Headphones

Now that its consumer division is owned by Sonova, a Swiss company best known for hearing aids, the IE 300 could be one of the last products that’s produced by the traditional family-owned Sennheiser business. In some ways, the IE 300 harks back to the company’s earlier headphones from the pre-Bluetooth era. The in-ear design is more modern, but the IE 300 is a purely wired headphone, with no Bluetooth or active noise-cancelling. I can live without those features, although the lack of an in-line volume control is perhaps a touch more irritating.

Even so, the IE 300 still manages to stand out with a distinctive and classy design that starts with the use of a detachable 125cm cable with 3.5mm connectors. This is reinforced with sturdy Kevlar ‘para-aramid’ fibres, and the end that connects to the earpieces acts as a flexible hook that you wrap over your ear to hold them in place.

The earpieces have gold-plated MMCX connectors, which rotate freely so that it’s easy to adjust them while wearing. And, as the main cable is detachable, Sennheiser also sells optional balanced replacements with either 2.5mm or 4.4mm connectors. Each earpiece houses a 7mm transducer, boasting a claimed frequency response of 6Hz-20kHz, while both silicon and memory foam ear-tips are bundled – in three sizes.

Sound quality
Intrigued by the deep frequency response, I kick off with the sombre challenge of Gorecki’s Symphony No.3, The Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs performed by the Polish National Radio Orchestra with a guest vocal from Beth Gibbons formerly of Portishead. The painfully slow, deep introduction on double bass is a challenge for any headphone, yet the IE 300 doesn’t merely manage to reach down to those low notes, it’s precise enough to follow the slow, meandering melody and let it develop at its own pace, and also to give the rich texture of the strings room to breathe. The stately introduction of the remainder of the orchestra is wonderfully paced too – so delicate it’s almost imperceptible, until you spot some higher notes that can’t possibly be a double bass. As the strings fall away, the striking of a single piano note rings out like a funeral bell and the IE 300 captures the tremulous tone of Gibbons’ voice with heartbreaking clarity.

Slowly easing myself out of this sombre mood, I opt for something a bit more upbeat in the shape of Soldier’s Poem by Muse. The bass drum reverberates with a rich, full sound setting the mood, but the IE 300 allows the lightly brushed percussion to push the song forward as the band launches into full-on Queen mode. There’s detail and warmth in the multi-layered harmonies, gently surging as the band declare: “I would still lay down my life for you”, but then undercutting the mood with a delicate counterpoint: “No, no, no, this is wrong”. Freddie and the boys would be so proud.

That crisp, ticking percussion makes another appearance on Sturgill Simpson’s Sing Along. The delirious country/EDM mash-up is all fizzing keyboards and snarling cowboy vocals, but the compact little earbud still manages to create a glorious arm-waving sense of freedom as the warbling synths bounce all over the middle-eight. But the IE 300 knows that the percussion is in charge, drawing the precise tick-tick-tick up into the daylight so that it can lead the way forward.

Conclusion
Sennhesier’s IE 300 is, admittedly, fairly expensive for a rather no-frills wired in-ear headphone and omissions such as a microphone and in-line controls might seem like the company is taking the old-school approach a little too far. But the emphasis is clearly on sound quality, and it’s good to know that Sennheiser is going out with a flourish. CJ    

DETAILS
Product: Sennheiser IE 300
Type: Wired in-ear headphones

FEATURES
● 7mm transducer
● Detachable 3.5mm cable
● Claimed frequency response: 6Hz-20kHz