HIFIMAN RE800 Silver Review: An IEM That Will Save You $500

Tech moves fast, and in-ear monitors are no exception. The HIFIMAN RE800 Silver is an older, high-end IEM that has been stripped of its fancy packaging - but not of its incredible sound quality. So, can you really get a flagship $600 IEM and experience audiophile-grade performance without the audiophile price tag? Right now, you can pick it up for $100 - that’s a huge price cut.

Comfort and Build Quality

It’s a classic earbud style, instead of a big typical IEM that fills in your entire ear. It means a few things. First of all, most people won’t have any comfort issues regarding their size. They’re super tiny, which makes them go easily and quickly into your ears. It also means that they’re extremely compact, making them very mobile and on-the-go friendly, and allow for storage in space-limited situations. Their low weight certainly helps with carrying them around.

In the box, we’re getting lots of different tips to go with them. So it can be a comfortable IEM for everybody, no matter their ear size, shape, or personal preferences. For me, the stock double-flange ones worked the best - both for comfort and sound quality. That’s the starting point I’d recommend everybody to start with.

At first sight, it can look kind of cheap. However, it’s enough to touch it to realize that it’s absolutely not - at least the shell itself. It is made of aluminum alloy, quite thin, but still. It gives it a more premium feeling, increases its durability greatly over plastic IEMs, and looks nicer.

The cable is permanently attached to the earpieces, which is debatable, but earbud-style products often go that route for one reason or another. For many, this wouldn’t be a big problem if the stock cable was very good. In terms of the technical aspects and its materials - we have some information. The conductors are made of crystalline copper wire (probably OCCOhno Continuous Casting - a copper or silver purification process that produces very long single-crystal grains, potentially reducing grain boundary resistance., or a similar process), with a coat of silver over them. It indicates that they paid attention to the materials themselves, but I have one concern about it - the ergonomics aren’t top-notch. The cable likes to tangle up, and is slightly microphonic. It’s not something that you particularly want it to do, as it introduces some sounds when moving it.

It’s terminated with a very good-looking, high-quality, metal 3.5mm connector. I like that one a lot - it inspires confidence, seems durable, and makes very good contact, fitting snugly in all my devices like amplifiers, phones, and laptops.

Technologies

The topology driver uses HIFIMAN’s advanced technology and research to essentially make a driver unlike any other. It involves creating a topological, nanoscale layer of material that’s being applied to the diaphragmThe vibrating membrane in a transducer that converts between electrical energy and acoustic waves; its mass, stiffness, and damping determine driver character.. It’s being distributed in distinct geometrical patterns to make tuning it easier and more accurate. Their engineers can vary the surface pattern, compound used, and even the thickness of a given pattern. That allows for the manipulation of sound wave creation like never before.

They mention that no other driver tech allows for such control and precision, resulting in clarity, detail, and nuance. HIFIMAN also says that it can best the world’s most complicated multi-driver setups but with none of the coherency and crossoverA network of filters that divides the audio signal into frequency bands before each reaches its appropriate driver - passive (in the speaker) or active (before the amp). issues. Since it’s a single dynamic driverThe most common transducer type, using a voice coil in a magnetic gap to push a cone or dome diaphragm - the same principle as a traditional loudspeaker. construction, there isn’t a crossover, so it can’t be causing any acoustic problems, or take up more space inside than needed.

Technical Specs

The frequency responseA graph showing output amplitude vs. frequency - the most fundamental measurement of any audio component's tonal character. goes from an astonishing 5Hz all the way up to 20kHz. It goes much deeper than you can hear. It tells one thing - the driver is super capable, doesn’t break up at low frequencies even below our hearing, and it’s doing what it’s supposed to do.

The impedanceThe total opposition (resistance + reactance) a speaker or headphone presents to the driving current, measured in ohms and varying with frequency. is 60 ohms - it’s a fairly high impedance IEM. Most of them have a significantly lower impedance, making the voltage swings much smaller and easier on the amplifier. Regardless, 60 ohms is generally not very high for an audio device. Some headphones have upwards of 600 ohms of impedance, and possibly even more.

