The level of reviewing you're doing Paul is really high and educational, it shows a lot thinking that you apply when doing this work, Bravo !!

@PaulWasabii

10 ай бұрын

Sadly this one was out of frustration with a few things about this set. I think there are a minority of owners who had a similar experience and either accepted it or EQ'd it.

Great review.

Nice work, bro

I have been listening to these for months and love them. Recently I accidentally increased the volume on my fiio M11 Plus Ltd (a disadvantage of the touch volume panel) about 8 stops and noticed that everything was louder, but still the high vocals were not sibilant or shouty. (I always have gain on low and balanced 4.4 connection.) Your analysis confirms my impression. I turned the volume back down, because although I loved the level of detail and precision at a high volume, it did not help me fall asleep. ;)

@PaulWasabii

10 ай бұрын

I don't have the whole story, but yeah something happens at high and low volumes. With the wrong source, its gets confused but should work out for most people.

That's a fascinating discovery.

@PaulWasabii

8 ай бұрын

It is something

I really love this set, perfect for metal.

@datdudeinred

7 ай бұрын

Wait you call it perfect for metal because it has less bass punch? & metal generally has very grunge bass slam? I don't listen to alot of metal. Mostly pop, alternative, edm, electronic. For those will you recommend this? I don't need extreme bass i have 7hz legato for that but I would love a all rounder do you think this is perfect all rounder? I also have 7hz timeless too. Which I find has almost no bass after hearing legato but everything else on timeless is... timeless 😂. Would love to hear your recommendation.

@Greg.Siucrazyforaudio2016

Ай бұрын

It's not so punchy ,but it presents in a high quality way across the board, that why people love the P8. upgrade cable will be further more improved the quality by 10-15% minimum.thank you.

Sorry Paul,I just bought my p8 for a month now , it has all the problems that you mentioned on your review , but after 200 hours burn-in , all changed the beautiful texture on bass and vocal , I'm in love with, the treble is very high quality sparkly non fatigue with amazing nuance, it's a very special set , the texture of the vocal , sounds like listen to vinyl that you hardly get from lower price item , the micro details etc.... The only downsides are mid forward and get a decent cable , good seal foam tips or spinfit tips ,eq it if you like to dial up , for how I did it,you can get flawless audio from the Performer 8 , everything sounds amazing, of course you need high quality gear and switch high res on with your phone, this p8 actually you can't go wrong with it, just eq lower the mid then it can sound phenomenal , a good cable also is essential , thank you.

@PaulWasabii

2 ай бұрын

Cool, glad you got it going as that is the only thing that matters.

@Greg.Siucrazyforaudio2016

2 ай бұрын

@@PaulWasabii burn in long periods of time and a high quality cable are so important for this item , thank you for your response cheers

@David-sv2mr

Ай бұрын

@@Greg.Siucrazyforaudio2016 What cable do you sugest to go with it ? (high Qulity cable at the lowest price posible)

@Greg.Siucrazyforaudio2016

Ай бұрын

After longer time used i.e. 500 hours , you don't need eq any more for the forwardness vocal,it improved over time , just bought a new cable NiceHCK GrKing Flagship with 3size adaptors for aud$72.61 on sale,it improved the resolution, less bright,more texture and beautiful nuance , improved at least 15-20% over stock cable.it's not cheap but not expensive either for the premium quality and very nice large case as a bonus.hope this help the audiophile community cheers!

@Greg.Siucrazyforaudio2016

Ай бұрын

​@@David-sv2mrbuy 1 good cable instead of future upgrade will save you money for long term, you don't buy many many cheaper cable for style or colour, you invest cable for better quality of sound from my experience cheers.

This is a phenomenon I've always known to have happen with different cables and sources, and also that no one's graphs and graphical analyses take this into account. Just like with amps and speakers, multi driver sets are more likely to have uneven power spectrum scalings. Not that I have not seen and heard this behaviour in single driver setups, but still, its pretty intuitive to me that multi component electronics should exhibit this. Neither my ears nor my audio transducers ever scale linearly with the power flowing through them, and if any earphone WERE to actually have a graph which was just a simple y-axis translation with varying power supplied to it, then that would be very commendable for the linearity of source and driver both. I'm happy you've found an earphone-amp combo that actually shows you that these things are important to observe when evaluating electronics. Cheers!

