aeneas said:

  Are people using the Comply tips over-ear or downward/normal?
I'm interested only for an over ear fit, because downward/normal is fine with stock.
Given the price and that only 1 of the 3 sizes will fit well, I don't want to buy them for nothing.

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Doesn't over ear make the Y too close to your throat?  I was the opposite of your experience.  Normal it keeps falling out.  Over ear it stays in pretty good but the Y is too close to my throat.  

vnmslsrbms said:

  Doesn't over ear make the Y too close to your throat?  I was the opposite of your experience.  Normal it keeps falling out.  Over ear it stays in pretty good but the Y is too close to my throat.  

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To avoid the choking hazard of the y-split, try going over ear and down the back.  Works great!

LOL. The things we do for this IEM.  I don't like wearing it down the back.  The cable (overall length) is too short for that.  I got the ear molds but now I look like I'm wearing not one but two hearing aids.  But it sounds great!  

Just a piece of news. Dr. Fang Bian of Hifiman seems to have some serious opinion on ie800 yesterday, on Weibo. 
 

"The sound quality of ie800 is simply a joke. The frequency response is completely incorrect, with a huge hump from upper-mids to lower-bass. I have never heard a reproduction of electric guitar this fat. IE800 is nothing but a scam (yes, this is what he said) with a Sennheiser logo on it. "
 
Later he replied his follower who politely came up with different idea: 

"I'll say it one more time. The sound of ie800 is a piece of $#!T. None of my technical employee could tune an earphone to be this disgusting (yes, this is what he said). The frequency response is incorrect, regardless of personal preference. "

Did he get his pair on Taobao?  Maybe one of those nice DIY versions.  

I don't think he is wrong. His measurements matches what I hear. But that doesn't mean it sounds bad. It's bassy and lush but not in a bad way. I'd be surprised if anyone finds IE800 a reference type.

The IE 800's frequency response is pretty v-shaped with emphasised bass and upper highs and eectric guitars do sound too "powerfull", that's a fact and even Sennheiser's official measurements prove that, albeit I can't approve calling the IE 800 "scam".
 
Yes, they are pretty colored sounding, but I guess that's intended.
Yes, they are somewhat artificial sounding, especially in the highs, but Sennheiser never announced them to sound accurate or natural. They sound gimmicky but that's not a bad thing when you are using them on the go.
Yes, they may be overpriced given their build quality (cables aren't user replacable and quite short).
 
But no, they are definitely not scam and I'll tell you my opinion why:
 
Even though  they have a quite noticable treble emphasis there are no peaks in that area which is due to the Helmholtz resonator (one of the two holes on the back) which is tuned to ecpecially that area to eliminate peaks.
The bass emphasis does not bleed into the mids but stops in the fundamental tone area. In addition, the bass emphasis is pretty well made as it rises very evenly and holds the level even in the sub bass (the IE 8/80 have a mid bass emphasis with less level in the sub bass area unless you add more low end by adjusting the bass screw which will lead to slower bass with more bloat).
Mids are recessed but neither too dark nor too bright sounding.
Resolution is pretty good.
Distortion levels are very low.
Though the IE 800 has got dynamic transducers, the low end is firm, fast and solid.
Imo the IE 800s are surprisingly well sounding iems if you want that sound signature that is tuned to "fun".
 
That's just my opinion on the IE 800 and you may agree or disagree with it, I wouldn't mind, however, I am convinced that most of you will agree that one as an employee (or is Dr. Fang Bian even the CEO? I don't know, at least he works at HiFiMan.) does not simply publicly comment on another manufacturer's product like that in such an outrageously offensive manner.
I've only got the HE-400 from HiFiMan and it is also not sounding natural in the upper mids with that peak.
 
Just my 2 cents.

For such a young guy you're pretty knowledgeable.I have high hopes for you .

Thank you, Caruryn.  
 
I might be new to Head-Fi but I'm into hifi in general for a few years. Though I am a collector and spend almost every penny that I can get into hifi-related gear, I don't think that there will ever be an in-depth review by me on Head-Fi, just because I mainly write and comment in another hifi community.
 
Anyways, imo one who works for a headphone manufacturer can't comment in public like Dr. Fang Bian just did, especially when the comment only contains bad blood. I talked to some other headphone manufacturers who also own gear from competitors (and like it), but also auditioned other gear from the same manufacturer and don't like it at all, but the'd never say that in public. That's just not fair and honest business.
Let's hope that Dr. Fang Bian just had a bad day and it's not his general manner to commenting on competitors products that he personally doesn't approve like that.

Totally agree with you, Chris. 
 
I am a huge fan of the *new* Senn's sound signature (HD518/558/598/700/800, IE800). You can definitely tell that the soundstage and tuning is 'incorrect' if you went to a few concerts. But the fact that Senn's sound being favorite of classical music lovers tells it all: it SOUNDS GOOD. To me, tuning-wise, even sounds better than real concerts. 
 
And BTW, Fang Bian is the CEO of Hifiman. 

edric li said:

  Totally agree with you, Chris. 
 
I am a huge fan of the *new* Senn's sound signature (HD518/558/598/700/800, IE800). You can definitely tell that the soundstage and tuning is 'incorrect' if you went to a few concerts. But the fact that Senn's sound being favorite of classical music lovers tells it all: it SOUNDS GOOD. To me, tuning-wise, even sounds better than real concerts. 
 
And BTW, Fang Bian is the CEO of Hifiman. 

