AK T8iE review

Beyerdynamic and AK working together to create this masterpiece--the AK T8iE. From my test on my Mi Note and DX100, it is really source picky. Not just in terms of your audio player and also the quality of your audio tracks being used. Playing anything less than loseless to me in just unacceptable to me as it destroys what actually sounded decent.

Exploded view of the T8iE


The IE800 and AK T8iE have similar colored housings, the IE800's are made from a zirconium oxide ceramic material that is so hard it can essentially only be scratched by diamonds. The AK T8iE's housing doesn't feel quite as robust--but still feels very nice, and with a beautiful finish--and is described by beyerdynamic as being finished "with special alloy used in hightech medical products." Also, while the AK T8iE's design is very attractive, it's more conservatively styled than the IE800, the latter with the gorgeous contours and aerospace-thruster-looking dual vents in each earpiece. In terms of feel (in the hand) and styling, the IE800 has the advantage, in my opinion - versus just about every other universal-fit IEM, including the AK T8iE.

Just a quick note, I'm not able to type the em-dash on my PC so I would use the double en-dash to represent the em-dash. This makes it so much easier when I blog--I know the en-dash is something that was bothering me last time here's the change.

The AK T8iE also feels really good in the ear, similar to how the Bose earphones actually fit--it gives decent seal and feels like you're not having anything inside your ears. This only works better when you get the right size of eartips--medium worked fine for me.

At this price, I love that they made it with detachable cables unlike the Sennheiser IE800--which is often compared to the AK T8iE currently.The two German giants have to clash someday. One thing here though, is that the IE800 to me don't shine as much as the T8iE--but the flat sound with side soundstaging to me on the IE800 is pretty amazing. The T8iE is something different but would shine to me on genres like classical, orchestral and also EDM. Acapella and acoustics to me shine on the IE800.