Which headphones/earphones for my mp3 player?

fizzi · 27-10-2008, 4:56 PM

I've been using the Sennheiser CX300s for some time as they are good but I find they are quite fragile also and I'm forever replacing them. Usually the wires get loose in the earplug and then it packs up.

I only use my mp3 player in the gym. Before I buy yet another pair of
CX300s are there any others that sound as good - i.e lots of bass?

As these things don't seem to last long the budget is around £30

Sonic67 · 27-10-2008, 5:08 PM

You're a new member I see. Have you tried posting in here:

Headphones:
Headphones & Headphone Amps - AVForums.com

or here:

MP3 players
Portable Music (MP3, iPod etc.) - AVForums.com

fizzi · 27-10-2008, 5:19 PM

Yep - sorry. I'll repost over there

nheather · 27-10-2008, 6:53 PM

Quote:

You're a new member I see. Have you tried posting in here:

You're quite right of coarse but at the same time it's a bit of a dilemma.

The headphone forum has had just a handful of posts today. It is 'generally' frequequented by headphone affinciados (as you would expect as it is a specialist forum), the trouble with this is that most will think that any headphones under £30 won't be worth listening too so probably won't even comment.

If you were to up your budget to £100 then you would get plenty of advice but that's not much help when you only want to spend £30.

Sometimes I think there is justification posting here where it will be seen everyday by loads of headphone mortals who can suggest what they have\like, the sort of people who I suggest don't visit the headphone forum very much if at all.

Can't help though. I have CX300s. I have a love\hate relationship with them. On the one hand I like their sound but what I don't like is the vibration of the cable rubbing together causing a rustling in the ear.

Cheers,

Nigel

**Steven** · 27-10-2008, 7:24 PM

I have never advised a member with a £30 budget to spend £100, though I would not discourage it

I have Sennheiser PX100 to compliment my Audio-Technica ESW9 and Westone UM2

I have previously owned/sold/thrown away a variety of <£30 ear buds and canalphones

I will continue my answer here as a GC mod can easily move the thread

I have owned the CX300 and also the (all old-ish models now) Sony EX71, Panasonic HJE50 and my brother had the Philips equivalent. The CX300 had the best detail, mids and bass response of the lot. Surprisingly detailed in fact. It had the strongest bass without being quite as boomy as the others. I do think it is the best canalphone there is out there, notwithstanding I would never use one over IEMs now

As for build quality, they all indeed suffer from thin cable syndrome. I actually went through 3 pairs of the Sony before learning my lesson. I would suggest on-head or ear-clip style would be better if canalphone build quality is lacking

edwardtickle · 27-10-2008, 10:16 PM

I have Skullcandy smoking buds which can be picked up for £20ish, they are brilliant, come with different sizes of earpiece and block all outside noise out without having the volume high

Mikelowry · 28-10-2008, 1:30 PM

Im going to give the skullcandy headphones a chance, ive been using the standard headphones that came with my SE K850i and my missus has just got a SE W890i and the headphones are really good, I didnt no that you could get an adaptor to use a normal headphone jack.

**Iccz** · 28-10-2008, 1:39 PM

Skullcandy... all aesthetics no real concern for performance.
Just my view...

Mikelowry · 28-10-2008, 1:48 PM

Well ive already paid for them through ebay now

, cost me 14.99 inc pp. If they are crap I will just get some Sennheiser CX300s from amazon for a similar price!

**Iccz** · 28-10-2008, 1:56 PM

generally for a mp3 player anything will do as long as its cheap and solid, in my experience, anything more than a mp3 player and i start to get fussy and spend a lot more

i'm sure they'll do the job fine for you, i'm just not a fan of skullcandy at all myself. each to their own etc.

fizzi · 28-10-2008, 3:20 PM

I haven't reposted yet over in the other forums mainly 'cos I've been reading many of the similar posts.

Thanks for the replies here though.

I set my budget at only £30 'cos I only want them for use in the gym. My
CX300s never seem to last long and despite my taking care with the wires where the earpieces are one always ends up loose and thus not working.

I'm currently borrowing my OH's Sennheiser HD202s - much to big for gym use but the music sounds superb!

Having trawled thru lots of posts about earphones/headphones I'm none the wiser really - I don't understand most of what they are talking about in terms of techy stuff - I'll probably end up with another pair of CX300s.

edwardtickle · 29-10-2008, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iccz

Skullcandy... all aesthetics no real concern for performance.
Just my view...

Do you have them? I don't really see how people can care about how headphones look lol, but i have found performance to be brilliant, above the standard of other headphones i have tried

**johnscarlet** · 29-10-2008, 11:00 AM

This thread can always be moved to the correct forum . IMHO its not a bad idea to start a thread in GC and then have it moved to where it belongs once it has a few posts in it . Some members may discover a part of the forums they never new existed that way.

Henborg · 29-10-2008, 2:14 PM

got a pair of these use them everyday in work all day, right now even lol

Amazon.co.uk: Used and New: BOSE- In ear headphones

grand job with different size ear pieces and come in a nice case.. being BOSE you have a top brand aswell.

fizzi · 29-10-2008, 3:27 PM

How do they compare soundwise to the CX300s?

I like a good bass sound.

Must admit iI did not even think of Bose as I thought they would be the Rolls Royce of earphones and just as pricey but your suggestion definitely fits within my budget.

Thanks

mattrixdesign2 · 29-10-2008, 3:30 PM

I had the CX300s, I like the fact that they stayed where I put them and they killed any external sounds, but when the cable got knocked they didn't half make a funny noise in my head

, like there was a field mouse burrowing into my head.

They eventually stopped working.

**Iccz** · 29-10-2008, 3:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattrixdesign2

I had the CX300s, I like the fact that they stayed where I put them and they killed any external sounds, but when the cable got knocked they didn't half make a funny noise in my head

, like there was a field mouse burrowing into my head.

They eventually stopped working.

Sennheiser have a bit of a bad reputation for cabling, they sell replacement cables for some headphones... says it all.

fizzi · 30-10-2008, 1:22 PM

Well in the end I did plump for the CX300s again!

I've order the Sennheiser CX300 Eco Ear Canal Headphones Black from Amazon for £15.99 but...

...they come with TWO YEARS warranty!

Considering a pair of CX300s have never lasted me longer than 6 months this will be interesting.

(The eco bit is the packaging it's sent in).

**Iccz** · 30-10-2008, 1:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fizzi

(The eco bit is the packaging it's sent in).

What's so eco about it?
do they wrap it up in leaves?

Mikelowry · 30-10-2008, 1:43 PM

Well ive got the skullcandy's today and though they are a lot better then the standard SE headphones they dont seem to be quite as good with bass as my the headphones that came with the W890i, so I might get the cx300's.

fizzi · 30-10-2008, 1:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iccz

What's so eco about it?
do they wrap it up in leaves?

From the Amazon site...

Packaging made from 78 per cent recycled paper, 100 per cent recyclable, NO plastics, NO glues

**Iccz** · 30-10-2008, 2:01 PM

ahhh i hate the plastics they always use, I can never get into them :|

**johnscarlet** · 30-10-2008, 3:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnscarlet

This thread can always be moved to the correct forum . IMHO its not a bad idea to start a thread in GC and then have it moved to where it belongs once it has a few posts in it . Some members may discover a part of the forums they never new existed that way.

Moved to Headphones and Headphone Amps

john