Sennheiser IE600 was a groundbreaking release for Sennheiser. They restored their position in the IEM market which Chi-Fi saturated. In 2024, do they still hold the place to challenge other IEMs with a heavy year-long discount? Let’s see

Sennheiser as an IEM Company

Sennheiser is the most reputed audio brand in the world. But they always struggled with their IEMs. Their mid-tier IE300 was good enough for its time but struggled in the Chi-Fi-dominated market. Their flagship IE900 recently became popular among audiophiles worldwide for its technical capabilities and resolution but was neglected due to the tuning choice they followed.

They always established themselves as the pioneer of Research and Development. Two years ago they introduced the world with their latest 7mm DD-equipped masterstroke named IE600. The market flooded with praises and compliments. But do they hold up in 2024? Let’s see.

Pros

• It is the most comfortable IEM I have ever tried
• The resolution is excellent
• Technicalities are well-implemented
• The Sub-bass is addictive
• The construction of the shell is very well done

Cons

• MMCX Connection
• Timber could be a hit-or-miss
• Treble might be too much for some

Burn In is real

First Audition

A little story I must tell before starting the review. This is my second review of the IE600, first time I listened to it in 2023-Nov and disliked this IEM tonally, in almost every way. Everything with this IEM felt wrong. I thought it was my psychoacoustics but I listened to it for more than 95 hours and tested it with another reviewer too (Shabtab Quaiser). OnFacebook published a full review from my personal FB account and got backslashed a lot. I always had second thoughts since then.

Second Audition

In March 2024 I got to try this IEM once again and my god – it has changed. It jumped from my B- Tier to A+ tier straight. So what happened in the meantime, keeping the source, tips & wire unchanged? Burn In. I get some of you might disagree with the term like me (before the incident). 

So this is the review of Sennheiser IE600 from my perspective

Dig a little deeper into the tuning methodologies

IE600 is a very fun IEM to start with. It is tuned having a different tuning philosophy in mind than the Sennheiser IE900. You can watch the interview of Jermo with Doug on the YouTube channel DMS. The first time you put this IEM in your ears, everything would sound very fun, from bass to treble. So throw neutrality out of the window and spectate this IEM as if you are in for fun.

Let’s start the discussion with its timber characteristics. (It is the worst part of this IEM still I would suggest you to not judge it with its timber only).

Timber

Violin – Sounds transient and very fast. They do miss a little bit of low-end that gives them a fuller body. The upper registers are clear as glass and vividly detailed. 

Acoustic Guitar – They sound more digitized than the neutral. They hold the sub-bass in great quantity and the details are excellent but they lack the lifelike feel and you might imagine it as a Contrasting image than a natural one. 

Drums – Decay and attack of drums are exceptional. They feel organic and very satisfying in general. They also do not sound very original. Although you will enjoy drums on this IEM a lot just to give it a reference, it sounds less realistic than Softears RSV. Cymbals are very airy and full of details. Trailing edges are exceptionally expressed in this IEM.

Classical Guitar – Classical guitar is not optimal for this IEM, it makes the classical guitar sound body-less and note weights are not well presented. 

Cello/Bass – The bass on this IEM sounds very average too. The midrange recession is to blame here. They are full of details but they lack the natural feel too. 

Wind Instruments – Wind instruments sound amazing in this IEM. Everything is full of air, full of details and the transient nature is extremely satisfying. 

Getting straight to the tonality of this IEM

Don’t trust graphs alone, without listening first.

Duggu

Tuning Analysis

Sub-bass

The sub-bass of this IEM is extremely good. I am astonished at how they could pull out this performance from a 7mm driver. The attack is full of air, thump is real and authoritative. Attacks are full-bodied and won’t miss a spot in your ambience. In one word the subbass is addictive. I do sometimes EQ the sub-bass 2 / 2.5 db just for extra fun and even then they don’t sweat a bit. 

Mid-bass

The midbass is not as authoritative as the sub-bass but it holds a great body and the fall of the sub-bass never feels unnatural. It was there when needed, and provided the entire spectrum to have a very happy base to play. 

Lower Mids ( & Male Voice)

Lower mids are recessed but they hold the resolution in return. Of course, this is not a mid-focused IEM and you should not expect very much at this price point but even then they do not fail to provide. I am a very mid-centric listener and even then it was not bothersome to me. 

Upper Mids ( & Female Vocals)

Upper mids are very forward in a good way. Anything that occupies the range produced the instrument with excellent resolvability and forwardness. Upper mids flowed like a liquid without giving any harshness to my ears. 

Treble

The treble of this IEM is the showstopper again. Full with resolution and details. Airy as an open field. The extension is excellent for the price. Not only did it give a shining and glittering effect to sound but it held the trailing edges of instruments for decades. Everything was fluid like liquid and effortless handling of the post 10Khz range kept me in awe. 

Cable Rolling

Effect Audio Eros S Cable

With this cable, Midbass got a boost, which made the mid-range more recessed. But the overall low-end got fuller and more authority is there. Midrange texture improved but they became somewhat pushed back a bit.

The metallic and sizzling feeling that came with this IEM somewhat vanished. It became more organic. The soundstage although got a massive ~15-20% increment.

