Sennheiser IE 80 S - Review 2022

Sennheiser has a reputation for excellence when it comes to headphones and microphones, but in-culvert earphones are a smaller piece of the puzzle for the German sound manufacturer. At $349.99, the IE 80 S earphones are an expensive offer, but the good news is that they audio fantastic. They as well feature adjustable bass and ship with a broad pick of eartips. That said, the design isn't every bit user-friendly as it should be, especially for the toll, and that keeps the pair from scoring top marks.

Design

Visually speaking, the IE fourscore S are rather humdrum. A black matte cable leads to black matte earpieces, one marked with a red band for correct. The expect here is professional gear—not ugly, but not stylish.

There'southward no inline remote command. The included cable tin be removed and replaced with one that has a remote, but it costs more than money (as of this writing, at that place is no official word on the pricing or availability of the replacement cablevision). Why Sennheiser doesn't throw in an actress cable at this loftier cost is a mystery—why carp building earphones to work specifically with mobile devices and then exclude the remote? The skillful news here is that the cablevision is removable, a design decision that will likely add longevity to the life of the earphones, as cables are typically the first thing to fail.

Sennheiser IE 80 S inline The in-ear fit is excellent. This is due in part to the IE eighty S's lightweight design, as well as the generous assortment of ear tips provided. There are iii total pairs of Comply cream dissonance-isolating ear tips (S, Thousand, and Fifty), likewise equally v more pairs of silicone tips in diverse sizes. Likewise included: a pair of over-the-ear silicone cablevision hooks to farther secure the fit, and an earpiece cleaning tool for removing wax buildup. It'south unclear why the snap-on cablevision hooks aren't just built-in every bit part of the design, equally they seem more or less essential to providing the ideal fit. Every bit is, they can partially pop off fairly easily. All of these accessories fit inside the included nothing-up conveying case, with foam molds for holding the earphones in place.

Internally, the earpieces apply neodymium dynamic drivers to deliver a frequency range of 10Hz to 20kHz with an impedance of 16 Ohms. Intriguingly, the bass response tin be adapted ear-to-ear using the included cleaning tool, which doubles as a micro screwdriver on the other cease—each earpiece has a very tiny screw on the outer panel. Turning correct adds bass response, and turning left decreases it. Adjusting the bass is easy plenty, but the spiral lacks detent click points, and its visual markers for the halfway bespeak could exist a lot easier to run across. In other words, it's non easy to guarantee that each ear's bass is at the exact same level, unless you boost or cut it completely. A larger, unmarried knob controlling both channels would have been easier to use and would have ensured matched bass response ear-to-ear.

Performance

Nosotros tested the IE fourscore Southward with the bass levels at various settings. At the lowest bass setting, the earphones all the same have more low frequency depth than typical flat response pairs, but the bass is clear and well balanced with the rest of the frequency range. On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Pocketknife's "Silent Shout," the earphones deliver a hearty subwoofer-fashion thump that manages to not overpower the mix and never distorts even at high, unwise listening levels.

At middle bass levels, Beak Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a meliorate sense of the overall sound signature. The drums on this track can audio overly thunderous on in-ears that heave the lows too heavily. Through the IE lxxx Southward, the drums take powerful bass depth, only information technology isn't over the peak. They sound full and round, but not unnatural. Callahan'south baritone vocals get an added richness, but it's balanced out for the most office past some solid high-mid presence. The guitar strums sometimes audio brighter than they do on other pairs, and Callahan'due south vocals sometimes sound more than well-baked—this sound signature, even with the bass at low or medium levels, is a lows- and mids-forward affair, with a footling less crispness and brightness in the college frequencies. Moving to a lower bass setting, the drums still have plenty of body and depth, but the higher frequencies seem more bright and airy—Callahan's vocals get their treble border back.

Using medium or high levels on the bass knobs on Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop gets enough loftier-mid presence to accentuate its precipitous set on, just over again, we typically hear a little more loftier-mid presence that pushes the attack fifty-fifty further to the front end of the mix. Instead, the loop sounds heftier in the lows. The sub-bass synths hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with gusto, just less of their raspy top notes, while the vocals are clear enough, but could do good from a little more high-mid presence. Dialing the bass all the way back suddenly gives the loop its edgy, punchy assail, thins out its sustain, and offers a clearer vocal presence. It's on this track that nosotros finally settled on a bass setting of somewhere between low and medium levels.

Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel Co-ordinate to the Other Mary, go more low frequency boosting than some may prefer at near any level beyond the second notch on the bass adjuster. Only at the 2nd notch, the lows play a rich, lovely supporting role—when there'southward sub-bass-like lows, you hear it, but it'south never likewise much, and the higher register contumely, strings, and vocals maintain their bright, crisp place in the spotlight.

Conclusion

The Sennheiser IE fourscore S earphones offer audio operation in line with their lofty price, and a number of bonny features, similar adjustable bass and a detachable cable. But adjusting the bass tin be frustrating, the included cable lacks a remote, and nosotros wish the ear hooks were permanently built into the earpieces. So they earn high marks for audio and features, but we have less enthusiasm for the overall design. In this toll range and lower, at that place are several excellent-sounding earphones worth your attending. We recommend the Etymotic ER4 XR, Bowers & Wilkins C5 Series 2, RHA CL750, and for more money, the intriguing Audeze iSine20. If you can get past the aforementioned pattern issues, however, the IE 80 S will non disappoint on sound quality.