IE 600 Refurbished

Ich habe den IE600 im Outlet gekauft. Leider wurde mir ein Exemplar geschickt, bei dem auf einer Seite die Umfassung der mmcx-Buchse gebrochen war. Dazu gab's noch einen Kabelbruch im unsymmetrischen Kabel. Ich habe ihn daher zurückgeschickt. Schweren Herzens, da Klang und Passform leider großartig sind. Auch wenn es "nur" ein Outlet-Produkt ist, hätte ich bessere Qualität erwartet.

I found the perfect In-Ear with the IE 600. The weird thing about the IE 600 is that they are wide band and you can hear it. The air is the loudest and most brutally tuned I've ever heard. It was really fatiguing but that's actually good as it means for the first time I can actually turn the air down instead of up. Meaning the air and highs are extra less distorted than on any other In-Ear, where I most likely need to tinker with the highs a lot till they are just right. With the IE 600 all I need to do is push them down and they are almost perfectly aligned to my hearing curve and holy frick this is truly beyond next level. For the first time I only need to attenuate frequencies to arrive at a perfect curve. The IE 600 has basically no distortion. The IE 300 I can actually detect slight distortions using pure sine waves on some notes but they are already extremely minimal compared to any other in ear I've ever tried. The IE 600 has the better frequency for EQing while the IE300 might have the better frequency response out of the box. I am not sure why Sennheiser pushed the highs that far and I am guessing it's to showcase the extreme resolution they offer in the highs and to make sure that even the deafest of their customers hears it.

Listening to the whole spectrum each sine wave is clean as whistle while the frequency response is smooth and easy to EQ (no sudden ups and downs). Plus because they are build like tanks what ever happens they hopefully will keep their sound for ever. A perfect sound to brain interface once EQed. It's also amazing that you can actually turn the left ear bud vs right ear bud so that they can account for differences in ear canal structure. I twist the left ear bud slightly counter clockwise so the nozzle points somewhat more towards "my eyes" while the right one sits in its normal position. doing so does not make them less comfortable and I can wear them for hours without ear fatigue. I really can't ask for more.

I am a firm believer in high resolution graphic minimal phase EQing for headphones and use the fantastic little tool called MathAudio Headphone EQ which corrects the mismatch between your headphone and your hearing organs. Coming from that I believe frequency response can never really be perfect for the individual ear and so EQing with precise sine wave sweeping, listening to the smoothness of 1/f-noise (pink noise) and reference tracks is a must.

Proper silicone creates a perfect seal already Actually the IE 600 seal so well it sometimes feel a bit like I am having a suction cup on my ears which is somewhat unpleasant and I am afraid of straining my ears that way somehow. I found that a slight air gap/vent sometimes is more comfortable. So needless to say the ergonomics are fantastic.

Negatives:
Stock silicone tips do not fit me. The smallest one is too small while the medium one is too big. I would need sometime right in between. So I had to use some from my collection of ear tips. A good seal is a must. Foam tips are a bit wasteful for my taste so I don't use them.

Cable is very noisy. I bought a cheap thin braided cable and that made them so much nicer to wear. While I believe the cables are very durable, the cable noises are really annoying. Even when using the clip on and chinstrap thingy.

Thank you Sennheiser for this "brain-computer-interface" experience.

Now if Sennheiser could release the IE 650 with a precise Harman tuning with ultra thin low cable noise cables (like the Linum BaX) that would be fantastic. 😉

Wonderfully homogeneous, clear and even sound. I was absolutely blown away the first time I put these in. These are probably the best in-ear monitors I have ever heard. Absolutely incredible specifically for classical music, recitals, and chamber music.

Having my HD 800 in mind: Cristal clear sound, but also able to do deep and dry bass! not as comfortable to wear as the 300, but after some time you get used to it. Maybe for some people it makes sense to try spin fit instead the original ear-tips. Did not hear the 900 yet - don't think it is neccesary - Great performance for the price - with the rebate you can get here for the 600s it is a really fair relation between price and what you get...