Welcome to Audiophile Club. The first rule of Audiophile Club is: you do talk about Audiophile Club. The second rule of Audiophile Club is: you Doing Talk about Audiophile Club! If there was one Fight club-inspired set of eight rules to join such a club, Sennheiser could vote to make the third: Everyone is welcome. (After all, the third line of the movie – if someone yells “stop!”, goes limp or taps out, it’s probably over – probably wouldn’t be appropriate, although going limp on hearing your favorite song sounds the best you can ever heard it would not be inconceivable!)
The German company has long made high-quality ‘audiophile headphones’ for the more discerning music listener lucky enough to be able to afford them, but head to that same section on the company’s website and you’ll find that these ‘audiophile headphones’ – almost all of them are wired (perhaps that would be Sennheiser’s suggestion for a fourth line…) – now including a range of in-ear and over-ear pairs at a variety of prices, from just £130 / $150 / AU$240.
Sennheiser IE 200 technical specifications
Type Wired in-ear headphones
bluetooth? No
Cable length 1.2m
Weight (without cable) 4g
Connectors MMCX, 3.5mm
Finishes x1
Size earplugs x3 (memory and foam)
Indeed, in recent years Sennheiser has increased the accessibility of this respected range (which, if you’re wondering, sits above its standard ‘headphones’, its true wireless earbuds and noise-canceling wireless over-ears, for example) – and no more so than with the introduction of the IE 200 wired earphones. Entering the range at that aforementioned price point, the Sennheiser IE 200 takes the entry-level spot and represents arguably the brand’s boldest attempt yet to encourage more people to experience ‘audiophile’ quality sound.
Carrying that ‘IE’ naming can be seen as wearing a badge of honor at this point, as more than one of the company’s IE earbuds has received acclaim – the 2013 IE800, for example, was awarded three times Which Hi-Fi? Award winners despite their £600 price tag at the time. That’s an amount that would no doubt be considered as ridiculous a sum to spend on earbuds today as it was then. Much more recently, the IE900 proved their sound quality so completely that we couldn’t help but conclude that they justified their four-figure asking price. The IE series has since become more accessible with the arrival of the IE600 and IE300, albeit with less fanatical fanfare in the latter case, which we didn’t believe made the cut against their closest rivals.
While fewer headphone manufacturers are as concerned with mid-range wired headphones as they were 10 years ago, there remains an excellent sonic benchmark for the Sennheiser IE 200 to aim for. So how do they proceed?
Design
Anyone considering wired in-ears at this level is almost certainly looking for better sound quality than wireless alternatives at the same price can offer them. Either that or they forgot to charge their previous wireless pair one too many times. Wired in-ear headphones are no more hassle-free to wear than the plethora of Bluetooth earbuds available (not least because many phones now require a dongle), nor do they have quite as much of a reputation on the street. They cannot respond to app control, nor can they connect to two devices at once (without a physical splitter).
To put it bluntly, it remains two drivers in two earbud housings on a wire terminated with a jack, capable of delivering sound but little else. In the case of the IE 200, such components keep their ‘audiophile’ side of the deal. The 1.2m braided cable feels reassuringly durable, and thanks to the MMCX connectors on the end of the earbuds, can be swapped out later for another. The finger-length ends closest to the earbuds are covered in tubing designed to wrap around the ears for a better fit, while the relatively low-profile black housings themselves are discreetly compact. Three sizes of silicone and memory foam eartips, plus a leatherette pouch (less ‘audiophile’ but reasonable for the price), round out what amounts to the kind of generous, thoughtful design you’d expect from a company that’s been in the industry for as long as Sennheiser has . The only minor niggle here is the absence of an in-line remote, something the IE 200 shares with the rest of the range.
Sound
Another discernible lineage between the IE 200 and their siblings is their sonic character, which is as recognizable to us as a Warhol painting to a pop art fan. Clear, rich and weighty, they’re instantly likeable, and anyone who’s had experience with similarly priced wireless earbuds will quickly realize they don’t get you anywhere near Sennheiser’s level of openness, clarity and insight. It’s worth noting that if you don’t hear that lushness and are scratching your head at our descriptions of ‘rich’ and ‘heavy’, you’ll need to try different earbuds and use that snake cable as a hook to achieve a secure fit and proper seal.
The fullness that extends the frequency range, from the powerful highs to the very present lows, does wonders for the deep percussive and operatic vocals that make up Young Jesus’s Rose eater. The song’s theatrical composition is swallowed up by the authoritative sonic signature of the Sennheisers, like milk from a saucer to a kitten. The level of the IE 200 puts them on the verge of what we’d recommend using with a cheap portable DAC, but know that the earbud transparency is enough for owners to benefit from. We unplug the earbuds from our Macbook Pro’s 3.5mm output and plug them into the Chord Mojo 2’s jack (admittedly an overkill for the IE 200’s capabilities; an AudioQuest DragonFly Black would be more like it) , and the extra detail is palpable – there’s more precision in the melody-leading piano notes, more textural variation in the twinkling sounds, and greater impact on the background of the song’s drum attack.
Moving on to something more sparkly, Big Thief’s folk-infused Spud Infinity, and the IE 200 communicate the geniality with a clear, nimble midrange. The bouncy sounds on the farthest sides of the soundstage are a reminder of the width of the earbuds, while their audibility as they move beneath the vocal and guitar melody is a testament to the Sennheisers’ retrieval of finer detail.
However, this is about as much get up and go as the IE 200 likes to do. Their light-hearted nature turns away from offensive songs that require drive and bite, misrepresenting such music a bit. Play some of our highly charged go-tos – MOPs Ante upfrom Eminem hurt and The Chemical Brothers’ That’s Mirror – and the deliveries feel a little restrained, like a sober introvert in a karaoke bar.
Pronunciation
Ultimately, as with their design, the IE 200’s performance justifies their inclusion under the brand’s ‘Audiophile’ umbrella. More sonic excitability rather than some of that softness, and an in-line remote if we’re being picky would make them ideal buds at a level where the wire still makes sense for outright sound quality. But even without that, the Sennheiser IE 200 lives up to its mission to welcome more people to the Audiophile Club.
TO SCORE
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