[Tadamn]

They seem good, can't wait to try them out, though I'm still cynic about it.

 

[Amictus]

What's the thinking about burn-in with the IE800? I acquired a pair recently and they are sounding a bit meh.

 

[Duncan]

What's the thinking about burn-in with the IE800? I acquired a pair recently and they are sounding a bit meh.

meh how? And, what's your most recent IEM you're comparing to?

 

[Amictus]

meh how? And, what's your most recent IEM you're comparing to?

 
I didn't have a 'big' IEM before. You can see on my profile what equipment I use, but I suppose the Shure E4C-N is the best IEM I have used prior to the IE800.
 
The sound. A slight veil and a 'sucked-out' feeling about the core of the sound - the mids, I suppose. I am trying burning-in and planning to listen again after 50 hours or so.

 

[Mr Makarov]

Can be a matter of sound signature preference, DAP and DAC and if any EQ is activated (I noticed that ie800 are the most EQ-unfriendly of all my headphones). While some prefer and love ie800´s signature, some just do not like it at all and find it flat (soundstage), tiny treble, sibilant, recessed mids, too V-shaped etc. In that case you may like a somewhat opposite sound signature like Shure SE846 (with treble roll off but never fatiguing) which has forward mids and overall thicker, very natural sound and superb imaging.

 

[Duncan]

Going from a very linear IEM like the E4C (mine unfortunately bit the bullet when I got moisture on the filters and had none left), I can see why the very V shaped tonality of the IE800s would leave you feeling that way.

Give them a few days of exclusive use, and then go back to the E4C, if they still sound more natural, then the IE800 isn't for you...

 

[Caruryn]

  What's the thinking about burn-in with the IE800? I acquired a pair recently and they are sounding a bit meh.

In the beginning they can be a bit hot in the treble and  the bass uncontrolled,a 50 hour burn in fixes that,but veiled no they should sound like an expensive pair...unless you bought fakes.

 

[yangian]

  What's the thinking about burn-in with the IE800? I acquired a pair recently and they are sounding a bit meh.

Yes, it needs burnin

 

[AlexMills]

  What's the thinking about burn-in with the IE800? I acquired a pair recently and they are sounding a bit meh.

 
To diagnose -- when you say it sounds "meh" do you think it has too much treble or too much bass/warmth/muddiness?
 
If burn-in doesn't fix your problem return it.
 
[Mod edit - removed some comments]

 

[AlexMills]

Also, if you post very detailed pics of every part of the ie800 I'll diagnose whether it's a fake from its physical features.

 

[HiFiChris]

The "problem" is just that the E4c is a pretty neutral in-ear whereas the IE 800 is obviously v-shaped and therefore has got a totally different sound signature one either likes and can get used to or not. That's it.

 

[AlexMills]

One other thing he might want to do is wear extra-large tips, and just sort of rest it on the outside of his ears. That boosts ie800 performance for me, although it impairs isolation. Any way I'm just trying to figure out his issue. I think Chris is probably right and that it's a simple matter of coming from a mid-boosted-but-otherwise-deficient Shure product. If that's the case what's happening is he's recovering from brain burn in to a poor iem.

 

[Amictus]

Dear folks, it seems that you can't write a series of user names with '@' so thank you all for your helpful comments. The IE800 has been 'cooking' all day out of the Chord TT on Britten 'Death in Venice' CD1 - enough to drive any IEMs mad. They are now hooked up to the WA6 SE and listening to the Brahms Violin concerto for a few hours. I was originally using them in my bedroom via a Macbook Pro 2015 with amarra through the Meridian Explorer (original). There they were easily trounced even by a Grado SR60i (although they had more frequency range subjectively). They are liking the Woo very much and sound much better. (except that I practically have to lie down near the Woo for the cables to reach!) In due course, I will be using the IE800 mainly for portable use, however.
 
On the question of fakes, I spoke to Dr Axel Grell about this last year at Canjam London and he said that he had recently held a counterfeit IE800 in his hand and he said that he couldn't tell the difference with a quick glance. I went to a reputable dealer, therefore, Graham's Hi-fi, and carefully examined the appearance of the Sennheiser logo on the side of the ceramic casing. I'm pretty sure that it is authentic. I'm assuming that the pair I have is OK for the moment.
 
So - the burn-in continues. I'll let you know.

 

[AlexMills]

These are the things I look for
- grill
- indentations
- wire, design and width (very subtle)
- tips (flexibility, texture)
- size of logos (very subtle)
- case/code although these aren't definitive because a fake could be put into a real box and sold used
- and of course sound

But ultimately you need to have a real one next to it for some of these tests

 

[Dobrescu George]

  Dear folks, it seems that you can't write a series of user names with '@' so thank you all for your helpful comments. The IE800 has been 'cooking' all day out of the Chord TT on Britten 'Death in Venice' CD1 - enough to drive any IEMs mad. They are now hooked up to the WA6 SE and listening to the Brahms Violin concerto for a few hours. I was originally using them in my bedroom via a Macbook Pro 2015 with amarra through the Meridian Explorer (original). There they were easily trounced even by a Grado SR60i (although they had more frequency range subjectively). They are liking the Woo very much and sound much better. (except that I practically have to lie down near the Woo for the cables to reach!) In due course, I will be using the IE800 mainly for portable use, however.
 
On the question of fakes, I spoke to Dr Axel Grell about this last year at Canjam London and he said that he had recently held a counterfeit IE800 in his hand and he said that he couldn't tell the difference with a quick glance. I went to a reputable dealer, therefore, Graham's Hi-fi, and carefully examined the appearance of the Sennheiser logo on the side of the ceramic casing. I'm pretty sure that it is authentic. I'm assuming that the pair I have is OK for the moment.
 
So - the burn-in continues. I'll let you know.

 
 
Grado headphones do have a similar signature to ie800. 
 
Grado in general will have more colour in mids and even more treble, if you're using grado on a daily basis, it might be normal to think that ie800 is not wow at first. But you have to listen for ie800's soundstage, for ie800's separation between instruments, for details, for many other things that ie800 can do so much better than sr60i. Also treble clarity, detail, and overall resolution. 
 
Grado are still amazing though! Would love to have a pair if they were more comfortable.