[Eagle_Driver]

Just a half-hour ago the Fedex truck came by (yep, I was waiting outside in the warm and muggy weather...

) and delivered a pair of Sennheiser MX 500 earbuds that I ordered. I spent that half-hour comparing them against two of my lower-end Sony earbuds.

The first impression that I had with the MX 500's is that they felt almost as cheesy as my Sony MDR-E828LP earbuds...

The volume control has no problems on mine, though it may develop some as it's being used. The MX 500's are colored (coloured for you Brits) metallic blue - less likely to stand out than the silver color (colour) of recent Sony earbuds.

I listened to the same Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue CD I had used im my review a day and a half ago of the two Sony earbuds. The bass, though I can hear some low bass, isn't anywhere near as boomy as the current low-end Sony earbuds. And very unlike the low-end Sony earbuds, the bass on the Sennheiser MX 500's doesn't run into the mids (the bass on the low-end Sonys often squash some of the midrange detail). The highs are just about right, with more detail than the Sony MDR-E848LP's but with less ringing than the Sony MDR-E828LP's. (I haven't even burned-in my MX 500's yet!)

The Sennheiser MX 500's (and MX 400's and MX 300's) may not fit some people's ears very well. Though smaller in diameter than Sony's current earbuds, the Sennheiser's driver housing is relatively thick. And like all of the very-low-end Sony earbuds, the edge of the MX 500's housing is hard plastic - and has a Y-cord (the left-side cord is equal in length to the right-side cord) terminated to a nickel-plated mini-plug tip.

Overall, the Sennheiser MX 500's are outstanding earbuds for the sub-$20 USD price... I think they will become my summertime toss-around cans...

 

[Eagle_Driver]

If you have any questions about this MX 500 review, and somehow you are stuck with crappy-sounding low-end earbuds of any brand, please feel free to send me a PM (don't crap on this thread like you might have on the 828 vs. 848 thread). And please reply to this thread if you have any experiences with the Sennheiser MX-#00 earbuds.

P.S. When Magnolia HiFi said the Sennheiser earbuds were disappointing, that store chain really meant the older MX-3, MX-4 and MX-5 models (not the newer MX-300, MX-400 or MX-500 models) were pieces of crap.

 

[Duncan]

Glad you like the MX500s

And... I'm DEFINETLY in agreement that the older MXx's are POS... I bought the MX5s because they were from Sennheiser... lol... to say I was dissapointed would be a BIG understatement!!

I'd be interested to know how you get the best sound out of them (number of foamies... how inserted in ear etc etc) because I can't seem to get a consistent result

Once again, thanks for the review

 

[JMT]

I agree that the MX500s are a great value. I use them when I travel. But, like in other threads I cannot seem to get them to fit just right. I did take the foamies off but did not like how they sounded (tinny, a tad irritating), so I am forced to keep them on. They are just a little to big for my ears with the foamies on.

 

[chych]

Yep, as I said before, the MX500s trounce the 848s... I still prefer my ex70s though

 

[KR...]

Nice to hear that.
I love my MX500, and it's the only cans that I use for portable use.
Enjoy them!

 

[Braver]

they're quite something ey

they need some foam tho, at least one. I used double for a time, but found it too muffled sounding. For me, they're the most comfortable with double foamies, so I cut huge holes in the first , them put another on top of it.

they're a bit big tho, not as comfy as Sony's, but they don;t fall out either..

 

[Eagle_Driver]

And today I saw a pair of earbuds with regular (not silicon) pads for $14.99 at RadioSchmack... They had a gold-plated plug tip (not nickel-plated as with all the current Senn buds)...

Now I found out (just by looking at them) that those Optimus buds are a clone of the previous-generation Sennheiser MX-3 buds!

LOL... All of Senn's previous-generation buds had gold-plated plug tips! And even with that gold plating, the MX-3 is still a piece of crap compared to even the newer MX-300.

 

[lini]

I've got the MX400 and MX500 myself. The MX500 sounds a little better on my devices (nevertheless the pot is already a bit scratchy... <sigh>), but generally I'd say both sound ok (compared to many others that just sound bad). But I also found that the DT531 works loud enough on my portables - so no way back for me. I'll need a bigger bag, though...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred

 

[Eagle_Driver]

To those looking for a good-sounding pair of Sony earbuds for much less than $50, fuggeddaboutit! There are NO inexpensive earbuds that sound better than the current Sennheiser MX### series! The cheap Sony earbuds do have more bass - but is it good-quality bass? (I now think that the Sonys' bass is kinda crappy.) But that's just my opinion.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

So far, 12 hours after I received my MX-500s, the poll's score is 10-1 in favor of the Senns.

Aww... Screw that, who voted for the Sony?

Must be some portable listener who's still duh-m-bass in his/her listening tastes.

 

[sapphiremodena]

I'm looking forward to getting my Senn MX-400's this week. Too bad they don't have the MX-500's in Canada.

 

[dd666]

I got myself some mx 400's last weekend, I have used them an awful lot in the last week and am really impressed with them. Here in Australia they are very cheap, $27AU which is about $13US. They can't be beaten for price and sound quality as far as I'm concerned. I only discovered them through this board so thanks to all for a great site!!

 

[sapphiremodena]

Just got my mx400s too....how long do they take to break in?
[Do they break in at all?]

 

[Duncan]

I'm one of the orignal owners of the MX500s (had them about 5-6 months)... and, I really don't think that they do break in, they still sound grey compared to bigger 'phones (understandable with cost, and size constraints)

My one major criticism of them (albeit that they are VERY cheap for a good overall sound quality)... is that they have virtually no definition to them, they lose a LOT of fine detail... but, then again, they are portable throw around 'phones... I guess I expect too much

Other than that... they really are the bees knees