Hey there, I've been looking for a new pair of headphones for a while, and I think I've found the pair I want: The Sennheiser IE6's. They're currently 55% off on Amazon (they are an older pair of 'buds), so I figured now was a good time to upgrade from my Klipsch Image S4's. I was just wondering if anyone owned these headphones or maybe the IE7's or IE8's and if you could give me some impressions. Or, maybe you have a better suggestion for me. And no, I'm not going to buy an overrated pair of Beats.
I always use Sennhesers while I haven't tried the pairs you have mentioned I do really think they are the best in their price range I'm planning to get a pair of cx880i's shortly as I want a set with the microphone.
I have heard good things about IE6's. Check out head-fi's forum. They always have great indepth reviews on IEMs. I have the S4 too and I respect you for not buying the beats. Not only are they overpriced, they sound like crap. Also, here: http://www.head-fi.org/products/sennheiser-ie-6-in-ear-monitor-earphones/reviews. I say go for it. I think those are one of the best in that price range.
Thanks. I think I'm gonna go ahead and go for the IE6. I dunno if I'm gonna be able to wait 200 hours of burn-in after getting them, though.
I kinda like the burn in time though. I always feel the IEMs I bought sound unimpressive at first but then get better each day. It always brings a smile on my face when I notice the difference.
Hahaha I would never buy beats but I got them as a gift. Yes they are high priced and you can get better quality headphones for the price. You cannot say they are terrible quality... They are only bad for the price. This is directed at watabou
Well, I like to burn-in for a day anyway. I usually rip open the package, listen to a couple songs, then hurry and hook 'er up to my computer and shuffle iTunes.
I got them as a gift too. I agree the quality isn't terrible and the design is pretty nice but the audio from it is terrible. I don't listen to hip-hop/rap and such "music" so playing anything other than those, I just feel the bass is too overpowering and the highs, mids, and lows are disappointing.
Myself, I think this "burn in" stuff is a bunch of hokum. The sound may seem to improve, but more likely simply because you have gotten use to the way they sound. Of course I could be wrong, but it just strikes me as a bit too much like writing on the edge of a CD with a black marker.
Reading this thread makes me want a new pair of earbuds. I like the IE6 that you guys were suggesting, but the S4's look more in my price range. Is that a worthy buy considering?
Well, the fact that the way I "burn-in" is one listen and then no more until it's cycled through my songs on iTunes for a day or two before I listen again makes it very apparent to me that burn-in is not "hokum." It's heavily suggested by a lot of headphone review sites on headphones with dynamic drivers. I loved my S4's. The only problem that I had with them was that they generated a lot of cable noise; just barely touching the cable seemed to create a seismic event within your ear at times. But they fit very well for me, and the sound quality is quite a step above the Apple headphones and the pair of Sony IEM's I had before that. But I think it'd be worth it to fork over the extra $40 on Amazon to get the IE6's.
Etymotic HF-3 I really dig Etymotic's line of gear - I have a pair of the 4p's and recently purchased the HF-3's for my iPhone. Not as much bass as many would like but to me it's the perfect amount and a really nice, flat, smooth sound. I prefer the foam earplugs as they're more comfortable to me and block out the world ever so nicely Good price too- Etymotic HF-3
How good are the above mentioned ear buds for exercise? I want one that I can move to and not fall out.
But those headphone review sites are populated by people who once drew with a black marker around their CDs. Seriously, though, are there any headphone *manufacturers* that actually recommend "burning in" their headphones? If that actually worked, you would think they'd be the first to tell you to do it so you end up happy with their headphones. I'm still calling it hokum until Sennheiser or Westone or some good headphone manufacturer tells me to do it.
Not to sure about burning in thing myself the way I look at it is if it does work in anyway it'll happen eventually through normal use anyway. I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure the black marker thing was a way of turning certain CDs DRM off so you could rip the CDs it worked by blocking out the outer data track if I remember right. Then again maybe audiophiles did it for some other reason I've seen stranger things.
I just did a search and came up with green marker, but it certainly doesn't matter. In the 80's or some such time period, some audiophiles thought this improved the sound quality of CDs which is of course completely ludicrous, but that didn't stop 'em. The note I just found said that it then came back in later years as an alleged means to remove copy protection, but that almost certainly wasn't true either. It was completely silly.
yeah that's called microphonics. One solution is to clip the cable to your shirt. Or your could loop the wires around your ears. Sure they would be upside down and look kinda weird, but it gets the job done. IMO if you have the money and big ear canals, go for the Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10. But beware of build problems with it. Quite a few people say their wires start to go kinda fast. I don't mind though, I'm getting a custom cable made to replace the stock cable as well as improve sound. Consult the list if you wanna get into IEMs (In-Ear Monitors).
Measured differences. Not actually on headphones, but believe what you will. It may very well be a load of crap, but I think that I can tell the difference between the first out-of-the-box listen and the second listen after they've been cycling my tunes for a few hours. If it's just me getting used to them, there certainly wasn't any harm done in playing music on the headphones for a while.
Alright, the 'phones shipped yesterday, and after a bit of listening this morning, I thought I'd give some initial impressions. First of all, the build quality of the headphones is incredibly apparent right out of the box. The cable is much thicker than that of the Image S4's; these things could probably take a punch. The connectors into the headphones and the 3.5mm jack are very strong and sturdy. The headphones themselves are very solid and surprisingly light. The earbuds themselves are a little different. The rubber feels a little flimsy compared to the S4's; failing to remove them carefully would probably result in ripping. There are small, medium, and large sizes, with single and double-flange options available for all sizes. I didn't spend too much time trying to find the right buds, but I settled on the medium single-flange for now. I might try the small doubles later today. My ears haven't adjusted to the shape of the buds yet (the Klipsch line has really nice oblong buds, different from the half-spheres usually found on headphones), so they started out a little uncomfortable, but they seem to be fitting better now. Initially, it was a little difficult to get a good fit with the buds. I'm not used to the cable going around the earlobe, and that's how these headphones are designed. I've been getting used to it, though, and whereas it took a few tries to get the phones in right and a good bass response into my ear at first, now it's first-try for me. Now for the sound. The first thing is that these phones are very clean. They're not really oriented toward a specific frequency range, although I am noticing that the very clean bass is starting to become a little more prominent. Mids are in the perfect volume level, and the highs are very crisp and just laid back enough to let everything else come through as they should. The noise isolation seems to be about the same as the Klipsch pairs I had, if not a little bit better. These phones are also much louder by default than the Klipsch pair were. Anyway, I'm very impressed with the sound so far, and I'll try to give more impressions as these things break in/I get used to them.
If there is a downside to the sennheiser in ears it probably is the rubber buds even though they fit me very well you do have to be quite careful not to lose them as they can quite easily come off. I'm thinking of putting a single spot of light glue on mine just to prevent that. They are very good for the price and I've had a pair last me a few years before which is a very long time for me and I actually only broke them by getting the cable caught and tugging it quite hard.
