Sennheiser PC37X randomly goes bad after disconnecting the cable ?
Greetings, Yesterday I was using my headset like normal with my macbook, just listening to music and on a call with people like usual, and the headset was perfectly fine. The stock wire that came with the headset is extremely long and yesterday it annoyed me very much that it kept getting tangled with itself, so I decided to see if the cable is replaceable. I pulled out the cable from the headset and saw the adapter, and looked online for a replacement. Upon plugging it back in, the audio sounded extremely muffled and washed out. Im not sure what I did wrong to make it mess up like that as I've always taken good care of it, ive had it for about 2 years and its always just been chilling on my desk, but anywho I thought the cable just went bad and ordered a replacement. The replacement came, and the issue is still persistant, so I am not sure what the issue is I've tried multiple different headsets and the issue is not with the port, and I also tried it with my windows laptop and...
Apr 23, 2024
Build: The IE80's build was plasticky and overall felt cheap for the 200 something I paid for it. It just didn't feel like a product that would last through time, and the Lyra II's solid metal build makes me much more confident that it would last a long time. Regarding the connectors, the IE80 had a pretty good 2 pin connector which I liked because it would not swivel like the MMCX ones on the Lyra. Thus, I wouldn't have to worry about the MMCX ones wearing over time. The stock Litz cable on the Lyra feels much better built than the stock IE80 cable. I won't comment on sound quality with cables since I don't personally believe in cables changing sound significantly.
Now onto sound:
Bass: The Lyra II's bass is simply what I wish the IE80's and Sony XBA Z5's bass would have been. There's a ton of midbass on the IE80 which I felt made the set sound bloated and sometimes bled into the midrange depending on the knob setting. The bass is very textured with great impact yet controlled so you don't have to worry about it affecting your mids.
Mids: The mids on the IE80 are veiled in comparison to the Lyra II. Many people will probably agree with me that the mids are the best part of the Lyra II for its smoothness yet fullness while still retaining good detail.
Treble: The treble feels very well integrated and feels a bit more extended than the IE80. Although the IE80 is a somewhat dark sounding earphone its treble rolls off super hard around the 10khz range and I didn't like that. This is also in my opinion the weakest part of the Lyra, but I think that it helps eliminate harshness and sibilance that can easily occur in brighter tuned IEMs with better treble extension.
Speed: The Lyra II's beryllium driver is really interesting to me because its speed is very fast, similar to a balanced armature, but still with dynamic timbre/tonality. The IE80 feels slower in comparison and its evident through listening to EDM music.
Soundstage/Imaging: The only real thing the IE80 does better for me is a sense of a wider soundstage compared to the Lyra. The Lyra sounds more like an intimate club/small room setting whereas the IE80 can sound like a large hall. However I think the Lyra positions instruments/vocals and layers a bit better.
Conclusion:
The IE80 is special to me because its one of the first IEMs that got me into this hobby, and although its not great anymore compared to when it first came out its still a decent mid-fi basshead IEM. Whether the Lyra II is worth $500 depends on what you prioritize in your sound and what types of music you listen to. I would not recommend them at the MSRP of $700 but I think at $500 they are a good upgrade to the IE80, and I personally enjoyed them more than Sennheiser's IE800 flagship, if that says anything.
EDIT: This may sound like I'm bashing the IE80 a lot, but the reality is that these are in 2 completely different price brackets, and also soundwise tiers. Campfire has focused with the Lyra and the Vega to perfect the art of the single dynamic driver, and I would say that for the second generation of the Lyra they've done a really good job. Although the Sony EX1000 is still my favorite dynamic IEM of all time, the Lyra II comes in at a close second simply because they do so much right and so little wrong.
However there is a huge BA craze with multi drivers (64audio and their 18 driver shenanigans, anything from JH, Noble, etc) lately so whenever a new high end single dynamic comes out its always interesting to listen and compare. The Lyra does a lot of things well even compared to more expensive dynamics like the IE800, DITA Truth, A&K T8ie, and Rhapsodio Galaxy. You'll want to experiment with different tips when you get them because tips can change the sound a lot, depending on whether you use foam or silicon.