Hi everyone,
Opinions are quite heavily opposed regarding these IEMs.
I wonder, is there anyone who could give me a nuanced view?
I'm looking to upgrade and am in doubt between these or the Xelento.
I've been using Klipsch's X10's the past three years and really like the tiny design without ear loop, which is where the IE800s have a plus.
I've got a sony NW-Zx300. Again a plus for the Senns as they come with a 4.4 mm cable.
But I do like a punchy sound too with snappy treble. And some reviewers state that the IE800s are more analytical, lacking pleasure...
I would love to hear some honest opinions.
I had the Sony ZX300: it is a nice DAP, great quality considering the battery life and its dimensions.
But if you want to make your IE800S shine, then you need to supply more and more power.
The Sony ZX300, even through the balanced output, is not enough powerful and it's not the best pairing with the Sennheiser IE800S.
I noticed some distortion in high-low frequencies, I don't know how to explain this strange behavior.
I can give you an example: in orchestral music it's very common to hear some "pianissimo" which dynamically become "fortissimo". When all the orchestra is increasing the intensity of the tone through the "fortissimo" I noticed a slight distortion in the tone, which is really bad!
The Sony ZX300 is sold as a Hi-Res and Hi-Fidelity music player.
The Sennheiser IE800S are sold as Hi-Res in-ear's.
This pair is not the best, but still acceptable.
Another bad thing that I noticed: pain. After a while I had to stop listening to the music because of pain in my ears.
When I moved from the Sony ZX300 to the iBasso DX220 I was completely shocked: the distortion (as described before) disappeared as well as the pain.
I don't know how to explain the pain in my ears, but the pairing between DX220 & IE800S it's something that made me stopping looking at new DAPs and IEMs.
The only thing I am waiting is the factory-modded AMP8-EX.
I hope it helps you!