[Slim1970]

Is this over Bluetooth? And your Sound Check on iPhone is off right?

Yes this is over Bluetooth and the sound check is off. If there's something I can try to get more volume out of the H9's I'm all in.

 

[winslord]

Yes this is over Bluetooth and the sound check is off. If there's something I can try to get more volume out of the H9's I'm all in.

Don't know what else to do man. Maybe check the volume limit, and if that's off too all I can recommend is cleaning ear wax.

 

[Slim1970]

Don't know what else to do man. Maybe check the volume limit, and if that's off too all I can recommend is cleaning ear wax.

Lol, I've tried everything to get more volume out of them. On my ATH-DSR9BT's I can max out the volume on my phone and still have a few clicks left on the headphones themselves to increase the volume even more. I know the H9's can handle more volume because when I go wired with them I can blast them and they don't distort. I'm just not sure why B&O limits the volume over Bluetooth. I'm not the only who thinks the volume is low either. Other headfiers in this thread also feel this way. So I know it's not just me.

 

[winslord]

Lol, I've tried everything to get more volume out of them. On my ATH-DSR9BT's I can max out the volume on my phone and still have a few clicks left on the headphones themselves to increase the volume even more. I know the H9's can handle more volume because when I go wired with them I can blast them and they don't distort. I'm just not sure why B&O limits the volume over Bluetooth. I'm not the only who thinks the volume is low either. Other headfiers in this thread also feel this way. So I know it's not just me.

Hahaha that's right. Maybe many of you guys are just more used to listening on loud volume. Or it could just be my young ears. I didn't know they sound louder on wired though.

 

[winslord]

Hey guys! After a good amount of hours put into my H9, I decided to recompare it with the H7. So, is there a burn-in?

Let's put it this way; at first I said H9 sounds more bass-heavy. Is it more balanced like the H7 now? Nope. Still considerable bassier than H7. When you compare these two, definitely pay attention to the volume because like I said, H7 has a louder volume of approximately 5%.

I also decided to double check with the Bang & Olufsen corporate themselves. Here is their formal response: "As for the Beoplay H9, there is no "burn in" - they should perform the same over time."

Was there anything that changed from the time the H9 was fresh out of the box? Maybe. The bass sounds slightly more controlled, but not to say that it's became somewhat less bassy. However, again, this could just be my brain getting used to the sound.

I hope I debunked this myth for you. LOL. Oh, and definitely check out my revision of their comparison to the V-MODA Crossfade 2 Wireless. It's at 9 posts up (#607) but if you're lazy I'll paste them for you here:

Revision: After spending almost 3 hours trying to perfectly tune the H9 through the app to the Crossfade 2 Wireless sound signature, I realize they're totally different. Forget what I said, that was only from a really brief comparison. The H9 has more bass, treble, and less mids. The Crossfade 2 is more neutral (SURPRISINGLY!) and has a way more pronounced mid. Vocals also sound warmer. Are people biased about the Crossfade 2? Do they think because it's V-MODA it must be bass-heavy? I think so. From this experience I realized the V-MODA is fairly balanced and the bass are very tightly controlled.

 

[starpause]

Be careful if you're attempting the 5.0.1 update. After attempting the update over bluetooth several times between two different devices, BeoCare told me to remove and re-insert the battery. After that the headphone's won't turn on at all. Fingers crossed their warranty is sane.

 

[rhsauer]

Be careful if you're attempting the 5.0.1 update. After attempting the update over bluetooth several times between two different devices, BeoCare told me to remove and re-insert the battery. After that the headphone's won't turn on at all. Fingers crossed their warranty is sane.

Any indication as to what this update does? I'm traveling right now and can't update until I'm home. Thx.

 

[Slim1970]

Be careful if you're attempting the 5.0.1 update. After attempting the update over bluetooth several times between two different devices, BeoCare told me to remove and re-insert the battery. After that the headphone's won't turn on at all. Fingers crossed their warranty is sane.

I tried the update on my iPad and it didn't work. When I switched over to my iPhone the update took with no problems. So there is something quirky going on with this update. When it didn't take on my iPad I thought I bricked my H9's but it worked out for me.

 

[starpause]

My process:

Tried on android (droid turbo) and iPad (Air 2) several times before trying the battery in and out. It would always download quickly but often error while slowly installing the update. Sometimes when I restarted it would be further along in the slow bit (20-80%) and it would sometimes get to 100% then display the error.

Change log:

- minor bugs fixed
- better comparability with b&o tvs

Wish I knew what the minor bugs were because bricking my headphones is a pretty major bug :/

Wishlist:
- keep TouchTone (EQ) setting when headphones are disconnected from Bluetooth but are powered on.
- disable touch controls (they are so bad, hung up on several calls by mistake)
- louder possible volume (think everyone is on this page... It's fine for me depending on what's driving it but just barely).

Good luck to anyone giving the update a go and if any of the above sound good, don't be shy dropping a note to beo, squeaky wheel and all that.

 

[Slim1970]

My process:

Tried on android (droid turbo) and iPad (Air 2) several times before trying the battery in and out. It would always download quickly but often error while slowly installing the update. Sometimes when I restarted it would be further along in the slow bit (20-80%) and it would sometimes get to 100% then display the error.

Change log:

- minor bugs fixed
- better comparability with b&o tvs

Wish I knew what the minor bugs were because bricking my headphones is a pretty major bug :/

Wishlist:
- keep TouchTone (EQ) setting when headphones are disconnected from Bluetooth but are powered on.
- disable touch controls (they are so bad, hung up on several calls by mistake)
- louder possible volume (think everyone is on this page... It's fine for me depending on what's driving it but just barely).

