based on the comments here I just bought the Sennheiser IE800s. I got them today, put on the 96K/24-bit Talking Heads "Take Me To The River" and....YUCK! They are extremely tinny and shrill, even ringy in the 3-8KHz range with zero bass. As a comparison I have a few other IEs and headphones: Stax 404s, Etymotic ER-4S, and an inexpensive but OK Audio-Technica ATH-ANC23s. Anyone familiar with this track, especially the HD remaster knows that Chris Franz's kick is full and awesomely mic'ed. It is reduced to just a little puff in the IE800s compared to the other IEs and Staxes. I am concerned that mine are either defective or bogus!
Anyone else have this experience? I'm about to return them...if I can. Any advice would be appreciated.
Where did you get them? "Shrill with zero bass" makes me think they are fake or damaged. It's not like you even need a good seal with these... Did you check your serial number?
Where did you get them? "Shrill with zero bass" makes me think they are fake or damaged. It's not like you even need a good seal with these... Did you check your serial number?
Thank you for the link! I just checked and they indeed look genuine, based on the holographic ID label, which may or may not have one very small difference. In the odd chance it is a faked hologram I also filled out the "Contact Sennheiser" form so I can verify.
I intentionally steered away from the really low-priced auctions: I am a firm believer that you almost always get what you pay for, but even then, sometimes not.
The box was shrink-wrapped and sealed with the wafer seals intact, all tape was untouched, so it definitely had never been opened to be damaged. It is either a REALLY good counterfeit item, or defect in manufacture of both L & R drivers. I'll let y'all know if and when I find out. I have 25 years experience in pro audio and I was absolutely shocked when I listened to these....my expectations were understandably high.
I have not read about any substantial break-in difference, have any of you?
That doesn't sound right.The ie800 have plenty of bass and i've read somewhere that they are like er-4s with a subwoofer built in.They do need about 100-150 hours burn in as it is a dynamic driver.First of all check the id on the right side of the box and go to the sennheiser site to verify authenticity.Then see if you have proper seal trying the different tips although they are designed for shallow fit.The only other option if they are indeed defective is contact the seller.
Well, good news: I figured out how to use the IE800s...I read a large portion of this thread and saw one person chose to get custom ear molds to get them to sit right, and decided to experiment as well...and I have never had an IE so sensitive to proper sealing before. I guess everyone's ear anatomy is different. I had to put on the large tips and screw the little suckers halfway into my head until the wires are rubbing my pinna...and voila! The attributes described by others magically appeared. The high end settled down, the low end came up, and I am now breaking them in and enjoying what I hear. I'm using used two sources to drive the IEMs for the comparison: A B&K discrete HP amp and the new Ayre Acoustics designed Pono Player: At this point here are my impressions of my available IEMs compared to my reference, the Stax:
IE800 : Bass is extended and phase accurate with harmonics, but slightly blobby if pushed hard. Midrange seamless and accurate, high end pretty much right on, with a bump around 10KHz. At low to medium volumes really great sounding overall. Perhaps the best single driver IEM I've heard.
Etymotic ER-4S w/ custom molds : Mercilessly accurate midrange, super low noise floor, thinner bass, sounds like a 1st order high pass corner at ~ 100Hz. High end flat and smooth, but perhaps not as extended as the IE800s, lower peak volume before onset of compression.
The IE800s with the Pono Player has to be the best sound I've heard from a portable system. The early A&Ks are great, but the Pono seems to have more dynamics without being exaggerated or tiresome. I'll have to get an A&K back and do an A/B comparison to be certain. I am amazed by this combination! Listening to Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, you can follow Jimmy Cobb's brush work on the track Blue in Green unbelievably clearly. Likewise the entrance of the drums in Metallica's Enter Sandman has more low end extension than that of the Stax even if it also blooms a bit. Amazing. Imaging is the one attribute clearly superior in the Stax, even if the IE800s are very good..
I will say that wearing the IE800 as I have to in order to get the sound right is not particularly comfortable long-term. Since the tips are proprietary, we don't have a lot of choices yet, right?
Thanks all for the suggestions, I'm glad to have figured out the problem!
I'm suspecting by "one person chose to get custom ear molds" you're talking about me . Anyway congratulations! It's best to use factory tips if you can (unless you got really wide ear canals) because any other custom tip would more or less affect IE800's sound signature, all in the negative way.
Thank you for the link! I just checked and they indeed look genuine, based on the holographic ID label, which may or may not have one very small difference. In the odd chance it is a faked hologram I also filled out the "Contact Sennheiser" form so I can verify.
I intentionally steered away from the really low-priced auctions: I am a firm believer that you almost always get what you pay for, but even then, sometimes not.
The box was shrink-wrapped and sealed with the wafer seals intact, all tape was untouched, so it definitely had never been opened to be damaged. It is either a REALLY good counterfeit item, or defect in manufacture of both L & R drivers. I'll let y'all know if and when I find out. I have 25 years experience in pro audio and I was absolutely shocked when I listened to these....my expectations were understandably high.
I have not read about any substantial break-in difference, have any of you?
I don't think the IE800s come in a shrink-wrapped box... there should be a few wafer-stickers holding the box closed, but I don't recall my box being shrink-wrapped at all.
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. Anyway congratulations! It's best to use factory tips if you can (unless you got really wide ear canals) because any other custom tip would more or less affect IE800's sound signature, all in the negative way.
