How to tell the difference between real and fake Sennheiser CX300/500

[kylenyc]

You can get a pair CX-300's now for $30 USD including shipping from newegg.com now that the CX-300 II's (new version) are out. From what I've read, they are virtually identical in sound quality. At that price, why buy fakes? If it's too good to be true...

If you got ripped off, least you can do is get some satisfaction by reporting the fake to Sennheiser.com

@muscular
Totally agree. Everyone should go to the Sennheiser website and find an authorized dealer or buy direct from them. If you compare the prices among their authorized Internet sellers, the prices differ by pennies. IMO it just doesn't make sense that you can find Sennheisers for 75% off the price compared to newegg for example. I even suspect some of the "affiliated" sellers on Amazon.

@rgoldwrx and triplerandy
According to the Sennheiser website, they don't manufacture in Asia. Sennheiser manufacturers in Germany, Ireland, and USA. I wouldn't buy any headphones from Asia. I wish I read about fakes before now. Now I think even the cheap $10 Sony Ericcson cell headphones I recently bought on eBay are fake.

Sound Quality
I subscribe to ConsumerReports.org and the CX-300 received top ratings. Two other headphones tied for top place but cost 2x-3x more. So, CX-300s are tops in SQ even at twice the price. However, they aren't great if you exercise. A CNET reviewer noted (and I totally agree) you can hear ruffling noise when the cord brushes against your body/clothing when jogging. It's quite annoying.

[CrowdAds]

[Satellite_6]

Originally Posted by muscular

To clear misunderstandings of getting a fake, i would request the first post's pictures be taken down.

I'll explain why.

I've long been spectaculating the fakes CX series by sennheiser. And to my observation, these Fakes changes their patterns more and more to look even more like the genuine IEM.

The first post's pictures are totally outdated, i've gotten these fakes and they look halfway real, halfway fake with prices about half of the Recommanded Retail Price(RRP).

My point of taking the first post pictures down is that these fakes changes more and ever often, i'm afraid people who uses the pictures as comparisons to their CXs makes be mislead just because their looks more real.

And believe me, every flaw these fakes makes, when you point it out, they will go all out to recover it. Heck there's even fake IE8s and HD650s in the china market right now.

The only way to secure yours is Genuine is to purchase from Sennheiser's resellers or sennheiser themselves.
And don't fall for the word "Real", in logic terms, everything is real, be it fake or not, the word to use here is genuine.

Hmmm. . . maybe the pair I have are fakes.

I bought them a long time ago and according to the first post they were real. Mine broke a few months ago.

I got them for like $15 on ebay. lol.

They sounded fairly good so I didn't think they were fakes but now I'm not so sure.

The ones I have had plenty of bass and loads of treble. Do the fakes have a easily recognizable sound?

Not that it matters cause their broken! Just intrigued.

[airpirate545]

Are these legit? They seem kinda cheap even if they are from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-CX3...5795995&sr=8-1
What's with the -B?

[Teklord]

I saw those on there today. That is what mine looked like after coming from China dirt cheap. These headphones are old now and that is why the price is so low. Should be legit IMO if from Amazon. Might get some myself, I think these have good sound quality, especially at that price.

[airpirate545]

Might get em too, just hope I'm not duped.

[mbamg]

J&R is currently selling last-gen Sennheiser CX300-B's for $19.99 US on their website.
Here's the link: http://www.jr.com/sennheiser/pe/SEN_CX300_hy_B/

Unfortunately they only ship to the US and Canada. Ground shipping in US is free, while Canadians will have to pay around $6 US for ground shipping. By air would cost around $30 US in either country. In US shipping takes 1 to 2 business days while in Canada shipping takes around 3 to 10 business days.

I suggest you hurry if you want to buy them, because when I ordered mine 3 days ago they were $16.99. The price goes up pretty fast.

Note: They've sold out.

[mbamg]

I found another deal on Sennheiser CX300s on Amazon. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-CX3...9850025&sr=8-1

Are those genuine or fake earphones?

[dfkt]

Since it's a 3rd party seller, I'd be *very* careful.

Thread merged with the ongoing CX fake thread. And, by the way:

[Eldub]

Does anyone know if these are legit? http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...OYZ8O&v=glance
It's from Amazon - but a 3rd party seller. They're the cx300 II version, in the ECO packaging. Is that for real? Or just an easy way for a 3rd party to fake Sennheiser packaging?

Edited to add: Never mind. This seller is NOT listed as an authorized internet seller on the Sennheiser website. I'll pass!

