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: As good as they get for that price -- but make sure to "break'em in"
Summary: 5 Stars
I had them shipped to a former student before he came to visit. Initially they sounded dull (especially compared to the Sony earbuds I was using before --- which have brilliant treble) but after about a day's worth of constant playing they "opened up".
PROS:
* as "clean" a tone as you're gonna find for this amount of money, in all ranges (bass, midrange, treble). Generally you can send them a "flat" signal without EQ (which is a must with an iPod Shuffle, as it has no EQ of its own).
* good bass response down to at least 30 Hz (read: down to the lowest note of a 5-string bass guitar) --- but without the artificially "pumped up" bass of so many cheap headphones (which I absolutely cannot stand). First time I actually HEAR all the details of a Geddy Lee (Rush) or John Myung (Dream Theater) bass line without them getting up the fretboard :-)
* can handle pretty much every music genre I threw at them --- from Glenn Gould playing Bach via Diana Krall via Pat Metheny via Tangerine Dream via Rush and Dream Theater to the new Tool album.
* most comfortable headphones I ever owned
* collapses to something I can slip in an odd leftover space of my laptop case or overnight travel bag
CONS:
* folding/storing procedure not as "foolproof" as I'd have liked
* if you're used to earbuds (that drop bass if they're not seated perfectly in your ears) the bass response can be a little overwhelming at first, especially if the recording in question had the bass "pumped up" to begin with. Conversely, these headphones lack the preternaturally brilliant treble of, say, my Sony earbuds or KLH speakers. You may compensate by mild EQing.
* you can forget EVER playing low-bitrate MP3s through them: every encoding flaw will stick out like a sore thumb if you have good enough ears to spend $50 on a pair of headphones :-)
Customer Review: Big Sound in a Small Package
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been a fan of Sennheiser headphones since my days in radio broadcasting. I was always impressed by the crystal clear sound and their handling of volume. Later in life, several years ago, while working in the grungy jungle city of Pucallpa, Peru, I stumbled across a pair of Sennheiser HD433 open headphones. I immediately bought them for monitoring a recording project I was working on and was duly impressed. I have worked those HD433s over the last five years and they have served well and never faltered, even with cheap replacement foam glued in after the original wore out on jungle-sweaty ears.
I recently acquired a new MP3 player, and not being a fan of earbuds I began to search for an alternative. I went straight to Sennheiser and began to read reviews on portable headphone units. I'm not sure if I ever came across a truly negative report on these jewels; something that can't be said for others in the competition. So I ordered a pair and had them shipped to me here in the jungle (still here sweating). I just received the PX-100s in my dusty post office box and hurried to test them. I'm truly impressed by the bigness of the sound: the deep bass response and the crisp highs. I really think they sound better than my old HD433s even though so small. They seem to be of high quality construction which I expect from Sennheiser. My only complaint is in agreement with other reviewers who didn't like the initial difficulty of fitting the folded headphones back into the provided carrying case. But that's forgivable given the excellent sound quality. I recommend the PX-100s as an alternative to painful earbuds and possibly to your larger less portable headphones. They simply sound great.
Now I only hope the foam pads hold up against my hot and sweaty ears. If not, there's always the leftover cheap foam in my desk drawer!
Customer Review: Don't believe the hype? Believe it !!!
Summary: 5 Stars
My third set of cheap headphones bit the dust so I thought I would try these after seeing all the great reviews. So, here's my review:
Comfort: These headphones are right up my ally! Exactly what I like! They are lightweight and small. The ear pieces sit on your ears with an open air speaker design so your ears don't get hot. (very important!) The padding is where it should be but not excessive. If Sennheiser came to me and said, "Tell us what your perfect headset would be like", the PX 100s would be it!
