[espire]

Before purchasing the MX 55, I looked for information about them on Head-Fi, but I found very little. I made the jump, and thought that others might be able to benefit from my early findings. I paid $10 on eBay plus $15 shipping from the US to Canada. These are replacements for my JVC 'Gumy' HA-F130 earbuds. After about an hour of listening, I'm ready to present my basic impressions.

Sound Quality
Not only is the MX 55 far superior to the JVC Gumy, it rivals the quality of my Creative EP-630. The 'Basswind' system seems to be working, as the bass is definitely present and powerful enough to make an HD-555 user happy. It's not punchy like the KSC75, but these are earbuds. I'm also very pleased with the detail, and as far as my regular ears can tell, mids and highs are good too. Everything sounds great on these so far, from deep synth-bass to piano and strings to vocals. To summarize, the quality is great for earbuds.

Comfort
Sennheiser seems to be very big on its new 'Twist-to-Fit' system, which places little nubs at the end of a small arm above each earbuds. This definitely helps prevent the earbuds from falling out of my ear, but at the moment, they're extremely uncomfortable. I'd be terribly upset, except that Sennheiser packaged all sorts of different sizes of buds and nubs with the MX 55, and I have yet to try any of these. I also have likely not yet found the optimal comfort position of the earbuds, which I'm sure has a great effect on comfort. TheDeliveryMan, any suggestions?

Anyway, that wraps up my first impressions, which give sound a thumb up and comfort a thumb down. Once I've done some serious listening and figured out how to wear the earbuds without pain (and you can bet that I will), I hope to post a full review. That's all for now!

 

[ttmnky]

Good stuff! I think the mx55 has the same drivers as the sport version (mx75), if anyone out there likes green.

Do you know if all of the MX series shares the same driver though? Your description of the mx55 sounds a lot like my mx70's too.

 

[Chickenman]

just a question; Did you have EQ on while reviewing these?

 

[<GNEFF> killbot]

If you get tired of the twist to fit system take a look at the MX460 bud.
I had the MX90 VC a few years back and loved the sound, but never made friends with the twist thing. After Judes glowing remarks on the PMX70 I bought those and were amazed buy the sound, but never made friends with the neckband.
But everything came together when I tried the MX460. Nice bass, balanced mids and clean highs. Dont know if it is the driver, the basswind system or whatever, but they sure do sound good.

 

[espire]

I apologize for the few days' delay in the response. Anyway,

ttmnky, though I don't know that as a fact, most on Head-Fi will agree to that. There's just no reason why Sennheiser would bother developing more than one driver for the entire line of low-end headphones. The different models are likely just market segmentation.

Chicenmann, no I did not. Why do you ask?


By the way, while I've now experimented with the different parts that come with the MX 55, I still haven't found a good combination for my ears that will both stay in well AND be comfortable. Maybe I just need to build up calluses in my ears!

 

[babya]

Just got the MX 55 and are impressed with the bass it produces.

 

[TheDeliveryMan]

yes, they are a bass-machine (as far as an earbud goes)...very full sounding. as far as the Twist To Fit system, just keep experimenting. I have the MX 75 (same footprint) and I twist them in but I do not rock them all of the way forward. This works best for me and you may find that a different combination of tips works best in a certain position.

 

[Nocturnal310]

How much are they?


sub-$100? sub-$50?

i need some earbuds ... i am not really liking MX400 for Trancy music