Sennheiser CX300 vs JBuds j2

[murphyslabrat]

The JBuds have a higher MSRP than the typically overpriced Sennheisers, but I am a huge sennheiser fan.

Which would be a better deal? $16 vs $13, so not a huge deal of difference.

 

[Ika]

I've been wondering this too ever since Amazon's price on jbuds dropped to $13/14. From what I can tell, it's basically 50/50 on head-fi - half the people seem to think they're better, the other half thinks the CX300 is far superior. I ordered a pair a couple hours ago, so I can provide a quick review when they get here on Wednesday (after burn-in, so I guess Thursday).

 

[Ika]

I got my jbuds in the mail this afternoon (Prime for overnight delivery... I was shocked). The very first thing I noticed about the jbuds is that they seem a little "cheaper" compared to my EP630s. The design is pretty nice, but it's a little over-plasticky and rough around the edges (literally and figuratively). When I tried to put them in my ears, I noticed something else - where is the seal? Either the jbuds don't interface well with my ears, or the tips that are provided with these things suck. Either way, as you can expect, these buds didn't sound very good at all at first. I'm gonna run them for a few days to burn-in (Head-Fi says they sound much better after ~50 hours), and see if my EP630 tips fit on these things. The bright side of all this is, I dug up my JVC Marshmallows and turns out they sound a lot better than I remembered gonna have to give them a shot too later.

 

[murphyslabrat]

So, I figured I would go with what I knew (Sennheiser), and the CX-300's are pretty decent so far. I only gave them a 10-hour period for burn in, and then used them overnight (My room-mates are pretty loud) at low volumes, and the sound is still changing from then. But, so far, there's nothing I don't like. I think my PMX-100's are better for running, due to the microphonics thing, and that they stay on your ears easier, but I think the CX-300's are clearer and more detailed. This could just be that some of the details I'm now hearing fit into the PMX-100's high-end valleys.

I also have the creative Aurvana Zen iem's (absolute junk for any more than $20), and the CX-300's don't have the same vacuum seal, but they still seem to both stay in better and give much better bass. The highs on the CX-300 aren't as rolled off as the Zen's, either. The Zen's sound clearer, but that is probably just due to their heavy mid-section.

Oh, and I Love the bass on the CX-300 (not the tempation to penetration kind, though; I love the sig), it's nice and tight, but with good presence. I think I might lose some of it's control as it continues to burn in (that's what happened with my Creative Fatal1ty headset, it sounded perfect out of the box, but turned crappy in less than 20 hours of use.