Sennheiser IE 7 earphones

Posted by Bill on November 9th, 2009 at 08:38pm Comments

Sennheiser IE 7 earphones
Reviewed by: Bill Henderson
Sennheiser USA - noise in ear Headphones, IE 7
Price: $389.95

I’ve reviewed some inexpensive earphones and some very expensive ones and noticed that most companies usually try to market themselves in the inexpensive arena or the higher priced one. Sennheiser bucks that trend and markets to them all. They make some very affordable earbuds, for instance the MX 160 at $20 and they make one of the most expensive headphones you can buy, the $1,400 HD 800 model.

I was lucky enough to get to review the IE 7 model, which- although in the middle of their pro line of earphones - are priced well above most other companies best offerings. But do they sound better then those others?

When you first see them in photos, they don’t look like your normal canal phones. And they aren’t. The IE 7s fit in your ear one way. It’s either right or it’s very wrong. Get it wrong and you will wish for your Apple earbuds back. Get it right and it will sound like your brain just opened up for your favorite music.

To help you get that ‘right’ fit, Sennheiser packs in different styles of eartips as well as a pair of earhooks, cleaning tool, and a shirt clip. The plastic earhooks are supposed to help you keep the cord where it belongs while wrapped around your ear. I didn’t have that particular problem, so I didn’t use them. The cords are thick and look very sturdy. (By the way, the IE 7s are packed inside one of the most over-engineered, convoluted box and case I’ve ever seen. I almost had as much fun playing with this as I had with the earphones.)

Because of the cost, I wanted to get the best I could from the IE 7s, so I left them plugged in to my iPod for 8 hours straight at medium volume overnight to break them in (most earphones actually sound better after extended use). Once you get the IE 7s sealed properly, your ears will vibrate… in a good way on bass-friendly songs, but not at the expense of the middle range. even the higher octaves of the female voice hold their own set against this bottom end. For instance the anguish portrayed in the song, Foundations by Kate Nash is so intimate, it’s almost uncomfortable. Her vocals come across as if she is confiding in her best friend, (you - the listener) while the toy piano sound gets under your skin.

Then there is I Believe In You from Talk Talk. Mark Hollis’ heartbreak is palpable as varying instruments fade in and out of a gauzy melancholy which is overtaken with devastating clarity from organ and synth notes. It all comes together inside your head as only a very good pair of earphones like the IE 7s can produce giving you goosebumps along the way.

The dynamic speaker design produces a warmer sound than most armature-based earphones. Some prefer this approach because the IE 7s give you a smoother delivery. Sennheiser promotes the IE 7s as ideal for studio monitoring and I believe it. They are rated at 26 dB noise reduction. What that means is if you have them sealed right, you won’t have to worry about hearing much of anything besides your music. These are serious earphones for serious listening.

The bottom line: If you can’t seem to get a fit that you like, keep trying. Because when you finally get that fit just right, there’s not much out there that can match it.

 

Related posts:

1. Sennheiser MM 50: iPhone Accessory Review
2. iSkin Cerulean X1 earphones
3. Atrio M8 earphones: iPhone / iPod accessory review
4. Sennheiser iPhone headphones
5. Klipsch X10 earphones: iPhone accessory review

Care to rate this iPhone World article? Current news rating:

Filed Under: iPhone Reviews