Sennheiser IE 8 In-Ear Headphones

trebla

New Head-Fier
Pros: Warm intense sound
Cons: lacking in detail, hungry for power
Pleasing headphone to own, lots of character and ability. I really liked the fun sound of this headphone and that's been enough to talk down about 'cold' and 'analytical' headphones since then. 
Sounded a little out of my phone. Drove them with Ibasso D10 and they sounded nice, was quite a large rig to carry and I never forgave them for that. 

Docjitters

New Head-Fier
Pros: Lovely (and occasionally jaw-dropping) midrange, fun bass, smooth highs, awesome soundstage, good cable
Cons: Needs running-in, fiddly to get perfect fit, needs an amp to shine
DOI: I don't get to listen to new gear a lot so I may not be any use at answering questions about comparisons to anything other than my own stuff (which may or may not be considered esoteric). I was (and am) a full-size hi-fi person so my tastes in this will clearly colour what I look for in head-fi. I tend to value realism of tone for well-recorded voices and instruments but for orchestral works and pop/dance music, I prefer a neutral-warm musicality and dynamics.
 
 
Initial set-up:
Box:
Carry case is lovely but clunky and useless for in-out day-to-day carry. Cable is nice, a useful length and non-microphonic unless you're really scraping it. The clip helps.
 
Eartips:
Best in box for my smallish ear canals were the medium single-flanges - absolute best were cut-down Comply foams, which are crazy expensive in the UK and being cut-up, only last a few days of hard wear before the seal goes. Ended up getting Proguard silicone tips which I use to this day (which reduces total comfort and congests the sound but was a reasonable trade-off for durability). I wore them over-ears with the cable guides as I run around a lot.
 
Source/Amp:
iPhone 4 w/ ALAC then added a BSG cmoy tin-amp with LM4562 (gain 6) and a Tangent-design Pimeta v2 built by myself as a high-end build with BB OPA827 x 3 (627s were waaaaaay too pricey). Lately, I've been using an iPhone 5S with the Onkyo player app and an iBasso DX80 with Lurker's firmware (ALAC and Hi-Res FLAC)
 
A Few Thoughts on the Sound:
Initially, crazy bass which sounded bloated and horrible. After running in on the cmoy for a few tens of hours, it started to clear so I persevered and the muddiness disappeared. I've always kept the IE8s at the lowest bass setting and worked on optimising the seal. There's a lot of bass and can be a bit 'splashy' and it doesn't extend all the way down but the quality even with the well-documented mid-bass hump is a lot of fun with e.g. The Prodigy and Nine-Inch Nails and doesn't obscure the rest too much. Highs are slightly rolled-off but this helps those, like myself, who are very sensitive to sibilance or 'hot' recordings. Detail is good but micro-detail and subtle changes in e.g. the background dirge of Nightwish's Taikatalvi certainly needs a better player than a phone - the upper-range smoothness and the high sensitivity/low impedance probably don't help. Overall, the IE8 is smooth: it forgives low-quality rips, voices (esp. female ones) are clear and with the right recording have a flutey quality that sounds lovely though isn't necessarily the most realistic e.g. an opera recording like Kleiber's 1977 La Traviata. That being said, I played Sandi Thom's 'I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker' for the first time through the cmoy w/ LM4562 and the voice in my right ear was so 'real' I jumped sideways on a busy street...
 
Soundstage is massive, and in a way I particularly like - moreso with the Pimeta and OPA827s: the vocals are in my head but everything else is all around. This can get a bit echo-chamber for some tunes but with particular recordings it gives an 'out-there' effect you can't cheaply achieve even with a full-sized system. Coupled with the Complys, you can forget you are wearing in-ears. I've been known to take my kit onto the street at night when it's quiet and play Florence + The Machine's Cosmic Love far too loudly and dance around grinning whilst it feels like the sound is coming from the sky around me. Seriously. Stop looking at me like that...
 
(The only reason I stopped carrying my Pimeta was the 1-hour battery life - never got the oscillation stable-, the box weighs over a 1Ib and carrying a large metal container covered in switches gets you funny looks on London Underground in this security-conscious day and age.)
 
