Custom personal ear monitors typically cost $1,000 or more and involve a visit to the doctor to be fitted for ear molds. Costing less than half the price, Sennheiser’s new off-the-shelf, flagship IE 8 earphones are receiving rave reviews for their sound quality and fit from international touring engineers, who are using them both onstage and off.
“I think they’re one of best things I’ve plugged into my head, ever,” comments Wil Burton, the monitor engineer with Australian band, Jet on their current world tour. “They’re absolutely deadly accurate.
“They have what I call the ‘Sennheiser sound,’ which means that they’ve got the proper dynamic weighting for the bottom end. They’ve got weight and depth and thickness to them, unlike a lot of earpieces.”
Burton reveals that his IE 8s are in constant use, whether he is traveling or working. “The band were laughing the other day because they never see me without them hanging around my neck,” he says.
In addition to using them as onstage IEMs on tour, Burton, who is also a studio engineer, has been using them to evaluate reference mixes being produced in his absence back in Australia.
“I find that I can make completely informed mix decisions via remote using them,” he says.
“They sound spectacular,” agrees Steve Bumbera, FOH engineer for Somali-Canadian hip-hop artist K’naan, “and they have great isolation.”
Both K’naan and bass player Ray Nesmith have adopted the IE 8 earpieces, which are supplied with a wide variety of bud adaptors to fit almost any ear size.
“They fit really well and give you a molded ear feel. If you’re spending a considerable amount of money on personal monitors they’re all going to sound spectacular.
“But I think what sets these apart are their price range and that they fit. You put them in and you’re not going to have to worry about them falling out,” notes Bumbera.
“In fact,” adds Burton, “I recommend to clients that they try the IE 8s. You can get them off-the-shelf, and fit them however you want them to fit, with whatever attributes you want.
“You can have them completely sealed or you can leave them slightly open.”
“They’re very transparent and they’re very flat,” states Sean Quackenbush, FOH engineer for Robert Randolph and the Family Band.
“You can tailor them to the way you want them to sound. I like a lot of low end, so I crank it up. They sound phenomenal and the isolation is great.
“They mimic the personal monitors that we’re using onstage really well.”
Mike Fanuele, who acts as production and tour manager, as well as FOH and monitor engineer, for super-group Tinted Windows, is also pleased with the fit.
“They really are light and easy to put in. You almost don’t even notice that they’re there.” adds Fanuele, who has also worked with Dashboard Confessional and Fountains of Wayne.
“I did a comparison to my custom personal monitors and the IE 8s are on the same quality level. I also mix records, and I could absolutely use these for referencing.”
Bumbera adds, “The carrying case is incredible. I keep them in one of my road cases and there’s no worry that they’re going to break.”
Quackenbush concurs, “It’s a hard shell case, so they’re protected if you throw them in your backpack or your pocket.”
