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Sennheiser IE8 Impressions Thread
Mar 9, 2009 at 8:11 PM Post #2,701 of 8,119
Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Ng /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Alright, my IE8s finally arrived. This is my first time listening to completely brand new ones, fresh out of the box and...

...it is completely unlistenably bad.

Being that I've heard a pair from someone else with over 100 hours on them, I know that these will sound way better with burn-in (otherwise, they're defective!!!), so I will simply take them off and put them aside and let them burn in for maybe a week straight.

These things out of the box sound superhot and ultradark. It's just horrendously bad.

-Ed


Even 20-30 hours you should see a big improvement and then small refinements after that.
 
Mar 9, 2009 at 8:14 PM Post #2,702 of 8,119
Quote:

Originally Posted by Ihatepopupads /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Even 20-30 hours you should see a big improvement and then small refinements after that.


X2. I noticed a dramatic improvement over the period. The out of box sound is bad, even with an excellent fit (which I had).
 
Mar 9, 2009 at 8:25 PM Post #2,703 of 8,119
The Ultrasone demo cd blows my mind with these. The positioning of every instrument is so precise. The IE8 has no trouble with the sub frequency of say a chamber organ and the high test tones and bells/monk bowls are amazing.

Hmm...
 
Mar 9, 2009 at 8:29 PM Post #2,704 of 8,119
To Edward Ng (forgot to hit "quote") I honestly hoped the T400s would do it too, but they just seemed to kill the mids and highs, which these phones don't need (especially early in the burn-in process). But that was early, and once I get to the 200-250 hour mark, I may revisit them.
 
Mar 9, 2009 at 8:51 PM Post #2,705 of 8,119
Quote:

Originally Posted by tstarn06 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
To Edward Ng (forgot to hit "quote") I honestly hoped the T400s would do it too, but they just seemed to kill the mids and highs, which these phones don't need (especially early in the burn-in process). But that was early, and once I get to the 200-250 hour mark, I may revisit them.


I find it interesting that any tip would hurt the highs significantly considering how short and wide the nozzle and tips are. I think at that rate, it has more to do with the angle of the nozzle than the tip. On a long tip/nozzle combination like the Westone3, the tips will bend/close a little at the end, attenuating high frequencies. That's what I am inclined to expect, at least.

When I sampled DavidHunterNYC's IE8s with over 100 hours on them, I put on cored-out Shure black olives and I did not experience reduced highs with those tips, and they're not too far off the mark from Comply T400s in shape; but they did sit farther in because I can't seem to slide these T400's core past the back lip of the ridge on the nozzle.

-Ed
 
Mar 9, 2009 at 9:49 PM Post #2,707 of 8,119
Quote:

Originally Posted by Ihatepopupads /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The Ultrasone demo cd blows my mind with these. The positioning of every instrument is so precise. The IE8 has no trouble with the sub frequency of say a chamber organ and the high test tones and bells/monk bowls are amazing.

I'll link the cd (flac- Apple lossless) if someone wants it, and tells me a free file sharing service I can use
biggrin.gif


http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/726189/Ultrasone%20CD.rar


Link is broken, I wanna try this with my SE530's!
 
Mar 9, 2009 at 9:58 PM Post #2,708 of 8,119
Mar 9, 2009 at 10:10 PM Post #2,709 of 8,119
Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Ng /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I find it interesting that any tip would hurt the highs significantly considering how short and wide the nozzle and tips are. I think at that rate, it has more to do with the angle of the nozzle than the tip. On a long tip/nozzle combination like the Westone3, the tips will bend/close a little at the end, attenuating high frequencies. That's what I am inclined to expect, at least.

When I sampled DavidHunterNYC's IE8s with over 100 hours on them, I put on cored-out Shure black olives and I did not experience reduced highs with those tips, and they're not too far off the mark from Comply T400s in shape; but they did sit farther in because I can't seem to slide these T400's core past the back lip of the ridge on the nozzle.



IMO, there's no doubt that the Comply's affect the overall sound signature of the IE8, and reduce the highs and accentuate the bottom end, as compared to the stock tips. I experimented quite a bit with this, and the differences are stark. Others have experienced it also. I don't have an explanation for it, other than that the material that the Comply's are made out of is different from the stock tips. But to me, as I said, the difference is stark, and not something that will be completely eliminated by burn-in.
 
Mar 9, 2009 at 10:14 PM Post #2,710 of 8,119
I'll sample these for a couple minutes with other tips, then; let's see...

-Ed
 
Mar 9, 2009 at 10:18 PM Post #2,712 of 8,119
Quote:

Originally Posted by Ihatepopupads /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The Ultrasone demo cd blows my mind with these. The positioning of every instrument is so precise.
I'll link the cd (flac- Apple lossless) if someone wants it, and tells me a free file sharing service I can use
biggrin.gif



I'm downloading it right now... 15 minutes remaining
biggrin.gif
.......

Quote:

Originally Posted by walkingman /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Link broken but there are some links here:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f9/mus...inside-206724/


..... from a link that works!!! Thanks
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Mar 9, 2009 at 10:33 PM Post #2,713 of 8,119
Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Ng /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Alright, my IE8s finally arrived. This is my first time listening to completely brand new ones, fresh out of the box and...

...it is completely unlistenably bad.

Being that I've heard a pair from someone else with over 100 hours on them, I know that these will sound way better with burn-in (otherwise, they're defective!!!), so I will simply take them off and put them aside and let them burn in for maybe a week straight.

These things out of the box sound superhot and ultradark. It's just horrendously bad.

-Ed


My exact experience. I would also describe it as slow with no deep bass. The mid-bass hump was incredible!
 
Mar 9, 2009 at 10:48 PM Post #2,714 of 8,119
Quote:

Originally Posted by average_joe /img/forum/go_quote.gif
My exact experience. I would also describe it as slow with no deep bass. The mid-bass hump was incredible!


Seriously...and I thought Westone3 was bad (until I found the right tips)--this is 10 times worse!

-Ed
 
Mar 9, 2009 at 10:51 PM Post #2,715 of 8,119
Would it be possible for someone to PM me the place for the least expensive IE8s? I searched this thread but came up empty.

Thanks.
 
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