[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marianitu The cx300 sounds imho a bit "bass excesive" I must equallize them a lot to sound the way I like... but well... I'm used to Sr60's sound so this is normal

Quote:

Originally Posted by Breakdown I noticed a huge difference in the sound quality of mine after leaving the CX 300s playing for hours.

Let's bridge these observations. I've never heard burn-in happen more certainly than I have with my ep-630 (which as I've posted in other threads I'll bet cash is exactly identical to the cx300-- and heck, I teach at a design school, I do have a bit of an idea), and it wasn't just growing accustomed to the sound-- I tested them regularly against my fully burnt-in KSC-75 for reference.

I listened to them or let them run for only about 4 hours a day on various systems:

Day 1: appallingly strong bass. Highs a bit recessed but still harsh. Generally muddy. Had to EQ just to listen to them.

Day 3: noticed that I was backing off the EQ difference with the KSC-75. The harshness started becoming clearer, just noticeable.

By day 7: no longer bothered to EQ them. The muddiness had largely dissipated, the harshness gone, they no longer caused fatigue after a couple of hours.

Weeks later: still bassier than the Koss, but not a great deal so. The Highs are still recessed. Across the band, these can't come up to the Koss, but the SQ is still passable.

slight edit: no, I will not bet cash on the difference between a y and a j-cord, nor on the symbol on back.

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiodude Are there different versions of these earphones around? It's strange, because I think my CX 300 (69,- €) don't have enough bass at low volume. Of course, when I turn up the volume to higher, probably unsafe levels, then there's a decent bass punch, but the highs become a pain in the ear, getting too loud and shrill. Everytime there's a high drumbeat, it's like "ouch, that hurt!". edit: I forgot to mention: They have a bad hiss that is always present and makes quiet music not too enjoyable.

The bass problem is mystifying if as you say you are getting a good fit, but the hiss really sounds like a source problem. Headphones don't hiss, sources and amps hiss. Have you burnt them in a few dozen hours yet? If yes and you still hear trouble, try a different source or two to see if the problem follows the earphones.

 

[Oliver :)]

YEAH you people, keep throwing the stones of your low low prices at me, hurt me! I like it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by facelvega The bass problem is mystifying if as you say you are getting a good fit, but the hiss really sounds like a source problem. Headphones don't hiss, sources and amps hiss. Have you burnt them in a few dozen hours yet? If yes and you still hear trouble, try a different source or two to see if the problem follows the earphones.

I notice that the CX300 are very likely to pick up hiss. When I use them on my Supermacro there is zero hiss. Xin truly managed to make the amp dead quiet, it's mesmerizing. On the Cosmic they do hiss. I guess it is due to the low impedance of the phones. If you have a hiss problem, you could try adding some impedance, maybe via one of Xin's ampless adaptors.

 

[Gaffer74]

Cheapest place in the UK is amazon.co.uk.

got for about €52

(normally otherwise retail for about €63....pretty similar to Deutschland over here (it's not called "rip-off Britain" for nothing

)

 

[Oliver :)]

Found some things I dislike btw.:
-The lack of a cord-managing piece/zipper/whatever. They tangle up easily, even if you wrap them carefully around your fingers & store them in an Etymotic pouch.
-No gold-plated plug at this price?

 

[Gaffer74]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver Found some things I dislike btw.: -The lack of a cord-managing piece/zipper/whatever. They tangle up easily, even if you wrap them carefully around your fingers & store them in an Etymotic pouch. -No gold-plated plug at this price?

I think at this price goldplated plugs might not make much of a difference.
Besides, most people (inc. me) will use them mainly for their portable mp3 iPod/iRiver etc etc so "serious hi-fi listening" isn't really on the menu (or is it)?

(i just use my iPod for "musical accompaniment" whilst out and about, rather than "High Fidelity Audio"...portable mp3 definitely isn't Hi-Fi imho )

I agree with the lack of zipper to prevent tangling though

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver I notice that the CX300 are very likely to pick up hiss. When I use them on my Supermacro there is zero hiss. Xin truly managed to make the amp dead quiet, it's mesmerizing. On the Cosmic they do hiss. I guess it is due to the low impedance of the phones. If you have a hiss problem, you could try adding some impedance, maybe via one of Xin's ampless adaptors.

