we are now at 100+ pages so i will repeat my advice from before. I've had these since their release. 1. try the mid high boost 2. none of the stock tips felt "great" for me, but the spiral dots linked way back in this thread have been awesome.

i had a VERY early edition 5909, and i had similar strangeness on phone calls only. the first firmware update that came out fixed it. if would check your app to see if what you have it up to date.

i had a very early run 5909 (as an employee purchase) that had the headband problem. they replaced it no questions asked immediately and i have not had any problems since.

The usb C to usb A? I can check if any of my other cables work for it

i have both, the N40s to me are not as comfortable and are lacking some of the natural warmth that the n5005s have. IMO the 5005s are far superior.

polymathic is correct. these have a 100% true passive mode.

i have heard of a few others having problems until they connected it to the app and updated the firmware. if you can do that you make fix the weirdness

the 5909 measures slightly differently in each of its modes. (passive, BT ANC adaptive vs ambient aware. ) IMO the passive is the most dynamic but obviously least convenient. they all sound great to me but headphones have become a mostly mobile use case for me so i dont use them passively often.

big agree here, passive mode with an amp is such a rich experience. highly recommend all owners to at least try it

you probably need to use the ANC On adaptive to get the 30Hrs. i used mine on a very long plane ride the entire time and still had 50% left so although i haven't timed it, i fee like its close to 30hrs

if you want to send an analog signal to the headphones you need to use the 3.5mm terminated cable. unless im missing something trying to use the USB to USB cable to send an analog signal will almost assuredly be impossible

that's a great question and i honestly dont know. i havent even received my own pair yet. A few minutes with a multimeter could probably answer it if you have a probe small enough. That being said, almost all of Harmans headphone offerings from AKG & JBL have not included balanced executions...

without prompting a cable debate, as long as the cable length and gauge is sufficient to not degrade the signal the electrons dont care what shape the connector is.

is there any "patch notes" ?

any analogue signal into the N90Q is going to go through a ADC, so i would recommend using the digital input on the N90Q if possible.