Sennheiser MX500 Lightweight In-Ear Headphone (Blue) with Carrying Case
by Sennheiser
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Our Price: $44.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sennheiser MX500 Lightweight In-Ear Headphone (Blue) with Carrying Case
Customer Review: They make music, not just sounds
Summary: 4 Stars
Most pieces of audio equipment accurately produce sounds, but relatively few make music. Interestingly, this difference occurs in all types of equipment and at all price ranges. Also, you don't have to be a snobby audiophile to hear and appreciate the difference. In this context, I'm very happy with these Sennheiser headphones.
When I first got my Dell DJ in early 2004, I was generally impressed by the sound, but I suspected that replacement headphones would improve the experience. The stock headphones were clear but flat and tinny, and they didn't stay in my ears.
After a few months I tried a set of Sony Fontopias. I don't remember which model, but they were about $30 at Best Buy. Although the Sonys produced much stronger bass, they were very disappointing overall. The sound was muddy and lifeless. They were uncomfortable in my ear canal. And while some people like the isolation from ambient sound, as I thought I would, I hated it. It magnified the sounds of my own body (breathing, chewing) and kept me from hearing train conductors, cars, etc. that are important (if unpleasant) to hear.
Next I bought cheap foam pads from Radio Shack, and they were a big help to the stock headphones from Dell. The bass improved, and the headphones were much more secure in my ears. That was a great $2 investment.
Unfortunately about two weeks ago the left channel began intermittenly dropping out. Apparently I had damaged the stock headphone cord through my habit of keeping the cord plugged in and wrapping it around the DJ when not in use.
In searching Dell, Amazon and other sources for replacements, I still wanted an earbud but not ear canal style, without noise isolation/cancellation, and I wanted to spend less than $30. The stock headphones were about $11 from Dell, and these Sennheisers were only about $13 on Amazon, where I was impressed by several favorable reviews. I ordered two pairs to put me over the $25 minimum for free basic shipping, and they arrived in just 5 days. (Great job, Amazon!)
The Sennheisers reveal what I forgot I was missing. Richness, warmth, little details that subtly appear in different places in the sonic image. They make music. It's the same sort of difference that I've heard when choosing electronic components and speakers for home audio and video systems. At this price, getting that much musicality is truly stunning. Also, the included wind-up case is perfect for preventing the damage I caused to the stock headphones, and it adds to the great value.
There are a few minor disappointments that keep the Sennheisers from rating 5 stars. Compared to the stock Dells, the buds are a little bigger and the cord is a little shorter. These two factors combine to create two downsides: (1) they're more likely to fall out and (2) the bass is just ok (but still significantly better than the stock Dells). You will find these same issues raised by other reviewers, and your tolerance for them is a matter of personal preference. Given the overall musical performance, package and price, I can easily tolerate these shortfalls.
Customer Review: Clean on strings, acoustic instruments, & Classical music.
Summary: 5 Stars
I read several reviews on the MX-500's and thought not to buy them initially. I'm using them with the Sangean DT-210V radio, which a great unit, with great selectivity and PLL tuning. Not to mention it also has a built in speaker that sounds great for "in bed" listening. In any event, I purchased the Sennheisers for the notable name, and am very happy that I did. I will say that without any "bass boost" they tend to be too flat initially, but not at all with acoustical string instruments or Classical music. I think some of the negative reviews previously are due to the fact that so many people now adays think that if your sound doesn't go "boom", that there's something missing. Well there isn't. Many audiophiles will tell you, that in order to properly test any speaker "objectively", that it's best to hear a jazz or string quartet on a quality recording only. This way, their instruments will either sound "natural" or not, and there is no room for "colorization" and the ambiguity in sound created by electronic sounds. Suite yourself, but for $17, these are much cleaner that the stock headphones with the Sangean DT-210V, and also any cheap Sony models. For a good, albeit "unusual" reference recording, I recommend "Book of Roses" by Andreas Vollenweider. He's a harp player from Switzerland, and this album sounds like something out of the Hobbit. But it's chock full of acoustic instruments and very involved natural "sound stages". I've used it as my reference for years. To summarize, if you have a "mature" ear, love natural strings, and classical music. I think you'll be very happy with the MX-500's. Not to mention, that talk radio never sounded so good as well. I say go for it. It's quite a fair shake, and easy to wear for "pillow" listening at night. I also very highly recommend the Sangean DT-210V, as a great "headset" radio, that just happens to have a handy build in speaker, that's clean. P.S. I also have a Drake R-8. Nice to see another "radio head" out here. I'm also into amateur radio, so I speak from a slightly advantaged experience. So.. "humbly" I recommend the MX-500's, yet specifically for the above mentioned listening preferences to be most accurate of my review. Enjoy.
Customer Review: Great for live music, but bass isn't terribly powerful.
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm using the Sennheiser MX-500's exclusively with my new 4G 20GB iPod. I purchased these because I've repeatedly heard that the Apple earbuds were pretty underwhelming. I have not tried the Apple earbuds, and they're still in the anti-static sealed bag.
Before I had these I was using an older pair of Sony MDR-A34 headphones. Those are the buds that enter the ear perpendicular to the side of your head, mounted on a foldable above-the-head band. As a reference, I considered the Sony's to not be so great.
