Sennheiser CX 400-B Lightweight In-Ear Stereo Headphone

by Sennheiser

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1.6 x 4 x 8.7 inches ; 4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000WOIG8C
• Item model number: CX 400-B
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (206 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 25, 2007

Product Description

The Sennheiser CX 400-B is a high quality, noise isolating in-ear headphone with powerful, bass-driven stereo sound for listening on the go. They feature a short cable, perfect for use with armband MP3 players or with a remote-control. With the included 3-foot extension cable the CX 400-B can also be used with a player carried in your pocket.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

121 of 122 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid earbuds with some things to consider- 4.5 Stars, February 5, 2009

By 

F. Membreno - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sennheiser CX 400-B Lightweight In-Ear Stereo Headphone (Electronics)

This is a great set of earbuds. They sound terrific and have plenty of bass. I also ordered the V-Moda Bass Freqs because I like to "feel" the music in my head, but after listening to the CX400, I'm not sure how much more bass I really want. They really do have great bass. Keep in mind that you must use the silicon tip (3 sizes included) that makes a tight seal and is comfortable for you. For me, it was the medium ones.

The thing with this style of earbud is that unless you fit them securely into your ear canal, you wont hear ANY bass. But once you situate them correctly, the sound is very high quality. You can hear that really low tight bass that most earphones can't reproduce. The mids and high (voice and treble freq) are nice and clear and totally distortion free. Of course, for audiophiles the sound is less than accurate (thats why only 4.5 stars), but for most listeners the sound from these little $35 buds is superb!

Another thing to consider with this type of earbud is that you will hear pretty much all vibration against the cord. That's just an inherent feature of this type of plug. Rubbing of the cord against anything will cause a wind-like noise in your ear, however, I found that if you clip the wire to your shirt with a little slack it's minimal, and while your music is actually playing the sound is easily ignored in the background.

The only other thing I didnt care too much for was the cord length(s). Without the included extension the cord is about 1.5ft, which is only good for an armband or your shirt pocket. The extension adds 3ft, so the result is 4.5ft of cable dangling if you wear your player in your pocket. I had to coil up some of the wire into a small loop and placed a twisty-tie on it to keep in control. I can live with it since the quality makes up for it. The cord and connectors are as high quality as I've seen, although there doesn't seem to be much protection from yanking the cord from the connector that goes in the player.

The silicon tips are comfortable, although I don't wear them for prolonged periods. They seem like they will not come off the bud easily so you're less likely to lose them. They do a fairly good job of isolating, but they don't isolate completely unless your playing music at a reasonable level. I don't like being totally out of it in la-la-land so this was just right for me.

I know you can get the CX300 for about $5 cheaper, but the CX400 comes with a wind up gizmo (doesn't work well when extension cord is used) and a nice black leather pouch. While I cant confirm, I would bet the 400 is also slight superior to the 300 in sound quality. All in all, these are the best $35 you could likely spend on earbuds. Even at $50, these would be a good value, but the value would start to diminish if priced any higher. At this price point ($35), there's really no reason NOT to have a pair of these. For those looking for the cheapest option ($20 or so), spring a little more and get these or at least the CX300. Distortion free, well-balanced earbuds for this price is a rare find - THANK YOU AMAZON!

Just make sure you can live with the in-ear canal earphones, they're not for everyone.

UPDATE: I got my V-Moda Bass Freqs and have been using both for a few days now. Here is what I noticed. The V-Moda buds have more bass, a fairly distinguishable amount more bass. Quite impressive actually. I like the cord much better (no extension, just one length). The cord wrap gizmo is much better, but no pouch is included. That's about it. In terms of sound quality, the V-Moda buds just aren't as good. With my iPhone equalizer off, the V-Moda buds sound muffled - significantly lacking mids and highs. It's mostly just bass. The only equalizer setting that made them sound good was the Acoustic setting. The Senheisers are just so much more balanced. Sure, the bass sounds weaker when you compare them to the V-Moda buds, but thats because the V-Moda have so much. I like a lot of bass, but not ALL bass. The sound has to be well balanced to sound good. Stick with the Senheisers. much better sound and enough bass to keep you happy. I'm tempted to try the higher end V-Moda buds. They may have the balanced sound along with all that bass. For now, I still say these CX-400s are a steal at this price.

56 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great sound, mediocre ergonomics, February 11, 2009

By 

Jay Namaste (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sennheiser CX 400-B Lightweight In-Ear Stereo Headphone (Electronics)

The sound quality of these headphones is phenomenal. Crystal clear, with a balance between the highs and lows, without neglecting the midrange (most speakers seem to do that). However, I'm a little frustrated with the ergonomics. You have to jam the earbud into your ear canal in order to get the full good sound. This makes it uncomfortable after awhile. They fall out of my ears when I'm exercising too. And finally, the cord is too short - it's not long enough to span my ear down to my pants pocket. The headphones come with an extender but it just adds a hassle and too much wire. I wish the main wire was just 6 inches longer.

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than Bose, December 31, 2008

By 

Steven Sweeten "Sweetener" (Ship, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sennheiser CX 400-B Lightweight In-Ear Stereo Headphone (Electronics)

about a year ago I bought a pair of bose in ear headphones, but recently they started to stop working, the wire was loose. This was devistating, I paid $99.99 for them, and at the time the sound quality was great, until I found these. The sound quality is sooo much better than bose, and the fit of these in the ear is better than bose, they do NOT fall out, the bass is deep, and all the sounds are clear and crisp. Unlike the bose, these block out alot of background noise, I would STRONGLY reccommend them to anyone who was thinking about buying the bose headphones. (don't pay more than $20 for them, that is the best price for them)