Consumer Audio IE 200 In-Ear Audiophile Headphones - TrueResponse Transducers for Neutral Sound, Impactful Bass, Detachable Braided Cable with Flexible Ear Hooks - Black

As someone who has always had a deeper appreciation for high quality audio but only just recently started getting into “audiophile” level stuff (which these aren’t, this is intro to audiophile), I can honestly say I’ve never owned a better, more comfortable set of ear buds or IEMs. I’ve had many of Apples offerings, Beats, SkullCandy, and KST to name a few. This blows all of them out of the water. First off the fit. They fit my ears so well I almost forget I’m wearing them. I’ve always found AirPods and AirPod Pros very comfortable to wear for extended periods of time, but putting either set in after these is uncomfortable. They seal well in my ears and come with enough bud bits that they should fit most people very well. I also have not noticed what I call “ear creep,” where the buds back out of your ear over time. Every set of buds I’ve ever had back out of my ears over time, especially while eating or chewing gum, but these made it through a couple meals today with no noticeable ear creep. I keep trying to push them back in out of habit but find they’re still fully seated. I was not super impressed with the audio quality at first. They were a little tinny and had little low end. It was there, but hard to hear. Then I remembered the dual position ear tips and reseated them farther down the stem. That made a huge difference. The bass is there now and the balanced audio I was promised is there. The highs sing, the bass and sub bass are present without being overwhelming, and the mids are not harsh. I know these are geared more for average consumers and do not have a truly flat EQ, but to my ears after listening to my studio monitor over ears these are close. I wanted a good set of wired headphones to use with my old iPods as I didn’t have a wired set of buds. They had to be comfortable, sound good, and do a decent job blocking out outside noise. These check all the boxes. These Sennheisers are good enough that you will notice a difference in sound quality between different playback devices playing the same music. I can tell the difference between my iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPod Classic 6th Gen, and iPod classic 5th gen. The hype about the 5th gen’s sounding the best is real. There is a noticeable difference with these headphones. Going from these back to AirPod Pros is almost painful with the drop in high end frequencies and boost in low end. I typically do not listen to music with my AirPods though, just using them primarily for audiobooks and hands free texting and phone calls when out and about, which is fine. They are more convenient than these in that aspect, being wireless and having a microphone, but for a good sit and listen these Sennheisers are amazing. I’ve had these for a day so I cannot attest to the durability or quality issues other users have had, but if I have any issues I will update the review. Overall, I am impressed with these buds and look forward to many hours of listening enjoyment with them. As a musician I appreciate that they can pull double duty on stage as they are technically IEMs, so I can also replace my uncomfortable IEMs at the same time with these.

I'll never understand how cheap IEMs from China are the new gold standard, according to armchair internet audiophiles, but actual quality buds like the IE 200s have a reputation for being shoddy. The sound stage with these is nothing short of incredible; throw some classical music on and it sounds like the orchestra is right next to you. Perfect timbre, earthy and warm mids, some seriously punchy bass (assuming you buy some third-party tips like the Spinfit W1s) and an incredibly comfortable form factor...what's not to like? I've never had IEMs fit as well as the IE 200. Yes the stock cable is not great, although it's not as bad as other reviews would leave you to believe. But it's very thin and prone to tangles, so you'll likely want to replace it before long. Don't believe the haters, this is as good as it gets for under 150 dollars.

