Sennheiser hasn't forgotten about Dre, taking a leaf out of the playbook of rival Beats by focusing on a more recognisable design for its new CX headphones.
German manufacturer Sennheiser is well-known among audiophiles for the audio quality of its kit, but in the last couple of years, like all headphone manufacturers, it's been left behind by Beats in terms of popularity and visibility.
Co-founded by rapper Dr Dre and recently snapped up by Apple for billions of dollars, Beats is derided by audiophiles, but has carved out an unbeatable brand identity thanks to its instantly recognisable design and the magic touch of celebrities from rappers to World Cup football stars.
Speaking exclusively to CNET last year about the challenge from Beats fashion 'phones, Sennheiser scion Daniel Sennheiser admitted the firm had been "complacent" -- but it's clear with the CX in-ears it's learned its lesson.
Your love keeps me lifting me Sennheiser and higher Headphone buying guide Bad Beats: Why was the original Beats Studio headphone so popular? Sennheiser CEO: Beats fashion headphones will 'never go away' Sennheiser's HD-25 Aluminum and HD-26 Pro: Two knockout headphones from Germany NuForce gets serious about making great headphones Move over, Beats: Master & Dynamic's MH40 headphones win on design, sound, and build quality How to pick the right headphones -- for you Best headphones of 2014Following the example of Beats, Sennheiser has rethought its design -- specifically, to make sure that people wearing Sennheisers can be seen to be wearing Sennheisers. The new CX headphones have a new signature oblong design on the outside of the earbuds, and the cables come in white, black and red -- which just happen to be Beats' signature colours.
Perhaps that's a sort of audiophile honeytrap, so when the less-informed music lover says, "Cool, are they Beats?", the audiophile can sneer, "Ac-tually, they're Senn-heiser," before dropping the mic and high-fiving everyone in the organic record store.
The new Sennheiser CX series is made up of four slightly different models of ear-canal headphones: CX 1.00, CX 2.00, CX 3.00 and CX 5.00. Full prices and availability are yet to be confirmed, but Sennheiser has told us that the CX 3.00s will cost
