I'm gonna be honest, out of the box I had very similar views on the bass and midrange, but after 20-30 hours my opinion majorly changed. I don't think I've had an earphone change so much after burn-in. I stay out of the burn-in debate, but every now and then I get an earphone that (for me) leaves me in no doubt its genuine.

I too felt the midrange was quite thin and vocals especially sounded VERY recessed. Sub bass too sounded underwhelming with my go-to year tracks. BUT NOW... Subbass has satisfying impact and depth, vocals are no longer recessed but clear and the entire midrange had adequate weight and body. Treble has also calmed and sounds amazing.

Out Of The Box, in Queen's, Another One Bites The Dust there was no volume to those signature opening bass lines, instead the raspy keyboard effect that should play behind bass notes was all I heard.

In Lorde's, Royals, those opening deep bass lines were too thin and weak even.

In Post Moderns Jukebox's covers of Don't Speak and All About That Bass (2015), the bass notes at the start hadn't any volume and were too quick and lacked decay.

20 hours later... They all sound way different. They're not basshead level, that I agree with, but they're now neutral and adequate. I wouldn't say they're "subtle" as they're plenty satisfying.

Vocals in all songs are obvious in how they've changed position and weight. The change in subbass had helped there.

@harry501501 Thank you for sharing your experience! It certainly gives me hope that the perfect sound performance can be achieved with these great IEMs. I love them as they are. The only thing that kind of scares me away from burn-in is that it calms the highs. I love highs!

@harry501501 Thank you for actually taking the time to break it down with tracks. Whenever I see anyone talking about sound and using reference tracks to back up what they are saying, they earn my respect. However, you have gone a step further and decided to explain which specific elements in the track you are referring to.

Thank you for these posts. It gives us insight that there is more to these than we initially thought

I spotted these on Amazon for about €125, big fan of single DDs so took a chance on them - looking forward to them arriving on Monday! Great review too.

@Scuba Devils Thank you!
Yeah, these are actually some of my personal favorites. Absolutely adore them.

That's a steal of a deal

Really can't wait to hear them. I listen to a lot of ambient and electronic music, mostly with a lot of detail and I think these will suit well. My one area of slight concern is whether they'll have enough sub bass but I'll find out soon!

They are easily my favourite earphone of any in my collection both past or current and I've heard some really great sets. Please try not to judge them straight out of the box. The 800s are just so addictive and musical. The fact you can get them for £100 in the UK and I've saw them under $100 at times in the Hifiman website is ridiculous. They slay any budget IEM that I've heard at that price point.

Sub bass can be increased with different tips, but I still prefer the custom ones. Tho I have small ear canals. The only tips they don't sound good with are foams (for me anyway). Hope you enjoy them

I'm a fan of single DDs so very curious to hear how these stack up versus what's on the market a few years later. I'll report back in a few days!

@harry501501 Yep, they are a budget killer at what they go for now.

I love the straight silicone tips from the RE-600s V2, so I also used them on the RE800 Silver.

@Scuba Devils I always wondered why these fell in price from the £400 odd they came out at, to the £100 mark now. I reckon they were just eclipsed by the more modern builds and hybrids that exploded on to the scene. Plus you have planars and ESTs in decent entry level IEMs now at good prices. The re800s is pretty basic in build, no detachable cable.

Sound wise tho, FOR ME anyway, after burn-in, they're the best sounding IEM/headphone I've heard. They DO need burn-in btw. I noticed massive improvements after 50 hours+. If you put the re800s sound into a fancy FIIO build (like the FD5 or fd7), you'd be getting £300+ easy.

I've just bought the 400se and if you compared solely on sound, I'd take the re800s over it. That's not a criticism of the planars.

I'll repeat. Out of the box, bass was weak. I found vocals sounding dry and recessed. Upper mids and treble were too focused - tho sounded great and very detailed. After burn-in it's the lower frequencies that open up... they are smoother, bass has lovely resolution and much better weight and definition. Vocals come alive and that extra mid bass presence really helps give them some much needed weight. Treble remains non fatiguing, but instruments up top sound so real, drums pop. Detail for such a non fatiguing, non analytical sounding IEM is so enjoyable and it's amazing how they merge micro and macro details so well.

The only thing that could need better is depth. The soundstage is very wide and separation high and it has just enough height not to sound flat, but front to back isn't on the same level as say a hybrid setup or a more bold dynamic. I did find using FIIO's vocal tips or a more common wide bore makes a big difference there, at the expense of narrowing the overall width.

@harry501501 - thanks, I'm really excited to hear them - they arrive tomorrow, and I go on holidays on Thursday so I'll make sure to leave them run for the couple of days to get 50 hours or so on the clock. I suspect they will be nice for beside the pool!

I recently picked these up for 150.00 on sale from HiFiman. I’m amazed how good they sound. I typically don’t use in ear much have Abyss and Susvara. I don’t agree with much in this review to be honest. Bass is not weak or lacking at all. It is slightly emphasized imo. Punchy and tight. I also consider these bright and crisp in the highs but not overly so to my ears.

@fscarce1 Fair enough! Thank you for sharing your experience.

I also perceived these to be overly bright, but when I put on some peaky music, there were no signs of edge, therefore I wrote that they have a roll-off in the treble region. Personally, I love these, some of the most comfortable IEMs I've tried.

In terms of bass, it most certainly doesn't sound emphasized to me. TRI i3 is an IEM I'd say has emphasized bass, but RE800 Silver. From memory, it was definition that bass was lacking in the RE800 Silver, not the quantity.

I read somewhere that these have more bass than the original re800.

In any case, to me their bass sounds powerful. Very lively sound. Make the re400 sound dull and muffled (even if the latter are a nice and very easy listen).

For the current price of 99 USD they're a bargain.