[Dragonsan]

  lots of amps. 
 
triode amps were not for me. my ears perceived the differences more as distortion than as good sound. In the end, everything that was solid state was much more my cup of tea. i liked the most chord hugo, fiio e12, and matrix m-stage hpa-2.
 
basically i tried hd800 with fiio e12 , matrix m-stage hpa-2, woo audio wa7 fireflies, woo audio wa6 se, sennheiser hdvd800, chord hugo.
 
hd800 were amazing at soundstage, details, and everything. but ie800 had a sweeter thing in mids, that really touched my music where i wanted it to. it is hard to explain in words. signature dj and ie800 share the same signature basically, and i preffered both to the signature of hd800, but hd800 is a great headphone, that i would also enjoy, it is just that for my tastes the other two are better. also, it might be because of music used, which was metal, and electronica. for my ears, symphonic was also better, but i can see much more people loving hd800 much more with classical.
 
all of the stated headphones and amps were great, and owners should feel very happy with all of them! My pure subjective opinion returned different than most, but i am still considering hd800 a wonder of technology and engeneering, as well as all the amps and headphones i had tested!

 
Thanks for that thorough review. Each to his own.

 

[Spyro]

Well....yea....hard to compare best in the world headphones to IEM's.   Surely won't be the same and the portability surely costs a lot!  It's a bad comparision.
 
IE800 is sensational for portable audio.  The level of detail and size of soundstage is best in class for any IEM at any price.  I say.....what else do you want it to do??

 

[Dragonsan]

Well....yea....hard to compare best in the world headphones to IEM's.   Surely won't be the same and the portability surely costs a lot!  It's a bad comparision.

IE800 is sensational for portable audio.  The level of detail and size of soundstage is best in class for any IEM at any price.  I say.....what else do you want it to do??

Haha. A man can dream. Maybe one day a company will create an endgame IEM with some crazy design that allows for a soundstage that is as large as the HD800s and clarity rivaling the STAX SR-009.

 

[proedros]

dragonsan , you didn't try the K3003 , right ? that's just too bad , as many people say it outbests the ie800 and also reminds HD800 in an iem form
 
hoping someday you do , bro

 
cheers

 

[0rangutan]

  dragonsan , you didn't try the K3003 , right ? that's just too bad , as many people say it outbests the ie800 and also reminds HD800 in an iem form

 
This is definitely a personal preference thing.  The K3003 sounded great to me when I owned both models, but I chose to keep the IE800's as they have a nicer overall sound balance and made for the perfect combination of exciting but non-fatiguing listening.  The K3003s sounded awesome too, but for no more than 5 minutes at a time!

 

[joshnor713]

  Well....yea....hard to compare best in the world headphones to IEM's.   Surely won't be the same and the portability surely costs a lot!  It's a bad comparision.
 
IE800 is sensational for portable audio.  The level of detail and size of soundstage is best in class for any IEM at any price.  I say.....what else do you want it to do??

 
My problem with the ie800 is how small it is.  Sounds counter intuitive but hear me out.  They could've packed more engineering into it without affecting the physical experience.  Although the ie800 is fantastic IEM, it's not perfect.  It's a general consensus that the mid-bass and mid frequencies were compromised.  Not by a lot, but enough to notice.  Personally, I went with the se846 because after using both, I felt the ie800 lacked punch and fullness.  Hated having to choose though, because the ie800 was clearly better with clarity/detail.
 
I feel like when they started the ie800 project, the driver was to make it impossibly small.  I don't agree with this.  You should work from the sound end first and then shape the design.

 

[RapidPulse]

  Although the ie800 is fantastic IEM, it's not perfect.  It's a general consensus that the mid-bass and mid frequencies were compromised.  

??? Sorry, can't sign off on this.  I guess I am not part of the "general consensus".

 

[Dobrescu George]

me neither!
 
ie800 are absolutley perfect. a true nice sound. compared to ie80 they have less midbass, which is awesome!

