HiFiMan RE-800 In Ear Monitors Preview

See the complete review of the HIFIMAN RE-800 in ear monitors

HiFiMan has become one of the most well regarded makers of headphones around.

Their products, designed by Dr. Fan Bian, are sold both manufacturer direct and by resellers around the world. Unlike many high end IEMs, HiFiMan products all use single drivers rather than multiple drivers. Their “topology diaphragm” technology allows them to engineer a single driver with the wideband performance of multiple drivers while retaining the detail and clarity you can only get from a crossover free single driver design.

The RE-800 is a new product for 2017, near the top of the line. The only higher up models are the new $2000 universal fit RE-2000 and the custom fit RE-1000 first introduced in 2015. I’ve been waiting for the RE-800 for a while. They were first introduced in mid 2017, but first adopters complained of issues with the headphone wiring which could only be fixed by returning the headphones for repair.

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HiFiMan decided to implement an immediate change and redesigned the headphones with industry standard snap on MMCX coaxial connectors for the wiring. These connectors are massive overkill for audio, having been designed for microwave electronics like GPS receivers and defense electronics, with frequency response to 6 GHz.

The headphones are made from solid machined brass, with very nice matte gold plating. A huge selection of both black and semi-transparent eartips are included so you can be sure to find a good fit for your ears. They’re beautifully made. Check back here for a full review soon! But let me assure you these IEMs sound fantastic.

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See the complete review of the HIFIMAN RE-800 in ear monitors

Chris Groppi

Chris Groppi is a radio astronomer and electrical engineer working as an assistant professor at Arizona State University. He received his Bachelor's degree in astronomy from Cornell University in 1997, and his Ph.D. in astronomy with a concentration in electrical engineering from the University of Arizona in 2003. He studies how stars and planets form, and designs and builds millimeter-wave and terahertz receivers for radio telescopes. He became interested in HiFi during high school the first time he listened to a real high-end system (B&W 801s with Mark Levinson electronics). His first system in college was a Headroom headphone amplifier powering Sennheiser HD 580s, and graduated to a real HiFi system in graduate school. His first love has always been 2-channel audio, although his current system has added home theater capability.