Exceptional in Every Detail: Say Hello to the IE 600

[Simon Patten]

Sadly you're not alone, I had to replace the 4.4mm cable on mine as it had a loose connection. At least they gave us two cables so we can check if it's the cable or the socket but it's not good enough that so many of us have had problems with such an expensive device. My Null Audio cable has been fine and sounds much better but it shouldn't have been necessary, especially since the tips aren't up to much either.

 

[BS5711]

Hate to air out my bad news. The pair of IE 600 that I received as replacements might actually have a worse short in the right MMCX connector. Bit heart broken and don't want to go through the process though. I can fiddle them into place and stay still enough to not lose connection, but my worry is if I ever decide to sell these. I can't in good faith sell these if it came to that. They cost too much (for me) to lose all their value at resale.

I am hoping these are a 'forever' ear-monitor in my collection and I hope they can last - kind of not sure. I do believe everything else except the cables and tips are going to last for a good while. Just keep the plastic clean on the spout.

My set would stutter in and out if I wiggled the cable, did it from day one brand new.

I replaced the cable because I didn’t like the way it handled and felt. I have a GUCraftsman cable on them now but also used an Effect Audio cable off another IEM for a short time as well as briefly trying an XINHS cable I had in my box of cables and related stuff with the little plastic rings popped off the MMCX to allow it to fit on the recessed IE600. All three other cables worked perfectly.

The Effect Audio cable is a really snug secure fit and I would expect that would fix the cut out problem. If you want them to be forever IEM it may well be worth upgrading the cable to fix the problem and provide a nicer user experience. They aren’t cheap cables but they are not crazy expensive. Might be an option for you.

https://hifigo.com/collections/effect-audio/products/effect-audio-signature-series-ares-s

 

[M3NTAL]

Very reassuring and appreciated @BS5711. I do have a couple other MMCX's and can try them out and see what happens.

Cheers.

 

[BS5711]

Very reassuring and appreciated @BS5711. I do have a couple other MMCX's and can try them out and see what happens.

Cheers.

Do remember that the IE600 have that daft recessed connector so many MMCX won’t fit at all or might seem like they fit but won’t click into place securely.

The Effect Audio MMCX isn’t designed for the IE series but it protrudes just a little which makes it an excellent fit on them.

I have several Effect Audio cables and have tried the MMCX option on several of my IEM and they are a really secure snug fit on all of them. I would be very surprised if it didn’t fix your problem.

Also worth pointing out, they have replaceable 2 pin and MMCX connectors but by default come with only 2 pin, you need to specify that you want the MMCX as well.

 

[vietzerg]

Hate to air out my bad news. The pair of IE 600 that I received as replacements might actually have a worse short in the right MMCX connector. Bit heart broken and don't want to go through the process though. I can fiddle them into place and stay still enough to not lose connection, but my worry is if I ever decide to sell these. I can't in good faith sell these if it came to that. They cost too much (for me) to lose all their value at resale.

I am hoping these are a 'forever' ear-monitor in my collection and I hope they can last - kind of not sure. I do believe everything else except the cables and tips are going to last for a good while. Just keep the plastic clean on the spout.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I wonder why there are so few comments about the durability/quality of this model in this thread compared to the r/sennheiser sub on Reddit :-?

 

[brazy001]

had my new ie600 for about a month now so thought I would chime in and add some thoughts.

First off, I snatched up a returned unit from Amazon at a discount ($500AUD) from the already heavy discount sale in November. I was ripe for the taking after picking up the ie200 for $135AUD in a discount direct from Sennheiser in the same sale. Interestingly, every now and again non-chifi iems go on great deals. That's how I picked up a Sony M9 for 40% off. Maybe this is a great marketing strategy, as I wouldn't normally stretch the budget for either of these IEMs.

Deals aside, some comments on the ie600:

Build/Fit:
The first thing that came to mind when taking them out of the packaging was that they felt like little solid stones. The metal build has enough weight to feel premium but small and light enough to disappear in the ear. The material choice was perfect because the metal is not painted or smooth/shiny which means it won't chip or scratch. These are purely cosmetic issues but seems to eventually show itself over time in all other metal iem's in my experience. most pictures on head-fi are of new units or ones being used for what I consider the main purpose of IEMs, used as daily drivers in the pocket and on the move. the ie600 was built for this.

Tips:
the ie600 (and ie200) is the first IEM I found myself actually searching for long stemmed tips where on most IEMs I find short tips work best. I have been using the spinfits cp100/100+ and the Divinus Velvet's. the IE600 seems to be affected quite a bit by tips and the velvet's bring out the sub-bass rumble and impact which gives it a warmer tilt but at the cost of incisiveness. with the velvets you can get a 'thunderous' bass which can be heaven or slightly in the way, depending on the track i.e. a busy track with heavy sub-bass may seem congested but a less busy track can bring a superb engagement. I have landed on the Velvets for now as that extra thump is something unique and works better most of the time.

Sound
In short, fun and engaging. I will just make some short comments vs some select IEMs in my collection:

Compared to Sony IER M9
This is really good to own alongside the M9 if you like a slightly warm sound where the ie600 gives the fun V shaped version compared to the more neutral and comparitavely mid-forward sound of the M9.
The M9 has better imaging and seperation and sounds more effortless in its presentation while the ie600 has a deeper rumble and punch and all around forward sound. depending on the track or mood, I can prefer one over the other. While comparing, you could find that the m9 is more 'technical', the ie600 is close enough that my choice on which one to use is based on the tuning preference.
(non sound related)Both have amazing comfort and isolation which is a big plus when out and about in a city environment.

