[rcmo]

With most of iem my preference goes to the plain or hybrid medium size silicone tips. With the IE8 however, I use the small ones that come with it. Any bigger tips seems to bump bass to much, cause a bit of reverberation and reduces soundstage. Moreover, with the small ones I hardly feel the iems in my ears.
 
rcmo 

 

[angusthewestie]

Hi,
 
First post to an excellent forum and thread! I've just got my IE8s and am over the moon with them already. The fit is good, better than expected given some of the reviews I've seen and given the fact that I have struggled with fit in earphones before. Despite having fairly small ears (I think), the largest silicon buds definitely give the best fit / seal. I'd like to get some more on standby, so was wondering if anyone could recommend where to get them in the UK. Alternatively, I've seen good reviews for the Monster Cable Starter Pack and wonder if this is the way to go - I'm happy to experiment here but would be grateful if someone could confirm that they fit the IE8s properly, as I have heard contradictory accounts about the ease of fit.
 
Just going through the burn in process for the first time with earphones - they sounded pretty good out of the box, but after 20 or so hours, yes, I too can hear the difference. I'm delighted with my choice, although I was a bit worried having paid such a lot - I am in no way disappointed though
 
Thanks in advance. ATW
 

 

[yehgermeister]

I recently lost my IE8s and am yearning for another pair. However, I am really low on funds. 
 
Does anyone know what's the cheapest place to get a pair? I saw them on Dakmart for a good price, but the site looks a bit sketchy.. Anyone have any experience ordering from them?
 
P.S. How much of a downgrade would it be for me to get a pair of IE7s? I hear they are almost like IE8s. 

 

[khalil]

My cable is busted, does anyone have any reccomendations ? I have seen the ones on ebay but have no idea.

 

[dfkt]

Get another original stock cable? That's why the IE8 have replaceable cables after all...

 

[khalil]

I have had 2 stock cables faulty since 2007, just wondering if the 3rd party ones might last a little longer.

 

[LugBug1]

I'm really enjoyng my IE8's again after a break of a year... In the mean time I've had both the Westone 2 and 3, I've now sold my W3's but kept the W2's.
 
They are just sooo musical. I also find them more balanced than most people, possibly because of my tip choice. I'm using the large Ultimate ears silicones and they really compliment the Senn's. The equivelant tips you get with the senns are a little too soft for my liking and they are very sensitive to body movement. I would recommend trying a set, you should be able to get them off amazon no probs. 
 
In comparison to the Westone 3's I find the Senn's to be much more "real", a little softer sounding, and the mids are more balanced in relation the the highs. The soundstage is pretty much the same and the bass is less in your face (always having the bass dial on zero). The Westone's have more detail in the middle and upper end but because of the big bass it sounds unatural. This where the overall sound of the Senn's wins, Yes they do have a big warm bottom end, but it doesn't sound unatural within the sound as a whole. 
 
The IE8' are classics, it has to be said!   
 
 
 
 

 

[jamsie555]

@lugbug1
 
 
i'm pretty sure that you sold your westone 3's to me on ebay about 10 days ago! (username: moza71)?
 
I prefer the sound of the Westone's to the IE8's and have since sold my IE8's to a friend (so that if i change my mind i can always get them back!) i found the bass just too much on the IE8's, and although the bass on the Westone 3's is reasonably heavy, i think they extend a little better into the highs than the IE8's, as the sound is not dominated as much by the bass. I have also managed to get my hands on a pair of triple fi 10's and they make a lovely change from the westone's/sennheiser's, as they have a much sweeter treble, and you can really hear those cymbals crash on rock songs, and although the bass may not be so heavy on the triple fi's, it most definately is still there. Still, for trance, or any other genre with a heavy beat to it, i will choose the Westone's over the Triple fi's. 

 

[Tolblo]

I struggle to see whats so great about these IE8's. My old Atrio M5's blew them away in the impact department. The IE8's sound balanced etc and I'm using TX500 tips, but honestly I am far from impressed given their massive hype. Maybe they'll grow on me.

 

[jleewach]

Quote:

I struggle to see whats so great about these IE8's. My old Atrio M5's blew them away in the impact department. The IE8's sound balanced etc and I'm using TX500 tips, but honestly I am far from impressed given their massive hype. Maybe they'll grow on me.

The Atrios definitely have a larger quantity of bass & sub-bass, but I would say the quality is only marginally better than the IE8's. Give some time to wean yourself off the massive bass of the Atrios, and you'll start to notice the strengths the IE8s have over them. That's what happened with me.
 

 

[LugBug1]

Quote:

@lugbug1
 
 
i'm pretty sure that you sold your westone 3's to me on ebay about 10 days ago! (username: moza71)?
 
I prefer the sound of the Westone's to the IE8's and have since sold my IE8's to a friend (so that if i change my mind i can always get them back!) i found the bass just too much on the IE8's, and although the bass on the Westone 3's is reasonably heavy, i think they extend a little better into the highs than the IE8's, as the sound is not dominated as much by the bass. I have also managed to get my hands on a pair of triple fi 10's and they make a lovely change from the westone's/sennheiser's, as they have a much sweeter treble, and you can really hear those cymbals crash on rock songs, and although the bass may not be so heavy on the triple fi's, it most definately is still there. Still, for trance, or any other genre with a heavy beat to it, i will choose the Westone's over the Triple fi's. 

