[gLer]

Just wanted to make a post commemorating the IE900 and some further thoughts I had on it. I really liked what I heard when I demoed it at the Sennheiser SF store, and I just couldn't get it out of my mind, so I ended up purchasing my own. Not really going to talk about the build/accessories; I'll save that talk for the actual review. I'll leave it at saying that while I appreciate having three separate cables (and they feel great), memory wire was not the way to go haha.





So about the actual sound...

Here is my personal unit graphed:



There's not much that I haven't already said about the bass response of the IE900, but just to ram the notion home, it is nothing short of excellent. I see a lot of talk about "dynamics" when it comes to bass, but the reality is that the vast majority of IEMs that I hear do not have good dynamics. That's neither in the bass, nor much less as a whole. Dynamics are indicative of gradations in volume, and within the context of bass, a bass response should present itself with a sort of "bounciness" (at least to my ears) if a transducer is replicating them properly. Of course, this depends on the music you're listening to too. But simply put, the IE900 has some of the best bass dynamics that I have heard. Other intangible metrics of bass, from texture to decay, are also right where they should be for a world-class bass response. The tonality of the bass shelf itself is largely sub-bass oriented with a hint of mid-bass to inject an extra kick of fun that's right up my alley. It's hard to believe that a 7mm dynamic driver is pulling off a bass response this good; regardless, it would not be an understatement to say that the IE900 might have one of the best bass responses in portable audio.

The midrange is where the IE900 stumbles: It has no pinna compensation. Well, that's not quite accurate. It has inadequate pinna compensation and then opts to recess all of the upper-midrange. This results in a decidedly U-shaped presentation, wherein a lot of stringed instruments - for example, guitars - sound soft, slightly muted, and lack initial sharpness of pluck. Piano also gives me the impression that the keys are being pushed into a mushy pit of tar. If there's a saving grace to this midrange, it's that 1) I actually like a slightly recessed (read: but not this recessed) upper-midrange, and 2) it aptly kills any sibilance or harshness that might otherwise be present. Still, while I know it's an intentional tuning decision (as all the other Sennheiser IEMs have it), frankly, this just needs work. The egregious recession from 2-5kHz also lends to a disconcerting center image with which it's difficult to pinpoint, positionally, where vocalists that usually token the center come from.

Criticism of the midrange aside, I don't think I gave the treble response of the IE900 enough credit in my original impressions. I personally found it somewhat "spicy" when I demoed it; perhaps that was due to listening at louder volumes than normal at the storefront. Anyways, the IE900's treble response is characterized by a plateau from 7-9kHz in the mid-treble which lends to copious amounts of sparkle. It is remarkably controlled tonally, sloping into and off of this plateau without any egregious peaks or valleys. Thus, while you definitely have a brighter treble response, it is by no means harsh to my ears. Extension is superb, extending well into the 15kHz+ regions with sufficient presence. Attack is well-defined and sharp, and honestly, while some might still find it too bright, I find little fault with this treble response on second listen. Consider me a happy camper.

In general, the IE900 is also one of the most technically competent DDs I've heard, comfortably playing within the realm of even many full-BA and hybrid setups in its price range. Obviously it's not playing with the top dogs of this price range for technicalities, but hey, that's not too shabby! There is a good sense of vividness to transient attack and note definition is within flagship parameters. Dynamics on the IE900 are also solid; it certainly doesn't sound compressed. But it's clearly not world-class for this more latent intangible. The IE900 mostly captures crescendo/decrescendo swings (take for example a steady rise in volume as an ensemble picks up the pace and more instruments enter), but it can get "caught off guard," so to speak, when it comes to more abrupt, explosive swings into loudness. This is mostly just me being a picky asshole; of course, I trust that's why most are reading my reviews. A broader concern would probably be the IE900's imaging chops. As I alluded to earlier, the center image is just...not really there, so there is a lack of perceived soundstage depth. Staging also doesn't extend much further laterally or horizontally; the IE900 is a good way off holographic in my opinion.

My thoughts right now

Overall, the IE900 is clearly not perfect. But I could say the same for anything else in portable audio; you inevitably have to make trade-offs in this game. It's also important to consider context - after all, this is a single-DD IEM. That in mind, as far as I'm concerned, this is the best single-DD IEM that I've had the pleasure of hearing so far. I can usually tell pretty quick if an IEM is going to make the cut in my collection (benefits of hearing so many IEMs and being an absolute nitpick), and I get the feeling that the IE900 should have my single-DD itch scratched for a good while. I'd say I'm content with this purchase.