The sensitivityThe output sound pressure level for a standardized input - typically dBSPL at 1W/1m for speakers, or dBSPL at 1mW or 1V for headphones. of this IEM is easily countering that anyway, coming at 105dB. In-ear monitors are generally very easy to drive for a few reasons. Most of them are multi-driver, increasing their sensitivity greatly. It works the same way with speakers. Even if they aren’t, like the RE800, they sit very close to your eardrums, so you’re not losing a lot of sound pressure by the distance itself. Lastly, the impedances are fairly low, as the thin wire coils don’t have to be so long to cover the entire diaphragm, as it’s much smaller. In this case, the dynamic driver’s size is just 9.2mm.

Sound Quality

Its tonality may not be a perfect match for any real target. It’s not what it is trying to achieve. It is not afraid to break common rules and try new things to achieve the sound signature that would otherwise be impossible to get while adhering to a conventional curve.

The bass shows clear signs of roll-off, but it’s not rolling off super fast. You can still hear deep notes in the 30-40Hz region, but that sub-bassFrequencies below approximately 60Hz; felt as much as heard, sub-bass conveys pipe organ fundamentals, kick drum body, and concert hall size. is not elevated. Regardless, it has interesting bass punchBass impact in the 60-150Hz region - the chest-thump of a kick drum or the snap of a slap-bass note. Distinct from slam, which extends lower; punch is about the leading edge of bass transients, not the depth. characteristics, unlike other IEMs or even full-size headphones. It’s not super punchy in the common sense, but still fairly so. However, when it does punch, it does it in a very coherent way. It’s not just a hit that comes from somewhere, or a random place. You’re always aware of the place where it’s radiating from, making it easy to localize.

The lower midrangeThe frequency range from approximately 250Hz to 5kHz where most musical information, vocals, and instrument fundamentals reside. is technically brought forwardA tonal character with elevated upper midrange or lower treble that pushes vocalists and lead instruments ahead of the mix; can sound exciting or fatiguing. a little bit, however, the rest of it seems recessedA perceived dip in a frequency region (commonly the upper midrange or lower treble) that pulls instruments backward in the soundstage and softens overall presence. and thin-sounding - typical of HIFIMAN products. It means that you’re not getting any bloat, weight, or meat to the notes, and in return, it sounds pretty fast.

Regarding its top end, it’s slightly peaky, but not in a purely random way. It seems like it’s done on purpose. The hi-hats and generally high-frequency, short hits, are much harder than expected. You usually get the dynamic, punchy nature on the low end, but this IEM extends it to the very high frequencies.

Regarding detail retrieval - it’s all right, nothing special on this front. Some elevation in these registers can make for a seemingly more detailed presentation than it actually is, as it tends to push details more forward at you, making them easier to discover.

The soundstageThe perceived three-dimensional acoustic space in a stereo recording - width beyond the speakers, depth front-to-back, and sometimes height information. is super wide for an IEM. Usually, IEMs are very in your head, closed in, with not much spacing between notes, and even less space for the sounds to be in. That’s why I was surprised to find out that it sounds wider than some of my full-size, over-ear headphones. The imagingThe ability to place individual instruments in precise, stable positions within the soundstage - good imaging means you can "point" to a violin in the mix. is at a very good level. It’s almost razor-sharp, precise, and doesn’t feel that forced or fake.

One more odd characteristic of this IEM that I noticed is that the treble region has some audible resonance. Its decay is prolonged greatly, and I suspect that it has to do with the shell shape. The only difference between this model and the more expensive RE2000 PRO Silver is the housing itself, and its acoustic properties. So it would make sense that the shell is generating some resonance here. However, it’s not an unpleasant effect. If it was in the bass it would sound boomy, but since it’s in the top end, it provides interesting sparkly character and long top-end decay.