The Hifiheadphones team is pleased to announce that the flagship in-ear model from Sennheiser, the IE800 is now available to be purchased on our website.
Dynamic linear-phase driver with extremely wide bandwidth (XWB)
Very low overall harmonic distortion
Oval-shaped eartips for maximum comfort
Two protective meshes protect against contamination
Attenuated dual-chamber absorber (D2CA)
Extremely deep, distortion-free bass
Ceramic housing, stainless steel vents and Kevlar coated cable
Brimming with ground-breaking technologies the IE800 embodies the most innovative portable music solution Sennheiser has ever created. A welcome addition to Sennheiser’s popular audiophile range, the IE800 meets the demands of portable audio with perfect sound and comfort.
Sleek Audio have finally unleashed the eagerly awaited SA7 earphone on the World. The SA7 is the new high end in ear monitor (IEM) from Sleek Audio with the earphone featuring a milled aluminium body, carbon fibre cladding and dual wideband balanced armature drivers.
Built to last, the SA7 earphone will appeal to those who get through high end earphones at an alarming rate. Replaceable cables and a robustly constructed earphone body ensure the SA7 is maintainable for many years to come.
To top it all off the SA7 has a digital wireless option that has already been very positively reviewed as part of the Sleek Audio SA6 wireless bundle.
The Ultimate Earphone?
If you’re looking for the ultimate in-ear headphone then the SA7 is likely to tick all the boxes:
Milled aluminium earphone body – built to last the SA7’s earphone body will withstand the toughest environment, with the internal speakers wrapped in shock absorbent silicone and able to withstand 14000 G. The earphone body is shrouded in carbon fibre for a durable finish.
Dual wideband balanced armature drivers – offering complete coverage of the entire audible frequency range the SA7’s dual driver design promises more than enough power for the lowest bass notes, while reproducing high frequencies with clarity and definition.
Wired or wireless options – the SA7 can be hooked up with cables or via the optional wireless adapter that uses the high fidelity Kleer wireless audio transmission protocol (uncompressed and very close to the sound quality offered by cables – also used in Sennheiser wireless headphones).
Adjustable Sound Signature – by changing the treble filter or bass port on the earphone body you can tune the SA7 to suit your musical tastes. First featured on the Sleek Audio SA6 and later on the SA1, the new SA7 lets you find a sound that suits you perfectly.
Replaceable Cables – as with the entire Sleek Audio range if you break a cable it’s not the end of your earphones. The SA7’s robust earphone design and replaceable cables means you can expect to keep this earphone for a very long time.
Our Opinion
Sleek Audio have been innovators from the beginning and the SA7 underlines their position as a company willing to push the boundaries of what can be expected from an earphone.
We love the bold design and applaud the fact that Sleek Audio have taken durability so seriously with the SA7. Earphones are often very easily broken and it’s great to see a manufacturer making such efforts to produce a product that is maintainable over a longer period of time.
We have not yet heard the SA7, but if the SA1 and SA6 are any measure of performance the new flagship earphone from Sleek Audio is set to offer a high end listening experience that will keep audiophiles more than satisfied.
We often get asked about earphone and headphone safety here at the HiFi Headphones store.
The question is, are in-ear headphones safe, and do they cause hearing loss or damage? Especially of concern is the safety of children if they listen with earphones for long periods of time.
In-ear sound isolating earphones (also known as ear canal earphones or in-ear monitors – IEMs) create a seal within the ear canal that blocks out external noise. The concern is whether ear canal earphones cause sound pressure levels that are too high and therefore cause hearing damage. Below is our opinion on the subject.
Poor Fitting Ear Buds
If you listen with badly fitting earbuds, such the standard iPod ear buds, then there is a tendency to increase volume to drown out external noises. This means you are exposing your ears to unnecessarily high sound pressure levels.
If you wear correctly fitted ear canal headphones that seal out external noise you have a lower volume delivered to your ear drum as you are not competing with the external noise.
De-Sensitisation Of Your Ears
A good way to illustrate this is the example of listening to the radio while driving a car on a long journey. Because of the external road noise you gradually turn the volume up and up to drown it out. The following day you come back to your car parked on the street, turn the key and get quite a shock when you hear how loud the radio is. While you were driving the previous day your ears became de-sensitised to the increases in volume level. This is what happens with poorly fitting earphones.
Air Tight Seal – does it create too much pressure?
So, if it’s true that ear canal earphone form an “air-tight seal” then surely no matter what level the volume is the pressure between the earphone and the ear membrane has nowhere to release itself and is, therefore, dangerous to the fragile ear membrane?
