Sennheiser CX 300 II Precision Noise Isolating Ear-canal Phones, Black

Product Information

In-ears typically don't give users great access to their inner workings. The CX 300-IIs are in this boat. The only thing you can do to clean or maintain the headphones is to remove the sleeves for cleaning. Some in-ears come with cleaning tools, but the CX 300-IIs trust that you can provide such things. The CX 300-IIs had a good frequency response – it wans't amazing, but it was solidly above average. They had good bass, which is something all good in-ears have to struggle for (bass requires moving a lot of air around, so the smaller the ear bud, the harder this is to do). The curve drops off a bit towards the mid-section, at which point the curve becomes slightly erratic, but manages to stay within the lines. After that the curve drops off a bit. Typically frequencies above 10,000 are used to add 'brilliance,' 'luster,' and a handful of other rather intangible qualities to sound. If you notice the loss at all, it'll likely manifest itself as softer vocal sibilance.

The Sennheiser CX 300-II have bright highs and are able to resolve some mild detail. Piercing highs are not present but sibilance could be recurrently and strongly heard. The Sennheiser CX 300-IIs are solid headphones for their price. They haven't been released in the US yet, but if their price remains consistent, we foresee a few new adopters. An EQ makes their highs very noticeably brighter, some extra detail is also resolved but not by a huge amount. Piercing highs still remain under control but sibiliance becomes stronger. A different approach can be taken regarding their high’s equalization, if you prefer you can aim your EQ to reduce sibilance instead of enhancing brightness and the Sennheiser CX 300-II will respond greatly with a very clear reduction of their sibilant vocals without taking out too much of their high’s brightness; if you want the ” EQ recipe”, just dial down frequencies near the 7 kHz and fine tune the nearby ones. Applying an EQ, lower vocals clear up and mid-bass bleed is reduced but if the overall EQ is overdone their vocals can risk to get a bit ecoish (if done correctly there will not be any issues). Higher mids can get a bit harshy if pushed too much.This one might be a bit less obvious. The worst thing to see on these graphs is scribbles: sharp ups or downs. Even if the curve favors the left side by 20dB, as long as the curve is a gradual slope, it'll be less jarring than a line zig-zagging between both channels with +/- 10dBit's preferrable to one that zig-zags from 10dB heavier on the left to 10dB heavier on the right. Isolation These are better than others I have tried that cost much more than these, eg SoundMAGIC E10 and Beats. Originally released in late 2008, Sennheiser's CX 300 II Precision earphones are some of the oldest models on the market from the CX Line, but continue to deliver in almost every aspect. For those looking for a high-performance pair of earphones within budget, these are certainly worth considering. Features & Sound When running the Sennheiser CX 300-II through our extreme basshead tests, they handled up to 47% of the maximum power coming from a Fiio E12 Mont Blanc amplifier while turning it’s bass boost on, high gain and applying a custom basshead EQ. The results were an outstanding increment of their mid-bass punch and sub-bass depth and reaching a very worthy basshead rumble and impact above the KZ ATE , Xiaomi Mi Pro HD , Panasonic RP-TCM 125 but still below the Sony MDR-XB50 , Sony MDR-EX650 , Pioneer SE-CX8 , KZ ZST , Xiaomi Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro or the Sony MDR-7550 / Sony MDR-EX800st . We thought the CX 300-IIs were comfortable for a set of in-ears. Their sleeves were a bit thin, so they didn't put much pressure on the insides of our ears. Product Overview

