[Dobrescu George]

 
I would like a list as well.
 
I paid a great price for mine (from an authorized dealer) and I can't imagine getting better audio quality without paying double of what I paid. 
 
Sound is subjective however. I didn't like some sound signatures that I heard when people were raving about it. 

 

 
Ok, could you be so kind to do this for your top 5 priced lower than the IE800? Thanks.

 
Asking for a better SQ at a cheaper price is a tricky thing. 

I owned a few of the top IEMs now. Nothing comes close to ie800 in any way to those ears. Ie800 has a clarity and vividness to the whole sound that can't be reproduced by anything else I tested. 
 
Yes, many things will come close - but they aren't quite what ie800 is. 
 
 

 
i can name 20 iems better than IE800

 
With the same signature?... 

This exact precise signature with vivid everything, ultra separation between instruments and notes, the treble!!!!!!, the ultra deep and clear bass, but that's fast and precise, the sweet tonality of the mids? 
 
I mean, sure, I tested many IEMs that sounded good in their own way, but none was ie800.... 

   
Technically, it's superior. But it's sound is too artifical. Its sound is neither natural nor neutral. Not my taste.
Edit: IE80 is much natural than 800. It would be perfect if Sennheiser could make a product with 800's sound quality and 80's sound signature.

 
 
You would want ie80 signature with ie800?.... That doesn't really make much sense.... I have ie8 and while it was good in it's own way, I would never want that signature again, I much prefer the signature with nice and audible treble of the ie800, ie8 was way too smooth to ever be called enjoyable... 

 

[yangian]

  You would want ie80 signature with ie800?.... That doesn't really make much sense.... I have ie8 and while it was good in it's own way, I would never want that signature again, I much prefer the signature with nice and audible treble of the ie800, ie8 was way too smooth to ever be called enjoyable... 

 
I think the most weakness of 800 is treble. Seems like you like the digital sound! Yeah, 800 is your dish!
I never heard HD800. It's very obvious IE800's sound quality is better than HD600. Is IE800 simimar to HD800? If not, if HD800 is better, Senn. could make an in-ear HD800, as in-ear momentum. Or SQ of IE800 is even better than HD800?

 

[kuebler]

  I paid a great price for mine (from an authorized dealer) and I can't imagine getting better audio quality without paying double of what I paid. 

 
There's sure some sort of correlation between price and quality, however: In the context of psycho-acoustics price helps to not a little degree for subjectively finding the sound good...
 
If I'm allowed to do some allegory, despite posting in the country of PC-invention: how beautiful a woman is perceived, that may be correlated to her sponsors costs, which he proudly demonstrates to be able to afford...
 
Back to sound quality: some IE800 clones appear to be soundwise as good as the original, according to serious posters here, and only after comparing to something they really know to be the original, they feel to hear some light difference... 
 
Originally Posted by Rob80b 
Ok…went to my local authorized dealer (Bay Bloor Radio) ... and they happened to have a pair of IE800s to audition and so I was able to do a direct comparison.
...
Sound wise, I hate to say it, but they are very close, both sounded very good, excellent bass, sound-staging  but IMHO the real IE800s may have had the slight edge with a bit more treble and both could go very loud without distortion.
 
Sorry in the case I should have violated some rules. If so, that could only have been caused by my absolutely lousy english...    

 

[davescleveland]

I really love my dunu 2000j with comply

 

[Dobrescu George]

   
I think the most weakness of 800 is treble. Seems like you like the digital sound! Yeah, 800 is your dish!
I never heard HD800. It's very obvious IE800's sound quality is better than HD600. Is IE800 simimar to HD800? If not, if HD800 is better, Senn. could make an in-ear HD800, as in-ear momentum. Or SQ of IE800 is even better than HD800?

 
HD800S is the better one and it is technically better but sonically it's not. 
 
HD800S is very dry, it redeems the texture without a problem but it's not as fun. 
 
ie800 is really precise but has a sweet sound to it. Especially the mids are considerably better on ie800. It is colored - HD800S is not colored, but I find ie800 more enjoyable than HD800S because of this. 
 
Of course, some amps can remedy the problem for HD800S and it is extremely AMP picky. 
 
To be a little less vague, I prefer ie800 to hd800 and would hope for a full sized ie800. HD800 and HD800S are both open back headphones, so some of the really good separation and definition of the notes is lost in the air - which for some is natural and good - for me it sounds a little dispersed. 

