Upgrading the earphones that come with your MP3 player needn't cost the earth. Companies like Sennheiser provide options that'll save you from selling off your grandmother's precious heirlooms to afford a terrific set of 'phones.
Sennheiser's new CX 95s are a stylish addition to the company's sound-isolating range of earphones, and can be picked up for about £55. But has style been put in front of performance?
Strengths
A range of silicon tips help make these snazzy canalphones immediately comfortable. The small metal enclosures are less intrusive than similar metallic models, and sit gently inside the ear without applying any noticeable pressure to the ear. They're light, too; unlike Denon's well-performing, yet substantial metal competitors, the 'phones can be almost forgotten about when fitted properly.
Decent comfort and sound isolation are essential prerequisites for commuter earphones, and we're happy to say that it's not just great comfort on offer here. Get the correct silicon tips in place and external noise is nicely reduced, letting you enjoy music at lower volumes and better protecting your ears. Silicon isn't as effective as foam for blocking out sound, and you'll still hear muffled keyboards and voices, but it's an excellent compromise of non-intrusive comfort and isolation.
The CX 95s offer a very balanced sound quality for their price point, with no single area of the audible spectrum favoured too greatly. Listening to Amy MacDonald's 'A Wish For Something More' showed off the earphones' decent overall tone. Bass wasn't overpowering and mids were punchy. Although highs were more than acceptable, they were just slightly dipping in performance compared to the rest of the spectrum.
The low-frequency bass on Pendulum's new track 'Granite' highlighted the excellent bass capabilities of the CX 95s. For their price point, this performance is doubtlessly pleasing, and their decent sensitivity helps them reach the kind of volumes you'll need if you're looking to melt your mind from the inside out.
Weaknesses
It's hard to pick out any significant downfall for these 'phones, as they're comfy, affordable and capable of a decent performance. Perhaps as we noted above, the high-end could be tweaked to highlight the more crystalline properties of some songs, but this is certainly something that will only annoy someone who has the money to buy something more expensive but chose the CX 95s.
We would love to have seen foam tips offered as an alternative to the provided silicon. Foam would have given even better sound isolation and given more choice to the listener.
Conclusion
For this price, we have no problem recommending these earphones. With good sound isolation, great performance and comfort for even the pickiest ears, the CX 95s stand as an absolute must-hear option.
Denon's C551 earphones also isolate sound but for the extra £15 or so offer an even more impressive sound quality. We suggest hearing both if you're looking to spend within the £55-£70 range.
Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Shannon Doubleday
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User reviews4
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jetronic63 10 November 2011
Good: Balanced sound, good fit, good value
Bad: Thin wires, dull design
Comment: I bought these to replace the CX300s. I found my second pair of CX300s a bit scratchy on high frequencies and I was looking for a more neutral sounding set of buds. These are certainly a step up and are much smoother at the top end whilst retaining detail. Bass is good without being overpowering and overall I find these a very easy listen - I can enjoy the music without the character of the phones getting in the way. The two lengths of lead supplied are handy - the short one works well with my iphone in my top jacket pocket and avoids miles of wire everywhere. My only real grumble is the cord is very thin and tangles in an instant. The design is also a little dull but they are at least unobtrusive and very comfy. Overall am very happy with these and certainly worth the money I paid for them.
redchilli 13 August 2010
Good: Sound Quality
Bad: Poor design, Poor Quality build
Comment: Not the worst Headphones in the world but certainly not the greatest! Only owned these for 6 months and unfortunately there now in the bin. Used these headphone every day on my daily commute and also at work, so roughly 20 hours of usage a week. These come with 2 length of headphone leads, 1 lead is the headphone lead thats just a liitle bit too short, its ok if your sitting with your mp3 player in your hand, but if you put your player in your pocket and want to walk listening to music its too short and the headphones won't reach your ears. At 5'9 i don't consider myself to have a long torso! The second lead is an extension lead which is too long, you end up having loads of cable wrapped around your MP3 player or in your pocket. Also the connections between the cables are terrible, they may be gold plated but the don't fit snuggly. The rubber earbuds on the headphones do fit into your ear nicely but the have a tendancy to fall off. Also the case that comes with them to keep them safe isn't large enough to hold all the cable supplied. I've witnessed someone else with the same problem with these on the train trying to work out how to fit everything in.
So overall I have given these 50% I guess, my main gripes are maybe silly things but they could have been designed much better easily, After 6 months I ended up with a headphone cable that is broken because it gets continueosly wrapped around things and broken headphone buds. My old sony Headphones may not have sounded quite as good but they lasted 2 years and were half the price?
Hope this is useful.
cougarmicrobes 27 April 2009
Good: Sound was great
Bad: Design is flawed, earphones damaged easily.
Comment: Following a warm recommendation from CNET I bought myself a set of CX-95 believing their sound quality vs. price was very appealing and I was right, sadly I didn’t take into account the durability and design. As the summary suggests I really wanted to like these earphones and for 3 months they served me amazingly making my daily commute much more pleasant and bringing out some great sounds in albums I had heard time and time again.
The problems started occurring when the plastic encasing the jack of both the extension lead and the headphones came apart. This meant that every small yank on the cable was potentially fatal as the cables were supported solely by the internal wiring. Considering my cheap Ipod headphones had managed to stay together I was generally disappointed but decided to super glue this together.
A month later the sound was completely reduced. This time the issue was with the earphone part itself. The fact that the cx-95 tangle up quite easily creating unnecessary tension in these vulnerable areas doesn’t help and though I certainly didn’t use them with satin gloves I was at least expecting a degree of wear and tear considering these headphones are supposedly safe for use at a gym.
Very disappointed in these but on the positive side Seinnheiser offer a 2 year warranty on these so hopefully I will receive a refund now.
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