Sennheiser CXC 700

Cable Connectivity (6.15)

At first glance, the Sennheiser CXC 700s present with some very standard options that are common for headphones that are geared towards the traveler. With the Sennheiser CXC 700s, you get a standard 3.93 ft cable, 1/4^th inch adapter, an airplane adapter, and a standard 1/8^th inch plug. As previously mentioned, there is an in-line remote that is more Sisyphean boulder than boon, but it is necessary for the amount of additional electronics added to the unit itself.

Portability (9.00)

With the added carrying case, your Sennheiser CXC 700s should be able to go comfortably wherever you do. Because in-ears by deign are typically very light, the Sennheiser CXC 700s won’t weigh you down (assuming you’ve clipped your remote on something). If you don’t have a pocket to clip your remote on, however, you will find that your headphones will feel a lot heavier on your ear canals than they should be.

Maintenance (4.00)

Included in the packaging for the Sennheiser CXC 700s is a cleaning tool, and two little foam gate replacements. These in-ears should be easy to maintain, but should the cables break, you’re out of luck. Because the cables are usually the first thing to go (especially when they’re as thin as the ones on the CXC 700), be extremely careful about how you store these, and also how much pressure you put on the solder points of the remote. Because the remote is so heavy, it will be that much easier to destroy your cables.

Other Features (4.25)

Battery

Because the Sennheiser CXC 700s use a system of active noise cancellation, they require a single AAA battery, which is placed underneath the sliding silver battery door. Listeners who have never used headphones with this feature before should know that this is a gigantic pain because even if by some miracle you are able to listen to your music with the noise canceling on for the manufacturer-claimed 16 hours, you will be steadily bleeding money to your battery manufacturer of choice. In addition, the hassle of carrying around batteries with you only to have to stop everything and replace them when you hit that magic mark when the noise canceling doesn’t work anymore can get a little absurd if you’re an avid listener.

Remote & Mic

We’ve been railing pretty hard on the remote for the Sennheiser CXC 700 throughout this entire review, and it’s for good reason. While a remote is all but necessary for active noise cancelers, the one used by the Sennheiser CXC 700 is simply poorly-implemented. Not only does it pose a huge durability concern (high weight to cord thickness), but it also negatively impacts comfort in a big way should the clip ever come loose. By putting all of that extra weight on the frail cord, most of the force of the downward pull will go to your ear canals, which is a big problem.

Volume Control

Also located on the brobdingnagian remote is a volume slider, which is fairly straightforward. You probably won’t mess with this one too much.

Active Noise Cancellation

By pushing the plastic slider around the volume on the remote, you can turn on the active noise cancellation feature on the Sennheiser CXC 700s. Possibly the most interesting variation provided by this unit is the fact that you can change the mode of cancellation to best fit the type of noise you are around. For example, if you’re on an airplane or subway, the most effective mode could be used to cancel out a bit less of the high end frequencies, and more of the low end sounds created by engines and rails.