@PaulWasabii

10 ай бұрын

I don't have the whole story, but I also have talked to a couple other people who have heard the 6k on their sources. Its really noticeable and like me, one simply EQs it out. I went through this with KZ as well, if someone wanted to ask for the AFUL's frequency response configuration, it might shed some light on what is happening and why their graph is different. As you say, that is also just another part of the story and how their tuning circuit responds may be another story. Yeah, its always been more complicated than it appears and more than anyone wants to explain on most sets.

I'm planning on getting the 8 but I'm also very new to all of this. When you talk about power etc would it then be better to use unbalanced rather than a balanced cable with these? You can choose 4.4 or 3.5 when purchasing, I'm only going to be using it with a Tanchjim Space dongle DAC and Shanling m0pro (I have the balanced adapter for it too). I was planning on getting the 4.4 balanced but if it could actually sound better with 3.5 I'll just go for that. Thanks for any help anyone can give

@PaulWasabii

6 ай бұрын

You can buy a 4.4mm cable later and Space is fine. That whole bit is more for people with more dongles, more dac/amps. You have what you have so I would always default to the more powerful output unless phone battery is an issue. For the most part, you will immediately notice it in the volume and as you buy other sets, just buy a 4.4 cable for sets that don't have the option.

I feel using a 75ohm (or higher) impedance adapter and high gain on your DAP would really open up the sound for this Thanks for this awesome review!

@PaulWasabii

10 ай бұрын

Right, there is a combination of things to do if you have P8 and not getting the sound as described by other reviews. At some point I measured with 18ohm impedance as I had it handy from Sonus.

@Hijynx87

10 ай бұрын

Interesting to know, I’m assuming p5 does the same? Time to bust out the adapters for my adapters!

@kevinmccarthy3753

10 ай бұрын

@@PaulWasabiiWould you consider the Qudelix 5K to be a good match for the A8? It sounds as though you are saying the less power you throw at it the better it sounds. Am I misunderstanding this? I am new to the world of IEM’s and having a hard time deciding what set to purchase as an upgrade to my Moondrop Kato.

My additional experience: same IEM set giving me different sound, from my Samsung note20 ultra , giving me bright sound. With my newer ZTE Nubia Z50s pro, l get a warmer darker more solid sound than The Samsung,i enjoyed more with ZTE it's has a new DAC build into their phones , a better experience is from my Topping E70 Velvet DAC AMP with 2000mw SMSL SH6 Combo , huge power for iems , the P8 desire more power to deliver it's best .This combo brings higher resolution from P8. So good and so enjoyable.you get very high quality Bass next level but not punchy bass ,look elsewhere if punchy bass is your priority.Thank you.

@PaulWasabii

Ай бұрын

Nice, I think that is true for many hybrids and a lot of people notice it in the bass. And if you are noticing it in the bass, that is affecting the mids as well. You have a nice selection of sources to hear the range of P8 which is great.

Maybe just a bad unit or something. Mine sounds amazing as far as giving me that 3d immersive experience for most audio tracks. The bass is there but it’s more flat and the treble is ever so slightly higher than needed but that 3d type of feeling I get is second to none in my arsenal of headphones and iems. Everything has a position for me when listening on these p8’s. Anything more expensive will need to beat that one major part for me.

@PaulWasabii

2 ай бұрын

Sweet. Seems like they have a new one coming out trying to pull the good parts of P and Magic series. I don't think its aiming for P8 though. I will admit that P8 is still a mystery to me and why it was so source sensitive. As they say, the only opinion that actually matters is yours and seems like you are enjoying it so that is all that matters.