The first thing that you'll notice is that the Sennheiser's give you fantastic detail. With the Sony headphones, I wasn't able to hear as much detail... I also couldn't tell the difference between the AAC files and MP3 files on my iPod. While the MP3 files sound better than before, I can clearly tell that the AAC files are higher quality (yes, they are the same bitrate as MP3).
However, with the increased clarity and detail, I have noticed that the bass isn't great. I can still hear the bass, but it isn't so powerful. This isn't a real problem unless you listen to hip-hop or classical jazz. I listen to a pretty good variety of music, and haven't been bothered by this on a lot of other genres. I particularly like the sound of live music, classic rock, and vocal-intensive music with these earbuds.
I've read a lot of other reviews, and will comment on other features:
- cord length is sufficient but could be longer.
- the volume slider is very small, and very convenient. Another reviewer made the comment that it's a "linear" volume switch. To clarify, the switch slides along a linear axis; it is not a knob or dial, which helps keep the size small. However, the volume is controlled by a logarithmic potentiometer, not a linear potentiometer... This is good, because humans hear on a logarithmic scale. Just a friendly clarification for any other EE's out there who might care.
- the buds seem to fit my ears, but I probably have big ears.... I definitely have a big melon.
- the protective case works well, but isn't a special feature.
At the end of the day, I'm very happy with the ~$16 I spent on these. I highly recommend these to anyone who wants something inexpensive and highly portable.
Customer Review: Best Earbuds For The Price.
Summary: 4 Stars
I recently purchased a Creative Zen Micro 5GB back in September. The Micro came with Creative's standard (crappy) purple-coloured Hi-Fi earbuds. There was this constant hissing sound and almost no bass response.
I thought I will give you all a little background for how I am going to base my review off of. What I am not going to do is compare regular headphones to this earbud. I do not know why anyone would talk about headphones and compare them with earbuds ... Although, I do think that these buds do sound very very good.
Anyway, like the title says, I think these earbuds are the best quality for the price. $10-$15USD for the clarity and bass response is a steal. Now, do not expect to be blown away by the thumping bass like one would be standing next to a sub and jumbo speakers (expensive products is what I am trying to getting at). That is one thing that would be really nice to experience but again, these are tiny earbuds. I should also add that I have my EQ setting setup on my player so the music gets that proper emphasis.
The comfort level of the buds are very high. I can wear these buds for a long time, a couple of hours at a time. Though, like pretty much all buds/headphones, you will eventually have to give your ears a rest after a while.
And for the bad... the cord is kind of short. I could see what others are talking about now that I have tried the buds out. I am 5'8" so I am not a very tall person. The cord is long enough (34") if you have your mp3 player on your waist but if you want to rest your player on a desk/table remember that you only have so much room to manuever before your player goes flying. Other than the cord I cannot think about anything else that is bad.
Bottom line is that these buds work and they work well. They are cheap and function so well. Bass response is like nothing you will get with standard buds that you will get with your mp3 player. Oh, and the volume control is a cool feature but I hardly use it since I always have it set to max.
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And for the curious, music listened/tested to: Queen (rock on), Oasis, Beatles, Bob Marley, Led Zep, Styx, Journey, Foo Fighters, Audioslave, White Stripes, Diana Krall, misc trance & techno ... tons of others.
Customer Review: How Disheartening...
Summary: 2 Stars
After waiting two weeks to receive these earbuds, I was truly excited to look at the proud Senneiser name on the packaging. There was no problem in the length of time that it took to get to me, for I am [overseas] at this point and time, so it will understandably take a bit of time to get it...Thinking of the other reviews that I read concerning various Sennheiser headphones, there were slightly mixed feelings, leaning more towards inevitable pleasantness as opposed to inevitable disappointment...
I read the entirety of the specifications and was very impressed by the full range frequency response (18-25000Hz; full range: 20-20000) and the sensitivity of 119db...
I was expecting an onslaught of musical beauty...
...
I guess that these are headphones that must be broken in. Whereas though my last pair of Sony earbuds sounded wonderful when I first listened to them (And all of my buddies know how much I hate to promote Sony). This is simply not true of the Sennheiser MX500s.
Bass response is not impressive, and I am not one to use "Mega Bass or Super Bass"; I feel as though a good pair of phones whould sound balanced without these artificial mods. Furthermore, there is a sharp roll off below 50Hz for these. I could've sworn that the claim was that these phones went down to 18Hz...
The sensitivity rating is truly over-rated. 119db? Maybe at maximum power handling, but not at any normal volume setting.
One thing that I can say positive about these phones is that for the frequencies that are resonded to, it is flat. There is no design boost to any particular frequency. Voices are realistic and treble is not "tinny"...
These headphones are very accurate, they just don't extend far into the bass nor treble frequencies. Don't be mislead though, it doesn't sound like your are listening to them down a hall or through a horn...
I think that much of my disappointment with these phones is the non-full range sound, the overrated freq resp, and the fact that it might be months before I hear the full potential of these phones...if there is any potential left...
What a letdown for Sennheiser fans...
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Gen