I’m a big music lover. I listen to music in my office with a surround sound system, in my car on my Bose speakers and I listen to my iPod when I go to the gym.
So, when I received a press release through BlogCritics.org about reviewing new headphones, I jumped at the opportunity.
Originally, I wanted to review the first product featured in their release, the MX-980. However, when I requested a review copy, I was told that those products weren’t available for review. I was also told that Sennheiser, one of the premier headphone makers, established in 1945 in Germany and now a global brand in 60 countries, introduced 22 lines of new stereo headphones. (Could you imagine introducing so many lines? To someone like me who isn’t a technical person, is there really a difference in the sound quality?)
The spokesperson sent me the new “woman’s” headphones by Sennheiser, the CX281. He said they were designed for people who had smaller ears. I assumed they came in the new funky colors like Apple’s iPod.
I anxiously waited. In the meantime, I purchased an iPod Shuffle for running. I have the iPod Touch but I felt that it was too big to carry during a long run so I decided to buy the shuffle. The shuffle came with a set of headphones but they kept falling out of my ears! They were big and cumbersome and didn’t properly fit in my ear canal.
I complained to my husband about headphones and he did his research and purchased a pair of Sennheiser CX500 for me.
The Sennheiser CX281’s finally came after nearly a month afterof the my request and got to my office before the CX500’s. I opened the package and noticed that the color wasn’t that appealing to me, especially attached to my sky blue shuffle. The CX281’s are a dull maroon color. And frankly, I saw them as a man’s product not a woman’s product. However, they were well made, well constructed. By looking at them you can tell that they are a good pair of headphones. The nice thing is, they come in an attractive pouch so that you can keep them and your shuffle together. It also comes with a dual adapter for sharing purposes.
The sound on the CX281’s offers a well mix of both treble and bass. The headphones have an adjustable volume control and fit comfortably in my ears. I switched the buds to the smaller ones and wasere offered a snugger fit.
In the meantime, my CX500’s arrived at my door. Although these are not specifically designed for women, I immediately got more attracted to the white color then the maroon color. And, interestingly, the CX500’s had a clearer sound. The bass and tremble had a good mix and the headphones also came with a volume control and a small compact little white pouch for both headphones and shuffle. In addition to the three sizes of ear buds, it also came with a cable clip so that the cord doesn’t distract you when you are active. Further, it comes with a small cable winder to keep the cord organized and stored properly.
Both products are sold on Amazon.com. The CX281’s sell for $39.90 (retails for $69.95) and the CX500’s sell for $39.95 (retails for $129.95).
The bottom line, there wasn’t that much of a difference in terms of sound quality and I wonder if the more expensive models are significantly better than the less expensive ones. Since I didn’t get the opportunity to review the MX980’s which retail for $259.95, I guess I’ll never know.
