Sennheiser IE80's Impressions Thread - Page 219

Quote:

Originally Posted by eke2k6 

You know, H2O, Lee might be on to something. I personally liked the IE8, though I didn't think it was as good as the GR07 tonality wise, but the combination of soundstage plus good bass and decent imaging might be what you've been looking for. 

 

Either way, Amazon is awesome at letting you return stuff you don't like 

 Well eke the mod actually makes the imaging really good on them. Plus the speed is really impressive. The mid bass was causing them to appear slower than they really are. Mids are in your face. Treble just has this texture and presence where you can feel it. Almost like touching it. Definitely a big increase in detail IMO. Best part, sound stage is still intact and placement within that sound stage is better than ever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by H20Fidelity 


I'll you what guy's. When those EX600 sell in my sig, I'll put that money towards a pair of IE80. I will say though , not much has come close to my GR07 MK2 now they're broken in. I can find others with better soundstage, imaging, but each has eventually worn me down after the honey moon period because of GR07's tone and detail. I use them everyday.
They make me smile.

What turned you off from the Sonys? Just curious. was it the treble?

Quote:

Originally Posted by H20Fidelity 


EX600 I felt lacked separation and a noticeable amount of detail in mids and treble. EX600 spike was bearable after burn in, bass was spot on, loved their low end. though couldn't come to terms with the negatives. If you mean EX1000 I avoided was because so many people recommended amping them. That and the famous treble spike.

Interesting. I've never heard the EX600s but I though they would at least be on par with the GR07 in separation. I kinda figured the treble would be more harsh/grainy. What about the mids are they dryer on the Sonys? Had that experience on the EX1000s. A bit too dry for my taste. The MDR-7550s find a nice balance in both regards :).

Quote:

Originally Posted by H20Fidelity 


Mids lean towards dry, grainy, a smidgen brighter than GR07 however share some similarity though less saturated, which came across to me a little raw. Like a steak without pepper sauce. Vocals don't bite as much much compared. I tested them back and forth several times regarding separation with tracks I know well, it was clear in my opinion there was a gap, every time tracks became complicated they fell apart. I found it surprising myself. If EX600 could up the pace in speed I feel their separation would improve. Detail / separation killed it for me.
How would you compare IE80's separation to the EX1000? Or GR07 if you remember.

The EX1000 had excellent separation. That wasn't the problem for me. IMO it also trumps the GR07 and IE80 in that regard. With the mod though the IE80s are noticeably better in this regard compared to stock. The mid bass seems to have really crippled them to some extent. I still enjoyed the sound though but it wasn't as detailed and more laid-back. The IE80 is definitely the funner phone. Keeps you more engaged in your music. The detail also slaps you in the face after the mod. Its hard not to hear it or notice it. How the treble and mids are presented just makes it dead-obvious. Plus the control of the bass is quite surprising after the mod. The kick drums have some serious power behind them. You feel it (a quality that my Tralucent 1plus2s are known to have).

Quote:

Originally Posted by H20Fidelity 

Hmm. I'm not exactly a fan of mid-bass, I shall ask ichiban he's thoughts compared to EPH-100. Separation is very important to me, it can make or break an IEM. Every other aspect can be perfect though if I sense music smearing together I get turned off quite quickly. IE80 better be able to cut the mustard Lee or it's your head on a platter right besides eke's.
With that said, it's past my bedtime.
Cheers!

Yep. That is why I had mentioned the mod. Completely resolved that. Emphasis is totally on sub bass now and very much controlled ;). Maybe you and ichi can meet up to try out each-others gear?

I think the plus is that you can change the sound so much with those vents. Makes for versatility.

Well.. First I wasn't quite happy with IE80 after GR07. I thought whose IEM-s were technically on pair. Those IEM-s were quite distinct but both had their strengths and weakness, and it was a draw. IE80's had better bass and soundstage but also veiled mids and bloated midbass, GR07  (MK I ) had better speed and transparency but too harsh treble (+ 5db spike on 6khz) and somewhat  too sterile bass. But GR07 could give you world class performance on expensive multibit DAP's (HiFiMan HE602), and those DAPs were to hard to afford. I've paid 250$ for IE80's , but still had a constant filling they were not the best choice available...  

That was my opinion until I discovered black-tape ISO-mod on russian forums. After i've got rid of that muddy bas, IE80 had shown their muscle, in fact, now I consider them worth the 250$ price tag. They sound very mid-centric and musical after mod, with glorious bass response and impact (much better then GR07 ), sweet mids (but sometimes too colored) and very smooth and extended treble. I haven't tried VSonic GR07 mkII, sorry, my impression refer to first revision. I am quite happy with IE80 now, but these are not worth the 400$ price anyway. But I think, a <300$ price is Ok, a worth upgrade over the best 150$ IEMS.  BUT, for more then 280$, I would rather go for Weston (UM3X) IEM’s.

