Great sound, aptX support, but the built in mic for calls is terrible.

This may be the first Sennheiser product I've purchased I'm not completely happy with. The leatherette pads seem to seal nicely which maybe be part of how these are meant to help with noise but they just aren't comfortable for long listening sessions. My main interest in these was the active noise canceling (which is decent) and the aptX wireless (because normal BT audio sounds terrible) for use at work. I was glad to find these which are aesthetically clean and professional looking and they have a mic which I was hoping to use with conference/video calls at work. Unfortunately the mic on these is good but omnidirectional which means that when I'm on a call everyone can hear me and the whole room around me. It seems there was no attempt to help make the mic a little more directional so that room sounds wouldn't come in just as well as the wearer or if there was it certainly didn't work well. In my previous office where there were fewer people and we were more spread out it wasn't too bad but in my new space, which is busier, it's a problem. This is pretty frustrating as I like the sound, look, and convenience of the wireless. These would be perfect for me if the mic was better at ignoring background sounds and noises. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find anything else on the market today that looks like would be any better for under $400. There's some headsets that could maybe be better for conference calls but lack aptX or AAC for music listening. The newer and much more expensive PXC 550, from the specs, might have a better mic but at neatly $200 more that seems a bit steep for a better mic.

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