[lee730]

Good idea. Better wait to use your warranty .
 

 

[Lambduh]

With a good seal and bass turned to max on the knob as well as my preferred slightly bass optimized eq, listening to the post chorus of Muse's Hysteria I can't hear anything BUT bass. Turning the knob down to half way I can hear everything while keeping bass prominent. I can even hear the background high guitar on the last reprise (that guitar part has always been my measure for equality as it was layered in far too soft in the original release of absolution)

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[crazygonuts]

Just sent my IE8s to Sennheiser for repairs and got the IE80s back. A few brief things... I've noticed that using the IE8i cable caused a slight degrade in sound quality. Tested the headphones with Finally Free by Dream Theater.. for those unfamiliar with the song there's a brief section where you can hear a confrontation going on 'behind' the music where a woman screams and there are gunshots. With the IE8i cable it lacked some 'life'  (sorry I don't know the correct audio term) while with the stock cable I got the chills. On a side note, how significant a difference would I notice by using the silver plated cables? Also I don't really understand the difference between them
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dard-Lord-Telfon-upgrade-cable-for-Sennheiser-IE8-/251066160647?pt=UK_AudioVisualElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Headphones&hash=item3a74b59607#ht_3650wt_1159
other than this one costs $37 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Upgrade-Cable-for-SENNHEISER-IE8-Night-stalker-IE8-/110574283606?pt=US_Video_Cables_Adapters&hash=item19bebdab56#ht_4312wt_1159
This one costs $50
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Upgrade-cable-for-Sennheiser-IE8-Aphrodite-/220816930118?pt=US_Audio_Cables_Adapters&hash=item3369b6f546#ht_994wt_1392
And this one costs (!!!) $296

 

[lee730]

You are  better off getting the Silver Galaxy Cable. It is cheaper than the former option and is Silver cable (not silver plated). seller Zeroshoe on ebay sells them. You get more detail with the silver cable. The treble is improved, bass is slighly tightened and the mid-range comes more forward. The sound stage slightly increases.
 

 

[robertdarzi]

Hey guys,
 
Not too sure if this is the right thread, or if this question has been previously answered, given that it's already 170+ pages...
 
I have a pair of IE8s and I do like them for their soundstage and their natural timbre. However, they are not the last word in clarity.
 
For those who own or have tried the IE8s and IE80s, is the latter worth the $100-150 cost difference? And are the IE80s at least somewhat clearer?
 
Much appreciated.

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

Hey guys,
 
Not too sure if this is the right thread, or if this question has been previously answered, given that it's already 170+ pages...
 
I have a pair of IE8s and I do like them for their soundstage and their natural timbre. However, they are not the last word in clarity.
 
For those who own or have tried the IE8s and IE80s, is the latter worth the $100-150 cost difference? And are the IE80s at least somewhat clearer?
 
Much appreciated.

 
No. There is still a very tangible veil over the sound. Look into the Vsonic GR07

 

[robertdarzi]

Quote:

 
No. There is still a very tangible veil over the sound. Look into the Vsonic GR07

Oh dear. Thanks for the suggestion.

I do wish that other manufacturers (e.g. shire) would try to incorporate the senneheiser's soundstage with their quadrillion-driver-clarity... 

 That would be something. 
 
Anyhow, not sure if i should continue investing in headphone gear (and just speaker gear) given the current economical situation... Guess I'll just keep the IE8s for daily use and not much else!
 
Currently selling my Audio-Gd NFB-5 and Digital Interface if anyone's interested. Guess it's also due to my relocating overseas in a fortnight, but sometimes the pocket does get a bit too tight  

 

[james444]

Quote:

I do wish that other manufacturers (e.g. shire) would try to incorporate the senneheiser's soundstage with their quadrillion-driver-clarity... 

 That would be something. 

 
You're probably wishing for something that's impossible, because our audio perception relates clarity to closeness. Think of a live concert, in a large venue everything sounds more blended together and veiled than in a small room. I know some hear things differently, but imo you can't have everything at once and need to make concessions in (mids) clarity for the benefit of a spacious soundstage.

