I bought these headphones as a replacement for my ipod headphones which had passed on to the great walkman in the sky. Sennheiser have a great reputation for quality and after reading a few positive reviews online I went ahead.
These were my first ear canal headphones and it certainly took a fair bit of getting used to. When I first tried them out, I didn't get them sealed in correctly and the sound was weak and tinny. With some perseverance though I jiggled them into place and I knew immediately when I got it right. Suddenly the outside world goes very dull, almost like putting your head underwater (there is a trick to getting them in correctly. Hold the headphone in position pointing the base of the headphone directly ahead of you. Then simply push it gently in whilst rotating it downwards.) Once they were in I was very conscious that I could head myself breathing which is very disconcerting until you get used to it. Also you can hear things like your own footsteps and the cable knocking against objects.
As soon as you turn on the music though, all these sounds disappear. For the amount of money spent, these headphones offer fantastic levels of sound with great bass and treble considering the size. The big bonus with ear canal headphones is that they block out all those everyday noises around you. I commute through London every day and it is really nice to have earphones that can block out the sounds of the train bouncing along and the annoying kid playing music from a mobile phone. The best thing is that I can block all this out without the need to have my own music turned up to annoying levels.
My biggest gripe with these headphones is the wire, and for two reasons. Firstly it is spilt so that the left headphone is on a far shorter cable than the right. I know many headphones have the same thing, but I have never really seen the point and find it mildly annoying.
The main problem though is the wire is made from a very springy material. Rather than just hanging down from the ear, the longer right-hand side headphone cable arcs out in front of my face, knocking against me as I walk. This wouldn't be such a problem if it were not for the split cable, but this split makes it very hard to keep the longer side taunt enough not to have this problem.
To anyone thinking of buying these, I would say that they are a great buy for the money. The annoyances are far outweighed by the sound quality and comfort. You haven't heard your ipod properly until you replace those very average bundled apple headphones.
I have been using mine daily for over a year now and they are still absolutely fine. There is a tiny split in the wire casing probably due to my winding the wire around my ipod about 20 times a day - But I am very tough on headphones and most others I have used in the past would have been in the bin by now. I can say from experience these are very hard-wearing.
To Sennheiser I would say great sound, but manufacture the next generation with a better cable and you with have full marks from me.
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- Powerful, bass-driven stereo sound - Perfect fit in the ear canal due to ear adapters ... more
in different sizes (included in the delivery) - Excellent attenuation of ambient noise - Extremely small and lightweight - Ideal for use with all MP3, C...
Postage & Packaging: £4.39 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Excellent sound quality, comfort and value for money Disadvantages: Some people may think they are overpriced for earphones but they are well worth it.
Jul 24th, 2008
very helpful by (100%):
