PXC 250s/300s

[maix27]

Hi folks, following on from my last post, I haven't heard anything back from sennheiser, (ie broken pmx200s) so i think i'm going to get a new set (TBH i was going to anyway).

I like the sound (not literally!) of the PMXs, not the 150s, but either the 250s or 300s. There's a few things i'd like to know.

I want this type of headphone (dont like IEM) and i've got about £60-80 to spend, I like sennheiser's sound quality and the bass, will this be improved in the PXC over the PX series?

Also, am I overlooking an even better headphone (doesn't have to be noise canceling, just a closed superaural setup (ie on in pads, not proper cans) by just looking at sennys because i owned them.

Sorry to carry on, but does anyone know anywhere in the south who stocks different types of earphones where i can go and actually listen to them myself?

Cheers in advance for any advice guys!

[Aargh]

I would strongly advise against any headphone in the PXC range as they all have some rather critical design flaws.

Now I have the PXC-150's and have had a few problems with them which would be standard across the range due to design similarities, and then there are some problems that are only going to be localised to the 150/250's as they share the same NoiseGard unit.

Firstly the cable coming from the Noisegard unit (to your DAP) is excessivley long, this might work ok if you are keeping your player in your bag, however if you store it in your pocket you have a lot of extra cable floating around. Now this doesn't seem like too big a deal until you try wrapping it around something and it slightly bends the connectors to the NoiseGard unit and damages the connection creating a lot of static.

There's also the issue of the fact that the NoiseGard unit doesn't actually cancel any sound whatsoever and only works as an amplifier. I have tried it before is a pretty soundless environment and there is just a significant increase in volume.

With regards to the difference between the 150's and 250's the only thing I can see is that with the 250's you get slightly better actual headphones and a different headband. I know this since I complained bitterly to Sennheiser after using the 150's for a while and they (for some reason) decided to give me an individual parts breakdown of the whole PXC range, and the Noise cancelling unit is the same part no. on boththe 150 & 250.

I used to have a pair of the PX200's so I was aware of the brittleness of the connection between the headphones (earpiece) and the headband, this issue is still present on the PXC series.

Basically it seems the difference between the PX series headphones and the PXC series is that on the latter you get an utterly useless Noise Cancellation technology that only serves to make you portable player slightly less portable. And for this you also get to pay a significant price premium.

[maix27]

Cheers for that mate, I went in and tried a pair of 250s and wasn't impressed, I didn't like the headband personally, it didn't keep the phones hard enough against your head. Sennheiser have actually agreed to replace my pmx200s now though, (the neck band ones) but i have to say i'm really missing them, have now tried a few others and havent found any i like more, even those which cost £30 more...

cheers for the imput...