[dan.gheorghe]

Quote:

 
Thanks for the review

My pleasure.
 
Guys, does anybody know a frequency response graph of Sennheiser IE80?
 
I found IE80 to be a bit annoying on the treble, but a friend of mine says they are more relaxed than IE800. Maybe I haven't matched the volume right when comparing.

 

[vrln]

You can find frequency response graphs on both here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/605438/sennheiser-ie800-iems/255#post_8695393
 
It confirms the boosted sub-bass and also the mid-bass hump plaguing the IE80 has been fixed. Highs are also less peaky, so it should be ok. I can´t test my IE8 right now as I have no cord for it (cat bit it in half), but from memory I would definitely say the IE8 is brighter than the IE800, more of a V-shape sound signature. No idea about IE80 though.
 
Mimouille: Depends a lot on the country... Here in Finland if I order from outside the EU, ordering the Heir 8 would actually cost pretty much exactly the same as the IE800 (usually 1-5% and an extra 24% VAT; and this is all calculated from the total cost, including shipping!). The end cost is within 100 euros (IE800 is 700 euros in the EU, so it´s not one of the usual dollar = euro ones) and if I ever have warranty problems with Heir Audio that would be a very expensive thing too. Sennheiser´s warranty support works great and at no cost to me. The VAT and customs are so high these days I am basically limited to products I can buy from Amazon.de or some other store within the EU. This cuts out Westone 4R (overpriced and warranty is difficult) and most customs. Now that EX1000 is almost nowhere to be found in the EU anymore (one online store in Finland sells it for 800 euros) the IE800 is pretty much the only easily available high end dynamic driver IEM.

 

[lee730]

Quote:

My pleasure.
 
Guys, does anybody know a frequency response graph of Sennheiser IE80?
 
I found IE80 to be a bit annoying on the treble, but a friend of mine says they are more relaxed than IE800. Maybe I haven't matched the volume right when comparing.

What exactly do you find annoying about its treble? The IE80s are generally very smooth and non-offensive in its treble.... If you tape mod them the treble will be more so aggressive and detailed. Same with the mids. They become mid centric. Consider trying out that mod. Just simply put a small piece of tape over the bass adjuster ports and walla .

 

[dan.gheorghe]

Thank you guys!

 

[dan.gheorghe]

Quote:

Thank you guys!

I am quite sensitive to treble. I can hear a phone charger and it drives me crazy. 
The treble on ie80 seemed screetchy to my ears, but the IE800 seemed ok, but maybe I didn't adjust the volume right on IE80, considering IE800 are a bit harder to drive.

 

[GLdgShDjKsHT]

You can find frequency response graphs on both here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/605438/sennheiser-ie800-iems/255#post_8695393

It confirms the boosted sub-bass and also the mid-bass hump plaguing the IE80 has been fixed. Highs are also less peaky, so it should be ok. I can´t test my IE8 right now as I have no cord for it (cat bit it in half), but from memory I would definitely say the IE8 is brighter than the IE800, more of a V-shape sound signature. No idea about IE80 though.

Mimouille: Depends a lot on the country... Here in Finland if I order from outside the EU, ordering the Heir 8 would actually cost pretty much exactly the same as the IE800 (usually 1-5% and an extra 24% VAT; and this is all calculated from the total cost, including shipping!). The end cost is within 100 euros (IE800 is 700 euros in the EU, so it´s not one of the usual dollar = euro ones) and if I ever have warranty problems with Heir Audio that would be a very expensive thing too. Sennheiser´s warranty support works great and at no cost to me. The VAT and customs are so high these days I am basically limited to products I can buy from Amazon.de or some other store within the EU. This cuts out Westone 4R (overpriced and warranty is difficult) and most customs. Now that EX1000 is almost nowhere to be found in the EU anymore (one online store in Finland sells it for 800 euros) the IE800 is pretty much the only easily available high end dynamic driver IEM.

thanks for the advice

@dangheorge, nice review, keep up the good work

also i think i am pretty set on these right now, thanks guys

 

[Dyaems]

i tried the ie800 few days ago in a sennheiser (marketing mumbo-jumbo) event here in our country
 
the seal is great that i got surprised when i plug it into my ears. i was expecting the right wont get a seal on first time i use the ie800, but its not! the midrange sounds great, very clean, even with that slight hump in the upper mids is still acceptable for me. treble is definitely non-fatiguing but still retains that clarity even with that nasty bass. cable noise is too much as well, no matter how i wear it.
 
id personally place this iem in the 250usd region, or less. i prefer my ex800st over the ie800. zero cable noise, more balanced sounding, unfatiguing treble, clean midrange, and it has great seal as well.

 

[muscular]

250usd is too low.
I have IE8 with the Twag v2 cables and ie800 is still the clear winner despite me paying as much as the IE800 with that expensive twag cable.
 
I feel it's not for everyone and sennheiser might have up the bass too much for people's liking.
 
But there's actually singers who uses the IE8 for their concert, perhaps the noise was so much they felt the bass was lacking, thus on the ie800, the bass could be pumped up to make for the lower frequency loss at a concert. 
 
Afterall it's quite a hefty price tagged IEM. They're probably looking at catering for singers who didn't like CIEMs.

 

[audionewbi]

I think IE800 was targeting the "audiophiles" than anyone else. 

 

[muscular]

Quote:

I think IE800 was targeting the "audiophiles" than anyone else. 

Yes they are.
 
When u come up with a product, u want to cater to as much groups of persons as u can.

 

[Mimouille]

I like them, but how do you target audiophiles with a strong bass boost, the largest in all the Iems I own?

I think IE800 was targeting the "audiophiles" than anyone else. 

 

[vrln]

Yeah the IE800 tuning is a pretty wild choice for an audiophile product, not the typical one and especially not something one would expect from Sennheiser. That said I don´t think they´ve had much of a "house sound" after the HD 800 was introduced. All in all, I don´t think strict neutrality was what Sennheiser was after here. I´d say It mimics a bass-proficient high end hi-fi speaker sound in a room that boosts the bass somewhat. It´s not the most genre-agnostic tuning, I´ll be the first to admit that.
 
PS: I take the iPod Nano comment 50% back. It sounds good out of it, but after I started using it with the Meier PCStep it´s a clear step above it. Above all the sound is less fatiguing, more liquid/sophisticated and the bass control seems subjectively improved. On some tracks the bass even sounds close to fairly neutral, but on others it´s clearly boosted. I´d imagine the Pico Slim has a similar sound signature as the PCStep. My guess is that the IE800 pairs well with analytic, accuracy oriented downstream components.

 

[devgru]

Can these be had for <$1k USD? I think I'm going to have to pull the trigger here.
 

 

[vrln]

This needs to be posted: http://rinchoi.blogspot.fi/2013/03/sennheiser-ie800.html
 
Highly recommended read. One of my favorite bloggers has measured the IE800 and finds it the perfect Tripple.fi 10 upgrade. Some marketing talk, but around half of the marketing talk ends up being legit. He mentions adding a piece of acoustic cloth to the filter to somehow to improve the frequency response? Could someone explain the mod in more detail? I also found it interesting to notice that the IE800 measures better with shallow insertion, something I´ve noticed today by chance. When I came home I switched the tips to the smaller ones which seal a little bit less and started pulling the IEM back a little bit after insertion and behold, it sounded better...

 

[Dyaems]

Quote:

Can these be had for <$1k USD? I think I'm going to have to pull the trigger here.
 

 
here in our country we can get it at around 800-900usd
 
edit: it was on sale last time, and its back to 1000usd now