Comments on: Sennheiser IE 8 Review

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 21:37:27 +0000

Johan: Thanks. Guess another one of the clues of fake IE 8′s is…Yup..No magnetic plate in the storage box. Ask me how I know…
I returned those and bought real IE 8′s from a Senn Dealer. Ahhh..what a difference! Now I also have sonic bliss AND a functioning magnetic latch in the storage case.
My Advice:
Avoid Caveat Emptor…by from a Sennheiser Dealer. Period.

By: Johan Bogg

Johan Bogg — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 22:06:22 +0000

Mark: The Silver disc is a magnet, it sticks to the backside of the shell. Look into the outer shell of the box and you’ll understand.

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 21 May 2011 00:10:22 +0000

Does the IE8 bass adjustment knob have detents or clicks, or is it just a smooth turn with no distinct steps?

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 18 May 2011 04:03:59 +0000

The disc/pill doesn’t actually touch the silica gel cage or seal the chamber since it has a groove in it. Also, it moves back and forth (rattles) in it’s slot regardless of the drawer being open or closed.

Is it made of something in particular that has a purpose? Mine looks like a ceramic.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 18 May 2011 03:53:00 +0000

Martin,
I understand the ‘cage’ for the silica gel pack, but how does the disc/pill relate to it?

The pill seems to be loose in a slot in the drawer, just enough to rattle around. Mine looks like it’s made of ceramic w/silver splotches. WTF does it do? Everything else in the case seems to have a purpose however insignificant and/or impractical.

By: Martin Sägmüller

Martin Sägmüller — Mon, 16 May 2011 11:06:20 +0000

It should keep the desiccant box in place, I suppose.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 16 May 2011 01:02:21 +0000

What’s the purpose of the round silver disc in the bottom of the drawer of the IE8 storage case? Mine seems to just rattle around.

By: Rick

Rick — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:56:44 +0000

I own both IE7 and IE8 for a long time. After I read you column about the terrible fit of the ear tip. I bought the Ultimate ears tip to try out. I tested on the IE8 and the sound suddenly changed. All the bright sparkle became soft blended and the powerful base attack became muddy blur. When comparing to the IE7 wearing it’s original tip the differences became so obvious. That’ perhaps the effect you have of sound degrading over time. Of couse changing the tip also effects the sound stage, as the IE8 is designed as an open IEM to provide greater dimension. It was not intended to isolate noise, comparing to the CX model and other closed types. So I would truly recommend you to tryout the IE8 with their original tips again. Yes it does not provvide perfect fit and I had weeks to get used to it but after thet the sound quality just blows me out. Another tip I would like to share is that the IE8 does present it’s output based on the input you give it. In a very sensitive way than other IEMs. I tried it with different players and many different music geners from many tracks. High quality recorded symphony gives an amazing output details of every single instrument as if I was sitting there in the or chrestra. No hard base attacking the low mids at all. When putting it to normal MP3 tracks, depending on how they were recorded LF can have interference. I tried the same track from the original CD and the change was truely different. The isolation of instruments are so clear. So again, I would recommend any one testing the IE8 needs to take quite some time. First to get used to it’s fit then playing around with your music source. In the end music is a personnal preference. Sennheiser does offer it’s unique characteristic of full body music. Some call muddy or overblown base. I have tried alot to be able to conclude that this is from the music source. So if your preference is soft bright music but you do not have a good record track the UE10 or X10 will provide you the solution. For everything else IE8 gives the best details in all frequency levels with an amazing sound stage. Value wise, I would say the IE7 is more worth. The quality comes very close comparing to the $100 I payed.

By: make_or_break

make_or_break — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 19:32:00 +0000

With AUTHENTIC IE-8s I found that the big problem in achieving good sound seems to be with getting a proper fit out of the supplied tips. Seems to be hit and miss with a lot of folks. I’ve bought my set shortly after they went live and at first I had to try all sorts of tips before I got the sonic performance down right. It was frustrating and drawn out to say the least. But that doesn’t work at all if you were unfortunate enough to have purchased a counterfeit set, examples of which started showing up around the world nearly a year ago. The IE-8 can be a great-sounding IEM, but there are serious caveats that come with them.

By: conditionals

conditionals — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 04:33:03 +0000

I just bought a pair of these. I’ve been using Sennheisers for about 8 years, mainly PX200s, which I consider to be the perfect “street” headphone. I’ve owned about 15 pairs. I’ve also got a few other Sennheisers, like the PXC450 and various other models. This is my first experience with IEMs, and I have to say… they suck. Bad. For mobile listening, the sound is so ridiculously inferior to my PX200s, which cost 1/6th the price. In home-listening situations, the PXC450s destroy them. Not to mention that any perceived benefits, such as the soundstage or better treble quality, are lost when the earbuds slip further out of my ear canal. Which is 96% of the time (I’ve tried all the various buds). What’s the point of supposedly sounding good if you can’t achieve that sound without constantly pressing them in your ears? I’m no audiophile, but I listen to music for hours on hours a day, and quality is important to me. These are trash.