Sennheiser PXC 450 headphones review

Average user rating

10.0

perfect

Average user rating from 1 user

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Sennheiser PXC 450 noise-cancelling headphones user reviews

November 10, 2007

Posted by: DaveM

"Pricey but worth every penny"

What I like:

Excellent sound quality, good noise cancellation, great build quality.

What I don't like:

Slightly expensive, but good deals can be had if you shop around.

Review:

I bought a pair of the PCX-450s for use at work, as I sit in an open plan office and under a very noisy air-conditioner.

The headphones are very comfortable - when I first put them on, I noticed that they had the effect of cutting high-frequency background noise while allowing lower frequency sounds through (rather like holding a shell to your ear) - however, when the noise guard was enabled, the background sound was instantly cut to a very low level (although still there - it's not quite magic).

They sound fantastic (I use them with a iRiver Clix player) even at low volume (which is possible as they cut out so much background noise).

The build quality is very good - the headband is made of metal, and it is padded with quality materials - they look rugged and certainly don't look cheap.

The 'talk through' function is worth a special mention - it is enabled by pressing a button and it instantly cuts out the music (or mutes it to a user-selectable level) and relays the sound from outside the headphones, allowing you to have a discussion without removing the phones. This is obviously pretty useful if you're using them at work for example.

As the CNet review mentions, they can be switched to a 'bypass' mode if the battery is flat. I have tried this and I can see why it is not automatic - they are -much- louder when driven in bypass mode, so it looks as if Sennheiser have designed them so you can only switch them over when you aren't wearing them, which seems very sensible.

In summary, these headphones are fantastic - I love them, I love the way they sound and would recommend them to anybody who listens to music in a noisy environment.