Sennheiser IE300: The little whizz-kid in the town

Sennheiser is a mammoth in audio industry that needs no introduction. This German company has an incredible line of products that strokes the desire of all audiophiles. The latest addition in Sennheiser's range of products is much awaited IEM IE300.

 
By the first looks this IEM is a perfect balance of elegance and comfort. Its super compact design makes its worthy travel companion. Its marble finish chassis is quite attractive and does a near perfect job of providing a unique look. The faceplate has Sennheiser's logo printed on it. The overall look is simple yet powerful. It comes with enhanced Extra Wide Band (XWB) 7mm driver that provides a very good audio performance in a very small footprint. As per Sennheiser they have used a special blend of materials in the diaphragm that improves its rest-and-response times for greater accuracy throughout the frequency spectrum. Sennheiser is using a miniature room-within-a-room architecture to create a back volume which is then fed to a frequency absorbing resonator chamber to overcome the masking effects that regularly occurs in the ear canal giving a very natural and intimate sound.

This product comes with an array of accessories which includes 6 pairs of eartips, a user guide, a very good looking hard-shell case, earbuds cleaning tool and a para-aramid reinforced cable with gold-plated MMCX connectors terminating to a 3.5mm plug giving it a very premium look and feel.

Disclaimer:

I have received as part of review circle sent from the brand itself in exchange of honest reviews. All impressions of sound are subjective to my own listening and my sources and is based on my experience with IEMs of similar hardware configurations and price range.

Sources:

For this review the unit has been paired to A&K SE100 (ES9038 Pro) and Shanling M6 (AK4495EQ) without any other amplification on portable setup. And, it has also been paired to Schiit Vali2+Mutibit Stack in terms of desktop setups which I personally enjoyed more on this IEM

Pros:

1. Very Impressive Bass response
2. Good micro detailing and clean sounding
3. Very good depth and separation
4. Light weight and comfortable
5. Very good build quality and accessories

Cons:

1. Peaks in lower treble region
2. Sharp upper mids and bit imbalance in overall spectrum

Highs:

The Highs are very well implemented, the frequency response is clean, transparent and full of energy giving a very musical experience. The upper treble extension is very good and not at all sibilant or peaky. The lower treble has bit peaks although and at times feels quite thin. This can easily be experienced while listening to Guns N' Roses - November Rain where all the instruments come up with nice crisp micro detailing and a very immersive experience thanks to the good imaging capabilities, the electric guitars, flutes, violins, upper notes of piano, rest all bells and whistles made it a very amazing experience with lot of chills at various parts of the track. Never at any point of time it became sibilant or piercing.

 

Mids:

There is a lush and warmth in the mid region. Instruments like saxophones, violins and cellos sound very deep and lush and has a nice body to the notes.

Lower mids have some warmth in them and has a presence factor carried by bass impact as a result the male vocals have a very nice thick presentation with an soothing warmth in them. Listening to Eric Clapton singing "Wonderful Tonight" had a similar impact and was very much enjoyable.
Coming to upper mids the story changes drastically, the notes turn drastically towards bright signature. 

The upper mids becomes bit leaner and sharper giving an impact of increased sharpness in the overall signature. Although the musicality here loses its charm but added brightness makes things more vivid and transparent which is not a bad thing if one enjoys that kind of signature. So if one is listening to Rebecca Pidgeon in "Spanish Harlem" the presentation becomes very much vivid and open, and the vocals sound bit angelic at times.

Lows:

The bass is the area where IE300 shines the most. Its robust, deep and huge and instantly sets you up in a groovy mood. The decay is slow with quite thick notes makes it a very pleasurable experience. The sub-bass production is way more refined then most of the IEMs in this price range; it was full of texture and the rumbles just feels awesome. Mid-bass does follow the same lead, with a nice texture representation and a thick slow decay punch. The V-shaped signature complimented this bass response very nicely. Although the bass is extensive still at any point of time is feels getting out of control nor fatiguing but created an overall musical experience one craves for.

I have tested this more on bass-oriented tracks and it didn’t fail even for a single time to give me a wow factor by initiating an instant groove from its punchy bass response and sets up an instant dance mood where in no time I feel my hands up in the air. The hip hop and gangsta music sounded outstanding over it.

Listening to “Bass Rani” album by Nucleya was such an awesome experience - what a rumble on all the bass drops, it was entirely fun listening to each track. Similar experience was there while listening to “KVSH -Tokiyo drift remix” – The Presentation of bass response was outstanding and the feel one has while anticipating for the drop was damn amazing. it didn’t lose the wow factor; not even for a single drop.

Technicalities:

IE300 has a very good depth in it and very good imaging capabilities; Although as a result of which the soundstage suffers a bit giving an average width and quite decent height. Listening to Bassnectar – Reaching Out and Dream Catcher has similar impacts with very good bass response, imaging and instrument separation but fails to give a holographic presentation but the overall tonality and presentation is amazing that hit on the soundstage doesn't even come to notice if not listened critically.

Again coming back to Guns N' Roses - November Rain, it was an amazingly enjoyable experience with all the depth, micro detailing and the overall intimate tonality that it doesn't fail to give me the goosebumps and chills.

Final Verdict:

Ie300 has a very well-tuned V-shape sound with mild elevation in bass and treble. The bass has good texture and has full authority both in quality and quantity. The treble is also very clear and detailed but not fatiguing at all. The mids on the other hand are bit recessed. The layering and separation is very good and scales with the sources. The overall presentation and tonality is natural and intimate. In terms of soundstage it has very good depth and imaging with average height. It has a very small footprint and is extremely comfortable to wear with musical nature makes it an extremely enjoyable IEM in this price range.