Sennheiser OMX 52 Street review

Once in a while, a good company makes a crummy product. Perhaps crummy is harsh--the speakers inside Sennheiser's OMX 52 sound just fine, but design flaws trump sound quality in this case. The OMX 52 is part of Sennheiser's new Street line, but it's the only one of the line that is over-the-ear. The other Street offerings, to be detailed further in this review, are all earbud headphones.

Unfortunately, the OMX 53's over-the-ear design is its downfall. Indeed, this style of headphone (also known as "open") rarely works well. Sure, we can make an exception for the Reference Series by Grado, but those are $600 or more--and considered by many the greatest headphones ever made--and they're not terribly suitable for the street. Generally, earphones designed to be worn while exercising or in transit are in-ear or enclosed (cupping around the outer ear). There's a reason for this: they stay in place better and deliver the sound isolation necessary to compete with street noise, subway rumbles, and other auditory obstacles. Thus, the OMX 52s aren't really conducive to the environment for which they are made.

We'll give the OMX 52s one thing: they definitely stay in place, thanks to a secure ear-clip (that can be a bit of a nuisance for those who wear glasses). The problem is, the position at which they are secured does not press firmly enough against the ear to deliver the proper low end and crispness that the 'phones are capable of. We found ourselves constantly pushing on the earphones in order to block out sound and increase the bass in the music we tested. But hey, the triangular Velcro carrying bag looks cool.