The Official Sennheiser IE800S thread!
Jan 19, 2018 at 12:36 PM Post #721 of 1,273
Two great reviews about the IE800s. Thank you very much.
You said that «if you want the sound with more bass impact or a more aggressive treble, these might not be for you.» Well, I'm an electronic music lover... Athough I'm seriously considering buying the IE800S, I'm now a little skeptical...I know that's quite subjective, but can I ask your opinion?

People have certain expectations from single DD iems, since many are V-shaped tuned. I'm EDM-head, and IE800S fits my taste perfectly (LOVE IT!). But it has less bass impact than, for example, VEGA or Xelento. My comments in sound description section were relative to those other iems, and I went into more details in my comparison section. The same with treble, it's smoother than VEGA and RE2000. In other words, IE800S hits the sweet spot for me (and will work great with many genres), and switching between 2.5mm, 3.5mm, and 4.4mm is a lifesaver when I go between my phone, and other daps with balanced HO.
 
Jan 25, 2018 at 11:18 PM Post #722 of 1,273
I think to add to the comments of twister6, I listen to many genres of music and now have quite a few hours logged with the ie800s and I think they are fantastic with most everything I throw at them. I feel they do exceptionally well with music that is not inherently congested, ie. EDM, jazz, blues. The DD bass is very present and focused. The treble extends well and has a smooth nature. Most of my listening to this point has been with 3.5mm SE but as we speak I am breaking out the 2.5mm balanced cable to listen to my DAPs. I will tell you the DACs in the LG V30 are special and the ie800s responds so well and it has received the bulk of my listening time to this point. They do respond well to power. The comfort of the ie800s is great for long listening sessions. I get a very good seal with large silicone tips. Tonight I am listening to Rock Candy Funk Party, The Groove Cubed, and all of the frequencies are apparent and there is a distinct stage with air around the notes, and that wonderful DD bass.

It is fair to say that the signature agrees with me. So far, it is an IEM that is just easy to listen to.
 
Jan 31, 2018 at 1:41 AM Post #723 of 1,273
Another long listen tonight, they are so well refined and such a beautiful midrange. They definitely compete with the best very expensive flagship BA customs out there but they will remain under appreciated here on headfi. Most of us are addicted to buying more and more even if they’re happy with the gear, new cables, tweaks and customisations etc.

I can imagine many people completely dismissing IE800S without ever even listening to them just because of the fact they have none removable cables can’t upgrade their new iems with a super silver crystal coated cable down the line for example.
 
Jan 31, 2018 at 4:01 AM Post #724 of 1,273
Another long listen tonight, they are so well refined and such a beautiful midrange. They definitely compete with the best very expensive flagship BA customs out there but they will remain under appreciated here on headfi. Most of us are addicted to buying more and more even if they’re happy with the gear, new cables, tweaks and customisations etc. I can imagine many people completely dismissing IE800S without ever even listening to them just because of the fact they have none removable cables can’t upgrade their new iems with a super silver crystal coated cable down the line for example.

I think you're right, some will be stuck on those detachable cables, they could go for the N5005 competitor as AKG has decided to make those detachable... but also most will see this as an incremental upgrade to IE800 and will miss the impact the refined tuning has on the overall coherence which means (for me) a much better listening experience. The audiophile and TOTL market is also going crazy on prices and that's not always justified. A few years back people cringed at the 1000 euros for the IE800, now some will see this as midfi :p

That's kind of insane but let's admit that some shops have gone out of their way to innovate for the better and push the enveloppe (64 with ADEL and tia drivers, now Empire Ears has gone ADEL too, Audeze with planar intras, Lear with the 5 dynamic drivers BAMDAS5...). Many forget that the ceramic design of the IE800 with dual acoustic chamber and it's custom driver is unparalleled and was a great innovation that still proves that you can provide an outstanding sound in a small package and that's no small feat. I think they used some of their work for the HD800S.