Overall:
A bargain at the price I paid (~£100) and a very decent upgrade if you like bass. However, perfect fit was an issue for me and it really needs something better than a phone to show off. My favourite to calm a sibilant tune on my rather sizzly but otherwise solid iBasso DX80 (e.g. any of Fun's studio albums - sometimes feels like a very musical white-noise generator). 5 years later and I still go back to them.

solidjon

New Head-Fier
Pros: Wonderful natural sound on all frequencies, after listening extensively to music that I'm very familiar with. On vocals, synths, classical and dance.
Cons: Not cheap, but worth saving for and getting them.
Excellent IEM headphones. I usually use my modified HD600's with my hifi system or whilst listening from my mac via my external DAC through my headphone amp, but I recently FLAC'd my entire CD collection (several weeks later) onto an AK Jr, and with the IE8's the sound quality is excellent. (Memories of my first Walkman in 1981 and the impact it made on me as a young boy, the sound was a vast improvement on what I'd heard from any tape player before). The IE8's almost isolate most external noise as it's easy to get a good seal in your ears with the variety of rubber tips that are provided so when the music is playing, all you hear is the music and the reproduction is excellent. From vocals of Andy Bell in 'Am I Right' to Louise Setara in 'Love me Still', to driving rhythms and drums in Lou Gramm's 'Angel With A Dirty Face'. All the varieties of music I've listened to through these IE 8's I've never been disappointed.
Build quality is usual German quality, so nothing to worry about there. They are packaged in a nice sized case that is easy to fit in your pocket, and the cleaning tools and other rubber tips are all stored neatly.
All in all I'd certainly recommend these IEM's, they're not the most affordable if you're on a budget, but if you can save that bit longer, they are most certainly worth it, and I'd be very surprised if you regretted your purchase.
seanwee
seanwee
keep an eye out for fakes though, I nearly got a fake pair myself when i was still new to the hi-fi world.
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TwinACStacks

Headphoneus Supremus
Pros: Great Bass, articulate Treble and mids
Cons: Minor Mid-Bass Hump that appears to smooth out after burn-in, OEM Ear tips not up to par with Earphones.
Purchased these From an Authorized seller in the UK as a Demo but in as new / Mint condition. They actually had 10 Pair, in hindsight I probably should have purchased a 2nd. After a Disappointing trial of Vsonic GR07 Classics, I decided to pop the Extra $$$$ and take a chance with the IE8s. I won't be looking back any time soon. You can use a lot of adjectives, in a nutshell they sound great and are actually on par with My Senn HD650s sonically. The first thing I did was Try all the supplied Tips finding that the Large regular tip is the best of the OEM lot for my ears. I will go into a little more detail in a few for better tips. Then I burned these in having a Listen at 50, 100, 200, 250 and 300 Hours. I for one definitely can hear a vast difference between New and Burned in. Relaxed would be what I would call the Transformation, and the Mid-Bass hump which never really bothered me anyways has smoothed out. I also Purchased a set of Balanced N8 OCCC silver Plated copper upgrade cables from HIFI-Acoustic Audio. Fantastic workmanship on these cables. Highly Recommended.
 
Now for eartips: I have Tried Comply Foams, Generic Silicone Hybrids from Ebay, Genuine Sony Hybrids, Phonak, Monster Gels, JVC, both Clear and Black assortments from Meelec, Auvio hybrids and of course the supplied OEM. My conclusion is BY A WIDE MARGIN: The Auvio Hybrids available at Radio Shack in Large size. They just make the sound BLOOM, at least to my ears.
 
Sorry for being Late to the Party, Might Have to try out the IE80s.
 
smily_headphones1.gif
smily_headphones1.gif
TWIN
raybone0566
raybone0566
the ie-8 is the right choice. I own both and the ie-80's highs are veiled. they don't have those nice mids the ie-8's have either. good pair of phones.
Dobrescu George
Dobrescu George
try tape over vent mod. you will be pleased!
TwinACStacks
TwinACStacks
Thanx Guys.

