[MichaelOH]

Another rec for IE 900 lovers of epic cinematic music. This type of album is where the combination of life-size, towering bass and the ability to resolve the most subtle dynamic nuances makes the IE 900 such an impressive and versatile performer. You absolutely have to have both power and finesse for this type of track:

Thomas Bergersen - Made of Water (from Humanity Chapter IV):

https://song.link/za/i/1582544665

Oof - thank you so much for sharing this. This is a great showpiece album for the IE 900.

 

[Precogvision]

I tried about eight more different types of tips today, courtesy of MRS dropping some off for loan. Quick context: I love how the IE900 sounds with the stock silicone smalls, but they don't seal reliably. The stock silicone mediums seal for me, but they sound noticeably worse.

Acoustune AET07 (S): These add on about 1dB more sub-bass presence. They're noticeably looser than the stock silicone smalls in terms of bass control, and they don't give me the same depth of slam. The AET07 also shave off some mid-treble sparkle which might be helpful for listeners who felt the IE900 was peaky. Transients generally sound slightly dull with the AET07. This is a pretty pleasant adjustment to the IE900's sound overall, but not what I'm looking for.

Acoustune AET07 (M): These detract about 1dB from most of the frequency spectrum, up until the treble, where the lower-treble sounds the same as with size Small AET07, but the mid-treble is dampened some more. Sounds overly dull with this tip and fairly dark. Not a fan.

Sedna Earfit Light (MS): These bring up the lower-treble from stock silicone small and emphasize the mid-treble aggressively. Sounds fatiguing. Transients sound dull with this tip and somewhat coarse. Not a fan.

Sedna Earfit Light Short (MS): Same coarseness to transients going on as the Earfit Light, just not to the same degree. I can tolerate this. I do feel that this tip mimics the stock silicone small tips more closely in terms of treble response than the others above, but it's not quite the same. Still not getting the bass response I want from these tips. The bass sounds somewhat loose and they're shaving off a decibel or so of sub-bass. "Ehhh" overall.

Sedna Earfit Short (MS): Similar bass response to the other Sedna tips above. Just doesn't sound as organic as it should and doesn't sink as deep as the stock silicone smalls. Treble on this tip is brighter, more closely reminiscent of the Sedna Earfit Light which I didn't like. This tip isn't it.

Ostry 0S100/0S200/0S300 (S): Wanted to play around with these because they have filters. Nope. Sound horrible with the IE900. They all screw up the upper-midrange and the treble, and none of them seems to have any air. Definitely not the tips to pair with the IE900.

Add these to every SpinFit tip, Azla Xelastec, stock foams, L2 stock tips, and MEST MK2 stock tips not working.

I have some small Sedna Earfit tips on the way, and I'll probably need to pick up some spare stock silicones at this rate because I keep taking them off lol. It's incredibly vexing that an IEM is this sensitive to tips; to be perfectly frank, I think this is just poor design of the stock silicone tips. Nonetheless, the hunt for a replacement tip continues!

 

[gLer]

I tried about eight more different types of tips today, courtesy of MRS dropping some off for loan. Quick context: I love how the IE900 sounds with the stock silicone smalls, but they don't seal reliably. The stock silicone mediums seal for me, but they sound noticeably worse.



Acoustune AET07 (S): These add on about 1dB more sub-bass presence. They're noticeably looser than the stock silicone smalls in terms of bass control, and they don't give me the same depth of slam. The AET07 also shave off some mid-treble sparkle which might be helpful for listeners who felt the IE900 was peaky. Transients generally sound slightly dull with the AET07. This is a pretty pleasant adjustment to the IE900's sound overall, but not what I'm looking for.

Acoustune AET07 (M): These detract about 1dB from most of the frequency spectrum, up until the treble, where the lower-treble sounds the same as with size Small AET07, but the mid-treble is dampened some more. Sounds overly dull with this tip and fairly dark. Not a fan.

