[329161]

I was really disappointed with the ie800 and regretted buying them. Thought they were thin sounding as fk. Does the S improve in this area?

 

[cfc7]

I was really disappointed with the ie800 and regretted buying them. Thought they were thin sounding as fk. Does the S improve in this area?

Same here.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Hearing that objectively, ie800 is a bit titled to thin, especially compared to something dead-neutral. I guess I just enjoyed that part of them

 

[joshnor713]

The two changes I would've done to the IE 800 are bring the mids forward and tame the sharp treble. Do the IE 800 S do this?

 

[Deftone]

Yes but just by a tad

 

[thefitz]

I accepted all of the IE800's quirks, and thought it was my perfect sounding in-ear but for 5db of treble heat centred at 11kHz. I really hope the IE800 S has this. I'm a little shocked that there are several impressions and nobody's said outright "the treble spike's gone". This shouldn't require 200 hours of listening....

I've read that the treble is indeed "improved", but I anticipated the difference to be more emphasized here.

 

[joshnor713]

Hmm, sounding like the improvements are just slight. Not sure it's worth upgrading at full retail price if you've got the original IE 800. I'd like to hear what S owners think.

 

[Slim1970]

I like the treble in my current IE800’s. I don’t find it sibilant or zesty at all. I think it helps add clarity to the IE800’s that balances out the bass. But nothing I’ve read so far is making me want to upgrade to the IE800S’s besides the balanced cable flexibility. Maybe having a listen to them could possibly change that.

 

[Sc00p]

I accepted all of the IE800's quirks, and thought it was my perfect sounding in-ear but for 5db of treble heat centred at 11kHz. I really hope the IE800 S has this. I'm a little shocked that there are several impressions and nobody's said outright "the treble spike's gone". This shouldn't require 200 hours of listening....

I've read that the treble is indeed "improved", but I anticipated the difference to be more emphasized here.

I am not experienced enough to know what a 11khz treble spike sounds like. All i know, to my ear., the treble "haze" i used to hear is gone. Like the air around a high pitched girl voice is less hazy (noisy?). Bass especially in sub bass is improved with more impact.
Again, just to my ear. The improvement/difference is larger than what i heard going from HD800 to HD800S were i thought the treble was improved, but bass just changed. (better without eq, worse with). With the IE i am hearing an upgrade to both bass and treble. I am much more happy with the improvement i am hearing between IE's than i did between HD's.

 

[thefitz]

I am not experienced enough to know what a 11khz treble spike sounds like. All i know, to my ear., the treble "haze" i used to hear is gone. Like the air around a high pitched girl voice is less hazy. Bass especially in sub bass is improved with more impact.
Again, just to my ear. The improvement/difference is larger than what i heard going from HD800 to HD800S were i thought the treble was improved, but bass just changed. (better without eq, worse with). With the IE i am hearing an upgrade to both bass and treble. I am much more happy with the improvement i am hearing between IE's than i did between HD's.

I could really hear the 11kHz hype in snare drums and high hats. You'd here the high hat sit on top of everything else, and the snare drums had an over-emphasized snap that made them sound like the drumsticks were like pencils. When I EQ'd that out, they were magic. It's a very precise spike:

http://i.imgur.com/Ky7Tprk.png
https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SennheiserIE800sampleC.pdf

Dial that spike down a bit, and it's magic. It's just not the easiest thing to do on most phones and DAPs.

 

[cooperpwc]

IE800 is thin sounding? That was never the word that I would have used to describe them.

 

[Deftone]

The IE800 treble is on the thin side we have known that for a long time.

For the people wondering if this is a big upgrade we’ll it isn’t really it’s a refinement on one of the best dynamic iems ever created.

You could look at it as the differences between the new and old model IE800 are like HD800 to HD800S.

It also depends on the listener, to one person that slight treble improvement is not worth an upgrade at all but to others it could be an instant buy because it’s something they couldn’t achieve their self with gear matching or EQ. It’s always best to try and listen to any headphone your interested for yourself if you can.

 

[Dobrescu George]

IE800 is thin sounding? That was never the word that I would have used to describe them.

The midrange has some recession, and the treble has a particular thinness to it. I like that because the treble is quite enhanced, being a bit thin makes it non-invasive and makes it sound very sweet. That was not an issue with me. The main issue I had was that the midrange was a bit too recessed with a pretty specific dip that I couldn't fix with EQ. Not a big issue, and ie800 is still one of the best IEMs I ever heard anmd I love them to bits

 

[YorkshireBloke]

I can’t hear any treble ‘spike’ as described above.The sound is airy (like an open backed headset), refined and sweet. They remind me a bit of the signature offered by full size grados, but tighter and more defined layering/separation.

Changing the tips & the eq settings have a BIG impact on how these buds sound. In my opinion, different recordings and different musical genres need different sound settings, it's not a 'one size fits all. These buds give wide flexibility when coupled with suitable equipment.

 

[Dobrescu George]

I can’t hear any treble ‘spike’ as described above.The sound is airy (like an open backed headset), refined and sweet. They remind me a bit of the signature offered by full size grados, but tighter and more defined layering/separation.

Changing the tips & the eq settings have a BIG impact on how these buds sound. In my opinion, different recordings and different musical genres need different sound settings, it's not a 'one size fits all. These buds give wide flexibility when coupled with suitable equipment.

I agree! They are lovely!