HifiMan RE800 Silver earphone review- Sleek Silver Soulful
HiFiMan RE800 Silver
$599.99
Pros
- Rich addictive signature, smooth and coherent
- Decent micro-detail resolution and strong high end extension range
- Fairly priced, Versatile across many musical genres
Cons
- No Detachable cable, Carry case could be better quality
- Design style a little basic when compared to the RE2000 Silvers
Sound Signature:
Onto the most important part of any earphone review, the sound signature. As these shells are very small, using them over the ear or straight down, the fit for me was well comfortable and secure.
The RE800 Silver tuning contrasted with the RE2000 Silver is certainly more upper region centric, which results in more accentuation on transparency along with treble focus.
Giving a particular lighter weight to the overall signature body. It has a crispness at times but it is not harsh sounding, more related to the speed of decay and attack strength.
Sub bass is smooth with a marginally raised feel, it is unquestionably present yet does not have the same effect as experienced on the RE2000 Silver.
It as not as intensive or depict the awesome depth and resonance of the RE2000 low end tuning character.
Center bass is again tight and has an ample size of body, yet is considerably more laid back sounding and has less impact when contrasted with the RE2000 Silver.
Don’t misinterpret my statement, this doesn’t imply that it is missing, in actuality I am drawn more towards the RE800 Silver signature at times, over the RE2000 Silver because of its more accessible, more forgiving on poorly mastered recordings and less dramatic sounding which makes it an easy goto choice.
The full range of audio styles are well handled by the RE800 Silver, solid bass focused tracks as well as moderate bass centred tracks are both navigated nicely, with ease of transitioning and quick responses. Indicating how adaptable the RE800 Silvers tuning is, able to adapt to all variety of styles and rhythmic paces.
Similarly as with the RE2000 Silver, the RE800 Silver changes into the lower mids with smoothness and no masking or bass leaking across. Because of the slight tuning dip some lower mid instruments are a little far sounding on occasion.
However most of the instruments in the centre and upper mid areas are well presented and have a natural feel, providing an intimate experience for the listener.
Mids have decent body size and some warmth character, resulting in a very fluid musical experience.
Separation and depth between instruments is well balanced ,vocals are very well focused, clear and with nice emotional content relayed.
Depth of layering is very present, handled with ease but occasionally a little too distinct and bright at times. For me this was not an issue and actually added to the the uniqueness of this type of earphone signature.
Treble control is expertly tuned, showing of the sparkles and shines of the upper end with a good breath of extension. At first some sharpness/spiking was present occasional but after some time this dissipated and resulted in being smoothed out.
Sound stage is wide in nature but not overly dominating, resulting in more subtle blending into the signature.
Comparing the signature to the original Golds models, again as with the RE2000 Silvers there was hardly any difference I could detect. Only a little thinner in the mids and a small level of brightness was present with the Silvers, so the $100 savings over the gold version is a matter of design preference for the most part.
From a pricing perspective the RE800 Silver comes in at $900USD less than the RE2000 Silvers and places it at excellent relative value. We know that there are price/performance diminishing returns in the audio world and many may opt for the RE2000 Silver version irrespective of the price difference.
The team at earphonia.com can certainly recommend both the RE800 Silver and the RE2000 Silver earphones by HiFiMan. Both sound signatures have superb tuning and our advice is to try them both (if possible) to see which aligns best with your personally preferred signature style.