You're right, we always want more... I went off the deep end and got an LCD i4 and it kind of spoiled me altogether, it shares a similar neutral warm signature but with a much bigger soundstage (yeah that's unfair, i4 is open back and probably should be compared to full sized headphones with a 30mm driver), planar crazy speed and more extension on both ends. But it's 3 x more expensive, value for money, portability and isolation goes to the IE800S. I am selling the IE800S only because I am getting a CIEM (VE8) to have an isolating companion to the i4 and I need to fund the purchase (selling Vega and Elear too).

IE800S is best value for money for a balanced yet muscial IEM in my book!
 
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Jan 31, 2018 at 11:22 AM Post #726 of 1,273
Can you tell me a retail store in Europe that sells it? I'd rather not to buy it direct from Sennheiser.

I have not seen the IE800S in retail store but that was at the time of release...

Do you know that Sennheiser offers 10% upon subscription to their newsletter?
 
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Jan 31, 2018 at 2:21 PM Post #728 of 1,273
I think you're right, some will be stuck on those detachable cables, they could go for the N5005 competitor as AKG has decided to make those detachable... but also most will see this as an incremental upgrade to IE800 and will miss the impact the refined tuning has on the overall coherence which means (for me) a much better listening experience. The audiophile and TOTL market is also going crazy on prices and that's not always justified. A few years back people cringed at the 1000 euros for the IE800, now some will see this as midfi :p

That's kind of insane but let's admit that some shops have gone out of their way to innovate for the better and push the enveloppe (64 with ADEL and tia drivers, now Empire Ears has gone ADEL too, Audeze with planar intras, Lear with the 5 dynamic drivers BAMDAS5...). Many forget that the ceramic design of the IE800 with dual acoustic chamber and it's custom driver is unparalleled and was a great innovation that still proves that you can provide an outstanding sound in a small package and that's no small feat. I think they used some of their work for the HD800S.

You're right, we always want more... I went off the deep end and got an LCD i4 and it kind of spoiled me altogether, it shares a similar neutral warm signature but with a much bigger soundstage (yeah that's unfair, i4 is open back and probably should be compared to full sized headphones with a 30mm driver), planar crazy speed and more extension on both ends. But it's 3 x more expensive, value for money, portability and isolation goes to the IE800S. I am selling the IE800S only because I am getting a CIEM (VE8) to have an isolating companion to the i4 and I need to fund the purchase (selling Vega and Elear too).

IE800S is best value for money for a balanced yet muscial IEM in my book!

Well said about the innovation, I have not heard any other single dynamic that sounds even close to being as good as this. There are hybrids that get close to having the same extension but they don’t have the coherency they still sound off to me.

I remember reading about the IE800S that they didn’t hold back they put everything in to it and it’s the best they could make.
 
Jan 31, 2018 at 2:26 PM Post #729 of 1,273
Well said about the innovation, I have not heard any other single dynamic that sounds even close to being as good as this. There are hybrids that get close to having the same extension but they don’t have the coherency they still sound off to me. I remember reading about the IE800S that they didn’t hold back they put everything in to it and it’s the best they could make.

I think most of the R&D investment happened for the IE800 (they used it for HD800S), but the final touches that make a big difference for the IE800S especially a way more refined tuning without the quirks of the original (which I loved anyway, and are still among the few IEMs that I will never forget as they wowed me big time back then...).
 
Jan 31, 2018 at 5:01 PM Post #730 of 1,273
IE800 and IE800S is a very nice duo. To me those two are amongst the best IEMs ever made. I often switch between them, the 800 being tuned for fun listening and the 800S for serious listening. Andromeda is the third IEM I really like, because it sounds so damn captivating sometimes.
 
Feb 1, 2018 at 11:50 AM Post #731 of 1,273
I got my IE800S yesterday, Gotta say, at first I was not too impressed. I kinda understood the WHATHIFI review. After a few hours things started to change. Not sure if it's a burning in situation or just my ears needed some adjustment to the IE800s. The sound on the IE800s is very nice, clean smooth and detailed, treble is smooth and not too bright (darker than HD800s). This is as close as it gets to my HD800S (HD800S being better). I would say is a combination of HD650 and HD800s probably falls right in the middle. ( Using Chord Hugo 2 as source)

Got a questions for you guys, I am using the ear tip that came with the IE800s ear buds originally, I believe is the medium size, I notice there is a small cut on it. I am afraid it will not last very long and the cut will keep expanding. I have a spare in the package but that leaves me to just one left. Do you know where to order the Original Ear tips from sennheiser? I see a bunch on ebay but don't think they are the original.
 
