Xiom Omega 8?

[Yurifi]

I have O8China (BH) and O8Hybrid (FH) on one of my blades, I’ve played twice with the set up whilst coaching.
On another blade I have O8C on both wings.
Both rubbers are very similar.
I had to take off the 2 sheets of O8C because they had started to detatch, a couple of table scrapes with no edge tape!!
I was concerned that they might shrink slightly but they re glued perfectly. No shrink.
I’ve been using Tau 2 for a season or so, I have Tau 2 on two blades as well.
The feel is very different between Tau 2 and O8C/O8H, Tau 2 (for me) has a ‘muted’ feedback compared to the other 2.
I really like Tau 2, it’s underrated imo, but O8C & O8H are good rubbers and the firmer more ‘precise’ feel suits me well, my BH s more direct and ’feels’ much better.
I have one nagging doubt, that being durability of O8C & O8H. If they are like J&H H52, and the Omega 8 top sheet of O8C & O8H is supposed to use the J&H tech, then I’m expecting the top sheets to deteriorate much quicker compared to the long lasting Tau 2.
The J&H H52 top sheet started to loose it’s glossy(ish) finish and the ‘dull’ areas were noticeably less grippy to the touch.
I’ll continue to use the O8C/H during the summer, see how it holds up, and decide at the end of August whether to use it for next seasons league matches.

and please, do not forget to share your findings with us! 😉

 

[OvrChkn]

I've also got a sheet of O8 Hybrid to compare with O8 China. Had a few sessions with them side-by-side, and like IB66 says they are very similar. The only impression I got was that O8H felt a bit softer overall but lacked some of O8C's feeling of catapult in the middle gears, so seemed a bit more linear to me. But it was marginal and I could use either and be happy.

Not totally sure how Xiom will market these two, with them being so similar. And then you have the potentially incoming C52.5 as well? That's a lot of similar rubbers in the same space.

I agree with how Xiom is trying to put everything out there all at once. I'm finding the C55 easier to consistently loop with on the backhand compared to the O8C, so maybe the C52.5 would be good to test on the BH.

Seeing C52.5 listed on tt-japan and Amazon and one text review on tt-reference, so maybe it will be more widely available sooner than later?

 

[kevin.c]

I've also got a sheet of O8 Hybrid to compare with O8 China. Had a few sessions with them side-by-side, and like IB66 says they are very similar. The only impression I got was that O8H felt a bit softer overall but lacked some of O8C's feeling of catapult in the middle gears, so seemed a bit more linear to me. But it was marginal and I could use either and be happy.

Not totally sure how Xiom will market these two, with them being so similar. And then you have the potentially incoming C52.5 as well? That's a lot of similar rubbers in the same space.

Whats the difference of the weight of o8h vs o8c? And also the speed difference?

I have the o8c and as compared to k3 is way slower. Hopefully you can confirm if o8h is a bit closer to k3 than o8c.

Tq

 

[AndySmith]

Whats the difference of the weight of o8h vs o8c? And also the speed difference?

I have the o8c and as compared to k3 is way slower. Hopefully you can confirm if o8h is a bit closer to k3 than o8c.

Tq

Uncut weights were:

O8C - 71.3g
O8H - 69.6g

I don't think O8H is closer to K3. I didn't feel like it was noticeably faster than O8C, just has lower catapult and throw. Slightly different feel but not radical, and certainly not more like k3.

 

[Sedis]

Uncut weights were:

O8C - 71.3g
O8H - 69.6g

I don't think O8H is closer to K3. I didn't feel like it was noticeably faster than O8C, just has lower catapult and throw. Slightly different feel but not radical, and certainly not more like k3.

Is there any visual difference between the pip structure and sponge?

 

[AndySmith]

Is there any visual difference between the pip structure and sponge?

Here's a not-great edge pic, top-bottom is:

O8H
O8C
J&H C55

I think O8C has bigger pores, O8H has wider pip spacing,

 

[piligrim]

How is weight of O8pro? Is it same light as O7pro?

 

[hclnnkhg]

82g

82g for the Koki Niwa Carbo Blade

How is weight of O8pro? Is it same light as O7pro?

Rastaman's whole setup is about 172g with the blade being 82g. So a cut O8pro is about 45g.

 

[Rastaman]

How is weight of O8pro? Is it same light as O7pro?

Yes

 

[doppelmoral]

I finally glued the o8p on my backup AJH TMXi Pro (headsize: 160x152). Glue is rev no.3

The o8p weighs in at 51g. Keep in mind that I cut the rubber a big bigger, like 1mm. Still, in comparison to my main setup with o7p (same glue used and the sheet is also cut bigger), the o8p weights about 4g more. My o7p is in 2.0mm though (47g), while o8p is only available in max.

