IE800S is on the Sennheiser Website

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by Kunlun, Oct 13, 2017.

  1. cooperpwc

    cooperpwc Friend

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    @Kunlun Hello? Promises promises. Kunlun first person review dude! :punk:
     
  2. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    They tell me the ie800S I bought is in the mail!

    Edit: update, it just came in.


    Please note this is direct response to Cooper's question
     
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2017
  3. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Get to the unboxing video already! Jeez.
     
  4. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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    I look forward to three paragraphs on packaging and presentation. Thanks!
     
  5. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    But first, a poem:

    SBAF

    Musical macrodetailed punchy PRaT tubes
    vocal sweetness rolls off at 19.5khz to my ears
    round not-for-bassheads bass I want
    delicious flat mids
    perfect audio nirvana for the dosh
    Cables
    toe-to-toe with much more expensive things
    I've never heard before in a recording
    closest thing to an HD800 for a chifi
    Really opens up after 500
    Cables
    vertical horizontal soundstage toe-tapping
    with the right mod
    in my opinion
    Cables
     
  6. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    No no you want him to skip the unboxing otherwise we'd just get a video of Kunlun sitting in the box.
     
  7. cooperpwc

    cooperpwc Friend

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    This poem invokes fond memories of summers in Cape Cod as a child.

    Any thoughts about the cables?
     
  8. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    Okie dokie,

    I had a friend listen to the ie800 and ie800S for a few hours and give her non-audiophile take on things, because sometimes audiophiles have to do a bunch of billing/receipts/etc. on a Sunday and having a friend nearby helps.

    First, the ie800S' cable seems a lot less likely to do that hardening thing, but I think they should have made it easier for everyone to wear over-ear, as some people seem to have trouble with that. Or, make a truly non-microphonic cable, which they didn't do here. The cable below the split is longer, for sure, though. Tall people rejoice. Short people, I have nothing for you, although the ie800/S are both great for your tiny little ears. So, that is something, huzzah.

    Okay, the sound, here's how the IE800S is different:

    The IE800 sounded peaky in the treble and recordings sounded more like, well, a recording. There was something lacking in female vocals, in particular.

    The IE800S was less tinny and had a richer sound and vocals were more complete, male and female both. More "live" sounding in a way that was described with hand-wavy gestures, ha ha. If you've ever talked to someone trying to describe sound, you know what that's like. Upon further questioning, it is particularly in the vocal region that the IE800S is clearer with better timbre, that's what makes it sound more "real". She also found it more detailed, in the sense of being able to really hear more information from the recording, in the bass, mid, and treble--with the bass having a bit more and the mid and treble having a full step more.

    In the end, the IE800S was the winner across the board.

    These were out of an ipod6
    Listening at moderate volume to a lot of classical, mostly.
    She has a JH16FP.
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2017
  9. drgumbybrain

    drgumbybrain Science Nut

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    Did someone compared ie800s vs andromedas? would be nice to read some info!
     
  10. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    Ha ha, after I trolled twister6 for using word salad nonsense terms like "resolving tonality" in his reviews, he put "very natual resolving tonality" (this is obviously the best kind of resolving tonality) as a Pro in his IE800S review. He's a good sport about it, that much I can always respect.
     
  11. Vorlon

    Vorlon self-important, pompous ass

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    It seems Sennheiser has had some problems with getting IE 800 S into mass production. How so? It took almost two months for mine to arrive (bought via a local Sennheiser dealer). It still isn´t generally available, for example Verkkokauppa.com (basically Finland´s Amazon) that tends to get Sennheiser stuff the earliest and in largest quantities has received four in total since the release and sold three of them.

    Time for early impressions! Take these with a grain of salt though as I have literally zero experience with other similarly priced IEMs except for the original IE 800. In other words the usually most important part (= comparisons) is missing here.

    First things first... If you didn´t like the IE 800 don´t bother with this one either, unless:

    - Your problem was only the excessive "night club mode" bass in the original; that´s nowhere to be found anymore (yay!)
    - You liked the original, but the treble was just slightly too bright** for you (it´s been toned down a bit)

    It´s still clearly a tuned version of the original, although I would claim the difference is probably larger than in most other recent Sennheiser re-releases.

