[KaminKevCrew]

Hi there all,
I bought a pair of Sennheiser IE80s a couple of months ago. When I got them, they were awesome. Anyway, I need some advice. I recently started having issues where one side would be significantly quieter than the other. I thought that it would have to do with earwax building up on the mesh that is in place to protect the driver and cleaning it off worked initially, however, I recently had an issue where one side is so quiet that if I have both sides in at once, I can't even hear the right side of the IEMs. If I put one side in at a time, I can hear both sides, but one is significantly quieter than the other (to the point that I can barely hear the quiet side in a quiet room, with my phone being at full volume). Could it be that the cable has died? I generally take pretty good care of them, although I do simply toss them in my pocket when I'm not using them, since it's much faster than dealing with the stock case, which is a pain in the butt, but I digress. Does anyone know if it is likely that the cable has died? Or could it be that my earwax is clogging the mesh grill from the other side, preventing me from cleaning it? Or could it be something else entirely?
Thanks,
Kevin K
 
P.S.
If it is that the grill is clogged from the other side, does anyone know somebody (preferably in the Northwest United States) that does a cleaning service for something like this, or should I just send them back to Sennheiser to get them cleaned?

 

[kimvictor]

1. Try switching left and right side of the cable. You may be taking a wrong approach to begin with. It could be the cable that's broken.
2. Try turning both bass vent to lowest and see if that changes anything.
3. Wax build up to the point that you're describing is fairly uncommon.
 
I doubt it's the wax. If the cable isn't the issue, it might be the internal components failing. If so, I recommend sending them to Senn for a repair.

 

[KaminKevCrew]

Thanks for the advice! I will be sure to try that out tonight!
Kevin K

 

[KaminKevCrew]

Well, update time. I tried both drivers on the same side, and one of them is definitely defective, because one stays quiet no matter what I do. Guess I have to send it in to Sennheiser.
Kevin K

 

[kimvictor]

  Well, update time. I tried both drivers on the same side, and one of them is definitely defective, because one stays quiet no matter what I do. Guess I have to send it in to Sennheiser.
Kevin K

Yup. Probably a good idea to send it to senn.

 

[KaminKevCrew]

Sent in to Sennheiser today. Hopefully that will get them working good as new, or better. 
 
Thanks for the advice!
Kevin K

 

[147alltheway]

Hi there all,
I bought a pair of Sennheiser IE80s a couple of months ago. When I got them, they were awesome. Anyway, I need some advice. I recently started having issues where one side would be significantly quieter than the other. I thought that it would have to do with earwax building up on the mesh that is in place to protect the driver and cleaning it off worked initially, however, I recently had an issue where one side is so quiet that if I have both sides in at once, I can't even hear the right side of the IEMs. If I put one side in at a time, I can hear both sides, but one is significantly quieter than the other (to the point that I can barely hear the quiet side in a quiet room, with my phone being at full volume). Could it be that the cable has died? I generally take pretty good care of them, although I do simply toss them in my pocket when I'm not using them, since it's much faster than dealing with the stock case, which is a pain in the butt, but I digress. Does anyone know if it is likely that the cable has died? Or could it be that my earwax is clogging the mesh grill from the other side, preventing me from cleaning it? Or could it be something else entirely?
Thanks,
Kevin K

P.S.
If it is that the grill is clogged from the other side, does anyone know somebody (preferably in the Northwest United States) that does a cleaning service for something like this, or should I just send them back to Sennheiser to get them cleaned?

Hi. I'm new to this forum and had same issue with the ie80.
It turned out to be a damaged cable just above disconnection point of right module. After buying new cable it went back to normal.

 

[KaminKevCrew]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't think it could possibly be that. I tried both pods on both connectors, and each time, only one pod worked properly per side.
Thanks,
Kevin K

 

[frost1992]

Hi kev, 
 
I was wondering whether Senn solved the problem under warranty.  I have the same problem and am going to be sending them back to Senn.
 
Thanks,,
Elliot

 

[KaminKevCrew]

  Hi kev, 
 
I was wondering whether Senn solved the problem under warranty.  I have the same problem and am going to be sending them back to Senn.
 
Thanks,,
Elliot

Yeah, they definitely have soem great customer support. I bought them off amazon, and just sent them my proof of purchase, and the serial number. They sent me a UPS shipping label, and then I received them ~2-4 weeks later (I forget how long it was, I had other headphones, so I wasn't too worried) They didn't make any trouble, and it was all very simple and painless. No charges were made to me whatsoever. Definitely a 10/10 service!

 

[gilver]

Hey guys, have the same problem as describe by OP. have to give a slight push to the connector area of my left driver before sound comes back ( or goes away ).
 
have tried swapping the both the drivers, and it works perfectly fine. so is my left cable or connector of left driver faulty ?

 

[KaminKevCrew]

  Hey guys, have the same problem as describe by OP. have to give a slight push to the connector area of my left driver before sound comes back ( or goes away ).
 
have tried swapping the both the drivers, and it works perfectly fine. so is my left cable or connector of left driver faulty ?

Mine wouldn't produce sound at all in the first place (In one driver)
 
Is the left driver still the issue when you switch the cable around? If so, then it's the driver. If it becomes the right driver as you switch sides, then it's certainly the cable.
If it's the driver, send them in to Sennheiser, and they will take care of you. 
If it's the cable, you can send it to Sennheiser to get repaired, or you can buy a new cable/get one made. Or both. Both is good too. 

 

[gilver]

I swapped the cables around, it's working fine. swapped it back and still working fine.
 
I've posted in ie80 appreciation thread, and one guy told me that probably i'll need some contact cleaners. 
 
So in case you need it someday, e.g. Deoxit D100L-2C.
 
my ie80 are around 4 years old, same problem happened to my ie8 of 3-4 years old.

 

[MansomeHan]

I don't know if you resolved the problem, but I just experienced the exact same issue with an older pair of ie8's that I love, but hadn't listened to for a bit.  The right channel seemed very quiet and muffled sounding, and I was sure it was somehow due to a wax buildup on the screen causing it. I cleaned the screen using the end of a paperclip and then a push pin to lightly scrape away any build up and blowing it off...as I've done periodically since I've had them...but alas, to no avail. Then I tried an old dry toothbrush, and gently at first, with an angled rolling motion, brushed the screens off...then brushed them harder and faster. Not only did it fix the problem in the right one, but both sides sound better.  They sound better than I can remember for a good long time.  Hope that helps.

 

[Michael J.]

I don't know if you resolved the problem, but I just experienced the exact same issue with an older pair of ie8's that I love, but hadn't listened to for a bit. The right channel seemed very quiet and muffled sounding, and I was sure it was somehow due to a wax buildup on the screen causing it. I cleaned the screen using the end of a paperclip and then a push pin to lightly scrape away any build up and blowing it off...as I've done periodically since I've had them...but alas, to no avail. Then I tried an old dry toothbrush, and gently at first, with an angled rolling motion, brushed the screens off...then brushed them harder and faster. Not only did it fix the problem in the right one, but both sides sound better. They sound better than I can remember for a good long time. Hope that helps.

Outstanding! My left module had 50% volume. After the toothbrush cleaning (I tried swapping the leads to no avail and was about to look into trying to open them up) voila' back to full volume. I then brushed the right, why not.

This was amazingly useful. Thank you MansomeHan!