IE 4 Earphones

Ordered for my sister and she is happy with the product as it is genuine. This earphone is not for normal music listening but for singers for on stage performance.

The first thing one notices is that the packaging is incredibly basic. There is nothing on the product to signify its model or even that it is from Sennheiser. This is not an issue for me. After 20 plus hours, they do sound better but I am not convinced they are yet broken in. They are more natural sounding than when they came out of the plain plastic bag. They are more natural and uncolored than any other pair of earbuds I have ever used. However, they do not disappear like my HD555/595mod headphones. Bass is boosted in the bottom two octaves. Overall, they sound a little dark, but have a rather nasty peak in the top octave. This has improved some as it has broken in. The midrange through most of the treble is very good. Piano and vocals sound real; far more real than most other headphones. The bump on the bottom two octaves comes with earbuds. The peak at the top is rather annoying but is beyond what many can hear and whenever there is a significant amount of content in that region. This is usually the top harmonics of cymbal crashes. Orchestral music sounds real. String basses can sound slightly bloated because of the bass boost. The top octave peak usually does not present an issue. It can be quite present on rock music, especially on cymbals. Imaging is good. It is not as good as the ol 555/595 but very good for earbuds. The image is not as wide but is quite well focused. Overall, they are a nice, small, well built set of earbuds, that sound good well beyond their price range. Isolation is very good and it makes them a great choice for commuting on the bus or plane travel. I had to come back and revise the review. After extensive use, they are continuing to break in and getting better. The treble is less hard and imaging is getting pretty good. You all need to realize that I am comparing them to headphones which are quite natural sounding and among the best imaging. They do match up well with an ios device. An amp will help as the output from an ios device is a bit bright, thin, and brittle compared to something good. Overall, they are great. Isolation is very good, so I can listen at lower levels. The bass bump does help at lower levels, as well. I am enjoying the natural sounding midrange. Vocals sound more real than they should on a pair of phones at this price. :-)

Sound quality is very dependant on using the right size ear pads for your ears. I used the medium pads that were already fitted & the sound lacked definition in the bottom 2 octaves unless I pushed the buds into my ears which indicated I needed to use the large ear pads or inserts as others call them. Once I switched to the large pads the sound became much more balanced with great bass response that is accurate & exteneded without being 'puffy' or bloated. Mids & highs are very detailed & I hear little details in the sound that quite frankly were missing from my old Sens in ear phones that these replaced. I've been a long time fan of Sennheiser headphones as they seem to be the most accurate phones with an excellent sensitivity & dynamic range while giving a great overall sound, even without any equalization at all. They are perfect as monitor headphones when recording on my 3-Head Denon deck. Also works great with portable sound sources too...VERY HAPPY except the price was a bit steep but worth it.

Last set I had for 10 years+. Used on stage 3/4 nights a week with in ear moulds for monitoring in full band scenarios incl clicks etc (yes I'm a drummer) . Better than the more expensive Shure etc. Quality of build and sound is spot on as to be expected from sennheiser products. Wouldn't use anything else.

These sound like earphones double their price range. I've had them for about 9 months now and they are still working great. I take them to the gym, run stairs with them, play drums with them, track music in them, and walk around campus with them - they are perfect in every situation. When drumming and doing certain lifts in the gym, I put them around back and use the rubber thing that keeps them together to tighten them up, and they don't go anywhere or fall out. The isolation is amazing, and just perfect for drums - the drums are just deadened a little (I also use these as earplugs when playing in a live situation). These also work great on an airplane, but if you like to hear people you may need to take one out or have the music very low. These may be a little bass heavy, but in today's world that's what most people like anyways. The mids are a little low, but definitely defined and punchy. The highs are crisp and some of the best I've heard in earphones (yes, I've tried S4's). I listen to anything from Steely Dan, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Foo Fighters, RHCP, RATM, Audioslave to Between the Buried and Me, Animals As Leaders, Periphery, to Chance the Rapper, Daft Punk, etc. You get the point. They sound amazing. My only slight complaint is sometimes when I rip them out of my tighter pockets (yes rip, they are not fragile) one rubber ear cup will fall off, and they are easy to lose. I don't think this is a design flaw, but if you do this and think you will not notice (hence losing the piece) buy some spare ones online. Also, there is not much wind noise against the cord, and if you tighten it up there is none. EDIT: 3/31/2016 These are still working great. I use them every day and can attest that they are durable.