HiFiMAN RE800 Silver

Overview:
The RE800 Silver Edition is a revised version of the original gold plated Hifiman RE800. The Silver Edition has a slightly V-shaped tuning, whereas the original had a warmer tuning. The Silvers were also cheaper than the original, coming in at $600AUD (when it was still current, now on clearance at roughly $100), whereas the Original was closer to $800.

Design and Build Quality:
The Hifiman Re800 Silver has a very simple design, designed to worn straight down, they have an unremarkable, slightly light-bulb reminiscent shape. the build quality is good, but the cable is a little on the thin side, and i think it would be better if it was removable. the cable ends in a very chunky gold plated 3.5mm connector.

In the Box:
The RE800 comes in two different types of packaging, the full packaging, (which, as far as I can tell, just changes the unboxing experience, for those who like a nice unboxing) or simplified version, which comes with all the same accesories, just in a small box. With the RE800 Silver comes a small round case, a large selection of single, double, and triple flange eartips. i personnally don't particularly like the supplied tips, the RE800s tend to lose clarity when using them, when compared with Final E type tips.

Sound Quality:

- Detail
The Hifiman RE800 Silvers have a good amount of detail retreal, and i don't ever fell that i am missing out on part of the music

- Imaging, etc. (sounstage, instrument seperation, spaciousness)
The RE800 Silvers have a good amount of imaging, sounstaging and spaciousness, instruments are sound well defined in space, and there is no blending of sounds.

- Bass
The Bass on the RE800 Silvers is impessive It is deep and impactful, and rolls off lower than 20Hz, meaning a flat audible bass response.

- Mids
lower: the lower mids are smooth and rich.
upper: the upper mids is somewhat recessed, meaning that some instruments can lose timbre in some places

-Treble
the treble is well extended, but not to bright. I do not find these IEMs to be fatiging for the most part, but in some tracks things like ride cymbals can be overly energetic in the mix.

While best-known for their planar-magnetic headphones, HiFiMan has explored several other fields; earphones being one of them. The original RE800 was released in 2017 had a gold finish. The RE800 Silver was released in 2018. “What’s the difference besides the color?” you may ask. The difference is that the Silver edition does not have 24K gold plating and was $100 cheaper than the Gold edition. Somewhere down the line, HiFiMan decided to add a removable cable to the Gold edition.

I don’t know about you, but I remember the year of 2017 and 2018, especially when it came to the audio business. I think that 2014-2018 were quite similar in terms of the head-fi offerings. At the time, I was far from being crazy about earphones and the high-end market, and this was the situation for many. Sennheiser Momentum series was considered as TOTL in the consumer market, and the rage was all about Sony headphones. In terms of earphones, many of us were looking at Sennheiser CX300-II Pecision and some cheap Philips earphones. The high-end market for earphones wasn’t that large, there wasn’t a lot of interest as far as I know. However, if there is one earphone/IEM that I am sure everyone remembers, it is the Shure SE846. In particular, I remember the time that I walked into a large electronics store and seeing the €1000 price tag on these clear and transparent earphones and just laughing to myself. It seemed absolutely absurd to have something like an earphone cost that much. Luckily for us, time has changed and now there is a large high-end IEM market with companies who are serious about making such a fine products — but Shure deserves all the respect for being among the earlier companies who took the production of professional-grade IEMs seriously.

Unboxing Experience & Presentation

After the one-of-a-kind luxury unboxing experience with the RE-600s, I expected more from the RE800 Silver. This time around, the earphones are packaged in a rather large cardboard box which follows the elegant design that HiFiMan commonly implements into their products’ packaging. There is a large visual print of the RE-800 Silver on the front with the logo and model name in a silver color placed below it. The back features short specifications, contact information, and HiFiMan socials. On the inside you will find a nicely printed owner’s guide booklet. Here you will be able to find the evolution of the company’s earphones, breakdown of the driver technology, specifications, design choices & more.

Design & Build Quality

Compared to the RE-600s, the RE-800 Silver is not only more refined, but also of superior premium build quality. I think that both the design aspect and the build quality is a big improvement over the RE-600s.

Instead of a braided and stiff rubber cable, the RE800 Silver features a high-quality single rubber cable. Instead of a black piano finish, the housing is made of high-quality anodized aluminum. Instead of a low-quality rubber housing for the plug, a more premium and robust metal housing is used.

