Sennheiser IE 900

[Chagall]

https://crinacle.com/2021/05/11/sennheiser-releases-new-flagship-iem-ie900/

 

[mononoaware]

Unfortunately the ones that come with the IE900 seem to be identical.

If package contents is the same as IE800 the included cable is the black wire one.
But if you go to Sennheiser IE800/900 page there is an option to get a silver color braided professional cable.

 

[Wegi76]

That`s interesting. On the german Sennheiser website and in reviews I watched, it appears to come with the grey cable, definitely not with a black one. The material looks identical to the IE300 cable, which I really hate.

The silver braided option sounds interesting. Do you have a link? Can`t find it... Thank you!

https://de-de.sennheiser.com/audiophile-range
https://de-de.sennheiser.com/ie-900

 

[mononoaware]

That`s interesting. On the german Sennheiser website and in reviews I watched, it appears to come with the grey cable, definitely not with a black one. The material looks identical to the IE300 cable, which I really hate.

The silver braided option sounds interesting. Do you have a link? Can`t find it... Thank you!

https://de-de.sennheiser.com/audiophile-range
https://de-de.sennheiser.com/ie-900View attachment 130479

Sorry I got confused IE400/500 PRO vs IE800/900

TWISTED CABLE FOR IE400/500 - Article No. (SKU) 507478:
https://spares.sennheiser.com/en-us/catalog/sparepart/507478

I found twisted cable by viewing US IE500 PRO page, scrolling down and the cable is listed under “accessories”.
Then I noticed how the web address changed from en-us.sennheiser to spares.sennheiser.

Maybe you can find the spares.sennheiser Germany website with Google by typing “Spares sennheiser” in German language.

Black and Grey cable does look very similar, but it could be they are slightly different. . .
The Grey cable is probably updated Black cable.

Silver braided (twisted) cable I linked is for IE400/500 PRO.
Maybe they will release new twisted cable for IE900 with different SKU.

 

[Wegi76]

No problem... The IE500 cables you linked look much nicer but I assume they won`t fit. Maybe someone in China builds aftermarket cables for the recessed MMCX connectors of the I300/900.

 

[mononoaware]

No problem... The IE500 cables you linked look much nicer but I assume they won`t fit. Maybe someone in China builds aftermarket cables for the recessed MMCX connectors of the I300/900.

I just looked at IE 800 S for the first time. Weird it looks like a thin non-removable cable?

Now I just realized IE 800 S is under Consumer "Audiophile" category, same with new IE300/IE900.
While IE400/500 PRO are under "Pro Audio" category.

So yes maybe Sennheiser will only make the included basic cable for IE300/IE900.
While IE400/500 PRO have the option of Official Sennheiser braided (twisted) cable.

 

[SlydZ]

I just looked at IE 800 S for the first time. Weird it looks like a thin non-removable cable?

The non removable cable was one of the biggest complaints about the IE 800 Another flaw was the design. Wasn't designed for over ear wearing. The IE800s is based on the IE 800 which is nearly 10 years old (2012). Thats not an excuse, but you should keep in mind that this was a different time, especially with the technical progress in the IEM world.

 

[mononoaware]

The non removable cable was one of the biggest complaints about the IE 800 Another flaw was the design. Wasn't designed for over ear wearing. The IE800s is based on the IE 800 which is nearly 10 years old (2012). Thats not an excuse, but you should keep in mind that this was a different time, especially with the technical progress in the IEM world.

Thanks.

 

[Earfonia]

This is a subjective impression of the Sennheiser IE 900 and not a review.

I had the opportunity to listen to Sennheiser IE 900 yesterday. I Visited Zeppelin & Co in Singapore, it is a 2-in-1 cafe and headphone shop. The idea is to relax, try any headphones of your choice while enjoying coffee or tea (with or without cakes). I ordered hot chocolate yesterday.

I spent about an hour or so with IE 900, went through my regular test tracks. Various genres from Classical, Chinese Orchestra, Pops, Jazz, etc. I only had my Xduoo X20 DAP with me, so that's the player I used for testing. I used a 2.5mm balanced cable for all the listening tests. I tried 4 different eartips, the stock eartips, generic 3.8mm bore eartips, generic 4.5mm bore eartips, and SpinFit CP100. To me the stock eartips sounds best by a small margin although I don't like the soft and rather flimsy build quality of the eartips.