Sedna Earfit Light (MS): These bring up the lower-treble from stock silicone small and emphasize the mid-treble aggressively. Sounds fatiguing. Transients sound dull with this tip and somewhat coarse. Not a fan.

Sedna Earfit Light Short (MS): Same coarseness to transients going on as the Earfit Light, just not to the same degree. I can tolerate this. I do feel that this tip mimics the stock silicone small tips more closely in terms of treble response than the others above, but it's not quite the same. Still not getting the bass response I want from these tips. The bass sounds somewhat loose and they're shaving off a decibel or so of sub-bass. "Ehhh" overall.

Sedna Earfit Short (MS): Similar bass response to the other Sedna tips above. Just doesn't sound as organic as it should and doesn't sink as deep as the stock silicone smalls. Treble on this tip is brighter, more closely reminiscent of the Sedna Earfit Light which I didn't like. This tip isn't it.

Ostry 0S100/0S200/0S300 (S): Wanted to play around with these because they have filters. Nope. Sound horrible with the IE900. They all screw up the upper-midrange and the treble, and none of them seems to have any air. Definitely not the tips to pair with the IE900.

Add these to every SpinFit tip, Azla Xelastec, stock foams, L2 stock tips, and MEST MK2 stock tips not working.

I have some small Sedna Earfit tips on the way, and I'll probably need to pick up some spare stock silicones at this rate because I keep taking them off lol. It's incredibly vexing that an IEM is this sensitive to tips; to be perfectly frank, I think this is just poor design of the stock silicone tips. Nonetheless, the hunt for a replacement tip continues!

Thanks for this. Interesting that you hear that AET07 as dull. For me they open up the sound (especially mids) and tighten up the bass, making everything clearer but not harsh like the Sedna. The way you describe them sounds more like the AET08 (which warmes up the sound) as opposed to the 07s which are designed for clarity. Like you say, though, the IE 900 is incredibly tip sensitive, but then so are most IEMs IME. Tip rolling is just as important, if not more so, as cable and source matching in a universal IEM (and far less expensive too).

 

[MarkParity]

Thank you for all your efforts @Precogvision very interesting findings.

It's incredibly vexing that an IEM is this sensitive to tips; to be perfectly frank, I think this is just poor design of the stock silicone tips. Nonetheless, the hunt for a replacement tip continues!

The better the IEM the more common various tip issues are, go and have a look at the UM Mest thread, its full of post's about this or that tip being better or worse.

If I didn't have a couple of tip options that work well for me I may look at custom sleeves, the ie900 should work well with these I reckon.

 

[gLer]

Thank you for all your efforts @Precogvision very interesting findings.



The better the IEM the more common various tip issues are, go and have a look at the UM Mest thread, its full of post's about this or that tip being better or worse.

If I didn't have a couple of tip options that work well for me I may look at custom sleeves, the ie900 should work well with these I reckon.

Given the size of the IE 900 you can probably design custom sleeves that encase most of the shell (leaving the vent exposed) and have them fit like actual custom IEMs. If that were ever made available I'd consider it. My biggest issue with custom sleeves on regular sized IEMs is that they make the IEM dangle from the ear, with is a no-no for me.

 

[musicday]

Luna vs IE900. Looking for the biggest and deepest bass, widest soundstage and most micro details from the two.

 

[MatW]

Luna vs IE900. Looking for the biggest and deepest bass, widest soundstage and most micro details from the two.

Curious about this comparison too. And what about the Campfire Dorado 2020 compared to these two?

 

[musicday]

I was mainly curious about the Luna in this comparation because of the higher end driver used, pure beryllium in this case.

 

[rantng]

Luna vs IE900. Looking for the biggest and deepest bass, widest soundstage and most micro details from the two.

Haven't owned Luna in some time and even then only briefly, but bass easily goes to the IE900.

