Sennheiser IE600: trying to troubleshoot

Submitted by Kyanito t3_z2ega7 in headphones

Recently got a pair of IE600 and while it works like a charm sound-wise, I cannot work with the over-the-ear hooks. For one reason for another, I can barely make them work for my right ear specifically(my left is fine): half the time it uncomfortably suspends in the air and the other half it springs the earbud back out and I have to spend another five to ten minutes shoving it back in and remolding the ear hook and leave my ears a sore mess afterwards.

How do you even mold the ear hooks? Or are there IE 600 compatible ear hook cables that don't require a shitton of micromanaging? At this point I'm ready to call it quits and go back to my old earphones(Acoustune RS One).

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Dust-by-Monday t1_ixg0gln wrote

What I do is leave the ear hooks molded to my ears, then I hang them on my ears loosely, then I gently tilt them forward and twist 'em into my ears. I don't have to reshape the hook because I don't tilt them far enough forward to mess the hooks up.

Does that make sense?

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Kyanito OP t1_ixh1vs0 wrote

It does make it a lot easier to understand that way! I'll still have to take it back though, I don't think it's normal for the earbuds to lose sound if you press on it harder than usual.

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Dust-by-Monday t1_ixjkvgn wrote

That's definitely not normal. Maybe they're defective? I'd get a new pair.

Edit: Also, I find the IE Pro (large) ear tips to be a lot more comfortable than the regular IE line of ear tips. Maybe you could order some of those? They still have the little piece of foam inside for tuning, so they should work great.

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Kyanito OP t1_ixjqkpp wrote

I ended up finding the silicone ear tips more bearable than the foam/silicone mix (whereas the Comply foams that I had for my old setup where too long) haha

I do think it could be a problem on the 4.4 cable (testing them on the 2.5 didn't have the same issues), so I'll just see if I could get a new cable first.

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dimesian t1_ixg1e1n wrote

The ear hooks just guide the cable over the ears, they don't support any weight, they're also referred to as cable guides. I just insert the IEM and bend the wire back over my ears with no particular care and then leave it alone, I don't try to make it match the shape of my ears as there is no reason to, it takes me no longer to fit them than an IEM with the pre-formed ear hooks. I imagine that wearing glasses with them will take a little longer to get them comfortable.

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f3llyn t1_ixhdmjs wrote

I also recently got the IE600 and decided to just get a third party cable after about 2 weeks.

https://www.null-audio.com/collections/iem-headphone-cable/products/symphony-tiburon-upocc-cryo-copper-headphone-iem-cable

This is the cable I went with, it's a little on the spendy side and I'm not sure it was worth the cost but the iems actually sit comfortably in my ear now. So take from that what you will.

They do have cheaper cables, obviously, but whatever you do make sure you select the right connector that says it's for the IE300/600/900.

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Kyanito OP t1_ixheher wrote

Is there a specific name for the connectors used for IE600? I'm thinking of visiting the place I bought the IEM at and getting a third party cable, but I'm not entirely sure if they have any that fit.

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blorg t1_ixhvwje wrote

You need to get one that says it will fit the IE300/IE600/IE900 as it's recessed. None of my regular MMCX would fit. Apparently you can possibly mod a regular MMCX if it has plastic red and white/clear bits at the end by cutting them off, I haven't tried this. Regular MMCX for sure won't fit though.

Stock is a terrible cable. It was riding up on my ears too. I replaced it with this one, under $10, AliExpress link is on the Imgur page.

Key is the MMCX connector needs just about 1mm of golden bit, so it will fit. I have seen some other MMCX cables that look like they would fit, but there are enough advertised to fit that I just got one that says specifically for the IE600.

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f3llyn t1_ixhetd2 wrote

I'm not sure of the specific name, all I know is that it's not the standard mmcx connector. Of the few online cable shops I know of Null Audio is the only one that actually has this connector as a build option.

Sorry I don't have more info than that. Trying the shop you bought them from is worth a shot but unless they specialize in making audio cables it's unlikely they will have a third party cable that fits.

FWIW, null audio says they have up to 2 weeks lead time but I placed my order on a Friday evening, had shipping information the following Monday, and the cable itself in my hands by the next Friday. Shipping from Singapore to the west coast US was pretty fast, they are hand made cables after all, and it is a high quality cable, so again, make of that what you will.

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Kyanito OP t1_ixhhlj8 wrote

Apparently the shop I go to provides Brise cables that work with IE600, but at the same time, there might be a few weeks' delay(something about it being custom made), so I'll pop over and ask about it. Thanks for the information nonetheless!

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f3llyn t1_ixhhvv5 wrote

I hope it works out! The IE600 is well worth the effort of trying to get them to fit right. I've really been enjoying mine, especially since I got the replacement cable.

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TRX808 t1_ixijk4s wrote

I bent the hell out of the hooks so they almost do an immediate 180* and I wear the IE600 at more of a diagonal angle than it's displayed in pics (or so I think, haven't taken a pic of me wearing it). That makes the stock cable much more bearable for me and overall the comfort is still great. I've been looking for a modular cable (multiple end terminations) that fits the IE600 without dropping like $300+ on some boutique cable.

The IE300, 600 and 900 all have the same recessed MMCX connection so a normal MMCX cable usually won't fit properly (even that it may work). I've heard of some people taking the red and blue circles off the end of a normal MMCX which basically makes it recessed but I wouldn't risk that on anything other than a cheap budget cable.

There are budget IE300/600/900 cables on Ebay and Ali Express for like $20 as long as you aren't looking for modular.

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Squid_Man56 t1_ixkq54w wrote

I have IE300s and ditched the stock cable for a few reasons, mostly bc it was very microphonic rubbing against my shirt or just amplifying my footsteps into my head, and bc of the fiddly earhooks. I got mine for about $200 so i didnt feel as bad modifying the iem shell to fit a standard mmcx cable, basically i just took a razorblade and sliced off the little plastic rings that make the mmcx connection recessed. im not sure if other people had to do this after modding theirs but I had to superglue the new cable on to keep a secure connection (superglue can be dissolved with acetone or just broken with force so again didnt feel that bad).

if you find a nice cable you like more than the stock one and you arent planning on selling them i would recommend the mod, but then again IE600s are like $700 or something so definitely do some more research before slicey dicey. maybe some boutique seller offers Sennheiser iem compatible cables or something idk

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Kyanito OP t1_ixkzx8q wrote

I noticed the footstep amplification too! It wasn't very obvious but once I switched to the silicone tips(which funnily worked better for me than the foam ones) I did hear it here and there.

I'm not tech savvy enough to mod cables, so I'll just bite the bullet and get a boutique one later.

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Squid_Man56 t1_ixl25rg wrote

i generally listen at lower volumes so my footsteps were literally louder than my music with the stock cable lmao

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