Compared to Raptgo Hook X
This might be an unusual comparison, but the allure to a V shaped signature for me started with the raptgo hook X for its bass texture and liveliness. The ie600 is similar but different to the Hook-X. Both share a fun signature but the ie600 has a deeper sub bass rumble and slightly more impact however the Hook-X still has great punch but a faster transient and tbh, picks up finer details and texture. The treble presentation is also quite different where the ie600 is forward and meaty (is this a thing?) compared to the wispier Hook-X. The ie600 midrange has a bit more body and fullness. Reading all the above, it sounds like the ie600 is more forward in everything which sounds a bit nonsensical but that kind of is how it feels. This may be what people attribute the planar 'timbre' which gives a faster, less impactful sound across the board. The fast and diffused sound of the hook-X may contribute to the impression of an expansive soundstage. as with my comments with the M9, some tracks lend themselves to sounding better on the hook-X while others the ie600 where both have a flavour of fun V-shaped. I also mention that it depends on a track and not genre, because I find that even tracks within the same genre can be mastered differently and benefit from the strengths and weaknesses of an IEM to meet my preferences. The Hook-X lends itself to lower listening volumes indoors with worse isolation while the added punch and isolation of the ie600 makes it better for on the move.
I will also add that to me, the hook-X stands above my other planars in terms of resolving ability and overall technical performance, putting it alongside the ie600.

Compared to IE200
I hadn't had that much time with the ie200 before getting the ie600 and on first listen, I could hear the differences but wondered if it was worth the extra investment. After a few weeks familiarising myself with the 600 and 200, the differences become more apparent, the 600 has a similar sound signature but with more decisiveness and engagement with a deeper rumble and sparkle which brings a uniqueness/wow factor. Yes, you get a great sound out of the ie200 and punches above its price point, but its harder swapping back to the 200 after using the 600. Is it worth the price jump? im not sure because I didnt pay full retail price, but the 600 just sounds like a higher end version of the 200, how much you are willing to pay for that is up to you. I have the ie200 set up for the gym (these don't move, even hitting a boxing bag) and use with the fiio ka1 to have mic-compatible earbuds for work phone calls.

Summary
paired with my favourite cable, Tripowin Mirage, the ie600 is a great package that keeps my head head bopping sits alongside my M9 as my main IEMs. The Hook X comes in next with a sound that competes but loses out on practicality with the fit and offers a different flavour of V shaped to the ie600.

The problem with the rest of my collection is that while they may do something well, they are made redundant by not being well rounded in the technical department or have enough special sauce in their niche to make me pick them up anymore.

 

[brazy001]

some snaps to accompany my above ramblings

 

[Waddiewadkins]

For the end of year maybe we should do a ie600 photo posting from anyone who's knocking about. Just post a photo of your set up? As inspired by recent posts

 

[Waddiewadkins]

Biggest foam, 10 buck ali cable. (from the camera Samsung A13) Happy New Year

 

[BS5711]

 

[Steve_72]

^Beautiful cable. Is it stiff or microphonic at all?

 

[BS5711]

^Beautiful cable. Is it stiff or microphonic at all?

Actually nice and supple and not at all microphonic.

 

[rlw6534]

Oh well, I just sent mine back for RMA. The left earpiece dropped out for me a week or so ago, cable and eartip changes didn't fix it. Oddly it started working again the next day but now I have channel imbalance with the left significantly louder than the right. Seems odd, but it is what it is.

Mine were from the first preorder batch, direct from Sennheiser.

 

[navii]

Once the earphones start intermittently cutting out, it's a sign of impending death. I really hate MMCX. Supposed to be an easy way to change cables incase they die, but more often than not it's the expensive earphone that is killed by the MMCX connector. Urgh!

 

[BS5711]

Once the earphones start intermittently cutting out, it's a sign of impending death. I really hate MMCX. Supposed to be an easy way to change cables incase they die, but more often than not it's the expensive earphone that is killed by the MMCX connector. Urgh!

Or it's a sign that there is an unfortunate tolerance incompatibility between the IEM part of the MMCX and the cable part.

I had an IEM that would give problems with two cables but was perfect with every other cable that I had.

I eventually tracked the problem down to the gap on the internal central split connector on the IEM being a tiny touch wider than ideal which meant that the two cables were not making good contact while others would. I took a tiny screwdriver and give the split pin on the IEM part a push from both sides to close the gap a tiny touch and after that any cable would work. While I was at it I also spread the little collar on the cable end to tighten the connection so they didn't turn so freely. Problem solved in 5 minutes.

I think if you don't attached and detach the cables frequently the MMCX are fine. Frequent plugging and unplugging is going to cause problems, at the end of the day it is a tiny connector that needs tight tolerances to work properly and can't be bulletproof.

Even two pins can give issues, I have had one that needed the cable pins deforming to make them fatter to take up space in the fatter than normal pin holes in the IEM which mean the IEM was loose on the pins and was at risk of falling off.