Feb 1, 2018 at 12:08 PM Post #732 of 1,273
Got a questions for you guys, I am using the ear tip that came with the IE800s ear buds originally, I believe is the medium size, I notice there is a small cut on it. I am afraid it will not last very long and the cut will keep expanding. I have a spare in the package but that leaves me to just one left. Do you know where to order the Original Ear tips from sennheiser? I see a bunch on ebay but don't think they are the original.

Is that a cut or an indent? If I am not mistakent there is an indent which is normal at the base of the tip, it locks to the nozzle where there is a bump I think meant to lock the tip to prevent it to rotate.
If it's a cut then it's not normal.

I got a spare M size from Sennheiser, those are pricey (15€ for just one pair)... aside from loosing them I don't see why they should not last very long, pretty high grade silicon one of the best I have experienced
 
Feb 1, 2018 at 12:11 PM Post #733 of 1,273
Is that a cut or an indent? If I am not mistakent there is an indent which is normal at the base of the tip, it locks to the nozzle where there is a bump I think meant to lock the tip to prevent it to rotate.
If it's a cut then it's not normal.

I got a spare M size from Sennheiser, those are pricey (15€ for just one pair)... aside from loosing them I don't see why they should not last very long, pretty high grade silicon one of the best I have experienced


Its a little cut, that I am afraid it will keep on growing. I guess I can contact sennheiser and have them send me a spare since I think it came like that. Very small cut on the outside tip of it. I checked all the others and they are perfect.
 
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Feb 1, 2018 at 4:12 PM Post #734 of 1,273
I got my IE800S yesterday, Gotta say, at first I was not too impressed. I kinda understood the WHATHIFI review. After a few hours things started to change. Not sure if it's a burning in situation or just my ears needed some adjustment to the IE800s. The sound on the IE800s is very nice, clean smooth and detailed, treble is smooth and not too bright (darker than HD800s). This is as close as it gets to my HD800S (HD800S being better). I would say is a combination of HD650 and HD800s probably falls right in the middle. ( Using Chord Hugo 2 as source)

Got a questions for you guys, I am using the ear tip that came with the IE800s ear buds originally, I believe is the medium size, I notice there is a small cut on it. I am afraid it will not last very long and the cut will keep expanding. I have a spare in the package but that leaves me to just one left. Do you know where to order the Original Ear tips from sennheiser? I see a bunch on ebay but don't think they are the original.

Ive been trying find a way to describe the sound properly for a while and you said it perfectly, for someone who’s heard both they do indeed sit right between a HD650 and HD800.

To me the IE800S has the organic, timbre, smooth and textured sound of 650 and also the speed, detail, clarity, effortlessness and extension of the 800. It’s not perfect mix you won’t get exactly get all the detail of HD800 but you can see what I’m trying to explain here.

Really surprises me sometimes when I listen to the IE800S how can it sound so smooth and organic yet agile, detailed and precise. I haven’t come across this before but I like it a lot.
 
Feb 2, 2018 at 1:02 AM Post #735 of 1,273
The IE800s really uses the DD to showcase it's capabilities. The sub bass has a nice rumble not so overpowering as it interferes with any of the mid frequencies but certainly enough to create a nice rich sound. The overall tone smoothly blends well and the synergy between the frequencies is superb. I have experienced absolutely zero harshness in the treble, the IE800s smoothly displays the high notes with an air of class. The soundstage is fairly wide with an above average depth and height. The texturing and layering is ever present. Being a reviewer myself I am careful to not criticize another person's review, but after spending adequate time with the IE800s I am happy to report I do not hear these IEMs the same as the What Hi Fi review.
 

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