Sennheiser IE 300 Review

I’ve never had the chance to try any of Sennheisers IEMs other than the IE 80. I honestly didn’t like the way those sounded so I was interested to see how the new IE 300 sounds compared to a rather saturated market when it comes to IEMs in that $150-500 range. While I have good things to say about the IE 300, I also have some grips as well. The IE 300 is using a single dynamic driver. It also uses a recessed MMCX connector like Sony uses on some of their high end stuff. The IE 300 retails for $300 USD.

Quick shoutout to EVSHRUG and Sennheiser for sending the IE 300 to test and review. While I always appreciate the chance to test and review products sent in from manufacturers, it never affects the rating of my review.

Gear Used

IPhone 12 pro with headphone adapter, iFi hip dac, Lotoo PAW S1, iFi micro iDSD Signature, SMSL SU-9 feeding the SP400 amp.

Looks and fit

The color scheme of the IE 300 kinda reminds me of the older HD 600 full size cans. I like the looks honestly. The fit is fairly nice and while I couldn't get a proper fit with any of the included silicone tips, I had no issues tip rolling and finding something that worked. I didn’t try the included foam tips but I’m confident they would work just fine. The IE 300 is really lightweight so I ran into zero comfort issues for longterm sessions.

Packaging and accessories

These come in a nice retail packaging that feels very “big brand name”. Inside the box are the IE 300, stock cable, user guides, IEM cleaning tool,  hard fabric travel zipper bag and some tips inside said bag. This is fairly standard and I had no complaints.

Sound(overall)

These final impressions were done off a mix of the iFi hip dac and the SMSL SU-9 connected to the SMSL SP400. These are what the IE 300 sounds like to my ears. This was also using the CP360 eartips from spinfit. Things like ear tip selection and DAC/amp selection will produce different results and impressions vs what my ears hear on my specific gear.

The low end of the IE 300 is definitely elevated and comes in deep with hard impact. It doesn’t sound overly bloated but it does creep into the mids more than I prefer. I would say the low end is one of the main selling points of the IE 300. With some music genres I really enjoyed the low end focus. Yet on some others I found myself wanting just a hair less bass. The mids sound fine for the most part. I’ve unfortunately been testing these along other IEMs such as the ZEN/EST 112 from DUNU which has a better balance overall. I think the mids sound a bit recessed but I believe this to be something that has to do with the soundstage depth. While I had no real complaints with vocals, I felt at times they sounded a little veiled with the overpowering bass. The lower to mid treble is fairly boosted like the low end. Everything sounds super splashy yet I can still hear some decent detail retrieval up top. I’ll admit I can be a little treble sensitive vs others but I found myself in constant situations where I had to lower the volume as I was hit by what felt like a sibilance cannonball. I do believe the main reason for this has to do with the ear tips. The stock silicone and foam tips actually have what looks like thin foam at the opening where the nozzle would end. I wasn’t able to get a good seal with the silicone tips and I tend to not bother with foam tips normally as they lower the treble for me anyways. I’m taking a guess these possibly may not come off as bright if a good seal on the stock tips can be made.

Soundstage/Imaging

So the soundstage came off a little strange at first to me. It sounded like a wide and deep stage at first but after listening for a while I noticed the width was about average but the depth gave off a sense of a big stage. This was against other IEMs that I knew had wide staging. I think this sounds fine though some things like vocals and instruments can sound recessed at times. 

Cable rolling

I do love cable rolling but I instantly ran into probably my biggest complaint about the IE 300. This uses a “recessed” MMCX connector. So none of my MMCX cables fit and I had to use the stock cable. While I get the concept of the recessed MMCX connectors(recessed 2 pin is my favorite) I don’t see a need for it when it comes to MMCX. Fortunately for the IE 300, I’m fine with the IER-M9 from Sony using recessed MMCX(Sony fanboi) so I can’t give Sennheiser crap for doing the same thing. So I ended up having to use the stock cable for my review which is my next big complaint.

Stock cable

The stock cable IMO is junk. It’s super thin, the connector sleeve looks like it will break or short from normal daily use and I personally don’t like memory wire in my ear guides. It could simply be that I’ve been pampered by Chi-Fi cables but I was confused when I saw the cable that came with the IE 300. While the cable is fine, I think with the competition in the $300 range, the cable shouldn’t look and feel this cheap. Because of the recessed MMCX connectors, it’s not super easy to get new cables should these break or someone wants something that looks better cable wise.