[kolenkooll]

Just be aware that Creative rebrand Sennheiser CX-300 to into ep-630. However, there is a comparison between the two. Do a search on google to find that. I forgot where. Also, according to a Sennheiser representative, the plant that makes the Sennheiser headphone produces other brands of headphones, like creative. So it's no surprise that they look the same. But i doubt they use the same technology, unless sennheiser agrees to share it with creative. On the web, creative is priced lower than the CX-300, i guess that's because creative doesn't have to invest in the technology and just borrow it from sennheiser.

[dfkt]

That's pretty much incorrect what you said. The CX300 and EP-630 are OEM products manufactured by Foster Japan. It's neither a Sennheiser nor a Creative design, an lots of other companies used the same housing too, like AKG for example. It's now discontinued, though. Sennheiser does not manufacture products for other brands, or rebrands their non-OEM/ODM products under another name. Sennheiser always stressed how they use a driver specifically tuned to their specs in the CX300, while other OEM products use different ones - either ones provided by Foster as-is, or ones tuned to their specs.

[Carsten]

i have a question...

i´m going to buy a pair of sennheiser cx500 and have seen them on amazone.de for round about 32 €...(i´m from germany)
and i want to know wheather they are fakes or genuine....

can someone of you give me an advise....???

... you can buy them on amazone.de as well for 60€ in black..
but i want to have them in white....
but if they are fakes i would not buy them...

[Moyt]

I don't mind my fake cx300's for £10 on eBay lol.
Surprisingly they sound ok, just something I can take with me when I'm out cycling or going to the gym without a worry if they break or get stolen.
And when I'm back home in go the EarSonics SM3's

Not that I encourage anyone to go for fakes

[NeedBalanceCtrl]

Originally Posted by Moyt

I don't mind my fake cx300's for £10 on eBay lol.
Surprisingly they sound ok, just something I can take with me when I'm out cycling or going to the gym without a worry if they break or get stolen.
And when I'm back home in go the EarSonics SM3's

That's pretty impressive: your tolerance level. I'd say that many 'audiophiles' who use an 'elite' pair of 'phones such as the SM3s would certainly then not want to use a knock-off Sens cx300. Good for you for being so tolerant.

[rickysio]

Even after using just a FS Atrio, I can't go back to budget models any more.

[Moyt]

Originally Posted by NeedBalanceCtrl

That's pretty impressive: your tolerance level. I'd say that many 'audiophiles' who use an 'elite' pair of 'phones such as the SM3s would certainly then not want to use a knock-off Sens cx300. Good for you for being so tolerant.

Ok ok they sound like s*@!, I only wanted the innocent victims to feel better about the fake 300's.
Lol but really I don't mind my fake 300's at all. I guess when I'm concentrating on the road cycling or in the gym I don't really mind two ways how bad a pair of headphones might sound, so long as they stick in my ears and pump out high volumes of music.

When I'm at home and purely in the mood for music listening then the 300's get chucked aside :P

[edtuckerartist]

Cycling while wearing fake 300's very dangerous indeed, just imagine what would happen if they fell out?

[Teyec]

Hi guys, I'm living in Croatia, and here CX300ii cost over 50€, which is a bit too much for my pocket, and I would like to upgrade my earphones. Is there any shop that you certain they sell non-fakes where I could buy the headphones for not over 50$?

[Teklord]

Hey, I just got another pair off of eBay. They look completely real and pass all exterior checks mentioned on the first page of this thread. Problem is they still sound like fakes. There is no bass at all and they sound nothing like my old Sennheiser CX300s. Suggestions anyone?

It came in sealed, plastic clamshell packaging from Sennheiser. Nothing was funny about the print on the box graphics and it even had all the Sennheiser stickers on it. These look 100% authentic but sound cheap.

[mbamg]

I wouldn't buy from ebay if I were you... since the CX300 is so well known, people actually invest money to make fakes look genuine. I bought one of the last old CX300s off jr.com for about $25 US in total, but since it is a reputable website I'm sure that my set was genuine. It'd be best if you took a photo of the packaging and the IEMs themselves so we can start discerning any differences.

A little off topic but... IMO the CX300s has already been surpassed in sound quality by the many new IEMs offered by emerging OEMs. They're no longer the standard when it comes to affordable quality. As I've spent about an year or so with my CX300s, I've found that the mids and trebles are pretty muddy while the bass is simply bloated and overwhelming. I don't really expect the 400s and 500s to be much better, and if they are, price performance-wise they cannot compete with the new generation. At least in the sub-$100 range I wouldn't even look at the Sennheiser IEMs anymore.

Just my opinion... but I think we should have a stickied thread on why NOT to buy any IEMs of the CX series anymore. They were certainly good for their time, but sacrificing detail for stronger bass no longer cuts it in the current market.