CX300 Headphones - Should I, and best price?

Alexrose1uk

Alexrose1uk

Alexrose1uk

Soldato
Joined
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Milton Keynes
Hi guys,

I've just bought a meizu m6 off the 'bay, and am waiting for it to arrive, and having read the reviews, its meant to have rather decent sound reproduction, especially low end, for a portable mp3 player.

This morning it struck me that the headphones that come with it are probably adequate, but like usual, nothing special, and probably wont give me the sound reproduction that the Meizu deserves.

As I'd be using it for work, I'm going to need in ear headphones, and having been pleased with the several pairs of Sennheiser headsets I've used (several lots of HD280Pro, PC160 and PC130 headsets), I decided to go for the CX300s as I havent really heard any bad things about them, and I've always generally liked the Senn sound for acoustic, rock and metal.

However, at £40 RRP, they're a little pricey for some in ears I'd be using for work, and I'd like to see if I can find them cheaper. I was interesting in buying on the famous auction site, but as I started reading about the large numbers of fake Senn's floating around, I decided I didnt want to take the pot luck lottery, as I didnt want to have to fight to send them back if I got some terrible quality fakes.
I also noticed that the famous south american jungle sounding e-tailor is selling an 'eco' version, which is apparently a collaboration with Senn as they sell a lot of Senn goods, for thier eco range of goods, however given one reviewer reported they were distinctly hissy and had a metallic resonance, Im a little worried that this retailers headphones are also fakes (albeit the other 3 reviews on the black ones were distinctly positive).

Finally I can also get them at my current workplace for £27 inc discount, for the original CX300s in black, where ofc I'd presume the headphones would be genuine, as its a rather large pc retail company.


So, finally getting directly to the question, do people believe I should buy them from work, take a chance on the £15 ones from the famous online retailer, know somewhere else to get them cheaper, or recommend me not to get the CX300s?

Thanks, sorry if that was a little long winded!
 
For the Price the CX300 are great, and unless you're willing to pay somewhat more you're not going to beat them
 
sony ex85's are £34.99 delivered and are much better than the cx300s :) if you are considering spending £27 on some cx300's then don't. get the sonys instead:)
 
Alexrose1uk said:
So go for the £15.99 eco cx300s or Sony ex85s at £34.99, now that's the question :D
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oh well, thats a tough one. roughly speaking, the cx300's are bass heavy, but they arent particularly detailed,the midrange is pretty recessed and the top and can be shrill and 'detached'. the ex85's on the other hand arent quite as bass heavy, but they are far more balanced with a better more detailed presentation all round. if you ask me its well worth it, but it depends on how much you want to spend lol
 
james.miller said:
oh well, thats a tough one. roughly speaking, the cx300's are bass heavy, but they arent particularly detailed,the midrange is pretty recessed and the top and can be shrill and 'detached'. the ex85's on the other hand arent quite as bass heavy, but they are far more balanced with a better more detailed presentation all round. if you ask me its well worth it, but it depends on how much you want to spend lol
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Mmmm yes it's a hard one, I may just strike out for the ex85, as I heard Meizu M6 players are up there with some of the Cowon series for sound quality, and heads up over some of the bigger brand rivals like Apple, and it'd seem a shame to lump them with some unbalanced 'phones. Still, either would be better than the sort of carp that usually gets packaged with players. As they're quite cheap, Im almost tempted to pick up both sets, compare them, decide which I like, and give the loser to my brother cheap for use with his ipod over the cack JVC £9 ones he has right now (which admittedly still sounded better than the ones that came with his Ipod).

