[xfeldman]

Could all the H9i owners check whether there is distortion on the vocals of the song ''Like someone in love'' by Diana Krall? Because, unfortunately, I do experience distortion on the S sounds that she sings, on both bluetooth and cable, when ANC is on. Can others check whether this is the case on their H9i's as well? I played it on Tidal, so it has nothing to do with the quality of the recording or with the quality of streamed music (that also wouldn't make sense because the distortion is only there when ANC is on). Very curious whether others have this too...

I actually have the opposite problem. Highs are definitely too harsh on this track, but in my case the voice distorts the most when the ANC is OFF. I'm also experiencing a slight distortion on some of the piano notes, at around 1:16.
It seems to me that in my case the distortion is caused by the high levels of the input signal (DAC or immediately after the DAC), and before the amplification and volume control. Levels too hight for the amplification cascade input to handle. That would explain the fact that it's happening regardless of the volume, and only on select tracks.
Edit: Harsh highs are somewhat fixable by the EQ settings, although distortion on piano notes stays.

 

[keniutek]

Looks (or rather sounds) like it's all software related. Let's hope B&O can fix it sooner rather than later...

 

[Demis013]

I actually have the opposite problem. Highs are definitely too harsh on this track, but in my case the voice distorts the most when the ANC is OFF. I'm also experiencing a slight distortion on some of the piano notes, at around 1:16.
It seems to me that in my case the distortion is caused by the high levels of the input signal (DAC or immediately after the DAC), and before the amplification and volume control. Levels too hight for the amplification cascade input to handle. That would explain the fact that it's happening regardless of the volume, and only on select tracks.
Edit: Harsh highs are somewhat fixable by the EQ settings, although distortion on piano notes stays.

I'm 99% sure that the piano at 1:16 is slightly distorted on the track itself. The whole track itself is not exactly a prime example of careful recording, at 1:43 a weird distorted ticking comes in and returns a few times (best noticeable at 1:49). So it's important to distinguish the track's flaws with the headphone's flaws...

For me it's the following s sounds on the track that sound distorted: myself (18 sec), stars (20 secs), someone (27 secs), sometimes (31 secs), each (58 secs). They sound sharp (because she sings them with real emphasis) with ANC off, but not distorted. The ANC is the evil-doer here in my case. Think I'll be paying a visit to my local B&O store tomorrow to compare with other H9i's, and to introduce them to the issue.

 

[xfeldman]

I'm 99% sure that the piano at 1:16 is slightly distorted on the track itself. The whole track itself is not exactly a prime example of careful recording, at 1:43 a weird distorted ticking comes in and returns a few times (best noticeable at 1:49). So it's important to distinguish the track's flaws with the headphone's flaws...

True, the track is far from perfect. Still, I can't hear 1:16 distortion on my HD600...

For me it's the following s sounds on the track that sound distorted: myself (18 sec), stars (20 secs), someone (27 secs), sometimes (31 secs), each (58 secs). They sound sharp (because she sings them with real emphasis) with ANC off, but not distorted. The ANC is the evil-doer here in my case. Think I'll be paying a visit to my local B&O store tomorrow to compare with other H9i's, and to introduce them to the issue.

Then it could be a QA problem. Mine doesn't have ANC-on distortion you're describing..

 

[shockre91]

FYI if you're using them over bluetooth with your Mac, you're most likely using SBC codec.
You can check that by holding Option key and highlighting the headphones in bluetooth menu you get when you click on the bluetooth icon on the top right.
To make OSX use AAC, open terminal and paste: sudo defaults write bluetoothaudiod "Enable AAC codec" -bool true

 

[UoKTeN]

Guys can I ask for a favor? My distortion issue could be due to a faulty unit.

I am an Apple Music user on an iPhone X. Could you please take a look at the first 10 seconds of this track?

Song name: Ezhel - Geceler

The bass kick in the first 10 seconds distorts especially on the left ear cup. This happens near max volumes.

I tried Bose Soundlink Headphones and classic Apple Earbuds at max volume and faced no such issue. Can you also take a look at it and let me know?

Also much less distortion with Spotify. Weird.

thanks in advance.

 

[Demis013]

Guys can I ask for a favor? My distortion issue could be due to a faulty unit.

I am an Apple Music user on an iPhone X. Could you please take a look at the first 10 seconds of this track?

Song name: Ezhel - Geceler

The bass kick in the first 10 seconds distorts especially on the left ear cup. This happens near max volumes.

I tried Bose Soundlink Headphones and classic Apple Earbuds at max volume and faced no such issue. Can you also take a look at it and let me know?

Also much less distortion with Spotify. Weird.

thanks in advance.

