Apple Adds $800 Lightning Adapter 'Audeze EL-8' Headphones to Online Store

[dysamoria]

Ludicrous. "Audiophiles" that buy $800 headphones obviously love listening to MP3-compressed music...

There's one reason that tip and sleeve connectors are inferior to other connections: static caused by rotation when their cables are moved. RCA plugs don't suffer that, but they didn't fit well on portable devices. On a convenience device for mobile listening, the 3.5mm setup makes perfect sense. Its ubiquitous and inexpensive. There's no justification for adding a proprietary connector and DAC just for portable listening. There's no benefit to consumers here. Only shareholders see benefit to this in jacking up adapter sales and licensing of the propriety connector.

When Apple has 1 terabyte storage and lossless files are standard on these devices, only then will $800 headphones not be an utter ludicrous waste. Actually, no, $800 headphones will always be ludicrous. Even in the studio.

 

[Kiwikat88]

I am pretty surprised that there is a set of headphones that they charge $800 for. Those things must provide some hi fidelity sound...or maybe its just overpriced

Have you ever spent good money on a high quality computer, smartphone, or TV? This is no different. I've got a pair of their more expensive Audeze LCD-X and they just about knock over anyone who listens to them. Even skeptics love them after hearing them.

I cannot for the life of me understand why people are OK with spending money on a HDTV or 4K TV but won't spend money for higher quality sound. If you actively listen to music (not just put it on as background noise) you owe it to yourself to invest in some good headphones. The buds that come with your phone are absolutely awful. You seriously don't know what you have been missing.

 

[nazaar]

I stopped reading at $799

 

[dannyyankou]

$800?

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

That's actually a MID range price for audiophile headphones

 

[Boatboy24]

800? Do they come with a 'happy ending'?

 

[iJeremy]

Please read what comes in the box:

Audeze EL-8 Titanium Closed-Back Headphones

Lightning cable with headphone amp and DAC

Standard audio cable for use with non-Apple devices

3.5mm to 0.25 in. plug adapter

 

[Digital Skunk]

The EL-8s have a really high frequency range and its peaks don't really distort under high volume. However if you're just looking for a cheap set of great listening headphones, a pair of Sony MDR-7506s will be more than ample. People even use those for mixing.

EL-8s are good at what they do, and yes they're expensive, but 'overpriced' is difficult to argue when they do the job they're meant to. Most consumers wouldn't think about sinking 10K on a computer, though you wouldn't see many recording studios running through a $200 Toshiba Satellite Pro! So 'niche' is a far better word I think.

I agree with all of this, and you saved me from having to write it.

I was going to end with, "why did Audeze put a Lightning port on them?"

Unless there are some brand new DAWs from Avid and the like that have lightning ports on them instead of a minijack or 1/4"

 

[pat500000]

Apple... It may be expensive but who are you fooling? I'm sure 30-200 dollars of headphones are lot better than this. Tim...I know you reading this. Come back to Earth. Just because it's lightening connect does not warrant 800 dollars.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Yes, but around here that will make perfect sense and several of us will soon formulate why that is a much better option than going with a well-established, thoroughly (and globally) ubiquitous standard that actually isn't in the way of the "thinner" objective as proven by another of Apple's iDevices already thinner than iPhone.

We just did with with MB. Popular ports were ejected and many of us made passionate cases why that is both right and even makes perfect sense. We even ignore that "thinner & lighter" numbers don't need to factor in the now separate parts some have to carry around to make it work with existing hardware (if one has to carry around the adapter just in case, it seems it should count in the "lighter" calculation). Personally, I don't love the idea of proprietary anything unless it brings HUGE advantage over established standards AND I detest the idea of having to carry yet another adapter around just in case I would need to plug my iDevice headphones of the future into any other non-Apple audio device.

I hope there is a tangible reason for this move beyond the profit motive of selling yet another premium-priced adapter and/or more lightning licensing deals with headphone makers. The price we consumers pay for it is not just in a $30 or $50 adapter but also all the times we will want to jack in to something but fail to have the adapter with us.

Once again (and IMO), this appears to be Apple solving a problem that none of us have... like the continuing strive toward "thinner" when none of us seem to be complaining about the onerous thickness of existing iDevices.

Perhaps, and this is from a rather uninformed person saying this, but perhaps this is a way to address the demands of the EU, which was trying to homogenize the plethora of batteries, chargers, etc, in the high tech industry.

