[mj021108]

Joined the community of IE-300 owners several weeks ago, after discovering that I misplaced my pair of IE80's and looking to purchase a replacement. I was aware that the IE80 was discontinued and replaced by the IE80s, but reading so many negative reviews, I was discouraged to go for it. Than I discovered the new crop of 100s, and the attractive discounted price of the IE-300 ($199 Amazon) made me to pull the trigger. I was pleasantly surprised, that Sennheiser finally got to their senses, and packaged this product with economy on mind, rather than over-engineering it. The earlier lineup of yhe IE8-IE80's carrying case was practically useless, making the process too complicated to put the earpieces back into the case, that's why I found it empty a year or two later, when I craved the gear after a very long break from them.

I'm surprised about the high volume of negative remarks regarding the 300's cable, personally I find them very comfortable and high quality, though I don't move around too much while listening music. The factory installed gels also work perfectly for me, I'm floored by the effectiveness of their ambient sound isolation, and opened the paper bag with the tip assortment just to see the content of it. These are so far the best in that regard I ever owned, as well as comfort. Kudos to the design team for nailing the ergonomics of the ear places to this level of perfection, I'm amazed.

Regarding sound performance, to my surprise they perform exactly as I expected of them. Coming from the Logitech UE900s, my most favorite gear of all time, I knew this gear would not be able to match their resolution, but fortunately they not that far behind. While surely resolution will not win accolades for Sennheiser, I don't think it would be realistic to expect more in this price range. The purpose behind this acquisition was to have a pair of wired IEMs for everyday casual use, and they fit the bill. Wish at least the bass resolution would be a tad-bit higher, but I'm glad to hear the drowning mid-bass hump of the IE80's gone. I have not owned a single pair of IEMs ever, that would match the mouth watering fast, deep and detailed bass of the UE900s, not even the Westone 40SE. That said, I'm still very happy with the purchase, and I hope it's sound performance will improve with more burn-in. So far I have less than 24 hours on them. Since I listen exclusively Sounds From The Ground like trippy electronic music, the recessed mid-range is a boon to me.

As I was reading through all the comments, I noticed many of you also owners of the IE-100 Pro. I picked up a pair a long time ago for monitoring sound recording, I never ever attempted to use them for music listening, I did not expect they would be suitable for that purpose. You folks got me curious now to try them, once I'll find the time, after finish burning these in, or get bored with them....

Yeah, that is a good point regarding to the carrying case of IE80s, I really doubt if the designer want anyone to use it when I saw that case.

 

[Sulbh]

I am pretty sure they are fake but I saw these headphones selling on Aliexpress for $50? Can someone confirm this?

 

[rlw6534]

I am pretty sure they are fake but I saw these headphones selling on Aliexpress for $50? Can someone confirm this?

Yes, there are absolutely fake IE300, IE600 and IE900s being sold on Aliexpress (and other places such as Ebay).

 

[ericpalonen]

@Sulbh Never, ever, ever, ever, ever buy anything branded "Sennheiser" from a non-authorized trusted retailer. I don't even recommend putting them in your ears to try and hear them. Of course, buying legit Sennheiser 2nd hand from a reputable Head-Fi'er is fine but even then I'd ask for a proof of purchase where possible.

 

[Ince]

The MMCX connection on the IE300 is really bad. Mine keeps going off and have to push it back in.

Anyone know if it's the cable or the iem"s themselves?

 

[MartyMcfly3004]

The MMCX connection on the IE300 is really bad. Mine keeps going off and have to push it back in.

Anyone know if it's the cable or the iem"s themselves?

I had a similar issue on my left channel within the first week of having them. I swapped the cable out and still had the same problem on the second cable so think it was the IEM for me.

 

[Ince]

I had a similar issue on my left channel within the first week of having them. I swapped the cable out and still had the same problem on the second cable so think it was the IEM for me.

I can't believe Sennheiser released such defective product. Read so many people complain about this issue.

That's not even the only problem, the connection is not very strong can easily be pulled apart without much force.

Their 2 pin connection was not perfect and had a lot of problems such as the pins breaking/bending on the cable but it had stronger hold and not many complaints regarding randomly sound going off.

 

[MartyMcfly3004]

I can't believe Sennheiser released such defective product. Read so many people complain about this issue.

That's not even the only problem, the connection is not very strong can easily be pulled apart without much force.

Their 2 pin connection was not perfect and had a lot of problems such as the pins breaking/bending on the cable but it had stronger hold and not many complaints regarding randomly sound going off.

From personal experience, I much prefer 2 pin. I've had two mmcx headphones break now.

 

[Liberte]

I had a similar issue on my left channel within the first week of having them. I swapped the cable out and still had the same problem on the second cable so think it was the IEM for me.

I had the same issue after 3 days of the IE300 recently, a lot of people saying the right side died as well. I really liked them as well, I can only use very lightweight IEMs due to the shape of my canal so quite limited on what fits, these seemed perfect.

 

[ericpalonen]

I had the same issue after 3 days of the IE300 recently, a lot of people saying the right side died as well. I really liked them as well, I can only use very lightweight IEMs due to the shape of my canal so quite limited on what fits, these seemed perfect.

Sorry to hear this...we certainly want you to be happy with them. The failure rate is overall quite low and you should take advantage of the the global 2 year warranty; it is a way for us to take care of our customers if this sort of thing happens. Did you contact service about warranty replacement?

 

[Liberte]

Sorry to hear this...we certainly want you to be happy with them. The failure rate is overall quite low and you should take advantage of the the global 2 year warranty; it is a way for us to take care of our customers if this sort of thing happens. Did you contact service about warranty replacement?

Well they were only 3 days old after buying them from a shop, so I'm able to return them for a refund. I'm still contemplating giving them another go from Sennheiser direct, or perhaps another IEXXX.

Thanks for the response.

 

[Ince]

My initial view of the IE300 were premature. I listen to Music mainly on my Phone (Poco F2 Pro) and use AOSP Roms. I recently changed Roms and the Sound Quality coming out of the IE300 is so much better. The highs are there and the mid bass is not as prominent.

I am really liking these now. I guess different Roms have different sound drivers or something.

 

[InvisibleInk]

My initial view of the IE300 were premature. I listen to Music mainly on my Phone (Poco F2 Pro) and use AOSP Roms. I recently changed Roms and the Sound Quality coming out of the IE300 is so much better. The highs are there and the mid bass is not as prominent.

I am really liking these now. I guess different Roms have different sound drivers or something.

Just wait until you get a good dongle DAC/Amp. Subscribe to the Deals Discussion thread and keep an eye out for something good.

 

[Ince]

Just wait until you get a good dongle DAC/Amp. Subscribe to the Deals Discussion thread and keep an eye out for something good.

The Poco F2 Pro has a very good DAC(Snapdragon 865), it's good enough to drive the IE300. Even when I increase Output Gain on Viper4android has no distortion or bass rolloff.

Example I used the Poco X3 NFC and its DAC is weak in Comparison. The lows aren't as powerful and has bass rolloff with distortion when increasing output gain.

I am currently happy with the output of the headphone jack on the Poco F2 Pro.

 

[barato]

Any IE 300 owners who've used ER2SE/XR, how do they compare, aside from frequency response?