Yes; the IE80(S) is a top tier IEM…
Addicted to Audio (your local head-fi store, yay!), has the bluetooth variant on clearance for less than $200 (I bought several)..
They use a high quality amp and a half decent AKM DAC chip (same as in my Anthem processor, I believe), and ‘for the coin’, is a ‘no brainer’ to add to ones collection.
They can be cabled (the bluetooth horseshoe/neckband is removable); and whilst I do not typically ‘do’ Bluetooth sound, they seem to have all the worthwhile CODECS (proper APTX LL/HD, yes (not the ‘adaptive APT X’ that is neither/‘jack of all trades’)..
I gather it isn’t a ‘different’ sound… but, regarding your source(s), you could easily change up your IEM sound by changing DAPs (would be more significant than a cable, or even ‘some’ IEMs arguably)…
I gather I am pitching you ‘not what you wish to hear’ - this is really just ‘food for thought’; but I’d encourage you to buy the HUGELY DISCOUNTED (again, Addicted to Audio) Astell and Kern SA700 ($1849 marked down to $799); it is a ‘bit of a gift’of a player; almost like Astell wanted to make an attempt to see if pundits would buy ‘audio tuned quality’ over spec sheet marketing.
Of note is that the AKM 4492chips inside are a ‘new version’, built after progress made on the 4497, with tricks learned utilised to improve the 4492 chipset to specs close to the 4497 whilst still sipping power like the 4492 can… oh, and it is ‘very musical’.
I truly believe this player would revamp your present IEMs so much, that it is likely a ‘great step forward’, and I’d blow the rest of the dosh on a set of the Bluetooth IE80S (that was you have replacements for either set.. and can cable those BT buds as needed.
That being said, for Bluetooth buds, I have never heard anything BT sound so great, even over lowly APT X; these are obviously flagship drivers, and the development into the IE800 (and later 300/600) was a lot of cavity tuning, yes?
Anyhow, as a FiiO user (X5III/M11+Ltd etc), the jump to an A&K is an audio quality changeup that is so significant that your present IE80S would ‘breath new life’ (majorly), with the benefit of seeing just how much the player changes the sound (you are familiar with them!!).
Having spent the last few days benchmark testing four/five DACs and three/four serious amplifiers, some of the most significant differences in sound came down to which DAC input I was using/ or arguably ‘cables’..
Transport quality was a significant player in what I was hearing, and whilst the clock chips in the M11+Ltd really gets FiiO on the map for ‘high quality transport’ - the sound output from an Astell and Kern (the grandfathers of DAPs with tonnes of patents and decades of research and refinement(formerly ‘jriver’)); that SA700 is a killer purchase.
Many headifers place it as ‘approaching’ the realm of the S1000M, and generally assign it 9X% of the sound quality of the Ultimate A&K players. (for 799$ aus it is a ‘steal’)
stainless stell = build quality to kill that X7, and the SA700 is truly in a different ballpark.
The sound change would be as significant as changing IEMs…
Of which- some of the high end FiiOs really got my interest,.. and having visited A2A yesterday, even saw a few FiiOs IEMs with dip switches for altering the armature sound outputs (specific bands, like an outboard equaliser in ‘hardware’)…
I’d definitely at least try auditioning the player, as I feel it would be an ‘instant purchase’ and I believe that your flagship Sennheiser IEMs would really give you something new, which may even be exactly what you are looking for..
cheers
only reason I didn’t recommend a bunch of IEMs is that my IE80S(BT) (and Cardas ear speaker and roland IE3 and B&W C5 etc etc) all fit in my ear and I can lie on my pillow sideways.. all of the IEMS I seem to get excited about are HUGE and when I go to check them out, I realise that they are NOT what I need….
hope something here is ‘on point’ and therefore helpful..
success on getting where you aim to be..(I wish thee)
