Audiophilepure

The IE 200 features gold-plated MMCX connectors which are recessed in its housing for greater stability and guidance (just like with the IE 300, IE 600 and IE 900). A 1.2 meter cable with a 3.5mm single ended termination is included with the IE 200. You get two different styles of ear tips — silicone and memory foam — and they are provided in three sizes. What is special with the IE 200 is the ear tip tuning option. Depending on how you place the ear tips, you can influence the bass presentation. While this system does work, I don’t really find it very usable, but I’ll get back to that later.

The IE 200’s dedicated web site can be found here. As said, the IE 200 is selling for only $149 USD or €149 Euro. Sennheiser however stresses that this time, accessibility does not mean compromise. Sennheiser with the IE 200 is focusing on sound quality and while that does show in the packaging and accessories, I find it to be a good decision. Who doesn’t like great sound at a low price?

The guitars feel tonally right and quite enjoyable with the added note weight coming off of the upper bass to the lower mid regions. You hear every vibration of the strings, smooth and it does not feel lacking in detail. I mentioned in its review, the Mach 80’s lower mid-quantity felt somewhat lacking with some instruments. This is not present in the signature of the Mach 70, they feel fuller, sweeter here. 

The upper midrange of the Mach 70 is controlled, they carry adequate extension and good clarity. The hi-hats are present but they’re never the star of the show, they never shadow the mids as they follow closely from behind. The Mach 70 emphasizes the midrange and places it more forward, resulting in a smoother midrange compared to the Mach 80.

As for ergonomics, fit and isolation, of course, it would be unreasonable to expect custom in-ear monitor isolation, but the Mezzo LE is the most eartips-dependant of the flagships I experienced. It probably has something to do with the physical and acoustic properties of the piezo driver, but different tips with various bore widths considerably alter the sound signature for the good or bad, depending on the tips. The white tips that come with the Mezzo LE increase the amount of bass, while the gray and foam tips result in a more spacious presentation.

Based on my experience, I got the most satisfactory results with tips that minimize the distance from the earphone to your eardrum, which is why I decided on after-market double-flange tips. Anyhow, I believe the crowning touch to look for here is the bore width.

The Westone Audio Mach 80 provides impressive passive isolation thanks to its shape and optimized tips. Naturally, the included foam ear tips provide more isolation compared to the silicone tips, but I didn’t feel the need for more isolation as it was already excellent. Foam tips may be more suitable for on-stage and outdoor use.

To summarize this section in one sentence; the Mach 80 offers an improved design and an improved material quality compared to the previous generation, while not compromising on the comfort we all love and got used to.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/grado-sr325x

The SR325x’s open-backed design means that they’re wonderfully expressive dynamically, and lows are agile and tuneful, but there’s still not the outright weight and low-end punch of closed headphone designs. The SR325x can sound a little bass-light in comparison to such products, though we’re happy to make that sacrifice given the many benefits of the open-design approach.

We switch to Lana Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over The Country Club set and love the Grados’ ability to convey the texture and attitude in her voice. The excellent insight generates a lovely sense of atmosphere and we find ourselves getting lost in the music rather than focusing on analysing the SR325x’s performance. The newfound sense of refinement makes it easier to relax when listening too.

There are a lot of ear-tips inside, a total of 16 pairs. 2 of them are foams, and 2 more pairs are bi-flange tips. There are additional 9 pairs of silicone tips which are divided into “bass”, “vocal” and “balanced”. On top of all that, you get SpinFit tips for the flagship hybrid IEM. These weren’t present with the lower range FH5s model.

The tips are easily recognizable since they all have different colours. Once you memorize their colour you know which is which. Overall FiiO has covered the accessory part very well and you have absolutely everything you need inside. You even have an MMCX tool for making the detachable cable easier to work. Great attention to detail. Overall this is excellent packaging with a great presentation.

The mids of the Moonlight sound dynamic, coherent, and engaging. The Moonlight is very successful at conveying emotion and more importantly, it does not sacrifice resolution and clarity while doing so like many other IEMs on the market. The vocals are clean, and articulate with a good note weight. Habanot Nechama’s “Ever” is a great benchmark, the Moonlight’s presentation feels balanced with all ranges having a clean, detailed, and dynamic output.

The tonality of the instruments feels accurate, and the imaging and stereo separation is wonderful. The tonality of the guitar sounds very realistic, neutral, and natural. The upper midrange is delightfully tuned, it is not sharp or overly energetic. It carries a great amount of detail and extension while staying out of sibilance. Upper mids are resolving, clean and natural. Hi-hats do not feel brittle, etched, or strident. The Moonlight is very impressive, but it definitely needs a proper source despite its 8-ohm sensitivity value.