Sennheiser CX 400 Review
June 5th, 2008

Sennheiser has a reputation for making quality audio equipment, and in the case of their headphones, they are generally accepted to be one of the best, if not the best, in the industry. Instead of examining the technical aspects of the Sennheiser CX 400 in ear noise isolating earphones and comparing them with competing products, this review will attempt to show the benefits over regular iPod headphones (this is an Apple focused website after all) and their predecessors, the Sennheiser CX 300s.

I picked up my Sennheiser CX 400 earphones for NZ$129.99 (US$89.99) online as they don’t appear to be available locally in physical retail stores. Having spend several hundred dollars on an iPod, it is worthwhile to invest in a decent set of earphones. The earphones that come with portable music players are generally not suitable for general use and are often criticised for being of poor quality. Now, I’m not suggesting the earphones that came with your shiny new iPod are so bad that you’ll want to through them in the bin as many reviewers do, because there are far worse products on the market. However, there are also far more suitable products on the market, and therefore I would suggest that you store them in a safe place for future comparison, or give them to a friend.

Most people use their iPod when on public transport. Whether it be a bus, train or a ferry, they are typically noisy. The solution with ear buds (the kind of earphones that come with most portable audio players) is to turn the volume up to block out the noise. However, such practice results in hearing loss and simply isn’t the most effective way block out your surroundings. Enter in ear earphones, which act much like ear plugs and will hopefully stop you from reaching for the volume control every time your bus accelerates as they create a seal in your ear. Of course, you can always take that next step and look at noise canceling headphones or Shure isolation earphones, but that would be taking a step into the high end market which is likely far beyond the budget of most people reading this review (not that I’d mind reviewing a pair if I could get my hands on them).

The first thing you need to know about Sennheiser packaging is that while it looks nice, it won’t be quite as easy to get into as your iPod’s packaging. In fact, it took me nearly two minutes of cutting at the plastic with scissors. Inside you will find the earphones, a cable winder, a clip, an extension cable, a pouch to keep them in and three different sized ear fit adapters (the middle size seem to suit most people fine). Having used Sennheiser CX 300 earphones for around a year I was interested to see how they compared, and whether they are worth the extra $40.

The first thing to note is that the build quality of the CX 400s is slightly improved. The connectors are now gold plated and the cord is now rubber rather than plastic. The actual earpieces are the same, so if you’re currently a CX 300 owner, the fit will be identical. However, there are several important distinctions. Firstly, the CX 400s come with a very short cable. When I say short, I mean short. Much shorter than I would have expected. There are several reasons for this, the prime two being the ability to work with inline remote controls and to provide a shorter cord for arm mounted players. However, for most people the included extension cable will need to be used. This cable is long. In fact, if you read the specifications, it is 1m long. So long, that I have used a twisty tie to bundle it up at one end.

Headphones come with one of two types of cords. Those known as Y cords, which are like your regular iPod earphones, and those known as J cords, in which the cable attached to one earphone is slightly longer, allowing you to sit the cables behind your head rather than having them sit on your chest. I’m personally partial to J cords, which is what the CX 300s have, purely for the convenience factor. This is a personal preference though, and you can use the clip that comes with the CX 400s to hold the Y behind your head to effectively create a J cord like set up. Although such a solution is far from perfect, I still prefer it to having the cords hanging in front of me.

Next is the issue of audio quality. As you move through the CX range up to the CX 500s, the frequency response improves. It was somewhat hard to make a direct comparison between my CX 300s and CX 400s as the drivers in the former were worn out by the time I finished using them, and the left hand one had stopped working entirely. In the interests of a fair review, I located a family member who had just received a brand new pair of CX 300s. In a quite room, you can certainly tell the difference between the two. The sound is somewhat crisper with the CX 400s and, personally, I felt the bass had better depth. However, shift to a situation where I actually use earphones, such as on the bus, and the differences are much harder to depict. If you’re picky about your audio, then this may be a defining point between the two. The CX 400s are better, and if you want the best there really isn’t much debate. The question is really whether such a marginal improvement in sound alone is enough to encourage you to spend your hard earned cash.

Having discussed the various aspects of the CX 400s in relation to their predecessors, which were Sennheisers first attempt at in ear earphones, it makes sense for me to offer a few recommendations. My purchasing advice would come down to personal preference and budget rather than audio quality. Both the CX 300s and CX 400s are a substantial improvement over the regular iPod earphones and both offer great sound. If you prefer J cords, go for the CX 300s and save some money. However, if you prefer Y cords, I’d suggest spending a bit more and upgrading to the CX 500s, if for no other reason other than the fact they have a regular length cord rather than a short cord with a ridiculously long extension cable (the inline volume control might also be an attraction).

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