Weh Hey!! yeah that is me, nice one pleased you're enjoying them. To be fair I loved W3's when I first got them and if I listened to more pop music I would have kept. The W2's I still have and they are more suited for my tastes with the more prominent mids and are great for classical. 
After I sold them, I hunted out my IE8's and gave them another go and was pleasantly surprised. I also remember doing a back to back with the W3's and I know what you mean with the better highs and I would say the W3' are more detailed and transparent. But the Senn's have a unique sound in my opinion and when you get used to it you can listen all day.. very musical and laid back.
 
Cheers!
 
 

 

[HawkinsT]

Oops, a month to reply... Sorry.
 
Anyway, I find the re0 soundstage smaller than the ie8's, but each instrument is more clearly defined with air between them, unlike the ie8's where the sounds from every instrument I feel wash over each other a bit. To give a quick overview of my impression of the re0:
 
When I listened to them for the first time the very first thing I thought was; "crap, that's sharp", though half a song in I had already adjusted - and then for the next few days every time I started listening to them it took a few seconds to adjust, though I quickly never felt that any more, even when switching directly from the ie8 to the re0.
 
In general I prefer the re0's sound wise to the ie8's, they really do have a lot of detail the ie8's lack, and the lack of bass some people complain about I don't notice in most circumstances. The bass sounds different, though in several songs I would actually called it more refined... it's not perfect though, for example I remember listening to 'rock it' by subsenix for the first time with the re0's, a very bass heavy track, and thinking the bass was sounding great until I switched mid-song to my ie8's and the instant improvement was night and day. I also find the re0's aren't always the best at sustain on low notes such as those from bass guitars, making the odd song sound completely different and I believe _less_ accurate than through the ie8's. The first time I noticed this was when listening to alice in chains unplugged album, I forget which song off hand, but I remember A-B'ing mid song - it really sounded like a different track through the two iem's.
 
Unfortunately since getting the re0's, while I love the sound, I haven't gotten too much use out of them for one simple reason; the microphonics are appalling. The re0's I also find draw a lot more attention to the music than the ie8's, which as I believe you said, maybe isn't always desired if you just want music in the background while concentrating on something else such as reading - with the ie8's the music just flows by in the background, with the re0's I can't help but pay attention to it - this is of course in no way a bad thing, if anything I would say it's a good thing, although for this very reason there are some situations I would rather listen to the ie8's.
 
Quote:

The lack of high resolution on the IE-8 you noticed is definitely not your imagination. I switched back to the TF-10 because of that, though I always miss the comfort of the IE-8 since they don't need the airtight seal as the TF to perform their best. How is the sound stage of the RE0?
 

 

 

[stacey]

 
Quote:

I struggle to see whats so great about these IE8's. My old Atrio M5's blew them away in the impact department. The IE8's sound balanced etc and I'm using TX500 tips, but honestly I am far from impressed given their massive hype. Maybe they'll grow on me.

You listened to them out of the box didn't you? A lot of us (Me included) were somewhat underwhelmed with the sound of the IEMs OOTB.  Give it some burn in time and your impressions will improve. That, and being so used to the bass response of your old headphones will have an effect on your perception of the sound. 

And anyone here with IE8i IEM's with the audio controls ? I want the mic/ audio controls to play nice with my Windows 7 laptop and Android phone, but no dice.  Any solutions to this problem?

 

[Technocrafts]

Awesome review man, thanks a lot.
 
Quote:

Oops, a month to reply... Sorry.
 
Anyway, I find the re0 soundstage smaller than the ie8's, but each instrument is more clearly defined with air between them, unlike the ie8's where the sounds from every instrument I feel wash over each other a bit. To give a quick overview of my impression of the re0:
 
When I listened to them for the first time the very first thing I thought was; "crap, that's sharp", though half a song in I had already adjusted - and then for the next few days every time I started listening to them it took a few seconds to adjust, though I quickly never felt that any more, even when switching directly from the ie8 to the re0.
 
In general I prefer the re0's sound wise to the ie8's, they really do have a lot of detail the ie8's lack, and the lack of bass some people complain about I don't notice in most circumstances. The bass sounds different, though in several songs I would actually called it more refined... it's not perfect though, for example I remember listening to 'rock it' by subsenix for the first time with the re0's, a very bass heavy track, and thinking the bass was sounding great until I switched mid-song to my ie8's and the instant improvement was night and day. I also find the re0's aren't always the best at sustain on low notes such as those from bass guitars, making the odd song sound completely different and I believe _less_ accurate than through the ie8's. The first time I noticed this was when listening to alice in chains unplugged album, I forget which song off hand, but I remember A-B'ing mid song - it really sounded like a different track through the two iem's.
 
Unfortunately since getting the re0's, while I love the sound, I haven't gotten too much use out of them for one simple reason; the microphonics are appalling. The re0's I also find draw a lot more attention to the music than the ie8's, which as I believe you said, maybe isn't always desired if you just want music in the background while concentrating on something else such as reading - with the ie8's the music just flows by in the background, with the re0's I can't help but pay attention to it - this is of course in no way a bad thing, if anything I would say it's a good thing, although for this very reason there are some situations I would rather listen to the ie8's.
 


 

 
 

 

[blackburner]

Quote:

You listened to them out of the box didn't you? A lot of us (Me included) were somewhat underwhelmed with the sound of the IEMs OOTB.  Give it some burn in time and your impressions will improve. That, and being so used to the bass response of your old headphones will have an effect on your perception of the sound. 

And anyone here with IE8i IEM's with the audio controls ? I want the mic/ audio controls to play nice with my Windows 7 laptop and Android phone, but no dice.  Any solutions to this problem?

The audio controls works only with Apple devices. And it triggers audio possessing using the built in headphone jack (macbooks at least). When I bought them I didn't understand the hype. Now I do