Sennheiser PX 100 Lightweight Collapsible Headphones
by Sennheiser
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sennheiser PX 100 Lightweight Collapsible Headphones
Customer Review: Iss Nice!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, I would like to point out I am listening to music AS i write this with these headphones.
The sound quality on these is amazing. I've used most BOSE headphones, own iPod buds and a pair of Koss PortaPro Headphones with Case. Most new nice headphone sets are going to be nicer than the factory buds given, so disregard those, but compared to any BOSE or the Koss PortaPro these Sennheisers sound just as good (Koss is rated #1 headphone on CNET reviews, BOSE Quitecomfort 3 coming in 3rd). The bass is very well defined as well as the treble and middle ranges. With my bass turned up all the way, treble and middle down, there is no "rattling" or distortion of sound. As other reviews have said, they are a bit "soft" but hey, I want to be able to hear when I'm 80. If you disagree and want to rock out with ear killer sound, I would not recommend these. For any metal, rock, classic, country, jazz, pretty much anything that doesn't scream at you constantly, these headphones will be perfect.
The design of the headphones is ingenious. They fold very nicely and can fit into your shirt/pants pocket very nicely (unless you wear REALLY tight pants, than most anything can't fit in your pocket anyways) of course this is without the case though, which I rarely use. I only use the case if they need to be stored for say a trip or if they're in a larger bag with other stuff with it. Otherwise it does take about 30 - 45 seconds to put up, but without the case I can fold them up in about 5 - 10 seconds, not rushing. Also, They have very nice pads on the inside that make them extremely comfortable to wear, unlike the Koss. I used to have trouble with my hair getting caught where the size adjuster is (where you see the metal band) on other headphones (Koss included) but with these I have yet to run into that problem and I have been using them very often for about a month now. Only thing these things don't have are the noise cancellation, which would be nice, and if you have them on very loud you can still hear them from a couple yards away.
To sum up:
-Pros
Great sound quality
Great bass
Ingenious design
Ultra-Portable
Sturdy
Amazing price! (why pay $200 for the same quality??)
-Cons
No noise cancellation
Loud for public
Case works well, but could have been made smaller (in my opinion)
Overall, great! Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for portable budget headphones with great sound quality.
Customer Review: These phones really stand out!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've owned these headphones for over a year now and I must say that they are superb - easily as good as my larger and more expensive Sennheisers.
I don't typically write reviews but I recently decided to upgrade my Zune phones and decided to compare a pair of Philips SHS8200 (behind-the-neck) and some Sony MDR-21LPs (both in the $15-$20 range). Once I received them, I decided to test them both against my Sennheiser PX100s which are faithfully connected to my PC. It was no surprise when the PX100s won the competition but here are the notes I took during the test:
First, I tested all 3 with an original recording of the Eagle's Hotel California. It has a nice bass guitar line and that ol' familiar 'twangy' guitar at the front plus a nice powerful 'bump...bump' before the vocals kick in. The Sonys had extremely nice highs but the bass line was not very clear and they easily bottomed out (with distortion) on the bump...bump. To my surprise, the Philips were much better and performed fairly well against the PX100s although the PX100s had a much fuller mix of sound and the bass line was much more realistic and well defined.
Secondly, I tested the 3 sets with Evanescence's Bring Me to Life as it has some nice piano, some almost subaural sound effects at the beginning as well as some fat-n-juicy distorted guitar which doesn't sound good in all phones. Needless to say, the tiny Sonys did not handle the distored guitar line very well nor did they know what to do with those strange subaural sound effects. The Philips however did better but the guitar line was still a bit overbearing until I tweaked my EQ a bit. The PX100s handled the subaural bits the best as well as the guitar lines although I still had to tweak the bass down a bit on the EQ.
Lastly, I tested the 3 phones with Madonna's Hung Up for its nice bass line and disco beat. The Sonys performed OK but the bass beat was distorted. Again to my surprise, the Philips and Sennheisers performed very similarly although I still prefer the more well-balanced mix on the PX100s. The Philips still accentuated the treble more than the Sennheisers.
In the end, I was left with a renewed appreciation of the PX100s for their extremely well-balanced and realistic mix of sound. Nothing is really "boosted" or "suppressed" - just a nice accurate representation of the music.
P.S. The PX100s were the most comfortable of the 3 pairs as well but then again, I'm used to wearing them for hours and hours on end as I happily blast through my favorite FPS or watch endless re-runs of Lost on the internet in hopes of finally being able to follow the storyline. ;)
Customer Review: Two and a half years on, still going strong
Summary: 5 Stars
- Very comfortable heaphones: I often wear them for hours on end with zero discomfort (and I'm extremely picky about these things).
- Great sound quality: warm tones, clear highs and abundant bass.
- Sound does leak in and out, which is either good or bad depending on your intended use. They're great if you need to hear what's going on around you, bad if you're trying to block outside noise or prevent others from hearing a bit of your music.
- Durable: I've had mine since October 2003 (two and a half years) and can attest they've proven very sturdy.
I don't think I beat on my equipment, but I don't baby things either. My PX100s get used almost every day, mostly just around the house, plugged into a portable cd or mp3 player stuck in my pocket, cord dangling.... Can't tell you the number of times I've snagged that cord on something and half yanked the 'phones off my head or had the plug come out of my player. Absolutely no problems despite this, no loose connections or shorts or crackles or anything. Guess that's because of the Kevlar in the cord?
