Sennheiser CX 300S Review

Reviewing Sennheiser earphones is so frequen’ boring. Before I even listen to a pair, I know they’re going to sound decent, and that I’ll have little to complain about. Maybe they’re not always brimming with personality, but they always have skill. Such is the case with the new $50 CX 300S. And those who are familiar with Sennheiser’s in-ear headphones should find no surprises here. Let’s talk about why the CX 300S checks all the boxes in this Sennheiser CX 300S Review.

Sennheiser CX 300S Review

IN the BOX

FIT

Sennheiser’s no frills design works like a charm in this department. The CX 300S is easy to pop in your ears, and the sound isolation is great.  The ergonomic construction of the earbuds provides a perfect seal. And even if you have weirdly shaped ears, the various sized ear tips included in the package should give you the fit you’re looking for.

DESIGN

Sennheiser has taken its no nonsense approach to the max here. Aesthetically, these buds are nothing to write home about. Holding the white colored model in my hand, the plastic looks cheap and susceptible to discoloration. But hey, this isn’t a beauty contest.  And apart from looks, the build quality seems kosher. The termination is pretty well insulated, while the cable is relatively thick and flat-shaped, keeping tangles to a minimum. Anyway, with a solid two-year warranty, I’d let Sennheiser worry about longevity.

The cable comes with a mic and remote that allows you to play/pause, skip and answer calls. Call clarity is great, and the microphone avoids picking up too much ambient sound.

SOUND

Overall Impressions: Bountiful lows, good detail for the price, versatile sound signature.

Lows

With these buds, a lot of the flavor comes from the low frequencies. We’ve got a muscular, rich bass that gives ample impact to pop songs and tons of warmth to rock tracks. And listening to hip-hop, the sub frequencies come out to play as well. At the same time, I didn’t find the low-end overwhelming. However, if you’re really bass-phobic, you might want to find a brighter sound signature. In terms of clarity, the CX 300S shows nice detail for earphones in this price range. And even though acoustic instruments in this range sound super fat, the timbre still retains a natural tone.

Mids

The CX 300S presents a relatively present midrange. The upper mids are slightly pronounced, while the low-mids are a bit scooped out, getting a lot of their drive from the bass frequencies. Though vocals sit a touch forward, you’ll still get a sweeping, full-bodied chorus when listening to big rock and pop-rock tunes. At the same time, these buds convey great separation and transparency for this price point. Acoustic guitars sounded clean and precise, while cellos had substantive texture and resolve. Indeed, these buds work well for pretty much every genre.

Highs

Again, strings in this range convey sufficient nuance to make classical music fans happy. And returning to pop, you’ll hear crispy percussion instruments giving plenty of snap to the track. At the same time, the CX 300S avoids getting too bright, and you’ll experience minimal sharpness even when listening to instruments in the highest registers. So, folks with ears that are sensitive to high frequencies should find these earphones easy on the ears.

Soundstage

The CX 300S presents a fairly spacious soundstage. Though you can’t call the sound experience holographic, there is some depth there. And imaging is precise enough to hear degrees of width with respect to instrument placement.

SUMMARY

Should we be shocked that for 50 bucks Sennheiser delivers a versatile and fatigue-free sound signature with plenty of detail? Nope. The CX 300S is not as beautifully balanced or charismatic as some of Sennheiser’s more famous, higher priced IEMs, like the HD 1. But it certainly gets the job done with flying colors. What a drag.

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Gabby Bloch

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