If you don’t know what you’re getting in to, which is an investment in to your relationship with music, be ready for a bit of frustration from a product that demands more from you than a pair of AirPods. I’m gonna try to balance the technical with the practical here for people who maybe don’t know a lot about the megas and gigas but appreciate hifi sound when they hear it and are maybe feeling lost on this journey to find what they’re looking for in headphones. If you can’t tell the difference between $20 apple earbuds and $10 airport skull candies, then the value of these might be lost on you. But if you’re interested in exploring hifi sound and learning what the hype is about this is a nice forgiving entry level product. They offer a wider “soundstage” than most headphones you’re probably used to (in other words hearing the separation between instruments and feeling like they are taking up more room). There’s a couple big “BUT’s” here - those being that… 1) They are IEM (In-ear monitors) which means they are going to be LIMITED in the width of soundstage they can offer because they are going right in to your ears and are bypassing parts of your ear anatomy (all those curves in your ear) that have evolved to separate and amplify the way you hear sounds. That means that you’re getting a pretty straight forward and isolated sound that may almost sound unusual. Some people like that and swear it’s a superior listening experience. Others say that over-ear headphones create a much better sound because they can create a more natural sense of space and actually interact with more of your ear anatomy. I tend to fall in the later camp but I do enjoy these more for specially one thing, which brings me to my next point…. 2) The quality of these headphones is directly correlated to the quality of your sound files. Spotify streaming will likely sound no better on these than any other headphones because the bottle neck for sound quality there is Spotify, not your headphones, because Spotify compresses their music a ton. Apple Lossless will provide you with a great listening experience on these, but then you’re in the Apple ecosystem with AirPods that offer AI upscaling and artificial Spatial Audio so you’re better off sticking with Apple hardware at that point. So then what are these actually good for? For me, it’s listening to my old school iPod. For you it’s probably that or another analog portable music player like an MP3, Cassette or CD player. And that’s part of this journey in to the hifi sound hobby - getting past streaming services and getting in to CD’s that give you 16bit FLAC or MP3’s at 320 kbps audio on devices that can’t stream and don’t support Bluetooth (which also causes sound compression). And that’s the sweet spot for a product like these - portable, entry level hifi, analog listening devices that don’t have enough power to drive a hifi set over ear cans. That’s really where you’ll get your moneys worth from these. On an iPod gen 7, or one running rock box, these things SHINE. Now in THAT segment there’s a few other things to consider here. The cable that comes with these is actually pretty junky, you’ll hear it in your ears when the cable scrapes against your shirt, and they can sometimes cut out or pick up interference. The good news is these have a modular design and the MMCX cable can be replaced and upgraded for not a lot of money. Still an inconvenience so I’m taking off a star for that. Sound signature is flat meaning it doesn’t inherently add treble or bass, which is by design so you have more room to customize the sound to your liking. That’s what to expect from all hifi category headphones. You are meant to adjust the EQ balance yourself through a DAC or on your device itself. If you found this useful and you’re entering the hifi category or have been in it for a while and are going from over-ear to IEM’s, these are a good entry level product to get you in to it.

The worst in ear monitor ever designed. No bass, thin weak sound.. Audio quality is atrocious.. thin tinny sound in both ears even when the slit which shouldn't be there in the first place is sealed by a tip that also creates a seal in the inner ear canal (the way you're supposed to use it) If you're an audio engineer you will not be able to use this for anything. If you're a gamer you will also not be able to use it for anything. And if you're just trying to listen to your tunes with high quality look elsewhere.. long story short they designed this for no one.

Let me preface this with I am not an audio-phile listener. I just wanted to see if the IE200's were as good in sound quality as the IE300's for serious gaming since the IE300 price tag still stings at $300. That said I owned my IE300 for 4 years before the left earbud gave out and that is what had me look at the IE200's in comparison. Pro's: 100% for gaming you will not be able to tell the difference in sound quality in IE200 vs IE300. My setup is to use a cheap $100 audio DAC from iFI and I paid for Dolby Digital surround sound in Windows. I like the cable braiding as it is less bulky on the IE200 vs IE300 since I am still hard wired. Con's: Having used the IE 300's for 4 years I on multiple occasions had to reglue the earbud to the earbud case from wearing them. That likely caused the left earbud to finally break off its solder joint and their is no room to reconnect it after that happens without specialty equipment. I dont know if the IE200's have the same or worse build quality so be careful putting them on and taking them out of years not to put too much pressure on the earbud. The cable length is too short. You will likely have to buy a high quality sound cable to connect it to your DaC or PC board. Hate that the cable is a 90 deg cable, and wish it was a straight on design. I am very please so far with the purchase and extremely happy I have the same sound quality as the IE300 and reportedly the IE600 in the IE200's at a better price point for replacement.

