Sennheiser IE80's Impressions Thread - Page 269

u mean less engaging to listen?   how about a 30 Ohms adepter?    does it make the presentation more redefine?

The treble and mids sound lifeless. Make them dull sounding. I still felt the 30 ohm adapter had the same effect just more subtle.

Just picked these up for $250 today on my way home from school. I went into the store just to look, but when I saw that they were this cheap, I wanted to give em a rip. Didn't even realize the list price on these until I got back home, and not to mention I live in Canada too... Pretty decent deal I'd say.

I'm pretty blown away, straight out of the box. Still working on the isolation, but right now the best I've gotten is the large tips, but they sit almost outside my ear canal. I have some Sony Hybrids back at school, so (if they even fit, the nozzles look like they'll be too big) I'm gonna give those a try too.

But yeah, to say I'm happy would be a huge understatement.

You may have similar ears to mine then lol. Consider the large single flange tips from JVC. I go them from ebay. I recommend getting them in black as I know that is same tips I used. Not sure if the other colors may be of a different material or not?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-x-JVC-Replacement-Ear-Phone-Ear-Bud-Gel-Tips-Various-Colours-Size-Large-/350573446310
 

That's awesome. I'll have to give the JVC tips a try if I can't make my sure-fire Hybrids work (the Hybrids were my saviour for my old MTPGs).

Also, do you know if burn-in does anything for these? I mean, I'm totally satisfied right now... I honestly feel like I got the best deal in the world already, but if they get even better it'd be awesome.

IMO they do improve with usage. They get smoother, the sound stage expands more. Bass seemed to get a bit more controlled with time. Still eventually my tastes changed and I modded them which made them sound a lot better IMO. :) Silver cable also does wonder for the sound.
 

Yes $250 is amazing deal, especially in Canada where everything is more expensive (especially audio gear) 

Can you take a look at this then? http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=9498286174&ali_refid=a3_420434_1006:1102238959:6:%CD%FE%CA%BF%B6%D9UM3X:032a88369138cacae9302a8a46010d06&ali_trackid=1_032a88369138cacae9302a8a46010d06

IE80 for ¥931 Which is around 150 USD. Pretty sure its not fake, and even it is you can check as theres COD delivery option. Too bad it's only in china

WTF??? that cheeepp?? 

$150 ?   wow that is indeed WTF price

That sounds like a price too good to be true - hence a high probability of a fake.

 

I just tried the tape mod and yes I can hear a difference.  Better mids and bass is a tad tighter.

 

I don't like the idea of a piece of tape on these so I'm thinking of cutting a piece of screen protector and applying to see how it goes instead but need to get it cut properly.

 

Is there a Sennheiser rep who visits this forum? 

Edited by lg777 - 1/29/13 at 8:39pm

 

I tried the tape mod yesterday, and have also been enjoying it so far. I love the normal sound signature, but the tape mod makes the IE80 a slightly different IEM.

 

The highs are more present, the mids come forward and are clearer, and bass weight is reduced (but it is definitely still emphasised, and has great punch at the low-end, especially in EDM). It does sound a little more natural, actually - before, with live jazz, the double bass seemed to be much louder and more intrusive than 'normal' given the arrangement of the players. Now it sounds about right, and I'm quite happy with it. Detail reproduction and soundstage are about the same to my ears. Not bad!

 

I cut out tiny, square-ish pieces of tape, about the size of the bass port, and stuck them on either side. Covering the whole faceplate didn't appeal to me so much, as I had to redo it a bit, and it was a lot of effort (whereas with small scissors it's easy to cut little pieces). The screen protector seems like a good idea though.

Good to hear! I really enjoyed them after that mod (even before it I still enjoyed them!). But when I went back to stock they sounded so muddy and lacked in detail big time! Mids are extremely intimate and detailed now.... Treble has more extension and is more aggressive yet still very smooth. Bass is purely focused on sub bass and no longer encumbered by mid bass bloat. The sound stage is about the same size to be honest just not bloated due to mid bass. Definitely no longer a laid-back IEM like it was. Well in a sense it still is but it's not extremely laid-back where it is lacking detail due to it lol.

 

I also noticed the speed of the drivers (prat) is noticeably faster after the mod (most likely due to getting rid of the mid bass bloat). So on tracks like EDM or busy tracks they handle the songs quite well now. EDM never sounded quite right before but after the mod, wow! Personally after this mod and you add silver cable these are the best all-arounder IEMs in the $500+ range, honest :). I'm curious though, let me know if you find bass impact to increase with usage? At least that is how I heard it. Seemed like the drivers underwent another form of burn in with the mod lol. The bass impact gets really strong after a few days on tracks that call for it. I mean some serious slam!

Edited by lee730 - 1/30/13 at 4:46am

Here is my tape mod:

 

I had some Skinomi screen protector, the kind like Zagg.  I prefer these wet-type films for this versus the dry type although I did not wet the film.

 

So, I placed a piece of scotch tape over each earpiece and traced an outline using a fine tip permanent marker:

 

 

 

I then applied the tape on the back side of the screen protector film so I can carefully make a cut-out.

 

 

Here are the pieces:  You need to make one for each earpiece side and it will be the opposite when applied, ie left ear template will make the right screen protector.

 

 

This is just a piece of the screen protector material.  It's a Skinomi for a tablet which is the flexible stretchy kind.

 

 

Now here are the screen protectors applied on the IE80's.  Not great but I feel much better than using just scotch tape.  I'm worried about the adhesive.  I used a pair of tweezers to apply.

 

 

If I have time, I'll try to see if I can make a more precise cut but this only took me about 15 minutes.

Edited by lg777 - 1/30/13 at 5:59am