Sennheiser PX 100 Consumer Headphones

I'm never quite happy with the headphones I have for portable use. They're either too heavy, don't fit comfortably, or don't sound quite right. I have several different styles - all different brands - but I'm always open to try again. Unfortunately with headphones you don't usually know what you're getting in terms of sound quality and comfort until you've actually bought them and tried them for a while.

For my latest attempt to find the right combination I went back to an old favorite brand: Sennheiser. I've always liked the typical Sennheiser sound since my original set of 414s long ago. They usually have well-balanced sound, tight bass, smooth high end rather than over-crisp (emphasized treble) - but they often don't pay as much attention to aesthetics as other brands. This time I was looking for a set of light portable headphones which would work in a range of situations from travel to working around the house to light athletic activities. I prefer "open" headphones for this application rather than "sealed", since I want to be able to hear outside sounds instead of blocking them. The Sennheiser PX-100s had good reviews and were available at a competitive price locally. I took a look at them in the store, had a quick listen, and decided to get them.

Further listening with a variety of sources and music bears out my initial impressions. Very good sound for the size and weight. The bass is not terribly deep compared to bigger headphones, but it's tight and much better than typical small earbuds and lightweight on-ear style headphones. They seem to have a mild resonance in the bass, very well damped, which gives them a slightly warm sound. Other than that they sound smooth and well-balanced, with a fairly flat frequency response, nothing over-emphasized. The sound seems more open and natural than with my other lightweight headphones - at least until I compare them to my heavyweight electrostats, which admittedly isn't a fair comparison. Oh well, can't expect miracles.

I find that there's absolutely no "listening fatigue" with these headphones (typically caused by distortion in the upper register) - they sound as pleasant after an hour or two of listening as they did at first. My only complaint is that friends who borrow them to listen to a song for a few minutes don't want to give them back.

Power output proved more than adequate with several portable music players, but they aren't as efficient as some in-ear headphones - the volume setting on the music player has to be fairly high.

These headphones have almost no sound isolation. Outside sounds come through loud and clear, almost as if you were not wearing headpones. That's fine with me - that's what I expected and wanted with this style.

They seem reasonably well made. No cheap-looking bits. Nothing garish, just tasteful black and silver. The over-the-head style headband is plastic with an embedded metal strip, and two small soft pads to improve comfort. The earpiece covers are standard dense foam material, and I do wonder how durable that's going to prove. The headphone cord is about 4 feet long, which I consider just right for portable headphones - shorter won't reach my head comfortably from a pocket player, longer just tangles up and gets in the way. The cord is thin and flexible. There's no volume control in the cord. There is a small sliding ring enclosing the Left and Right leads where they separate so you can snug them together if you want. The plug is straight in line with the cord rather than a right-angle, and the barrel is slim enough to fit anywhere.

The PX-100s are designed to fold up compactly. The earpieces swivel 90 degrees to line up with the plane of the headband, and the legs fold together just like a pair of sunglasses. They click into place with detents. There's even a pair of matching slots in the legs to lock them together when closed. Sennheiser provides a custom hard-plastic case to hold the folded headphones and wind up the cord, but I probably wouldn't use it. Why would I pack a light, compact pair of headphones into a case that makes them twice as big and heavy to carry?

One very minor point about the materials: the plastic compound Sennheiser uses smells noticeably for the first few days after you unpack the headphones. Manufacturers should take more care to let the volatiles outgas before packing.

Comfort seems quite good - on my head at least. They're light enough not to notice the weight. The plastic-and-metal headband has a bit of spring to it, and I thought they might fit too tightly for long-term wear when I first tried them on. But they sit comfortably on the ear and it doesn't seem to be a problem. I wouldn't want them any looser for vigorous activity.

There's a 2-year warranty, not that headphones are likely to fail except through abuse. Only the headphones and the plastic case inside the package, but nothing else needed.

Overall I feel they're a good choice, and I hope to use them and enjoy them for a while. My only real concern is that the foam earpiece covers won't be very durable, and they may not be replaceable.

Update: 2 years later, still my favorite headphones! Holding up perfectly in spite of the frequent abuse, and several headphones later I still haven't encountered anything that comes close to the PX-100s in sound quality for the size and money.