HD800S is the best sennheiser has to offer at the moment, and the best amp I tried it with was Sennheiser's own AMP which I would recommend - but I really love ie800 more. 
 
Ie800 does not have too much treble, and it is not harsh. IT barely has enough treble.. The original HD800 had a bit too much treble, had a spike and sounded a bit harsh there... HD800S solved this. 
 
 

I really love my dunu 2000j with comply

I really want to try dunu 2000j 

 
Not a single one in Romania to test tho... 

 

[yangian]

   
There's sure some sort of correlation between price and quality, however: In the context of psycho-acoustics price helps to not a little degree for subjectively finding the sound good...
 
If I'm allowed to do some allegory, despite posting in the country of PC-invention: how beautiful a woman is perceived, that may be correlated to her sponsors costs, which he proudly demonstrates to be able to afford...
 
Back to sound quality: some IE800 clones appear to be soundwise as good as the original, according to serious posters here, and only after comparing to something they really know to be the original, they feel to hear some light difference... 
 
Originally Posted by Rob80b 
Ok…went to my local authorized dealer (Bay Bloor Radio) ... and they happened to have a pair of IE800s to audition and so I was able to do a direct comparison.
...
Sound wise, I hate to say it, but they are very close, both sounded very good, excellent bass, sound-staging  but IMHO the real IE800s may have had the slight edge with a bit more treble and both could go very loud without distortion.
 
Sorry in the case I should have violated some rules. If so, that could only have been caused by my absolutely lousy english...    

 
If the fake (not DIY?) has such a similar sound as genuine one, that should mean the maker got genuine drivers by some illegal ways. Otherwise, it's unthinkable why they didn't create a new brand.

 

[Rob80b]

   
There's sure some sort of correlation between price and quality, however:....................
Originally Posted by Rob80b 
Ok…went to my local authorized dealer (Bay Bloor Radio) ... and they happened to have a pair of IE800s to audition and so I was able to do a direct comparison.
...
Sound wise, I hate to say it, but they are very close, both sounded very good, excellent bass, sound-staging  but IMHO the real IE800s may have had the slight edge with a bit more treble and both could go very loud without distortion.
 
...................................

Wish I had my copies still on hand but passed them off to my brother on the east coast (he was quite impressed), it would be interesting to see if my original observations still hold or if long term listening has indeed shown the superiority of my real IE800s.
Needless to say it ie800s are IMHO such a satisfying listen, oddly though I prefer them more when I’m out and about.
As for the comparison with the HD800S, they are quite different…I actually find them much closer to the HD700s with regards to tone and sound staging if memory doesn’t fail me.

 

[Rob80b]

   
If the fake (not DIY?) has such a similar sound as genuine one, that should mean the maker got genuine drivers by some illegal ways. .............

That has been discussed...but we will probably never know.

 

[PeterPangea]

Can anyone comment on the quality of the fake/replacement ear tips for these on eBay? Need replacement eartips for my IE 800s (especially the standard mediums) but can't find any where to get them.
 
If not, what's a good place to buy the full set of authentic IE 800 ear tips?

 

[yangian]

   
HD800S is the better one and it is technically better but sonically it's not. 
 
HD800S is very dry, it redeems the texture without a problem but it's not as fun. 
 
ie800 is really precise but has a sweet sound to it. Especially the mids are considerably better on ie800. It is colored - HD800S is not colored, but I find ie800 more enjoyable than HD800S because of this. 
 
Of course, some amps can remedy the problem for HD800S and it is extremely AMP picky. 
 
To be a little less vague, I prefer ie800 to hd800 and would hope for a full sized ie800. HD800 and HD800S are both open back headphones, so some of the really good separation and definition of the notes is lost in the air - which for some is natural and good - for me it sounds a little dispersed. 

HD800S is the best sennheiser has to offer at the moment, and the best amp I tried it with was Sennheiser's own AMP which I would recommend - but I really love ie800 more. 
 
Ie800 does not have too much treble, and it is not harsh. IT barely has enough treble.. The original HD800 had a bit too much treble, had a spike and sounded a bit harsh there... HD800S solved this. 
 
 
I really want to try dunu 2000j 

 
Not a single one in Romania to test tho... 

 
I agree harsh may not be the best word to discribe 800's treble. But just feel something wrong.

