Đánh giá sennheiser ie 500 pro
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I was in the market for a good pair of IEMs lately. Although the options for IEMs are plentiful, it was difficult to choose one that fit the bill. Having had some experience with Sennheiser’s sound signature recently, I decided to start there. The strange thing was that after doing some research, there were practically no comparisons between the 300, 400 Pro, and 500 Pro. So I bit the bullet and purchased all three at once to compare first hand (however I do not intend on keeping all 3 models). My intention is not to bore you with a spec sheet. You can find that on Sennheiser’s website if you so wish. The only technical thing that I will mention though is that all 3 models feature a single 7mm Dynamic Driver. The 300s use an MMCX connection while the 400s and 500s use a proprietary Pentaconn connection (it too allows 360-degree swiveling). This means that it will be difficult to find third party cables. All three also come with a memory wire that can be shaped to your ear. So if you are more interested in multi-driver IEMs that feature 14 Dynamic Drivers (DD), 42 Balanced Armatures (BA), and 67 Electrostatic (EST) units – these will not be for you. This type of configuration is impossible by the way lol. Keep in mind that your mileage may vary. My sound signature preference: My preference is to have a great soundstage where the bass is impactful and delivers a punch that I can “feel” but does not over power the rest of the frequencies allowing for me to hear everything. Separation is important as well. The better tuned/balanced sound, the better. IE300: When the IE300 came out, they were $300 (naturally). But after some time, their price on Amazon dropped to $250. Upon first impressions during the unboxing, they were a tad small (for me at least). Depending on your preference, a small IEM can be a good or bad thing. Good in the sense that once you put them on, they disappear into the background and it’s just you and your audio. However, for me, this became an issue when I initially tried putting them on as I have large hands. Knowing that they use an MMCX connection, the 360-degree swivel has its perks for comfort and fitment. But for me, there lied my second issue. The connection felt loose. Not in the sense that you could easily disconnect them from the cable but in terms of the swivel mechanism. I would have liked a little more friction/resistance with the swivel. The constant swiveling in combination with their smaller than expected size made it a little more difficult for me to insert them into my ears for the first time and get a proper/comfortable seal. After some time though, I got used to their small form factor and the constant swiveling motion, I decided to accept those annoyances. In terms of comfort, I was only able to wear them for about 2-3 hours. After that the inside of my ears started to hurt. My guess is that the ergonomics were not considered as much as they should have been. Since I really like Sennheiser’s sound signature, let’s go over that as well. I mean… why else would you buy them if not for the sound? Coming from the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 (which really impressed me across the board), these fell a little short. Yes, the IE300s have bass but I felt that it wasn’t as impactful (boomy or punchy) as I would have liked them to be for the price. The easiest way I can describe it is like this: If I am watching an action movie where during an intense scene, I hear nothing but the thump-thump of a slow and dramatic heartbeat, I want to be able to “feel” that heartbeat through the audio. Not just hear it for the sake of it being inserted at that moment in the film. The 300’s soundstage and instrument separation wasn’t quite there either for me. I could hear the separation but it wasn’t as clean as I would have thought. The best way I can describe the soundstage is listening to music being played in a medium sized room. Mids were good, being placed front and center. The treble was controlled. This allowed for no fatigue nor ear piercingly high noises. Altogether, the IE300s sounded like a good pair of earbuds (albeit an expensive pair for what they are). I would put their sound signature as neutral, yet mildly warm. LOWs: could be lower and more impactful MIDs: where the 300s shine HIGHs: great IE400 PRO: What can be said about the IE400 Pros. For this pair, every little gripe I had about the 300s has been fixed. I could wear these for more than 2-3 hours without pain, the swivel had some resistance to keep them in place, they were slightly larger than the 300 – which helped with the fitting/seal, and the way they tuned the sound was getting closer to my preference. However, I think Sennheiser wanted to go down in the frequency scale with these. Don’t get me wrong, they were definitely a step up from the IE300s (both in the sound department and price - these jumped up to $350). As for the audio, all I am going to say is the bass, MY GOD, THE BASS! If you are a bass head and care about nothing but the bass, these are for you. I can finally “feel” the thump-thump of the slow dramatic heartbeat during the aforementioned intense action movie scenes. If you have ever been a fan of the opening sequences to Christopher Nolan films (The Dark Knight and Tenet specifically), you haven’t heard anything yet! Wow! Just wow! IMAX quality in your ears. The bass was crisp and impactful. The highs were kind of subdued and the mids were great. As for the soundstage, I could hear each instrument clearly, separation was very well done. The soundstage was equivalent to a soundproof recording studio room dedicated big enough for large band or a small orchestra. These produced a more surround sound like experience as compared to the 300s. I feel that the 400 Pros have hit the usual trifecta: Very impactful low end (to the point of being over powering), clear and exciting mids, and present but not overly done highs to the point that they pierce your ears. The detail that you are able to pick up from your music is fantastic! For the price, these are definitely worth it! LOWs: very well executed; pure and utter blissful eargasm if you like your bass MIDs: well balanced, brought to the forefront but do not over power the lows and highs HIGHs: slightly subdued but still present; controlled in order to not pierce ear drums IE500 PRO: Just like Goldilocks, these were just right. IE500 Pros are identical to the 400 Pros but better! If you think I gave the 400 Pros high praise, think again. Before I continue, I do have to mention that the 500 Pros are $600. To go over the fit and comfort really quickly, they are identical to the 400 Pro. No changes here. The only major difference that your eyes would be able to tell are:
For the audio quality, let me tell you… I was on cloud nine. What Sennheiser did with the 500 Pros was extraordinary. They took everything great about the 400 Pro’s sound signature and made them balanced, truly balanced. The bass was very impactful (going back to my heartbeat in movies and Dark Knight/Tenet examples) but not overpowered. The mids were clean and exciting. The highs were very much present and I enjoyed the higher frequency audio without the fatigue and ear piercings. It just felt right. For the soundstage, the 500 Pros easily top the 300s and the 400s. Depending on the audio file quality and the recording itself, it felt extraordinary; as if I was sitting in a grand concert hall listening to the music. And for music such as Pink Floyd's Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V), for the first 8 minutes, I was not on this planet. I was floating in space. To help visualize, Sennheiser somehow made the 500 Pros sound just like the 400 Pros while at the same time, have all 3 departments balance out (V shaped while being 1/3 bass, 1/3 mids, 1/3 highs). My ears were somewhere else when using the 500 Pros. It’s as if Sennheiser knew what I was looking for and just said “here is the key, your sound preference has been unlocked.” The fact that I could hear everything from the lows to the highs so clearly, so separated from each other, all front and centered without sounding distorted or jumbled up in a mess…. JUST WOW! Oh and did I mention that this is all coming from a SINGLE 7mm DYNAMIC DRIVER?!?! I was even able to hear and pick up small things in the audio that I did not know existed in my music library – even from the same untouched files that I have been listening to for over 15 years! My ears are sensitive and I have fantastic hearing but these just shot my hearing into stratospheric levels. Bravo! I don’t want to take them off. My entire body gets goosebumps when listening to audio with them. If you are looking at the 500 Pro’s price tag and wincing, these are well worth the price - even at full MSRP. Considering the fact that really high-end IEMs go for over $1,000 (if not several thousands of dollars). But if you are able to pick these up when they go on sale from time to time, don’t even think about it! LOWs: crisp and very impactful. I get goosebumps and eargasms with a smile when crisp and punchy low sub bass notes hit MIDs: front and centered along with highs and lows, very well executed HIGHs: beautifully controlled to not pierce ear drums while providing brilliance where needed |
