Customer Reviews

Sennheiser CX300-B Earbuds (Black)

5 star:		(166)
4 star:		(123)
3 star:		(34)
2 star:		(22)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

Before I bought CX300, I read a lot of reviews and comparisons with Shure E2C. I was lucky to find two very good deals on both of them so I bought them both. I paid CX300 for $20 including shipping and Shure e2c for $40 with free shipping. I used them for a month now and here is what I find:

They are both much better than average earbuds (ex: apple earbuds)
Bass: CX300 is much stronger than E2C (if you like bass, you'll love CX300)
Clarity: E2C produce more clear and clean sound than CX300, because the bass on CX300 is so strong, it overshadows midrange and highrange sound a little bit.
Comfort: CX300 is much more comfortable to wear than E2C, I can wear CX300 all day and not being sore. With the E2C, it is hard to choose the right earbuds and I have to wear it right (I have to push them deeper into the ear canals) to receive a clear sound and a decent bass.
Cable quality: E2C have the best cable quality, much longer and thicker than CX300. That being said, CX300 cable is not too bad, but it can be a little short for a tall person.

In conclusion: I am happy with both earbuds, I used CX300 for outdoor and at work because it is comfortable to wear, and easy to put away. But I enjoy the E2C in my home when I just want to enjoy the quality of the music.
Sennheiser CX300 is good buy at $20 to $30 price range. And E2C is good at $40 to $50 price range. If you pay more than that, you pay too much.

Last word, if you want to enjoy richer sound of a better earbuds, you should rip your CD a least 260 bit-rate or higher. Believe me, it make a different, you will hear sound you thought it wasn't there.

CX-300 is one of the latest products in Sennheiser's wide line of headphones. Its raison d'etre is 'ambient noise attenuation' in Sennheiser's words. Of course they are meant to be used with portable devices and do just fine at that.

Exactly how good is the noise attenuation?
Sennheiser says 'excellent', but surely you would want a more unbiased opinion. The noise attenuation is certainly good enough. I have tried them in the Athens Underground Railway (Metro). It is so noisy when the train moves, that with common closed headphones, it is impossible to hear the music at a volume that won't impair your hearing. With the CX-300 a lot of the noise is shut out, so you can enjoy your music at a reasonable volume. Another measure of comparison is that you can't hear a person that is near you speak, unless they shout. That is what these headphones were meant to do.
If you don't want or simply don't need noise reduction, you can buy just as good or even better headphones at a cheaper price. For example Sennheiser's PX and HD series, and AKG's K24 and K26.

Obviously for this price you can't buy high fidelity. The sound quality is up to Sennheiser's standards of course. I am using these with my Sony HD-5 mp3 player and haven't got any complaints. When I am not in the subway I usually go with Sennheiser's PX-200. I haven't made a real head to head comparison, but I think they are more or less a match on sound quality. So obviously, you can get better sound at home with quality speakers or quality bulky headphones.

These headpones don't silence everything. If you want that you can try 'active noise reduction' headphones (Bose, Sennheiser, AKG), but the active noise reduction process introduces artificial artifacts into the sound and the headphone are a bit expensive. You can also try Shure's or Etymotics passive noise reduction headphones which are a 'professional' choice (you can remove the quotation marks for Shure);they were (initially) meant for artists on stage. But you have to pay a hefty price tag for those.

So to sum up, if you want something which 1)shuts out unwanted noise 2)gives quite good sound quality, and 3) doesn't feel like wearing a helmet, these are an excellent choice at their price.
If you can pay more, you can get more in at least two of the three criteria.

I bought these when the left earbud on my Sony MDR-EX51LP's stopped working. I was initially upset because I (thought I) liked the Sony's and planned on just getting another pair of them. However, I saw a favorable review of these in PC Magazine and decided to give them a try. I'm really glad I did! The sound is much richer and the bass is much deeper than with the Sony's and it is giving me a better appreciation of the music. Now, I don't miss an opportunity to pull out my ipod to fill the time. These also seem to be louder which allows me to listen to the ipod on a lower volume and get a little extra battery life out of it. On the plane, they also do a better job of supressing the sound of the engines. All around, I'm very pleased. They cost twice as much as my old Sony's, but in my opinion they are well worth it.

I recently listened to music with these for 5 hours straight and got to know them well. These babies are awesome. The highs are bright, the mid-range is excellent and the low-end/bass is very good. I'm amazed they can produce sound of this quality in such a small device. Bose and Klipsch have nothing on these things. And it bares repeating, the bass is VERY GOOD - almost THX quality. Taking further into account the price of these things and we're talking BEST BUY.