No, not at all. Your eardrum experiences pressure differences all the time – that’s how it works! When a sound wave hits your eardrum, it causes a momentary increase in air pressure on that side of the eardrum, which causes the eardrum to move and the volume of the sound you hear is proportional to the pressure. Your eardrum can’t tell whether the pressure it experiences is due to a speaker 3 metres away or an earphone transducer 1cm away, and it doesn’t really matter – the only real difference is that the transducer is only having to move a very small volume of air to get the same effect as the speaker moving a very large volume of air.
If you were to seal a full size bass driver in an airtight seal to your eardrum and turn that on then yes, you could massively over pressurise the eardrum – but the miniature transducer in an ear canal earphone only moves tiny distances by comparison, and so it only introduces tiny changes in pressure.
Headphone Safety Summary
Exposure to high sound pressure levels for any period of time can permanently damage your hearing. Obviously you should always take care when listening with headphones or earphones. Many famous musicians have admitted that they have permanently damaged their ears by listening to headphones in studios for extended periods of time at unnecessarily high volume levels.
Our opinion is that a good quality set of ear canal earphones that fit well are safer than a poorly fitting set of standard iPod ear buds.
Shure have a long heritage of designing microphones and earphones for the professional audio industry. Shure’s build quality is normally excellent, you get good value for money and their headphones come with a reassuring 2 year Shure warranty. Shure’s previous range of ear canal headphones (EC2 and EC3) were generally very well regarded and the SE range is the evolutionary next step.
So let’s see what they have to offer…
Shure SE110 and SE210 – entry level
Currently the entry level in-ear headphone is the Shure SE110 sound isolating earphone. The SE110 is a very worthwhile upgrade from standard iPod headphones. You will be able to hear detail in your music that you simply could not hear before. Saying that the SE110 does lack the bass punch that many listeners expect when upgrading to a more ‘expensive’ pair of headphones.
Shure SE110
The Shure SE210 earphone adds another layer of definition and a small amount more bass response than the SE110. For the modest difference in price it really is worth upgrading to the SE210’s.
Shure SE210
Both the SE110 and SE210 earphones are very sensitive and you may find that you have to watch the volume levels. For example when listening to an iPod Nano I found that anywhere over half volume is too much for extended periods. With the standard iPod headphones I regularly listened upto 75% volume. This is partly due to the fact that they are sound isolating and your music is not competing with the sounds around you, but is also due to the sensitivity of the headphones. It’s unlikely you will want a headphone amp with either the Shure SE110’s or SE210 headphones.
Shure SE310 – midrange
The Shure SE310 earphone is still just a single armature driver design, but the sonic clarity is absolutely spot on. The single speaker design gives the SE310 the advantage that it’s smaller than it’s bigger brothers (the SE420 and SE530). This mid-range offering from Shure has quite a bit of competition, including the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro, but holds it’s own with the best of them.
Shure SE310
While the SE range are ideal iPod headphones you will only really get the best from your headphones when listening to uncompressed (e.g. AAC and FLAC) digital music. If you try listening to poor quality, low bitrate MP3’s you may be disappointed by all the sonic artefacts you can hear in your music, e.g. normally resulting in a ‘crunchy’ sound. If uncompressed audio is not possible then 192Kbps is really a minimum when listening with good quality in ear sound isolating headphones.
Shure SE420 – audiophile quality with twin micro-speakers
This is the first in Shure’s range to introduce the idea of more than one driver within the earphone, much like a multi-way speaker. The Shure SE420 earphone utilizes a dual armature driver, with the lows driven by one driver and the high frequencies driven by another dedicated speaker. The result is an extra clean punch to the bass and a slightly more accurate response across the board than the single driver SE310. Compared to the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro the SE420’s bass response is stronger and overall slightly warmer sounding. If your preference is for clean and accurate response then you may prefer the UE 5 Pro.
Shure SE420
Shure SE530 – top of the range
The flagship in-ear-monitor from Shure is currently the spectacular Shure SE530 earphone. Whilst not cheap, this headphone really is the pinnacle of consumer ear canal headphone technology. The earphone utilizes three tiny micro-drivers, just like a three way HiFi speaker. The end result is an extremely accurate, dynamic earphone with deep, powerful bass response.
The fact that the Shure SE530 headphone contains three speakers does increase the size a little, but the earphone is very comfortable to wear for long periods and is as easy to fit as the other Shure models.
Shure SE530
The bottom line is that the SE530 is one of the best in-ear headphones you will find. The SE530’s sound absolutely stunning, with accurate response across the full frequency range and when called for a deep powerful bass response.