Kaffeemann

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Build Quality, Comfort
Cons: Bloated Mid-Bass, Muddy Sound, harsh Peaks and Resonance in the Treble
Please you yourself a favor and don't buy these IEM.
xedjflowx
xedjflowx
almoskosz
almoskosz
Is it possible that you haven't tried all the eartips to get a perfect isolation? 
Larethio
Larethio
More isolation would typically lead to more bass

thelostMIDrange

1000+ Head-Fier
Pros: workmanship, detail
Cons: value
only auditioned this iem for a brief time as I would never pay nearly this much of my hard earned money on an iem. These must have been tuned to a certain type of modern music and for that, whatever it may have been, these probably sound outstanding

coolguy2002

New Head-Fier
Pros: excellent sount, aweome Bass
Cons: no cons
Awesome Earphone with Awesome bass and Buld

lextheimpaler

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Excellent Sound
Cons: None
These are the best IEMS I have. Much better than Shure 535's or the UE500's or the Klipsh. Second to only custom IEM's
Sweden
Sweden
5 for isolation?
Nice review...
AmberOzL
AmberOzL
there is no world that ie8 gets 5 from isolation. don't get me wrong, they are great. but they don't give isolation that much.

gpfransen

New Head-Fier
Sound and build quality is pretty good, Bass level is comparable to UE 4EB.
nikkojames15
nikkojames15
..that's it? Kidding! :wink: Enjoy your IE8. :)
XxDobermanxX
XxDobermanxX
I know why this review is short, words cant explain the sound :D

Rangotherabbit

New Head-Fier
Pros: Lots of tips, fancy travelling case,tons of bass, excellent sound-stage, good build quality, adjustable bass, sounds excellent with metal.
Cons: Most tips are useless, bass screw is a bit fragile.
Bass screws work if you have some bass to begin with, ie. not using an ipod.
Soundstage is brilliant.
Sound is a bit unbalanced, have use aggresive eq with walkman.
bass is phenominal.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

darkshyed

New Head-Fier
Pros: great sound stage, amazing bass, treble, versitile
Cons: i have not found any yet
So this is my last IEM upgrade I am planning on doing since I am more of an Over Ear type. However for work I needed a solid IEM. I got these at a great price, and I am plesantly surprised of how much of an upgrade over my CX-870's it is!
 
I love these IEM's, they are warm, bass is detailed, I can play everything from accoustic/vocals, Jazz, to Alternative rock and they sound crisp clean and warm.
 
Overall I am very glad I got them for $190 USD instead of full price. Listening to Andrea Corr's lifelines album is a pure joy through these.
 
HIGHLY RECOMMEND if you work in a quite place I wouldnt suggest these for jogging but if your jogging you really dont have the ability to truly appreciate the clarity anyway. Great buy :)

morethansense

Head-Fier
Pros: Feels solidly built, stock cable is decent. Detachable cable. Will fit into any decently normal ear. Bass knob.
Cons: No moulding wire. Stock ear-tips provide poor fit. Bass knob doesn't go to negative.
 
 
This review is written by a regular live FOH engineer who's most similar price-range in-ears are Shure SE425's.
 
I purchased this pair (IE8) of in-ears because they were only AUD$160 from a local eBay seller, brand new w/warranty and I was interested in other sound signatures for listening to recordings. And at the time of writing this review, I have owned them for at least two months with approx 200hrs of listening time on top of burn-in.
 
I listen to a lot of live recordings and performances, female vocalists, acoustic and rock. 
I also listen to some jazz and classical, but as I am not learned in these areas I will refrain from commenting in that manner.
 
To the actual product:
 
Build Quality - 8/10
Thick and malleable strain reliefs punctuate the very decent smooth dark grey cable. All cables are actually joined via tiny PCB, from 3.5mm stereo jack to cable to Y connector to each of the earpiece connectors.
Cable is also replaceable with a skilful pluck.
Driver housing is a hard, smooth slightly metallic/glittery black plastic. Ear tip sleeve tube doesn't seem small and easily breakable.
Oh yeah, comes with a bass knob that kinda does(n't) work.
 
