Some Fantastic Headphones

The headphones I’ve been using for quite a while have been very cheap earbuds.  They’ve been wearing out and I’ve been meaning get some better ones for quite a while.  I have been particularly interested in trying out some in ear headphones.  A couple weeks ago I buckled down and did some fairly extensive research into what headphones to buy.

The research process for headphones is a little difficult for a number of reasons.  First, most people that review or rate headphones can’t compare very many, since they typically  own very few.  Second, there are an awful lot of headphones in the world, with fairly subtle differences between similar models of the same brand.  Third, and probably the biggest problem, is that most of the things that make headphones good or bad are really qualitative and people’s opinions aren’t standardized in any way.

After researching a fair amount, I decided that Sennheiser was probably one of the better brands, and went to some stores to see if any were available without ordering online.  I was in luck: F.Y.E. had the CX300-II and CX400 model for sale for $29.99, down from their typical $80 price tag.  I ended up buying both models: one for me and one for my mom. 

The sound is quality is virtually identical between the two models.  The primary differences are that the CX30 0-II has an asymmetric cable and the CX400 has a shorter symmetric cable with an accompanying extension cable and that the CX400 comes with a clip and cable winder.  Both of them come with 3 different sizes of rubber things (can’t think of the technical term at the moment), and a nice leather carrying case.

Turns out I prefer the asymmetric cable as it does not get tangled up as easily (though the CX400 still didn’t get tangled up much at all).  The bass is quite powerful, and the crispness and clarity of the sound is pretty remarkable.  There are songs that I have never been able to understand what they are saying that I can now understand very clearly.  I can’t speak for all in ear headphones, but these ones are pretty darn comfortable.  I can wear them for hours without any problem, whereas with earbuds my ears get a little sore well before then.

I thought about upgrading to the next model (CX500).  It initially looked like I could get them for less than $50 online.  After doing some more looking around, however, it looks like there is a serious problem with cheap Sennheiser copycats.  Purchasing from an authorized dealer bumps the prices for different models up to where it ought to be ($80 to $130 depending on the model).  Buying from anyone else you can get whatever model you want for about $40 to $50 (cause they’re mostly—if not all—fakes).  So it looks like the deal at F.Y.E. was pretty phenomenal (F.Y.E. is an authorized retailer).  So if you are looking for new headphones, I’d recommend checking these ones out.  I’m pretty pleased with them.