maximus XLR, DIY Copper with Eichman Bullet RCA
adhisan
nice on the spot!!
i agree that ultrasone needed more head time than other cans ive ever heard,, ultrasone is not the type of cans that you will fall in love at the first sight (listen)… 😀
i hope that you give the ultrasone some time to burn in,, because in my experience,, ultrasone need at least 300hrs or so to sound good 😀
RayZLight
i also agree on this one..
usually people try my pl750 for a few seconds and just put it down without any comment..
if they do comment, the usual one is “nothing special”..
you need to hear more n more to praise its quality..
n you need very lengthy burn-in time ,a few hundred hours approximately 😉
aldvmaster
great review man! i have the 8 with “The Predator” that i take everywhere… plugged to my X200 via USB/DAC .. or iPhone lineout… my portable sound system…
i love listening everywhere with all kinds of music thrown @ it…
Once again… awesome review… true to the 8..
Rolo
I hope this Edition 8 are manufacture in the EU specially germany
I would hate to pay that kind of money for something made in CHINA!
Mike
Interesting. I do wonder, where is the Edition 8 manufactured?
John
Edition 8 is hand made in Germany they mentioned it on their website.
Also i think most or all of Ultrasone items are made in Taiwan hehe they specifically put that on their cans, at least i got the label on my Pro 750 and 900. To distiguish it self from Mainland China which are labelled "MADE IN CHINA" and different to "MADE IN TAIWAN" 😛
Mike
Thanks John for the information. 🙂
Sharklordy
is this a good match for hifiman hm-801 or better with beyerdynamic t5p?
Anonymous
Should be good with the HM-801. Havent heard the T5p, but impressons hasnt been favorable.
Aaron Tan
Hi Mike,
Pretty old article but still a great read. Anyway, was wondering what you would recommend as a portable amp for the Ed8? Cheers.
Mike
There is plenty of choices, I think many of the amps on the Usual Suspects would do. http://www.headfonia.com/the-usual-suspects-12-portable-amps-compared/
Edward Cheung
Have these and agree on the comment about these headphones creating good soundstage and ability to work with most genres. Now just need to get a good portable amp to really get them to shine!
Pickcick
Just wondering how if it compared to W3000ANV then. hehehe…
Both closed, and tag at “premium” $1500 and $1200.
Btw, how’s the performance of Edition 8 if paired with The Continental?
Mike
The Edition 8 is fast paced with very impactful bass. It’s a strong, toe-tapping headphone, with the usual V-shaped signature of the Ultrasones.
The W3000ANV, I’ve never listened to it, but based on the usual closed Audio Technica ful size signature, it should be a more relaxed headphone with a more spacious feel.
Sorry never tried the Edition 8 with the Continental.
Rudolfs Verdins
Greetings, Mike!
I wonder whether you have tried Edition 8 with Tera Player?
I’ll have my chance, I just cannot wait…
Mike
Hi Rudolfs,
Sorry but I don’t have the Edition 8 around at the moment. 🙁
Rudolfs Verdins
Oh, I’m sorry – I red your review only recently, and I did not pay atention to the year when it was done.
Just to say that I am using the Edition 8 Ltd # 545 as my main headphones for the second month now, and I am quite impressed. I use them mainly with Sansa Fuse, but I’m afraid this DAP does not do them justice, therefore I opted for Tera Player (according to the latest message from Charles, he is currently making it for me).
Mike
Alright, Rudolfs. Looking forward to hearing your impression with it.
Mike
By the way I deleted some of the comments you made on the other article since they were not in English. Nothing against foreign language, but I just feel that most people would benefit from comments posted in English. Hope you understand 😉
Rudolfs Verdins
A compatriot wrote to me in Latvian, so I replied. No problem whatsoever (apart from the inevitable side effect of making me less willing to contribute to your site – but I have no doubts that you are experienced enough to have anticipated that ;-).
Ron89
@headfonia:disqus
Mike how do these compare to the beyerdynamic T5p, better, on the same level or just a different type of sound?
I want a high end portable can that works well with modern music, remastered classic rock and pairs well with the HM801.
Rudolfs Verdins
Can only comment in the context of Tera Player as source.
Ed 8 and T5P both are keepers. Ed 8 is very good with [relatively] modern music, exceptionally good with classic rock, and good with remastered classic rock.
However,T5P beats Ed 8 for classical and jazz.
All in all Ed 8 sees more use – it is effortlessly involving, just fun, while T5P is more demanding, and can even be fatiguing at times.
Mike
Thanks Rudolfs for sharing.
Benoît
Hi
First at all thank you very much for all your very interesting reviews.
Do you think the Mojo is a good match with my Ultrasone Edition 8 ?
If not, do you have a another suggestion ? I use a Galaxy S7.
Best regards.
TechnoVolume
Ultrasone Edition 8 Ruthenium incorporates stunning attention to detail in every aspect of headphone design, the outer ear cups are covered in Ruthenium. This precious metal is known for its brilliant metallic sheen and durable properties. The outer ear cups are emblazoned with a decorative clasp of noble metal.The interior ear cups of Edition 8 Ruthenium headphones and the headband are covered in very soft genuine black Ethiopian sheepskin leather. This is the finest leather available and provides the finest isolation of any leather.The metal headband of Edition 8 typifies latest scientific knowledge in headband design and development. This unique progression of headband design made by Ultrasone is highly developed and technical precision work; specifically engineered for the Edition 8 series. The headband is also covered with the very soft genuine black Ethiopian sheepskin leather.The Ultrasone Edition 8 are the best headphones I’ve ever used with my iPod and iPad. When I first got these through B&H Photo Video, I couldn’t get them off my head. I listened for hours and hours every day, enjoying my music and movies more than ever.The Ultrasone Edition 8 sound absolutely fantastic, and they can play loudly directly from an iPod or iPad without using any amplifiers. They isolate from surrounding noise, and don’t leak sound to disturb others.