AFUL Acoustics Performer 8 Hybrid Driver IEMs - 1DD + 7BA In-Ear Monitors with Easy Driveability | High-Fidelity Earphones for Audiophiles, Musicians & Studio Recording

These are just EXCEPTIONAL quality all around. The fit and comfort are easily the best I've ever had, through roughly 8-10 different pairs of IEM's. They fit my rather large ears and conch fantastically. Just a true pleasure comfort wise. Gooooo Aful (the strangest brand name in the game LoL ?).But when it comes to the sound quality, they're simply astounding quality. You'd have to spend CONSIDERABLY more money to get anything better in terms of sound quality, soundstage, imaging, resolution and precision, not to mention the comfort aspect. Just the BEST all rounder as well. I haven't heard a genre yet that these haven't handled flawlessly, which is pretty rare in my rather large experience. A true natural and realistic sound experience through these bad boys. Everytime I listen to them (99.9999999 {9N LoL} of what I listen to is my own live recordings with my own microphones), I am completely transported back in time and space to the EXACT location and experience that my mics and I had live at the time. But the sound is more realistic and ULTRA refined than I've ever experienced before, and has just blown me away!!! These honestly put my $1,100 C.A. Andromeda's and $1k C.A. Dorado's to SHAME. Everything about these just crushes my old Campfire Audio IEM's. That's why I'll have a hard time EVER spending more than $400 on a pair of IEM's again, because the P8's have destroyed everything I've tried in the past, and costing more than double the money... That said, this is an updated review and I simply CANNOT WAIT to try the brand new Aful Cantor IEM's, which have 14 BA's PER IEM, and numerous new patents to go along with them.i don't see myself ever buying IEM's that AREN'T made by Aful, except for the very rare one-off I'd like to try...I purchased and reviewed the Celest PhoenixCall (1DD x 2BA x 2 Micro-Planars) IEM's about a month before I got my P8's, and they really blew me away too. Technology has gotten absolutely insane and you don't have to spend thousands to get the best sound quality and comfort any longer. Chi-Fi RAWKS IMO ? ? Anyway, I would consider the PhoenixCall a little brother to these. Really balanced tuning with great sound stage and the ability to transport me back in time with my live recordings. However, what separates the two and ultimately the more money justification with the P8, is it's absolute amazing ability to reproduce the SMALLEST of details and it's micro texturing. It's ability to do so and it's refinement have to be heard to be believed. I am ALWAYS hearing the tiniest little nuances and details in songs I've been listening to for decades. But it does it without being TOO analytical. A true marvel to me, and I'm REALLY and truly excited to see what Aful has planned for the future. If they go for an even more technical and expensive IEM, I'll DEFINITELY be VERY very tempted to try it ?These have "REAL" patents that aren't just hyped wording. Aful has definitely done their homework on everything and it clearly shows. They claim because of their RCL (Resistance, Capacitance, Impedance) frequency crossover that they're able to achieve "electrostatic - sounding" high frequencies, quite a BOLD claim, but I TOTALLY agree with them. The highs on these are far superior to EVERY other IEM I've ever owned, and they just keep extending and extending without EVER becoming sibilant or harsh. A truly landmark feature with BA's IMO. They just keep on extending into the sky without ever becoming harsh to me, and I'm treble sensitive! Very nicely done, Aful Acoustics!!!I'll also say that the stock cable is wonderful. Great sound that compliments the P8 VERY nicely for SPOCC, but compared to my OCC Copper+Graphene cables, not nearly as wide and 3D of a soundstage.But if you REALLY want to take your P8's to the NEXT LEVEL, for a small amount of money IMO, you GOTTA check out these few cables. If you wait until they're on sale, you'll pay from $30-$80-ish. First, the ivipQ-520. It's an OCC Copper+Graphene cable that sounds like DEEP SPACE and is $30 roughly on sale. Next, we have the Hakugei 'Ancient Vine', which is a 7N high PURITY OCC Copper+ Graphene cable. But IMO, this one smokes the ivipQ-520. But the Ancient Vine is around $90+ depending on the plug options you want. I paid $116 for the (2.5/3.5/4.4mm) interchangeable plugs. Next up is the NiceHCK GreenMood, which is a quadnary mixture of 4 different conductors aka multi-element. It consists of 1. Copper/silver alloy, 2. OCC Copper, 3. Silver/gold alloy, 4 silver plated 5 element rare earth alloy (similar to the NiceHCK BlackSoul). It's around $80 on sale. But the BEST FREAKING IEM cable I've EVER heard, is the ivipQ-330 multi-element cable. It's an 1. OCC/monocrystalline SILVER core with a palladium PLATING over the core, 2. rare earth copper alloy, 3. 7N OCC Copper, 4. Oil-Immersed Graphene core covered in a Palladium plating.Mow the ivipQ-330 Multi-Element is USUALLY $300, but I scored it for like $75 on sale. It's simply a cable that has to be HEARD to be BELIEVED. My live recordings had such SUBTLE nuances and dynamics I've never heard before, while at the same time, EXPLODING in energy. Soundstage, imaging, depth, the pure sweetness of the human voice, the dynamics, the elasticity and punchiness and control of the bass left my jaw hanging, and the highs were so sweet and non-fatiguing that I swear an angel was controlling them LoL ? ? ? ?So overall, the sound quality of my live recordings with the ivipQ -330 is just absolutely MIND altering and it's 3D and holographic effects were better than anything else I've ever experienced. It's also a very thin and lightweight cable that's PERFECT for edc. And it even has gorgeous metallic resin connectors that match my P8's gloriously. I'll try to remember to snap a few pictures to post here. And I must admit, the ivipQ-330 REALLY came alive with my Shanling Audio UA5 DAC/Amp. The dual ESS Sabre 9038Q2M DAC's and dual Ritecore 6863 HP amps just made it SIMG with unparalleled resolution that I don't think my M5s and it's dual AKM 4493EQ chips are capable of.Right now, I'm doing more testing of the ivipQ-330 vs my NiceHCK GreenMood, since they're BOTH EXEMPLARY quality in construction AND have quadnary conductors. I'll keep yinz posted. Im also going to post a few links to a few of my favorite live recordings that I use to judge the quality of such IEM cables, as long as Amazon will let me ??Oh, and my sources for this review were a Shanling M5s DAP and Shanling UA5 DAC/Amp, as well as the variety pack of Medium Comply Memory Foam tips with the 3 different shapes, ALL with 2.5mm or 4.4mm balanced cables FWIW!Just buy these, the hype is LEGIT!!!