Audio Bluetooth Headsets Reviews

Testing Sennheiser CX 350BT and CX 150BT – Minimalist In-Ears with Acceptable Sound

With the measurement of in-ears in the laboratory, I still struggle at the moment, because without adapted equipment, something like this quickly becomes a farce. I have to rely on my (critical) hearing at the moment, but I will avoid the usual verbal clouds as much as possible. What made me reasonably satisfied was the sensitivity and level strength. So there are certainly reserves for the next demo. So let's now move seamlessly to the subjective assessment of things and leave the measurement curves simply to the left. The assessment is based on the use without an app, so simply out-of-the-box.

 

Bass

Test the lowest bass in the subcontraoctave (16.4 Hz to 32.7 Hz) with a recording of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor (19 and 25 Hz) and the Festival Overture 1812 by Tchaikovsky (10 Hz and 12.5 Hz). The same applies to the lower ranges of the contraoctothe (32.7 to 65.4 Hz). The big bass drum (kick drum), which in the U-music is a welcome companion and usually on approx. 55 to 60 Hz, this assessment will then be rounded off.

The bass is good, deep and yet not too fat. The bass is still neatly perceptible and even the subcontraoctave is allowed to play along (albeit more restrainedly). If you want a lot more pressure here, you would have to help electronically, but then you lose level strength and, above all, contour. Something more is always possible, but you must never overdo it. It doesn't really get deeper, it just gets much louder to the point of rumbling.

The upper bass up to 150 Hz, in which also the Great Octave (65.4 to 130.8 Hz) is located, houses the basic language frequency of the male voice and decides very strongly on the true-to-life reproduction of male vocals.

This area sounds quite balanced and also natural. The male vocals are reproduced well, relatively warm but not too concisely. Moreover, the instruments are hardly distorted, but weaken somewhat in the absolute presence. Overall, the resolution is good and makes orchestral pieces, rock, pop and jazz of all stripes perform quite well. It is important to use the right earplugs and to close them really cleanly, otherwise there are acoustic matschepampe, which of course also applies in general to the bass and the tonal upper house.

Frequency range

The lower middles (also basic tone range) are approx. 150 to 400 Hz. Together with the already mentioned upper bass, this area plays a very important role for the subjectively perceived heat or bass. Fullness of the sound. The basic language frequency of female voices can be found in this area.

Again, there is no reason to criticize, nothing is scrambled and dumped, on the contrary, everything remains quite well modelled. Female vocals also get to the point and the timbre of the recorded instruments is also rather warm and never cold or even analytical. The further upward trend is also free of criticism. However, the precision is only average and makes the system a good all-rounder in all musical situations.

The upper mids between 400 Hz and about two KHz contain a mark at a KHz, which is still considered a reference for many measurements. Unfortunately, this is often noticeable with cheaper devices, as manufacturers often try to overemphasize this frequency. This area does not play an insignificant role in gaming either, and balanced playback contributes significantly to good spatial resolution.

The stage and the subjectively perceived quality of the spatial resolution are at a high, if not at the highest level, which is certainly due to the price and execution. An orchestra still seems (purely subjectively) still positioned far enough and it is still possible to locate individual instruments at different overall levels with some clarity and clarity. Speech playback is also not lost in this area, no matter how many sources are mixed.

High-pitched range

Between two and about 3.5 KHz, human hearing is most sensitive, especially since this area of the lower heights is responsible for the good overtone reproduction of the human voice. This frequency range is crucial for the recognition of a voice or instrument; in this context, one also speaks of the respective timbre.

The playback is also free of greater criticism in this area and the speech intelligibility and quality of the vocals are acceptable. However, there is a lack of contour and differentiation here, which significantly limits the very large playing. The bidding is not bad in itself, but it is not really top class either.

The middle heights (3.5 to six KHz) decide on the sound or failure of the speech reproduction as a whole, because the S- and hissing (Sibilants) fall into this range. The upper heights then reach up to approx. ten KHz to move into the super high tone.

High and super high tone are good, even if it applies a bit thick and rustles slightly. Sibilants and breathing sounds are still well depicted, but not overemphasized. It also never sounds pointed or somehow metallic, but quite natural.  String instruments are not audibly falsified and rather filigree strings are not degraded to recorders. Even a drum remains one, right down to the softly painted jazz bhisl.

Summary and conclusion

True Wireless is not offered, but this can also be hurt due to the drivers. Because it is not hi-fi headphones, but rather mobile neck squirrels, which help you to shorten the time, if you have to spend a little more time in your own home and still not in the favourite armchair wants to hide. You are easily accessible and for the home office and the muck in between, all this is perfectly enough.

You can do without AptX, because it will probably be more important to have the stability of the battery. Which brings me to the conclusion. They are rather minimalistic fun headphones, with which you can at least make quite good calls. Despite the features, the CX 350BT is a very good average for the targeted price. Here you can actually give yourself the 30 Euro surcharge for the AptX and immediately reach for the smaller product, which is actually also the more honest product. Sure, you still pay for the brand here, but the basics have to be right. If so, I would use the much cheaper CX 150BT, which can do justice to the road price and therefore get the recommendation.

The only real criticism, however, goes in the direction of the gradation of all ear pad sizes, because you simply find too big jumps in the middle. And a badly fitting plug not only annoys, but also affects the sound. So it is unlucky for Sennheiser that I fell into the black hole of the sizes as a tester, but you should stick to the truth. A better middle size would really help, even if my wife was fully satisfied as a second tester.

 So you can recommend these in-ears, but they are not real bargains, especially the CX 350BT.

 

Sennheiser CX 350BT schwarz (508382)

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About the author

Igor Wallossek

Editor-in-chief and name-giver of igor'sLAB as the content successor of Tom's Hardware Germany, whose license was returned in June 2019 in order to better meet the qualitative demands of web content and challenges of new media such as YouTube with its own channel.

Computer nerd since 1983, audio freak since 1979 and pretty much open to anything with a plug or battery for over 50 years.

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