 

[lee730]

I think its still possible to have a large sound stage and excellent imaging/separation. I would think this would make it easier to decipher detail (at least for me) with more space between the instruments. I don't like narrow or closed off sound as it sounds congested to me. Also sound that gets too close gets irritating and fatiguing. Guess I get claustrophobic with my music lol (invasion of privacy)
 

 

[robertdarzi]

Haha, yes James. Glad you picked out the disappoint in that wish of mine. I don't see how it's something that can be achieved in the near future, but that's just my opinion. If I may, even the HD800 on end-game amps Burson/Beyer etc, didn't quite titillate my senses as much as equivalent priced speakers and stereo amps. Guess that's why I prefer speakers over headphones, no offense.
 
That said, being based in London, I do get a fair share of concerts both large and small. I agree that sometimes larger venues are much harder to accommodate acoustically. The Royal Albert is fairly large, but I couldn't hear Lang Lang except over horrid speakers. However, in a better tweaked hall, such as the Concert Hall of the Esplanade in Singapore (roughly the same length as the Albert), I have been able to project my voice from the stage to the rear with shocking clarity owing to the modern acoustics.
 
Sometimes I enjoy the intimacy of smaller venues, while sometimes the reverberation overwhelms. For ultimate intimacy I would still rather fifth or sixth rows from the front of a large stage. Acapella and chamber music has that air and separation to the music that a smaller venue simply can't provide.
 
A performing venue, even one between earbuds, is a system in flux - room acoustics, sound sources, number of music sources etc... I can't say if a mezzo-soprano with the Royal Opera will come across 'more realistically' and 'intimately' than a generic, smaller room, but hey, that's what the excitement is all about. All I can say, is that having the aforementioned mezzo-soprano reach out across a theatre is intimacy enough!
 
I hear way better into a recording of the same orchestra with decent speakers, much less uber high-end ones, than during one of their performances. Which is more realistic, I cannot say. But it's still music to be enjoyed anyhow  

 

[james444]

Great post, robertdarzi, and I agree that I was probably generalizing too much. Moreover, imo spatiality with IEMs (and headphones) is more complicated than with speakers, because there's forward projection and soundstage to make for a realistic presentation (that draws you into the music), whereas speakers obviously don't need forward projection. I've tried to illustrate this in my short SM3 review. To my ears (and spatial perception) the IE8/80 achieve probably the best forward projection among the IEMs I've heard.
 
When I got the IE80 and A/Bed them to the IE8, I noticed that their mids sounded clearer, but at the cost of some of the IE8's impressive expansiveness. That's when I realized that the IE8's "mids veil" was probably an essential ingredient to convey the illusion of distance. Of course there are much clearer IEMs with better separation than the Senns, that still render a generous soundstage and are able to put a lot of air in between instruments (FI-BA-SS come to mind, though they can't touch the IE8/80 in forward projection), but in general it's been my experience that you can't have everything at once.

 

[lee730]

If you could all these manufacturers would be out of business
 

 

[robertdarzi]

Great post, robertdarzi, and I agree that I was probably generalizing too much. Moreover, imo spatiality with IEMs (and headphones) is more complicated than with speakers, because there's forward projection and soundstage to make for a realistic presentation (that draws you into the music), whereas speakers obviously don't need forward projection. I've tried to illustrate this in my short SM3 review. To my ears (and spatial perception) the IE8/80 achieve probably the best forward projection among the IEMs I've heard.

When I got the IE80 and A/Bed them to the IE8, I noticed that their mids sounded clearer, but at the cost of some of the IE8's impressive expansiveness. That's when I realized that the IE8's "mids veil" was probably an essential ingredient to convey the illusion of distance. Of course there are much clearer IEMs with better separation than the Senns, that still render a generous soundstage and are able to put a lot of air in between instruments (FI-BA-SS come to mind, though they can't touch the IE8/80 in forward projection), but in general it's been my experience that you can't have everything at once.

Hey James, yes I concur with your assessment. It is indeed technically more challenging since the manufacturers have to somehow direct the sound waves away from transducers that are essentially perpendicular to one's ears. Not easy fitting everything in!

I agree with you about the soundstage advantage that the senns have. It really is the only pair of headphones, circumaural included that occasionally make me turn while listening to spatially-attuned tracks!

I'm not familiar with the tech in the IEs but coming from a speaker background, it is odd to veil the mids (vs recessing them while maintaining clarity) in order to fix the separation.

And don't we all want the entire cake to ourselves! :rolleyes:

 

[robertdarzi]

If you could all these manufacturers would be out of business

 

If I could I would strap speakers to my ears!

 

[lee730]

Don't forget the subwoofer... lol