Sennheiser IE 800 review

Sennheiser’s IE 800 is a seriously expensive pair of earphones. Just from the price alone, it’s clear they are aimed at a very specific demographic of high-end audiophiles rather than the mass market.

As with many objects of audiophile lust, at this price you begin entering the realms of diminishing gains when it comes to sound quality. While the audio fidelity differences between earphones costing £20 and those costing £200 is quite pronounced, the more you spend at the higher brackets the more difficult it becomes to perceive differences in sound quality.

Make no mistake, the IE 800 wired headphones undoubtedly sound fantastic; there is an incredible amount of quality, richness and detail in the mid-tones and treble. Everything is so crisp in sound that it was a joy to listen to songs we were long accustomed to, just to hear the difference. Interestingly, while many high-end earphones have an emphasis towards a relatively ‘flat’ sound or towards the higher frequencies, in order to really bring out the detail in your music, the IE 800 has a stunning bass presence to match.

The extremely tight bass isn’t without its problems, however, although these can’t necessarily be attributed to the earphones themselves. Certain modern music isn’t always mixed with such high-end equipment in mind, meaning certain tracks felt overpowered by the IE 800’s bass reproduction. The ever present computer-generated bass beat in a modern R&B track like Miguel’s Adorn is normally background noise, but the IE800s suddenly bring it to the forefront and makes it hard to ignore. This isn’t something we’ve noticed with lower-quality headphones.

However, aside from these isolated incidents, the bass produced by the IE 800 is wonderful in its lack of distortion and has just the right amount of warmth. Songs have real depth towards them and the sound signature is well balanced, without any colour. At no point did listening to them become fatiguing and the IE 800s sounded universally impressive across numerous music genres.

The IE 800s use an extra wide band transducer system, allowing for a stunning frequency response of 5-46500Hz. This means the earphones are capable of producing detailed sound across the frequency spectrum and are a good choice to pair with a high resolution audio device. To put this into perspective, we are used to seeing a frequency response of 20-20,000Hz in more reasonably priced headphones.

Sennheiser has managed to squeeze the size of its dynamic driver down to just 7mm, meaning each IE 800 earbud is surprisingly small. Sennheiser’s use of a single dynamic driver in each headphone to produce all of the frequency range raised a few eyebrows as we’re used to seeing balanced armature and dynamic driver pairings in high-end headphones. Balanced armature drivers are designed to handle different sound frequencies, so multiple drivers are used to cover the entire sound spectrum. These drivers sometimes struggle with the lower frequencies, however, so are sometimes paired with a dynamic driver to give a helping hand with bass. The fact that Sennheiser has managed to get such good frequency representation from a single dynamic driver is therefore an impressive feat. With an impedence of 16 ohms it doesn’t require much to drive these headphones, either. Combined with the isolating nature of the earphones, you shouldn’t have to turn the volume up too much.

The IE 800s use oval-shaped silicone tips and the drivers are protected by two mesh screens to keep wax and dirt out. One mesh is attached to the earphones and the other is built into the silicone sleeve. We found the oval-sleeves comfortable and finding a suitable fit was easy enough as five different sizes are provided. However, they never felt completely secure due in part to the manner in which you wear the IE 800. Rather than looped over the ears and sat reasonable snug in the outer-ear area (pinna) like in-ear monitors from other manufacturers, the IE 800 is worn straight in. While the IE 800s are very light, this still means the weight of the cable and gravity pull the earphones away from your ears.

A secure fit and using the right sized tips with in-ear earphones is critically important for optimum bass response. Foam tips are often the best way of ensuring a good fit as they expand in your ear-canal to create a tight seal. We would have liked to have seen some compressible foam tips provided, especially considering the cost of the IE 800s.

We tried a pair of foam tips that came with a different pair of earphones that happened to fit the IE 800 and found them infinitely more comfortable. We were no longer worried about the earphones falling out and isolation was also much improved. The Comply TSX-500 foam tips (£21.99 from Amazon) are compatible with the IE 800 should you want to upgrade and also include an integrated wax guard.

The IE 800 otherwise feels reassuringly robust. The cable, which has a patterned design that resembles snakeskin, is covered in Kevlar and made from oxygen-free copper with gold-plated contacts. The L-shaped 3.5mm connection is well reinforced, which is reassuring as this is often a weak point.

Disappointingly, the cable does create a lot of microphonic noise when you walk around. This is when the cable rubs against your clothing and the vibrations travel up to your ears. With the volume turned up it’s not a major issue but with the earphones in and no music playing the noise is incredibly irritating. Many earphones avoid this problem by allowing you to wear them looped over the back of your ears but this isn’t possible with the IE 800 due to the short cable.

The cable detaches just below where the two earphone cables come together. There’s no integrated microphone or remote to use with a smartphone, but this is to be expected for a pair of in-ears aimed at audiophiles. You’ll need to buy an audio cable with remote (RCS800, £150, www.custom-cable.co.uk) should you want the simple option of hands-free calling but this is incredibly expensive.

To help protect your expensive investment, Sennheiser provides a leather case that you can wind your earphones around. Fortunately, they’re loosely wound, so we’re confident you won’t damage your earphones in the long run as winding earphones isn’t always advised.

Overall, there were only a few detractors that stop the IE 800s getting top marks, like the lack of included accessories and the microphonics caused by the cable. They also don’t sound significantly better than certain other high-end earphones, like the Shure SE535, that are a few hundred cheaper. Whether or not you are happy with paying more for a slight improvement is a tough decision.

The Sennheiser IE 800s certainly sound fantastic provided you are happy with the price and you can deal with the constant worry associated with an expensive pair of earphones dangling precariously from your ears. There’s at least a two-year warranty from Sennheiser that brings some peace of mind in that regard. If money is no option, you won’t be disappointed.