As my loved IER-Z1R has one dead driver for a few months now, and Sony doesn’t service such item in France, I only keep the Sennheiser IE900 as my main IEM …
Though, I didn’t expect anything special compared to the Qudelix 5K, I just gave a try to the iFi Go Blu and this makes me believe that now after 6 months using the Sennheiser IE900, it should become my main IEM Combo (after I finish adapting this to all my uses).
So here … is my quite perfect combo to sleep :
→ a very flat Sennheiser Ie900 (almost as flat as my Xelento)
→ Sony IER-Z1R silicone tips, waiting for some small rubber O-ring to replace those (too narrow tubes of the Sony’s tips) with the larger but too short tubes and much softer rubber of the Beyerdynamic Xelento tips (actually, nice to use most of the time, but those are just falling down a bit too easily of my ears when I lay down on the side)
→ BT receiver iFi Go Blu (a quite nice replacement after more than one year using the Quedelix 5K) though it’s not totally background hiss free when music is at an ultra low volume level or on pause. But with a 9 hours battery life with IE 900 at a realistic volume level (5/6 hours with Qudelix) both with no DSP activated as I use Wavelet PEQ+DSP.
→ a magnetic DdHiFi C10B fixed with a ultra-thin double side tape to be able to clip the BT receiver on my shirt (like the Qudelix 5K)
→ a correct and comfortable (almost microphonics noise free) 50cm balanced 26AWG 152 Core Silver Plated cable with IE900 MMCX connectors an a 2.5mm plug. I will replace this cable with a 4.4mm to avoid the too bulky ddHifi DJ44 (2.5mm to 4.4mm adapter)… Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a less than 50 cm cable with specific IE900 MMCX connectors.
I won’t probably buy a new IER-Z1R now as, the gap between the Z1R and the IE900 is not really significant… I am more wondering, if a Vision Ears EXT with a more sophisticated tech involved, can be a little step up from the IER-Z1R and make a nice “couple” with the IE900 as the Senn will probably remain my most compact easy to use IEM (even when sleeping) with a very impressive sound quality (assuming some little PEQ in the mids are applied via Wavelet).
The suedes look comfy, and measure pretty close to stock in the graph. The upper mid range takes a bigger slide to the treble before catching up at 3K.
I wonder what these would do to the 600 and the 58X.
This is great news. The more offers we have the better.
I’m very satisfied with the Fenestrated Sheepskin (Dekoni) on my HD 660S and 800S and was about to purchase another set. And the foam do break in after a couple of months. And this happened?
Check out our latest video on the Sennheiser IE 900 In-Ears! Please drop us a comment on the video, let us know your thoughts, and share with someone who might be interested. Thanks for your support.
I already love my hd660s driven off a topping a50s dx1.
Cannot seem to ever resist a sale. The hd599se is now on sale for £70. Is it worth picking up? Am I just wasting my money and should I put the money towards something else? Are there any benefits to having the hd599se worth getting over the 660s I already own and love…
I have the HD 579 and HD 600, not the two Sennheisers you’re discussing. But the Oratory frequency response graphs for HD 599 and HD 579 are virtually identical. While there may be a moderate increase in sound quality going from the 579 to the 599, there’s no indication from any review I’ve seen that the 599 jumps the gap from 5 series to 6 series. The 579 has a lively but slightly coarse over-all sound quality to me, while the 600 has a comparatively more taut, refined and accurate sound. The 5 series seems to work fine straight out of a cell phone or computer jack, the 6 series benefits from better electronics.
To geek out for a minute to compare the FR graphs of the HD 599 and HD 660S, the 660 has about the same bass roll-off leading to a flat lower mid range, and a very rolled off upper mids and treble (except for peaks at both 6 and 13 kHz). Meanwhile, the 599 has a pronounced upper bass + lower mids elevation, and equally pronounced recession between 600 Hz and 3 kHz, normal FR between 3 and 10 kHz, followed by recession above 10 kHz.
Upshot: the 660 seems tuned for treble sensitives and screechy electric guitar aficionados. The 599 seems tuned for bass – but not sub-bass – heads who are less than picky about the vocal range.
I gave in and bought the hd599se. Sennheiser had a sale even cheaper the Amazon £62 including taxes and shipping I couldn’t refuse…I will have a good listen to both when it arrives shortly. I will probably not keep both either I will gift the hd599se to my partner if there is a massive difference to the hd660s or I may trade In my hd660s for something else maybe hifiman edition xs if the difference is only minor.
My new hd599se came today and I spent the evening listing to them…not sure what to think.
On the one hand my first impression: disappointing compared to my 660s and ie300.
Compared to hd660s. Not the same level in detail and separation. They lack even more in the base and sub base whilst not having the treble I was expecting.
Compared to the ie300 it’s just less fun and more analytical. It’s much more fatiguing to the happy go lucky bassy fun ie300s
Overall It’s kinda ok/ good in everything but not spectacular in anything.
If I didn’t have the ie300 and hd660s I would be very happy with them but once you have experience better…
On the other hand I also think they were a steal for £62 compared to £260 ie300 and £460 660s
One massive plus point is that I had no problems driving them through my phone at 50ohm impedance. They are also the most comfortable headphone I own.
If I didn’t already have the hd660s and ie300 and if they were my first entry into hifi I would have had my mind blown and not know how it could improve.
I have learned a few lessons. 1) I am now very pleased with both my ie300 and hd660s and feel more validated picking both as my entry. 2) always look up and not down (sorry wallet) did someone say the DCA noire 2s?
