Gizmos | Sennheiser PX 100

Sometime in 2008, I decided to get a decent pair of headphones in order to drown out most of the unbearable music that I was usually subjected to at work. Back then, the place I worked in had an open layout with workstations so close together it was impossible not to see everyone in a single glance. This kind of office layout for me had more than its share of disadvantages, particularly where playing music is concerned.


Almost everyone listens to music at work, usually through headphones, but there are those who like to act as the DJ and blast out nonstop music through blaring speakers. This would be fine if said music was tolerable, but for me it was usually the opposite--I needed relief, and fast!

So I settled on some Sennheiser headphones, particularly the PX 100 model. I thought that it was a great brand, not just because part of my name was in there (heh), but based on my very first pair of Sennheiser earphones that I bought in 2006 to replace the godawful iPod earphones that were packed in the box.

I mainly use earphones when I want to listen to music in bed, and I usually end up falling asleep, which results in most of the earphones getting destroyed or having their cords badly tangled. I'd fallen asleep many times with those Sennheiser earphones, and they're pretty tough--they're still very much alive and working well today, and that's how I got sold on Sennheiser products.

The PX 100 had that cool, retro-looking design to it, and it was the open type of headphone, which I wanted so my ears wouldn't be totally covered and I could still hear some background noise. Best of all, it was really light, and still felt comfortable after hours of use. It also had the added bonus of folding neatly into a smaller shape, along with a nice, hard plastic storage case.

This was probably the most expensive pair of headphones I bought; I think it was close to 3K at the time, but they were so worth it. The sound is freaking incredible, and I was blown away the first time I tried it on. The bass levels were just right, and there was hardly any distortion at all; everything sounds fantastic. I've had headphones from Sony, Philips, and Panasonic, but their sound was nothing compared to the Sennheiser, and this was still their lowest, affordable model, LOL.

Four years later, and my PX 100 is still going strong; I've taken good care of it, making sure to fold it neatly into its case when I'm not using it, and I never use it to bed, heh. The original ear foam pads already wore out after two years, but they're replaceable, and now they're as good as new. Even better, the PX 100 had saved me countless times from crappy music assault, whether it's at work, commuting, or travelling.

The PX 100 is no longer available, which is a crying shame, and Sennheiser replaced it with the PX 100-II. The new version should still be good sound-wise, but this time around the hard storage case was replaced with a soft pouch, which is actually useless if you really want to protect your headphones from getting squished around.