Product Description

Sleek and sporty neckband headphones you can wear practically anywhere. The PMX 80 Sport II will stand up to your toughest workouts whether it's running outdoors in all conditions cranking up the power in a spin class or lifting weights the Sennheiser PMX 80 II headphones will not only stay in your ears but they will continue to work no matter how hard you work out. These rugged stereo neckband headphones feature an ergonomic neckband and vertical transducer system for an optimum fit and comfort. Their sweat- and water-resistant construction also makes them an ideal companion for all music-loving sports enthusiasts. Ergonomic neckband and vertical transducer system ensure best-possible fit Powerful neodymium magnets for balanced detailed sound reproduction Extremely rugged earphones and cable Reflective stripe for extra visibility and safety Sweat- and water-resistant; washable under running water Cable clip included Optimised for MP3 iPod iPhone CD players and portable gaming systems (iPod and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc. registered in the U.S. and other countries) Single-sided cable 2-year warranty The Gadget Show Review (Rating 4/5Gs): The Sennheiser PMX 80 Sport II headphones are built for heavy sports use. They won't survive a scuba diving trip but will brush off any sweat drenched on them while staying stuck to your head without bother thanks to a flexible but robust neckband..

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3795 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Sennheiser
• Model: PMX80
• Released on: 2008-10-16
• Dimensions: 9.00" h x 2.75" w x 6.50" l, .30 pounds

Features

• Ergonomic neckband and vertical transducer system ensure best-possible fit
• Powerful neodymium magnets for balanced detailed sound reproduction
• Extremely rugged earphones and cable
• Reflective stripe for extra visibility and safety
• Sweat- and water-resistant; washable under running water

Manufacturer's Description
The PMX 80 Sport II stands up to your toughest workouts. These rugged stereo neckband headphones feature an ergonomic neckband and vertical transducer system for an optimum fit and comfort. Their sweat- and water-resistant construction also makes them an ideal companion for all music-loving sports enthusiasts

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Ideal for listening to music whilst exercising
Needing to "eat less and move more" is a mantra for the modern age that is particularly true as midlife approaches and the metabolism slows. Moving to music is scientifically proven to improve exercise value by up 20%. Accessing music on the move has never been easier with wonderful MP3 players, iPods and phones providing hours of digital music. The problem is that very few headphones are truly designed with the needs of the exercising public in mind.
Standard "ear bud" headphones tend to fall out with exercise induced sweat and are easily damaged. "In-ear" headphones are far better as they have a passive noise cancelling effect which tends to drown out the sound of the various machines in the gym and allow music to be played at normal volumes. Unfortunately, most in-ear headphones tend to be fairly fragile and only last a few months. Their trailing cables are also at high risk of being caught by moving arms and hands.
The Sennheiser PMX 80 are specifically designed for the "athlete". The behind the neck design works well as it helps the headphones stay stable no matter how much the wearer moves. By keeping the ear pieces out of the ear, they do not accumulate ear wax and allow free drainage of sweat (horrible but a significant problem with in-ear devices). The headphones fit sufficiently close to the ears to block out most ambient sounds but they do not transmit external movement. The speakers are large enough to provide a fairly reasonable bass response.
In addition, the single cable can easily be routed under clothing in a way that avoids risk of being caught. It is also long enough to reach the television when on a treadmill!
So, the only improvement would be to offer it in a range of colours - garish yellow is not to everyone's taste although it does assist with visibility when running in twilight.

Will stay on, but you might find it uncomfortable. Somewhat wooly sound.
Sennheiser touts the "vertical transducer system," which is like boasting about the "horizontal cellulose system" known to most of us as a book. Have you ever heard of headphones that lie flat? No? Sennheiser sems to.

I use these with an iPod Shuffle. These phones will stay in your ears while you're jogging; I'm staking my honor on it. So far, sweat has not been an issue (though I've never damaged earphones with sweat), but I've not yet been able to test them in rain. Whether you find them comfortable is an individual matter. The neckband jams the transducers in the ears and there's no way to regulate the pressure. I had pain in my right ear; it mostly went away after a week, which is to say that part of my ear has probably become desensitized.

The phones have lots of orange-yellow bits on them, and if your're counting on that for visibility, you must be jogging in urban camouflage. There is a reflector strip on the neckband. If you're running in conditions where this is actually useful, you should A) be wearing a proper reflector vest, and B) not be plugged into music. The more I think about it, the more I think including this feature was a very cynical move by Sennheiser.

After a couple of weeks' breaking in, the sound is pretty good. Treble is bright and detailed, bass is warm and reasonably defined, but the sound as a whole feels a bit closed-in and wooly. No doubt this is partly due to the closed-back design, and might a trade-off for waterproofing, for all I know. Also, impedance is 64 ohm, which means they are a heavier load for all our little portable devices.

Things I really appreciate about these phones is the single cord (Nice!); cable clip (but brittle plastic; I used a thin screwdriver to extremely gently pry it so that I could get the cable in, and it could easily have broken); they seem quite sturdy; and of course that they stay on my ears during all kinds of exercise (and now they don't hurt so much).

My gold standard for exercise phones is still the Koss KSC35, earclip phones with the same elements as the PortaPro. Four years on they still sound terriffic, though I admit I also went through a desensitizing process (earlobes) with those. These Sennheisers are a very different animal, with some clever solutions, and the price isn't bad. Together with an iPod Shuffle or other tiny device they could add some adrenaline to your workouts and make you a happier runner.

Great value, great sound, exactly what I was after
I recently started running and I wanted a pair of headphones for sport rather than my original iPod ones. The headphones took a bit of getting used to and the first few times they hurt my earlobe a bit when compared to my iPod headphones. However, you do get used to them, and the benefit of great sound and headphones that don't fall out far outweighs the initial discomfort.

I played a 10 second section of an MP3 on my original iPod headphones then put these ones on and you could definitely notice the difference. It provided the kind of base and depth to the sound that I hadn't heard with my iPod ones.