 

[feverfive]

Yeah, I only had the Luna in my hands for a week (?) or so last year, and my auditory memory sucks, but I can say with certainty, bass-wise, not even in the same class. I wanted to like the Luna because DUNU is one of the Chi-fi companies I respect, but I came away from that time not being super impressed. **For me** weird mids/upper-mids tonality, and I lost interest in them quickly.

 

[Evshrug]

I tried about eight more different types of tips today, courtesy of MRS dropping some off for loan. Quick context: I love how the IE900 sounds with the stock silicone smalls, but they don't seal reliably. The stock silicone mediums seal for me, but they sound noticeably worse.



Acoustune AET07 (S): These add on about 1dB more sub-bass presence. They're noticeably looser than the stock silicone smalls in terms of bass control, and they don't give me the same depth of slam. The AET07 also shave off some mid-treble sparkle which might be helpful for listeners who felt the IE900 was peaky. Transients generally sound slightly dull with the AET07. This is a pretty pleasant adjustment to the IE900's sound overall, but not what I'm looking for.

Acoustune AET07 (M): These detract about 1dB from most of the frequency spectrum, up until the treble, where the lower-treble sounds the same as with size Small AET07, but the mid-treble is dampened some more. Sounds overly dull with this tip and fairly dark. Not a fan.

Sedna Earfit Light (MS): These bring up the lower-treble from stock silicone small and emphasize the mid-treble aggressively. Sounds fatiguing. Transients sound dull with this tip and somewhat coarse. Not a fan.

Sedna Earfit Light Short (MS): Same coarseness to transients going on as the Earfit Light, just not to the same degree. I can tolerate this. I do feel that this tip mimics the stock silicone small tips more closely in terms of treble response than the others above, but it's not quite the same. Still not getting the bass response I want from these tips. The bass sounds somewhat loose and they're shaving off a decibel or so of sub-bass. "Ehhh" overall.

Sedna Earfit Short (MS): Similar bass response to the other Sedna tips above. Just doesn't sound as organic as it should and doesn't sink as deep as the stock silicone smalls. Treble on this tip is brighter, more closely reminiscent of the Sedna Earfit Light which I didn't like. This tip isn't it.

Ostry 0S100/0S200/0S300 (S): Wanted to play around with these because they have filters. Nope. Sound horrible with the IE900. They all screw up the upper-midrange and the treble, and none of them seems to have any air. Definitely not the tips to pair with the IE900.

Add these to every SpinFit tip, Azla Xelastec, stock foams, L2 stock tips, and MEST MK2 stock tips not working.

I have some small Sedna Earfit tips on the way, and I'll probably need to pick up some spare stock silicones at this rate because I keep taking them off lol. It's incredibly vexing that an IEM is this sensitive to tips; to be perfectly frank, I think this is just poor design of the stock silicone tips. Nonetheless, the hunt for a replacement tip continues!

Interesting that you and I have similar sized ear canals. Possibly mine are a bit smaller… I can wear the Sennheiser stock mediums, but I prefer the small (and I think the seal is actually better for me). The small Acoustune AET07 feel slightly larger in my ears than the stock Sennheiser small.

I agree with @gLer that it isn’t a failure on Sennheiser’s part that an IEM changes with tip rolling… I would go further and say Sennheiser did pretty well, since it seems the third party tips all seem to have demerits compared to your stock tip impressions With that said, my top tips are so far the AET07 and Sennheiser small tips… sometimes it’s fun to have looser bass and maybe a tiny treble decrease, but honesty 1 dB is a small adjustment which barely is noticeable by most people (if noticed at all), and I keep coming back to stock anyway because I find them slightly more comfortable to me (and it’s fun to play with the two connection positions).

Anyway, keep playing, I hope you’re having fun! I’ve made a bunch of new song discoveries lately, so I’ve been having a great time.