When it comes to the design, it is smoother, more fluid, and more organic. The housing still features a single vent underneath, it is still made of two pieces, but unlike the RE-600s, the curvature of the back piece is subtler and smoother. Another similarity to its predecessor is that the nozzle is straight and is not angular.

Some subtle details are the “HiFiMan” and “RE800” prints on the Y-splitter housing, the company logo and the left & right print labels on the earphone.

Comfort

When it comes to HiFiMan’s earphone line-up, the comfort is top-notch. Though slightly larger in size than the RE-600s, I found the comfort & fit to be a big improvement due to the included ear-guides. I have not taken the ear-guides off ever since I first tried them on. They truly do improve the comfort by that much. Both the ear-guides and the earphones themselves are extremely lightweight, and this is why wearing them for hours is a joy rather than a nightmare. I was able to get a very deep fit and insertion into the ear due to the angle that the ear-guides made possible. Actually, I think that the RE-800 is the deepest fit I have ever gotten with an IEM. I should also mention that I used the straight silicone ear-tips from the RE-600s. I found them to fit the best and I got the deepest insertion with them. They are not included with the RE-800!

As I said earlier, the RE-800 is slightly larger than the RE-600s, and because of this you cannot lie on the side of your head as comfortably and seamlessly. This aside, the comfort is 10/10 because the earphones disappear in your ear and you can enjoy music endlessly.

Sound​

Lows

Bass heads, be gone, because the RE-800 Silver will definitely not satisfy your needs! Similar to the RE-600s, the bass is quite balanced and is not overly emphasized.

I played my standard sub-bass testing tracks (“Why So Serious?” by Hans Zimmer, “Theme for Irishman” by Robbie Robertson) and it is definitely there, but it is very subtle. The mid-bass has more quantity and is easier to appreciate (by the masses). The mid-bass seems to lack in definition and leans towards the slower side of the spectrum when it comes to the attack & the decay.

Mids

From my experience, the mid-range leans towards the thinner side of the spectrum, opposite of full-body mid-range. Something interesting I noticed is that strings, due to the presence of higher frequencies, sound more forward than vocals and other elements in the mix. To get back to what I was saying earlier, the mid-range, especially vocals, sound distant. I can agree with how @earfonia described the mid-range in his RE-800 review (not RE-800 Silver):
“Midrange is clear and transparent but sounds rather lean, not the full-bodied type of midrange. All my friends that have tested the RE800 mostly mentioned about the midrange as being lean sounding, sometimes too lean to their liking. Someone even said the midrange sounds hollow for his recordings.”

On the other hand, stringed instruments sound very satisfying due to the brighter sound characteristic.

When it comes to tracks of “essy” nature, none of them raised any red flags, meaning that there was no fatigue or piercing quality to them. Some of my go-to “essy” tracks include:

Joan Baez — Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
Paul Simon — Something so Right
Jeff Buckley — Forget Her

Highs

To my surprise, the top-end seems to have a roll-off which makes it ideal for people who don’t like the bright quality, but makes it a turn-off for people who like the edge in the upper frequency range. I went through all my standards tracks that would otherwise showcase “edge”, “shine”, or “sparkle”, and I didn’t hear none of those qualities. This indicates to me that there is a roll-off in the upper-frequency range. However, due to the brighter nature of the mid-range, I cannot say it has warm sound signature.

The previously mentioned tracks include:

Travis Scott — Stop Trying to Be God
Miles Davis — Portia
Led Zeppelin — Stairway to Heaven (percussion, 7:16 – 7:23)
Etta James — Damn Your Eyes (percussion)

Conclusion​

Even though it's a 4 year old IEM, RE800 Silver manages to still be relevant today. The RE800 Silver is a major step up from the RE600 line, but it still keeps that balanced/neutral sound signature that the RE600 line is loved for. Not only that, but it also keeps that slim and small nature of the RE600 line.

The RE800 Silver is a good IEM in my book. It's a perfect daily driver, but also a big appeal to those who like to listen to instrumental, acapella, and classical music.

Besides for "audiophile listening", I would seriously consider the RE800 Silver for casual listening... I'd even take it when going for a bike ride or for a run.

