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Sennheiser IE 900

DJBonoBobo

DJBonoBobo

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Sennheiser announced a new flagship IEM today: https://en-de.sennheiser.com/ie-900 (€ 1,299)

I do not know what the price-performance ratio is, but it looks elaborate.
I like that they have adopted the design of the Pro models with the cable routing behind the ear.
I find the clickable image with the resonater chambers cute... :-)
 
Kind of a weird V-shaped signature (somewhat like the IE300), but not too bad overall it seems: https://crinacle.com/2021/05/11/sennheiser-releases-new-flagship-iem-ie900/
1299€ seems steep for what it is, but that might just be me not really caring for IEMs.

As a general thought: since Sennheiser sold the consumer products division now I wonder how it will change in the future.
 
What I want to know is, is this foreshadowing an HD900?
 
After what the HD820 turned out to be - let's hope they don't rush it :)
 
aandres_gm said:
I kinda wish I had gotten the IE 300 at 189€ when I had the chance.
Click to expand...

Same here. Would also love to try both models.

Reviewers are quite "blown away" by the IE 900 at the moment but for me it is just not worth it for an IEM.
Would be interesting how close/well you can EQ the IE 300 or even the Momentum 2 True Wireless.
At the moment I am quite happy with my Sony WF-1000XM3 and I don´t miss the cables ;-)
 
I own the IE300s. The IEMs are cool but I really don`t like the cable. Strong cable microphonics, thick around the ear and not that great to wear with glasses... Unfortunately the ones that come with the IE900 seem to be identical.
 
Why not just buy convenient wireless earbuds like the AirPods Pro’s, Sony WF-1000XM3 or the Jabra Elite 75T?

I never understood why audiophiles brought expensive IEM’s and portable DAC/AMP, that cost in the $1000+ range, for commuting and just being outside their home.


I don’t want to come off a insensitive but do people who walk around with these things have a case of OCD? Are they incapable of listening to music on lesser quality earbuds other than their pristine audiophile gear at home? At this point. You’re not listening to music anymore. You’re listening to the gear that plays the music, right?

There’s a saying that the things you own end up owing you. I hope I’m not offending anyone. I’d like to understand the thought process.
 
Last edited:
garageband said:
Why not just buy convenient wireless earbuds like the AirPods Pro’s, Sony WF-1000XM3 or the Jabra Elite 75T?

I never understood why audiophiles brought expensive IEM’s and portable DAC/AMP, that cost in the $1000+ range, for commuting and just being outside their home.


I don’t want to come off a insensitive but do people who walk around with these things have a case of OCD? Are they incapable of listening to music on lesser quality earbuds other than their pristine audiophile gear at home? At this point. You’re not listening to music anymore. You’re listening to the gear that plays the music, right?

There’s a saying that the things you own end up owing you. I hope I’m not offending anyone. I’d like to understand the thought process.
Click to expand...

Comfort, aesthetic, sound quality. Some people also use their iem at home. Especially stuff like the Empire Odin or Sony Z1R. Iem are pretty easy to drive in general , wouldn't need anything crazy. A dongle, btr3, qudilex, es100 would be cheap and work amazingly well with most.
 
garageband said:
Why not just buy convenient wireless earbuds like the AirPods Pro’s, Sony WF-1000XM3 or the Jabra Elite 75T?

I never understood why audiophiles brought expensive IEM’s and portable DAC/AMP, that cost in the $1000+ range, for commuting and just being outside their home.


I don’t want to come off a insensitive but do people who walk around with these things have a case of OCD? Are they incapable of listening to music on lesser quality earbuds other than their pristine audiophile gear at home? At this point. You’re not listening to music anymore. You’re listening to the gear that plays the music, right?

There’s a saying that the things you own end up owing you. I hope I’m not offending anyone. I’d like to understand the thought process.
Click to expand...

Personal take is, in a generally quaint environment, a high quality (not necessarily expensive) IEM can be really enjoyable for certain forms of music.
In the tropics for example, its pretty uncomfortable listening to headphones for long sessions if you are not in an air conditioned environment.

But most of these lose their "specialness" once used in a relatively noisy environment or commute. The background noise just drowns out the qualitative differences they offer over cheap IEMS of decent quality. I switch to wireless adaptors for my IEMS when on the move outdoors. I literally cannot tell the difference when all the background noise comes into the mix of things.

As for other reasons you raised, its like why people wear a Rolex to go grocery shopping when a regular Casio G-Shock is more than adequate.
 
fr.jpg


Frequency response
 
It seems very fun sounding and comfortable, but that price is brutal.
 
edahl said:
Given how lauded AudioQuest or Abyss products are in the audiophile public, that's not a very interesting metric to me when judging headphones.

I agree on the price though.
Click to expand...
The problem with the 820 is that sounds very weird. When it comes to headphones, something you actually easily hear, measurements are not the end of all things, but of course they are useful.
 
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