Any opinions on OC818 ?

Since The Evil Empire that is Harman took over AKG things seem to have
deteriorated somewhat, especially wrt supply of and depth of service
info, and spare parts with 'consumer world' attitudes starting to creep
in. Hope this doesn't start to extend into the mic side of the business.

Has AA headed back towards the better aspects of 'old' AKG ? I lashed
out on a pair of Hi-X55 headphones which are very comfortable,
incredibly solidly constructed, and sound as one would expect apart from
what appears to be a way-extended HF end (beyond mine). Or is it an
*exaggerated* high-end ?

So .... how does the OC-818 stand up in comparison to the obvious
comparison with C414 EB, B-ULS, B-XLS ? I love the Wide-Cardiod pattern
on my B-XLS, but if the sonic character is similar (is it ?) the
PolarDesigner and PolarPilot things would at least seem an epic
capability. Worthwhile ?

geoff