[btb103]

Well I got my Sennheiser CX300's today (shipped quicker than I expected from a great Head-Fi'er in Canada.) So far, I'm a bit disappointed with the sound. I think my expectations were too high and the fact that I've gotten used to the sound from my recently purchased HD-555's doesn't help either.

The source is my un-amped Creative Zen Xtra which is an old player (at least 6 years) but I've found it to produce great sound... even though it is incapable of driving my 555's.

The CX300's sound pretty damned good for electronic music, which is great because this is one of my favorite genres. But before I got to the electronic music I wanted to play some rock. I tried The Mars Volta just because there's a ton of detail in their recordings and the speed/detail required to capture the guitars and drums is very demanding for the output device. The CX300's couldn't really keep up and I found the mids a bit washed out/muddy... overblown by the bass that shouldn't have been so prominent. Next I tried a little My Morning Jacket. Mind you, it was from the It Still Moves album, which I don't think is recorded too well to begin with. However, the drowned/veiled mids and overbearing bass represented a problem here as well.

At that point I decided to just try some electronic music, for which I expected the CX300's to shine. I was not let down when I put on Mouse on Mars Audioditacker album. I still prefer the more refined bass from my 555's here but the more colored sound I got from the CX300's is very enjoyable. There is enough detail to render the scratchy synth sounds well.

Now I'm listening to The Knife, a little bit different electronic style and am finding the CX300's to provide a very enjoyable listening experience for this as well. Scratch that... it sounds really good here - but maybe that's because I just love this band so much!

My intended use for these is on urban public transit/walking around the city. The isolation seems pretty good, I can definitely hear internal details like breathing and the cord producing microphonic effects when the volume is low or off. The real test will come tomorrow when I take them on the bus and have an opportunity to put a lot more music into them.

I was also amazed by the difference in isolation and sound quality when I switched from the medium tips (which fit pretty well) to the small tips. Apparently the smaller tips don't isolate nearly as well and result in much less bass - with the trade off of rather hollow/tinny sound mids and treble. Definitely going to stick with the mediums.

I'm really tempted at this point to get a pair of ATH-SJ5's, which are getting good buzz in the budget closed headphone arena. I think I've got the bug though... because I kind of want to keep the CX300's as well. I've sort of talked myself back into them in the process of writing this review. What oh what have you done to me Head-Fi?!

Luckily I just got a job so when the cash starts rolling in I'll probably order the SJ5's... and then decide whether to keep one, the other, or both.

 

[Happytab]

I have had my CX300's for about a month now and originally I was disapointed with the sound. For me the bass was too punchy and gave me a headache with extended listening.

But, a month on things have definately improved - for most of my listening (alt/rock/singer songwriter) they now sound excellent to my uneducated ears but every now and again I get a track where the bass is overblown and I go off them again.

I hope really hope they go on improving with age but you never can tell.

 

[ronmtorres]

nice review, thanks! i almost got a cx300 last christmas; i don't know if my friend not being able to buy me one from the us was good or bad.. lots of mixed opinions on these phones!
about the bug, i agree..what has head-fi done to us?!?!?! sorry for our wallet, thanks for our ears

 

[_M2]

"Well I got my Sennheiser CX300's today" - lack of burn in
"I hope really hope they go on improving with age but you never can tell." - burn in

well these are his First impressions. that doesnt mean FINAL. the ep630s are dynamic and have dynamic drivers. people assume too much when they first try it without having the chance to burn in, which makes a big difference.

*edit* and if you have a custom eq on your dap, then turn all the frequencies lower and leave the higher freqs higher

 

[btb103]

Keep in mind - though - these were bought used and I'm guessing had a decent number of hours on them already. You're right, only time will tell, but I think that has more to do with me getting used to the sound signature and hearing more music through them. I'm not sure that the sound is going to change too much.

I've found, though, that setting my MP3 player's EQ to the "Vocal" setting tames the bass and brings out the mids a lot, so I'm enjoying that a lot more. It sounded pretty good for a various few rock bands like the Pixies.

One other thing... when I put the medium tips on there is a tiny gap between the tip and the edge of the outer part of the 'phone. Is this normal? The large and small tips fit flush to the same edge. Anyway it might be irrelevant because I find the large tips to be a better fit/sound anyway.

 

[LFC_SL]

Yeah, try not to think about your full size cans when you're a 1st time canal phone/IEM buyer

I find the CX300 have a much fuller and bigger bass than other cheap canals (based on 1 week of ownership, can still buy for £15 Amazon UK). Highs aren't really there, but they offer the "fun" portable sound methinks. In comparison now, the Panasonic HJE50 sound thin and weak, which doesn't bode well for the Sony EX71s as before I got rid, I thought they couldn't touch the HJE50s.

Saying that, the CX300 bass is still quite boomy and as I said, the highs are distinctly lacking. But I treat them as "fun" 'phones for rock, hip-hop and pop, a task it performs well at. Especially at the price I paid (can't believe the high price about a month ago! I really would not pay that)

 

[_M2]

do you mean the silver ring part or the grill?
because they all look the same to me