No distortion whatsoever in my case

 

[RamGuy]

I just got myself the B&O BeoPlay H9i.... As a sucker for these BeoPlay headphones I couldn't resist even-though I have sold my BeoPlay H7's, H8's and H9's and "settled" for the Beats Studio3 Wireless. I was never all that convinced by the H9's as I felt they had the exact same audio as the H7 rev2 and the ANC was so poor that it didn't really give me anything other than lower battery life. I didn't really enjoy the H8's as all due to the on-ear design that made my ears hurt in no time and the sound signature was way too warm. The H7 on the other hand was my favourite, great sound, great looks and everything. My only complaint was horrible microphones and sub-par bluetooth with limited range and zero multi-device support. The new BeoPlay H9i's seems to fix most of what I felt was missing as they now support multi-device, it has better bluetooth range, the microphone has been greatly improved and the ANC is actually doing something this time around.

I just got them so its too early to say much about them, but the sound stage is definitively wider and the audio is crisper. Whereas the H7 rev2 and H9's felt wide but somewhat warm, these feels super-wide and bright and the ANC is actually decent this time around. Sadly they aren't as comfortable due to the thinner ear-pads so my ears are actually touching the drivers inside which isn't all that nice but hopefully I'll get used to it. If I still had my H7 or H9's I would just swap the pads as they are interchangeable.

The app felt somewhat stupid as it told me to update from 5.0.1 to 5.0.3 and the process took forever and in the end it just tossed a error in my face. Tried once more, it still took forever and then it suddenly told me that this update was only available using the updater on Windows or Mac. That's fine, but why did the app tell me about the update and had me waiting for like 20 minutes totalt for something that requires me to use the desktop updater anyways??


I love the fact that it uses USB-C instead of Micro-USB. My headphones is the only thing requiring me to have Micro-USB around so its nice to finally be able to ditch it.


Will I keep them or go back to the Beats Studio3 Wireless? It depends on how good the bluetooth connection and the multi-device actually works. There was no doubt about my BeoPlay H7 and H9's having better audio compared to the Beats Studio3 Wireless but what made me decide on the Beats was due to bluetooth connectivity, how easily it was to move between devices thanks to the Apple W1-chip, the fact that it had decent ANC and a good microphone. The audio wasn't all that bad either, but it was rather mediocre compared to the H7 and H9's. But the limited bluetooth connectivity and how horribly the H7 and H9's behaved in terms of moving between devices forcing me to re-sync the headphones all the time was made it insufferable in the end. Hopefully the H9i's and its multi-device support will be much better.

 

[Demis013]

I just got myself the B&O BeoPlay H9i.... As a sucker for these BeoPlay headphones I couldn't resist even-though I have sold my BeoPlay H7's, H8's and H9's and "settled" for the Beats Studio3 Wireless. I was never all that convinced by the H9's as I felt they had the exact same audio as the H7 rev2 and the ANC was so poor that it didn't really give me anything other than lower battery life. I didn't really enjoy the H8's as all due to the on-ear design that made my ears hurt in no time and the sound signature was way too warm. The H7 on the other hand was my favourite, great sound, great looks and everything. My only complaint was horrible microphones and sub-par bluetooth with limited range and zero multi-device support. The new BeoPlay H9i's seems to fix most of what I felt was missing as they now support multi-device, it has better bluetooth range, the microphone has been greatly improved and the ANC is actually doing something this time around.

I just got them so its too early to say much about them, but the sound stage is definitively wider and the audio is crisper. Whereas the H7 rev2 and H9's felt wide but somewhat warm, these feels super-wide and bright and the ANC is actually decent this time around. Sadly they aren't as comfortable due to the thinner ear-pads so my ears are actually touching the drivers inside which isn't all that nice but hopefully I'll get used to it. If I still had my H7 or H9's I would just swap the pads as they are interchangeable.

The app felt somewhat stupid as it told me to update from 5.0.1 to 5.0.3 and the process took forever and in the end it just tossed a error in my face. Tried once more, it still took forever and then it suddenly told me that this update was only available using the updater on Windows or Mac. That's fine, but why did the app tell me about the update and had me waiting for like 20 minutes totalt for something that requires me to use the desktop updater anyways??


I love the fact that it uses USB-C instead of Micro-USB. My headphones is the only thing requiring me to have Micro-USB around so its nice to finally be able to ditch it.


Will I keep them or go back to the Beats Studio3 Wireless? It depends on how good the bluetooth connection and the multi-device actually works. There was no doubt about my BeoPlay H7 and H9's having better audio compared to the Beats Studio3 Wireless but what made me decide on the Beats was due to bluetooth connectivity, how easily it was to move between devices thanks to the Apple W1-chip, the fact that it had decent ANC and a good microphone. The audio wasn't all that bad either, but it was rather mediocre compared to the H7 and H9's. But the limited bluetooth connectivity and how horribly the H7 and H9's behaved in terms of moving between devices forcing me to re-sync the headphones all the time was made it insufferable in the end. Hopefully the H9i's and its multi-device support will be much better.

