[skyskraper]

ok so im looking for some affordable buds to run on my ipiddle. ones i can just throw in the bottom of my school bag and not worry about breaking. the sony ex71's and the shure e2c's and ety er6i's arent those buds. so i was thinking about the mx500 (inline volume control would be wicked considering apple cheapskated and didnt include the remote on the 4g). but before i go test some out, i was wondering: how much different are the mx4/500's to the mx300's??? my housemate has some 300's that came with his iriver and i preffer my mdr931's, the 300's sound a lot thinner (not clearer) to my ears then my 931's. granted the 300's havent been burnt in, im still not a fan of them. will i appreciate the 500's more? im not after perfect sound. just rounded sound and something that doesnt sound crappy.

 

[Lisa]

Were you using the foamies with the MX300s? Makes a lot of difference. (is that a correct sentence

)
Mx300s sound quite alike to mx500s. The latter being a tad more smooth.

 

[Earwax]

For a while I had both mx300s and 400s. I thought they were slightly different in sound, not by much and I could hardly describe what I thought was different. I gave away the 300s and kept the 400s only because the 400s has the nifty wind-up case.

 

[Kirosia]

I used cheap ol' sony earbuds for portable use. They're definitely not perfect, but for on the go use, they're fine. I used to have the mx300s, they do sound thin to me, but more balanced and clear. (Foamies doen't change this, the ratshack ones actually muffle the sound to me).

 

[delenda est Sony]

MX 500s ($17 or less) are fine earbuds, pretty neutral, minimal bass, no isolation to speak of. The outside world won't hear your tunes, but you will hear the outside world very well. The 500s need foam pads on them though or they will sound way too bright and strident.

Other cheap options: the Koss KSC 50s or 55s ($20 each), bigger clip on style open design phones which have a more lively sound, much better bass. And then for ultra-portable, the Sony MDR EX51s aere $30 on Amazon. These have a very distinctive bass heavy sound, and provide good isolation from outside noise. Cons: many consider the bass to be TOO exaggerated, and they do of course cost close to twice the price of the humble MX500s.

des

 

[EdipisReks]

i like the MX400/500 better than the Sony EX-51/71, though the EX-51/71 does give very good isolation. the Sony's are just too boomy.

 

[skyskraper]

cheers. well i'll certainly go and have a proper listen to the senn's shortly.

as for the koss, well id jump all over them but i simply don't like clip on headphones at all. buds or big sealed cans for me!

will report back my personal findings

 

[bLue_oNioN]

I've had both the MX500s and Sony EX71SLs as well. Like Kirosia, I found that replacement foam pads from Radioshack muffled the sound a bit.

I "upgraded" to the Sony's after the left side of my MX500s ceased to work one day (for what reason, I still don't know why).

Both of them are fine 'phones for the money, with the MX500 winning for overall balance (I found them very pleasant for extended periods of listening time) and the Sony's winning for strong bass, albeit on the exaggerated and boomy side, along with the canalphone/isolated experience, a flavor in it's own right.

 

[skyskraper]

has anyone else had problems with the mx500's dieing without notice?

 

[Kirosia]

Had the mx300s for about 2-3yrs before the left channel crapped out. I treated them like s**t, I can't believe they lasted as long as they did. My cheap sonys break if I look at them funny. (I've had approx 10+ pairs overall)

 

[skyskraper]

so thats a thumbs up from you guys on the mx500 for durability and sound then?

 

[bLue_oNioN]

I think my case was just a result of bad luck and improper care, you should fine

 

[Spankypoo]

So far I've had two pairs of MX500s, one pair of 400s, and now a pair of 300s.

First 500 had an imbalance on the volume control, and was stolen after about four uses.

Wary of the volume slider, I bought the 400. Then I lost 'em.

So I tried another 500. Volume control sounds perfect. Found the 400s (ten minutes after ordering my second pair of 500s!) - so I had two pairs!

Then somebody gave me the 300s, so I can compare 'em all. (If only I'd have this luck with HD650s or UEs or Sensas or something.)

Anyway, 300s do sound a bit more anemic than the 4/500 - but still very nice in their own way. But I'd definitely go for the 400, 500 if you want the volume control.

Never had a pair die - they usually get lost/stolen before that.

 

[alexanderino]

Bought one Senn MX-400 and MX-500 over a year ago. The 400 was used more as I didn't need the volume silder and they sounded just as good.I sold them to a friend in India this June. No probs.

Since this June, the MX-500s have been running the show. Like Spankypoo, my volume slider had issues. The balance was fine at the both ends, but around the middle the left channel would weaken. Might flog it off to my flatmate, who loves its sound.

Overall, both are great 'phones, with nice detail and good bass for a non-plug in type. If you don't need the volume control, I'd recommend the MX-400 [fewer links in the signal chain == better fidelity, or so I'd like to think].

Cheers,
Jason

P.S.: My gut feeling is that the MX-500 buds weigh more than the MX-400. Can someone confirm this, if possible?

 

[Max Minimum]

I've had the MX 500's for about 6 weeks, so I can't really say too much about reliability, but so far so good, including the volume slider, though honestly it feels a little cheap.

As far as the sound goes, I'm very impressed with them. After putting the foamies on, that is. I'd read a review of some other earbud here where the guy said the foamies just made them feel bigger (too big) and sound muddy, so at first I put them in naked (the earbuds...). I was EXTREMELY dissapointed. They were, to me, the worst sounding 'phones of any kind I'd heard. They had virtually no bass at all and sounded basically like this: imagine an aluminum can vibrating along to a very loud concert nearby - now subtract the concert, but keep the sound coming from the can. And, they felt big even without the foamies. I was so shocked by this letdown that I didn't try them with foamies for two days - that just sat there, pathetically. Then, on the third day, they rose again from the dead (sorry). On a whim, I put the foamies on and stuck'em in. Wow. All of the sudden there was bass. The foamies really help couple them to your ears, I guess. And, they were much more comfortable because I was no longer trying to push them in deep to get bass. I was very happy to feel so stupid about the whole thing. So, now I believe them to be the best $20 I've spent since my first date with my girlfriend (wow, I'm a cheap person!

). The best thing about them is their balance, I think. My 'better' headphones (Sony MDR-CD77's - oldies, but goodies) are sometimes displaced in my listening time because, while I can get better sound from them, it takes a fair amount of tweaking with frequencey levels and such before I'm paying attention to the music instead of the headphones. With the 500's, I just set everything to 'flat' and plug in. Someone else said they didn't have much bass, but I think they have plenty - it just doesn't go real deep, but you really can't expect great bass in this form factor/price range (I have Audio Technica aluminum sticks on the way, so we'll see if you can pay your way to excellent sound in earbuds). So, all in all, I highly recommend and enjoy them.