Sennheiser IE 80s Bluetooth Wireless Over Ear Headphones with Mic (Black)

音質、ノイキャン、とてもいい！
買って良かったです！

Best all rounder In-Ear Earphones under 20K. I said to myself 4-5 months ago that I will only buy IE 80S (wired version) if it was available for around 12k. And 3 months later, one fine morning morning, to my surprise it was this bluetooth BT version (which is costlier) on sale for exactly that price.
After receiving the product I mailed Sennheiser India with all the details and they confirmed me the product was genuine purchased from Appario Retail.

Now coming to the product:

I read many reviews on Amazon US and most people were of the opinion that wired version has not just superior sound quality (which is usually true 99% of the time) but wireless version was “very bad”.
I am coming from Shure SE215 SPE and that’s my only phones for reference.

I was never a believer of Earphones burn-in even though I purchased SE 215 (having dynamic drivers) twice and have been using it for 6 years. But this time it was different with Sennheiser’s dynamic driver.
Here’s my experience. Sound in the beginning was very harsh, I couldn’t listen to these earphones above 60% volume and even at 40% one can easily make out the piercing sound. I didn’t know what to do, even thought of returning it. SE 215 ,which I bought just 2 months before this IE 80S BT from here on amazon, had never had me burn them in because sound was very smooth out of the box and so I almost forgot about these “standard procedures” with audiophile grade In-Ears. Then next day I thought of giving these another listen before I return them. And to my surprise sound became smoother from previous day listening of more than 10 hours. Now I suddenly remembered about that burn-in which I ,like many smartass, thought was MYTH. Bur-in with SE215 only made bass little bit tighter and it was not easily percieveble, so it never came to my mind until I realised the next day.

Then I gave these phones 7 days time and the difference was day and night. Earlier Eminem song “Not Afraid” nearly bled my ears with its painful treble. Now I can listen to any song on these phones at highest volume with smile on face. Treble has sparkle yet velvety smooth. So guys, do burn them in. It’s not always a myth.

Regarding low volume issue: The one I received had recent manufacturing date from June and latest software which I checked on Sennheiser’s Smart control app. The volume above 80% is very very loud so no complaints there. That low volume seems to be solved through software update.

Build quality is truly impressive and very sturdy. It feels like it can last me a decade the way I handle my Earphones.

Fit is very good, relaxing. It stays outside ears unlike Shure’s which fits like gloves on the outer ear. I did feel some mild pain due to the shape/size of its housing touching sides of my ear after some hours of listening but it goes away quickly once I remove these phones and rub my ears. But overall, very comfortable.

Now, about Sound quality. I purchased these in mid October but I took my time to write review here on amazon India to help others decide with purchase.
But still my review would be incomplete since I haven’t yet received IE 80S cable I ordered directly from Sennheiser India. And thats the reason I didn’t write anything here. But it’s taking too long and So I will be updating my review once I get those cables to get the most out of it and also help others make purchasing decision.

Contrary to many reviewers I found sound of this wireless BT version AMAZING and very impressive.

Most noticeable thing was it’s huge 3D like soundstage, sparkly yet smooth treble and deep bass. But bass was too much for me even at the lowest dial setting and it’s deep too. Sometimes it felt little a bit boomy but it never bled into other frequencies and produced very clear sound. Instrument separation is also next level. It’s mind blowing.
This BT version has High quality DAC from AKM (as claimed by Sennheiser) and it rightly delivers so. It’s mids are positioned on the natural position and are very clear, much more clear than SE215. SE 215 has forward mids ,that’s why it seems to retrieve & deliver details at very low volume too but that illusion is result of Shure’s clever engineering of forwarding mids and it’s necessity for being In-Ear Monitors. Due to this reason IE 80S may feel like having recessed mids but it’s not and I can say they are perfectly placed to achieve that huge soundstage which dwarfs Shure’s soundstage by HUGE margin. Even the imaging on IE 80S is worthy of its premium price tag. It literally destroys SE215’s. I tested some A R Rehaman’s song and it blew my mind away. I can more accurately perceive the place, distance and direction of the instruments than before with SE 215.
Sennheiser boasted about delivering us the moment where we hear “those details” which we never heard before and I testify that these claims holds true with my experience.

Best COMPLIMENT I can give to IE 80S is , when I put them on I don’t want to take them off. That’s how musical these phones sounds.
Most of the time I took them off only to recharge it’s battery;)
In my usage I got an average of around 5 hours of battery backup.

Now enough of my praise. I will update in more details once I receive RC-IE cable for my IE 80S.

I hope someday I get similar deal with IE 800S which my friend praised to sky after auditioning them both recently in Australia;)

Thanks for reading ☺️

UPDATE: 19 December 2020

So I received the cable RCS-IE today (purchased directly from Sennheiser India) and tested it. Now everything improved, bass became deeper and clearer, overall clarity also improved. Vocals also seems clearer. Regarding detials, nothing missed earlier and it maybe just in my mind but it’s better with cable. So do buy it’s cable having mic and remote for calling/play/pause.

One thing to note is ,I noticed better sound quality with my Apple device (iPhone 11, iPod Touch (A10 chip), MacBook Pro). I personally use OnePlus 7 and sound from it also very good but there is something about crispyness of sound coming from Apple device. So cable really does brings out its potential. Now I have note yet tried it with Amp/DAC. I am thinking of getting Dragonfly Black (also available here on Amazon).

I will add if anything comes up.
Thanks for reading again;)

Not stand up on my expectations

何これ？音質が良いとの噂で購入したゼンハイザーイヤホン。
まず、外音を拾うからか音がこもって聞こえる。ワイヤレスは、ノイキャンが無いと音質の善し悪しが分からん。せめてノイキャンを付けてほしかった。５０００円程度の製品でしかない。
せっかくIE80の評判を聞いて買ったが、無音状態の部屋で聞くしかないかな。
後は有線で聞いて見るけど、外音を取り込むので一緒のような気がする。音質の善し悪しは変わらないと思う。外で聞くための製品では無い。

開封後、最初の充電で「赤LED点灯」システムエラー状態。
リセットも受け付けず、やむなく返品（返金）処理。
初代 MOMENTUM True Wireless (M3IETW BLACK) を新品購入した際も、３回連続で初期不良に当たり、結局、動作確認済みの「中古」を入手して、やっと完動品を手に入れた始末。
古い型落ち品とはいえ、わずか数年前の製品でこのありさま。
音質がいいだけに残念でならない。
動画観賞用に「低遅延」のAptx-LL対応品を探しているのだが、選択肢が少ないだけに、博打購入になる。
Sennheiser(ゼンハイザー) のワイヤレス（ＢＴ）は要注意。