Just got my TDK IE800. Got them for around 90 euros off Amazon to replace my broken UE700. Some first impressions:
- TDK´s portable audio team is fantastic. The reviews are right to to give them credit. Sound quality wise I feel the IE800 are competitive (I mean really, not in the way audio magazines claim everything is better than 90% products out there) with products around 100-150 dollars more. With better build quality (aluminum or magnesium housing, replaceable cables and a better tip selection) they could easily successfully sell these for a lot more. TDK´s experience in low margin products/mass production is really evident in the IE800. I´d love to see what TDK could do with a 300 dollar product budget.
- Ergonomics is ok, but as many have said here the IE800 is quite large and not very cool looking outside. For me these are mostly for indoor use while working / gym use so I don´t mind the size. While the size isn´t perfect, they are very lightweight and the cable is fast to wind/unwind and doesn´t tangle much. I don´t feel it has that much microphonics either. I´m a bit stressed about the lack of strain relief, but it´s too early to say if it´ll be a problem or not.
- Nice balanced mid-forward (although nowhere near as forward as Shure for example) sound signature with superb instrument separation and good dynamics. Bass doesn´t affect the midrange and stays quite quite tight, although not as tight as in leading BA-based drivers. Impact is good, but this isn´t a basshead IEM. For what I paid for these (90 euros) sound quality wise the Shure 215 cannot compete. Ergonomics and build quality is a different matter though. These are superior to the UE700 as well, I´d say around one price tier higher SQ wise.
- At 10 ohms and fairly low sensitivity (for an IEM) these can be difficult to drive out of some sources. My volume is quite high on iPod Nano 7G which has more output power than previous iPods. I haven´t tried these with an amp yet, but I wouldn´t be suprised if these benefit from amping.
All in all highly recommended. These aren´t good IEMs just "for the price", but good IEMs period. This is a very competitive product in an already highly competitive market. Hopefully TDK will continue their push into higher end portable audio. They clearly have the engineering knowledge to pull it off.
- TDK´s portable audio team is fantastic. The reviews are right to to give them credit. Sound quality wise I feel the IE800 are competitive (I mean really, not in the way audio magazines claim everything is better than 90% products out there) with products around 100-150 dollars more. With better build quality (aluminum or magnesium housing, replaceable cables and a better tip selection) they could easily successfully sell these for a lot more. TDK´s experience in low margin products/mass production is really evident in the IE800. I´d love to see what TDK could do with a 300 dollar product budget.
- Ergonomics is ok, but as many have said here the IE800 is quite large and not very cool looking outside. For me these are mostly for indoor use while working / gym use so I don´t mind the size. While the size isn´t perfect, they are very lightweight and the cable is fast to wind/unwind and doesn´t tangle much. I don´t feel it has that much microphonics either. I´m a bit stressed about the lack of strain relief, but it´s too early to say if it´ll be a problem or not.
- Nice balanced mid-forward (although nowhere near as forward as Shure for example) sound signature with superb instrument separation and good dynamics. Bass doesn´t affect the midrange and stays quite quite tight, although not as tight as in leading BA-based drivers. Impact is good, but this isn´t a basshead IEM. For what I paid for these (90 euros) sound quality wise the Shure 215 cannot compete. Ergonomics and build quality is a different matter though. These are superior to the UE700 as well, I´d say around one price tier higher SQ wise.
- At 10 ohms and fairly low sensitivity (for an IEM) these can be difficult to drive out of some sources. My volume is quite high on iPod Nano 7G which has more output power than previous iPods. I haven´t tried these with an amp yet, but I wouldn´t be suprised if these benefit from amping.
All in all highly recommended. These aren´t good IEMs just "for the price", but good IEMs period. This is a very competitive product in an already highly competitive market. Hopefully TDK will continue their push into higher end portable audio. They clearly have the engineering knowledge to pull it off.