Sennheiser PX100 Headphones

From recommendations on this site i looked at the Sony MDR range and these Sennheisers.

First, Sound - the PX100's sound quality, ie. dynamics, clarity, base and soundstaging (how much 'space' you can hear between the instruments) are EXCELLENT, and noticabley better then the Sony MDR's....so that sold me.....

Price - i bought mine in Canada and to be honest they are no more expensive over here....so the price, for 30, JUST BUY THEM, great price....

Handling and construction - hmm, the PX100's do feel pretty delicate and i always feel myself handling them with care, i have stopped taking them out mountain biking because of this. It's a real shame. They DO come with a nicely designed hard carry case which you should carry round with you so you can chuck them in your backpack with no worries, but i find myself not taking it out, its hassle and just another thing to carry, so i run the risk of damaging them again :(

Sennheiser customer service - withought doubt, in my experience, excellent. I stepped on the wire of these 'phones and pulled out a small part inside the one of arms. They still could be adjusted but not quite correctly. I rang them up and even though i had bought them 9 months earlier in a different country, had NO recipt or packaging, they still took them back and i am now sitting here with a fresh set on my noggin. Kudos Sennheiser.

All in all, GREAT for sound, let down if you want to use them for anything more rigorous then a trip round town.

4 *'s out of five.

PS if you aren't worried about the best sound quality, take a look at the Sony MDR range...more destrucaproof and probably the only other headphones to compete on sound.


Small and Light with Excellent Sound   November 6, 2004
S. Greig (Guildford, UK)
49 out of 49 found this review helpful

I bought these headphones on the recommendation of a friend to use at home with the computer. Trying my iPod headphones with the computer made me realise that I needed something better than the cheapo Sony ones I was using previously. These are better. A lot.

Sound quality is amazing for something so small (and cheap). The base is nice and deep (without distortion) and the vocals clear and crisp. I also own the Sennheiser MX500 ear buds and I would say that the PX100's are very slightly better - possibly due to the way that the phones cover the whole ear.

For the money you get a plastic carry case but to be honest it is a bit of a fiddle to get the headphones back into it. I use the headphones for the computer so do not need to bother with the storage case.

So why only 4 stars?

1) I personally have found that a mammoth game session can leave my ears hurting. Not from the volume, but from the pressure of the headphones pushing onto my ears. So continuous use may cause some people some discomfort.

2) The output is quite quiet in comparison to other headphones meaning the volume needs to be turned up. If you alternate between PC speakers and the headphones it means you are constantly playing with the volume - plus the headphones do not have a volume slider like some do.

3) These are dubbed as "portable" headphones - yes they are small but for listening to music in whilst out and about, I find the ear bud headphones much more practical and discreet. These headphones are not exactly pocket sized. Obviously this is down to personal preference though!

4) As another reviewer points out, the sound 'leakage' out of the headphones is quite loud - obviously it does not bother the listener but other people in the room/train/bus could find it really annoying.

In summary, excellent sound for headphones this price - slightly better sound than the Sennheiser MX500 and also better than the standard iPod ear buds. Let down slightly by the long term comfort.


Great sound, but it all depends   November 28, 2005
Adam Soliman (Sweden)
44 out of 45 found this review helpful

Positive: the sound quality is astounding, coming from something so small and light; this goes for the entire range - 15Hz to 27 kHz, which in itself is impressive. As the product description says, the sound actually is "warm" and "natural", yet crisp and clean. The bass is really present at both low and high volumes; you can not only hear it clearly, but physically feel the thump (even at a low volume). One thing I've noticed is that some were disappointed when trying the headphones for the first time - well, good ones, like the px100, generally do make poor quality music sound bad - it is often the compression rate of the mp3, or whatever the file format, that makes the music sound bad (poorer headphones generally don't make the same distinction).
Negative: according to Sennheiser, these are great for "travel" and "outdoor activities", well if the outdoors and vehicle of choice are REALLY quiet that is, if they barely make no noise at all. As a daily commuter on public transport, I can not even hear the music some of the time - the sound is almost entirely soaked by the outside environment, certainly by a loud bus, while only the loudest tones of that impressive range persist. This might be good if you want to stay in touch with the rest of the world while still listening to music, but if you want to ENJOY the music and relax from the rest, well, then you're in for a downer.
In conclusion, these ARE good headphones, while at home or on the street, but in a loud environment, certainly one of monotonous noise, some of the music unfortunately vanes, sometimes to oblivion. So it all depends on how you're going to use them.


Great headphones, a little unsure of their neiche though...   October 20, 2005
Mr. P. King (Leamington Spa, UK)
38 out of 40 found this review helpful

I bought these headphones as a replacement for a pair of behind-the-head Ministry of Sound headphones that had served me well but were getting a little moth-eaten. I decided to go for a pair of proper "branded" headphones, in the hope that I would get a better quality of sound, and I wasn't dissapointed.

The sound is very punchy, clear at all levels. They also go up suprisingly loud without distortion. And this is coming from someone who previously bought MOS headphones, so you can guess my tastes are eardrum-shattering (the irony being that the MOS headphones were rather quiet for my liking, but that's another story...).

The only problem is you can't really turn them up loud, as they're open headphones. This means that if you turn your music up loud, the guy next to you on the bus gets a tinny rendition as well. And the girl behind you. And the OAP five rows behind. They leak like the hole in the Titanic.

Half the problem lies in the fact that because they're open, sound is let IN as well as out. So you have to turn them up to get the volume you like, but you can't because you get evil looks from the OAP behind you. I've found myself sitting at the back of the bus (double decker) next to the engine, so it drowns out the leakage. This doesn't exactly give the best acoustic balance however...

So they're not that portable. Which is where my confusion lies - they're great portable headphones in design, with their neat and sturdy (though not, as another reviewer has said, very small) carry case, and a 1 m cord that isn't too long or short. But you can only really use them away from other people. They leak too much sound inwards to be used as DJing headphones, and there are better, fully-over-ear headphones for home use (I have the Philips SBC HP890s for this very purpose) for a tenner or so more.

So why the PX 100s? I suppose if your budget is limited to the (very reasonable) 30, and you don't like completely-over-the-ear headphones, these will be perfect. Otherwise, try the PX 200s, which are pretty much the same design (including carry-case) but closed, and have an impressive lack of leakage.


Thoroughly excellent headphones.   March 6, 2006
Adamski (UK)
30 out of 32 found this review helpful

I bought the PX200 and the PX100 in order to try them both out and return the worst pair. I preferred the look of the PX200 but was intrigued by the excellent reviews on the PX100. Let me just say, the PX200 sound terrible. The bass is extremely quiet, the midrange far too pronounced and the treble harsh. The PX100, however, is everything the other isn't. The bass is absolutely superb - fully extended and punchy, even at very low volume. The midrange and treble are 'warm' and cosy, very detailed yet unfatiguing - I am able to listen for 6 hours+ at a time! If I was able to change anything about the sound I wouldn't, it's perfect. Do yourself a favour, forget the PX200 as they're not just poor, they're terrible. Buy the PX100 and relax because your search for decent headphones will be over!