Sennheiser IE 4 Earphones

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. :-)

I have used Sennheiser IE4 earbuds in my professional bands for years. I have tried other much more expensive buds with mutliple drivers, etc, and I always come back to these for the fit. They are small - the body of the housing does not try to sit against the outer ear like most other buds - the fit is entirely the tips inside the ear canals. I guess I have shallow outer ears, because the larger bodies of most buds gets in the way of the shafts fitting comfortably. I use Comply foam tips, and the seal is effortless, quick and perfect. They sound great. Added benefit - we have a mono monitor mix, and these buds have identical shape at each ear, no mirror image left/right, so it isn't necessary to figure out which goes in which ear. The cables are thin, but my bandmates and I have used these for over 5 years and not one has had issues. A super bargain, highly recommended.

I'm not a professional reviewer, just an average listener to MP3s while exercising. Previous experience with earphones was skull candy about $13.00 retail, most of my experience was (over the ears) headphones from cheap $15.00 to studio quality $350.00 + .The Sennheiser IE4 earphones arrived in minimal packaging, plastic bag with cardboard stapled over, extra set small and large ear inserts. Mediums were already attached. Standard plug. Cable long enough to place my MP3 player in my pocket with plenty of extra cable. Earphones only markings are one "R" and one "L".I made no adjustments to the equalizer in my MP3 player and plugged the earphones in and had at it.The sound quality is way better than the previous set of earphones I used. Better Bass, better midrange, and better separation left to right channel. Much clearer and cleaner sound. Good frequency response.Whatever improvements that they made to the cable are much appreciated. My old set produced a clunking noise every time it hit my body. The IE 4 set doesn't do that.The cans are shorter in height than scull candy set and seemed more difficult to insert, but I will attribute that to the newness of the IE 4 set to me. They stayed in for the whole hour I exercised , and I never had to adjust them once. Not heavy on the ears.I had my heart set on a Shure set for $99.00, but after careful review, I considered the Shure set excessive for my casual use and went with the IE 4 set.I highly recommend this Sennheiser IE 4 earphone set. First time buyer of Sennheiser and will stick with them if the need arises in the future.

The Sennheiser IE 4 are way, WAY overpriced. They have the look, feel and sound of wired buds you might find in a convenience store. But here's the capper; there was a ticking sound in the left earbud that wouldn't go away and I tried them in two different devices. I returned them the same day.