Opinions on Sennheiser IE 7's?

[cordova]

Hi guys,

I'm looking at a set of IEMs to replace the stock IEMs on a Sony S639. I was originally looking in the £50-£75 range, and had been recommended the Sennheiser CX 95's (£50), Denon C551's (£70), and Etymotics ER-6i's (£70, hard to get). I've just seen that I can get Sennheiser's IE 7's at around half price - just over £100. Although that's more than I wanted to pay, I have been wondering if I should "just do it" and "splurge"? I've had a look, and I can't really find any reviews/opinions on these anywhere on the net - there's some comments in the Sennheiser IE8 Brief Opinions thread, although it's over 55 pages long, and a bit disjointed/hard to follow in places.

So, I was wondering if anyone here had the IE 7's, and had any opinions on them? I did look over the spec's quickly, and it looks like they're missing a little on the top end (19KHz)? I'm really after a set of decent, balanced IEM's (I don't like unrealistic, overly pronounced bass)...

I'd mainly be listening to - in no particular order - "classic rock" (e.g. Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Dire Straits), modern instrumental jazz (e.g. Chick Corea, Esbjorn Svensson Trio, Stanley Clarke), blues (e.g. Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton), instrumental blues/rock (e.g. Andy Timmons, Joe Satriani), and soft rock/pop (e.g. Sheryl Crow, Counting Crows).

Thanks in advance for any opinions.

P.S. Sorry for asking so many questions and not helping out others lately - I just don't know too much, so can't really help out answering.

 

[lordofbahamut]

hey,
I'm no audiophile here, in fact i'm a newbie but i'm pretty sure IE7 is what you are looking for. I upgraded it from sony ex90's modd which is a bassy earphone but IE7 really a step up from it. Everything I hear sound very balance, smooth. And from what i read from IE8 owner, the only different is the soundstage which is wider.

 

[cordova]

Thanks, that's encouraging.

 

[Motty]

You could try the Denon AH-C751 Silver at £79 from iheadphones :
Denon AH-C751 Silver | SALE Now On!

if you didn't wat to go to £100. They are nice headphones. I can't comment on the ie7's though.

 

[soozieq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cordova /img/forum/go_quote.gif So, I was wondering if anyone here had the IE 7's, and had any opinions on them? I can't really find any reviews/opinions on these

Hi, I don't know how you searched, but if you'd put Sennheiser IE7 into the search box, my initial review is right near the top of the page.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/s...-hours-377197/

 

[cordova]

Thanks, Motty - I'll have a look

Quote:

Originally Posted by soozieq /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi, I don't know how you searched, but if you'd put Sennheiser IE7 into the search box, my initial review is right near the top of the page.

Yeah, I saw that, and it looked encouraging. When I said "I can't really find any", what I meant was find many - I had your review and a couple of the posts in the IE 8 thread. I'm just nervous about this kind of thing and like to pick up 4 or 5 reviews.

 

[soozieq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cordova /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm just nervous about this kind of thing and like to pick up 4 or 5 reviews.

Ha ha. Me too! I always say I'll wait to read reviews before my next purchase, but I don't think it's ever happened

 

[Duffy1207]

The Denon 751's in that link above are a good buy, I just got some from ebay for £70 (not reccomended if you don't want trobule with warranty further down the line) and although they're initially dissapointing, from what I've seen on head-fi, 50 hours or so burn in should have them sounding great.

I can't help about the sennhiesers, although the 8's are meant to be very good, and I can't see the IE7's being terribly different.

 

[cordova]

Thanks for the input guys. I have ordered the IE7's, and will feedback when they arrive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by soozieq /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ha ha. Me too! I always say I'll wait to read reviews before my next purchase, but I don't think it's ever happened

LOL ... I'm trained into it because of my job - everything I request requires several reviews and a cost/benefit analysis (seeing as anything I requisition is almost always in the five-digits territory)...

 

[Usama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cordova /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for the input guys. I have ordered the IE7's, and will feedback when they arrive.

Any opinions or did you post in the huge IE8 thread?

 

[mark2410]

well i got my pair of ie7's yesterday and they rather remind me of the triple.fi 10 but with better mids. havent hod long enough to be doing any detailed comparisons but so far i rather like them.

if you have more detialed and specific questions about them just ask and ill do my best to answer them for you

 

[Usama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark2410 /img/forum/go_quote.gif well i got my pair of ie7's yesterday and they rather remind me of the triple.fi 10 but with better mids. havent hod long enough to be doing any detailed comparisons but so far i rather like them. if you have more detialed and specific questions about them just ask and ill do my best to answer them for you

I know the bass is there. How is the isolation of IE7, Compared to ER6i, if you have had experience with them previously? I know that the "Brief opinions - IE8" thread has many posts regarding this and I did read some of it. Where one poster discovered that wearing the IE8 upside down, finally made the advertised isolation happen. I know that the ER6 has -32DB isolation. The IE6/7 has -20DB, is there a way to qualitatively describe the -12DB difference between ER6i and IE6/7? Are they comfortable in the ear? I usually have most comfort with foam tips.

 

[mark2410]

well ive not used the er6, have used the er4 though, tbh the isolation in the ie7 is a bit pants, they are so shallow in the ear canal that they just dont block out much and when i went out with them this morning to the supermarket i could hear each and every car that went by. put it this way i can here the noise of the keys as i type this and music is playing granted its a rather quiet bit but im sure you get the idea.

if you are looking for a lot of isolation then these are not the ones you are looking for

 

[Usama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark2410 /img/forum/go_quote.gif well ive not used the er6, have used the er4 though, tbh the isolation in the ie7 is a bit pants, they are so shallow in the ear canal that they just dont block out much and when i went out with them this morning to the supermarket i could hear each and every car that went by. put it this way i can here the noise of the keys as i type this and music is playing granted its a rather quiet bit but im sure you get the idea. if you are looking for a lot of isolation then these are not the ones you are looking for

Thanks for the quick reply. I do want isolation. Although, I do not require as much as the Etymotics offer. The more and more research I do, I keep on going back to the cheaper models so that I am not taking risks for something I may not like. I am waiting for some Canadian store to put the Sennheiser CX(3-5)00 on sale so I can purchase it at a reasonable price. Although, I did find the Sennheiser IE6 for 140$ USD so I am thinking about those as well.

 

[mark2410]

well i know there is the travel version of the ie6, the CX6 that are ment to more isolation, those might be worth you looking into