By the way, VSonic prepare a new high-end AKG K3003 clone - GR08.  I suppose it's gonna be a bomb same power GR07 was in the past. I hope the price shall not surpass 350$, if so, bye-bye IE80's... 

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexRoma 

Well.. First I wasn't quite happy with IE80 after GR07. I thought whose IEM-s were technically on pair. Those IEM-s were quite distinct but both had their strengths and weakness, and it was a draw. IE80's had better bass and soundstage but also veiled mids and bloated midbass, GR07  (MK I ) had better speed and transparency but too harsh treble (+ 5db spike on 6khz) and somewhat  too sterile bass. But GR07 could give you world class performance on expensive multibit DAP's (HiFiMan HE602), and those DAP were to hard to afford. I've paid 250$ for IE80's , but still had constant filling they were worth it the price...  

 

That was my opinion until I discovered black-tape ISO-mod on russian forums. After i've got rid of that muddy bas, IE80 had shown their muscle, in fact, now I consider them worth the 250$ price tag. They sound very mid-centric and musical after mod, with glorious bass response and impact (much better then GR07 ), sweet mids (but sometimes too colored) and very smooth and extended treble. I haven't tried VSonic GR07 mkII, sorry, my impression refer to first revision. I am quite happy with IE80 now, but these are not worth the 400$ price anyway. But I think, a <300$ price is Ok, a worth upgrade over the best 150$ IEMS.  BUT, for more then 280$, I would go for Weston IEM’s.

 

By the way, VSonic prepare a new high-end AKG K3003 clone - GR08.  I suppose it's gonna be a bomb same power GR07 was in the past. I hope the price shall not overpass 300$, if so, bye-bye IE80's... 

where do you get the ie80 for $250? im interested in buying another ie80 if it was only $250.

I've bought mine here, from a Head-Fi seller who gave me enough confidence. By the time I bought them, those were still fresh IEM's , so, in worst case, those might have been used for about 2 months, and that's the burn-in period so far. I thought it was a pretty good deal. In fact most my head-gear was bought used (like new condition), because, otherwise, I can not justify the price/performance ratio of many stuff. It makes me feel uncomfortable. 

Was just about to hit buy on Amazon UK for a pair of these...now I'm not sure...I love deep bass and these seem to fulfil my criteria, however not having listened to a pair before, I'm unsure again....help...!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by H20Fidelity 

Hmm. I'm not exactly a fan of mid-bass, I shall ask ichiban he's thoughts compared to EPH-100. Separation is very important to me, it can make or break an IEM. Every other aspect can be perfect though if I sense music smearing together I get turned off quite quickly. IE80 better be able to cut the mustard Lee or it's your head on a platter right besides eke's.
With that said, it's past my bedtime.
Cheers!

I compared the two, whilst the EPH100s weren't that far behind in clarity and bass, it sounded more laid back and I enjoyed the treble(tonk tonk as opposed to tsch tsch) on the EPHs. Separation was about the same, you can hear a lot on both earphones. 

However there was one thing that you will instantly notice when you compare the two, the EPH sounds very... constricted and limited in soundstage compared to the IE80s, I thought the soundstage was fairly good on the EPH100s at first, compared to my CKM500s. However once I tried the IE80s, I was completely immersed and the sound comes from everywhere - the sound quality might not be 2x better than the EPH100s, but I don't think I've heard any other IEMs that sound like this - something a full sized headphone would deliver. 

If you play games such as FPS, the 3D imaging and directional sound is amazing. 

My previous earphones include the AT CKM500, Yamaha EPH100, Vsonic GR07, Sennheiser PC300, Etymotic GX400 - I'm no audiophile, but compared to these earphones, the IE80 are a class above all in my opinion except maybe the GR07s. 

The GR07s sounded very natural, different to the IE80/EPH100s, not enough bass for me though. They were also the reason why I was put off getting over-the-ear earphones for so long, I found them extremely uncomfortable and the cord kept unwinding itself off my ear. I prefer the thump you get from the bass which is why I stuck with the EPH100s. I think it's the sound stage that does it for me on the IE80s, don't think I can ever go back to the other cheaper IEMs after using these. 

So far I can't think of a major aspect the EPH100s are better in, except for the worn-down design which I personally prefer. 

It's still $240-250 from Amazon.it, if you have the extra $$$ go for it.