Sennheiser CX-300 II Precision

I guess I'm something of a fan

My previous pair of Sennheisers CX-300s lasted me almost three years of heavy daily use, mangling in pockets and travel. I think that’s pretty amazing, especially since it’s also my first pair of headphones not put aside because of snapped wires resulting in patchy output in around one year. They still work, it’s just the rubber that’s worn through in many places, the white parts looking decidedly filthy, and an overall drop in audio quality, attributable to general fatigue in components and crap I can’t clean in the ear pieces, I guess.

It was a no-brainer to go for another pair like it. Successors to the at this point somewhat legendary CX-300s, the CX-300 II Precision is just as good, except a little bit better. The wire’s Y junction is reinforced with hard rubber. The black color should take more heavy use before looking ratty. And that’s about it, really. If the life expectancy is as good as with the previous pair, at 40€, this is going to run me around 1€/month. (If I didn’t live in Finland, I could get them for less than 15€ online.)

I briefly considered a model with better sound insulation, but decided against it. While the insulation is good, I like that loud noise comes through, because for the most part I use my headphones while out and about and potentially in danger in traffic. The insulation is still good enough that it blocks out TV, conversation, commute noise and jet engine hum inside the cabin without high volumes.

Super comfortable, very affordable, great sound, there’s no reason why you wouldn’t upgrade your MP3 player’s or phone’s pack-ins with these, unless you’re after even better audio quality and ready to spend upwards of 60€ for it.