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Sennheiser IE8 In-Ear Headphones Review

Author	Edward Chester
Published	15th Jan 2009
Manufacturer	Sennheiser
Price	£156.51 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed	£179.99 (Inc VAT)
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Design & Features
Sound Quality
Value
Overall

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One positive aspect of the case is a 'dry-salt' pad that sits in a removable cage nestled in the foam surround. This absorbs any excess moisture that may have collected on you headphones making them more hygienic and reducing the risk of moisture damage. If you're a regular gym goer, this should be a real boon. That said, I've never had any problems with any other headphones that don't have this feature.

You get four different types of tip including traditional single and double flanged silicone ones and a familiar looking smooth coated foam type. However, there's another one that looks frankly scary. It's a variation on the double flanged silicone type but with firmer more pointed flanges. Unfortunately, none of the tips quite seemed to give a truly comfortable fit, at least to my ears. This seemed to be because the end of the driver enclosure is already very wide, leaving little room for the tips to adjust to the fit of your ear.

The best were the foam type that, unlike most normal foam tips, can just be inserted straight into the ear without pre-squashing the foam. They provided a decent level of noise isolation despite sitting quite shallow in the ear and they were also surprisingly comfortable considering their size. That said, they certainly don't compete in terms of noise isolation with the deeper-insertion tips from the likes of Shure and Westone and these earphones certainly aren't featherweight.

A pair of malleable over ear wire holders are included to keep the IE8s more firmly clasped to your ears. However, we didn't feel the need to use these as the 'phones felt perfectly secure without them. Besides which, I found they just ended up snagging on my long luscious locks, which will never do.

One thing we do particularly like about these earphones is the removable cable; a good tug on the connector at the base of each 'phone brings it away and you can then replace the standard 125cm one. Sennheiser hasn't gone quite so far as to include any alternative length cables but they are available to buy for a modest cost.

For those of you vaguely familiar with these earphones, you'll notice there's one aspect of them I haven't talked about yet and that's that they're adjustable. In a similar vein to the Sleek Audio SA6s, you can control the tone of the earphones to suit your own tastes. However, instead of replaceable treble tips and bass ports, Sennheiser has gone for a simpler option of a tiny dial on the side of each driver. Using a small screwdriver, or the included tool, you can turn the bass response from flat to, well, pounding!

Now when we first heard these earphones we had a bit of a play with this dial and generally had a good listen and came away fairly unimpressed. The bass even at it's lowest level was flappy and overpowering and seemed to come at the expense of top end clarity, while turning the dial up just extended this to near comic effect. A contender to the Shure SE530's crown, these certainly didn't seem to be.

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acgs1 said on 27th March 2009

Is the problem of size vs quality mentioned in dynamic drivers still a problem in larger over-ear headphones?

acgs1 said on 6th June 2009

What point in Shure's range shows a similar level of detail?

tmternes said on 25th September 2009

What is it with all the rave reviews of the Shure products? Especially the SE530's? Am I completely missing something or does this company give all reviewers free headphones? Being in the AV industry, we have just started carrying the SE530's. I have had a chance to do some serious listening. WTF? Where is the Bass? Yes, Bass! A little would be nice. There is NONE! And you want to talk about high's. Oh, don't worry, there is PLENTY of this to go around. The sound is so sharp and crisp, I feel like I could cut diamonds!!! Ear fatigue in 10 minutes. Oh yeah, considering these are absent of bass, go and play a rock recording that lacks deep bass and this will amplify the excessive highs to where I simply cannot listen to the song. Ed made a good comment about volume levels. Anything over 2 would probably blow out your ear drum do to the excessive highs.

It is so funny that Ed could not fully recommend the IE 8's, but with all the flaws of the SE530's, they still get a phenomenal review. Interesting?

1. If the IE 8's get a knock for too much bass, why do the SE530's not get a knock for NO bass?
2. If the IE 8's get a knock for lack of detail, why do the SE530's not get a knock for Highs that are clearly too bright and cause ear fatigue in a matter of minutes?
3. I am completely baffled as to the amount of positive reviews that the SE530's get. Isn't the BEST product supposed to do everything great? How can anybody say that the 530's do bass well.

I now have a theory about self proclaimed audiophiles. #1 - They are going DEAF and they need this over abundance of highs to balance out their problem. #2 - They are scared of Bass. Yes, scared. Good god people, have any of you guys ever went to night clubs on a Friday night? You know what gets the club rockin? Bass.

Can somebody PLEASE explain to me why ALL audiophiles hate bass? Please, somebody!!!

Oh yeah, ever wonder why they call Pop Music Pop? POPULAR people! On average, more people will take a liking to a POP song over the rest of the genres. How can this be a bad thing? God forbid you might listen to a song that makes your body want to move for fear of having the "Audiophiles (LOL)" frown upon you. Give me a break!

Now I realize that a self proclaimed "Audiophile" (man this title cracks me up) may rather spend a Friday night sitting back, wearing his red velvet jacket (Hugh Hefner style), with his favorite glass of wine, puffing on a pipe wondering why he is so lonely.

Summary:

Your review is flawed because you are basing your results on your personal likes and not taking into account the different types of people that will be looking for a headphone based on THEIR music taste. How could anybody say that the SE530's sound better when listening to genres such as POP, DANCE, or RAP?

Simply put, the SE530's should get the nod for people who are looking for the last infinite piece of detail. This they do, and that is about it. The sound is not full & is overly bright.

The IE 8's plain and simply kick the crap out of the SE530's, and spit them out for people that crave deep bottom end in their music.

So, if you are into POPULAR music, you know, the kind on the radio, the kind that the majority of people in this world listen to, then the winner, hands down are the IE 8's.

However, if you are more into the articulation of music, and your taste in music would be considered not in the mainstream, then I would agree that the SE530's may be your better bet.

Is this fair?

What is it with all the rave reviews of the Shure products? Especially the SE530's? Am I completely missing something or does this company give all reviewers free headphones? Be... more

Ed said on 25th September 2009

Hi tmternes, I do agree with your points to a certain degree, these really do excel at pop music. However, we don't really see your general pop music loving public spending £... more

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