Hello again to my endless struggle to replace my broken headphones

I decided not to wait until the PX100-IIs hit the shelves after all (not patient enough), so I got a new pair of PX100s. However, now I'm getting a bit paranoid because the new ones feel different. I'm not talking about the sound here because they are not broken in yet, so it's too early for a serious test in that respect. The first thing that made me suspicious was the jack:



As you can see, it's straight and smooth. My old PX100 had a different, larger plug with rings for strain relieve (not sure how to express this properly).

I heard that there are a lot of fakes around, so I took the time to compare the actual phones very carefully to the 360° images on Sennheiser's site and read some guides about how to tell fakes apart, but the phones seem "clean" otherwise. However, I discovered they have an asymmetrical skew, so that the top of the phones is not straight if you hold both earpieces at the same height and pull them apart a bit:



I tried to highlight the issue in this picture, it's not usually that obvious. I'm not sure if it might straighten out with repeated use though.

Other observations are a dent in the right head pading (a bit like the end of a sausage, maybe from packaging) and that the foam pads feel more firm and somehow cheaper (though of course they are brand new and will probably change)

So what do you think? Am I being too paranoid? Does Sennheiser really use that kind of cheap-looking plug? And do you know of other differences between official PX100s? Discuss!

One possible reason for the new smaller plug is to increase compatibility with modern portable devices (especially since they are portable style 'phones). Some DAPs can not accept a larger (what used to be normal) sized plug. In fact, I have an iRiver DAP from a few years back that came with Sennheiser ear buds which have a plug very similar to the one in your picture. Some of my headphones, with larger plugs, will not fit that iRiver DAP (...so I had to shave down the plug). So to me, this type of 'mini' plug is actually preferable.

Regarding the (lack of) 'rings' that reinforce the cord where it exits the plug: On my Sennheiser ear buds, the length of the plug seems to be almost exactly the same as the one in your picture. Mine has the 'rings', but they are within the same overall length as your plug - in the area where the plug tapers down to a smaller diameter. My feeling is that with such narrow gauge wire (I'm guessing it's not very stiff), and the probability that the wire connections are well contained within the plug, that more reinforcement is probably not necessary.

In other words, I don't think that plug seems out of place or is anything to worry about.

My last pair of PX100 had that kind of plug too, and I got them from a reputable seller, as far as I can recall. I think they changed it because the previous design was too prone to breakage at the place where it joins the cable (my previous pair died from that, in fact. Apparently I wasn't the only one). My last pair also half-died from plug related issues, though, although the breakage was internal and probably facilitated by a few careless janks from my part.

They look legit. Remember the PX100's are one of the lower end headphones made by Sennheiser and designed for use with portable players and the like.

They probably altered the chord and plug due to that. I wouldn't worry about the padding though as they have been probably stuck in a box for who knows how many months.

As long as they work well and sound like they should I would rest easy and enjoy the music.
JXL