[lee730]

If this is the case then Sennheiser should be ashamed of themselves for releasing the same old product without any improvements. They know for a fact the major issues with the IE8 (mid bass, veiled mids, bloated bass). And to take advantage of this with cosmedic changes... The fact that much cheaper products (GR07) can compete with the IE8 makes things worse.

 

[audiogamma]

Again, I asked my brother to talk to the tech mgr and he was told they are identical save for the face-plate. Flat-out, he stated that there should be no difference in sound save for "dynamic" burn-in or manufacturing variances which are negligible. No changes to driver or IEM build.

 

[lee730]

Quote:

Again, I asked my brother to talk to the tech mgr and he was told they are identical save for the face-plate. Flat-out, he stated that there should be no difference in sound save for "dynamic" burn-in or manufacturing variances which are negligible. No changes to driver or IEM build.

Thanks for pointing this out to me. I'll definitely be skipping the IE80s if that is the case. Maybe skipping Sennheiser all together due to this.

 

[DefQon]

Quote:

Thanks for pointing this out to me. I'll definitely be skipping the IE80s if that is the case. Maybe skipping Sennheiser all together due to this.

Time for some customs....lee.....you deserve a set for yourself 

 

[lee730]

Quote:

Time for some customs....lee.....you deserve a set for yourself 

Yep. Good thing my next project is getting my TF10s remolded .

 

[i2ehan]

Not my own, but in case anyone is interested...

 

[soullinker20]

^^  that is so tempting....   please stop me haha

 

[jrkong]

Quote:

The IE80 is a repackaged IE8, anyone selling these things as anything more than that is selling crazy.
 
The reps aren't ill informed about this, and the two sound the same side by side by my ears.
 
The reason Sennheiser is not mentioning any changes in the performance of this new issue of the IE8 is because there aren't any.
 
If you believe otherwise, you are choosing to believe that a well established and successful company like Sennheiser is just throwing out 
 
products and just forgetting to tell everyone they improved or changed the sound. Those silly absent minded marketing folks at Sennheiser,
 
and their ill informed sales reps, tsk tsk. These people didn't get to where they are by running a dysfunctional operation.
 
They didn't simply forget to mention that they re tuned the sound, because they didn't change the sound. For those that claim to hear a sound improvement,
 
it is all in your head.  If you currently own an IE8, and could care less about the cosmetic change, do not buy the new IE80, because it is the same IEM. 
 
This thread is proof positive, in the business of audio, people will hear things the way they want to hear them. If you believe they changed the sound of something,
 
well then by golly, they changed it, regardless of the reality of the situation. The mirage is real if you believe it, or not.

I wish I could say that you're right when you said "The reps aren't ill informed about this" but it's just not true. Not everyone working in Sennheiser is most informed, I remember talking to a Sennheiser rep (tech service manager) regarding the specs of the IE80's he said they had a attenuation of 20dB, if we all remember there was a little confusion with this a while back before it was fixed on the website and it is 26dB in reality. As a matter of fact I was the one who brought this up to Sennheiser and they then fixed it, now what I'm trying to get at is not all Sennheiser representatives know their headphones from the inside out and sometimes there is a break in communication, thus their main resource is usually what we can access and sometimes may also be assumptions as well.

 

[Billyjoegunrack]

Quote:

I wish I could say that you're right when you said "The reps aren't ill informed about this" but it's just not true. Not everyone working in Sennheiser is most informed, I remember talking to a Sennheiser rep (tech service manager) regarding the specs of the IE80's he said they had a attenuation of 20dB, if we all remember there was a little confusion with this a while back before it was fixed on the website and it is 26dB in reality. As a matter of fact I was the one who brought this up to Sennheiser and they then fixed it, now what I'm trying to get at is not all Sennheiser representatives know their headphones from the inside out and sometimes there is a break in communication, thus their main resource is usually what we can access and sometimes may also be assumptions as well.

When you find someone anywhere from Sennheiser that contradicts the notion that the IE80 is more than a repackaged IE8, let me know.
 
You will not find anyone, because the IE80 is a repackage with cosmetic ramifications only. Whether or not there are ill informed reps in a given company is not relevent, because these particular ones, that stated this was a repackage of the IE8 are dead on correct. Anyone advising people to purchase these based on the notion that these are anything more than a repackage of the same ole IE8 is steering folks into wasting their time and money. Not cool. 

 

[Vonx]

Quote:

Dudes, when I talked to Sennheiser I DID NOT talk to sales rep....I talked to a Technician on purpose. Obviously sales wonks are going to tell you that the latest greatest IE-(_) is "better". The point is the IE-80 parts are the same inside as the IE-8.
 
The outer case is cosmetically changed by adding the metallic plate which was not done to change the sound, only to discourage counterfeiting. 
 
 
 
 

Actually, they didn't, which is why I know for sure that there aren't (or aren't supposed to) be any sound signature changes.
 
If there was anything that was designed to be changed in the sound, sennheiser would have made a big marketing deal about it. 
 
And they definately wouldn't have used the word choice of a "cosmetic" upgrade
 

 

[lee730]

Quote:

Not my own, but in case anyone is interested...

Why'd you have to go an do that i2ehan . Now I'm a owner of these IE80s. I'll have to come to my own conclusion once I've received them (I've had 2 new pairs before this one).

 

[james444]

Quote:

The IE80 is a repackaged IE8, anyone selling these things as anything more than that is selling crazy.
 
The reps aren't ill informed about this, and the two sound the same side by side by my ears.

 
Well, like I said before, there are noticable differences in sound between my 2 year old IE8 and the new IE80 and you don't need super-ears to hear them. Assuming you're right, it's astonishing that my IE8 have been changing quite significantly, especially in bass. So, since yours sound exactly the same, I wonder how old your IE8 are and how many hours they've been used? And btw, are your cables exactly the same between the IE8 and IE80?

 

[lee730]

Quote:

 
Well, like I said before, there are noticable differences in sound between my 2 year old IE8 and the new IE80 and you don't need super-ears to hear them. Assuming you're right, it's astonishing that my IE8 have been changing quite significantly, especially in bass. So, since yours sound exactly the same, I wonder how old your IE8 are and how many hours they've been used? And btw, are your cables exactly the same between the IE8 and IE80?

I'll come to my own conclusion once I've received my pair and burn in. I figure I can always sell this pair off if its not what I wanted.
 

 

[i2ehan]

Quote:

Why'd you have to go an do that i2ehan . Now I'm a owner of these IE80s. I'll have to come to my own conclusion once I've received them (I've had 2 new pairs before this one).

 Not a bad price either. 

 

[stationwagon]

I have had both IE8, and IE80 for some reason they sound different, where as the IE80 sounding better, maybe the above poster feels they sound the same.. and is too farmiliar with the IE8s sound.. none the less if you open the IE8, and the IE80's you will notice a difference in drivers etc.. as proposed by a sennheiser german technician.. technically some people just dont know much about there product.. they are indeed replacing the IE8's