I purchased the IE200's because I wanted a nice pair of IEMs I could wear out of the house, or at home when I don't want to wear any of my large over-hear headphones. When I first purchased these I was a bit upset because they sounded like they were headphones you'd find on-sale for half-off at the dollar store. They sounded absolutely awful, no bass, very inconsistent treble, but OK mids. I almost packed them up and sent them back. I thought I'd give them another try though so I played around with the nice selection of tips that they come with, and I played around with how to properly fit them into my ears. After a lot of trial and error I was able to get the placement just right and I found just the right tips for my ears. Now, they sounds pretty amazing for the price. To me, they have just about the right of treble, mids and bass. Everything sounds very clean, and nothing ever sounds muddy. The headphones I currently own at home are: Sennheiser HD560s, Sennheiser HD212 Pro, Hifiman Ananda, Focal Elegia. My current DAC/Amp I use on the go is the Fiio BTR5. I have a small portable Fiio A3 amp I use at work. At home I use the Topping DX3 Pro+. These IEMs sound amazing on all of them. They all have plenty of power to really get them to shine. They even work great being plugged directly into a laptop with no extra amplification. I generally listen to metal and classical music. These IEMs are really great for those two genres. Stereo separation and instrument placement/resolution are pretty great for the money. The sound stage isn't that amazing, but they do a pretty good job at keeping vocals inside your head and having supporting instruments feeling like they're around your head. It's nothing to write home about, but it's not bad. Even though the Anandas and Elegias sound quite a bit better, I've found myself going back to the IE200's because they're so comfortable to just lounge around with... They're also significantly cheaper, so it's not so heart breaking if something were to happen to them. I highly recommend them to anyone who wants nice, clean, close to audiophile like sound that they can easily take on the go with them. Pair them with a portable Bluetooth DAC like the BTR5 and you'll be set. Just remember that it's imperative that you get the IEMs to fit the way they're supposed to with the proper tips for your ears; if you don't then you'll hate them. It takes a little work at the beginning, but it's worth it. UPDATE: I'm quite disappointed in the build quality of the Sennheiser IE-200 IEMs. First, the cable going to the left ear started to randomly cut out and it kept getting worse. Then, the ear bud and driver assembly actually pulled out of the right side just from removing them from my ear. Luckily, the driver stayed attached and I was able to superglue the driver back inside the housing. The cable problem just kept on getting worse and now if I can get any audio out of the left ear, if I move my head even in the slightest it's very likely I'll lose signal to that ear completely. It's extremely frustrating. I love how the IE-200s sound, but the build quality on my pair is an absolute joke. I wanted to get a replacement cable, but in Sennheisers infinite wisdom they use a modified connector. So I either need to pay Sennheiser almost the same price as the IEMs to get a replacement, or I need to gamble on Amazon with aftermarket replacements that may or may not work. For the price of the aftermarket cable that most people recommend, I was able to buy the KZ ZS10 Pro IEMs... For the price of a replacement cable for the IE-200s! That's crazy. I really wanted to love these IEMs and I wanted them to be my daily drivers for years to come, but the build quality of the pair I received is heinous. I apologize to anyone who read my original review and received a positive impression of them, I had no idea they would go to pieces so quickly.

