dsf3g
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2009
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OK, first off here's the deal. An outfit named Dakmart is selling refurbished Sennheiser MM 100 bluetooth headsets for $50.00. These babies normally go for $199.00, so this is quite a discount, and a nice opportunity to get an idea how good a stereo bluetooth headphone can sound without breaking the bank.Dakmart seems to be a Buy.com vendor, so the link is a buy.com link:
http://www.buy.com/prod/sennheiser-mm-100-headset-stereo-behind-the-neck-binaural-open/q/listingid/92499361/loc/111/214563113.html
Review:
First, let me begin by stating that I am definitely not an audiophile, and while I'll do my best to describe these phones, I don't have the vocabulary or the breadth of experience to richly convey how these sound. Like many people I was a happy ibud user until I chanced upon a pair of Sennheiser PX100's and was blown away by their sound. Opened up a whole new world for me. Since then I've been inhabiting mostly the low-end of the audiophile spectrum. In addition to the PX100's, I own a set of Sennheiser HD 238's, some Shure SCL4 IEMs, and a set of Shure SRH440's.
Build Quality:
This is an all-plastic unit, but the plastic looks to be of high quality. They appear solidly built, with all components fitting well and no obvious gaps. The fact that it is an all plstic phone makes it extremely light. These headphones will definitely not tire you out.
Design:
Unlike the venerable PX100's with the traditional over the head loop, the MM 100 have a plastic band that wraps behind the neck. While the MM 100's do not fold up, unlike the PX 100's, they have a relatively small footprint and are flexible enough that they readily flatten. They could easily be tossed into a bookbag without occupying much space. Because they are bluetooth headphones, they have batteries built-in, as well as a microphone for making calls and buttons for rising and lowering volume and pausing songs as well as skipping forward and back. All buttons are found on the right earpiece, while the USB charging port is on the left. Unfortunately, the USB port form factor is neither Mini USB nor Micro USB, but a third, even smaller connector (4-pin mini USB maybe?).
Comfort:
This is probably these phones' greatest weakness. It's not that they are particularly uncomfortable. In fact, being so light you hardly notice you have them on. However, the design itself means that the fit on these is fixed. There are absolutely no adjustments to be made. This is unfortunate, and I really do wish headphone manufacturers would ignore the silly fad of behind-the-neck headbands. For my money you just can't beat the design of a traditional headphone like the PX 100.It sit securely atop the head and can be adjusted to an exact fit. In addition, they can be used with the head resting on a pillow. You cannot do that with a behind the neck headband like that on the MM 100.
Sound:
I bought these headphones in part because I recently got a cheap Chinese knockoff cell phone without a headphone-out jack. I've been listening to music with a Plantronics in-ear stereo headpiece, but wanted something a bit more casual (not canalphones) with better sound.And for that purpose these headphones work well. They are pleasant to listen to and the music sounds full bodied and not at all "tinny" as you might find in a cheap pair of off the shelf Wall-Mart phones.I believe I've read somewhere that they've got the same drivers as the PX100's (drivers that Sennheiser seems to use in a whole bunch of entry-level audiophile phones) so that's a pretty good starting point. Bass is present, though not to the all enveloping extent that it is in the PX100's. To that extent these headphones are more "neutral" and less "colored" than the PX100's, if I'm using those terms correctly. But though they aren't was warn as the PX100's that's not necessarily a bad thing. There are times when ambient Bass on my PX100's and HD238's feels a little too obtrusive. Indeed, vocals sometimes come across as a bit cloudy and distant, in my opinion because of the omnipresent bass. On the MM 100, vocals are much clearer and more upfront. Which is not to say bass is lacking. It's there when you need it and packs a decent punch. Listening to the thumping drum/bass lines that open the Offspring's "Can't Repeat" will quickly disabuse you of that notion. Honestly, there are times I wish my other Sennheiser phones sounded more like the MM 100s. That said, the PX100's and especially the HD238's do seem more detailed in their rendering of sound. Stacatto notes and instruments (like drums) tend to have a bit more "bite" and sound a bit crisper with a finer edge on my wired phones than the MM 100's.
Note: to get the best sound out of your A2DP capable bluetooth device it is important that it be configured for best possible sound. In Windows mobile devices this might mean installing a registry editor making changes to the registry.
Verdict:
Are these worth the money? Well, to my untrained ear they do sound plenty nice enough for enjoyable music listening, and they've helped reassure me that bluetooth can be used to good effect to stream music. So to that extent, I'd say that, yes, they are a decent set of headphones for $50.00. However, I'm not sure I could ever justify dropping $200.00 on these, which is the retail price. That's an awful lot of cash to spend on a pair of OK sounding headphones just for the privilege of walking around without a wire dangling down your shirt.