    Most of my listening has been done with a Sony Walkman A35* I got from Amazon for cheap. I did briefly try it with the Sennheiser HDV820 (way too much gain and just sounds "off"; not a surprise considering the high output impedance etc.) though. It´s a great amp for the HD 800 (S), but not something you´ll want to use with IEMs. Also tried to use it with my iPhone X, but to my surprise it sounds boring and grainy through the headphone adapter. Really disappointed with this as previous iPhones with 3.5mm jacks sound quite good with sensitive IEMs. The adapter is obviously nowhere near the same quality as the internal audio hardware Apple has been quite famous for (at least the iPad still sounds great!) Now I´m looking for a new DAP that would do the IE 800 S justice, but I´ll write more on that in the DAP thread.

    Long story short, this time the bad before the good:

    - Really disappointing set of accessories. Three silicon tips and three Comply tips. Seriously Sennheiser? Why did you remove the oval shaped silicon tips? With the original they were advertised as being optimal for many ears as canals are rarely symmetrical. At least Sennheiser still sells them as spare parts and they no longer cost 20 euros per piece (10 euros for a pair now), but at 1000 euros retail I just can´t understand why they didn´t include these anymore. At this price they should also include a spare for each tip as the proprietary locking mechanism is not 100% solid. If you carry the IEMs in your pocket like I often did with the previous version do you will probably eventually lose a tip or two.

    - High cable microphonics, but at least they include a shirt clip this time. Without the clip expect to hear distracting noise when moving and sometimes also when stationary. This can be improved by wearing them cable up, but for my ears I never managed to get this to work and I find them quite uncomfortable this way. With the shirt clip it´s so much better. I added the shirt clip above after the cable splitter so most of the cable weight is removed. Used this way the comfort is really off the charts: extremely lightweight and due to the shallow insertion you don´t get the "under water" feeling that some people get with deep insertion IEMs. I´m lucky to get a perfect seal with both the oval medium tips (not included!) and the large tips, but your mileage may vary. Definitely audition before buying as the proprietary tip locking system doesn´t work with that many third party tips and I have no idea how the sound changes with those either as the stock tips also form a part of the acoustic port. Personally I think the shirt clip is not just an accessory, it´s almost a must with these if you want to wear them like they were designed (cable down). Hopefully the next one will have fully removable cables, but at least it seems Sennheiser is fully aware of the cable microphonics issues with the current cable-splitter based design. There was probably just no way to fix it as long as there´s a fairly heavy cable splitter with the modular cables.

    +- If you´re looking for a "wow so amazing" first impression that´s nowhere to be found here. The original IE 800 does this, but the successor doesn´t. While the original had a huge sub bass boost along with fairly recessed midrange and boosted treble (classic V-shape that´s good for modern pop/rock etc.) the successor goes for a much more linear (classic audiophile) tuning. This one is still slightly V-shaped, but it´s much, much closer to a "reference" linear tuning now. The right word is probably natural. It sounds like real life. Coherent, low listening fatigue and balanced. Bass is still slightly boosted, but the nightclub bass is nowhere to be found anymore. It still goes low, but only when the record demands it. The original IE 800 added a certain sound to everything. The IE 800 S sounds different with different records: some are dark, some exciting, some boring, some bright and so on (as it should be!)

    + And the previous point brings me to the largest plus: while the What HIFI review blasted the IE 800 S for "lacking dynamics", this is actually a good thing. It´s the same as with the original HD 800. The first time you listen to it you are probably stunned by the presentation, but once you´ve bought it you´ll eventually find yourself going back to your trusty HD 600/650 (or get the HD 800 modded / buy the HD 800 S). The IE 800 S simply sounds coherent and natural across the whole audioband. As pointed out by Kunlun, vocals especially sound so much more real with the IE 800 S. The original IE 800 was fatiguing after a while (mostly because of the excessive bass) and vocals sometimes sounded quite distant due to the midrange drop/treble boost etc. With the IE 800 S there´s almost zero listening fatigue. I´ve literally listened to it 5+ hours in a row, which is something that I´ve probably never done with any IEM before.

    + Comes with 4.4mm & 2.5mm balanced cables so this is easy to pair up with Sony or Astell & Kern DAPs for example. No need to pay for overpriced third party cables.

    + The new finish is really good. It draws zero attention to itself. No one is going to rob these downtown as from a distance these look like any other small IEM. The red color on the right side IEM is a nice touch too. That being said, the original does look more "premium" so if that´s important to you then you´ll probably find that these look a bit bland. Personally I´m a big fan of this new minimalistic aesthetic though.

    + Due to the sub bass change these sound the best in quiet indoors environments at the cost of outside/noisy environment performance. The original IE 800 sounded the best in very noisy environments, but let´s be honest: how much are expensive high end IEMs like these used outside in public transport vs. indoors environments? The original IE 800 tuning is fine for cheaper IEMs that people actually mostly use outside, but with high end items like these the most common usage is almost certainly mostly indoors. My favorite headphone is still the HD 800 S, but I prefer the IE 800 S to any of the HD 600 variants / HD 700.