Bought these as an alternative to my Etymotic ER3SE (which are very good). Compared to the Etymotics, these have extended sub bass, a little more low bass, and extended treble, and a little more highs. Exactly what I wanted. -Sound great -Small and light -Could be a good value at $150, but read on for the bad news.... I use these with Dunu S&S medium ear tips. I did not bother with the in-box ear tips. That rases the price by ~$25 for me, to $175. Now for the bad: First pair I received: Left ear piece started distorting after a week of daily use. Exchanged for a second pair: Cable connector on the left side is wiggly. Sound cuts out on left ear if I move my head just right. If I reverse left/right connection to the ear pieces, then the right side cuts out. So, problem is in the cable. A replacement, higher grade cable from Sennheiser is $100. That would raise the price of the system to $250. My understanding is there are better systems on the market at that price. Sennheiser iem cables are, effectively, proprietary to Sennheiser. They use the Fidelity+ connector, which is based on MMCX, but is not compatible with 3rd party cables. The only source of replacement cables is Sennheiser. I pinged Sennheiser online and email for three weeks. Only one auto-response when I asked for support. I then initiated a repair return to them. Only one auto-response, with no follow up on what to do. Near as I can tell, Sennheiser will not be supporting their product, or honoring their warranty. I contacted Amazon for support. They said they would get help from Sennheiser, then get back to me. Three days later, no follow up from Amazon. After writing this, I have decided to return them. Sennheiser has lost my business. I will stick to Etymotic, or some other company that uses standard MMCX connectors. Follow up March 22, 2023 Sennheiser has finally reached out to me to support their product. They suggested either exchanging through Amazon, or returning the iems to Sennheiser for warranty replacement/repair. They apologized for the delay. I am posting this update so prospective buyers can know that, yes, Sennheiser does support their products. But, they may be very slow. Also, if at any time Sennheiser had offered any actionable response before I gave up and returned them to Amazon, I would have immediately bought the better cable from Sennheiser and called it good. I liked the IE200s that much.

Im a big fan of Sennheiser, having owned the Momentum TW 2 and 3, Momentum 4, HD599, and HD 660s. The Bluetooth headphones are very good, however my mind was blown when I started diving into the wired open back headphones. Listening on the 660s with an amp/DAC proved to be far superior in terms of the detail, clarity and my overall enjoyment of listening. Soon, I found it difficult to listen on my other Bluetooth devices. I started looking around for some “audiophile” in ears for on the go. I was on the fence a while but finally decided to pull the trigger on these entry level buds from Sennheiser. Boy am I glad I did. Right away I knew that these were exactly what I was looking for, and sound way better than I could have expected at $150. They sound just as good as my 660s (over ear, open back), and even better and more open due to the widest and deepest soundstage I’ve experienced. It absolutely blows my mind how immersive, clear, and spacious these sound. I consider the sound to be very neutral, the reason I love Sennheisers so much. They let you enjoy the natural sounds and details of the recording without muddying it up with added coloration. These provide that neutral Sennhesier sound with superb imaging. The bass is really enjoyable as well, moving quickly from note to note without any of that muddying bass bleed. Every song sounds better as I devoured song after song. I simply can’t believe the sound coming from these $150 buds. I’ve tried so many options that cost $4-500 more, and nothing has sounded better. It’s important for me to make it clear I am not a technical person or audiophile. I know what I like though and can tell the difference between good headphones and average or crappy ones. One of the reasons I was hesitant to buy these is I wasn’t sure if it was worth it. I didn’t want to spend up for the 600 or 900 (or even the 300), and didn’t think these could come close to what I was looking for. I cannot recommend trying these out enough, either for people like me or true audiophiles. I’m sure that the audiophiles out there will notice lacking details and other nuances undetectable to my ear, but for the majority of people these will be the best sounding earbuds you’ve ever listened to. Only drawback for me is the fit. You must experiment with the different ear tips, both silicone and memory foam included. Even then you might have to search after market options to find the best fit for you. I find the largest memory foams do the best at creating a good seal for me, but they have to be really jammed in there. I am still exploring other options, and taking them on and off is not as easy as popping in wireless buds. I suspect that some of the bad reviews on here are due to improper fits, which will dramatically alter the sound qualities. And don’t bother with the tuning option to have two positions for the buds, just push them all the way in and enjoy the refined bass. No brainer buy if you’re looking for the best sound quality at an absurdly low price. 10/10 for Sennheiser!