[lightningfarron]

my jvc tips had just arrived, still didnt fit my ear nicely with ie80 but it fit perfectly after some mod. great tips

 

[ich1ban]

Just got my IE80 from amazon,
 
wow at how quick the delivery is, took only 4 days!
 
I remember trying to use it a while ago, but nothing seemed to offer shipping/postage to Australia, not sure if it was only the US Amazon that had those rules.
 
IE80s for $260 express posted vs $450 local price.
 
My initial impressions of the sennheiser ie80.
 
From the photos, it looked huge and uncomfortable, which was the main reason why I sold the GR07s - However these aren't flat and square, it sort of gradually goes smaller and is curved inwards towards the nozzle, far far more comfortable.
 
Furthermore, the cable reminds me of my CKM500s, same thick and solid feel without it constantly falling off my ears. I think I didn't need to avoid over-the-ear earphones for so long, it was only the GR07 cable that ruined the experience for me. Although I still feel that the GR07 cable is the best quality, just not for over-the-ear design, however it's probably too thick/heavy to wear straight down.
 
The sound is just the best sounding earphone I've ever heard - probably doesn't mean much as I haven't tried many, but it's definitely better than the EPH100s and GR07s which I thought were the best I've heard prior to this. It has that little bass thump that I loved on the EPH100s that were lacking in the GR07s. 
 
Playing it at max volume also fatigues my ears a bit like the CKM500s, but not as bad. Didn't have that problem with the EPH100s as they sounded very laid back and warm. 
 
If only I got this from the very beginning instead of going through 3 pairs of Yamaha EPH-100s which all broke. Should've stuck with Sennheiser since my PC300 IEMs, used them for ages and they never failed me other than getting extremely worn out. 
 
I feel that noise isolation could be better on these though, maybe I'll look into the JVC tips that others have mentioned in this thread, not sure where to buy from in Australia though. Also might try the different silver cables down the track - Have to stinge for a while as I'm getting my is250 in 2 months  

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

hey Matt, I know it might be apples to oranges, but i was wondering if u could elaborate on the difference in bass/subbass between ie80 and he-400. I mean texture, tightness, visceral impact, layering etc.?

 
That's really an interesting question. It might be a little unfair to compare them just now as I'm still struggling just a bit to get the best sound (meaning correct tips) for the ie80. But wth, I'll tell you what I hear so far. The short answer is that the ie80 has more sub bass than the he400. I never thought that I'd type that sentence. I mean, I just always thought that a full sized hp would naturally produce more bass than an iem...not true. Even on the lowest bass tuning setting, the ie80  produces more bass.
 
Now the he400 can go as low and produce audible bass just as well as the ie80, but the impact or slam goes to the ie80. The sub bass on the he400 does have nice texture to it, where the ie80 can sometimes be a little sloppy depending on the material. The he400 is also not prone to mid bass hump that the ie80 can produce. Please take this with a grain of salt. I have been listening to full sized hp's for many years and my he400 has been well burned it. I am brand new to iem's and they only have about 50 hours on them, but this is what I hear. Hope it helps....

 

[maniacal71]

Lee and that russian guy is right about the sticker tape mod, it now has almost linear sound, very impressed with this. In fact bass quality has improved, very textured now, soundstage somehow feels larger too.

 

[MKang25]

UGGGHH Im in such a bind... I listen to almost every genre of music maybe with the exception of hard rock/grunge/screamo.These IEMS are GREAT for everything EXCEP any type of rock music. I listen to rock music about 40% of the time so its a big deal. Theres something about rock songs where everything just sounds congested and muddy and I don't know why. I am coming from the W4, and I found those to be awesome but lacking in bass quality and quantity. 

 

[maniacal71]

Quote:

UGGGHH Im in such a bind... I listen to almost every genre of music maybe with the exception of hard rock/grunge/screamo.These IEMS are GREAT for everything EXCEP any type of rock music. I listen to rock music about 40% of the time so its a big deal. Theres something about rock songs where everything just sounds congested and muddy and I don't know why. I am coming from the W4, and I found those to be awesome but lacking in bass quality and quantity. 

Bass in quantity is already obtuse, try the tape mod and upgrade your source music. Try also a silver cable. btw which fullsize would you consider great for rock?

 

[MKang25]

Quote:

Bass in quantity is already obtuse, try the tape mod and upgrade your source music. Try also a silver cable. btw which fullsize would you consider great for rock?

I guess ill try the tape mod. I use 320 MP3s, so I doubt going up to lossless would do much. I've never used full size before. I need portability and it seems that any full size headphones that would compete with the high end IEMS are all OPEN which wouldn't work to well in public. 
 
Edit: But it happens with some of the alternative rock songs where there isn't that much bass. Some of my pop songs have more bass to them and they are clearer. 
 
In terms of cable are there any custom cables like the Westone cables? To date I found those the most light weight and microphonics free. I like to workout with my IEMs and with the IE80 cables whenever I run or move around to much the cables don't stay behind the ear which im guessing has to do with stiffness and weight. 

