[cfc7]

Listening fatigue. :veryevil:


I listen to ie800 around 6 hours on an end - probably because my listening volume is  low with ie800 as I listen in silence conditions and it won't cause listening fatigue. 

I can totally understand other people getting it. About the sub bass, ie800 has as much as I can stomach. I prefer the sub bass and bass ratios to be a bit more sanely balanced - like ie800. 

IE800 has indeed more sub-bass but unfortunately, this doesn't help too much the overall sound which remains thin and without the weight I would have like.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Actually I find the IE80 lacking exactly in the sub-bass area and that was one of the main drawbacks for me, besides the bloated mid-bass, but that was fortunately fixed by the tape mod.

 
I'm not sure whether it has or not sub-bass
 
This always changed with tips and seal and due to the utterly huge bore, ie80 never did a clean fit for me. And I've been using it for years until giving it away. 

 

[maxh22]

Actually I find the IE80 lacking exactly in the sub-bass area and that was one of the main drawbacks for me, besides the bloated mid-bass, but that was fortunately fixed by the tape mod.

 
I have a question, what amp/dac are you using to drive the IE 80? When I first got them, I plugged them into my Galaxy s6 at the time and I was severley underwhelmed. Not only was there no bass or sub-bass but It just sounded boring. Bought a Schiit Fulla and could not believe the difference it made to the low end. Finally, I could feel the rumble and kick I was looking for...
 
Tried it with some other sources and the low end sounded different on each source.
 
And another question, are you sure your IE 80's are genuine? There are a lot of fakes out there, even if you bought it on Amazon.

 

[castleofargh]

protective caps on the source could very well roll off the subs a good deal with the IE80's impedance. otherwise I wouldn't expect much variations from what it is, which is not sub light.

 

[maxh22]

  protective caps on the source could very well roll off the subs a good deal with the IE80's impedance. otherwise I wouldn't expect much variations from what it is, which is not sub light.

 
Can you elaborate what "protective caps" are?

 

[castleofargh]

depending on design, the circuit might have some capacitors at the output as a preventive measure to bloc DC offset. having DC signal can be real bad for headphones and speakers, so it's not stupid to care for that.
the small problem is that cap+resistor can form a high pass filter(let high frequencies pass, filters the low frequencies). and the IEM plays the role of the resistor in this case. usually it's insignificant, but sometimes if the capacitors are of small value and the impedance of the IEM is real small like it is on the IE80, then the high pass can happen fairly high and become very audible. 
 
if you know the value of the caps, you can use something like this to estimate where the roll off will be applied with a given IEM:
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-RCpad.htm
 
 
but I'm not trying to create a panic, I'm only suggesting one possibility. there are plenty of designs that considered IEMs so the roll off is insignificant, and there are also plenty of designs that simply don't need capacitors at the output.

 

[Dobrescu George]

  depending on design, the circuit might have some capacitors at the output as a preventive measure to bloc DC offset. having DC signal can be real bad for headphones and speakers, so it's not stupid to care for that.
the small problem is that cap+resistor can form a high pass filter(let high frequencies pass, filters the low frequencies). and the IEM plays the role of the resistor in this case. usually it's insignificant, but sometimes if the capacitors are of small value and the impedance of the IEM is real small like it is on the IE80, then the high pass can happen fairly high and become very audible. 
 
if you know the value of the caps, you can use something like this to estimate where the roll off will be applied with a given IEM:
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-RCpad.htm
 
 
but I'm not trying to create a panic, I'm only suggesting one possibility. there are plenty of designs that considered IEMs so the roll off is insignificant, and there are also plenty of designs that simply don't need capacitors at the output.

 
You're not trying to create panic 

 
I got what you're saying actually 

 

[cfc7]

I have a question, what amp/dac are you using to drive the IE 80? When I first got them, I plugged them into my Galaxy s6 at the time and I was severley underwhelmed. Not only was there no bass or sub-bass but It just sounded boring. Bought a Schiit Fulla and could not believe the difference it made to the low end. Finally, I could feel the rumble and kick I was looking for...

Tried it with some other sources and the low end sounded different on each source.