Comfort, Fit, Isolation - 6.5/10
Combined them because they are all closely related. 
Probably being a little harsh here, but it pretty much sucks. Seems a pity to produce a great in-earphone and a very large range of earpieces, and having them all completely miserable.  But keep in mind this comes from a person that LOVES his Shures. Isolation is a good 10dB less than my Shures, which I'm pretty much deaf to outside noise less than 95dBA in.
The foam eartips are harder than three week old crusty bread. No cushiony softness like Shure's and there's no inner rubber sleeve for rigidity either. The silicon rubber eartips are open enough and provide a semi-decent seal which turns out to be better than the foams for the IE8's to not be so bass dominant. But means the fit is a little loose, means not a jogging pair in the mean time.
Tried Audio-Technica rubber silicone eartips, hole is a little too closed, masking some of the highs.
Heard bad stories about Complys for Sennheisers, looking for alternatives. 
No moulding wire is a big sad face for me, also increases microphonics from non-existent to a recognisable level. IE8's come with detachable ear hooks, but they don't support jack all.
 
 
Sound, sound, sound - 8.5/10
These are probably a love/hate earphone.
They are definitely not well balanced or flat, but still hold an amazing clarity for >95% of my music.
They have great instrument seperation when I use them live, a sign of great fidelity.
Compared to the SE425's, they possess a greater quantity of bass, but even my SE215's have greater extension (though my 215's actually have incredible extension because of it's dynamic driver, both have the same type of driver, it's a decent comparison).
All that meaning to say, the bass hump is no lower than 100Hz, with a definite enunciation around the 160Hz. Many V-"audio"philes will be annoyed by this and won't be able to get their ears around this new found range that's really the hot ass of the body with the power that shows off the power of some female vocal recordings.
I may just be too used to the silky smooth Shure mids. Even my 215's are freakin' amazing.
Soundstage is pretty average, decent spacing, not enough distancing. Totally contrary to what other people say, I believe, who claim that the IE8's is really way up there. I don't know what kind of studios/halls/theatres/venues you work with, but it sounds more cinema than amphitheatre to me.
Vocals are warm with the relative mid-bass to mids ratio, Highs are sparkly, cymbals a little distant, not harsh enough for my liking. 
Yes, that's right, not harsh enough, there's no rawr to that rock crash. Too much *****, not enough lion. That dip around 6.3-7KHz reduces harshness too much for me, but beyond that there's plenty to a good 17KHz at least.
 
Reduces the transparency of recordings to me, sounds a little artificial, but helps lessen the pain of bad recordings. =P 
Okay, so maybe I'll say something about the forbidden genres, these do GREAT with classical.
That warmth and sparkle is really something. Just not for me. The IE8's take second fiddle for me in this price range.
Still a Shure fanboy after this.
 
 

Peterlovemusic

Head-Fier
Pros: Bass adjustment knob
Cons: the isolation can do better
beerchug.gif
overall I have not so much time to try it out...so...those are current feelings for the ie8

delladood

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Bass, Mid Bass, Warm Sound, Stylish, Removable Cable, Kevlar Cable, Adjustable Bass
Cons: Seal Issues, Sloppy Bass, Bass cant be adjusted enough, No Gold Jack
Overall a great pair of headphones.  Way to much bass, you lose audio quality to a certain extent. WAY to expensive.  I could name 10 pairs of headphones that match the sound of these.
ProjectDenz
ProjectDenz
Don't forget the usual midrange 'veil' Sennheiser loves to implement in most of their headphones.

nikp

Headphoneus Supremus
During all these years I have explored many different ear monitors ranging from the balanced Westone 4 to the fun TripleFi 10 and have always thought that dynamic in ear monitors don't stand a change against them. But no, the Sennheiser IE 8 proved me wrong.
 
Packaging and build quality
 
The IE8 was packaged very nicely and I especially loved the carrying case (some impressive engineering feat there). Its cables are soft but sturdy - one of the best stock cables I've seen. Very solid look and feel.
 
Comfort
 
Fortunately, I had a good fit with them. They're lightweight and don't feel heavy at all. Sennheiser included a ton of eartips to go with them so there should be no worry at all about fit. 
 
Design
 
The IE 8 features a bass knob which is pretty unique. I did play around with it but ultimately settled with "minimum" bass. Isolation on the IE8 is nothing special. It puts out noise but doesn't do them as well as the Westones or Shures. So far, the IE8 has no issues with microphonics. Subjectively, I quite like the design. I think it looks and feels fantastic.
 
