[petralian]

I made a thread before asking for a recommendation based on certain criteria I set, you can find this here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/613512/earphone-recommendation-wanted
 
After some comparing and reading I finally decided to buy the quite unknown IE60. I say unknown because they do not show up on any big IEM review topic on head-fi.org and as such I doubted a long time before finally making the step and ordering them.
 
My initial choice was the Audio Technica ATH-CKS90 but a friend of mine said they sound too soft and not “true” enough so he recommended the IE6. Sennheiser stopped producing the IE6 and as such I could only buy the IE60. I paid 1650 RMB (Chinese money) for them which equals to about 259 USD which is also the price advertised on the Sennheiser USA website.
 
<< June 11, 2012>>
 

 
I just received my IE60's this morning and here is a first review. Since they have not been "break-in" yet the below is based on headphones that played for 30 minutes
 
I first ran Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 and at the opening the trumpets already gave me goosebumps, when the piano started it sounded a bit more flat but that could be due to the fact they only play such short time span. Once the rest of the orchestra combined with the piano everything sounded as it should. The cellos are outright amazing to hear, the bass (and sound range in general) is so full and warm, I felt like sitting right in the middle of the orchestra.
 
I went out for lunch and some errands and left the headphones 3 hours on http://www.jlabaudio.com/burn.php ‘s audio burn in track... After coming home and playing Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 again, the trumpets sounded a bit deeper and the bass in general actually felt a bit smoother, the piano also became more alive. Hints of treble I did not notice before are there now and I can even more clearly distinguish the different instruments in the orchestra. Even so much I noticed the piano’s click as pianist’s foot moved from the pedal. The detail is outright astonishing and if a headphones only gets really good after 40-200 hours of playing I am sure the IE60 will keep on surprising me.
 
After this I felt it was time to step up the sound a bit and I went straight for the Skrillex – First of the year (Equinox). The bass just blew my mind, I never thought a bass could come from such small earpieces. Again the sound pulled wide open in my head and I got the goosebumps… Lol thinking about it now… getting goosebumps from Skrillex is outright funny. When the machine sounds came on at 53 sec it was outright insane, details I never ever heard in this song came out brilliantly and the stereo sweeps really blew my mind. Bass was punchy and full, the mids came out really well but did not overwhelm (or underwhelm) and treble was not affected at all, everything was hair sharp and felt really “right”. Using http://www.audiocheck.net/Audio/audiocheck.net_frequencychecklow.mp3 I can could hear the bass frequency come in the middle between 10 to 20 Hz.
 
I felt the quality improved since I listened about 3 hours ago when I just opened the box. Either that or my ears just got adjusted to the fine detail of the headphones.
 
<< June 13, 2012>>
 
I left the headphones on the JLAB Audio file for another 40 ish hours and I must say the sound matured slightly. The sound became a bit fuller, a bit “deeper” and mids came out a bit more. There still is a very excellent beautiful treble. Skrillex's sound spectrum improved further, bass went a bit deeper and fuller again, mids a bit more noticeable but definitely not overwhelming, treble still very sharp… really impressive. http://www.head-fi.org/t/592609/sennheiser-ie60-review reviewed the IE60's too and mentioned the guitar is really astonishing... I tried it with Coldplay - Us Against the World. I agree... guitar really comes out great! This is probably due to the wide sound spectrum and fine treble.
 
I wholeheartedly recommend this headphones to people who love a seriously bassy yet very detailed headphones with “full” soundspectrum experience. The ear pieces are also extremely comfortable, no pulls from the wire because they go up and around the ear before going down, there are no microphonics at all. I know they are not balanced drivers, but if they were I am sure the bass would not have been as good as it is now… as such I am an extremely satisfied customer.
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
If I compare the IE60 with the http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/multi-iem-review-242-iems-compared-vsonic-gr99-gr02-bass-edition-added-06-11-12 thread I’d say they are...
 
Details: Sennheiser IE60
Current Price: MSRP: $249.95
Specs: Driver: Dynamic | Imp: 16 Ωs | Sens: 115 dB | Freq: 10-18,000 Hz | Cable: 3.9’
Wear Style: Over-the-ear
 


Accessories (4/5) – Single flange (3 sizes), bi-flange (3 sizes), cleaning tool, over-the-ear cable guides, shirt clip, and storage case with integrated cable winder
Build Quality (5/5) – The housings are made of sturdy plastic and very ergonomic. The cord is light, strong, flexible but not detachable. The L-plug is silver plated which is means it is more durable.
 

 
Isolation (4.5/5) – I had to take out my headphones to hear what the person sitting next to me said. The isolation is top notch, the box advertises it blocks at least 20dB when inserted properly in your ears.
Microphonics (5/5) – Micorphonics are nonexistent.
Comfort (5/5) – The housings are very light and actually surprisingly small for a dynamic driver IEM. Over-the-ear clips helps those who have difficulties getting the wire to stay in place and the shirt clip does the same for unwanted cable pulling.
 
I have not much to compare with regarding sound so I cannot put an accurate number on that.

 

[Swimsonny]

Nice write up and i always wondered why not a lot of people have wrote up about them!
 
Just for the last bit but i do not like to question peoples opinion but do they really isolate that well. I say this because the IE8s did not and these are similar in design as well as being open and vented? Just out of curiosity. 
 
I would like to try these one day though!

 

[petralian]

They really do isolate that well, I feel they are not open at all. The 2 holes you see on each ear piece have some kind of fiber mesh in it. It is so fine that even with my bare eyes I am nearly unable to see if it actually has holes in it or not. The box also reads: Extremely attenuation of ambient noise.
 