Having ONE connector for charging, industry wide, have ONE battery or one per class of device, it all makes sense. (I had to chuck an older peecee notebook because I couldn't find batteries at all for it. Yes, even eBay.)

This doesn't mean, I'd hope, that Apple will use the lightening connector for charging MacBooks, but it sort of makes sense, in a long range view, for a ubiquitized industry, having everything use the same connector is an interesting idea that opens up a whole wide array of other issues, like needing adapters and perhaps multiple ports. Can I see an iPhone with three lightening ports? Oddly enough, yes. So by slaying the 3.5 jack beast, Apple could have inadvertently created another one.

Like the, ironically, 3.5 headphone multi adapter. I have several. I never travel with them, because 'space', and... To perhaps soon be forced to carry an adapter to listen to headphones AND charge at the same time is getting a little out of hand. Oh, the other 'obvious' fix is to make a multi-headed lightening charging cable. UGLY!!!

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Apple... It may be expensive but who are you fooling? I'm sure 30-200 dollars of headphones are lot better than this. Tim...I know you reading this. Come back to Earth. Just because it's lightening connect does not warrant 800 dollars.

He doesn't read this stuff. They *might* pay an aggregator company to 'boil down' the comments, but I seriously doubt that upper Apple management ever reads anything from here, or their own support websites.

 

[Kiwikat88]

Apple... It may be expensive but who are you fooling? I'm sure 30-200 dollars of headphones are lot better than this. Tim...I know you reading this. Come back to Earth. Just because it's lightening connect does not warrant 800 dollars.

This has nothing to do with Apple nor Tim Cook. Audeze sets the price for their products.

They offer a premium product with excellent support. When my LCD-X had a driver die they basically did everything but replace the whole thing. Paid for fast shipping back to me too. They're designed, built, and supported in the USA on top of it.

And no, there is no 200 dollar set of headphones that is as good as an Audeze product. Please try again.

 

[cjake]

I was going to end with, "why did Audeze put a Lightning port on them?"

Because it is a digital stream via the Lightning port versus analog from the headphone connector. Audeze can then use their own DAC to perform high quality digital to analog conversion. Resulting in better sound quality than you could ever get through the iPhone headphone connector.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Say good bye to cheap headphones, then, because a digital connector will require a DAC.

Which means powered, which means shorter battery life, which means...

No transcon flights uninterrupted by the screaming kid in 14C.

 

[usarioclave]

If yes to any of those, I'm guessing you are answering as a shareholder instead of as a consumer.

Heck, keep that freaking parallel port there too! And don't forget those PS/2 connectors and a DB-9! And we need the hole for the 8 1/2 inch floppy while you're at it!

Seriously, if you don't like it don't buy it. Don't make the rest of us suffer because you want to cling to old connector technology.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Ludicrous. "Audiophiles" that buy $800 headphones obviously love listening to MP3-compressed music...

There's one reason that tip and sleeve connectors are inferior to other connections: static caused by rotation when their cables are moved. RCA plugs don't suffer that, but they didn't fit well on portable devices. On a convenience device for mobile listening, the 3.5mm setup makes perfect sense. Its ubiquitous and inexpensive. There's no justification for adding a proprietary connector and DAC just for portable listening. There's no benefit to consumers here. Only shareholders see benefit to this in jacking up adapter sales and licensing of the propriety connector.

When Apple has 1 terabyte storage and lossless files are standard on these devices, only then will $800 headphones not be an utter ludicrous waste. Actually, no, $800 headphones will always be ludicrous. Even in the studio.

You count out the most urgent need for expensive bling: I got this, and you don't! I predict these will fly off the shelves.

 

[teknikal90]

if the iphone 7 doenst have a headphone jack I'll be sticking with the 6. IF not jump ship to a nexus or something.

 

[Kajje]

$800 headphones, $2000 speakers, $10000 watches (that are out of date every 1-2 years). This is comedy.

Patience my dear, next year you'll buy a television which becomes obsolet ein about 12 months, and in 5 years time your car will be annually picked up by the agency with destination scrapyard. Be smart and recycle wise; the batteries have to be disposed seperately.

 

[anarchos]

The level of ignorance here is astounding. Who knew so many Apple fans are Phillistines when it comes to high fidelity.

And I personally find it hilarious that Apple fans are complaining of expensive gadgets!

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Perhaps, and this is from a rather uninformed person saying this, but perhaps this is a way to address the demands of the EU, which was trying to homogenize the plethora of batteries, chargers, etc, in the high tech industry.