Sound Quality
 
The IE8 has a warm sound signature and is slightly coloured. First thing that impressed me is its soundstage. Wide and deep. Instruments are separated well and the W4, TF10, IE7, SE425 doesn't come close in terms of soundstage AND reproduction. Acoustic instruments sounds exceptionally realistic to my ears. Sennheiser did a great job on the timbre reproduction.
 
The bass knob is useful only to bassheads I guess. I wasn't a basshead and the bass on medium/high setting is just too much for me. My bass knob was set at the lowest setting possible. Bass is unsurprisingly good and quite dominant. Mids are not affected at all by its pounding bass.
 
Mids are in no way recessed. They are detailed and have that lushness and weight in them. Just beautiful.
 
The IE8 doesn't have sparkly treble. It has a good extension but I wish the treble is more emphasised. There is no veil on the IE8 - it's just that they don't have emphasised treble.
 
Overall, it's an amazing in ear monitor. I am impressed with this dynamic IEM and although it may not be an analytical one, it is much more enjoyable and relaxing than other top tier IEMs. Its sound reproduction and soundstage is the best that I have heard to date in an IEM! Sennheiser has done it again. I definitely recommend these. 

miniero

New Head-Fier
Pros: outstanding sound quality, nice soundstage, nice build quality, sound tuning feature
Cons: tricky to be inserted, uncomfortable until you get used to it
 
First impressions
 
IE 8 is really an outstanding in-ear phone. It's built for an almost perfect sound reproduction, but it's not what I thought when I used them for the first time.
 
Burn-in is a highly discussed topic. Some say it works and some swear it's ********. But this is the truth: an IE 8 needs some time to sound great. During the first hours they sounded terrible just like those Apple earbuds. They were too bright, had an annoying bass and the mids weren't there. All these issues were gone after the second day of almost continuous use.
 
When they got home and I unboxed them, I was a little amazed (must confess). But when I saw all those pairs of earplugs I went crazy and thought: now I've got something that really fits inside my ears (they're little and earplugs like those ones shipped with The Plug simply won't fit).
 
 
The earplugs and the sound tuning
 
I heard lots of people saying the sound tuning feature is almost useless, but in certain conditions it's not true. All those who said that also said IE 8 has poor sound isolation. Sound tuning makes a huge difference in bass response, but it's this feature that showed me how tricky is to find the correct earplug. And I tried all the pairs.
 
Lots of the pairs seem to fit perfectly. And this happens because all of them are slightly different in size and shape, except for some. Here, the secret I found is to stay in a noisy environment and try each pair until you decide the pair that seems to attenuate the most of the external sound. This pair will be the one that seems to apply a little (only a little) pressure inside the ear canals and they will be uncomfortable until you get used to them.
 
Every plug that doesn't fit perfectly will give you an undesired sound with too bright highs and almost no bass. Sometimes they can also pop out your ear canals.
 
Once you find the perfect plugs, it's time to play with the sound tuning feature. Try the lowest if you love electronic music and the highest if you love metal. The tuning will depend on your feelings and preferences, but it works and it's certainly an awesome feature.
 
 
Basses, highs and soundstage
 
Mids are simply perfect! Basses and highs are tricky due to the earplug and sound tuning as I described, but they're incredible too.
 
The bass response may drive you crazy. It's crisp and profound, but not excessive. It will depend, however, on the sound source you use. Just like lots of other phones, bad sound source means awful bass response. If you are a lucky owner of a high end cell phone, a decent media player or a good sound card, it'll sound amazing. But if you use recent iPods, don't bother giving IE 8 a try, they'll sound only a little better than usual and cheaper earphones.
 
For some recordings, the highs seem to be brighter than the expected, but never annoying. The highs definition is incredible and even the specifications saying it reproduces until 20kHz, IE 8 could reproduce a 22kHz sine wave. I didn't try higher frequencies, but since I only listen to 44.1kHz FLACs on my mobile devices, there was no need to try it.
 
Soundstage is good, nothing more. I heard people saying it's fantastic, but that's not what I could feel. Not fantastic, but good… sufficient and not congested. It's fantastic for a pair of in-ear, anyway.
 
 
Audio sources used (DAC) for my conclusions
 
Wolfson WM8903 (Motorola Atrix 4G)
Texas Instruments TWL6040 (Samsung Galaxy Nexus)
nVidia MCP89 (Apple Mac Mini, 2011 model)
A bad one I don't know (Apple iPod Shuffle 3G)
Intel High Definition Audio (the worst ever)
daerron
daerron
Nice review! Thanks for the effort and the advice on finding the right earplugs.

