Transcription
This is Android Headphones.com, and in this video, I'm doing a quick and dirty impressions of the Sennheiser IE600. Let's check it out. [Music]
All right, so as we get going here, this was actually sent over as a loaner from a kind individual who sent it in for evaluation for us to check out. So big thanks to you—you know who you are. Um, and all thoughts and opinions are my own, of course, and I've not been paid to say anything in particular about this IEM. This can be a little bit quicker here, guys. Um, so I just want to show you kind of the what you get. IEMS right here—super small, super, super small, very comfortable though. You also get this case, you get a number of tips, and then you also get, in the case, a balanced cable right here. Pretty awesome.
I'm going to quickly give all the praise in the world for how goddamn small and comfortable and no-nonsense and impeccably well-built and designed and engineered all of the non-sound related things are with this IEM. Everything from the shell design, the look, the aesthetic, to the way that the ear hooks function—good god, is this ever fantastic. Cable's okay; the cable's only okay, but everything else is outstanding here. Uh, good job, Sennheiser. All right.
Um, now for the sound quality. Let's talk about the objective stuff first here. I'm gonna throw the graphs up on the screen here, and uh, we'll do some comparisons because I don't have a particular IEM target. Um, I just, you know, kind of like to compare against a number of other IEMS, um, at least for the moment; maybe eventually I'll have a target. So let's just take a look at that right now. And if you're wondering, yes, of course, I've been listening to this IEM before measuring and also for a little bit now, but I'm also doing a lot of measuring here and comparing against other IEMS that I have on hand. So let's dive in.
So what you're seeing here is the graph done on the GRAS RAO 402 coupler, which is different from the 0045 equivalents that you often see with the—have the coupler resonance somewhere in the treble. This one has some damping there, so just keep in mind that this isn't comparable to the 0045 couplers. Now, before we get too deep into this, I just have to say that with this IEM, it's so small that you can theoretically push it very far into your ear, and the—the sound does change a lot depending on insertion depth. And so, because of that, depending on the tips that you're using and how far in your ear you're actually physically pushing it, you may end up with a different result. But this was the most common result that I got with Sennheiser's included tips. Um, but it's something where if you tip roll to something else—maybe one of the ones that isn't included, like if you have like third-party tips or just other ones lying around—you're actually very likely to get a different result, both for the bass and for the treble. But just to get a sense here, um, two things stand out obviously: is the monstrous bass and pretty intense treble, and that's exactly how it sounds. This is a very V-shaped IEM.
Comparing it here against the Dunu Zen Pro, which is another single dynamic driver IEM, you can see, you know, it's—it's just lots and lots of bass. Now, to give it credit, the bass does mostly elevate towards the sub-bass, which is kind of what you want to see. For me, it's a bit much. Now, um, the mids on their own, not really that bad, but because there's so much bass and, as we see here, so much treble relative to the uh Zen Pro, they're a little bit withdrawn. My biggest complaint with the IE600, and there's gonna be a theme for this video, is that the treble is just simply put, sibilant. There's—I have no other way of describing this. This is a sibilant-sounding IEM. So what does that mean? That means the consonant tones—the s's, f's, and t's—they are a little bit forward and elevated. When you're hearing vocal sounds, uh, when your vocal sounds—when you're hearing vocals—uh, the s's, f's, and t's and sh sounds are emphasized. Now, this is mid-treble and above, which is, dare I say, the lesser of two evils, but the consequence here is that, yeah, definitely lots of trouble. Um, but let's continue. Uh, so that's the Zen Pro. I'm gonna show you guys here relative to the Monarch Mark II from the Audio, which is something a little bit closer to what I would describe as neutral with a bass boost. As you can see here, once again, really strong bass—stronger than the Monarch Mark II on the Sennheiser IE600. And this is also where I say it's a little bit also elevated in the mid-bass and the upper bass, but you know, even though there's a bit of air gain in the upper mids to give a bit of presence, which is nice, once again that strong treble comes through. And then I'm just going to show you a much less expensive IEM here. This is the Moon Drop KATO—also single dynamic driver. The Monarch Mark II is a—is not the Monarch Mark II; I believe is a tribrid, but I want to show you the Moon Drop KATO here as it's very well regarded for its tuning or the general balance overall. I have some minor things again to nitpick there, um, but for the general balance overall, you know, the relationship between bass, mids, and treble—that's, I think, it's a generally fair tonal balance; that's how we describe it, fair. Um, and once again, the IE600 is just much more present in the sub-bass and then the mid-bass and also again in the treble.