Will write a review and comparison between o7p and o8p after playtesting for a few sessions

cheers

 

[piligrim]

51g not llight

 

[doppelmoral]

51g not llight

if you cut it neatly (so that no rubber extends the blade) and use a blade with a smaller head it will probably be ~3g less

I cut it slightly bigger since it gives extra protection in case you hit the table + its easier to reglue

 

[piligrim]

if you cut it neatly (so that no rubber extends the blade) and use a blade with a smaller head it will probably be ~3g less

I cut it slightly bigger since it gives extra protection in case you hit the table + its easier to reglue

My blade bigger then yours so rubber cut for my blade will be even heavier then 51

 

[XCS]

I have O8China (BH) and O8Hybrid (FH) on one of my blades, I’ve played twice with the set up whilst coaching.
On another blade I have O8C on both wings.
Both rubbers are very similar.
I had to take off the 2 sheets of O8C because they had started to detatch, a couple of table scrapes with no edge tape!!
I was concerned that they might shrink slightly but they re glued perfectly. No shrink.
I’ve been using Tau 2 for a season or so, I have Tau 2 on two blades as well.
The feel is very different between Tau 2 and O8C/O8H, Tau 2 (for me) has a ‘muted’ feedback compared to the other 2.
I really like Tau 2, it’s underrated imo, but O8C & O8H are good rubbers and the firmer more ‘precise’ feel suits me well, my BH s more direct and ’feels’ much better.
I have one nagging doubt, that being durability of O8C & O8H. If they are like J&H H52, and the Omega 8 top sheet of O8C & O8H is supposed to use the J&H tech, then I’m expecting the top sheets to deteriorate much quicker compared to the long lasting Tau 2.
The J&H H52 top sheet started to loose it’s glossy(ish) finish and the ‘dull’ areas were noticeably less grippy to the touch.
I’ll continue to use the O8C/H during the summer, see how it holds up, and decide at the end of August whether to use it for next seasons league matches.

I have a different opinion using O8C on backhand, I feel like all the feeling is gone. Because of the hard rubber, unless it's a strong attack/block, doing any type of slow drives or touches gives almost no feeling, and it's hard to predict how the ball will bounce (exaggerated by the tackiness, which also varies a lot based on humidity and how dirty the rubber is). Even when I get a good block in, it feels more like it rebounded from a solid wooden board, than a rubber. I use V>15 Sticky on FH (previously on BH), which is similar to O8C, but a bit safer, and that has a lot more feeling, I think it comes from the fact that the V>15 Sticky topsheet is quite soft, while the O8C feels hard.

 

[XCS]

Uncut weights were:

O8C - 71.3g
O8H - 69.6g

I don't think O8H is closer to K3. I didn't feel like it was noticeably faster than O8C, just has lower catapult and throw. Slightly different feel but not radical, and certainly not more like k3.

My O8C was uncut 74g

 

[Yurifi]

if you cut it neatly (so that no rubber extends the blade) and use a blade with a smaller head it will probably be ~3g less

I cut it slightly bigger since it gives extra protection in case you hit the table + its easier to reglue

I advice to cut bigger, if you mean to take the rubber of and reglue. I also leave cca. 1mm of margin and it shrank quite a bit, now it fits the blade perfectly, so 1 mm warmly advised.

 

[Yurifi]

today I finally got Omega 8 China and finally glued it onto the blade (Xiom TMXi regular). I did cut it with cca. 1mm edge and it weighs 51g cut to blade (uncut it was 70g). what surprised me is that is not that tacky, JH C55 is way tackier, also Omega 7 China Guang. I will see on Monday how it plays.

on backhand I will give a chance to Xiom Vega X (I wanted to try this rubber for a long time now and finally got it) and I thought it would be lighter than O8C, but it weighs exactly the same.

 

[IB66]

I have a different opinion using O8C on backhand, I feel like all the feeling is gone. Because of the hard rubber, unless it's a strong attack/block, doing any type of slow drives or touches gives almost no feeling, and it's hard to predict how the ball will bounce (exaggerated by the tackiness, which also varies a lot based on humidity and how dirty the rubber is). Even when I get a good block in, it feels more like it rebounded from a solid wooden board, than a rubber. I use V>15 Sticky on FH (previously on BH), which is similar to O8C, but a bit safer, and that has a lot more feeling, I think it comes from the fact that the V>15 Sticky topsheet is quite soft, while the O8C feels hard.

Hi, it has a harder feeling, for sure!! I am beginning to like this more than the softer, muted feeling of Tau 2 on my BH wing.

 

[Yurifi]

yesterday I finally played with Xiom Omega VIII China - is it just me or it plays very very similar to Dignics9c? I didn't play much with Dignics9c but I got same vibes ... maybe a bit lower trajectory, but really similar. and actually loved it. have to play more, of course, it was only 2 hour session, hopefully I can do it on Thursday (if work schedule permits it ...)

 

[TensorBackhand]

yesterday I finally played with Xiom Omega VIII China - is it just me or it plays very very similar to Dignics9c? I didn't play much with Dignics9c but I got same vibes ... maybe a bit lower trajectory, but really similar. and actually loved it. have to play more, of course, it was only 2 hour session, hopefully I can do it on Thursday (if work schedule permits it ...)

Well, I sometimes play with the Omega 7 China Guang. And its also very similar to D09c.

So in the end, I'm still not sure if 8 is an upgrade over 7 or not.