A Note on Using These For Calls:
I should add that I haven't yet had a chance to use these phones for making calls. In fact I bought them exclusively for use as headphones, and to be honest I'm not sure I particularly like the idea of making phone calls without one ear open to ambient noises.
http://www.buy.com/prod/sennheiser-mm-100-headset-stereo-behind-the-neck-binaural-open/q/listingid/92499361/loc/111/214563113.html
Review:
First, let me begin by stating that I am definitely not an audiophile, and while I'll do my best to describe these phones, I don't have the vocabulary or the breadth of experience to richly convey how these sound. Like many people I was a happy ibud user until I chanced upon a pair of Sennheiser PX100's and was blown away by their sound. Opened up a whole new world for me. Since then I've been inhabiting mostly the low-end of the audiophile spectrum. In addition to the PX100's, I own a set of Sennheiser HD 238's, some Shure SCL4 IEMs, and a set of Shure SRH440's.
Build Quality:
This is an all-plastic unit, but the plastic looks to be of high quality. They appear solidly built, with all components fitting well and no obvious gaps. The fact that it is an all plstic phone makes it extremely light. These headphones will definitely not tire you out.
Design:
Unlike the venerable PX100's with the traditional over the head loop, the MM 100 have a plastic band that wraps behind the neck. While the MM 100's do not fold up, unlike the PX 100's, they have a relatively small footprint and are flexible enough that they readily flatten. They could easily be tossed into a bookbag without occupying much space. Because they are bluetooth headphones, they have batteries built-in, as well as a microphone for making calls and buttons for rising and lowering volume and pausing songs as well as skipping forward and back. All buttons are found on the right earpiece, while the USB charging port is on the left. Unfortunately, the USB port form factor is neither Mini USB nor Micro USB, but a third, even smaller connector (4-pin mini USB maybe?).
Comfort:
This is probably these phones' greatest weakness. It's not that they are particularly uncomfortable. In fact, being so light you hardly notice you have them on. However, the design itself means that the fit on these is fixed. There are absolutely no adjustments to be made. This is unfortunate, and I really do wish headphone manufacturers would ignore the silly fad of behind-the-neck headbands. For my money you just can't beat the design of a traditional headphone like the PX 100.It sit securely atop the head and can be adjusted to an exact fit. In addition, they can be used with the head resting on a pillow. You cannot do that with a behind the neck headband like that on the MM 100.
Sound:
I bought these headphones in part because I recently got a cheap Chinese knockoff cell phone without a headphone-out jack. I've been listening to music with a Plantronics in-ear stereo headpiece, but wanted something a bit more casual (not canalphones) with better sound.And for that purpose these headphones work well. They are pleasant to listen to and the music sounds full bodied and not at all "tinny" as you might find in a cheap pair of off the shelf Wall-Mart phones.I believe I've read somewhere that they've got the same drivers as the PX100's (drivers that Sennheiser seems to use in a whole bunch of entry-level audiophile phones) so that's a pretty good starting point. Bass is present, though not to the all enveloping extent that it is in the PX100's. To that extent these headphones are more "neutral" and less "colored" than the PX100's, if I'm using those terms correctly. But though they aren't was warn as the PX100's that's not necessarily a bad thing. There are times when ambient Bass on my PX100's and HD238's feels a little too obtrusive. Indeed, vocals sometimes come across as a bit cloudy and distant, in my opinion because of the omnipresent bass. On the MM 100, vocals are much clearer and more upfront. Which is not to say bass is lacking. It's there when you need it and packs a decent punch. Listening to the thumping drum/bass lines that open the Offspring's "Can't Repeat" will quickly disabuse you of that notion. Honestly, there are times I wish my other Sennheiser phones sounded more like the MM 100s. That said, the PX100's and especially the HD238's do seem more detailed in their rendering of sound. Stacatto notes and instruments (like drums) tend to have a bit more "bite" and sound a bit crisper with a finer edge on my wired phones than the MM 100's.
Note: to get the best sound out of your A2DP capable bluetooth device it is important that it be configured for best possible sound. In Windows mobile devices this might mean installing a registry editor making changes to the registry.
Verdict:
Are these worth the money? Well, to my untrained ear they do sound plenty nice enough for enjoyable music listening, and they've helped reassure me that bluetooth can be used to good effect to stream music. So to that extent, I'd say that, yes, they are a decent set of headphones for $50.00. However, I'm not sure I could ever justify dropping $200.00 on these, which is the retail price. That's an awful lot of cash to spend on a pair of OK sounding headphones just for the privilege of walking around without a wire dangling down your shirt.
A Note on Using These For Calls:
I should add that I haven't yet had a chance to use these phones for making calls. In fact I bought them exclusively for use as headphones, and to be honest I'm not sure I particularly like the idea of making phone calls without one ear open to ambient noises.