 

[joshnor713]

  ??? Sorry, can't sign off on this.  I guess I am not part of the "general consensus".

 
 

  me neither!
 
ie800 are absolutley perfect. a true nice sound. compared to ie80 they have less midbass, which is awesome!

 
I'm glad for you guys then!  Not being sarcastic at all, and not knocking on anyone who thinks this.  This is all a subjective thing anyways!
 
I guess saying "compromised" was a little harsh.  It would've been better to say "recessed".  The mids are fantastic on the ie800, just a bit too recessed for my taste.  That's what I meant about lacking "punch".
 
To me, if you combined both the se846 and ie800 into one, that'd be the perfect IEM.  Just my opinion.

 

[Spyro]

   
 
 
I guess saying "compromised" was a little harsh.  It would've been better to say "recessed".  The mids are fantastic on the ie800, just a bit too recessed for my taste.
To me, if you combined both the se846 and ie800 into one, that'd be the perfect IEM.  Just my opinion.

 
 IE800 clearly has a mid bass "void" and I suspect this is intentional.  It's what makes the it sound so insanely detailed top to bottom.  While mid bass is great with vocals and creates a very pleasant "lushness" it also has a tendency to veil or cloud things up.  Total personal preference thing.

 

[joshnor713]

   
 IE800 clearly has a mid bass "void" and I suspect this is intentional.  It's what makes the it sound so insanely detailed top to bottom.  While mid bass is great with vocals and creates a very pleasant "lushness" it also has a tendency to veil or cloud things up.  Total personal preference thing.

 
Is this an IEM limitation?  It's hard forking out ~ $1k on something that's not perfect or close to it.  *Waiting for someone with mad engineering skills*

 

[Spyro]

No, it's a personal preference thing.  If you don't listen to a lot of vocal music it is probably not that big of a deal.  Not saying IE800 is lousy with vocals.  Just saying that a more present midrange is probably better for vocals.

 

[Kunlun]

Definitely personal preference, not a limitation. Boosted midbass or humped midranges are not objectively better. I like the cleaner, less thick sound of the ie800, it sounds more accurate to my ears. However, for short doses, a warm midrange can be nice, although with some presentations, I've found it fatiguing. It's all about how the earphone is tuned, what you listen to and how you listen.

 

[daseinpdx]

Yes, the ie800s have limitations, but so do other IEMs.   There will always be trade offs regardless.  It ultimately is about what your preferences are.   Some of the sound limitations for the 800s come from the fact that it uses a single dynamic driver.   You can get wider spectrum coverage from using multi-BA drivers, but those have their own limitations.  For instance, they can be out of phase and delays.   In addition, I find the 800s handle volume a lot better than most BA-type headphones.  Really, there are no "perfect" iems.  So, they could change the 800s to give us better coverage of the sound spectrum, but that too would likely mean other limitations.

 

[james444]

  Yes, the ie800s have limitations, but so do other IEMs.   There will always be trade offs regardless.  It ultimately is about what your preferences are.   Some of the sound limitations for the 800s come from the fact that it uses a single dynamic driver.   You can get wider spectrum coverage from using multi-BA drivers, but those have their own limitations.  For instance, they can be out of phase and delays.   In addition, I find the 800s handle volume a lot better than most BA-type headphones.  Really, there are no "perfect" iems.  So, they could change the 800s to give us better coverage of the sound spectrum, but that too would likely mean other limitations.

 
In fact the IE800 cover the audible spectrum extremely well, better than a lot of multi-BAs. Other than that, I concur that all IEMs have limitations, including the IE800.
 
To me, their most striking limitation is that their small drivers don't quite sound as effortless and authoritative as e.g. the EX1000's 16mm drivers. Has nothing to do with bass tuning btw, the EX1000 are actually less bassy than the IE800, but sound more effortless and authoritative in my book.