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

Sennheiser is a top manufacturer, and these are amongst their best products. I've used assorted Sennheiser and AKG headsets/phones/buds professionally and privately since the early 1970s, and the sound with these tiny buds is as good as the best. The bass is purer and smoother than many hi-fi loudspeakers. The top is sweet and clear, often a problem with older ears, but nothing is woolly with these buds. They are also very efficient, so need a lower volume setting, and the batteries on my ear-player last significantly longer than with its original earphones.I listen to a wide range of material from jazz to pop to choral to orchestral to speech. It all sounds very natural, and I have applied almost no equalisation in the player, nor any SRS, nor any Extra Bass. With these, the original sound sounds best, stays in your ears and does not disturb even your closest neighbours on the tube.BUT, there is a definite trick to making sure the sound is good. The seal to ones ear must be air-tight, otherwise bass is lost and extraneous noise leaks in. How then? Lubricate them! Moisten the ear canal, and also the soft rubber adapter, to allow it to slide in easily and find the best fit. Also, don't push it in too far as this might bottom the adapter on the curve of the ear canal and block the sound outlet. As Ronnie Barker might have said, you may need to jer-jer-jer-jiggle it a bit. Most ears do not have a circular canal, more often it is almost triangular, so it is a miracle these buds fit so well in so many different ears. Try each of the three different sizes for the best moist fit!I don't go jogging with them, but I do walk a lot, as well as use public transport every day, and the movement rubbing on the leads could be a problem. But by stowing the long lead around the back of the neck and using an inner pocket for the ear-player and any surplus lead, the unwanted noises are reduced to an acceptable minimum. And of course when sitting still there is no problem at all.I was wondering how durable they might be when I bought my first set of the original CX300 ear buds seven years ago, and I have been careful to avoid knots with stowing the lead when not in use; one pocket is dedicated to the ear-player and buds. The cords are reasonably tangle resistant, but a determined vandal could wreck them quite quickly. For all that time in daily use over maybe seventy thousand miles my old set continued to sound as good as new, with no signs of deterioration in the rubbers or the leads, so when eventually the left bud went open circuit at the join to the voice coil it owed me nothing. I was very happy to buy this new set as a replacement, and it has proved to be every bit as good, still with the clean full range sound.These CX300-II deserve the highest recommendation.

The sound quality of these earbuds is to notch and they sit very comfortably in the ear. However the buds are very small and aren’t easy to insert especially if you have large fingers. Most egregious is the poor quality cabling that is very thin and I fear might not hold up to prolonged or rough handling. Come on Sennheiser you can do better than this.

I bought these to replace a similar much loved pair of Sennheiser earphones labelled CX 3.00 which I had been using for about six years and only gave up because one of the cables had deteriorated as a result of poor storage on my part. These CX 300 IIs are even better. The bass is unbelievably powerful for units of this size and the treble is clear and precise. I have been able to turn the volume on my phone down by about a third.Unlike the previous model these have asymmetric cables which I wasn't previously a fan of but I now get that you run the cable to your right ear behind your neck; this works very neatly and takes most of the cabling away to your left hand side. The medium earbuds are a perfect fit for my ears. The only negative comment I would make is that the cables appear thinner than the previous model; time will tell whether they are as robust.Overall I think the sound quality of these earphones is really quite incredible for their price; I wouldn't want to change them for anything else.

I wanted a decent pair of headphones for my iPod touch and after a research I decided to give a chance to these. Before critising the acoustics of these Sennheisers I have to say they are given with a nice pouch who have two pair of ear buds. So, continuing with acoustics, I have to say that they are pretty loud in the highest volume of iPod comparing to a cheap pair of earbuds I had, but they are also noisy to the point I'm thinking to buy a better pair of headphones!!!. Even if they have a pretty good treble and quite good bass, they are pretty bad in loud volumes.Now, I'm thinking of changing them for another decent headphone pair (probably pricier).So, I suggest you stick to the original Apple headphones or if you want a better replacement, buy these only if you are on a very tight budget.(Personally, if I had more money I would buy Apple MA850G/B In-Ear Headphones with Remote & Mic or generally a more expensive pair).