Accessories-wise, the CX 300S might seem a little light. Included with the earphones, you’ll find four pairs of silicon eartips and a soft carrying pouch. To sum it up in a word: similar. If we expanded that limit to three words to improve readability's: they are similar. We didn't have a strong preference as to which is better, so try them both on. The housings of the Sennheiser CX 300-II are mainly built in plastic but also have a silver metallic ring. Their weight and size is minuscule, being the eartip as big as the housing itself. Sennheiser has not specified the size of the dynamic driver inside the housings but despite having tiny housings, a fairly large driver could be fitted inside, in the past we have reviewed other earphones that have similarly small sized housings like the JBL T110, Sony MDR-EX15LP, JBL C100SI, FISCHER AUDIO Dream Catcher and most had at least 8mm DD inside, besides the FISCHER AUDIO that holds the smallest DD in the world (3.8mm) Call quality remains succinct and accurate enough, with my voice registering clear and crisp. Specifications The earphones themselves feel lightweight but solid, with an air of durability that reminds me of the long-reigning Sennheiser HD1 In-ear. Cabling comes in the form of a no-tangle, elliptical design, replete with an in-line mic and remote. The whole affair measures a standard 4 ft (1.2 m) and terminates in a right-angled 3.5 mm plug.This is now my 3rd pair of these as I keep losing them, but I wouldn’t buy any other in ear headphones, especially if they cost more than this. CX 300-IIIn-ear headphones aren't exactly a sprawling canvas of endless aesthetic opportunity. They're tiny and their design will often go unnoticed. This is the case with the CX 300-IIs: they have solidly average aesthetic appeal. They certainly aren't ugly by any stretch, but there also isn't anything about them that's eye-catching. We do like the splash of color, however, which is why they got ever-so-slightly above a solid 5.00. Like most in-ears, the CX 300-IIs don't have an issue with leakage. This is partially because they create a good seal with the ear and partially because they're small and right next to your ear drum, so they don't have to be very loud. You won't have to worry about subjecting people on the bus to your techno remixes of Simon & Garfunkel's greatest hits.

Though the Turbines have a better aesthetic design, they do look a bit drab compared to the CX 300-IIs. The CX 300-IIs also have a more durable design. Compare the ear buds and plugs of the two headphones. The CX 300-II has better cord guards at the ear buds and a significantly better guard at the plug. Also, the plug is bent, which helps protect the internal wires better than a straight plug. Frequency ResponseThe CX 300-IIs do not require batteries to work. This is a marvelous thing because batteries are annoying and dumb. The sound that leaks out of the Sennheiser CX 300-II is more or less inline with many average earphones, this means that their sound will be heard by nearby people if you crank the volume a bit past a moderate level but will not be too disturbing under normal city situations. The Sennheiser CX 300-II are a very popular budget model from Sennheiser that has an incredibly small size and that Sennheiser markets as an earbud with “powerful”“big bass response”; we will determine this after running our Sennheiser CX 300-II soundtests.

The tiny footprint of the Sennheiser CX 300-II housings makes them fit inside any kind of ear’s size without becoming obtrusive nor uncomfortable but neither are too loose as to fall off the ears while being used on everyday activities. Moreover, by being so small and fitting deep they sit flat with the ears allowing them to be a very well featured in-ear headphone to be used under helmets or at bed. Due, to the aforementioned they are now part of our Best Earphones for Helmets Chart. Both cables converge in a small bit of hard rubber. It seems to be very durable; we wouldn't worry about this thing tearing. In lieu of posting a few HATS pictures, we'll actually use text for this comparason . We apologize for any inconvenience we caused when we totally forgot to take HATS photos of the Shure SE420s. Slightly smoothed highs prevent the sound from ever becoming too bright or harsh. Of course, in the highest highs, the CX 300S can feel a little intense. But during most of my listening sessions, I was too busy enjoying the overall sound to notice these tiny and infrequent hiccups. Like the lows and mids, the highs abound with detail, and it’s all too easy to get lost in your favorite music with this tiny earphone. SoundstageThe CX 300-IIs have a better aesthetic if only because they include a splash of color. The CX 300-II also has better cord guards at the ear buds. Both headphones manage the plug well. Frequency Response Sennheiser Momentum – which can be bought as an over-ear headphones, on-ear headphone or in-ear headphone (can also be found in their Bluetooth variants) The CX 300-II was capable of 122.14dB before distortion got out of hand. As a result, it gets our max score for the section, a 10.00. We have a cap on this score, because any more than 120dB is bad news for your hearing, and we care about you and your hearing. Most in-ears tend to have excellent isolation, but the CX 300-IIs are just average in this regard. They do have a good max volume and leakage control, however.