Fantastic feedback and I very much look forward to your full review. As you know we're seeing eye to eye on this one. I'm just busy wrapping up my Oriolus Isabellae review, which includes a lengthy comparison with the IE 900, and I have to say you picked out some facets of Isa's sound in your review of it that I couldn't quite put my finger on, and which makes more sense now that I've heard the Isa and IE 900 side by side. Cheers for that.

 

[firesign]

Fantastic feedback and I very much look forward to your full review. As you know we're seeing eye to eye on this one. I'm just busy wrapping up my Oriolus Isabellae review, which includes a lengthy comparison with the IE 900, and I have to say you picked out some facets of Isa's sound in your review of it that I couldn't quite put my finger on, and which makes more sense now that I've heard the Isa and IE 900 side by side. Cheers for that.

Are you also going to drag the Isabellae on the ground?

I am totally delighted with the Isabellae. It is one of the first IEMs that I have been able to try before buying, and I made the decision to buy it after 15 or 20 minutes of use.

But I admit that I would love to be able to test the IE 900 ...

 

[Damz87]

Just wanted to make a post commemorating the IE900 and some further thoughts I had on it. I really liked what I heard when I demoed it at the Sennheiser SF store, and I just couldn't get it out of my mind, so I ended up purchasing my own. Not really going to talk about the build/accessories; I'll save that talk for the actual review. I'll leave it at saying that while I appreciate having three separate cables (and they feel great), memory wire was not the way to go haha.





So about the actual sound...

Here is my personal unit graphed:



There's not much that I haven't already said about the bass response of the IE900, but just to ram the notion home, it is nothing short of excellent. I see a lot of talk about "dynamics" when it comes to bass, but the reality is that the vast majority of IEMs that I hear do not have good dynamics. That's neither in the bass, nor much less as a whole. Dynamics are indicative of gradations in volume, and within the context of bass, a bass response should present itself with a sort of "bounciness" (at least to my ears) if a transducer is replicating them properly. Of course, this depends on the music you're listening to too. But simply put, the IE900 has some of the best bass dynamics that I have heard. Other intangible metrics of bass, from texture to decay, are also right where they should be for a world-class bass response. The tonality of the bass shelf itself is largely sub-bass oriented with a hint of mid-bass to inject an extra kick of fun that's right up my alley. It's hard to believe that a 7mm dynamic driver is pulling off a bass response this good; regardless, it would not be an understatement to say that the IE900 might have one of the best bass responses in portable audio.

The midrange is where the IE900 stumbles: It has no pinna compensation. Well, that's not quite accurate. It has inadequate pinna compensation and then opts to recess all of the upper-midrange. This results in a decidedly U-shaped presentation, wherein a lot of stringed instruments - for example, guitars - sound soft, slightly muted, and lack initial sharpness of pluck. Piano also gives me the impression that the keys are being pushed into a mushy pit of tar. If there's a saving grace to this midrange, it's that 1) I actually like a slightly recessed (read: but not this recessed) upper-midrange, and 2) it aptly kills any sibilance or harshness that might otherwise be present. Still, while I know it's an intentional tuning decision (as all the other Sennheiser IEMs have it), frankly, this just needs work. The egregious recession from 2-5kHz also lends to a disconcerting center image with which it's difficult to pinpoint, positionally, where vocalists that usually token the center come from.

Criticism of the midrange aside, I don't think I gave the treble response of the IE900 enough credit in my original impressions. I personally found it somewhat "spicy" when I demoed it; perhaps that was due to listening at louder volumes than normal at the storefront. Anyways, the IE900's treble response is characterized by a plateau from 7-9kHz in the mid-treble which lends to copious amounts of sparkle. It is remarkably controlled tonally, sloping into and off of this plateau without any egregious peaks or valleys. Thus, while you definitely have a brighter treble response, it is by no means harsh to my ears. Extension is superb, extending well into the 15kHz+ regions with sufficient presence. Attack is well-defined and sharp, and honestly, while some might still find it too bright, I find little fault with this treble response on second listen. Consider me a happy camper.