Yes, definitely low impedance phones will reveal hiss in a way that higher-impedance headphones don't. This is one of the most frustrating things about Grados for me, great detail including the perfect replication of any tape hiss on any subpar recording, or of any amp with a little too much noise in the signal. Adding the impedance as Oliver suggests should take care of that, more cheaply than my previous rethink-your-source suggestion.

 

[audiodude]

I went to a hi-fi store and asked the shopkeeper if there would be a solution for my CX 300 hiss. He negated and told me that hiss is caused by the source, not the headphones. So far so bad. Because I read about impedances here, I asked if there is an impedance adapter or something like that I could purchase to get rid of the hiss, but he said that an additional impedance is useless and would only change the frequency response. Well, what's the truth?

 

[Cdammen]

I bought a pair, the bass-version (CX300-B, but I suspect that they're all bassy). And with my PA2v2 they sound a lot like my Grado SR60's, really. Just a little bit muddier but still pretty clear and warm. My first IEM, I'm really happy with the purchase. And they are really comfy

 

[slinger1182]

Quote:

Originally Posted by noblsheep Living in China, just got my cx300s this morning. Sound great to me so far. What seems strange is the price. In physical stores they sell around ￥200, which is about US$25. I got mine in an online trading system for ￥43, or about $5.5. This struck me as being very strange... Anyone have anything to say on this? Newbie here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by madeinmk nothing strange, price is different in different countries. CX300 costs US$95 with tax in Canada while American can buy them at the price of 50 on amazon But China price can't be beaten eh?

Yeah but 5.5$?

How much does a HD650 cost in China? I mean I can prolly ask my Chinese labmate to get me one the next time he visits China (sometime this summer). Heck! I can ask my advisor to get it to me. He's gonna adopt a Chinese kid and going there sometime this summer as well.

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiodude I went to a hi-fi store and asked the shopkeeper if there would be a solution for my CX 300 hiss. He negated and told me that hiss is caused by the source, not the headphones. So far so bad. Because I read about impedances here, I asked if there is an impedance adapter or something like that I could purchase to get rid of the hiss, but he said that an additional impedance is useless and would only change the frequency response. Well, what's the truth?

Hifi stores sometimes don't know all that much about headphones, as they are of course the red-headed stepchild of the hifi world. Impedance adapters are uncommon even for us, but there are a couple of old headphones supposedly really improve with some added impedance. (do I remember correctly that the DT831 is one of them?) Usually it's a step reserved for higher-end phones to make them agree better with a source/amp rig. Others could probably tell you more on the more DIY-oriented forums, like amps or cables etc., or some of those people may happen on this thread.

 

[afbug]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cdammen I bought a pair, the bass-version (CX300-B, but I suspect that they're all bassy). And with my PA2v2 they sound a lot like my Grado SR60's, really. Just a little bit muddier but still pretty clear and warm. My first IEM, I'm really happy with the purchase. And they are really comfy

Dude, it is CX300-Black and CX300-Silver. There are no bassy or less bassy versions.

noblsheep, that is an incredible price!

 

[kinghung]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slinger1182 Yeah but 5.5$? How much does a HD650 cost in China? I mean I can prolly ask my Chinese labmate to get me one the next time he visits China (sometime this summer). Heck! I can ask my advisor to get it to me. He's gonna adopt a Chinese kid and going there sometime this summer as well.

I heard there are tons of pirate/fake sennheiser stuff in china, not sure is it true. But pls careful.
I only buy Sony/Sennheiser stuff at very big shops or showroom coz I can't recognize which one is pirate stuff.

My friend told me (last year) that he seen Sennheiser MX500 in china, and was only US$2
Will u believe they are real MX500?

 

[slinger1182]

Thanks Kinghung for the warning. I'll warn my friend as well but he'll prolly know about the fake stuff, methinks.

 

[kinghung]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slinger1182 Thanks Kinghung for the warning. I'll warn my friend as well but he'll prolly know about the fake stuff, methinks.

Very Welcome Mate!
I just bought my CX300 at Singapore airport when I was travelling there last week, and the price was a bit higher than the street price (abt US$75)
The first image for me, is that they enhanced the bass and also the bass quality. Now I pretty enjoy listening those pop songs with powerful but balance bass and also clarity in high freq. as well. (Also listening cello is pretty enjoyable now)

I have been using Shure e3c and e4g for more than one year, but this CX300 would be my casual listening IEMs...

However the sililance is quite serious at this moment, I will try to burn in couple hundred hrs to see the difference.