@FeZ_

2 ай бұрын

@@PaulWasabii sounds pricey already 😭 haha yeah I hope I can find something similar to it that can give me that positioning I like so much but has slightly tamer treble and better bass

I absolutely love this set, more so than what reviewers usually say. Maybe the source explains it, but then I’m running it off of a Qudelix 5K which should be quite common. Maybe my hearing is broken then lol

@PaulWasabii

8 ай бұрын

Nah, lots of people love it but its a bit source picky. When it is off, its very off with some sources. The price point opens it to being compared to more expensive, more technical sets in reviews. If you love it, that is the only thing that matters.

@Greg.Siucrazyforaudio2016

Ай бұрын

I upgraded a higher quality cable and foam tips to get the most superb sound from it , it's truly phenomenal,other people may only want plug and play for any IEMS.

For the newbies (like me), is the inconsistency in sound and poor performance due to power etc a problem if you plug it into an iPhone via the apple dongle or something like the Qudelix? Really appreciate your approach to this btw.

@PaulWasabii

9 ай бұрын

No, I think the inconsistency is more likely in higher power gear. My sample size is also small as a few people noticed the same but not straight out of a phone. Also consider that not everyone has a sensitivity in that area, to most people it will just sound more detailed or present.

@Chida_o_0

9 ай бұрын

@@PaulWasabii I’ve ended up ordering one so I guess I’ll get to experience it first hand for better or for worse :)

@Greg.Siucrazyforaudio2016

Ай бұрын

@@Chida_o_0 what is your experience with the P8 ?

@Chida_o_0

Ай бұрын

@@Greg.Siucrazyforaudio2016 love it. Super smooth, neutral, warm. Not had any issues with it at all.

Because of how many drivers there are in that set, each with heir own impedance to them, it made sense that high gain mode could alter the sound in very weird ways. Ig they dont take source into account when designing this set, likely to reduce the cost abit.

@PaulWasabii

10 ай бұрын

Mostly why I like Topping, very low impedance to take that out which works until a brand does what KZ does and puts out a FR graph based on a high impedance. Also why I measure with low impedance. There is something going on but its a tour unit so it needs to move on, maybe someone else will take a look.

Very good review as usual.Paul which one you recommend for classical music ? (warm with great instrument separation)

@PaulWasabii

9 ай бұрын

Keep an eye on Hidizs MP145. It is basically that, warm and technically good. The bass will creep up on you so maybe EQ or try lots of tips. Its the part where it gives warmth might also be a bit too much. Its just hard to beat planar once you get used to it.

@anatol1204

9 ай бұрын

@@PaulWasabiiI read that they changed the tuning but they don t admit it

@Greg.Siucrazyforaudio2016

Ай бұрын

Have you get anything yet , what is your experience?

@anatol1204

Ай бұрын

@@Greg.Siucrazyforaudio2016 I bought CCA Hydro but it didn't arrive yet

@Greg.Siucrazyforaudio2016

Ай бұрын

@@anatol1204 2dd 8ba specs looks really a punchy set .

Sounds great from a btr7 and even a Nintendo switch.

@PaulWasabii

10 ай бұрын

Yep, most people will have a great time with it, the ones who don't are finding me.

Brilliant observations Paul I heard my set at 8/10 on Topping A90D and I found this set had not enough bass at low volume.

@PaulWasabii

10 ай бұрын

The bass should be there, I am not sure what magic gets it up to AFUL's graph. Someone else can figure it out

So what would be a good source? How about the ibasso dc03 pro?

@PaulWasabii

7 ай бұрын

I never figured it. P8 is one where you try it on what you have, either you like it or return it or sell it. Enough people want to hear it that re-selling them was popular for a bit.

Hype 2 or performer 8, which one you pick?

@PaulWasabii

7 ай бұрын

I'd easily pick Hype 2.

For the money it shouldn't have this problem. Do you think hype 2 is far better than this? Fir $60 cheaper too? Are the details, imaging & Soundstage comparable? Which has better?

@PaulWasabii

7 ай бұрын

Hype 2 is better or maybe I am just partial to Thiaeudio tuning. They are really good with tuning to the drivers they use. AFUL P8 is just a weird on for me, I don't see details, imaging, or stage being special for the price. Hype 2 is a safer tuning, but much better stage. In this price range, you aren't going to see big swings in details or resolution, they are all bound by a few BAs. Thieaudio is better at tuning to present them better.

