[striker]

I just bought my CX300 and having already the EP630 I thought I'd post about it here.

I'm no expert so you won't get a technical analysis but I'm sure of one thing, they're clearly different headphones.

Externally the only differences I find are:
-the Senns have a harder rubber wire than the creatives
-The silicone tips are also different. The CX300 tips are harder and a bit rougher.
-and as you all know the creatives have a Y cord and straight connector, while the Senns have a bent connector and a J cord (goes behind the neck)


The really difference is the sound. I'm not sure which I prefer, maybe they're suited to different kinds of music.

The highs are much more prominent on the CX300, not only because they are more detailed when compared with the EP630, but also because the bass is less boomy on the Senns, and thus shift the sound balance a little higher.

And that's the real difference, IMO: the bass.

Listening to my EP630 (the first I bought), the bass sounded good, and I was perfectly happy with them. Well, maybe not perfectly. I found them not quite right when listening to something like Radiohead albums after OK Computer (which start to drift away from rock). I felt the strong bass didn't fit with that kind of music.

After buying and trying the CX300 I'm sure of it. Thought the bass on the Senns is much weaker, there's still a nice thump and an airy feel about the drums, but the bass seems much more defined.

I don't know exactly how to express myself, but it seemed to me that the bass on the EP630 sounds like bass up to a much higher frequency. Does that make sense?

I mean, drums sound good on the 630, but something like the bass guitar seems a bit over-bassy.

So anyway. It is my opinion that the Senns sound more balanced and seem to fit more kinds of music.

 

[zyxwvutsr]

how would they compare in terms of comfort and isolation?

 

[striker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zyxwvutsr /img/forum/go_quote.gif how would they compare in terms of comfort and isolation?

They're the same.

Although the CX300 silicon tips rugged surface seem to make it easier to get a proper seal.

Not that I ever found trouble inserting the EP630 in the past 5 months, really.

 

[AgentVX]

Just dropping in to say thanks for sharing your thoughts

 

[striker]

Thanks!


Another observation:

There's a notorious popping sound when I put the CX300 on and pressure inside the eardrums is generated. It's not the silicon buds that pop, it's the membrane inside the phones, I'm sure.

Since mine are original, bought from a regular store, this is not a sign of fake replicas.

It had been mentioned in other threads that this was an original/fake differentiating factor so I thought it would be good to clear that out.

 

[jssmail]

great thread.thanks for share

 

[bazmonkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by striker /img/forum/go_quote.gif It had been mentioned in other threads that this was an original/fake differentiating factor so I thought it would be good to clear that out.

FWIW, I can also verify that the popping during insertion isn't an indicator of a fake pair.

 

[dranoel4190]

Quote:

Originally Posted by striker /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks! Another observation: There's a notorious popping sound when I put the CX300 on and pressure inside the eardrums is generated. It's not the silicon buds that pop, it's the membrane inside the phones, I'm sure. Since mine are original, bought from a regular store, this is not a sign of fake replicas. It had been mentioned in other threads that this was an original/fake differentiating factor so I thought it would be good to clear that out.

hmm.. for me i think the popping sound comes from the silicone tips. i used a different (softer) tip from my older pair and i didnt hear any popping sound

 

[facelvega]

striker-- interesting observations, seeming to support the argument that Senn and Creative did ask for different specs from the manufacturer. If you have a camera handy, would you mind doing some close-up comparison pics showing any differences you see?

Since you're getting that popping noise on the senns but apparently not on the ep-630 (whereas I DO get it on my ep-630), you might want to try swapping tips on the two to see if some of the differences are related to the degree of seal between the tips and the phones themselves. This could definitely have an impact on the bass, so it'd be good to eliminate it as a possibility. If the popping sound changes to the creatives but the bass difference is the same, that would prove a definite difference at least between these two pairs.

 

[striker]

Thanks for the suggestions!

Regarding the popping noise, it is definitely not the tips.
The CX300 pop even with both the Creative and the Sennheiser tips and the Creative EP630 don't pop with neither tips.

Also, the sound remains different even with the same tips.

I've attached some close up images as asked: Sennheiser on the left (silver), Creative on the right (black).

 

[facelvega]

Many thanks for the photos! That popping thing is totally crazy, especially when you look at them to try to figure why one does it and not the other. And thanks too for confirming the sound difference is independent of the tips. The plot thickens!

 

[peter_m]

Well, could it be that one of these models has a tuned port so the pressure equalises very quickly, never gathering enough pressure to make a poping sound?

Does anyone have a defective pair he or she is willing to disect?

 

[striker]

Another few thoughts after a few hours listening:

-There's definetely a better seal on the Sennheisers. An example is that some mouth movements like a really large smile that somehow causes the ear/nose/throat canals to move are definetely felt as increased pressure in your eardrums. That never happened with the EP630 or even with the Sony Ex71 I had previously.
(On a side note, the CX300 bring back a bit of the EX71 highs that I lost when I moved to the EP630 - even though the EP630 compensated by introducing something the Ex71 didn't have: the mids

)

-It doesn't seem to be caused by the tips.

-Maybe the CX300 are more closed and thus generate better seal. That could also explain the popping inside.

 

[striker]

Final thoughts on sound differences:

Listening to Pearl Jam's Evenflow live in Lisbon, there's definitely a different sound between the phones.

Mike Mcready's guitar solos really shine on the CX300, benefiting from its more pronounced highs. The highs are much more detailed on the CX300.

Matt cameron also does a battery solo, and here the CX also pick more details in the drums and cymbals. There's a lot less punch in the low drum thumps. This makes the details more present but take away a bit of the fun I had with the CX300.

Generally, with the CX300 I tend to listen more carefully to the different guitars and the base line, picking up much more details.

I still don't know which ones I prefer, though, the bassy EP630 sound is really fun, and though instrument details are harder to notice, they produce a pleasant sound if your music tastes suit the that kind of reproduction.

 

[ripperu]

Since you have mentioned it Striker: they are identical since both of them are manufactured by the same assembly plant

http://www.lesnumeriques.com/article-259-1603-165.html


Le CX-300 de Sennheiser est identique à l'EP-630 de Creative Labs. Il s'agit exactement des mêmes composants et a priori du même constructeur à l'origine. C'est un casque intra-auriculaire avec des embouts très courts qui pénètrent beaucoup moins bien à l'intérieur de l’oreille que d'autres modèles comme l’ER-6 d’Etymotics par exemple. On apprécie particulièrement la légèreté et le très faible encombrement de ces écouteurs. Le confort s'en ressent, il est excellent. Les conditions d’utilisation sont suffisantes pour une écoute stationnaire ou en mouvement. Contrairement à certains écouteurs intra-auriculaires, ils ne bougent pas lorsqu’on court. Le CX-300 est fourni avec trois paires d’embouts afin de s’adapter au mieux à la morphologie de l’utilisateur.



The good point is: how could you find the difference ?
a) subjectivity (no offence Striker...)
b) in any manufacture are high's and low's.So...You sell the high's as Sennheiser for people who care about it....and low's goes for youngsters who cannot afford a good brand, and save your production progress...