My impression of the tonality is, boosted bass, boosted treble, and recessed mids. So definitely a V-shape tuning to my ears. My personal preferred tuning range from balanced (neutral) to mild V-shape. I would consider IE900 tuning to be a moderate V-shape which is a bit beyond my personal preference. But fortunately, it is a well-done V-shape.

Bass is probably the best part of the overall sound quality. Sub-bass extension and rumble would satisfy bass lovers. The bass is tight, punchy, and well textured. Impressive bass. But level wise it is north of neutral. On the sub and mid-bass balance, I feel that the sub-bass is a bit more dominant than the mid-bass, leaving the mid-bass a bit on the leaner side. Midbass doesn't sound as full as the IE 300 for example.

Mids sound lean and clean. Lots of clarity but rather too recessed for my taste. Up to the point that sometimes vocal sounds a bit hollow or distant. The Mids generally sounds fine for instrumental but in my opinion too lean and too recessed for vocal.

The Treble is boosted and sounds more dominant than the bass. But fortunately, it is a high-quality treble. Although boosted but I didn't have any issues with sibilance, which is quite impressive. Treble is smooth and well extended, creating a good sense of airiness and rather large holographic spaciousness. Good quality but for me a bit too boosted.

Generally, IE 900 sounds great with orchestral works. Orchestra presented with great holographic spaciousness, transparency, and clarity. The bass gives a life-like dynamic to the orchestra and makes it sounds very lively. On the other hand, as I mentioned earlier, the recessed mids made the IE 900 not my IEM of choice for vocals and pops in general. EQ will probably helps to tame the boosted bass and treble and helps to bring the mids forward to improve the overall tonality and vocal performance.

I also compared it with IE 300. IE 300 has nicer and fuller mids and mid-bass. Vocal sounds fuller on IE 300. But IE 300 treble sounds a bit peaky to my ears and more prone to sibilance. Overall I still prefer the IE 900 over IE 300 because, although it has a V-shape tuning with boosted treble, but I didn't hear any annoying peaks or dips and the treble sounds quite smooth.

Overall, IE 900 is a good-sounding IEM but it doesn't impress me. To my ears, the tonality is not perceived as balanced or close to neutral. Sennheiser maybe has its own target curve for IE 900 that is quite different than other well-known target curves.

An hour is definitely not enough to have an accurate impression on IEM sound quality, so please read these impression with some grain of salt.

 

[Jave]

View attachment 129372

Frequency response

Funny how the measurements go contrary to what they claim. More treble than the IE800, even though they use the resonators to reduce it. Seems like bad design IMO. Also the THD graph doesn't seem that special, besides maybe in the bass region.

 

[Taschenrechner]

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 tried the IE 300 followed by the IE 600 and now I landed at the IE 900

The main difference is how well they smooth out the high end and how flat they play in general. The IE 900 is a massive step up from the IE 300. While the IE 900 is a medium step up from the IE 600. Either way I have to EQ them all using sine wave sweeps and pink noise as a reference point. After testing the IE600 for months what bothers me the most is the crazy resonance peak at around 9k.

The IE 900 needs the least EQing of them all for my ears, because(!) I do not require the amount of ear gain most headphones put on (i.e. Harman target). But for some reason it creates a resonance at around 1,5khz that the others don't which is strange and kinda disappointing. But by far the IE 900 offer the most neutral audio and fidelity I've achieved with any headphone, speaker or IEM.

Subjectively the IE900s Bass is also absolutely tight and perfect to my taste. Idk what it is but it sounds perfect. Better then on the IE600 although they measure the same basically. The IE300 don't hold a candle to the IE600 or 900 for my ears.

For people who are more sensitive to ear gain the IE900 might be the ideal choice.

 

[IsaacOscar]

AliExpress is selling the IE 900 for AU$155–AU$188!

Spoiler: Caveat Emptor

• AU$155
• AU$159
• AU$159
• AU$188
• AU$188

(I wonder if these are better than an IE 200 for roughly the same price?)

And I was going to buy the from "Sennheiser" (but really Sonova) for AU$2,400!

 

[Human Bass]

AliExpress is selling the IE 900 for AU$155–AU$188!

Spoiler: Caveat Emptor

• AU$155
• AU$159
• AU$159
• AU$188
• AU$188

(I wonder if these are better than an IE 200 for roughly the same price?)

And I was going to buy the from "Sennheiser" (but really Sonova) for AU$2,400!

Probably counterfeit. Sennheiser iems are a big target of falsification .