[Tail]

  i am very happy with the sound of ie8, only with double flange medium tips, but those provide such a sound...
 
i wanted to invest, a little more in that sound, because the only other two upgrades possible [alavaible] in here are either buying a fiio e12a, or buying ie800.

You don't need amp as well... IE8 are one of the most sensitive earphones there are and they are only 16 ohm... any phone would do them justice, and todays smartphones sound very good

 

[yangian]

  i am very happy with the sound of ie8, only with double flange medium tips, but those provide such a sound...
 
i wanted to invest, a little more in that sound, because the only other two upgrades possible [alavaible] in here are either buying a fiio e12a, or buying ie800.

I don't have 8. I do have 80 and 800. 800 is like a well taked photo and 80 is just like your hand quiver a little bit. Though 80 is very easy to drive, I do find an amplifier like topping NX1 can obviously improve it, at least on laptop.

 

[Dobrescu George]

i think i should give another in depth listen to the e12a to see how much it can improove sound with ie8..
 
anyways, greatest mids ever with my half tape mod... it is like the best guitars i had ever heared in my life...

 

[rumthin]

My stock cable needs replacing.  The silicone casing below the connector is starting to separate.  I was going to get stock cables from the sennheiser website, but if there's anything else out there that's better, I'd appreciate the recommendations.  My budget is around $100 usd.

 

[clee290]

  My stock cable needs replacing.  The silicone casing below the connector is starting to separate.  I was going to get stock cables from the sennheiser website, but if there's anything else out there that's better, I'd appreciate the recommendations.  My budget is around $100 usd.

Check out Lunashops, they have some IE80 cables there.

 

[yangian]

  i think i should give another in depth listen to the e12a to see how much it can improove sound with ie8..
 
anyways, greatest mids ever with my half tape mod... it is like the best guitars i had ever heared in my life...

With NX1, there is no much improvement but obvious over laptop if you listen carefully, make the whole picture more clear.

 

[Dobrescu George]

 
With NX1, there is no much improvement but obvious over laptop if you listen carefully, make the whole picture more clear.

i already use a fiio x5 as a DAC+AMP combo, and it is amazing, before it i had a cowon j3, which held no real resoults.
 
 
Also, for those who want more out of ie80 , you can always do this 
 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/760226/ie8-ie80-mod-for-better-sound-v2-half-tape-mod-photo-added

 

[james444]

  i already use a fiio x5 as a DAC+AMP combo, and it is amazing, before it i had a cowon j3, which held no real resoults.
 
 
Also, for those who want more out of ie80 , you can always do this 
 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/760226/ie8-ie80-mod-for-better-sound-v2-half-tape-mod-photo-added

 
Good modding, but I think the result should sound pretty much the same as using a single piece of tape and poking a hole with a needle.

 

[Dobrescu George]

   
Good modding, but I think the result should sound pretty much the same as using a single piece of tape and poking a hole with a needle.

not really. i tried doing it with a needle, the tape comes back to it';s original shape, the driver creates over-pressure. with my mod, the driver stays with low pressure, and sounds great.
 
i had this bad experience, without doing the half tape, with full tape, my inner ear would hurt because of pressure..

 

[james444]

  not really. i tried doing it with a needle, the tape comes back to it';s original shape,

 
Then you obviously didn't create a permanent hole.

 

[castleofargh]

except that with your way it's pretty much hopeless to get the exact same mechanical dampening on both sides because of how hard it would be to get the exact same opening twice. 
a needle leaves a little more hope on that matter. (and no hole can be nice too for those who like more rolled off subs).
 
personally I have given up entirely. I still need to EQ anyway to get the sound I like most, so I just do all the bass setting with the EQ instead.
anyway when I use the IE80, it's because "I'm all about that bass, bout that bass, no treble" else I use a more balanced IEM instead.

 

[Dobrescu George]

  except that with your way it's pretty much hopeless to get the exact same mechanical dampening on both sides because of how hard it would be to get the exact same opening twice. 
a needle leaves a little more hope on that matter. (and no hole can be nice too for those who like more rolled off subs).
 
personally I have given up entirely. I still need to EQ anyway to get the sound I like most, so I just do all the bass setting with the EQ instead.
anyway when I use the IE80, it's because "I'm all about that bass, bout that bass, no treble" else I use a more balanced IEM instead.

i really do consider ie8 to have treble, just not enough of it.
 
with my mod, the bass becomes more detailed, and the most of a difference is that the veil is gone.
 
i was unable to pusb a permanent holde on any ocasion.
 
i made my mod, based on the ideea that the hole should be as small as possible while still existing. it took off the veil, and kept the bass, added clarity, separation and some treble. 
 
sadly, ie8 needs more treble to be really enjoyable. If any other iem can have nice bass with more treble, and the soundstage of ie8, i am really interested... if anything would come to mind, you know, like how ie800 sounds like... *obvious joke*
 
but besides ie800 and ie8, i am still to fiind a full headphone that would come close as far as SQ goes. i tried most ideeas. the closest thing would be ultrasone signature dj, which still has some dis-advantage, the tonality would need more meat, the general tonality is too bright as one would say, but liveable with...

 

[ProbablyProdigy]

     I just received my IE80's yesterday. I have put probably a good 5 hours into them already and so far I am happy however I sold my Urbanites and Momentums to get these. I have been wanting an IEM for a while and besides my 598's for home use, over ears have been getting annoying to carry around as I am a student. My first impressions were good although I am certainly not the only person to believe that the "bass adjustment" does very little to change the sound. I saw multiple EQ graphs of these and the only thing i can tell is that the adjustment only makes a slight change in the sub-bass aspect.
 