In general, the IE900 is also one of the most technically competent DDs I've heard, comfortably playing within the realm of even many full-BA and hybrid setups in its price range. Obviously it's not playing with the top dogs of this price range for technicalities, but hey, that's not too shabby! There is a good sense of vividness to transient attack and note definition is within flagship parameters. Dynamics on the IE900 are also solid; it certainly doesn't sound compressed. But it's clearly not world-class for this more latent intangible. The IE900 mostly captures crescendo/decrescendo swings (take for example a steady rise in volume as an ensemble picks up the pace and more instruments enter), but it can get "caught off guard," so to speak, when it comes to more abrupt, explosive swings into loudness. This is mostly just me being a picky asshole; of course, I trust that's why most are reading my reviews. A broader concern would probably be the IE900's imaging chops. As I alluded to earlier, the center image is just...not really there, so there is a lack of perceived soundstage depth. Staging also doesn't extend much further laterally or horizontally; the IE900 is a good way off holographic in my opinion.

My thoughts right now

Overall, the IE900 is clearly not perfect. But I could say the same for anything else in portable audio; you inevitably have to make trade-offs in this game. It's also important to consider context - after all, this is a single-DD IEM. That in mind, as far as I'm concerned, this is the best single-DD IEM that I've had the pleasure of hearing so far. I can usually tell pretty quick if an IEM is going to make the cut in my collection (benefits of hearing so many IEMs and being an absolute nitpick), and I get the feeling that the IE900 should have my single-DD itch scratched for a good while. I'd say I'm content with this purchase.

So, you’ve got the best single DD and full BA on the market. Now all you need is the ultimate hybrid/tribrid and you can sail off into the portable audio sunset

Sarcasm aside, I agree with your thoughts on IE 900. Keepers for sure

 

[gLer]

Are you also going to drag the Isabellae on the ground?

I am totally delighted with the Isabellae. It is one of the first IEMs that I have been able to try before buying, and I made the decision to buy it after 15 or 20 minutes of use.

But I admit that I would love to be able to test the IE 900 ...

A little OT, but no, I won't be bashing Isa. It's a fantastic IEM, just...

Spoiler

doesn't fully align with my preferences for more than a subset of my music.

 

[Scubadevils]

Isa definitely fills a bit of a gap that I wasn't fully aware of with IE900 until I bought Isa... I feel Isa better suits acoustic, vocals and ambient in most cases - a more intimate and mid focused IEM. But the majority of my listening still goes to IE900, I find it excels with a large majority of my listening within various electronic genres and as is often mentioned, the bass is stunning, likewise treble and overall coherency. It can certainly do ambient, vocals etc very well and I think the problem for want of a better word is when I'm listening to them, I want to drive them where they really perform... like a performance car, you will want to put the foot down and experience the power and handling.

 

[gLer]

Isa definitely fills a bit of a gap that I wasn't fully aware of with IE900 until I bought Isa... I feel Isa better suits acoustic, vocals and ambient in most cases - a more intimate and mid focused IEM. But the majority of my listening still goes to IE900, I find it excels with a large majority of my listening within various electronic genres and as is often mentioned, the bass is stunning, likewise treble and overall coherency. It can certainly do ambient, vocals etc very well and I think the problem for want of a better word is when I'm listening to them, I want to drive them where they really perform... like a performance car, you will want to put the foot down and experience the power and handling.

I agree, as mentioned above in my spoiler, Isa is more of a specialist for a smaller subset of genres. It's quite complementary to the IE 900 if your music library includes the genres you mentioned above. The problem it has is that the IE 900 does these almost as well, and then brings the bass to the party, so Isa would likely be redundant in my collection. But I'm getting ahead of myself, full Isa review posting later today.

 

[firesign]

I agree, as mentioned above in my spoiler, Isa is more of a specialist for a smaller subset of genres. It's quite complementary to the IE 900 if your music library includes the genres you mentioned above. The problem it has is that the IE 900 does these almost as well, and then brings the bass to the party, so Isa would likely be redundant in my collection. But I'm getting ahead of myself, full Isa review posting later today.

I only listen rock, progressive and metal, and I love how Isa sounds. I think I like it more than the Clairvoyance, and only one step behind the Mest.

That is not to say that I cannot like the IE 900 even more.

 

[MarkParity]

Another tips post.

Another member in this thread said they tried the included tips, again after a while, sorry I forgot who it was, but thank you for posting your experiences. I hadn't really used the included tips because I was happy with the Complys.