Could you check whether there is distortion on the vocals of the song ''Like someone in love'' by Diana Krall when you turn the ANC on of the H9i's? On mine, it's the following s sounds on the track that sound distorted: myself (18 sec), stars (20 secs), someone (27 secs), sometimes (31 secs), each (58 secs). The sound distorts in the left ear cup when ANC is on, both with cable and with bluetooth. This is not the case when ANC is off. Would very much like to know whether you have it too, planning on going to the B&O store later today.

 

[RamGuy]

I testet with ANC on with minijack to my computer, and with bluetooth to my iPhone X using Apple Music and I can't say I noticed any distortion? I tested with volume at 30% and 70%.

 

[mattbanks]

Got my H9i today! After the firmware update, I did a quick 2 song comparison with my H6 gen 2. The sound signature is VERY similar, especially with ANC turned off! Still have not heard any distortion.

What's everyone using for a case for the H9/H9i? My H6 have some scratches from being in my backpack with just the felt bag that B&O gives you, so I want to get a better case for the H9i.

 

[Demis013]

Got my H9i today! After the firmware update, I did a quick 2 song comparison with my H6 gen 2. The sound signature is VERY similar, especially with ANC turned off! Still have not heard any distortion.

What's everyone using for a case for the H9/H9i? My H6 have some scratches from being in my backpack with just the felt bag that B&O gives you, so I want to get a better case for the H9i.

Did you try the song that I mentioned as well? 'Like someone in love'' by Diana Krall. With ANC on there's distortion in (mainly) left ear cup on the S sounds. Do you experience this? I went to the B&O store yesterday and their H9i showmodel had the exact same distortion as mine. The employers were shocked about this and they said they'd report it. They advised me to return mine for inspection. But really hate to go down that procedure, although maybe there's no other option.

Regarding the case, I got this one (with a discount in the B&O store luckily, because it's too expensive), I think it's their official case: https://www.bycaseplay.com/

 

[mattbanks]

Did you try the song that I mentioned as well? 'Like someone in love'' by Diana Krall. With ANC on there's distortion in (mainly) left ear cup on the S sounds. Do you experience this? I went to the B&O store yesterday and their H9i showmodel had the exact same distortion as mine. The employers were shocked about this and they said they'd report it. They advised me to return mine for inspection. But really hate to go down that procedure, although maybe there's no other option.

Regarding the case, I got this one (with a discount in the B&O store luckily, because it's too expensive), I think it's their official case: https://www.bycaseplay.com/

Just listened to this song on my H9i and then my H6 gen 2 as a control (iPhone X, Apple Music). I tried with ANC on and off on the H9i and didn't hear any distortion.

I ended up getting the GOcase F3 from Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0736J7RRS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[mattbanks]

Spent a good bit of time going back and forth between my H9i and H6 gen 2 last night and this morning. I still agree with my initial impression that the treble isn't too much/harsh, but it is more than the H6 (not by a ton). The bass is slightly less than the H6 and the mids are a bit brighter in comparison. The mids warm up significantly with ANC off. I ended up EQ'ing the H9i with ToneTouch (sooooo happy that this gets saved to the headphones and retained between powering them off/on!!!). Here's how I have it setup...



Bass and mids are boosted a bit with this EQ setting and treble is toned down slightly. Really loving this sound!

Separate question: does anyone know if ANC on/off setting is retained when you turn the H9i off/on or connect to a different device? If I turn ANC off and then turn the H9i off and back on, will ANC still be off?

 

[Yreme]

Separate question: does anyone know if ANC on/off setting is retained when you turn the H9i off/on or connect to a different device? If I turn ANC off and then turn the H9i off and back on, will ANC still be off?

I emailed B&O support about this exact thing. Every time the device is powered on, ANC is enabled, and you can’t change this. Here’s their response:

“In regards to your question, unfortunately, currently there isn't a way to keep the ANC always off, therefore, you will have to manually turn it off by swiping down on the touch interface. However, I would like to ask you if I could forward your question as a feedback to my development team so that they can take a look into adding a feature that would allow you always have the ANC off.”

So I sent him my info and he forwarded the request - I suggested they do the same thing for when you want to disable the proximity sensor. They already teach users that holding the power switch up to the BT position for 2 seconds and then double tapping the touch interface disables the proximity sensor. So, do the same thing but instead of a double tap, swipe down to toggle ANC on startup or swipe up to toggle transparency on startup.