Quality: Very high quality. You can just feel it! Usually, companies don't care about low end products. The attitude is usually, "This product is priced low so who cares if it's made well." (Typical American manufacturing philosophy.) The truth is, if a product is designed right and the manufacturing process is setup and monitored correctly, it shouldn't cost more to make a quality product. Sennheiser has done an outstanding job.
Sound: Obviously, if they didn't sound good, the price, comfort and quality wouldn't make a difference. When I first got these, I wasn't that impressed by the sound. That's to say, I didn't think it lived up to the hype. The bass was how I like it... not too boomy. The sould was OK but I had read reviews where people said they heard things they had never heard before. I used them for a couple of days and got use to the sound. Then, I was listening to a song I had heard a million times and there it was... a musical part I had never heard before. Whoa... Next thing you know, I'm noticing all kinds of stuff I've never heard before. I just listened to The End by the Doors and noticed a very faint vocal part towards the end of the song as the music speeds up. Never noticed it before and I've listened to the song for 30 years. Anyway, believe the hype! These things rock!
Customer Review: Love these things so much!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Hundreds of happy customers can't be wrong, and I'm glad I listened to the reviews when I settled on these headphones. I love my music, and I wanted something a little better than average. I have had these things now since January 2009, and I couldn't love them more than I do in just about every way. The sound is amazing for headphones that look so unassuming...rich, multilayered, beautiful. A slight negative is that they do bleed sound like crazy, especially if you turn up the volume, but I work in a library and often wear one on ear, one slightly off, and the sound bleed is actually a plus for me (I don't crank up the volume at work, and at home it doesn't matter). Next is durability... I'm really impressed with how well these things have held up, considering they have folding parts and whatnot (or maybe that's why they're not broken yet). I'm not gentle on them by any means; they live in my gigantic "mommy bag" with diapers, bottles, books, wallets, keys, the kitchen sink, etc., and I don't even know where the case that you're supposed to keep them in has gone (probably a 3-year-old's toy by now). I just fold them up, wind the cord around them, and chuck 'em in the bag...never a problem. They still look good, work perfectly, and sound great. I cannot recommend these headphones highly enough, and the only problem I've personally found is I can't do the treadmill wearing them because they hug the ears and give me a sore head (I'm sure any over-the-head type would). Another bonus I've found is that most people don't appreciate that these are Sennheisers, and I never have to worry that the students around here are going to steal them if I forget to put them away (they look good, but can be mistaken for $12 headphones). I love these, and I'd definitely recommend them to anyone who wants a decent pair of headphones.Customer Review: Great sound from a portable package
Summary: 5 Stars
I really do like my PX100's. I love headphones and have had quite a few. I have a pair of AKG 340's with electrostatic ribbon tweeters and dynamic woofers squirreled away, but it takes a big heavy amplifier to drive them and a near perfect sound source to appreciate them. On the other hand, my iPod nano 5gApple iPod nano 8 GB Black (5th Generation) NEWEST MODEL, FiiO micro headphone ampFiiO E1 Portable Headphone Amplifier with Y-Cable (Black) and Sennheiser PX's cost less than $200, weigh next to nothing and sound good enough. (By good enough, I mean that there's nothing wrong with them that takes your attention away from the music.) You can float along with the bass lines in a Fatha' Hines jazz track and pick out every harpsichord note in Vivaldi's Four Seasons and recognize different baroque organs in a Bach fugue. What more can you ask, really? One reservation. The PX100's date from a time when "portable" players took individual CD's, weighed at least half a pound and put out quite a lot more current than the latest iPods. My 'phones sounded okay with my iPod mini 2g, but the nano 5g just didn't put out enough current and sound flat and "2 dimensional." Enter the FiiO E1. This incredibly tiny item seems specifically designed for the nano and the PX100's. It puts out enough current to let the headphones reach their true potential. As a bonus, it bypasses the rather wuffly power amp of the nano and substitutes a really high fidelity mini amp which takes full advantage of the splendid preamp in the iPod. Highly recommended if adequate power and a good quality sound source are available.