I first purchased a set of the Sony MDR-EX51's, and the cords "melted" a common problem users of those headphones report. I'd seen that the CX300's were announced at CES and got favorable reviews compared to models costing twice as much. With the Sony's melted, I'd been looking at my options, mostly Ultimate ears.

The sound is much better than the Sonys, as other reviewers have reported, the Sonys emphasize bass, and are weak in mids and high frequency. The soundstage opened up quite a bit with the CX300's, vocals are much more pronounced, and real cymbal sounds at the high end.

Negatives:
1. the cord on these is not an even Y shape, it long on the right ear short on the left, to drape across your neck. It's fine with me, but some people don't like that shape.
2. cord noise. Dude, these cords make a racket in the wind or against clothing, tranmitting to you ear a dull thud sound and or rustling sound. You can't move with the cord on clothing or you are going to hear it. Use during exercise would have to be in such a way the cord is not moving (like on a stationary bike they would probably be okay).
3. I couldn't get them to fit and seal quite right with any of the 3 size silicone ear pieces. The Sony's silicone ear tips fit right on the CX300's so I swapped for a slightly larger "medium" size from the Sony's and they sound great (get a good seal) and feel fine.

Huge upgrade over any standard earbud (i.e. Ipod white buds) and probably competitive with much higher-end buds.

I listened with: Iaudio U2 1gb, using Lame encoded 192k CBR mp3's and ogg encoded q4 files.

Using the Sennheiser CX300's, I was able to disable BBE, and MP3 enhancements, that previous I used with the Sony Bud's (to get decent sound). Listening to the CX300's set to flat equalization sounds great.

I am an audio engineer. I own many sets of headphones for different applications; Shure e500, Bose QC2 (I never use these anymore, bulky and bland sounding), Sony MDR V6, Shure e4c, and a drawer full of Apple, Sony and Panasonic earbuds. My favorites are the Shure e500, which are so fine that I find myself frequently prefering my Nano 2 with Apple Lossless recording to my home stereo (a very high end rig).

That said, at $450, my beloved Shure 'phones are not exactly a good candidate for working out in the gym, or sleeping (I use an iPod to block ambient noise with rain).

I tried the Sony '51s, but they kept croaking, and the sound was abysmal. The '71s sounded better, but also died after a few months. I settled on the Sennheisers, because their low profile makes them comfortable for sleeping, and they provide a reasonable (about 10-15db) noise blocking.

The fit and finish is great, no doubt about that. I wish they had a segmented cable so you could adjust the length. I've read reviews where people complain the cord is too short, but I can only assume they have iPods on their hips, because I use a Nano 2 on an armband, and have to wrap about 2 1/2 feet of cord around the back of the iPod. It works, but... Also, keeping the cord short keeps the cable weight from yanking the buds out of the ear when you are active.

However, to be blunt, anyone who says these "sound great" does not know what good sound is. The Sennheiser CX 300 is shockingly bright. If you haven't deafened yourself playing your iPod too loud, you'll hear they are at least 6DB hot over 6kHz, if not 8-9db. That is like turning the tone control all the way up, to "11."

The only workaround is to have a higher end iPod with tone control, and to use the "reduced treble" setting. This brings the tonal balance down to something reasonable.

Frankly, at a pricepoint of over $50, there is really little excuse for a product to be this acoustically innacurate.

I'm used to studio headphones and have always been brutally disappointed with earbuds. But obviously the better, studio-style headphones aren't always practical for traveling, etc.

The same day I saw a great review for these CX 300's in PC Mag a buddy of mine saw that I finally got an iPod and was telling me I needed to get a pair of these. So here we are.

These are great. Not perfect, but great nonetheless. I'd go 4.5 stars, if that were an option.

Reading through some of the other reviews, I want to comment further on some of their comments:

a) The j-style cord is designed to go behind the neck, but even if you wear in in front as you would "y" cord it seems to stay outta the way better. I see this as an enhancement, actually.

b) To get the best bass sound you should experiment with the different sized covers. The tigher the fit, the better the bass tones.

That said, though, I thought these sounded tinnier than I was told they would. I've played with the EQ settings a ton, and that helps, but they're still not nearly as rich sounding as a decent pair of studio-style headphones.

c) I like that there are different sizes of bud caps and that you can mix 'em up. One of my ear canals is apparently larger than the other (freak?) and now I can wear one size in one and another size the other... kinda feels custom.

d) Yeah, mine doesn't have the "B" either, but I think I get it: the "B" is for black, and the "S" is for silver. There ya go...

e) You definitely won't have to turn them up as loudly as other headphones to get a good, solid volume level, which I would think would extend the battery life at least a little.

Bottom-line: these are the best ear buds I've ever tried. Although they're not as ideal as pair of studio phones, they absolutely CRUSH the crappy ones that come with iPods.

Get a pair...