Everything sounds so cohesive. But mid-range took a backseat tonally. 

Now let’s discuss its compatibility with different genres of music.

POP

This IEM is well suited for Western pop music. The shimmer and shine might be more than enough in some songs but the overall fun element of the genre can be felt in great proportion. This is mainly achievable because of its low-end performance. 

Music 1: Loving on Me

Voices are dry and feel over-recessed. Subbass is pure fun. Midbass is very tasteful in proportion. Attack and Slam are on point that it doesn’t bleed into basshead territory. Treble is a bit much for treble-sensitive people.

Music 2: Paint the town red

Highly detailed. Upper registers are sculpted tonally to perfection in this price range. The vocals are very well done & sit perfectly on the mix. Treble is spacious and airy and won’t give you a chance to complain.

Music 3: Death of a Bachelor

Vocals are textured. The upper registers of vocals are very nicely done. Although mids sound a bit recessed. Sizzles and Shines in the whole album is inoffensive and doesn’t overpower the upper mids. 

BLUES

I find this IEM to be extremely good in this genre. The midbass and treble perfectly match the genre. Crispiness is very well provided and the transient nature is a match made in heaven. 

Music 1: Do I Move You

Feels spacious enough but not extremely, balanced enough to not feel intimate or huge. I like this Spatial presentation which is a jack of all trades. The treble and resolution are excellent. The vocals lack a bit of texture but feel very natural in the mix. 

Music 2: Hummingbird

Feels highly detailed. The bass is just perfect in ambience. Voices are placed beautifully in the mix. Everything in this song feels amazing with this IEM. The treble crispiness showed its ability in a great sense. Everything just snapped, from little cymbal hots to snare drums. 

Music 3: Layla Acoustic Live

The same as above. Great attacks and decay, feels tactile and fast. Clean yet it is clinical or inorganic. Treble on this IEM is addictive, to say the least. 

ROCK

This genre might be a hit or miss according to your library. For my library it was average. Never felt that I was missing something but never got the full-bodied feeling that I often look for from this genre.

Music 1: Dreams

The bass is very satisfying, full and thumpy. Voices are very natural in the mix. Spatial elements are very well placed. The acoustic guitar on the left sounds a bit sizzling with a bit of metallic timbre. Again very detailed sounding.

Music 2: Hotel California

Very detailed again. The vocals are slightly recessed but fit well with the mix. Electric guitar misses the time to shine here as the timber is kind of not accurate. Too much treble and less body is there in the guitar. Cymbals are a bit spicy too.

Music 3: Comfortably Numb

Feels spacious enough to enjoy but not too much to lose intimacy. Again very detailed, the nuances are present everywhere. Drums are very well dictated in this song. Midrange texturing is well done too. The guitar solo was excellent too. Atmospheric, had a body, full of details. 

HIP-HOP

For Hip-Hop Sennheiser IE600 is excellent, the sub-bass in this IEM makes the genre so much more enjoyable that 70% of the time after review, I only listen to this genre.  The details and resolution capabilities of this IEM greatly go hand in hand with this genre too. Vocals are a very nicely placed mix. 

WESTERN ORCHESTRA

Sennheiser IE600 fits this genre very nicely too. The halls feel spacious and large-sounding. The position of the instruments is very accurately done, and air frequencies are present in a great margin. The resolution of this IEM matches with the textural information in the tracks very well. Every instrument is well-defined and can be isolated from the other ones. For the discounted price of $534 in India, it is hard to find anything that competes with this regarding this genre. 

Technicalities

Soundstage

Soundtaging on Sennheiser IE600 is a pretty tricky thing to achieve. I am glad to say that this IEM did a very good job of providing a large enough stage and not too large to feel disconnected from the emotion of the songs like the IEM Yanin Aladdin. It is round and projects instruments on the stage very precisely.  It is slightly less than or on par with Aful Performer 8 depending on HRTF. 

Imaging

Imaging is very natural for its price. It does not project fake imaging nor it is very precise to a point. The localisation is good enough for the price and will feel very natural and not microscopic. Artists like Amber Rubarth are a joy to listen to on Sennheiser IE600. 

Resolution

The resolution of Sennheiser IE600 is excellent. It eliminates IEM far beyond its discounted price point in terms of sheer resolution. It is more resolving than something like Aful Performer 8 and on par with something like Monarch MKII. 

Drivability

Sennheiser IE600 scales. And it requires a clean and powerful source to show its potential. It wouldn’t run properly on something like the Abigail Pro dongle. The bare minimum of this IEM is Moondrop Dawn Pro or AFUL Snowy Night. DAPs like Aune M1P matched great with this IEM and Hiby R6 Pro II matched well too. 

Conclusion

I thoroughly enjoyed Sennheiser IE600 even in 2024. And I can recommend this IEM left and right for its discounted price of $530. The sheer amount of fun I had with this Sennheiser IE600 is not something I am ignoring and I am optimistic about the next releases from Sennheiser’s IEM lineup. If you are a neutral listener and trying to break into the fun side of audio, I think it is a perfect entry point for that. 

Ratings

Tonality = A-

Technicality = A/A+