Sennheiser shows off five pairs of sports headphones

sennheiser-mx-85.jpg

Sennheiser, a company with a long heritage in headphone design, has just unveiled five new pairs of headphones that come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and prices. Only one pair – the high-end CX 380 Sport II’s – are noise-isolating, presumably because you often need to hear the outside world, too, when you’re indulging in exercise.

Starting with the low-end, let’s begin at the MX 80s. These are fairly standard earbuds, with a little bit of extra bass and a waterproof and ‘sweatproof’ (eww) design. They’re also pretty tough, and should be able to take a bit of knocking about. £25.

Then there’s the MX 85s which are very similar to the MX 80s but have a ‘twist-to-fit’ system that should keep the buds in your ear a little more effectively if you’re waving your head about wildly, as one is wont to do while ‘sporting’. They cost £35. A tenner for a fit mechanism?

Moving up the range further, there’s the OMX 80s, which are again pretty much the same phones, but with earhooks on them, providing a slightly different way of keeping them on your head. They come with a ‘reflective rear stripe’ too, so you don’t get run over in the dark. Also £35.

Refusing to quit with the different ways of keeping headphones attached to your head, Sennheiser’s also got the PMX 80s, which have an ergonomic neckband to hold things in place, and ensure that just as that power chorus comes in, you won’t get your buds rudely yanked out. They also have the aforementioned reflective strip, and cost £35.

Then lastly, at the top of the range, are the CX 380s. These are more like it – silicon sleeves provide a tight fit for the in-ear design, they’re washable, and have a rather more high-performance driver than the cheaper models. They cost more, though – £50.

My thoughts are that the extra price on these compared to standard models might not really be worth the outlay. It’s only a bit of plastic, after all. That said, I don’t do an awful lot of sport, so if you do, then put me right on Twitter at @techdigest.

Sennheiser

Sennheiser CX 300-II in-ear headphones – a "killer upgrade"

senn-cx-300-II.jpg

If you were about to go out and buy a pair of Sennheiser CX-300s, then STOP! Because Sennheiser has just dropped us an email informing us that there’s an upgrade coming this quarter that’ll significantly improve its mid-range earbuds.

The CX 300-IIs feature a completely new drive unit and capsule that goes much louder, with better bass, clarity and dynamics. The cable’s softer, with improved ‘strain relief’ (sounds painful), and it now comes with a carrying pouch. Basically it’s all-round better.

The price has gone up – from £20, which you can now get the 300s for – to £40. It comes with the aforementioned pouch, 1.2m of soft cable action, and three ear adapter sizes. Available in black, white, silver, red (pictured) and pink. Oh, and for a fiver more, you can get a lanyard version, which lets you hang a mobile phone or MP3 player around your neck.

Sennheiser CX 300-II Precision (Black)

Related posts: Bargain of the Week: Decent discounts off Sennheiser headphones | Sennheiser announces “world’s best headphones”- the HD800s

Bargain of the Week: Decent discounts off Sennheiser headphones

sennheiser-20-percent-off.jpg

Welcome to Bargain of the Week, where I’ll take a look around the web for the best tech/gadget bargain I can find, and report back to you.

This week, you can grab a 20% discount on any pair of Sennheiser headphones when you buy an MP3 player from Advanced MP3 Players.

Simply enter the code listenlive at the checkout (and buy both items together in the same transaction) for the saving…

CES 2009: Sennheiser announces "world's best headphones"- the HD800s

sennheiser-hd800.jpg

Sennheiser’s making quite a bold claim here – the world’s best headphones. The HD800s apparently sound better than any other pair of headphones on the planet. I suspect that it might be difficult to prove that one to a jury – surely it’s more than a little subjective?

But let’s not quibble over that – it’s beyond doubt that these are damn good. A brand new “RING” driver, developed specifically for these cans alone, can deliver an amazing 6Hz – 51kHz frequency response. For comparison, your average person on the street can hear about 20Hz to 20kHz. Unless you’re an audiophile, therefore, you’re not going to get much out of these. Sennheiser also claims an amazingly low 0.02% distortion.

Sennheiser launches high-end in-ear phones

sennheiser-ie7-in-ear-earphones.jpg

Sennheiser has announced a new professional line of in-ear earphones, the IE series, offering high quality, accurate sound for a range of budgets (well, except under £120).

The Sennheiser IE 6 are hi-fi earphones with enhanced bass and come in at £119.99. The Sennheiser IE 7 are classic hi-fi earphones with a balanced sound, for £169.99, while the top-of-line IE 8s are aimed at audiophiles and cost £249.99.

All feature high-end, accurate, pro-grade audio and are based on Sennheiser’s in-ear stage monitors, having a single driver to eliminate distortions, strong Kevlar cabling, metal carry cases, and a two year guarantee.

Sennheiser goes all old skool with the FM-only Tangent Duo

tangent-duo-walnut.jpg

Yup – FM. No DAB in sight. This is the Tangent Duo clock radio, which features no digital display, no DAB, no card reader, and no iPod dock. Just a radio and a clock. Sennheiser are marketing this one as “For people who want a radio, not a tech-toy”.

I’ll staunchly defend tech-toys till the last man (or woman) falls, but gosh, this does look nice. I’ll admit that I don’t need an iPod dock, or OLED screen or anything first thing in the morning, but the analogue clock might confuse my poor sleep-addled mind. Still, given that one of the first things I do in the morning is grab my phone and read the news headlines, perhaps a dose of analogue upon waking would get me into gear just as well…