If yesterday’s Sennheiser’s sporty new CX 95 earphones didn’t take your fancy, perhaps a more conventional incarnation will tickle you in the right places. We’re looking today at the CX 500 model — another sound-isolating pair in the CX series. These hover around the £45 mark depending on where you shop, and offer isolation by using silicon earphone tips, as most do.
These ‘phones sit deeper in the ear canal than the CX 95s, and are much more akin to the popular CX 300s. You’re given a whole bunch of differently sized tips to ensure you get the snuggest fit, and thanks to their small shape and unobtrusive design, they’re extremely comfortable. There’s also an in-line volume control.
But sound quality is what we’re really looking for and although they’re definitely an improvement over Sennheiser’s next model down — the CX 400s — they’re noticeably inferior to the CX 95s, which can be found for only marginally more money. True, these are a little more casual and their sound quality is still excellent, but we feel the 95s are even better value for money considering their audio performance.
What you’re getting for your moolah with the CX 500s is a generally balanced sound, with great sound-isolation, excellent mids, good bass but nothing outstanding in the high-end. That’s not to say they’re not clear, but it’s the area that shows they’re a sub-£70 model. This just means they don’t offer as wide a sound as slightly more costly models. That said, they’re ten times better than most earphones you’ll get with your MP3 player and as such are a great upgrade, especially if you’re just starting out in the earphone world.
Our full review will be with you shortly, but the Sennheiser CX 500s are on sale now if you just can’t wait.
Features
- Ideal for use with all MP3, CD, DVD players and portable gaming systems
- Best bass experience and noise attenuation
- High-performance dynamic driver systems for superior, bass-driven stereo sound
- Highest passive attenuation of ambient noise
- Outstanding wearing comfort on the go
- Superior fit in the ear canal due to enhanced ear adapters in different sizes (supplied as standard)
- Extremely small and lightweight
- Volume control integrated into the cable
- Cable clip, cable winder, and carrying pouch for convenient handling and storage
- 2-year warranty
Delivery Includes
- 1 CX 500
- 1 set of enhanced CX ear fit adapters (S/M/L)
- 1 cable clip
- 1 cable winder
- 1 carrying pouch
On the Bench
At 1 kHz, only 0.1% THD+N. There is only a second order harmonic (no third), which gives the phones a smooth midrange.
At 10 kHz, still very low distortion. Again, only a second order harmonic (no third).
IMD is almost non-existent. If there were significant IMD, there would be a mass of small peaks around the base of the 2 kHz peak, appearing like a pyramid.
The THD+N vs. Frequency test shows that even at 10 Hz, distortion is less than 5% at 108 dB (taken from the frequency response curve, shown below). This is superb performance. Secrets is the first consumer A/V publication to publish graphs like this for subwoofers and full range speakers, so you won’t find such data elsewhere on similar products for comparison, unfortunately. Perhaps that will change over time now that we have started doing it, because such graphs are extremely informative.
The frequency response shows why I heard such great bass. These phones are designed to really put it out. If you don’t like that much bass, you can always EQ it down in the MP3 player menu. The point is, it’s there if you want it.
Conclusions
For $129.95 MSRP and less than $90 street price, the Sennheiser CX-500 earphones are an incredible value. Nice clean sound, and deep, deep bass. This is a holiday season gift just waiting to be given.
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