Consumer Audio IE 300 in-Ear Audiophile Headphones - Sound Isolating with XWB Transducers for Balanced Sound, Detachable Cable with Flexible Ear Hooks, 2-Year Warranty (Black)

Let me start by being up front. I'm a Sennheiser fan boy. Always have been. I've owned every Sennheiser IEM from the CX150 through the CX215 and CX300 II all the way up to the 880, IE80, and finally the IE40 Pro and IE800. I also own the HD599 and owned the HD600, 58x, and HD280 PRO, so I know my Sennheiser sound. With a few hours into these newest IEM's, the IE300, I can say they are the best Sennheiser IEM's they've ever produced, but with a caveat. Yes, even better than the IE800, which remains their flagship earphone. Apparently, Senn took the 7mm XWB found in the IE800 and IE40, and refined it? From the sound of it, YES THEY DID. These are a very refined listen. They remind me of the sound coming from my HD599 cans more than they remind me of any previous Senn earphone. They have much more controlled highs than the IE40, and are as refined as the IE800 highs. Where they separate from the IE800, aside from crushing it in in fit and comfort, is the pinpoint imaging. The soundstage is as wide, but the imaging is world class. Better than just about any IEM i've ever heard, and i've heard over 100 from $5.00 to $1,000. With great air and instrument separation, the placement of instruments in their place is just a revelation. What a treat! Mids are balanced, but not forward. These are V shaped sound signature, with very present bass that's never bleeding into the mids, but that have weight, impact, presence, and moderate speed. That's the caveat. THESE ARE BASSY. These are without a doubt a bassheads dream earphone. Though there's no bass bleed, the mid bass is very present and the sub bass digs deep. Where these fail me as a be-all end all is that the bass speed is only moderate. They aren't the most resolving bass as far as speed and resolution, so they can lag just a tad with the fastest of tracks. So this is the caveat that, though technically make these a superior Senn, also makes me reach for the Sennheiser IE100 more often. The ever present bass. As I mentioned, there's have a very 3D presentation, with plenty of depth and height. These are very refined and mature sounding. The Sennheiser veil isn't very present here at all, certainly not like the IE800. The mids are more forward than the IE800, and the bass a touch more prominent. Above average air and instrument separation. Timbre is also above average, but not what i'd call world class, but that's because the treble, though very refined and present, isn't overly extended, and there's no peaks, that would give the illusion of overly transparent highs or weighty timbre. It's just right. Extension is excellent and so is timbre, and realistic (don't listen to those who said the timbre isn't realistic..they are WRONG). It's just not overdone and very tasteful. The cable is so much better than anything else offered by Sennheiser. Why oh why did Sennheiser not use this cable on the IE800?! or even the IE40 pro or it's siblings? If they had, they might have had an earphone as popular as the CX300, which put Sennheiser on the IEM map in the early 2000's. Comfort is supreme. The components are attractive, well built, and smallish. I'm really impressed with the build quality here. The sound is fun, bassy, coherent, clear, refined (have I mentioned that yet? lol), with strong bass response (mention that too?!) . Ok, time to go listen to more 80's music with these! Later!

These things are tough and well made, which is the most important thing. If you're not going to be able to take them out into the world without fear, buy great over-ear headphones or speakers. No earbuds will match that. But these are the first earbuds I've tried that combine real durability, noise cancellation, and good quality sound. They are a little annoying to get on, but the payoff for that is they don't come off. I have no hesitation running or working out in these. As to sound, they're accurate, live, and fun, and respond well to all genres of music. I will say that the source does matter. Just plug them into your phone and they're a little dull and distant like any audiophile buds or headphones will be. Plug them into a dedicated hi-res portable music player or a portable DAC like Chord Mojo, though, and voila, the signature Sennheiser serious sound profile, but without the sonorous bass bias and slowness of some of the brand's headphones. At any rate these are probably the best balance of price, sound quality, durability and wearability around. I'm very happy I bought them.

TL;DR: I really like these. They sound great and they are incredibly comfortable, but I wish they had a slightly flatter frequency response. I picked these up while they were on sale for $200 rather than the regular $300 price. Most of the reviews I had seen suggested that they were really great IEMs, but that there were others that were a better value for the dollar, so I waited. At $200, though, I think they are a pretty great deal. That puts them right at the same range as the HD560s, my current favorite pair of headphones. My goal was to get something that had a similar sound and gaming performance to those but in an IEM form factor. The IE 300 are not really that, but they are still really great if you don't have unrealistic expectations for what they should be able to do. Regarding the sound, they do still sound like Sennheisers, but with noticeably more bass and less upper mids than I have come to expect. Frequency response graphs are a little misleading, though, as they don't really feel like there is as much extra bass as the graphs might lead you to believe. But it's still definitely more of a V-shaped sound than the usual Sennheiser sound. More bass, but still tight and not boomy or bloated; more treble than I am used to, but not harsh or fatiguing; and still the same level of detail I'd expect. This gives them a more "fun" sound rather than an accurate, analytical one. The tips, though... I've seen several reviews say that the silicone ones don't form a good seal and I am inclined to agree. I had to use the foam tips to get a proper fit. Final Audio's silicone tips also do a better job if you have some lying around or don't mind buying some. Overall fit and comfort is excellent, though. For gaming performance, I was hoping these would somehow get around the laws of physics and give me the same sort of open, immersive sound that the HD560s or PC38x do, but of course, these do not do that. They are IEMs, after all. Final Audio tends to do a bit better in that regard, but I hate how those sound, so... Regardless, the left/right positioning is very good and you won't have any trouble figuring out where things are around you, you're just not going to get that same level of "being there" that you would with the PC38x. You might be able to use some virtual surround processing to mimic that kind of feel, but I haven't tried it yet. Who knows, maybe Sennheiser will follow after Sony and make an open IEM/earbud for the best of both worlds. Finally, these are super sensitive and super efficient, which is honestly a bit of a problem. I usually use a THX Onyx and I have to set the volume to 3-4 (out of 100) for a reasonable volume. Anything louder than that is just way too loud. I can usually put the HD560s anywhere from 10-16, depending on what I am listening to. Even with just an Apple dongle I have the volume set to 4-6. I'm now wondering if there is a less powerful amp that might give me a more usable volume range... Anyway, these are really nice IEMs for $200. They sound excellent for music and while they don't perform miracles for gaming, they still do a good job there, too. For $300, it's a harder sell, IMO, but if the $200 price sticks, definitely grab a pair.