Tip rolling

I mentioned earlier that the stock tips and stock foam tips have a bit of dampening material that may help with the splashy treble. I rolled a few tips and found the CP360 spinfit tips to be my favorite pairing. Wide bore calmed the low end but made me want to die from sibilance and the small bore stuff made things too bloated.

IEM comparisons

THIEAUDIO Legacy 4

I had planned to compare the Legacy 5 since the price was the same. I however like the tuning of the Legacy 4 and don’t see a point in the Legacy 5 still being available. The Legacy 4 had a better balance overall when I did side by side comparisons. I’ll admit I had more fun listening sessions with the IE 300 however. I think the difference between these two will come down to whether you want a mid focused sound with better top end and lowend control(Legacy 4) or a thumping bass IEM with a splashy treble(IE 300). I think both do well at their price points but I think I would choose the IE 300 over the Legacy 4 if fun tuning is what you seek or you have some balanced sounding IEMs already.

DUNU EST112

The EST 112 absolutely walks all over the IE 300 in terms of technical performance and tuning overall IMO. The shells on the EST 112 are huge and make for a chunky and difficult fit sometimes. The IE 300 wins when it comes to long term comfort. The IE 300 still wins in terms of bass, but the 112 has better control and speed when it comes to the low end. Mids sound much better and I enjoy vocals on the 112 over the IE 300. Treble is the biggest difference between the two. The treble is smooth and detailed on the 112 and I pick out things easier. The IE 300 sounds more intense but with less detail retrieval. I would say for the extra $190, the EST 112 is very much worth it over the IE 300. If you need something super lightweight and easy to pop in and out of the ear, the IE 300 is a much better choice over the EST 112.

DUNU ZEN

The comparison of a single DD $300 IEM compared to a $700 single DD might come off as unfair but I still found the comparison interesting. The ZEN shows better detail retrieval and better control from the lows to mid treble. Where the ZEN sounds like a flagship IEM, it lacks that upper treble sparkle. The IE 300 does blast you with treble but It’s fairly obvious that the ZEN sounds way better when I A/B the two. I would still pick the ZEN over the IE 300 any day. That being said I feel more comfortable walking around outside or in the office with the IE 300 since it doesn’t cost nearly as much and I enjoy the fun tuning.

Amping Combinations

*The IE 300 isn’t hard to drive and I didn’t see a real need for anything powerful to run these.*

Lightning headphone adapter

This was actually a pretty good pairing. Things sounded around the same vs being amped. I still think a small portable would do well with the IE 300 however due to the added amp sound “flavor”.

iFi hip dac/ Lotoo PAW S1

Both the hip dac and S1 bring different things to the table in terms of their “house sound” before any EQ or device specific “boosts”. I found that the Legacy 4 and IE 300 pretty much used the same amount of volume when paired with both portable amps. As such I’ll be repeating the same thing I said in my Legacy 4 review. The hip dac pushes out more power but the L4/IE 300 really doesn’t need the extra power and I only made it to about 11 O’clock via single ended before it was too loud. The S1 has a much wider range in volume so going up or down a few numbers in volume doesn’t change things drastically. I’m pretty confident that I could easily murder both the L4/IE 300 off the hip dac if I accidently hit the high gain button or accidently adjusted the volume too high. Something to think about if looking for a portable source dongle. The hip dac has a slight warmth with better dynamics. The S1 gave the warmest sound with a nice wide stage. Both are great options for the IE 300.

Amping thoughts

This was easy to drive and it didn’t scale at all past the portable gear I had. As such, I’d say something like a Lotoo Paw S1/other portable device or a desktop “stack” in the $200 and under range will feed the IE 300 extremely well.

Overall thoughts

So do I like the IE 300? It’s a mixed bag. I’m fairly neutral overall on the IE 300. I think I would call this sound signature a mix of safe/fun tuning and I honestly have no issues with the way the IE 300 sounds at $300. Plus I’ll admit I’m using the IE 300 at work in a lab and outside for walks due to the fact I can pop these lightweight IEMs in and out of my ear without issue or re-seating annoyances. I will be giving the IE 300 a recommendation as long as a fun tuning is what you’re seeking. Those looking for something that has a neutral sound or that plan to hunt for something that punches above its price tag will wanna look elsewhere. I enjoyed my time with the IE 300 and I think this a good release for Sennheiser.  While I would have preferred something that tried to compete with the upper Mid-Fi IEMs, I think this will do well sales wise for them. I hope that later revisions or newer IEM releases come with better stock cables. Thanks for reading!

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