sennheiser IE7 in ear monitors early review

[pier]

Following an article here in DJTT I was curious to try the IEM route.

http://www.djtechtools.com/2009/10/2...-ear-monitors/

I have djed for about 10 years with classic cans: one ear listening to outside and one ear inside. The problem is you need a good sound to mix that way and that isn't usually possible. Usually the master mix is too loud, or too far away, or simply sounds bad because of bad acoustics. That made me crank the volume up on the cans and have always been worried about my precious ears.

So I went to ebay and found an auction for the sennheiser IE7. I was really lucky because I won the auction for 37 dollars (they cost more than 200!) for a new pair. The seller wrote sennheiser incorrectly so almost nobody cound find the auction. That's the only reason I see for getting the pair so cheap.

Here is the official info
http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheiser..._portable-ie-7

I just received them today and still need a lot of testing in different environments.

What I can say for now is that they sound really good. The overall sound is very balanced IMO. Low frequencies are very defined and also very present. Mid and high freq. are crisp and detailed. It's very easy to hear all the textures, reverbs, and the stereo image is also very good.

Isolation seems good, but I'm at home. Still need to test in a loud environment. It's the first time I test IEM and I can hear a lot of body sounds, and my voice sounds really weird... just like when you put your hand over the ears strongly.

They are so light it's almost as wearing nothing... and the built quality seems very good. Let's see how they pass the test of time.

The cable is a bit short so I'll have to buy an extension.

I still haven't djied with them. I will be posting my impressions in the following days.

[josh@firestorm]

i dont wont to rain on your parade or trash you on your purchase... but senny's at a too good to be true price on ebay are probably too good to be true for a reason. whether spelt correctly or not.

sennheiser headphones are one of the most copied headphone brands around (along with pioneer and sony)... and ebay is flooded with knock-off senny's.

im not saying yours are, but im not saying they aren't either. you would have to compare them (cosmetically and audibly) to a pair bought from a reputable store to be sure. while i havent heard of any knock off ie7's getting around yet doesnt mean there aren't any.

at the end of the day it doesnt really matter as long as you're happy with them.

i have knowingly bought about 4-5 pairs of knockoff senny cx300's from ebay to use with my ipod at work over the last couple of years. i also have a legit pair too.

while they look the same they sound totally different. the fakes sound great for their price tho but a little on the tinny side.

[josh@firestorm]

..a quick google and this came up

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/f...er-ie7-419512/

http://fakeheadphones.com/why-throw-...ictim/05/2009/

[DJSEDDON]

haha yeah i remember being ecstatic when i thought I'd won a pair of HDJ-1000s off ebay for £25! How we learn...

[mmauve]

ouch. lol

[pier]

i dont wont to rain on your parade or trash you on your purchase... but senny's at a too good to be true price on ebay are probably too good to be true for a reason. whether spelt correctly or not.

sennheiser headphones are one of the most copied headphone brands around (along with pioneer and sony)... and ebay is flooded with knock-off senny's.

im not saying yours are, but im not saying they aren't either. you would have to compare them (cosmetically and audibly) to a pair bought from a reputable store to be sure. while i havent heard of any knock off ie7's getting around yet doesnt mean there aren't any.

at the end of the day it doesnt really matter as long as you're happy with them.

i have knowingly bought about 4-5 pairs of knockoff senny cx300's from ebay to use with my ipod at work over the last couple of years. i also have a legit pair too.

while they look the same they sound totally different. the fakes sound great for their price tho but a little on the tinny side.

I also feared it was a fake until I received it...

Those sound really good... better than my 100 dollar tehcnics cans... And all the box/manual/accesories included don't look/feel like fakes.

The impedance is about half of my cans and the IE7 sound is about double louder.

What I think instead is that they were robbed from a truck...

But who knows... how could I check if those are fakes?

I've seen a few hi res pictures of the original and they look the same

[pier]

The ones I have are fakes. It's official. The cable is not 1.2 meters long, and the little y piece is not translucid...

What is bizarre is they sound amazing. I'm listening to one of my fave records (massive attack - mezzanine) switching from my cans to the fakes, and the cans sound with a lack of bass and very boxy. With the fakes I can hear reverbs I've never heard before, and a very detailed texture of the voices... :O

[Remote]

lol quality fakes. That's awesome.

[pier]

Those chinese are good...

I'm trying to get a refund...

[mmauve]

probably wont happen, specially with ebay (I started using craigslist in favor). hey look the bright side, for $37, all things considered, thats not that terrible.