Very uncomfortable to wear, mainly due to the cable being too large or unflexible and stiff. I was unable to get a good seal with any of the included tips as well as my own (i have 7 different sets of tips - none of them fitted, too small for some reason) The connectors seemingly at random would cut in and out I was unable to confirm the sound quality due to poor seal, however it did have a very poppy feel to what Ive heard so far even without a good seal If youre planning to buy this, be ready to fork up some more bucks for additional replacement parts

Arrived slightly uncleaned, only 1 earbud is working no audio in the right one, and I did not get the additional tips and cleaning that should've been in the case.

Muy bueno x el precio Los más cómodos IEM que he probado Sonido cálido y buen punch de bajos EQ V shape Super recomendados sin dudarlo

I order the first one and three months the right driver stopped working I returned it and order another one and the same issue occurred so I didn’t bother returning again so just saying it’s an amazing iem but it has issue my other IEM’s I didn’t faced any issues with

I had given up on trying to find IEMs that could stay in my ears untillll I saw Z Reviews video of the IE300 on April 20th. After I finished watching his review I immediately checked the price on Amazon.ca and saw it for $280 (Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca) which shocked me cause it is $400 at MSRP here in Canada. I watched other reviews from other YouTubers such as DMS, Joshua Valour, and Chrono from The HEADPHONE Show to hear more opinions and bought them afterwards. Once I got them I tried the smallest foam ear tips cause my ear canal are extremely small and they are pleasant to wear that it fits like a glove for me! Extremely lightweight cause of the plastic build and compact shape. The cable has this memory retention thing which is annoying to get used to but it actually makes the IEMs stay in my ears forever without budging. For sound quality I would say this is a very fun and enjoyable listening experience. It is not trying to be a flat and accurate tuning here, so do not consider this product if that is what you look for. It feels like I am listening through headphones because it has a nice sense of space around you with good imaging and presentation for vocals. I thought I would not like this tuning cause I enjoy vocals the most with my music but there is just something about these that make it feel special. When it comes with female vocals that sound soft, it just feels so dreamy with these IEMs it makes me melt (Example: MISIA - Everything). And even though the vocalist is not in your head, it is more like they are in front of you like you are on stage with them as they perform because of the soundstaging this is capable of. Even though vocals are not as intimate as I like, they still get that spotlight with these IEMS. However, these do lack the timbre of like other Sennheiser series like 58X, 6XX, and 660S, which is what I miss a lot but the IE 300 are still so so so much fun to listen to. Sometimes with the highs it does hurt my ears but that is when I listen to music at higher volumes than normal. Oh there is also a lot of bass. It says it can go all the way down to 6hz and I believe it. I thought I was a basshead but man it is WAYYYYY too powerful for my liking. But... It is also awesome when you in the mood for it lol (Example: ZHU - Only). So was it worth for $280? Heck yeah! What about $400? Now that is a tough choice cause there is many other options you could pick in that price range. I personally would have bought these over anything else because I prioritize comfort more than sound quality when it comes to IEMs cause I enjoy long hours of listening and being active without worrying they will fall out. For me these IEMs are all that I could ask for which is why I give them a high praise. One thing I absolutely hate about these IEMs is the recessed MMCX connector... Sennheiser you guys thought you were so cool making them detachable and swapping out cables but nope. You guys suck for doing that. I love this cable but not everyone does. Oh yeah I am running this off of a BTR5 non-balanced, stock foam tips, and sources are FLAC files and Spotify streaming. Does not need a lot of power so this and the Apple Dongle would be the best pairing for the money. Update [10/18/2021]: I voided my warranty and used an exacto knife to shave off the R&L colour indicators which also makes the MMCX connectors recessed. I did it so I can use FiiO's UTWS3s and IT WORKS muahahahah. I recently found out about the UTWS5 but I am happy with mine since it is enough to power the IE300s (but if reviewers say it's amazing to upgrade I wouldn't mind getting it...). So now I have very amazing TWS earphones that are lightweight and comfy :D