Good luck to anyone giving the update a go and if any of the above sound good, don't be shy dropping a note to beo, squeaky wheel and all that.

I'm with you on all the above, especially the volume. I love the sound signature but it could better if the volume was allowed to go higher. Where do we go to drop BEO a note? Let's see if we can get those changes implemented.

 

[bedlamite]

Make sure your H9s are plugged into a power source as they're being updated. Just updated my H9 OTA and while that took some time, I had my phone and the cans both plugged into USB power sources and the update went through just fine. Haven't had a chance to test them post-update but I'm not expecting any audio changes.

 

[starpause]

FWIW my H9 and devices were plugged in while I was trying to update. I was surprised my device screens stayed on for the long process but they did.

Here's the customer support link: http://bogo.custhelp.com/app/ask/p/57,600

 

[thrice12]

My first attempt failed last night. I tried over iPhone, both devices (phone and headphone) were on charge but the update failed to install. I deleted the headphones off my device list on my iPhone, popped out the battery, paired the devices again, then tried the process again - success! it took a while to install, but everything worked as expected after following those steps. No noticeable changes so far.

 

[RamGuy]

So I got my BeoPlay H7 replaced on warranty, and I also own a pair of BeoPlay H9 as well. These new ones are rev2.0 or whatever as they feature bluetooth 4.2, something the original BeoPlay H7 didn't have. And the sound signature is now pretty much identical to the BeoPlay H9. I suspect they use the exact same drivers and DAC with this new revision so the only difference is the added active noise cancellation on the H9 compared to the H7.

For me this is a step backwards as I always preferred the more flat, natural and open sound signature of the BeoPlay H7 over the BeoPlay H9 which is why I kept using the H7's even after getting the H9's as I didn't find the active noise cancellation to really offer much. My girlfriend still have the original BeoPlay H7 with bluetooth 4.1 (or is it 4.0?) and they do indeed sound different. The newer H7 and the H9 both feature a warmer sound signature with added emphasis on low (bass). I actually have to use the BeoPlay-app on my iPhone and activate the 'Podcast" preset on the EQ when listening to some of my podcasts as this sound signature makes a lot of male voices sound way too bassy for my liking.

I'm starting to consider whether I should just sell them and look for something new. It's not like they sound bad by any terms of the definition, but the microphone is severely lacking (people keeps complaining when I try to answer calls using both the H7 and H9) and the active noise cancellation on the H9 was a huge disappointment to me. And now when the newer H7 have taken a step back in sound signature, at least according to my liking and there is still a real hassle connecting them to multiple devices as the switching between devices is confusing at best so I mostly end up with just re-pairing them when going between devices I feel I could do much better.

I still love the look and feel, and they are indeed very comfortable. But new bluetooth headphones seems to get released pretty much every day and I feel Bang & Olufsen is really lacking in terms of functionality. Having such a poor microphone, releasing a new model with ANC that does so poorly in terms of ANC and still having this confusing sync between devices is just not cutting it.

 

[Slim1970]

So I got my BeoPlay H7 replaced on warranty, and I also own a pair of BeoPlay H9 as well. These new ones are rev2.0 or whatever as they feature bluetooth 4.2, something the original BeoPlay H7 didn't have. And the sound signature is now pretty much identical to the BeoPlay H9. I suspect they use the exact same drivers and DAC with this new revision so the only difference is the added active noise cancellation on the H9 compared to the H7.

For me this is a step backwards as I always preferred the more flat, natural and open sound signature of the BeoPlay H7 over the BeoPlay H9 which is why I kept using the H7's even after getting the H9's as I didn't find the active noise cancellation to really offer much. My girlfriend still have the original BeoPlay H7 with bluetooth 4.1 (or is it 4.0?) and they do indeed sound different. The newer H7 and the H9 both feature a warmer sound signature with added emphasis on low (bass). I actually have to use the BeoPlay-app on my iPhone and activate the 'Podcast" preset on the EQ when listening to some of my podcasts as this sound signature makes a lot of male voices sound way too bassy for my liking.

I'm starting to consider whether I should just sell them and look for something new. It's not like they sound bad by any terms of the definition, but the microphone is severely lacking (people keeps complaining when I try to answer calls using both the H7 and H9) and the active noise cancellation on the H9 was a huge disappointment to me. And now when the newer H7 have taken a step back in sound signature, at least according to my liking and there is still a real hassle connecting them to multiple devices as the switching between devices is confusing at best so I mostly end up with just re-pairing them when going between devices I feel I could do much better.

I still love the look and feel, and they are indeed very comfortable. But new bluetooth headphones seems to get released pretty much every day and I feel Bang & Olufsen is really lacking in terms of functionality. Having such a poor microphone, releasing a new model with ANC that does so poorly in terms of ANC and still having this confusing sync between devices is just not cutting it.

I have the H9's as well and somewhat agree with your assessment of them. I think part of it is they're constrained by the volume in Bluetooth mode. The perceived volume doesn't let them play loud enough and they come off as extremely warm with an emphasis on bass to my ears. They're a different animal when you have them plugged in. They sound much more balanced and the high frequencies have more presence. I would enjoy them a lot more if the tuning was more like it was when the H9's are wired.

If you're looking for a good sounding set of Bluetooth headphones you should give the Audio Technica DSR9BT's a listen. I much prefer their sound to the H9's in their current state.