And another question, are you sure your IE 80's are genuine? There are a lot of fakes out there, even if you bought it on Amazon.

It depends on what the sub-bass means for you. If you look at the IE80 frequency response graph, you will see that there is a mid-bass hump around 100-200hz, while under 100hz, the slope suddenly decrease in the sub-bass area. If they would have been more focused on the sub-bass, somewhere between 30-60hz, then, in the tape mod you would have had the same clear midrange and no more bloated mid-bass but without the feeling that you are loosing the sub-bass.
That's what I was expecting from the IE800 but unfortunately was not the case.
Instead, Earsonics Velvet did it - heavy sound, deep bass with more texture than IE80 and amazing clarity, not overshadowed by the low frequencies.
Anyway, the IE80 respond very well to EQ.
At home, I'm using them with an 18 band EQ on my computer, adjusting for more sub-bass and less mid-bass and they sound really great, getting rid off the muddy sound and bloated bass.
Outside, I'm using them with a Sony A15 but unfortunately, it has only a 5 band EQ.
I'm sure they are genuine, I bought them from an authorized dealer.

 

[yangian]

   
I have a question, what amp/dac are you using to drive the IE 80? When I first got them, I plugged them into my Galaxy s6 at the time and I was severley underwhelmed. Not only was there no bass or sub-bass but It just sounded boring. Bought a Schiit Fulla and could not believe the difference it made to the low end. Finally, I could feel the rumble and kick I was looking for...
 
Tried it with some other sources and the low end sounded different on each source.
 
And another question, are you sure your IE 80's are genuine? There are a lot of fakes out there, even if you bought it on Amazon.

 
The IE80s are really special. It strongly depends on source. I had Modi which make IE80 sound sooooooooo euphonic!

 

[WaffleBoy]

Coming from Shure Se215. I was considering to buy these earphones as my daily once from Amazon for 250$. (I have iPhone 6s and I love BASS).
Would you recommend me to buy it? I don't know which one to choose: Shure SE435 or IE80.

 

[holden4th]

Coming from Shure Se215. I was considering to buy these earphones as my daily once from Amazon for 250$. (I have iPhone 6s and I love BASS).
Would you recommend me to buy it? I don't know which one to choose: Shure SE435 or IE80.

I'm assuming you meant the 425s. If you like bass then you will be happier with the ie80s. Bass is not a strong point for these Shures. There was a thread just last year titled Sennheiser IE80 vs Shure SE425 which backs this up.

 

[WaffleBoy]

I'm assuming you meant the 425s. If you like bass then you will be happier with the ie80s. Bass is not a strong point for these Shures. There was a thread just last year titled Sennheiser IE80 vs Shure SE425 which backs this up.

I'll look after that, thanks!
By the way, any other earphone you recommend? Or for the ultimate bass quality I should go with IE80?

 

[holden4th]

I'll look after that, thanks!
By the way, any other earphone you recommend? Or for the ultimate bass quality I should go with IE80?

The IE80s are very good. With a tape mod, and some decent amplification they have great bass and a very good soundstage for the price. What's more they are musical and involving. If I had to recommend something else based on my experience I'd say go for the Flare R2 series, the R2A bass is outstanding! However, they don't even appear to be available from Flare's website so maybe they've been discontinued. They cost me less than my IE80s and beat them in nearly every aspect.

 

[WaffleBoy]

The IE80s are very good. With a tape mod, and some decent amplification they have great bass and a very good soundstage for the price. What's more they are musical and involving. If I had to recommend something else based on my experience I'd say go for the Flare R2 series, the R2A bass is outstanding! However, they don't even appear to be available from Flare's website so maybe they've been discontinued. They cost me less than my IE80s and beat them in nearly every aspect.

Well, the Flare is not available any more sadly. By the way, I'll only use those with iPhone 6s.
So, should I buy these? I'm asking again because I've heard the sub bass is awful.

 

[maniac2003]

Also consider the Futuresonics G10. Those are real sub bass beasts. I agree the IE80 is very musical and has good bass but the G10 let's you really feel the bass. For me the G10 is a bit too much.