Aluminum is machined easily and would allow for the most consistency when trying to achieve high tolerances.
But the choice of material makes sense given that the IE900's X3R system (a trio of resonator chambers designed to attenuate and smoothen treble) is integrated directly into the shell.
Personally I would like to have seen a more fancy metal being used, such as titanium, to really give the IE900 the premium treatment. The shells of the IE900 appear to be milled entirely out of aluminum. The design is quite ergonomic, and I imagine that most listeners will have no problem getting the IE900 in their ears really, it's the darn seal issues with the tips that present the biggest concern. The IE900 itself is small! I distinctly remember being shocked at how minuscule they actually are when I first saw them at the Sennheiser SF store. The stock foam tips were about on par with medium silicone for bass quantity, but generally blunted transients and rolled-off the air frequencies more than I'd like.
Medium silicone tips dialed sub-bass back by about a decibel and smoothened out the mid-treble some more, lending to a less U-shaped sound. Even the size of the silicon tips made a difference the smallest ones noticeably having the best slam and bass tactility. The filter dampens the treble by about 1dB certainly not a big deal normally, but relevant when considering other tips and given the precarious balance the IE900 strikes in the mid-treble. But measurements disagree, as does subjective listening. According to Sennheiser, the filter inside the tips is simply for purposes of catching excess wax it should not have acoustic effect. It's also worth noting that the stock tips have a foam filter inside. Pretty much everyone I've talked to has this issue to some extent, and this means that I have to angle the IE900 slightly clockwise when seating them in my ear. They frequently break seal, likely a result of the overly thin walls collapsing against the ear canal when inserted. One thing I'm unequivocally not a fan of, though? The stock silicone tips. They have a raised guard to protect the connectors from undo strain, but this means that most aftermarket cables are off the table. The IE900's MMCX connectors fall into the same "love-hate" category that the cables do. There's a good reason why most manufacturers have long-since abandoned memory wire. But the integrated memory wire is painful to adjust and doing so frequently breaks the seal of the IE900, something I'll elaborate on below. They feel robust and high quality, and I appreciate that three were included to cover all the common terminations. I have a love-hate relationship with the included cables. MMCX cables terminated in 2.5mm/3.5mm/4.4mm.The IE900 comes in sparse packaging that includes the following accessories: The IE900's impedance curve is also largely flat, meaning that the source you use should not have an effect on the IE900's frequency response. The IE900 takes a little more power to drive, but I had no issues driving it to my comfortable listening volumes (~70dB). The stock cables and the stock silicone tips (size small, this is important) were used. Source & DrivabilityĪll critical listening was done off of my iBasso DX300 and iPhone X with lossless files. As usual, what follows are my honest thoughts and opinions to the best of my ability. This unit was purchased for review with my own money. So in this review I'm going to answer the question of whether the IE900 actually stacks up to its current competition and if it merits the hefty $1300 cost of entry. Of course, topping an outdated (and quite frankly, underwhelming) flagship IEM is one thing. We both agreed that it was leaps better than the company's previous flagship IEM, the IE800S, which I A/B-d the IE900 with for comparison. Heck, I remember straight-up telling Julian, the awesome employee who got me set up, "Yup, this is the only Sennheiser IEM that I have any intention of ever purchasing".
But imagine my surprise when I actually got around to hearing the IE900.and I liked it. Perhaps that's why I begrudgingly put off making the drive down to Sennheiser San Francisco to hear the brand's latest flagship IEM, the Sennheiser IE900. Name any Sennheiser IEM, and I have to admit that I'm probably not too fond of it.
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