I bought these to replace the cruddy Apple 'whites' that come stock with the Shuffle. I wanted better sound quality and some degree of noise isolation. Worth the money!

In terms of sound isolation they're OK to good. Normally when I fly I wear Howard Leight Max foam plugs- those things really quash the noise. These aren't near that, at least with the music off. Still, during takeoffs and landings where you're not to use your electronic equipment they do reduce the ambient down to a dull roar. Toss in a squalling baby though, and I'm back to foam!

Fit is critical to both sound isolation and fidelity, so it's worth experimenting with the three sizes of..... gaskets? that come with the earbuds. After some experimentation I finally settled on the medium sized ones. The hot tip for fit? Don't jam them in! When using the proper gaskets for your ears a gentle push should seat and seal them.

Once you get the fit issue settled, wow, real bass! OK, so they're not going to shake your booty like a boom car or dance club, but for earbuds? They rock. Depending on source material, they can be a little bright but IMO that's endemic to tiny drivers like these. My home stereo cost well over $20k (no video, no surround sound) and the CX300 never dissapoints. They're sensitive enough that I can get volume aplenty. Be careful!

An additional aspect that was important to me was that the units themselves not stick way out from my nug during use. I can easily wear my snowboard and dirtbike helmets with them on; mission critical, that.

I did buy a wire clip (like for a cell phone hands-free unit) to support the mass of the wire and keep it closer to my body; would have been nice if Sennheiser had included such an item.

Seems like there will be some maintenance involved as well- as noted elsewhere, the grilles over the actual driver units are steel mesh. These go in your ears, see? Where there's wax? And, umm... well- it's not pretty, the result. I wrote to Sennheiser tech support and got some pretty funny advice, which boiled down to 'use heat, like steam from hot water, and scrape it off. Don't use solvents like alchol.'

Anyway, after 2 months of use, I really like these. Get 'em on sale, and you will too!

I read the previous reviews prior to purchase, so will try not to replow too much of that ground.

These buds work well for me, with good sound if you get a decent seal between the silicone rubber adaptor and your ear. After some experimentation, I found the mediums work best for me, and I can wear them for several hours at a time without feeling uncomfortable.

One tip: Watching a NASCAR pre-race interview, I noticed Jeff Burton really slobbering up his ear pieces to ease insertion. I found that with just a little moisture applied to the rubber with one's finger, it both goes in more reliably and doesn't give you the "wet willy" feel.

Once inserted properly, two things: The bass response is pleasing and the wife can prattle on to her heart's content and I can't hear a word. This with my Creative flash player's volume set at the low end, about 5. You'll still need muffs when working with a router or lawn mower, but the buds do a nice job of isolating a lot of the noise.

Don't even think of running a Sonicare with the buds in! Trust me on that one.

Yes, the wires are a bit stiff, but they don't tangle. However, as others have noted, even walking in a stiff breeze you can hear the whistle from the wires. I have them tucked under a T-shirt so only a few inches is exposed on each side. Also, I thought I'd prefer the "J" cord, with the right ear wire about double the length of the left, as I wear the player on my left arm. In hind sight, given both the stiffness of the wire and the fact I'm wearing them under the shirt, perhaps that wasn't the best choice as I have a heck of a time keeping the left bud in and the right wire not running wild. Not a major fault, but something to consider.

The choice appears to me to come down to these Senns or the Shures. A cousin loves his Shures, and they do come with foam adaptors in addition to the silicone rubber. They are a few bucks more. I'm happy with my selection of the Senns, but can't state for sure if I'd be more or less happy with the Shures.

As others have said, these earbuds give much higher fidelity sound that the ones that came with my iPod 80gB, and they are not prone to fall out of position in my ears when walking or running. The sound is not as high quality, however, as a good pair of over the ear headphones. Small, medium, and large rubber cones are provided... use the set that fits your ear the best. With a good seal in the ear canal, a lot of external background noise disappears, but you can still hear a car horn or a bicyle ringer on the trail; it doesn't make you deaf to the world. One problem is that when you walk or run on a windy day, it sounds like the wind is whistling through the stays of a ship at sea... very annoying. Also, you have to secure the wire close to your neck by running it under your shirt or by other means; if you have a long length of wire flopping around you will hear a thump each time it bounces around.

The wire length of the earbuds that came with the iPod is 45". The CX 300 wire is longer, so that I, at 6 feet height and relatively long torso, can keep the iPod in my pants pocket, or even in the thigh pocket on my cargo pants. The cord length is asymetrical so that the length to the left earbud is 53 inches, and 60 inches to the right. This design presumes your iPod is in a left pocket. The extra length allows the right earbud to run behind your head to the ear without putting a strain on the cord... it seems stupid, but actually it works well.