Sennheiser CX 680 Earfin Sports Earbuds

I have been on a quest for a new pair of earphones for weeks. I have spent countless hours reading hundreds of reviews on various models. My main criteria (in order of importance) were: 1) Don't fall out when doing strenuous exercise like running, 2) Won't cease functioning or experience a decrease in functionality due to sweating (I sweat profusely when exercising, e.g., my clothes are normally drenched after an hour of cardio), 3) Comfort, 4) Price, 5) Sound quality, and 6) Appearance/Style.

Based on all that I read, I decided that the new Adidas-branded Sports line from Sennheiser might be the best option for me, so I splurged, got the CX680 at a big box store, and decided to test them since I knew I could return them for a full refund within 30 days if not satisfied. If I liked them I knew I could purchase online for 25-30% less. Note that I prefer the in-ear design, but was also considering the neckband design of the PMX680 as an alternate. However, I was hoping to...Read more

PROS: moisture resistant, excellent sound (after 'treble reducer' eq and removing earfins so they would fit correctly in my ear), great stability.

CONS: awkward cord lengths (comes w/ very long ext. cord, short primary cord), awkward earfins, initial sound quality presents with a bit much treble, tips slightly uncomfortable after a while in ear canals.

CONCLUSION: As workout headphones are concerned, compared to the Bose In-ear 'phones, Apple In-ears, my prev. fav. Sony MDR-EX85s, and even other Sennheisers I've tried, these offer far superior sound and functionality within the scope of exercise-specific headphones. I workout a lot (sweating substantially when doing so) and prefer clear bass; now that I have figured out not to use the earfin feature or bass boost (iPhone 3GS, iTouch 2G: these sound really BAD with boost on, the noise is amplified terribly) I wouldn't hesitate for a second to replace this pair with another of the same, were they to break.

I decided to upgrade to the CX680s after using a pair of CX380s for the last 6 months. The 380s were pretty good but didn't always stay in place during my workouts.

The good news with the CX680s is the ear fin technology works really well. They stay in place the whole time I'm at the gym. The bad news is Adidas/Sennheiser should have given more thought to the cord length. The standard cord is too short unless you're using an armband for your music player. Then it's too long so you have to wrap it around or have it move the whole time you're working out.

If you don't have an armband, then you have to use the extender with the inline volume control. When you do this the cord is way too long and it and the volume control bounce all over the place. You can use the included clip to keep one from moving but you can't stop both from moving. The moving is super distracting because you can hear it through the headphones and you don't know what the cord is going...Read more