Firstly I would like to thank Mark at HiFiMAN for sending me this sample to review, they have had over 50hrs of burn-in before this review was written.

Gear Used: Dell PC > Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ > RE800 Silver (stock bi-flange tips)

Audio Opus #2 > RE800 Silver (stock bi-flange tips)

*disclaimer: This sample was provided for the purpose of writing a review, no incentive was given to write a favourable review. All opinions expressed are my own subjective findings.



Tech Specs:
Frequency Response - 5Hz - 20kHz
Impedance - 60Ohms
Sensitivity - 105dB

Packaging, Build Quality and Accessories:
The RE800 silver come in a slightly smaller box than the normal RE800, but it is a great looking box at that. Matte black with a picture of the IEM's on the front with the name written in silver on it. On the back of the box you have the tech specs, slide the tops off the box and you'll find the IEM's held neatly in a foam insert. Next to them is the carry case which holds the accessories. The box feels and looks great in my opinion.

The build quality is very good overall, unlike the gold RE800, the silver version comes with a fixed cable. The jack is a standard affair with a silver metal housing and fairly rigid strain relief. The y-splitter is also silver with the model engraved into it. There is a silver chin slider and again lack of strain relief where the cable enters the housing. The cable feels fine, fairly rubbery and it should hold up fine over time but it would have been nice if they were detachable. The housing is metal and very well finished, no complaints here. Overall I don't really have any issues with the build quality, but a detachable cable like the normal RE800 would have been nice.



Accessory wise you get a fairly standard clamshell case, something nicer could have been included, but what I do like is the selection of tips these come with. You get some standard bi-flange tips pre-installed which I really like both comfort and sound wise, but in the case you will find a bag with clear single and triple flange tips, along with black triple flange and bi-flange tips. Overall a really good range of tips, you also get some earhooks for the cable. I am glad they included more tips this time,

Comfort and Isolation:
The RE800 housing is really small, this means they should fit all ear shaped and sizes with no issues. The small housing that is rounded and lightweight means these are extremely comfortable once you get a good fit, and I can wear them for hours with no discomfort.

Isolation is good but not great, the housing is vented and this does compromise the isolation somewhat, but they are perfect for everyday general use. Only in the noisiest environments would this ever be an issue.



Sound:
Split into the usual categories, with a conclusion at the end.

Lows: The low end on the RE800 is really impressive, like a chameleon it changes with the tracks played. It comes out of a black background when called for and is very dynamic with incredible definition and control, yet it never comes out in such a way as to dominate the sound. There is extension, there is real punch, kicks don't fall flat and yet they are just well balanced and merge effortlessly into the mix. They don't suffer from a boosted mid-bass to create false thickness, and there is no bleed into the midrange, keeping everything detailed and clear.

Midrange: Here the vocals take centre stage with all outer instruments placed perfectly around them. There is excellent clarity across the board, female vocals have a slight edge in absolute clarity due to a slight lift in the upper midrange, but male vocals still sound superb here. Guitars are backed with excellent control and power. the thing the RE800 Silver does really well is to handle heavy rock with power and authority, yet they are equally good at bringing out the nuances in slower acoustic tracks and rendering acoustic guitars with perfect body. As I said there is still a slight peak in the upper midrange, but this does not bring with it any harshness to my ears.

Highs: The highs are well placed and not toned down, the real downfall of the original RE800 was a fairly sharp peak in the treble that brought out sparkle but could also be fatiguing. To me the RE800 Silver is still not a dark sounding IEM, but it sounds like the peaks have been smoothed out a little. There is still plenty of treble presence, and they extend effortlessly. Again here the separation is key, and you can easily distinguish each cymbal crash and tap with ease. The highs won't flatter bright recordings, or poor recordings, they will reveal flaws, but then again if you feed them good quality material you will be rewarded.

The soundstage is wider than it is deep, but these do create a convincing stereo image that is wider than most IEM's. The separation is excellent, even during complex tracks you can still easily separate the mix.



Conclusion: The RE800 Silver are a very well done single dynamic driver IEM, just like the gold version are. I feel that the RE800 Silver are slightly less peaky in the treble, and have slightly more body to the sound when compared to the gold version. The RE800 Silver is well balanced, comfortable and enjoyable, what more could you ask for.

Sound Perfection Rating: 9/10 (Slightly less peaky, better value)