 

[Rob80b]

  Can anyone comment on the quality of the fake/replacement ear tips for these on eBay? Need replacement eartips for my IE 800s (especially the standard mediums) but can't find any where to get them.
 
If not, what's a good place to buy the full set of authentic IE 800 ear tips?

Some will disagree but I find them ok, but there may be different manufacturers and quality....but get them direct from aliexpress, they're the same ones as on ebay but usually much cheaper.

 

[kuebler]

  Wish I had my copies still on hand but passed them off to my brother on the east coast (he was quite impressed), it would be interesting to see if my original observations still hold or if long term listening has indeed shown the superiority of my real IE800s.
 

 
While first I had been quite frustrated to inadvertently having paid for fake IE800s, after some time I realized, especially after reading Rob80b's carefully crafted observations, that on my side the feeling was more like a narcissistic wound (if I may say so).
 
Apparently the reason was not having the pride of owning the officially very best IEM of the world. And it was not because of hearing a lower sound quality.
 
Psycho-acoustics in an extended sense...   

 
If you need to do extended A/B testing for recognizing any slight difference to the original, than my conclusion is: simply don't do the extended A/B testing...
 
After I had realized this, I wanted to get more of this stuff with apparent extremely high price/performance, and after having searched carefully, I found the original vendor.
 
It appears to be a chinese earphone engineer with 10 years in the business, who simply reengineered these fakes as close as possible. Yes, he obviously had stolen the Sennheiser design, which is sort of a crime (but not in Chinese law). But I had purchased the "original" fake without knowing.
 
Meanwhile the vendor is no longer offering his clone with the Sennheiser logo, but neutral, and with some positive modifications, e.g. with a builtin microphone and iPhone remote control. The price is so ridiculously low, that I'll not post it. It's really unbelievable how they can do that... I have ordered 2 and will compare them to the "original" fake, which I still own.

 

[kuebler]

   
If the fake (not DIY?) has such a similar sound as genuine one, that should mean the maker got genuine drivers by some illegal ways. 

Technically your assumption is not true. The maker can simply reengineer everything, and while in a research sense there sure will be differences, they are sufficiently small to be not apparent even for a well trained person, as Rob80b's report showed.
 
 
Quote:

Otherwise, it's unthinkable why they didn't create a new brand.

 
Why should they do so? Advertising an "IE800" yields more customers and business than advertising an xyz4711... 

 

[les_garten]

   
There's sure some sort of correlation between price and quality, however: In the context of psycho-acoustics price helps to not a little degree for subjectively finding the sound good...
 
If I'm allowed to do some allegory, despite posting in the country of PC-invention: how beautiful a woman is perceived, that may be correlated to her sponsors costs, which he proudly demonstrates to be able to afford...
 
Back to sound quality: some IE800 clones appear to be soundwise as good as the original, according to serious posters here, and only after comparing to something they really know to be the original, they feel to hear some light difference... 
 
Originally Posted by Rob80b 
Ok…went to my local authorized dealer (Bay Bloor Radio) ... and they happened to have a pair of IE800s to audition and so I was able to do a direct comparison.
...
Sound wise, I hate to say it, but they are very close, both sounded very good, excellent bass, sound-staging  but IMHO the real IE800s may have had the slight edge with a bit more treble and both could go very loud without distortion.
 
Sorry in the case I should have violated some rules. If so, that could only have been caused by my absolutely lousy english...    

 
 
The clones are worth the $50 or so you pay for them.
 
They don't have that WOW you say when you hear the real IE800's.
 
Side by side, no comparison.

 

[Rob80b]

............. ...
 
If you need to do extended A/B testing for recognizing any slight difference to the original, than my conclusion is: simply don't do the extended A/B testing...
 
.............

Hi kuebler
 
I find extended listening reveals a lot more in terms of overall sound quality, little nuances, negative or positive, begin to emerge so that two items I originally found quite similar become quite dissimilar. With direct a/b comparisons the brain/ears play IMHO a lot of tricks, so much so that all the phones start to sound more or less the same, our brains indeed start to adjust exceedingly fast.
One thing I have found with headphones over the years is that one starts to prefer one over the other if you have multiple pairs, even though on their own they sound very good.... or…… one stops listening as frequently or as I’ve found with my ie800s I start finding excuses for long walks so I can bath in the sound/music. : )