You mention that the ex85 arent as bass heavy, but how do they handle bass reproduction, do they noticeably distort at higher bass levels/volumes, or is the bass just less pronounced, but stays noticeably clean? From your comments I'm guessing you may have owned both sets? :)
 
ive had a fiar bit of experience with the cx300's, ex71's ect. i dont own the ex85's but ive heard a pair and they are in essence the same as my ex90's. when i say the cx300's are bass heavy thats not to say the ex85's dont have any - the certainly do. its the way its delivered that sets them apart. the ex85's do it with far more convincingly and they have a much flatter response. comparing the two you could say the cx300's are very thumpy, but it all happens in one area. the ex85's are more 'thump, rumble, burble'. its similar to comparing a cheap sub to a rather more upmarket HT subwoofer. more grip and authority. the cx300's are great for dance music, D&B or anything really that doesnt require amazing timing or detail but they can get lost on softer music, acoustical stuff, vocals ect.


they have no problem with bass. i drove my ex90's from my oknyo amp and there is plenty of bass available. they are cabable of well over 100db across most of the range, anyway.


or is the bass just less pronounced, but stays noticeably clean? From your comments I'm guessing you may have owned both sets?
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more pronounced, but less in your face. it mixes with the mid range much better.

thats enough banging on about the differences i think lol
 
Thanks a lot, you've pretty much persuaded me to spend more monies :p :( If what I've read is correct, the ex85 is the same driver etc as the ex90, just less 'pretty' haha, so should sound identical, just a lot less costly (I'd also heard the ex51/71/81 were pretty poor for the £).

I think what definately pushes me though is your mentioning vocal and acoustic work - though Im mostly into alternate metals, some of the bands I listen to currently are very prominent on the vocal work, and I enjoy the odd acoustic track, not to mention some of the bands I like often add a wide variety of instruments not usually found in metal (Like the new Nightwish track 'Last of the Wilds', which seems to have a fiddle, and woodwind instrument, although possibly synthed), not to mention Im fairly open minded and occasionally dabble across all sorts of genres, from celtic to country (Alan Jackson etc) if the mood takes me, where natural sounding instrument reproduction rather than a bass heavy sound will definately be nicer to listen to :)
 
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james.miller said:
oh well, thats a tough one. roughly speaking, the cx300's are bass heavy, but they arent particularly detailed,the midrange is pretty recessed and the top and can be shrill and 'detached'. the ex85's on the other hand arent quite as bass heavy, but they are far more balanced with a better more detailed presentation all round. if you ask me its well worth it, but it depends on how much you want to spend lol
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Are the EX85s anything like the EX71s I used to have? Because they were very rich in bass, but mid ranges was awful. I have some CX300s and find them much brighter, more balanced and better than my EX71s, but tone is a bit lacking.
 
As I mentioned earlier, from research, the EX85/90 are meant to be far better than EX51/71/81, which use a different driver, so that may account for why the EX71 is considered behind the CX300, but the EX85 ahead.
 
Doohickey said:
Are the EX85s anything like the EX71s I used to have? Because they were very rich in bass, but mid ranges was awful. I have some CX300s and find them much brighter, more balanced and better than my EX71s, but tone is a bit lacking.
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god no. the ex71's are awful lol
 
How do the Shure E2Cs compare to the Sony EX85s? The former can be found for pretty much the same price as the latter....

Looking to get some decent earphones for my birthday (monday, damm it crept up :eek: )
 
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i got my cx300s of the high street just after xmas for £15 (got them in a sale even though they where not meant to lol) to go with my 80gb ipod and i love them to bits best headphones i have for traveling and stuff well worth it, great for blocking out annoying dull noises like the girlfriend or wife lol (its ok she doesnt come on here :p )
 
simonnance said:
How do the Shure E2Cs compare to the Sony EX85s? The former can be found for pretty much the same price as the latter....

Looking to get some decent earphones for my birthday (monday, damm it crept up :eek: )
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I asked about the E2Cs on Headfi and was told sound quality is about as good as a £15 set of headphones so I steered clear.
 
I'm perfectly happy with my £15 CX300s, don't see the point on spending more than double on something that has such a high chance of getting broken / cable caught up in stuff etc.
 
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