[Ahmad313]

Still burning-in my IE80S but some initial impression can already come about.
I`ve changed the stock cable to Sqrmekoko`s replacement cable with mic from Amazon(and that of IE80 as well), and have been pairing it with Sony`s PHA-2A.


The overall tuning is V-shaped indeed, but what stand out most to me is an obvious bump in upper low end when compared to IE 80, even when both bass tuning ports have been set to medium level.
This bump make the whole music a little bit muddy and veil-like, and it can spoil the atmosphere of certain genres, classical music suffers most.
But the tuning can put some fun and excitement into especially pop music. And I love this. Art Angels by Grimes have really come to life with IE80s, it has a better presentation even than my se846


resolution:a little bit worse than my expectation, maybe im impressed by the resolution of se846 for too long time
sound stage:wide enough for me, everything sounds further than se846
tuning: much more fun, less neutral, sennheiser have done a good job by presenting a "smooth u-shaped" sound.

and the comply foam tips works great for me.

What is your burn-in method ,?

 

[ouyangx]

What is your burn-in method ,?

just playing my offline playlist over and over again

 

[mosi]

They do seem to get some praise now that more people received theirs and I guess rightly so. In the end I ended up returning mine because I didn't like the idea of a veil which is a more diplomatic way of putting it . Had some very friendly calls with Sennheiser last week. They asked me to send mine in so the service techs could check if they're within spec. They called me back a couple of days later saying the units themselves were fine and they were supposed to sound that way so we settled on a refund that they even promptly sent out a couple of hours later. Now that's top notch service there I'd say.

No hard feelings whatsoever about this trip into IE territory. It left me with some valuable experience. It also leaves me wondering if bassy has become the new flat over the last decade because they surpassed even my Beyers or Klipsch which both were considered pretty bassy back then. I'm currently searching for other options that are more like those two because that seems to be my comfort zone.

 

[egokun]

The overall tuning is V-shaped indeed, but what stand out most to me is an obvious bump in upper low end when compared to IE 80, even when both bass tuning ports have been set to medium level.
This bump make the whole music a little bit muddy and veil-like, and it can spoil the atmosphere of certain genres, classical music suffers most.
But the tuning can put some fun and excitement into especially pop music. And I love this. Art Angels by Grimes have really come to life with IE80s, it has a better presentation even than my se846


resolution:a little bit worse than my expectation, maybe im impressed by the resolution of se846 for too long time
sound stage:wide enough for me, everything sounds further than se846
tuning: much more fun, less neutral, sennheiser have done a good job by presenting a "smooth u-shaped" sound.

I like these impressions. This definitely fits in with the traditional sound signature of the IE8x line. The IE8 still has the most expansive soundstage I've ever heard from a IEM in its price range. And yes, "fun" and "not neutral" is much better to me than the sterile, unengaging neutrality the IEM market seems to be desperately striving for in recent times. Not every earphone needs to be a monitor, and fun can be achieved without bloated, muddy, exaggerated bass as I've found for example in V-Modas. The bass in the IE8 and IE80 is prominent, but not booming, very fun and precise.

I also find the "Sennheiser veil" to be much more of an issue in full-size earphones. The Momentum and the HD-5xx series definitely sound a bit off. The IE8 and IE80 instead, I've always found lush, full, engaging, fun.

I'll have to give the IE80S a try, even if I'm afraid that it may just be a more expensive, slightly refined IE8.

Did you have any trouble with the fit? Can you make a comparison in ergonomics with the IE8 or IE80?

 

[shonik]

Yeah I'd be interested in a comparison to the IE80, especially in terms of sound signature. Trying to decide if I should rebuy the IE80 or get the IE80 S, or go full custom...

 

[maniac2003]

Yeah I'd be interested in a comparison to the IE80, especially in terms of sound signature. Trying to decide if I should rebuy the IE80 or get the IE80 S, or go full custom...

If you liked the IE 80 you'll like the IE 80 S. It's just a tad better on every front. Bass is better tamed in the 80S, sound is more balanced. The, sometimes, boomy bass from the 80 is gone.

 

[Ahmad313]

If you liked the IE 80 you'll like the IE 80 S. It's just a tad better on every front. Bass is better tamed in the 80S, sound is more balanced. The, sometimes, boomy bass from the 80 is gone.

How about the mid range specially vocals , the vocals placed forward or recessed , is the IE80S is suitable for mids and vocals lovers ,???

 

[shonik]

Thanks, that's good to hear there is actually an improvement in the sound signature. I may actually go for the IE80 S over customs in that case, and just get custom sleeves, as I was a bit disappointed with the FIBAE2's I tried recently, mainly down to the lack of bass impact from BA's...

 

[maniac2003]

How about the mid range specially vocals , the vocals placed forward or recessed , is the IE80S is suitable for mids and vocals lovers ,???

For me it was slightly better (more forward) also because the bass is not as intrusive on the mids as it was on the 80. That tuning makes it more balanced accross the spectrum. To keep it short I would say that: the bass on the 80S is more controlled and has bleeds less or not at all into the midrange. Keep my short experience in mind.
This brings the mids more forward so vocals are a bit better in my opinion. Treble is still as good as on the IE80.
I listened for a couple hours over the course of several days. Today I returned them to the store. The are better than my IE 80 but not that much that it justifies the price (€350 here in The Netherlands) whereas I bought the IE 80 for about €265 back in 2012.
I love the more natural sound of a dynamic over a balanced armature but these can't keep up with my 64 Audio U8. Price wise maybe not a fair comparison but it's part of my gear.
My conclusion: great headphone but priced on the high side.

 

[dragonball]

Question to the owners - what is the approximate diameter of the stock cable? 3mm? 2mm?

 

[ouyangx]

I like these impressions. This definitely fits in with the traditional sound signature of the IE8x line. The IE8 still has the most expansive soundstage I've ever heard from a IEM in its price range. And yes, "fun" and "not neutral" is much better to me than the sterile, unengaging neutrality the IEM market seems to be desperately striving for in recent times. Not every earphone needs to be a monitor, and fun can be achieved without bloated, muddy, exaggerated bass as I've found for example in V-Modas. The bass in the IE8 and IE80 is prominent, but not booming, very fun and precise.

I also find the "Sennheiser veil" to be much more of an issue in full-size earphones. The Momentum and the HD-5xx series definitely sound a bit off. The IE8 and IE80 instead, I've always found lush, full, engaging, fun.

I'll have to give the IE80S a try, even if I'm afraid that it may just be a more expensive, slightly refined IE8.

Did you have any trouble with the fit? Can you make a comparison in ergonomics with the IE8 or IE80?

Nope,tried comply tips of medium and small size, both works nice for me. The size of earphone is much smaller than IE80, but both is acceptable. Actually I`ve never find anything problematic in ergonomics from IE80, for I didn`t use it for really long time.

But BTW I`m really annoyed by the ergonomics of IE800, but seems IE800S didnt try to fix that

 

[davidcotton]

How is the isolation on this model compared to the older ones?

 

[maniac2003]

How is the isolation on this model compared to the older ones?

The same as the IE 80. Due to the housing it can be better if you previously had some small fit issues, since the housing is more compact.

 

[ouyangx]

The bass has become more controlled and layered after about 100 hrs of burning, mid-bass wont be muddy and mixed with sub-bass, which is a change that I`m hoping for.

 

[Ahmad313]

The bass has become more controlled and layered after about 100 hrs of burning, mid-bass wont be muddy and mixed with sub-bass, which is a change that I`m hoping for.

The burn-in definitely work , i believe on it ,