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General discussion

Help me choose between these earphones

Dec 29, 2010 10:17PM PST

Hi!
I have been on the search for some nice in-ear earphones to replace the original apple earbuds. My price range is about $50. The three earphones I am considering are The Sennheiser CX300-B (http://x.co/LWag), The Klipsch Image S2 (http://x.co/LWam), and The Sony MDR-EX300 (http://x.co/LWao). Keep in mid if you guys have any suggestions feel free to, well, suggest them. What do I listen to? I listen to a lot of rock and a lot of acoustic, Jack Johnson, type music. Also, I will occasionally listen to my guilty pleasure (broadway) and a little bit of hip hop and rap.
Thank You!

Discussion is locked

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bump
Dec 30, 2010 1:09AM PST

bumpity bump bump

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CX-300 experience
Jan 4, 2011 4:22AM PST

It's a decent set for the money. Sonically, it's reasonably accurate and pleasant-sounding in that Sennheiser Way (sound signature) but tight, natural-sounding extended bass is not its forte to my ears, in case your indulgence with hip hop/rap is more significant than just 'a little'. I've heard (and read) that one of its biggest knocks is durability; I didn't use mine very much (switched on up to other sets before I had a chance to wear them out) so I really can't comment on just how bad of a problem this is. There's also the CX-300 II available now as well within your price range; supposedly it "improves" low end performance better than before, though I can't personally attest to that. It DOES suffer from microphonics with mechanical noise transferred through its cable; its asymmetric length cable leads don't really have enough slack to try to loop them over your ear to help mitigate that physical noise transmittance.

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-CX-300-II-Natural-Headphone/dp/B001RNO8ZC/ref=dp_cp_ob_e_title_1

I had the EX300 briefly (at the time a special BIG discount at the local Sony Style b&m), but ultimately I didn't want (or really like) another unequal length cord setup so it went back before I had a chance to really take them out for a test drive. No experience with the S2.

You might want to give these some consideration as well:

http://www.amazon.com/NuForce-NE-6-earphones-NE-7M-without/dp/B002OR6OFW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1294171838&sr=8-3

Not a 'name' brand, but they're (relatively) cheap and they sound pretty darn good. Only caveat is that they feel more than a bit on the flimsy side, but you can probably say that about most brand name IEMs in this price range.

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This is what I like.
Jan 13, 2011 6:39AM PST

Have always found the Sony model MDR-WO8 to be the best. They are so light you don't know you even have them on. For $10 Sony has made one heck of a product.