Sennheiser’s singular focus on making audiophiles happy with its IE series is a decision I whole-heartedly approve. The very expensive IE900 was one of the most emotionally engaging IEMs I’ve ever heard, whereas the IE300 offered a bass forward, engaging sound signature at 1/5th the cost. What was missing from the lineup was one that was slightly more balanced sounding and veering towards a neutral, analytical sound.
Enter the Sennheiser IE600, easily my favourite sounding pair of IEMs of the three.
Box Contents, Design, and Comfort
Your love affair with the IE600 will begin the moment you open the box. Apart from the two housings, you get a couple of cables: an unbalanced one with a 3.5mm out and a balanced one with a 4.4mm jack. Sennheiser also bundles a very nice carry case with it. Additionally, you get 3 silicon and 3 foam tips in varying sizes. Finally, there’s a cable clip, cleaning tool and cleaning cloth. This is the kind of premium package that you can and must expect for the money you pay for this premium product.
If you’ve seen the IE900 and the IE300, you’ve seen the IE600. You get the tiniest earphone housings which are angled perfectly to fit your ears without jutting out. By far, of all the expensive IEMs that I’ve tried, the IE series from Sennheiser is the only one that fits most ear types because it is tiny. The housings are precision-milled using metal-powder based 3D printing and it uses a Zirconium alloy. It is extremely sturdy and resists corrosion and scratches pretty easily. This is one of those constructions that will last you for years and years.
I like the cable as well. You get a memory wire to loop it around the ears and it is super comfortable for long listening sessions. And, there was absolutely no cable noise whatsoever in my time of testing. The stock accessories are very good, by default.
I really like the foam tips as well. The large ones fit me really well and stayed secure too. In fact, the kind of passive noise isolation I got with the seal was better than the ANC of many budget TWS buds. No really!
Sound Signature
Coming to the way the sound is tuned on the iE600. First things first, what you get are merely 7mm drivers inside each housing. And, for those who only look at paper specs will probably be shocked at the tiny size. But, these are TrueResponse Transducers with Dual Resonator Chambers. Sounds like too much tech? Well, all you need to know is among all the single dynamic driver setups, the IE series is the pinnacle of engineering. These drivers can go as low as 4hz and as high as 46500hz, which is much more than what the human ears can actually listen to.
Anyway, the IE600 is tuned to be more Balanced sounding than the IE900 and the IE300. In fact, it is very close to a neutral sound with a bit of bass and treble lift to make it sound more engaging. This is precisely the kind of song I absolutely love. The IE600 can definitely retrieve a lot of minute details and nuances in most well-produced music. It is also equally brutal with songs that are terrible recordings. You need to feed it with Hi-Res files, and use the 4.4mm Balanced out for the best experience.
What’s particularly incredible on the IE600 is the timing and attack, especially considering these are dynamic drivers, which are generally not very good. I mean, don’t expect Planar Magnetic levels of efficiency, but the IE600 can definitely do justice to a very complex composition like The Righteous Wrath of a Common Man by Colin Stenson. I like the body of bass that you get on many tracks but the IE600 doesn’t extend as low and as deep, with respect to the rumble, as the IE900. However, I like this better because never once did the bass bleed into the mids. The tuning of the mids is where the IE600 trumps the IE900 easily. I love that there is more presentation now in the mids. Treble extension is very good too. It is well restrained and not too bright. But, you can hear the audiophile-grade quality in the tuning.
And, it goes without saying that the Imaging is exemplary. I mean, you can clearly distinguish every single instrument playing even in the cacophony of sounds in Do I Wanna Know by The Arctic Monkeys. You also get a big and wide soundstage for a pair of IEMs.
Like I mentioned earlier, the IE600 is tuned to perfection – at least for my ears.
Conclusion
With the IE600, Sennheiser has further proved that it will go any lengths to make a great sounding pair of IEMs. Yes, it is expensive at Rs 59,990 but that is the price you have to pay for a quality product made with such care and attention. It’s like buying a Piguet, Patek Philippe, or a Constantin watch. You don’t question the price, you just admire the intricate engineering that’s gone into making the timepiece. Similarly, there are bound to be tons of players out there offering triple, quad, penta driver setups but those IEMs will invariably be big and bulky.
To be able to achieve the kind of fidelity inside the IE600’s tiny footprint with a single driver requires mastery of the craft – which is available in abundance with Sennheiser’s engineers. If you have the money, go for the IE600. It is possibly Sennheiser’s best work till date.