Jogging: The Sennheiser CX-500 Headphone Review

The Sennheiser CX-500 In-Ear Headphone by Sennheiser

Available at Commercial Electronics, the Sennheiser CX-500 is in our estimation, after one year of use, the perfect headphone for a jog. After one year of active use, it is still close to original condition, both audically and visually.

In fact, it puts our higher priced models by Sennheiser, IE-80 ($499 CDN) IE-800 ($999.00 CDN), to sleep by comparison. Using the iPhone 4 as a base, running the iTunes Music application, with the CX-500 by Sennheiser we feel it is 90% there, to us, sonically.

Price wise, it is equivalent to Jays' a-JAYS Five for IOS and Android, Astrall & Kern's AKR 101 in-ear, and AKG's K375 model, which we prefer personally, aesthetically.

What we like about the Sennheiser CX-500 is that it plays music quite well.

In terms of pure sound, we feel some slight resolution could be added by Sennheiser to the CX in a future version. Likewise, some slight upgrades could easily be added by Apple to allow the iPhone to play DSDx. and more. If so, the sound would be fully there.


That is, sonically to the level of a Mark Levinson Red Rose Music "Live at Red Rose Music" SACD, spinning on a Sony SCD-1 CD player, reading the SACD layer.

This connected by Nordst Heimdall cable to a Bryston BP-26 pre-amplifer, and playing wonderfully, connected by Nordst again to a Bryston 4B-STT2 amplifier, amplifying courageously that glorious musical sound, say, playing surreptitiously through Martin Logan's fantastic as of late Prodigy model, or their glorious "Monolith".

Here's a rundown.


We can not apply our usual sonic benchmark to the CX-500 as this is a review, in-context. We are not recommending the CX-500 as an audiophile recording pleasure-inducing sonic holography unit. In comparison, the Sennheiser IE-80 offers more imagining, and the Sennheiser IE-800, liquidity, and APT detail in particular.

For street use, the CX-500 is fine, as you will not find any in-use problems. However, if you are fashion-concerted, then we can suggest that the AKG K375 is rather more fashion-aware, and the AKG-3003i, if you can afford, is almost as fashion-aware, and perhaps as rugged for in-walk use.

The included volume control slider functions well under a t-shirt, for walking use, and this makes the product much more attractive. We tested it in this manner with an Apple iPod Shuffle, yesterday, and it was completely infallible.

As a jogging headphone, however, we have yet to grab another model that offers the extreme ease of use, and the quite pleasant balance of sound quality that the SennhgeiCX-500 offers.

Should X mark the spot for you, and you won't wish to jog, get yourself to Commercial Electronics (or elsewhere) and ask to audition the Summit X, with the components we mentioned earlier. It has that extra 10%.

Or, should you like to listen to music, and be on the go, grab two pair of Sennheiser's CX-500 in-ear headphones, and you're set.

We like it. Have one, and will get another.

Product: Sennheiser CX-500
Price: $99.00 CDN

Points: 100/100
Value: 100/100
Total: 100/100. ¶




Note:
Only the B&O Beolit 12 offers a similarly fine sonic-balance that will play pop as readily as the Senneheiser CX-500. (At a likewise decent street price, sub $60K).








JP 2014/01/20
www.hifiart.ca
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