    + Treble is toned down a bit compared to the original, but these are still very open and fairly airy sounding for an IEM. The soundstage is probably the largest and most out of head in any IEM I´ve heard so far with the exception of the Sony EX-1000 (which was unfortunately painfully sibilant for me). These definitely go for a "open full size headphone" presentation. They don´t completely achieve it, but it´s pretty impressive how close they get.

    + This may be hyperbole, but I honestly feel these have the most balanced tonality in any Sennheiser high end product since the original HD 600 / 650. Much less controversial than the HD 800 for example. Really looking forward to the measurements - I´m surprised if these don´t have one of the smoothest frequency responses ever seen in an IEM.

    * EU volume cap removed with the Rockbox tool.
    ** If the problem was the treble being too thin sounding, that´s slightly better in the new version but the basic treble texture is still the same; in this case you can probably skip this one.
     
    Last edited: Dec 29, 2017
  12. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    Truly disturbing commercial. But hey, in marketing every trick is allowed.
     
  13. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    Good job @Vorlon

    Wore my ie800S on a cross-country flight, did great dealing with crying baby, playing music and assorted movies.

    Within the tuning and dynamic driver sound, there really is, as Vorlon and my friend have heard, a "real life" sort of sound based in a combination or doing vocals well, real DD timbre, and a softening of the V-shape tuning plus good extension.
     
  14. Panohm

    Panohm Friend

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    Can anyone compare these to the rhapsodio Galaxy's? If I'm looking for a very exciting sound for EDM and hip hop?
     
  15. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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    OK long story short IE800S owners: is this finally the TOTL reasonably neutral, technically capable and musical DD IEM us DD-heads have been waiting for forever? Comparable technically and balance wise with good TOTL BAs but with that DD timbre and dynamics goodness?
     
  16. Vorlon

    Vorlon self-important, pompous ass

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    Depends on what you mean by exciting. If you mean a classic V-shape with boosted treble/bass I think these will probably disappoint you. They are V-shaped, but only slightly. They sound more natural, slightly relaxed and coherent than exciting. I´ve listened to a lot of trip hop like Morcheeba plus hip hop (mostly 2Pac) and I personally really like the sound. It´s not for rocking out, but more like for when you want to listen to a 2Pac double album in one go. Sometimes I add a little sub bass via EQ on my Sony Walkman for these genres. If possible I would try to find a place to audition both the original IE 800 and the new version - it´s very possible that you might prefer the original as it does sound more exciting (but also more fatiguing/leaves its sound signature on all music) generally speaking.

    The only similarly priced BA I´ve heard is the Shure SE 846 and in my opinion these eat it for breakfast unless you are in love with the forward Shure mids. Resolution in general is much higher. They also sound way more natural and balanced. There´s less bass quantity on the IE 800 S, but better texture as usual with DD drivers plus highs are on a different level entirely*. That being said I´m not convinced the Shure 846 is good value these days anymore. What I´d really like to hear are the newer TOTL BA IEMs like the Andromedas and others, but unfortunately I have no experience of them.

    * To be more precise highs are kinda missing almost completely after a certain point on the 846...
     
  17. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    @KenBall Could please print out Stuff Jones' post and tape it on your bathroom mirror (right next to the laminated card with "Footprints in the sand" on it)?

    I'd say it is a good step in the right direction, for sure. But only Ken can lead us to the DD promised land.
     
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2017
  18. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    I think the ie800S are more "get out of the way of the music" within a full bass DD tuning iem, than an "add excitement" iem.

    The Galaxy v2 wouldn't be bad, but I would see what people say about the forthcoming v3. Sammy told me he was adding stickers to help the sound. I asked "Oh, you mean something to dampen or absorb some resonances?" He said no, stickers. So, not really sure what is going on! Sammy seemed confident v3 would be good, though.
     
  19. james444

    james444 Mad IEM modding wizard level 99

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    To me, they aren't. I'm a DD-head and would have bought them in a heartbeat, if they were. But imho, the older IE800 are actually closer to BAs in bass speed and resolution than the new IE800S.
     
  20. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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    And while we're doing requests: @KenBall can you please make a tiny (<Iphone 5S/SE size), simple, great-sounding IEM-only DAP? It should feature 15+ hour battery life, USB DAC functionality and low gain optimized for your BA IEMs while high gain for your DDs. TIA.
     

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