This morning I decided to try the included silicone tips, I started with the large, that resulted in a bad fit and no seal, I didn't even bother listening with the large tips I could instantly tell from experience I wasn't getting any seal.

I thought the mediums won't seal if the large don't right? Well they do and that's the first time this has ever happened, large too small or so it seamed and medium good fit, aren't ear anatomies strange.

With the medium stock silicone I like the sound, with one proviso, some tracks to me sound exceptional and some sound well, frankly just wrong. The silicone tips make the ie900 a bit more "track picky" whereas the Comply tips worked well with all music for me anyway.

I do notice all the unique traits the ie900 has with silicone as others have already commented a lot more, I still like the Comply tips, they just smooth everything out a little, everything about the bass and treble the ie900 does so well is still there its just with a slightly mellower flavor.

I will give it a few days with the silicone now, but I may well stick with them.

 

[gLer]

Hey guys, if anyone is interested in how the IE 900 fares against the Oriolus Isabellae, you'll find my writeup here (feel free to skip to the 'Compared to...' section for the IE 900 stuff).

 

[MarkParity]

Hey guys, if anyone is interested in how the IE 900 fares against the Oriolus Isabellae, you'll find my writeup here (feel free to skip to the 'Compared to...' section for the IE 900 stuff).

Reading through it now seems a well written review so far.

This bit made me laugh "unseemly human deposits" not too sure what you do with your iem's but please stop it.

 

[James-uk]

Which

Another tips post.

Another member in this thread said they tried the included tips, again after a while, sorry I forgot who it was, but thank you for posting your experiences. I hadn't really used the included tips because I was happy with the Complys.

This morning I decided to try the included silicone tips, I started with the large, that resulted in a bad fit and no seal, I didn't even bother listening with the large tips I could instantly tell from experience I wasn't getting any seal.

I thought the mediums won't seal if the large don't right? Well they do and that's the first time this has ever happened, large too small or so it seamed and medium good fit, aren't ear anatomies strange.

With the medium stock silicone I like the sound, with one proviso, some tracks to me sound exceptional and some sound well, frankly just wrong. The silicone tips make the ie900 a bit more "track picky" whereas the Comply tips worked well with all music for me anyway.

I do notice all the unique traits the ie900 has with silicone as others have already commented a lot more, I still like the Comply tips, they just smooth everything out a little, everything about the bass and treble the ie900 does so well is still there its just with a slightly mellower flavor.

I will give it a few days with the silicone now, but I may well stick with them.

Which comply tips do you use for these? I’ve always liked comply tips, they were the only ones a liked with my kse1200.

 

[MarkParity]

Which

Which comply tips do you use for these? I’ve always liked comply tips, they were the only ones a liked with my kse1200.

The SmartCore audio pro tips. I'm not sure if the foam is different to other Comply tips but they seem to last quite a while.

 

[KPzypher]

Anyone know if included foam tips are available for purchase yet? I have two pairs (one from ie300), so they should last a while, but would like to keep some on hand. Included foam tips provide best balance IMO.

 

[gLer]

Managed to retrofit an old pair of 2-pin to mmcx adapters to the IE 900, which means I can now use it with my @doctorjuggles Cardas Clear cable, probably my favourite high-end cable to date. Been listening all evening, and the sonic upgrade is sublime: deeper and more impactful bass, wider stage, darker background, clearer and more detailed vocals, easier to pick out smaller sounds. And of course, an ergonomic upgrade over the stock cable too. Not looking to open the cable rolling can of worms, but just thought I'd share this here. Next step: send the cable to Effect Audio and get them to retrofit the ConX connector so I can switch the cable between my current and future IEMs.

 

[Scubadevils]

Managed to retrofit an old pair of 2-pin to mmcx adapters to the IE 900, which means I can now use it with my @doctorjuggles Cardas Clear cable, probably my favourite high-end cable to date. Been listening all evening, and the sonic upgrade is sublime: deeper and more impactful bass, wider stage, darker background, clearer and more detailed vocals, easier to pick out smaller sounds. And of course, an ergonomic upgrade over the stock cable too. Not looking to open the cable rolling can of worms, but just thought I'd share this here. Next step: send the cable to Effect Audio and get them to retrofit the ConX connector so I can switch the cable between my current and future IEMs.

Missing my Brise cable, it'll be a while before it's in action again though as haven't even had a chance to ship it back for repair yet.