Recently picked up the IE80 from Amazon.de; it was shipped from Spain (Amazon EU basically.) Got it within 3-5 days, really quick for the standard Amazon UPS Worldwide Express Saver, and was only 192,94 Euros shipped. Roughly came out to ~$262 before currency exchange fees, $270 total (fees were about ~$7.) Not a bad deal at all lol.
It was sold and shipped by Amazon, and everything for the most part seems to be legit, although (and as mentioned earlier in this thread) there's no "PK_xxxxxx" code on the box/under the EAN barcode. Also, I noticed that the tips (accidentally?) came with 3x of the small single-flanged silicone tips, meaning that one of the medium double-flanged silicone tips is missing (maybe a mistake during packing?)
So there's only 1x of the medium double-flanged silicone tips; sucks b/c I wanted to try them out for a deeper insertion/seal. Oh well, the medium stock single-flanged tips seem to be working fine for the most part. Other than that mistake, the supplied tips seem fine otherwise.
I successfully registered the IE80 on the Sennheiser website (for warranty), so idk, :/. Oh, and also, the inner foam inside the carrying case seems to be slightly "warped" (meaning the foam on one side is not completely flush with the edge of the case), although the foam seems to have that pronounced fine cut-out edges, so if anything it is probably just an OCD issue about how it looks kinda awkward, lol.
But yeah, other than those quirks (one extra small single-flanged tip/missing one medium double-flanged tip, the weird looking part of the foam, and no PK_xxxxxx or "Sennheiser authenticity holographic sticker" thing), it seems to be alright, and I don't think that Amazon EU would be selling fakes, so... hm.
So far I did try out the "tape-mod", and for some reason I found it to make the mid-range a bit overly gritty/grainy sounding. Without the tape-mod, it seems to have more of an airy sound that I sorta prefer right now, ehh... it's weird. The IE80s of course right out of the box kind of sounded very muddy and unfocused, but after a little burn-in time (maybe ~20-30hrs roughly so far), it definitely sounds clearer and more focused. Turning the bass-dial up seems to really increase the sub-bass, which can be unbearable at times, but I can definitely see its usefulness in certain situations, such as in noisy/busy environments (flights, buses, etc.) where adequate bass-response that is often lacking. I've been mostly using them with the bass adjustment at the lowest setting so far.
It still isn't as resolving as my HD650 (of course, lol), but it definitely resembles the laid-back sound and overall sound-signature of the HD650 which I find nice. The soundstage for an IEM seems to be very impressive, although clearly nothing like the soundstage of the HD650s. The imaging is really accurate and has an overall laid-back sound that doesn't shove details in your face like the Etymotic ER4-S does, but retains them behind a layered, airy kind of sound-signature that requires you to focus a little more to spot than with BA driver IEMs (this is what I'm assuming, since BAs seem to be more inherently detailed than dynamic driver IEMs in general.)
So far though, overall I've been pretty pleased with them. I'd like to upgrade the cable someday to a silver cable, but don't know whether or not to go for the more pricey ones like Toxic Cables offerings (Silver Poison/Silver Widow, which I'd probably get terminated to an RSA/ALO balanced mini to use with one of those amps I guess.) The only thing is that for portable use the majority of the silver cables seem a little too flashy for my tastes (unless there are cable-sheathing or w/e available too.) Not sure if I should spend more of that money to upgrade the IE80 cable or to invest it in some other IEMs though, ehh. Is an upgrade cable (silver, etc.) really worth it for the IE80s?
Anyway, maybe I should give them a little more burn-in time for now with the stock cable, lol. Was pretty disappointed with that tape-mod though,
Didn't expect that grittyness; maybe it was the type of tape I used/how I applied it? I only used a small sized piece of regular scotch "magic" tape (not transparent/clear tape, but semi-opaque scotch tape), and mostly only covering the bass-adjustment ports. Found them to be too grainy and less-airy sounding with the tape, so I took it off. Eh... :/.
Hm... Maybe I should try to e-mail Sennheiser about the missing tips/case-foam issue?
edit: Nvm about the bass-adjustment... turning it a notch or two up (in the middle basically) kinda smooths it out a little more and provides more of a punch... Weird, maybe due to the burn in? I did sorta notice over the past day or two that the bass hasn't been as intense as when I first received the IE80s (about a week ago), as it was already pretty punchy straight out of the box; turning it up a notch or two now seems to be a little more satisfying though, and resembles the bass-punch of the HD650 to an extent I guess.
Oh well. Maybe I should re-try that tape-mod with the bass adjusted this time and using clearer/transparent tape covering more than just the immediate adjustment-port/hole area to see if it'll reduce that grainy/reduced airy-sound this time around, lol.