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Updated January 10, 2024·
If your priority is sound quality and an open soundstage for an immersive at-home listening experience, the Sennheiser 560S headphones are a superior choice, especially for music and TV. However, keep in mind they are open-back, which means they are not ideal for noisy environments and may leak sound. On the other hand, if you need versatility, portability, and a wireless option with good exercise and travel performance at a more affordable price, the Creative Labs Outlier Air V3 earbuds are a more suitable option, also featuring sweat resistance and a longer battery life. The Outlier Air V3 also has a built-in microphone, making it more convenient for calls, which the Sennheiser 560S lacks. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Creative Labs Outlier Air V3
Good for phone calls
Very good for exercise
Very good for air travel
Advantages of the Sennheiser 560S
Best in class for music
Excellent for TV and video
Key differences
Music
5.7/10
9.5/10
The Sennheiser 560S is best in class for music, while the Creative Labs Outlier Air V3 is poor.
Gaming
5.1/10
6.9/10
The Sennheiser 560S is only fair for gaming, while the Creative Labs Outlier Air V3 is poor.
Phone Calls
7.6/10
5.1/10
The Creative Labs Outlier Air V3 is good for phone calls, while the Sennheiser 560S is poor.
Podcasts and Audiobooks
8.9/10
8.1/10
The Creative Labs Outlier Air V3 and Sennheiser 560S are both very good for podcasts and audiobooks, though the Creative Labs Outlier Air V3 is somewhat better.
TV and Video
5.4/10
9.1/10
The Sennheiser 560S is excellent for TV and video, while the Creative Labs Outlier Air V3 is poor.
Noise Reduction
6.5/10
2.5/10
The Creative Labs Outlier Air V3 is only fair for noise reduction, while the Sennheiser 560S is poor.
Battery
10.0 Hours
N/A
The Creative Labs Outlier Air V3 has 10 hours of battery life. The Sennheiser 560S does not have a battery.
Cost
$30
$180
$0
$50
$100
$150
$200
$250
The Creative Labs Outlier Air V3 has a price of $30 and the Sennheiser 560S costs $180.
Build Quality
9.0/10
8.0/10
The Creative Labs Outlier Air V3 has excellent build quality, while the Sennheiser 560S has very good build quality.
"The V3 present the best version of the Outlier Air series yet. The new features such as Active Noise Reduction and Ambient mode are integrated well; the performance of both is as good as you’ll get below £100. The design is less bulky and more comfortable thanks to being smaller and lighter, and the Outlier Air V3 eke out more clarity, detail and definition from music."
"Sennheiser made a near perfect pair of studio monitors with the HD 560S. Flat bass response? Check. Neutral and uncolored midrange? Check. Extended treble with a bit of lower-treble emphasis to highlight mastering flaws? Check. Fairly easy to drive? Check. Good soundstage and imaging? Check, and check."
Get a great deal on the Creative Labs Outlier Air V3 or the Sennheiser 560S
About Creative Labs
Creative Labs is a Singaporean technology company specialized in the manufacture of multimedia products. They created the world-famous Soundblaster soundcard back in 1989 which was a staple of the gaming community for a long time. Nowadays, besides still marketing their discrete audio systems, they offer a wide array of headphones, gaming headsets and speakers that still preserve that same heritage.
About Sennheiser
A family-owned company, Sennheiser is a German, high fidelity, audio equipment manufacturer founded in 1945. Their consumer audio division is now owned by the Swiss hearing aid and cochlear implant manufacturer Sonova. Sennheiser offers a wide variety of, very high quality, audio equipment solutions, from headphones to earbuds, full sets of monitoring speakers, amplifiers and microphones. They also make what is widely regarded as the best, and most expensive, headphones in existence, the HE-1 Orpheus, costing a whopping $59,000 dollars.
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This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec earbuds & headphones team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest earbuds or headphones information and makes it digestible for you.
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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