IMMANEWHERE

New Head-Fier
Pros: Soundstage is AMAZING, My Price was very good for the genuine Sennheiser IE8s ($180)
Cons: Its hard to get a fit, isolation
ITs ver good headphones for my price paid. much better than beats studios
Audiophile2
Audiophile2
Where did you find them for $180?!?! thats awesome
Deltron 3030
Deltron 3030
shieet @ $180
Stealth3si
Stealth3si
how do u know tis genuijn??

Rhoy

New Head-Fier
Pros: Clear and distinct sound, very present bass. Great build quality. Great travel box. Lots of extra earplugs. Detachable cables. Very comfortable fit.
Cons: Thin cable tangles easily if you don't store them in the travel case. Price is a bit high in my region, 385$.
[size=10pt]This is my first review, so bear with me... Sennheiser IE8i, are the first IE headphones I've bought that costed more than 85$. I've always been a big fan of great sound and currently own Bose OE Triports, Bose 3-2-1 GSII and used to have Bose in my car as well.

The IE8i were somewhat of a huge disappointment at first. They didn't sound anything like I expected and lacked that heavy flowing bass I was use to. The fit wasn't any good and I was seriously considering returning the headphones, claiming they were defect. I tried my brother in law's new Shure SE215 and was blown away by the amazing and comfortable fit, and the great sound. The bass was punchy and present, and the sound so good that I just wanted to turn up the volym more and more...

I soon discovered that he used foam plugs, and that he really recommended them because of the great fit. I switched my rubber plugs to foam ones instead, and my headphones really transformed. They were no longer sensitive to how they were fitted into my ear, and the sound went from being dull and unimpressive to amazingly fantastic!

The sound is clear, instruments feel seperated wich is fantastic, and the bass is evenly balansed with a good kick and good sub bass. The tuning function is more likely to be of use to singers, if they use them as moniters, but for us mortal users... just crank the damn thing up as far as it will go.

Now after playing them in, my Sennheiser IE8i are without doubt the best sound I've ever heard in an IE headphone, and I strongly recommend them for you who aren’t sensitive to price. Although the sound is very clear, it does tend to get a bit uncomfortable at really high volumes.
[/size]
Rhoy
Rhoy
If you considering the price, not so much. If you only consider the soundquality, enough difference to switch over to IE8i.
But please remember that what you qualify as good sound might be very different from what I would call good sound...
Shure SE215 costs 155$ in my region, while Sennheiser's IE8i cost 385$. SE215 sound great, and really motivate you to crank the volym up since they keep sounding better and better the louder it gets. The sound was a bit grainy, with a punchy and present bass, whilst the IE8i have more clarity and well balanced soundstage. The separiation of instruments are very good in both headphones. In the end the Sennheiser sounds better.
WakiDabeast
WakiDabeast
I agree with the your description of the se 215, and yeah that is true ^^ everyone hears differently, I personally am split between a consumer fun sound and audiophile sound, or like V-moda puts it - modiophile ^^. I guess down to specifics... is the treble and soundstage better on the ie8s, if so in what way? I got the se215's for 100 and the ie8's I can get for 300
Rhoy
Rhoy
I'm currently more interested in Shure's SE535 cause I'm really curious in what a 3 driver unit sounds like, and especially Shure's 3 driver unit. I was so surprised by Shure's SE215 that I sooner or later will upgrade to the 535, no doubt. I would say that the soundstage is better on the IE8, but not by much. I would much rather say that neither one is better, just different from one and other. The IE8's soundstage is collected, precise and has a warm feel to it. The Shure's soundstage is just as good, but different. It’s got much more character, and as a result a little bit less precise. Sound is warm and has that big stage sound...

nounoursbleu

New Head-Fier
Pros: light and strong built, durable, replaceable cable, comfy ear tips, adjustable bass
Cons: slightly cold sound
one of my favorite IEM
nounoursbleu
nounoursbleu
from time to time the sound was so crisp and lacking some depth.. it was a bit... cold. Hard to describe. It would be my only complain about this IEM though, and did get me to buy other ones eventually.
Ashurei
Ashurei
Your rating tells us differently
pdrm360
pdrm360
How do you compare it with Turbine Pro Copper? Thanks!

