Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Biggest earphone soundstage to date!, 6 Jan 2009
The last earphone review I wrote was for the Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10 Pro, which were my favourites for the last nine months. During that time, I've tried various others, including the Sennheiser IE7, and triple-driver Westone 3. I finally settled for the IE8 and have to say I'm very happy with them, and can't see myself upgrading anytime soon.
The soundstage is huge, and I mean huge! Classical, acoustic, rock, electronica all sound terrific. There's incredible depth and height to the soundstage that I've never heard to that extent in any of the other earphones I've owned. If you want a set of earphones that sound even more speaker like than the Triple.fi, you should really try the IE8.
The bass is good, very deep and impactful. I haven't even played around with the adjuster, since the default setting of minimum is way more than adequate. The midrange is perhaps the nicest I've heard to date. I always liked the Triple.fi midrange/vocals - but the IE8 is more open and forward, with male and female vocals sounding especially rich and clear. The overall tone is smooth and warm, but with plenty of detail, and thanks to the giant soundstage, instrument separation is excellent.
The treble is the only frequency that perhaps isn't up to par with the rest. It certainly isn't bad, and sounds very smooth and detailed - but compared with the Triple.fi, it seems slightly quieter. Don't get these if you're looking for Etymotic-like treble! I can live with it as the phenomenal bass and midrange make up for everything else :)
As far as fit is concerned, they sit flush with the ears and are very comfortable provided you choose the right tip. I use the hard foam ones which give me the best isolation and sound quality, although there are several others to choose from. But if you use the foam tips, and you find the bass a little too 'much', just pull them out a fraction from the ears.
The cable is very good quality and doesn't tangle. It's also detachable, which is good news, since you can either replace the cable if it fails, or upgrade to a better one if you wanted to. I wouldn't bother to upgrade it personally, but at least the option is there for anyone who does.
If I had to nitpick, it would be that the supplied storage case is, umm... rubbish. It's a strange drawer-like contraption, where you slide out the 'drawer', wind the phones around the cutouts, and then slide the drawer back in again! I can't be bothered with it and it's too bulky, so I just store them in a small padded pouch. I didn't knock off a star because I didn't buy them for the case, and the sound alone is worth 5 stars.
EDIT: Thought I should add that although I thought they sounded great straight out of the box - they sounded much better after about 10 hours. I think TrustedReviews weren't impressed until they had at least 20 hours on them, by which time they totally loved them. So whether you believe in burn in or not, it's worth reserving judgement until about 20 hours has passed. Just a tip :-)
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best IEM's To Date, 1 Feb 2009
I read Julikat's excellent review of the IE8's before buying mine, in fact she was the reason I bought them really, she has so many good things to say of them I was sold. I have to say that I agree with everything she has said about them, she's pretty much covered all the bases and being a much respected member of Head-Fi you can take it as written she knows her stuff.
So why am I writing a review? Well it's more of a comparison than a review but the reason for it, is to let you know how good these things really are........
I've owned and sold off so many Earphones and Headphones I don't even want to think of the money I've spent/lost. However, I can count on one hand the number of them that have made the hairs on my neck stand on end, the IE8's do this and then some.
The two best IEM's on the consumer market at present IMHO are the Westone 3's and these IE8's, the Westones have 3 armature drivers, one each for Bass, Midrange and Highs whereas the IE8's use a single dynamic wide frequency driver. I've always been a fan of armatures in IEM's because I have a critical ear and the likes of UE Triple Fi's, Shures SE530's and Q-Jays (all of which I've owned at some point) do reveal every nuance of detail. However with the exception of the Q-jays none really deliver musically as they can come across as clinical.
Sennheiser have got something really special with the IE8's and my preference for armature driven phones has changed. The IE8'd do deliver detail but they also deliver music in such a way that it's fun, it involving and once you start listening you just want to keep listening.
I own the Westone 3's and when I'm in the mood to pick at specifics in production I use them because they reveal every last pin drop. When I want to listen for pure enjoyment I pick up the IE8's.
From a quality perspective I believe these to be a work of art, even the packaging and the carry case ooze class. I haven't used the bass tuning yet as I think the default setting is spot on but it's there if you feel the need.
Be warned, these do not sound fantastic straight out of the box, they require a few hours 'Burn In' as do most dynamic drivers. However, unlike some full sized phones (like K701's, AH-D2000's, SR3251's etc...) that require hundreds of hours to open up these only need about 20-30 hours before the bass tightens, the treble extends and the sound stage increases.
If you want the best IEM's on the market in my honest opinion these are the ones to buy.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Its like having new music, 17 Jan 2009
I did way too much research into the pro's and the con's of the ie8's, the ultimate ears and the shure + a few others. In the end to cover off bass, treble, comfort + the over all look these came out as the winner. Just received them and got an instant seal with the supplied buds and am trying out the other to see how they go.
Sound is great and I have tweaked up the bass which to my ears does the job amazingly. They don't stick out from your ears at all, so no Frankenstein looking bolts! Yes they are more expensive that normal ear phones... but if you love music then these are for you - and thankfully me.
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