- On two occasions I've had issues with a rattling, buzzing sound on deep bass notes, both times it's turned out to be a tiny hair that had worked its way through the foam earpad and into the headphone innards. I pulled the hair(s) out and the problem was solved. Phew!
- Because the earpads were getting grungy (accumulated dead skin - yuck - can't be helped though) I bought replacements from Sennheiser's online store. Ordered on a Thursday & they arrived the following Monday. Nice! Cost less than $7 total, half the price was for shipping. They were very easy to put on.
If it weren't for the grunge issue I wouldn't have bothered since the foam itself was still in great shape. My previous headphones were a pair of cheaper Sony's and their foam wore right through to the plastic underneath.
I absolutely love these headphones. Bought a second pair a couple months after the first as "insurance" so that if disaster struck I wouldn't have to be without them even for a few days (the horror!) while a new pair shipped. That second set has rarely seen the light of day, my originals getting 95% of the use.
Also purchased the mega-expensive Sennheiser HD650s about a year ago, thinking if the PX100s were so great, those must be awesome - and they are (especially if you use them with an amp) - BUT, I still almost always use my itty bitty PX100s. That's how convenient, comfortable and good sounding they are.
Customer Review: Everything great except their low freq lifespan
Summary: 4 Stars
I was extremely impressed with these headphones when I first purchased them. Clear, crisp, open sound, great separation, tight bass, and ultra-light and comfortable. I have both the Sennheiser 280pro and the PX100s. Certainly the 280s sound better, but if you're not doing an A/B comparison, you could listen to the PX100s and have very little complaint - and for longer: 60g vs. 300g! - and for their price point and comfort, I'm not sure you can do any better.
The problem was that mine didn't last at that great sonic level. Within a few months, the low end was sounding "blown" - lower frequencies start to distort at anything much greater than moderate volume (~50% on my iPod Classic, for an example).
Of course it depends on the source, and the EQ - I could go a little louder if I change from "Rock" to "Flat", for example, but that kind of defeats the purpose if I'm listening to Rock... I listen to lots of different music styles, and these phones still sound great on simple acoustic things, piano and guitar for example, especially in a quiet indoor environment where I can keep the volume low, but they're no longer as satisfying on a rocker. I'm not the type to listen to all my music loud, but since they are of open type, if you're on a plane or just in a car, it is not really possible to get the volume loud enough to hear the music clearly before running into the distortion problem.
Keep in mind they didn't start like this - I'm certainly not implying that. And while I'm sure that I've never cranked them up loud enough to damage them *intentionally*, I will admit to the possibility that they accidentally got plugged into a cranked up iPod and got damaged while the volume was turned up; when I play the iPod thru a cassette tape adaptor in the truck, the volume is at full. But if that's the case, even that is a useful datapoint - it apparently IS possible to blow these drivers with only a standard iPod output.
Normally if I'd had a product like this fail on me in a short time, I'd be on Amazon giving it a 1-star rating. On the other hand, the sound of these for $45 was such that I would have given it 5 stars. I'm impressed enough by their performance that I'm willing to give it a 4, weighting it heavily on their sound instead of their lifespan, *AND* to say that I wouldn't rule out buying another pair on the chance that I just got unlucky this time. I wouldn't do that if they cost $100, and I wouldn't consider it if the sound was mediocre, but for 40 bucks, so far I haven't found anthing that sounded better.
Customer Review: Two years of very strong performance
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had the same set of these headphones for two years now. I have used them for probably at least half of those days, have turned the volume way up when I feel like it, and have gotten the cord pinched in the case many times when trying to pull the headphones out of it. Yet despite the amount of use and abuse these headphones have taken from me, they are still in great shape and show no signs at all of physical wear except for some little notches in the cord from when I have pinched it (none of which broke the cord's casing, though). I don't find the headphones to be remotely hard to fold up into the case; I just occasionally somehow get the cord pinched when I open the case. I have experienced no loss of sound in the right channel, as some people have pointed out, and even with my occasional loud volumes, I have also not experienced any distortion in the sound from the strain.
The sound quality in my opinion is fantastic. It is clear and I find it all to be balanced just the way I like it. The headphones can really make you feel like you are right in the middle of everything on the right songs, and I have found myself on many occasions noticing instrumental parts that I had never noticed before. Yet with these headphones on, I could suddenly hear them. Note that they are obviously not noise-canceling headphones, but I also find that I don't have to turn them up very loud to block out background noise.
The only complaint I have about the headphones is that after a while they start to feel a little uncomfortable. I find that after two or three hours sitting at my desk with them on I'll have to take them off for a few minutes just to let my ears relax and adjust again. However, that is reasonable and acceptable.
The bottom line is that for the price these headphones are hard to beat. They have gone up (I think I paid ~$35 with shipping), but for a "cheap" set of headphones, these are remarkably high-quality and recommended.
*EDIT* About two weeks or so after I posted this review, the right channel went out. I can jiggle the cord to make it come back, but these headphones are pretty much finished now. No abuse or anything leading up to it. They simply worked one day, I packed them up, and the next day the right channel was out.