JonnyRocket

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: The sound quality is amazing. The tunable bass ports work and offer a level of bass control I thought I'd only get with my media player.
Cons: The tips are a bit shallow, could have issues with losing the seal
Note: I'm a noob and relise that there are reviews written by members on here with much more knowledge and experence than me and who also have a better understanding of the terms used to describe there experience with these headphones. So I'm writing this review from a noobs standpoint to others who might have just joined this site and are going though the same thing I did.

These are the best headphones I've owned yet! I'm a noob and want to thank this forum for showing me there is something more than the Beats and BOSE lines of headphones. This is the first pair of $400 headphones I've owned and I absolutely love them!

I owned a pair of BOSE IE2s, I thought they were good but with no sound isolation and very little in the way of bass and the fact I couldn't get them to be loud enough in the gym really kept me from liking them. I saw the Dre Diddy Beats and decided to give those a try. Moving up from the BOSE I liked the sound quality and the extra low end bass a lot more. The control talk worked very well and is one of the reasons I still use them. They are very heavy, the cord has a big metal piece at the "Y" and although the linguini cables look cool and are tangle free, they are heavy as well. All this wreaked havoc on the buds being able to stay in my ears and using them at the gym was a no go. I was not too impressed with the sound quality for $150, but the control talk was very useful to me so I kept them. I did some research online and saw that a lot of sites quoted this site for accuracy and reviews on headphones so I decided to check it out. Here I found exactly what I was looking for.

I read a lot of reviews on different IEMs and decided to go with the Monster Turbine Pro Golds. Moving up from the Diddy Beats I couldn't believe the sound quality. I had no idea that kind of sound quality could be expressed though IEMs. I could here a lot of sounds and textures in notes that I could only here in my home theater set up. I showed them to a few of my friends and they absolutly loved them. So at the danger of their wives sending them to the couch for a week for spending $280 on headphones, they went out and bought a pair for themselves. I was very happy with them, but they were still lacking something, something i couldn't really put my finger on. When I listened to music through my home stereo there was a presence in the music, an expansive range in the sound that made me feel as if I was sitting in the studio listing to it being recorded. Ive come to know it from reading reviews on here as sound stage. Although the Turbines were very clear and the bass was accurate (when compared the the Beats line), the music seemed small. So I kept looking and read the reviews on here for the Sennheiser IE8s and decided to buy a pair.

The IE8s
When I first listened to these I seriously questioned my sanity. The bass was muddy and tubby, the mids seemed like they needed to be recessed a little more and the treble was a little hard to here because of overpowering bass. After about 10 hours of "burn in" they settled in a little and after around 60 hours their true sound really started to shine. I absolutely love these, I haven't listened to other headphones in this price range except for the Dre Beats line, which I think is like the Abercrombie of headphones, so I can't really give an accurate review. I can say I have found exactly what I was looking for. When Im listening to music with the Turbines It's like going to a 5 star restaurant ordering the crab ravioli and having it served to me on a paper plat with a spork. Even though the ravioli is excellent in every way, the way it is delivered brings down the experience as a whole which is how I felt when I listened to the Turbines. After listening to music with the IE8s, I feel like I have all the silverware and the glass bowl with the best waiter in town to serve it to me. The presentation of the high quality sound that comes from the IE8s is remarkable! They make almost everything I listen to with them sparkle. Its kind of like watching a great movie at the movie theater (Turbines) and then seeing that same movie in 3D (IE8s). The music is much more impactful and much more fun to listen to. I am planning on getting the Fiio E7 portable DAC/amp. If your a noob like me I would recomend this. I'm also going to get some custom ear tips made for these. I can't say enough good things about these "home theater in your ear" headphones. Buy them, you won't regret it!

EDIT: I ordered the IE8i lead from Custom-Cable. It works with the IE8 if you use apple products and want the control talk.
picomanico
picomanico
excelent review!
Can i use it without the grid? I think the sound more foward..
andrewmorio
andrewmorio
Try foam (look on ebay) tips. You will like them.
JonnyRocket
JonnyRocket
Thanks!
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