Sennheiser PXC 300

Excellent portable headphones with excellent sound - comparable to most expensive on the market. Well recommend Sennheiser PXC 300.

Sound wise I've been pretty satisfied with the PXC 300s over the last year - but a year is all they have lasted. The wires are woefully inadequate for modern life. For the price they cost, these headphones are poor.

The Sennheiser PXC 300 is a good product unfortunately ruined by poor ergonomics.

The Sennheiser PXC 300 headphones are portable noise reduction headphones. They were made to cancel out external noise. Technically they work by producing a counter noise, which is a slight humming when turned on. You can tell when they are not plugged in. Sennheiser call this NoiseGard.

The Noiseguard works by switing on the power supply, this contains 2x AAA batteries, and is a slim part cylindrical holder. There's a handy clip on the back of the battery holder which holds true to a belt or pocket. The headphones do not fully enclose the ear, but then if you wanted the whole ear enclosed you wouldn't buy these. The ear pads are made of a leatherette material and quiet comfy. This all comes packed with a nice pouch in which to put them, and not forgetting a converter jack. The headphones fit squarely over the top of your head so are traditional.

I bought these primarily to blot out the verbal diatribe of my work colleagues. The colleagues never got the hint and I then found the PXC300's don't work this way. In fact I doubt whether there is any noise cancelling headphones on the market which are able to remove the spoken audio.

However, regardless they do mask out other noises. Such as the constant hum from an engine, perhaps car or aeroplane. They work best with those low frequency ranges which can be irritating when you want to put your head back and get some shut eye. Regardless of the spectrum of outside noises, the PXC300 do have a pretty good sound.

Not being an audiophile as such, I Sennheiser are doing a good job of converting me. It is wonderful to listen to music where it is possible to discern the instruments and identify the blending of tracks. I say blending when I mean the overlapping of individual musical instruments. These headphones will help the amateur understand what stereo music is about. I compared them with other cheap headphones I had and there is a very real difference.

The PXC 300'S have barely changed in price since I bought them over a year ago, if this is a mark of quality then for the price you can't go too wrong.

These PXC 300 headphones have amazing sound quality, they are portable and foldable. I bought these for £80 from amazon.co.uk and they were worth every penny. using these on a plane is great. I put the noise cancelling on at the beginning of the journey and when I took them off for a break I was surprised to hear how loud the plane was. These can get quite uncomfortable when you wear them for long periods (couple of hours) and I also realised that when I wear my glasses while the headphones are on, they will hurt the back of my ears.

Overall these headphones are great if you travel or if you're often in a noise place. I would try them on first and test the noise cancelling before you buy as they are quite expensive.

I have tried a famous £300 brand and really in my opinion I can not tell the difference in quality of sound and sound reduction, which works fantastically.. I use these on planes, trains and buses and they are great. They are also smaller than some rivals and very comfortable to wear and dont look too big walking around town with them on.

Worth the pennies if you like your sound to be uninterrupted by tea or coffee!!!

Sennheiser's current top of the range attempt at delivering high quality audio for the traveller or commuter on the move. The headphones themselves arrive in a small zipped carry case which also contains adapters for use at home and on airliners. The main difference in the design of these headphones is the inclusion of a battery powered unit (two AAAs) which Sennheiser claim lowers interference from background noise.

Balancing size/weight/ease of use with good sound quality and the ruggedness required for life on the go is not easy - these headphones offer a blend of features which address some but not all these issues.

The headphones drive unit size and design (approx the same diameter as a table tennis ball) mean that they sit on the ear, rather than in or covering them. The headband is a hinged steel band with pads and uses the inward pressure of pad against ear to provide a fair degree of isolation from outside noise. The hinges allow the 'phones to fold in on themselves for more compact storage, although folding them correctly can prove tricky at first. I have found this design of headphones perfectly comfortable over two to three hours of use. Those more used to the "in-ear" types commonly used for portable listening should endeavour to try before they buy - they are very different in "feel".

So, does the NoiseGuard system which is the main selling point of these headphones actually work? Yes it does, and I think rather well. I have used these headphones whilst flying and on the train but mainly on my daily commute courtesy of London Underground. In all these situations it produces a significant improvement in sound quality and listening pleasure. I have used a similar but non-cancelling pair from the same manufacturer for comparison and the difference is tangible.

Used at home in a quiet room the electronics (housed in a case about the same size as a tube of Smarties) produce a fair degree of "hiss". This can be quite alarming - especially if you happen to be looking at the sales receipt at the same time! But remember, this is not their intended place of use. When combating the very high levels of ambient noise found in 'planes and trains the system makes a big difference. Those of you not wishing to inflict your choice of listening on your fellow travellers will also be pleased to hear that you can listen to your music more clearly at lower volumes. This "feature" is one which may not be readily apparent, but for myself goes a long way to justifying the price premium over standard headphones.

Problems/disadvantages? These are not cheap portable headphones and the daily commute can be low on sympathy to high value items. On the move you have to find a home for the "Smarties" electronics tube. It does have a clip for belt or pocket attachment but I prefer to keep it out of sight. The unit and it's LED lamp are a rather obvious advertisement about the value of your purchase. I keep mine (along with the MP3 player) stored in my bag although this would be easier if the leads between the unit and the headphones were longer. The leads themselves are quite thin and whilst they have survived some rough treatment in the hands of my nephew I do worry for their longevity. The headphones can be used with the NoiseGuard unit switched off, but I find this cuts the higher frequencies to an unacceptable degree and makes the music sound very "dull". So, make sure you always have batteries for them and be prepared to give your headphones the same high level of mechanical sympathy you give your MP3 player. If you don't then maybe these are not for you...

Can I recommend that you buy them? If you are a frequent flyer then yes. They are very good in this environment and work well with the aircraft sound systems. I have even used them on their own with the NoiseGuard unit switched on to help block noise when trying to sleep. High tech cotton wool!

I can also recommend them for commuting use if you are happy to put up with the additional weight and clutter. Classical music lovers and movie watchers should appreciate the greater dynamic range these headphones will provide. They are a great partner to the larger video iPods and Zens

If you are shopping for a minimalist, least hassle setup around your iPod Shuffle then I suggest you look elsewhere. The Sennheiser's case alone will probably swallow four (complete with earphones) with ease.

These are the best headphones I've had. I listen to almost exclusively digital electronic music, and I have never been satisfied with performance from previous headphones. I bought a pair of Sony Noise Cancelling headphones prior to this and I was disappointed, but not with the Sennheiser PXC-300. I never knew just how much ambient noise was around in my office (I work open-plan), and it's incredible when you realise. I am taking a long flight to Australia in a couple of weeks, and now I can look forward to enjoying real sound on the in-flight entertainment for once. Great product!

Sennheiser PXC 300 Review

I'm a designer and often do freelance work based in clients offices. I wanted noise reduction headphones so that I could create my own 'bubble' to concentrate in. My music sounds superb. These are superb headphones for my needs. The noise reduction works a bit with music off but comes into it's own even with a little bit of music. I spent ages reading reviews and specs and comparing. I'm glad I went with these. It was quite amusing this afternoon watching someone use a vacuum that looked like it was switched off.