[daronharvey]

I'm considering buying a pair of the Sennheiser CX300-II's but there are some similarly priced Sennheiser CX475's I could go for an altrernative.

I cant actually find the CX475's on Sennheiser's web site (there are some MX475's but they're clearly different), so I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with both the CX300-II and CX475 to be able to offer an objective view in how the two compare.

For my main listening at home I have Grado's, so I'm looking at these Senn earphones for portability and for discrete use in the office. I listen to rock, classical, jazz, etc.

By the way, I already have a pair of Sony MDR-XB30EX earphones which sound okay, but what frustrates me to most with those is the cable noise. If I sit still and use a small clip to restrict the cable from rubbing on my clothes, they're okay to live with. However, when walking, I would rather not wear them. Hopefully this wont be so much of a problem with my next pair of earphones.

Thanks

 

[H20Fidelity]

I can't give a comparison, but I can tell you a story about before I joined Head-fi.

Before I joined I was purchasing earphones from my local shopping mall, they had the usual mainstream brands such as beats, skullcandy, Sennheiser, Bose. I think they even had some Kicker branded earphones I tried. No matter what I tried and returned I felt completely underwhelmed with the sound quality, being into car audio a few years before I knew there had to more to it.

I tried CX300ii which I guess was ok at the time and probably would have stopped there. However, when I came across Head-fi I was discovering all these brands I'd never heard of before, one of those brands was SoundMAGIC. I read some reviews and thought why not give them a try, can't hurt for $40 right? But surely they won't beat the more expensive CX300ii. I ordered the SoundMAGIC E10 on a whim.

When the E10 arrived I was rather shocked how good they sounded, even next to the most expensive beats tours I tried from the mall for $200. After switching between for a little while I came to the conclusion they were even better than CX300ii so I returned the Sennheiser.

Let me give you the very review I read when I purchased the E10 that time.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/581119/review-soundmagic-e10

Good luck!

 

[OMGLadyGaga]

+1

For iems the Asian lesser known companies like Soundmagic are the way to go. The E10 is much better than both those Senns.

Since you asked for a comparison, and I happen to have both. Well the CX300 has a j cable, which is annoying to me and the bass is terribly bloated with muddy mids. The CX 475 is a little better, as it has less bloat in the bass but the treble is out of control and is sibilant and causes it to sound thin and unrefined. I'd stay away from both.

Better sounding alternatives are the aforementioned E10 by sound magic

Or if you desire more bass but still very good sound considering the price, the Philips SHE3590 and Xiamoni Piston 2.0 are better in every way. The clarity and presentation is on another level compared to the Sennheisers.

 

[gradofan1]

+1.
 
Oh god neither. CX400/500 were bad enough (bought legit from amazon direct). Just because it's branded "sennheiser" doesn't mean all their products are good. $8500 Hundyai accent versus $65000 Hyundai Equus. 

 

[daronharvey]

Thanks for both postings.
 
I'm based in the UK, and have to admit that with one of our high street chains offering the CX475 at a pretty good price, plus I have a £10 discount voucher which expires in about a week from now, I thought the time could be right to relegate my Sony MDR-XB30EX's to a box somewhere, and buy the CX475's for just a few £s.
 
I'm not wishing to sound like I'm tight fisted, but if it does sound like the E10's are going to be worth paying a bit extra for, then that's the way for me to go. After all, I paid a decent amount on Grado's because sound is important to me, so for the same reason I might therefore overlook both of the Senn options and go for the E10's.
 
Really appreciate you taking thing the time to write back.... thanks!

 

[gradofan1]

Which Grados do you have currently? Just curious and see if we can get a similar sound signature to those Grados you like...

 

[daronharvey]

I have the Grado SR225i and love 'em, whether driven from my MP3 player, or from my tube headphone amp off my main system at home.

 

[gradofan1]

Excellent choice, the SR225i is the 2nd best price to performance ratio in terms of Grados, value-wise. So I'm guessing you want an aggressive, forward sound signature?

 

[daronharvey]

Quite honestly I dont know how to describe the sound I want. About a year ago I wanted to upgrade from the Grado SR80s I had owned for about 5 years, and a lot of suggestions and recommendations pointed me in the direction of the AKG K701's, so I bought them. The finish and comfort was fantastic, and I gave them hours (80+) of running in time. On each listening over a period of a couple of months, I always popped my old Grado SR80's back on for a quick A-B comparison, and without exception (rock, jazz, classical, blues, acoustic....) I preferred the Grados to the AKGs by FAR.
 
So the AKG's went, and I updgraded the Grado's for the SR225's.
 
That's a long answer to your short question, but if you know anything about the AKGs and can relate to how I would describe the Grado's as sounding like the offer more of everything when compared to the AKGs, then perhaps that will answer whether I Iike an agrressive forward sound signature!

 

[gradofan1]

Yes, the K701 is quite laid back and almost the opposite of the SR225i. If you're short on budget/or if stuff is more expensive in the UK, get them off the forums here and see if anyone in the US will ship to UK. 
 
In terms of cheaper IEM's that suit that sound signature, I really don't know. I'd recommend Grado's own GR8 IEM's, but that's probably out of your budget it sounds like. One of the more obscure chinese brands (which actually produce very nice IEM's I've heard for cheap) might work.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/multi-iem-review-319-iems-compared-t-peos-d200r-added-08-01-14-p-947
 
Use the link above to help you with your sound signature and budget. It's a very very comprehensive review of over 300 IEM's, at different price tiers. As you can see, I agree with lijokerl (OP) in that the CX300's suck. It got a 4/10 value rating, with pretty horrible highs if i remember correctly.  

 

[OMGLadyGaga]

Try the JVC HA-FX40

 

[daronharvey]

Thanks again for the suggestions. I read up on the Grado igi's and while they're not exactly out of my price range, my main concern (fear) would be spending a decent amount of money on something which may end up with a broken wire, and therefore render them useless. Perhaps I'm speaking out of turn in saying that, but when I began looking for earphones, part of me was saying that these are not going to last a long time, so I'll keep the budget down.
 
So all things considered from what I have read, the SM E10's are looking top of the list at the moment.
 
I'm about to leave for a short vacation, so this will likely be my last posting for a few days. Thanks a again, and enjoy you music!
 
Daron