The last comparison I'm going to do here is to one of my favorite IEMS at around the 500 price mark: the Dunu SA6. It's also a bass-boosted IEM, a warm-sounding IEM. The SA6 is a very smooth, relaxed, and easy-listening IEM with a strong bass presence as well. And once again, the I-600 is just even more powerful and intense in the bass with a very strong difference in contrast in the treble. So that's basically it for the measurements there. For me, the IE600 is a very V-shaped IEM—very bass and treble focused—um, with colorations that, if you're gonna have colorations, I suppose this is—this is the way to do them; they're the lesser of many evils of colorations. Um, but still, I'm gonna just go on a limb and say that this one, it's just not for me for the tuning, and I think there are less expensive IEMS that have better tunings, certainly. Um, among the multi-BA and hybrid and tribrid configurations that are out there, um, they have a better tonal balance than this one. However, when it comes to that V-shaped kind of sound for single dynamic driver IEMS, um, yeah, this is the tuning here is pleasant enough, I'll give it that. Um, but let's talk about the technical stuff—the subjective stuff. And for that, I'm gonna say, yeah, it's pretty good.
So the things that are good: all right, so the dynamics—solid. It has a good sense of contrast. This is not that sort of anemic kind of uh pillowy presentation that sometimes you get from certain balanced armatures. Again, this is a dynamic driver, and here—is it the most dynamic? No. Um, but it is solid. I—I don't actually have complaints there. I think this is also a little bit overshadowed by just how intense the bass is; like the level is just, yeah, lots. So for those who want, you know, really tight and controlled and still contrasty bass, this isn't it. This is instead that very elevated and pronounced and uh, dare I say, thunderous kind of bass, but still fairly contrasty. So, um, yeah, good job there. Soundstage also decent—better than what I was expecting. I was like, these are tiny. Um, yeah, the—the soundstage, the sense of space, totally fine. IEMS—they're not—it's not really anything special in most IEMS anyways, but it doesn't have a particularly kind of closed-in presentation. I think largely as a result of that treble boost and the mid-range kind of recession. For detail, when it comes to clarity for trailing ends of tones, it's quite good. There's no blunting going on here, no dulling or anything like that. However, to my ear, it is also a little bit behind the competition when it comes to image separation and control during busy passages. Um, but also, I'm gonna say about on par with other single dynamic driver uh in-ear headphones. And maybe it's just me, but for whatever reason, I find that like there are a lot of those uh multi-BA configurations and hybrid IEMS that are around this price that are just very good at that. And so maybe it's just because it's so competitive at the 700 price mark that um I, yeah, this is a little bit behind the competition there, uh, to my ear. Um, lastly, timbre is actually really good. I was actually just chatting with a number of friends about this IEM, um, in one of the Discords there, and I found myself um commenting that it reminded me of like one of those biodynamic um like Fostex headphones, like the—the older ones, um, and um, you know, both in terms of some of the—the total balance there and in terms of that timbre quality. Um, and yeah, I—I actually quite like the timbre; it sounds very natural to me. So, um, in spite of the fact that the tuning isn't for me, um, its technical qualities I think are certainly uh good enough; they're certainly competitive.
So overall, uh, the assessment here—it's not for me, but that's also because I'm not really that into the V-shaped kind of sound. I know a lot of people who are. If you are into a V-shaped kind of sound, know that this is exactly that, and it—it is something that should be on your radar if—if you're into that kind of sound and if you're into that kind of presentation specifically for a single dynamic driver IEM. With that said, I think you can find both better tunings and better technical performance around this price or lower. And I think if you go even just a little bit higher, things get even more competitive. If you're considering this IEM, um, if you're looking at this and if you're seeing the hype out there, just know that this is a very V-shaped IEM—bass and trouble for days. If that sounds like your kind of thing, then by all means, uh, go for it. And that's gonna do it for this video. Thanks for taking the time to watch it, and I'll see you guys in the next one. Bye for now.