 

[maniacal71]

Yup, i think the tape mod would solve some issues, try that first before getting cables, so far am also using the galaxy, which i like what Matt says, it's springy. I use the slider to keep them in place, so not a problem for me. It depends really where those music was from before conversion to mp3 or Flac.

 

[MKang25]

Quote:

You i think the tape mod would solve some issues, try that first before getting cables, so far am also using the galaxy, which i like what Matt says, it's springy. I use the slider to keep them in place, so not a problem for me. It depends really where those music was from before conversion to mp3 or Flac.

 
What do you mean by where the music was before conversion. Wouldn't all conversions to 320 MP3's have to have been from a higher bit rate sample? I.E from a 450 -> 320, or lossless to lossless. 

 

[beaver316]

Quote:

UGGGHH Im in such a bind... I listen to almost every genre of music maybe with the exception of hard rock/grunge/screamo.These IEMS are GREAT for everything EXCEP any type of rock music. I listen to rock music about 40% of the time so its a big deal. Theres something about rock songs where everything just sounds congested and muddy and I don't know why. I am coming from the W4, and I found those to be awesome but lacking in bass quality and quantity. 

 
Well, i think this depends a lot on which rock music you're listening to. Almost all modern rock suffers from pretty bad compression and dynamic range limitations. Almost all rock suffers from pretty bad distortion as a result of brickwalling. This definitely results in the 'congested' feel to rock songs. I dont actually think the IE80s are to blame here.
 
I read a lot about this which got me asking... are there any well recorded and mastered rock songs from the last decade? Well i went and found myself a copy of Tool's Lateralus album which has a reputation of being one of the best recorded rock albums of recent times. And let me tell you, it sounds excellent on the IE80s. Every instrument is distinct and i totally don't get the congested feel. Take a look at this image, a song from Tool's album is on top, and one from Limp Bizkit's album Results May Vary (random rock song) on the bottom. Both flac files.
 
 

 
Limp Bizkit's song is so badly compressed that it's off the charts literally. There's so much clipping and dynamic range lost. Just by looking at that picture you can tell there's no instrument separation, just a wall of noise. And you can certainly hear it. Tool's song on the other hand never reaches the limit. If you look at the waveform there are actually spikes which indicate that there's no clipping, so drums have their full impact. 
 
Anyway what im trying to say is, most of your rock music is probably really badly compressed which may account for why you think it sounds bad on the IE80s. They are slightly revealing IEMs

 

[beaver316]

Quote:

 
What do you mean by where the music was before conversion. Wouldn't all conversions to 320 MP3's have to have been from a higher bit rate sample? I.E from a 450 -> 320, or lossless to lossless. 

 
Logically yes, but it's possible some not so clever person could convert a Youtube rip (128 kbps) to 320 kbps. All that does is increase the file size, and nothing to the audio.

 

[DMinor]

I have been listening to my music long enough that I can easily tell which are bad digital audios in a blind test. It doesn't matter if you tell me it's lossless but in fact it isn't. It can't cheat my gears and my ears.

 

[MKang25]

Quote:

 
Well, i think this depends a lot on which rock music you're listening to. Almost all modern rock suffers from pretty bad compression and dynamic range limitations. Almost all rock suffers from pretty bad distortion as a result of brickwalling. This definitely results in the 'congested' feel to rock songs. I dont actually think the IE80s are to blame here.
 
I read a lot about this which got me asking... are there any well recorded and mastered rock songs from the last decade? Well i went and found myself a copy of Tool's Lateralus album which has a reputation of being one of the best recorded rock albums of recent times. And let me tell you, it sounds excellent on the IE80s. Every instrument is distinct and i totally don't get the congested feel. Take a look at this image, a song from Tool's album is on top, and one from Limp Bizkit's album Results May Vary (random rock song) on the bottom. Both flac files.
 
 

 
Limp Bizkit's song is so badly compressed that it's off the charts literally. There's so much clipping and dynamic range lost. Just by looking at that picture you can tell there's no instrument separation, just a wall of noise. And you can certainly hear it. Tool's song on the other hand never reaches the limit. If you look at the waveform there are actually spikes which indicate that there's no clipping, so drums have their full impact. 
 
Anyway what im trying to say is, most of your rock music is probably really badly compressed which may account for why you think it sounds bad on the IE80s. They are slightly revealing IEMs

 
Thank you for this. I guess this is why some of the live recordings sound better and uncongested than the studio recordings. 
 
I guess the congestion was less with the W4 because there was less bass? 

 

[Kaffeemann]

Here is a frequency response. It's very small but the only one I found.
If you are experiencing veil or muddiness it's probably because of the still existing mid bass hump.
The fatigue and nasty resonance is because of the 5.3 khz peak, just like the good old IE8.
Just use some EQ.
 

 

[beaver316]

Quote:

 
Thank you for this. I guess this is why some of the live recordings sound better and uncongested than the studio recordings. 
 
I guess the congestion was less with the W4 because there was less bass? 

 
Hmm not sure, maybe. Maybe the W4 has a larger soundstage than the IE80?