Given the size of the IE 900 you can probably design custom sleeves that encase most of the shell (leaving the vent exposed) and have them fit like actual custom IEMs. If that were ever made available I'd consider it. My biggest issue with custom sleeves on regular sized IEMs is that they make the IEM dangle from the ear, with is a no-no for me.

This is interesting, especially since I’m someone who basically write off my CIEM as a loss. I hope someone does make a close-fitting custom tip.

I was mainly curious about the Luna in this comparation because of the higher end driver used, pure beryllium in this case.

Ah, but beryllium doesn’t necessarily correlate with higher end

 

[joshnor713]

Yeah, I only had the Luna in my hands for a week (?) or so last year, and my auditory memory sucks, but I can say with certainty, bass-wise, not even in the same class. I wanted to like the Luna because DUNU is one of the Chi-fi companies I respect, but I came away from that time not being super impressed. **For me** weird mids/upper-mids tonality, and I lost interest in them quickly.

I had this same reaction to the Luna. It was good and very detailed, but somewhat metallic in the lower treble region, and just didn't engage me like its price should. After my Utopia, convinced in Beryllium drivers though.

Think for Senn's next flagship drivers, they should venture into Beryllium. They're a bridge between dynamic driver impact and electrostat detail.

 

[gLer]

Ah, but beryllium doesn’t necessarily correlate with higher end

Very much so. In fact I'd say beryllium isn't always preferable. Most beryllium driver implementations I've heard have a metallic tinge that make them sound unnatural, and a super fast decay that loses some of that organic DD magic in favour of analytical resolution. I'm sure technically that's an advantage for some, but not for me.

 

[Damz87]

Very much so. In fact I'd say beryllium isn't always preferable. Most beryllium driver implementations I've heard have a metallic tinge that make them sound unnatural, and a super fast decay that loses some of that organic DD magic in favour of analytical resolution. I'm sure technically that's an advantage for some, but not for me.

Which Beryllium driver IEM’s have you heard? I’ve got an A8000 on the way that I acquired through a trade. Ive never heard a Beryllium DD before, so I’m looking forward to finally hearing one for myself and comparing it with IE900. But tbh from the impressions I’ve read, I’m not expecting to enjoy its tuning anywhere near as much as IE900’s lol.

 

[MATWIN94]

Which Beryllium driver IEM’s have you heard? I’ve got an A8000 on the way that I acquired through a trade. Ive never heard a Beryllium DD before, so I’m looking forward to finally hearing one for myself and comparing it with IE900. But tbh from the impressions I’ve read, I’m not expecting to enjoy its tuning anywhere near as much as IE900’s lol.

On paper -having not heard the A8000- i'm want to believe they are utterly complementary. As a single driver guy i'll be waiting your impressions.

But the is true the IE900 is a so immediately mesmerizing and in any case. jaw dropping on the last LISA SIMONE and christian MC BRIDE last knight never heard a double bass so textured and detailed. and for coherency what a pleasure to listen to a piano pieces with the two hands playing exactly the same piano ))

Nevertheless as every gear being very good in the low department, the power of the amp make a NOTICEABLE difference. Very good with the SE 200, better with audivarna and an audio quest cobalt (? audirvana i think which add soundstage depth) and outstanding with audirvana and the LUXMAN desktop DA 150 DAC. i'm really thinking buying a longer cable to make listens in my living room.

really considering that what is the absolute strength of the SEN is to be - not the best of best in every elements (except the the bass and coherency which are frankly top notch) - but VERY GOOD in any elements. A very good alchemy of pleasure and technicalities. Each i go back and forth to it, it's the bliss. The ATH MSR7 and the FOCAL CLEAR had the same effect : you can find more technical, more accurate, more something but with proportionals drawbacks elsewhere (so are TOTL). Magic works very time with so good price ratio.

And as @gLer mentioned it is a TOTL for cinematic and orchestral pieces as far are iems are concerned here.

This is a top sound headphones I would really recommand for a first buy on this price bracket .. impossible to be make a mistake IMHO