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i think that sennheiser might sue him for this.
 
i loved ie800, and thought that he-560 were grainy sounding, very muffled and had mad, kind of distorted mids... also they lacked treble for some reason.
I would name hd800 the best refference headphone, and probably LCD-3 the closest to real, except for the treble, which in reality is an abbrasive noise that leaves you without hearing after hearing one live in a room.

dobrescu george said:

  i think that sennheiser might sue him for this.
 
i loved ie800, and thought that he-560 were grainy sounding, very muffled and had mad, kind of distorted mids... also they lacked treble for some reason.
I would name hd800 the best refference headphone, and probably LCD-3 the closest to real, except for the treble, which in reality is an abbrasive noise that leaves you without hearing after hearing one live in a room.

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Nahhh. Arguably the greatest headphone company ever, Sennheiser may never care about who Fang Bian is. 
 
It is okay that he has his preference of sound, and he may not enjoy Senn's sound sig. But he actually said "ie800 is 'incorrect' regardless of personal preference."
I just can't believe the CEO of hifiman is this "unprofessional" when commenting on other company's product. 
 
As to the most reference sounding headphones, I would name some AKGs and Beyers (that I personally do not enjoy).
IMO HD800 does have coloration, so do LCD3 and TH900, making the music sounds better than what it actually is (in their own ways).

hifichris said:

The IE 800's frequency response is pretty v-shaped with emphasised bass and upper highs and eectric guitars do sound too "powerfull", that's a fact and even Sennheiser's official measurements prove that, albeit I can't approve calling the IE 800 "scam".

Yes, they are pretty colored sounding, but I guess that's intended.
Yes, they are somewhat artificial sounding, especially in the highs, but Sennheiser never announced them to sound accurate or natural. They sound gimmicky but that's not a bad thing when you are using them on the go.
Yes, they may be overpriced given their build quality (cables aren't user replacable and quite short).

But no, they are definitely not scam and I'll tell you my opinion why:

Even though  they have a quite noticable treble emphasis there are no peaks in that area which is due to the Helmholtz resonator (one of the two holes on the back) which is tuned to ecpecially that area to eliminate peaks.
The bass emphasis does not bleed into the mids but stops in the fundamental tone area. In addition, the bass emphasis is pretty well made as it rises very evenly and holds the level even in the sub bass (the IE 8/80 have a mid bass emphasis with less level in the sub bass area unless you add more low end by adjusting the bass screw which will lead to slower bass with more bloat).
Mids are recessed but neither too dark nor too bright sounding.
Resolution is pretty good.
Distortion levels are very low.
Though the IE 800 has got dynamic transducers, the low end is firm, fast and solid.
Imo the IE 800s are surprisingly well sounding iems if you want that sound signature that is tuned to "fun".

That's just my opinion on the IE 800 and you may agree or disagree with it, I wouldn't mind, however, I am convinced that most of you will agree that one as an employee (or is Dr. Fang Bian even the CEO? I don't know, at least he works at HiFiMan.) does not simply publicly comment on another manufacturer's product like that in such an outrageously offensive manner.
I've only got the HE-400 from HiFiMan and it is also not sounding natural in the upper mids with that peak.

Just my 2 cents.

Click to expand...

Whatever they are way to expensive for what you get. I stay faithfull to the IE80, only these are made in China, just wonder what justify a price difference of 400 Euro ?

Maybe HIFIMan has their $1000 iem close to release.

willyvlyminck said:

 

hifichris said:

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

The IE 800's frequency response is pretty v-shaped with emphasised bass and upper highs and eectric guitars do sound too "powerfull", that's a fact and even Sennheiser's official measurements prove that, albeit I can't approve calling the IE 800 "scam".

Yes, they are pretty colored sounding, but I guess that's intended.
Yes, they are somewhat artificial sounding, especially in the highs, but Sennheiser never announced them to sound accurate or natural. They sound gimmicky but that's not a bad thing when you are using them on the go.
Yes, they may be overpriced given their build quality (cables aren't user replacable and quite short).

But no, they are definitely not scam and I'll tell you my opinion why:

Even though  they have a quite noticable treble emphasis there are no peaks in that area which is due to the Helmholtz resonator (one of the two holes on the back) which is tuned to ecpecially that area to eliminate peaks.
The bass emphasis does not bleed into the mids but stops in the fundamental tone area. In addition, the bass emphasis is pretty well made as it rises very evenly and holds the level even in the sub bass (the IE 8/80 have a mid bass emphasis with less level in the sub bass area unless you add more low end by adjusting the bass screw which will lead to slower bass with more bloat).
Mids are recessed but neither too dark nor too bright sounding.
Resolution is pretty good.
Distortion levels are very low.
Though the IE 800 has got dynamic transducers, the low end is firm, fast and solid.
Imo the IE 800s are surprisingly well sounding iems if you want that sound signature that is tuned to "fun".

That's just my opinion on the IE 800 and you may agree or disagree with it, I wouldn't mind, however, I am convinced that most of you will agree that one as an employee (or is Dr. Fang Bian even the CEO? I don't know, at least he works at HiFiMan.) does not simply publicly comment on another manufacturer's product like that in such an outrageously offensive manner.
I've only got the HE-400 from HiFiMan and it is also not sounding natural in the upper mids with that peak.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Click to expand...

Whatever they are way to expensive for what you get. I stay faithfull to the IE80, only these are made in China, just wonder what justify a price difference of 400 Euro ?

Click to expand...

Have you already auditioned the IE 800?
Yes, they are overpricedm but (at least imho) not way too expensive for what you get out of a dynamic transducer.
Especially with rather fast music you should definitely be able to hear the much tighter bass and better resolution. The IE 80's bass is bloated, slow and loose in comparison.
Though, I'd say that the IE 80 has got the imperior (holographic) imaging, albeit the IE 800 has got the better instrument separation.