Two days ago I ordered a pair of these earbuds from Headroom (www.headphone.com), and they arrived this morning. I was listening to them since, comparing them to two of my sub-$30 Sony earbuds (MDR-E828LP and MDR-E848LP). How does the Sennheiser stack up to those Sonys?

To put it kindly, the MX 500's are way better than the Sony earbuds that I used as references (well, the Sony MDR-E888LP is slightly better overall than these Sennheiser earbuds, but costs more than four times as much) - though my first impressions of them had indicated that they would be as mediocre as other inexpensive earbuds. Unlike the Sonys - with their boomy, bloated, overpowering bass response that tends to squash all the details in the lower portion of the midrange - the Sennheiser MX 500's are basically well balanced in the sound. This means that the MX 500's produce some low bass output combined with their clear midrange and treble. If there is one weakness about the sound from the MX 500's, it's their slightly thin-sounding mid-bass - but only rap and dance music listeners should worry about that.

The all-hard-plastic construction of the MX 500's contributes to their light weight - and mediocre wearing comfort at the same time. Unless I put foam pads on them, my ears sometimes hurt after an hour and a half of wearing them - probably due to the MX 500's relatively large and thick driver housings. The foam pads do muffle the sound from the MX 500's, but far less so than they do from the Sonys.

The MX 500's have a short 3-foot-long Y-cord that is terminated with a 3.5 mm nickel-plated plug. (Since earbuds like these are intended strictly for portable use, no large plug adapter is included - you'll have to buy one separately.) A volume control is part of the cord, but though the one on my sample doesn't have any problems yet, "scratching" noises may develop with use and age. Blame that problem on crappy quality control on that particular component. The earbuds are stored in a wind-up case that works better than the one on most Sony earbuds.

Recommended: Yes