I hope not. Lightening is not an industry-standard jack. So if the EU settled on that one as THE standard, that would imply that everyone else's phones, tablets, etc will need to adopt it too. Since it's Apple proprietary port, why would they choose it? Instead, why not USB3c, which is an "open" standard?

If this is "forced" by a government(s), it seems they would settle on a port that is NOT proprietary and NOT owned by a single company.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Heck, keep that freaking parallel port there too! And don't forget those PS/2 connectors and a DB-9! And we need the hole for the 8 1/2 inch floppy while you're at it!

Seriously, if you don't like it don't buy it. Don't make the rest of us suffer because you want to cling to old connector technology.

Again, an extremist answer. I said nothing about long-since-retired ports. But this 3.5mm port is as ubiquitous as it gets (unlike lightening). It's current... in use now... in everything from Apple and everybody else too. It adds no new proprietary licensing costs to the makers of headphones. And headphones from any source works with EVERYTHING without needing adapters. Are you really arguing FOR carrying adapters should we ever need to jack our headphones into something NOT from Apple, including- say- Apple Macs that don't have a lightening port?

And how exactly does my wishing Apple would stick with ubiquitous standard instead of pressing a proprietary jack upon us make you suffer? Apple is using that standard right now and has been for all the generations of all iDevices and Macs. Have you been suffering for all these years because Apple chose (and still chooses) to use that option? More simply, is Apple making your suffer because they ARE using that 3.5mm port now or am only I making you suffer because I've written down how I wish they would keep using that port?

 

[Wando64]

Seriously, if you don't like it don't buy it. Don't make the rest of us suffer because you want to cling to old connector technology.

It has nothing to do with old and new technologies. It is about proprietary versus industry standard.
A lightning set of headphones will OLNY work with Apple equipment. Fine if you are happy with that.
You would probably be happy if iPhones only worked on (an hypothetical) Apple network. Geez, I should have sold this idea to them.

Why stop at the iphone anyway.
How would you feel if all the connectors on a Mac were Apple proprietary?

 

[drumcat]

I am a shareholder, and I'll be mad as hell if they get rid of the 3.5mm jack. Why? Because you unnecessarily add the need for a DAC. It's a terrible idea. Why would I want a DAC in headphones? iPhones have a pretty good one now. I do not mind that some headphones allow for a direct lightning connection, but on the other hand, NO! Hell no. It's idiotic to jettison the one peripheral that gave the whole i-line its wide-based support!

Imagine how well iPods would have sold if your headphones required a 30-pin. It's DOA. Nothing has changed here. 3.5 can't go away. It's just way, way too impractical to eliminate. I mean, On the retina MacBook, they got rid of nearly everything, but they STILL kept the 3.5.

It would be nice for Apple to squish this rumor early.

 

[alexgowers]

any people will still load up 128kbps mp3s they ripped from CDs or downloaded after buying these. The difference from 16bit to 24bit is not humanly possible to notice, it's only used in audio when messing with audio files as you can really mess stuff around and get artefacts. The difference between 320kbps mp3s and waves is pretty noticeable if you have top spec equipment but it's touch and go. This is above and beyond all possible benefits. Your best bet is to spend $150 on some senhisers it's gets you 98% of the way to where the top headphone go.

 

[jcmeyer5]

Are you outside your mind??! $800 for WIRED headphones? To listen to music from a phone?!

I know this isn't Apple's product, but Apple is off the rails to even offer this in their stores with a straight face. Don't misunderstand me... they can do as they please, but you gotta be s******* me. And you thought Beats were overpriced? Ha... take THIS!!

 

[Moriarty]

When you read stuff like "28-bit" DACs, you just know it's BS. Anyway, people who are into Hi-Fi probably want to have separate control over DAC, amplifier and Headphones. Nobody is going to shell out 800 bucks for a inflexible solution like that. You can literally only use that headphone on your iPod Touch, iPad and iPhone. Who would want that?

There is no such thing as a 28 bit DAC, in the sense that there is no DAC that has more than about ~ 20 bits worth of dynamic range. Plus, you're working with a 16 bit source file, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Audeze make good audio gear, and these cans have planar magnetic drivers. The extra power that a Lightning connector can deliver is no doubt useful, as an iPhone's 3.5 mm jack would normally really struggle to drive planars. I bet they're great headphones and the extra cost might not be too out of line, but it's a shame about the marketing BS.