Wow, just wow. I cannot believe how good this headphone really is. Not only that, I personally cannot believe how I nearly looped back on myself from the start of this hobby. Started out with the PortaPros over 2 years ago, countless headphones later, ended up with the PX100-II. How this happened is still pretty miraculous to me, but I’ve learned to appreciate and learn many things through that loop. Anyway, throughout this review, I’ll explain why I appreciate this headphone to the extent I do, and how it competes with the more exquisite offerings from the same manufacturer.
So, I want to mention one thing real quick before I get started about the headphone itself. The HD598, HD600, and HD650 are some of my very favorite headphones. A few months ago, I was lucky enough to have all three on my desk at the same time. Comparisons raged back and forth, but ultimately, I came to choose the HD598 over both the HD600 and HD650. Although I really liked the slightly more full sound of the HD600 and HD650, I still choose the HD598 mainly due to it sounding 90%+ exactly the same but for half the price; as well as having a more airy and spacious sound. So out went the HD600 and HD650, and in came the PX100-II; mainly because even the HD598 started becoming uncomfortable after a few hours of use. To my amazement, the PX100-II not only surpassed the 90%+ test with flying colors, but it simply outclassed the HD598 in most cases. Don’t ask me the technicalities of that conclusion, but the PX100-II just sounded less boring and more balanced to me. And that was the end of the HD598, as the PX100-II took permanent residency.
And here we go with the actual PX100-II critique.
Starting off with build, I’ll go to say that these are actually very durable. I’ve never owned an original PX100 so I’m not sure how tough the headband was, but the one on the PX100-II is incredibly tough, yet flexible. I constantly bend it in a flat line and squeeze it together, just to experiment with clamping force. Wouldn’t be afraid to throw it, drop it, contort it, or whatever. But now let’s say it really does break; well that’s not so bad either, considering it's very inexpensive to replace. Cord wise, it’s pretty thin and rubbery, but I’d say most cords are like that. I honestly could care less; I just don’t want it to have bad memory retention or extreme microphonics, in which it has neither. But in a general sense, these definitely have an above-average build, and I have no worries anyway as I don’t take them anywhere. Yes, I actually use a portable as my desktop listening. These are that good.
Okay, okay, so you caught the part where I said, “even the HD598 started becoming uncomfortable after a few hours of use”. And yes, I really did mean exactly that. So I decided that full sized were not really an option anymore for long term use. Knowing and loving Sennheiser, the PX100-II was my next best bet. Slightly off put by all the negative reviews, I gave it a spin. And just so happens, one of my best decisions ever! Comfort is simply top notch. Full sized headphones just cannot compete, no matter how many pillowed cushions are attached to it. Full sized headphones have a weight restriction, simply because they are bigger than portables. You just cannot escape that fact. That said, the PX100-II already has a huge advantage. Feeling very light on your head, I honestly forgot these were there sometimes, and I have NEVER said that about any headband based headphone before. As a note though, after a couple of hours, you’ll naturally start feeling the pads against your ears and it can cause some irritation around the edges of your ears. That’s definitely expected since these are supra aural headphones after all. A slight break every once in a while is probably needed anyway…
And now let’s hit the sound. Let me rephrase, “get hit by the sound”. Let’s just say I’m baffled two ways. First, I’m not sure why these have such mixed reviews. I honestly cannot understand why. They are an incredible value, and sound as good as their bigger brothers, with certain reserves, and better than most other headphones I've tried. And second, I still cannot even comprehend how good these sound, price irrelevant. Lively, balanced, fun, and inoffensive. It’s got a dark undertone to it, and has a thick backbone (somewhat typical of Sennheiser’s house sound). It’s definitely got a nice weight across the spectrum, but also an airiness as well. Surprisingly, it has excellent soundstage and presents itself very nicely. Bass, midrange, and treble all seem to intertwine pleasantly. Tonality and texture are both great as well. Bottom line, it simply sounds really, really good.
But that’s not enough said about the sound. We both know that…
I want to try and shed some light about the complaint I read about these. Many say they have heavily bloated midbass, sound murky or muddy, and have lousy clarity. I would answer to all three of those with a "NO" without hesitation. The bass is actually well proportioned to the rest of the sound, yet some people interpret it in such a different (negative) way. So obviously, in the IEM world, you cannot get good bass without a good seal, and the same goes for closed headphones as well. With the likes of the PX100-II (open headphones), you don’t get any seal whatsoever, so bass is going to naturally need a boost in the first place to keep up with the rest of the sound. So yes, these have a thick lower section, and a graph will most likely reveal that; but it doesn’t hamper clarity or balance whatsoever, nor does it sound even a smidgen muddy. Maybe if you push on both sides very hard against your ears there will be slightly too much bass, but otherwise (especially if you decrease clamping force), bass will not be a problem. And again, yes the sound has a darker flavor, but that’s expected. I'll even admit it does have extra concentration on midbass, but it's nothing that restricts listening enjoyment in my opinion. In fact, without the slightly bumped bass frequencies, I cannot help but think how bass anemic these would turn out. Knowing that, it’s still surprisingly tonally accurate, and balances the spectrum well, while presenting enough bass to satisfy a wide range of users.
A quick note on graphs and how similar these sound to it's more reference siblings. If you go to headroom and compare the PX100-II to the HD650, you'll be shocked at how closely the frequencies match up until you hit lower treble. Yes, I realize you cannot base sound off something as simple as a graph, but that just goes to show how similarly tuned the PX100-II really are compared to it's technical superior. The graph confirmed it, and most importantly, I've confirmed it with side-by-side comparisons. (If you throw the HD600 and HD598 into the graph as well, you'll notice how all four headphones measure pretty closely. And under real world testing, I can confirm they do indeed all sound very similar.) Anyway, back on track...
As mentioned before, it beat my HD598 fair and square, no comparison. And while I slightly preferred the HD600 and HD650 to the HD598, it wasn’t like the margin the PX100-II beat the HD598 by. Referring back to the title, I think I’ll just go ahead and name these the HD625, as I personally think it bridges the gap between the HD600’s and HD650’s sound; two headphones I could never truly decide on which I preferred. (UPDATE) And even recently, I decided to get the king of portables, the HD25-1 II. I was curious to how well these stacked up to the PX100-II. In short, PX100-II takes it. Easily. Not sure how you could wear the HD25 for longer than a half hour, but the PX100-II's are infinitely more comfortable. Personally, I found the HD25's to have an unpleasant treble spike, and I still liked the PX100-II's tonality more, not to mention it has a better presentation of the entire spectrum.
On top of it's fantastic stock sound, I actually found and prefer a few minor EQ tweaks that improve/fix it even further!
With absolute everything taken into account, the PX100-II is without a doubt the best value headphone I’ve ever bought. As to this day, it’s still my very favorite headphone. Regardless of whether it ever gets replaced by another headphone, I will refuse to ever get rid of it. It's simply too special to me. Sennheiser absolutely nailed it with this one, and I'm very happy I took the chance to buy it despite it's somewhat shady reputation. If mine ever broke, I'd buy another; regardless of whether it defaulted back to MSRP in the future or not ($80). Simply an unbelievable headphone if you ask me. Absolutely unbelievable.
Edited by Katun - 3/29/12 at 1:17pm