Ok the best way to explain it... I had them out a moment ago and noticed the sound of the rather noisy cicadas right outside my window (a constant ~30 dB inside my room using Android Sound Meter). Now I put my headphones in (without music) and cannot hear any of that except for sharp (yet normal) noises like me ticking my metal pen against a glass or smashing down the space bar too hard.
 
I just put music on (rather loud) and asked my colleague sitting 3 ft away from me if he could hear my music and he said "barely".

 

[Swimsonny]

Haha alright that's nice! It's not shabby at all then is it.

Must say though every box says, awesome noise isolation ahah

 

[petralian]

Rofl completely agreed on that point, but Sennheiser would not put it as one of the four bullet point featuers on the back of the box if it was outright humhum ~ well as long as the cicadas stay out and I don't disturb people with leaky head-phone noise (glares @ colleague's stock Apple ear buds) I deem them noise isolating enough haha
 
The others are
- Dynamic speaker systems with powerful neodymium magnets deliver greater sound definition and enhanced bass
- Excellent attenuation of ambient noise
- Extremely durable housing and rugged cable
- Sleek ergonomic design of ear-canal phones and various types and sizes (S/M/L) of ear-fit rings allow for the best custom fit
 
(I got the feeling Sennheiser came to the 240 IEM review thread for inspiration on this...)

 

[Swimsonny]

Hmmm, they stuck the same line in the IE8s box I think and they didnt isolate nothing out. Sennheiser love adding a bit of crap on. There frequency ranges are awesomely over the top, so are Sonys.

I guess so, glad your happy with them!

 

[Tiax]

Actually they don't
I had these phones, and no matter what tips i used, isolation was considerably worse then with westones
I would say isolation is average, maybe 3 - 3.5 on ljokerl scale
 
 
Quote:

 
Just for the last bit but i do not like to question peoples opinion but do they really isolate that well. I say this because the IE8s did not and these are similar in design as well as being open and vented? Just out of curiosity. 

 

[petralian]

Hmm well I never tried the westones but they (IE60) isolate perfect for me... I guess we'll have to wait until they are officially reviewed by ljokerl in that case, my perfect is not someone else's perfect hah.
 
On a silly side note... the box as fancy as it is, took me about 1 minute of serious fiddling to put the headphones in it, I did not take them back out yet because I am getting seriously nervous from it... I don't think I'll be using the box unless I go on a long long trip where I need some serious headphone protection.

 

[Swimsonny]

I did doubt the isolation but didn't say nothing as felt like I would come across mean are like I was taking the piss.

However the isolation of some Etymotics will change your idea of perfect I sat on a lawn mower and could only feel it shaking not hear its huge roar!!!


As for the box which is the same as the IE8s, is fiddly but is worth using, for the time it takes it is worth it as a safety precaution.

 

[esuhgb]

Good review, but i am curious on your rating for isolation. I have the ie6's and their isolation is horrible for me. Had to use comply tips with them, but that ruined the sound, made them extermely veiled.

 

[kellj]

Isolation (4.5/5)
really interesting 
but with Ie80 
I would say (2/5)

 

[Swimsonny]

Quote:

Isolation (4.5/5)
really interesting 
but with Ie80 
I would say (2/5)

He has moved it down from 5/5.
 
To be honest you should do it in your own way that as if it was on jokers scale as to know his scale you have to compare to his references such as the Ety ER4 of isolation.
 
If they are the best isolating earphones that you have ever had in that case to you they are 5/5 and to me probably 2/5 (if the same as IE8s) and to joker something else again. He is reviewing them soon so you'll have to wait and see but theres no point changing in accordance to him. It is your review not his.

 

[petralian]

Quote:

He has moved it down from 5/5.
 
To be honest you should do it in your own way that as if it was on jokers scale as to know his scale you have to compare to his references such as the Ety ER4 of isolation.
 
If they are the best isolating earphones that you have ever had in that case to you they are 5/5 and to me probably 2/5 (if the same as IE8s) and to joker something else again. He is reviewing them soon so you'll have to wait and see but theres no point changing in accordance to him. It is your review not his.

 
My score are my own findings of the isolation compared to what I know and experience but I used Joker's way of listing it because his structure is very good. Joker has put about 230+ more headphones on his head compared to me so I am quite sure his reviews are less subjective compared to my review here ... but also please remind yourself that your ears are not my ears... what fits and seems perfect for me might not be what fits and is perfect for yourself. It is best to use a review as a guidance with derivations, not an absolute judgment of right or wrong.
 
I will not change it in accordance to someone else, I will however end up putting a link to Joker's topic and deleting my own scores... after he reviewed them. Let's see what he thinks of the isolation compared to all the other headphones he reviewed.

 

[sjondenon]

It looks like the ie60 has the same terrible storage box as the ie8. I would like to see them compared to the IE8/80.. Anyone who owns both?
 
Their build quality looks great. Are these by metal cornered 'things' on the backside of the buds vents or just decoration?

 

[petralian]

agreed on the storage box... it just lies around here... somewhere hmm...
and no I have no idea whether it is decoration or vent because
 
1. when I turn on some loud music and put my finger on the headphone front it doesn't leak any sound so I guess it is just decoration
2. when I put light on it I noticed some kind of fiber mesh about 2mm down the hole covering the entrance... So maybe a vent / filter after all?
3. when I put the headphones in my ears and cover the holes with my finger the bass reduces and is less "full"... it definitely influences the sound
 
One thing though... it does not appear to leak sound, confirmed by my colleague sitting 2m away from me.