In-Ear Headphones - Sennheiser CX300

This is one of the cheaper products that Sennheiser first developed in this market after companies like Etymotic, Shure, Creative and Ultimate Ears reported some great success with similar types of products. Sennheiser was already one of the greatest names in the classic headphone market, and this product managed to maintain this.

The specifications for the headphones look rock solid for its price range of around $20:

One of the biggest issues with canalphones is that they get deep into your ear canal. This seems a little strange for all of us, while for others it is just irritating. For sure, some time of accommodation is required for any in-ear headphone. Sennheiser tried with the CX300 to create a headphone that is less intrusive by designing it to sit mostly outside of the inner ear.

This method is called shallow insertion (8-9 mm inserted). Its counterpart is deep insertion (9+ mm inserted). Shallow insertion offers more comfort, although it loses some isolation quality when compared to deep insertion.

The ear tips on the market can be of a soft plastic (flanges/sleeves based on silicone or PVC), foam and custom hard acrylic mold. The soft plastic eartips have two sub-versions: universal and size-dependent. The universal ones usually have multiple flanges in order to allow the user to insert them as deeply as needed and create the best experience:

In the case of size-dependent eartips (like those of the CX300), these have a single flange. Inside the package you can find three soft flex sleeves: Small, Middle and Large. It is up to you to select the correct ones.

The ear bud material for the CX300 is soft, thin and rather small. This also increases the sensation of comfort, but decreases the sound isolation, as we will see on the next page. The earpieces that contain the transducers take the shape of a hemisphere. These you can find in three colors: white, gray and black.

Next: Performance >>
 

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