  
 
 
     They play very nicely on my Fiio E10 DAC/AMP. But when I have the +3dB bass boost on, the sub-bass sounds similar to a long, progressed fart. Anyone else experience this? Also, when listening to music from my Note 3 or S5, I get some sibilance at higher volumes and sibilance is my worst enemy. I know they are still new and forums say they need about 40 hours to really come out and shine but right now, i very much regret selling my Sennheiser Momentums. After watching reviews on YouTube, especially LinusTechTips' review, I cant help but slightly regret my decision. In Linus' review, he mentioned "jawshaking" bass and i have not once experienced that. I am most certainly going to put 40 hours through them within the next couple weeks, but if they sound no better, I will probably sell them and look for a different IEM. I love Sennheiser as you can tell, but for the extremely high price of these, i am not astounded by the sound quality... yet. 

 

[theintrospect]

     I just received my IE80's yesterday. I have put probably a good 5 hours into them already and so far I am happy however I sold my Urbanites and Momentums to get these. I have been wanting an IEM for a while and besides my 598's for home use, over ears have been getting annoying to carry around as I am a student. My first impressions were good although I am certainly not the only person to believe that the "bass adjustment" does very little to change the sound. I saw multiple EQ graphs of these and the only thing i can tell is that the adjustment only makes a slight change in the sub-bass aspect.


  



     They play very nicely on my Fiio E10 DAC/AMP. But when I have the +3dB bass boost on, the sub-bass sounds similar to a long, progressed fart. Anyone else experience this? Also, when listening to music from my Note 3 or S5, I get some sibilance at higher volumes and sibilance is my worst enemy. I know they are still new and forums say they need about 40 hours to really come out and shine but right now, i very much regret selling my Sennheiser Momentums. After watching reviews on YouTube, especially LinusTechTips' review, I cant help but slightly regret my decision. In Linus' review, he mentioned "jawshaking" bass and i have not once experienced that. I am most certainly going to put 40 hours through them within the next couple weeks, but if they sound no better, I will probably sell them and look for a different IEM. I love Sennheiser as you can tell, but for the extremely high price of these, i am not astounded by the sound quality... yet. 

Well if you have an iOS device, I will reiterate what another guy on this thread said, and it worked like magic for me:
Install Accudio app, and from within download the Sennheiser 558 reference. Adjust both the bass and subbass sliders to anywhere between 0-4, and the treble 0-2, and the vocals to 4. There's a free version of Accudio that allows you to install only one reference headphone.

Make sure that you do the simple clear scotch tape mod before listening.

Enjoy !

 

[Dobrescu George]

       I just received my IE80's yesterday. I have put probably a good 5 hours into them already and so far I am happy however I sold my Urbanites and Momentums to get these. I have been wanting an IEM for a while and besides my 598's for home use, over ears have been getting annoying to carry around as I am a student. My first impressions were good although I am certainly not the only person to believe that the "bass adjustment" does very little to change the sound. I saw multiple EQ graphs of these and the only thing i can tell is that the adjustment only makes a slight change in the sub-bass aspect.
 
  
 
 
     They play very nicely on my Fiio E10 DAC/AMP. But when I have the +3dB bass boost on, the sub-bass sounds similar to a long, progressed fart. Anyone else experience this? Also, when listening to music from my Note 3 or S5, I get some sibilance at higher volumes and sibilance is my worst enemy. I know they are still new and forums say they need about 40 hours to really come out and shine but right now, i very much regret selling my Sennheiser Momentums. After watching reviews on YouTube, especially LinusTechTips' review, I cant help but slightly regret my decision. In Linus' review, he mentioned "jawshaking" bass and i have not once experienced that. I am most certainly going to put 40 hours through them within the next couple weeks, but if they sound no better, I will probably sell them and look for a different IEM. I love Sennheiser as you can tell, but for the extremely high price of these, i am not astounded by the sound quality... yet. 

these have the best most visceral bass you are going to get. ever.
 
there are some mistakes in yourt audio chain that can make them sound bad.
 
i have had ie8 for 5 years now, and first 4 years i had them using with a cowon j3. they sounded meh, a little veiled and not worthy of their price point, i got no soundstage, no treble detail, no microdetails, the bass was meh, and everything in general was meg about them, and the price was huge.
 
for the last year i have been using ie8 with a fiio x5, and it made a world of a difference, it added soundstage, iunstruments began appearing out of nowhere, treble was clear, non sibilant [sometimes i need more treble, to be sincere], these iems are the second iems in the worls, the first being ie800.
 
to sound a little more coherent, as more people said this, ie8 are one of the most potent iems in the world, they change sound signature a lot with tips, and sources.
 
what i also did was stick my half tape mod, or stick a normal tape over the vents, and punch a hole in it, to not make the driver over-pressurezied. then, the mid-bass will be better, and sub bass will be.... visceral. classical music has never been so meaty as it is with ie8.
 
also, do a little eq-ing, do not use the bass sliders on fiio equipments, with ie8, but use an EQ app, and do this, raise 40-60hz area by +2db, lower the 100-150hz area by -2 and leave the rest as it is. it should sound... better.
 
 
 
one last piece of advice i can give you is to try all tips, and insist a little more with double flange medium or big, and do not try to insert deep. these tips really make ie8 shine.