Philips SHE9800 Advanced Acoustics

What can I say about Philips… Most of my Earphones came from Philips, roughly 8-12 pairs of it, lasted for about 3 months maximum each XD. I was satisfied with Philips since it was the easy one to get around, and yeah, I’ve tried different models coming from Philips.

My SHE7750 was a strong one. The wiring looks frail, but it was tough enough to survive some severe stretching. Yeah, one time, my left earphone got stuck up on a metal slider of my computer table while I was trying to stand up. It really had a nasty pulling, yet it still works ^^. I should say, other older earphones of mine wouldn’t survive through something like that. One thing more, the SHE7750 has a detachable cord, so that gives off longer usage (yey! ^^). Although now, the 3.5mm jack of the detachable cord has now failed, so I’m off with a shorter length, but I’m still glad that I can use it ^^.

 

Now, going with SHE9800. This is my first entry level IEM (yeah, my first In-ear type). Ain’t it sexy? anyway, it’s Philips SHE9800 Advanced Acoustics IEM (In-ear-Monitor). 13.5mm dynamic driver units angled acoustics design. They say it’s pretty much worth it for the price of such good quality, I can’t really comment on that, since this is my first IEM. What I can comment about is the design and the sound. That angled type design is great for the ears (well for me). as with it, you don’t have to put the buds all the way inside. Since it sits perfectly between your Antihelix and Conchal Bowl. There’s no need for you to put the buds inside the canal.


 

Well, it depends on the ear design. With the proper curve on the ear, you’ll just have to put it in place and  do a clockwise twist until it fits in snuggly. Heck I say it even sounds better when it just sits outside of my ear rather than pushing it in, and it is more comfortable that way ^^.

The packaging has 3 sets of silicon caps (2 in the box, 1 on the earphone), a case and the earphone itself.

The caps were pretty stiff for me, that’s why I used a different set (those came from a stock set from my cell phone).

The exterior design is also nice aesthetically, there are also 3 vents to support the bass, although you won’t see it from this view. One more thing, you see those 3 bulges over the neck of the earphone? I’m not sure if its just mine, doesn’t the right one suppose to have the same bulges (for the flexi – grip thingy)? anyway, that helps me locate the left bud ^^.

 

 

I wish I just bought this off the internet, the lowest price of this being sold is around 15-20$, having mine bought off from a retail store costing around 4,200php (85-95$) which is a rip-off T_T. At the price range, it is compared with Klipsch image S4, Shure SCL2.

 

Now let’s go on with the sound. I can’t really provide off a comparative detail about the sound, since again, this is my first IEM. As with every dynamic drivers, first use really sucks, the sound was like coming off from a tin can and it was very tiny. But then, after a few hours of burn-in, the true sound came out. The sound coming out was crisp and detailed, with a great bass (I couldn’t ask for more). The treble at first was very rough, there was the clinching metallic sound, but soon stabilized. Wideness isn’t exactly the same as “Soundstage” as I thought. The soundstage we are talking about here is the distinctness and the clarity of the positioning of the sound (instruments) coming out. The best thing out of it is that, the sound is very well balanced. I was hoping for a wider sound (which I could get from over the ear headphones), but anyway, I still love my new SHE9800 ^^.

Burn-ins? it means listening through your earphones until it provides the best sound it can produce, well this applies to Dynamic Drivers (not sure with the armature drivers). Just start off with a normal volume and just rough it up for hours until you hear the best quality you can get ^^.

I wish I could try on some other IEMs. I’m no pro over this, but, my ears really love to hear great music.