Are you shure your Performer 8 is not broken unit ?

@PaulWasabii

10 ай бұрын

Nah, I had talked to others who went down the path of figuring out the 6k peak and EQ'ing it, one guy tried 3 sets that all had it. It is a source problem as I can hear it or not hear it on different sources. Its not subtle, its quite piercing.

Better than QUINTET or S12 pro?

@PaulWasabii

10 ай бұрын

Problem is that Quintet leans more technical and S12 Pro is a planar and just better. P8 might hit that like-able signature, but not going to out technical either of those.

@criticactual

10 ай бұрын

@@PaulWasabii thanks! In terms of technicalities s12 pro is better than Quintet?

@Greg.Siucrazyforaudio2016

Ай бұрын

I owned s12 pro for the quality is 50/50 love and hate .not a good set to me.P8 not good for bass head that's what most people complain about instead it gives you very high quality sound across the board for sure from my experience cheers.

What you’re explaining is true for about 90% of IEM’s and headphones. I have the Performer 8 and here nothing what you’re describing but I don’t listen to my music at ear screeching levels. Every headphone I’ve owned sounds worse at louder levels if the source is poor. The Topping amp is not the best source for reviewing and at higher levels lower end equipment is going to exaggerate the poor sound quality from your device. Try something higher end before you come to a conclusion.

@PaulWasabii

9 ай бұрын

Nah, you are missing the point. Most measurements don't resemble AFUL's own graph because it does something odd at the volume most people measure it. Most sets get measured at the same volume and that one does something odd. When you turn down the volume, it begins to resemble AFUL's graph and all the reviewers who simply talked to what they saw got it a bit off. If a reviewer said the soundstage was small or intimate, they needed a source that paired better, not a better source.

@Greg.Siucrazyforaudio2016

Ай бұрын

I left my comment and experience with my P8 , before burn-in , it sounds terrible, l put lots of efforts and patience on burn-in ,12hrs ,24hrs , 50hrs ,100hrs, then I requested a refund, the seller said I needed to pay shipping $50 , then l get more attempts to burn-in 120hrs then it became acceptable, burn-in 150hrs sounds good,200 hrs amazing and wow wow wow, of course I did use a better cable and foam tips for very high quality Bass , texture,body of note weight, across the board, only not punchy in bass instead l get top quality Bass subbass , beautiful vocal and amazing nuance. Some people may only want plug and play to sound good, they don't know much how to treat high quality IEMs the proper way.Thank you.

Complicated as in, non-good. HA! (im sorry). This tuning is not good based on graph alone. I appreciate the low key review. ;) And also graphing scaling.. nice! 6k peaks are a no go for me. That is a freq I do not want as the main point of the tuning.

@PaulWasabii

10 ай бұрын

6K is a no go when you hear it, but under the right conditions here, its less present. Did they try to lower pinna and add some extra detail in at 6k? Probably. Its just more complicated trying to understand the conditions where its appears and when it does not.

@Greg.Siucrazyforaudio2016

Ай бұрын

The high quality drivers and sound quality people will never listen from graph , why only look at graph, it can't tell you the quality of separation,tone,body of note weight Timbre , texture , the reviewer showing people about the tuning but not showing you how they sound.seeing the graph to judge something umm.......what can l say , I owned this set ,every note it presents is super high quality that you can't explain from graph, it gets better after burn-in a very long time is required, bad reviews is caused by not enough time burn-in and stock cable let down the high quality of drivers, premium cable is required not premium price AUD$80 NiceHCK GrKing Flagship cable will do a fantastic job , lastly a set of foam tips for super high quality Bass , the only negative thing is this set not for punchy bass music, instead you'll get superb quality Sub bass and mid bass texture note weight, just everything's beautiful. Graph reviews is a joke to me .Thank You.

Maybe you should say aful like European 😂 a as "a" not 'ei'

@PaulWasabii

10 ай бұрын

Good idea, a few hours too late. Thank you though