Sennheiser IE 300 review: the special in-ear headphones

In-ears like the Sennheiser IE 300, which rely on a cable for the connection, are not often found these days. You can read here why they were able to convince me.

True wireless headphones are all the rage these days. The reasons for this are the ease of use, the sound, which is often pretty good for little money, and the lack of a cable that could get tangled. However, this product group also has some disadvantages. Bluetooth headphones have a limited battery life and latency when transmitting the audio signal. In addition, the sound quality can simply never be as good as with a cable connection.

And it is precisely with these three points that Sennheiser wants to tackle with the IE 300. With these wired in-ear headphones, Sennheiser promises an outstanding music experience on the go. Can the promise be kept? Let's take a closer look at that!

Unboxing

The packaging of the Sennheiser IE 300 looks a little different compared to other models. The blue accents, the Sennheiser logo, the product image and the product name remain, only the empty areas are now black instead of white. In the packaging you will find everything you need for use. This includes the buds themselves, the connection cable to which the buds are attached, a small storage case for on the go and ear adapters of different sizes. There are six in total, three of which are made of silicone and three of which are made of memory foam. You should definitely take the time to try out all the attachments with a song of your choice.probeer This can improve sound, provide a better seal, and increase in-ear comfort.

This is in the packaging. (Image: TechnikNews)

Otherwise, no further setup steps are required. You just have to connect the jack plug to a smartphone, laptop or tablet and start the music. With the Sennheiser app, which you can get from the CX 400BT TW or MOMENTUM TrueWireless 2 knows, the IE 300 are also not compatible.

Design and workmanship

The Sennheiser IE 300 definitely stands out from the crowd with their design. They have a slightly different headband design than comparable products and look quite similar to monitoring in-ears that you see at concerts. The color variant that you see in my product photos is the only one that Sennheiser offers. There is no white version.

The earplugs are made of plastic, which is by no means inferior to the touch. These are connected to the cable via an MMCX connector. As one or the other suspects, the plugs can also be removed. In principle, this does not bring any advantages at first, but you can optionally buy other cables from other manufacturers.

As already indicated, the connection to a playback device is made using a 3,5 millimeter jack plug. In the age of true wireless in-ear headphones, this may seem unusual, but the direct connection has some decisive advantages in terms of sound technology.

The cable is para-amide reinforced, but what does that actually mean? It was processed with its own process, so that it is a lot more resilient than a regular cable. A nice side effect is that it also feels very good in the hand. The length of amounts to 125 centimeters, which should be sufficient in any case.

In terms of processing, I have nothing to complain about. Everything looks very stable, nothing wobbles or creaks at all. So I never had the feeling that I could break anything with everyday use.

And what else is there to say about the design? The IE 300 are not protected against the ingress of dust or water. Because you don't train with it anyway, where you are most likely to come into contact with one of the two things, this is negligible in my opinion. Halfway along the length of the cable you will find a guide that you can use to shorten it as you wish. There is also the transport cover. I liked this very much because it looks very robust and you don't have to worry if you just throw the Sennheiser IE 300 into your backpack.

comfort

The IE 300 are really very comfortable in the ear. In my case, I didn't even notice the memory foam tips because they're so soft, and the plastic on the earbuds didn't squeeze uncomfortably either. I was able to wear these things in my ear for several hours at a time without any discomfort. As I said, the only important thing is that you invest about five to ten minutes to find the right adapter.

For longer walks or even workouts, I would use other in-ears. The cable is simply a disadvantage and a limitation. As already briefly mentioned, the use in workouts has disadvantages anyway due to the lack of IP certification.

sound quality

Now we come to the most exciting point: How do these in-ear headphones sound? Let's start with the associated technology first.

Sennheiser relies on a 7-millimeter broadband converter. This should provide a sound similar to that in the high-end models from the manufacturer. More precisely, it controls the air flow behind the converter to the outside, which should lead to a balanced sound image. In addition, a membrane film is used to eliminate natural resonance and a resonator chamber to eliminate masking resonances. It's easy to say that fewer resonances result in better highs, mids and lows. Then you built in the MMCX connections that I briefly mentioned earlier. These ensure a stable connection with the cable and good sound transmission. ANC is not part of the party; the sealing of the silicone or memory foam attachments is usually sufficient.

Even though I have only listed the most important technical details, everyone should notice that Sennheiser put some important thought into product development.

And I can say right away that these efforts definitely paid off. Everything sounds extremely good and natural, regardless of what kind of music you listen to or how loud it is. As is typical for Sennheiser, you can hear some details in the music that you wouldn't be able to hear with other in-ear products. In my opinion, the effect is even stronger than with the manufacturer's Bluetooth offering, and the direct connection via cable really helps enormously. For testing purposes, I also listened to some songs more closely:

• Pop: The Therefore I am from Billie Eilish the voice is very clear and the bass very powerful. In addition, you can hear all the background noises typical of the artist, for example laughter or a second voice in the last chorus, without uncomfortably covering the rest of the song.
• Rap: Here I took CLOUDS from NF a little closer under the microscope. It struck me that even the soft tones are very clear and easily recognizable at the beginning. Furthermore, the voice comes into its own. I also found the sound of the voice changing shortly before the first chorus interesting.
• EDM: For this genre I heard myself Unleashed from Rayo again in detail. Basically this is a song with a lot of background tones, they all come out in good measure. Otherwise, the rest of the tones are also clearly audible and the entire song is very balanced.
• Rock'n'Roll: Last but not least, the IE 300 with AC / DC and Thunderstruck review. Here, too, they were able to make a good impression on me. The balance between the bass and the high notes is excellent, again the lows and the highs push each other too strongly at some point.

Overall, the sound convinced me throughout. No matter what genre I was listening to, everything always sounded very satisfactory.

Picture: TechnikNews

Prices and availability

The manufacturer charges 300 euros (RRP) for the Sennheiser IE 299. They are available from the Sennheiser online store and from Amazon.

• Buy the IE 300 from Sennheiser
• Buy IE 300 from Amazon

Sennheiser IE 300: Conclusion

Sennheiser wanted to do one thing really well with these headphones. They wanted to pack premium sound in as compact a format as possible for on the go. That also worked brilliantly. The sound quality is on a very high level, everything is always very clear, balanced and natural. Some may find the lack of ANC or other features a thorn in the side. I think the IE 300 doesn't need that.

My only criticism is the lack of official accessories. I would have been happy if I could buy a DAC with Lightning or USB-C or an alternative cable directly from Sennheiser.

So these headphones are perfect for all people who value premium sound on the go. The cable will still have its raison d'etre for in-ear headphones in 2021.

Thank you for providing the Sennheiser IE 300.

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