[RamGuy]

I seriously need replace the ear-pads with the ones from H7/H9. My ear keeps touching the inside and its really annoying and actually starts hurting way more than it should. Do B&O sell these separately?

 

[keniutek]

^ yes they do.

 

[RamGuy]

I can't seem to get the H7/H9 ear-pads to fit on my H9i's

 

[xfeldman]

Just a heads-up for those who are still debating between H9i and B&W PX.

I first bought the PX, hated discomfort they gave, returned them back and went for H9i. After a week with H9i, they went back to the shop too. And I'm back with B&W PXes.

My impressions on SQ (the most important part for myself) are:
When comparing them side by side, H9i are sparklier and more interesting than PX. Base is much more pronounced, highs are clearer. Also, PX do have this "tube" effect, especially noticeable when you comparing them side by side. It's most probably caused by the more linear frequency response, and emphasis on mids. And it's something that does make a 'meh' first impression.

Once you start listening more carefully to the different kinds of music, you start noticing that sometimes on H9i instruments sound a bit artificially, excessive base or treble often overwhelm the details, and the sound looses its clarity. It's especially noticeable on the difficult and complex parts. And that's where the B&W PX shines: the sound stage, instruments separation and the details are top notch, and much much better than H9i's.

Peter Gabriel - Growing Up: B&O H9i shines here. Lots of sub-bas, punchy and clear sound with lots of space. B&W PX is much more conservative here, lacking certain spark and emotions.

Carl Orf - Carmina Burana; Mozart - Symphony No. 40: Things become completely the opposite. B&O H9i simplifies the sound, lacking stage and texture of the instruments and voices, sounds shallow. B&W PX pictures the stage with the perfect clarity, instruments are sparkly, music moves you.

At the end of the day I realised that since I most often listen to the complex and symphonic music, B&W PX suits me much better in terms of SQ, but that is obviously 100% subjective.

And a slight note on the comfort. It turns out that PXes are more comfortable for me than H9i, despite the first impression. H9i's have shallower cushions and less space for ears. As a result, ears heat up much faster than in PXes, plus after some time H9i's somehow start to apply pressure on the ears inside the cans, resulting in discomfort and pain. And yes, my ears are rather big.

Hope it'll help some of you make the right choice.

 

[kartoon]

Wrong post.

 

[kartoon]

I have also tried and gone back and forth between different Beoplay sets and the PX. Went from H8 to H9 and didnt like the H9 very much. And thats when I bought the PX. The thing is, the discussion always seems to stand between the PX and the H9 or H9i. Want to trow another set into the mix, even though they are on-ear. I ended up going bck to the shop with the PX. But I bought the H8i before getting rid of the PX. And I listened to them side by side. And the sound in the H8i is in my opinion much nicer. Much clearer. Better highs and nicer bass. Of course this is MHO. I wanted the H9i to be better since I like the form factor on the H9i better than the H8i. So I took my H8i to the shop and compared them to the H9i. A couple of things stood out: the difference in sound with ANC on and off is a lot less in the 8s. And in some instances and with some music the H8i sounds a bit nicer with ANC on (a little tweak in the App and it sounds quite nice. I also find the highs much better in the H8i. Overall I like the SQ in the 8 much better than both h9i and PX. AND, the battery life in the H8i is 30 hours with ANC on and 45(!!) without ANC on. Just something to think about if you dont mind On-ear.
I wish they would have given the H9i the sound of the H8

 

[mattbanks]

Got my GOcase F3 today and was very surprised at how tight the H9i are inside. Zippering the top really pushes the ear cups down and squeezes them in. I'm afraid they're going to potentially damage the ear cups or permanently compress the memory foam. Anyone else have this case and have any feedback?

 

[UoKTeN]

Just a heads-up for those who are still debating between H9i and B&W PX.

I first bought the PX, hated discomfort they gave, returned them back and went for H9i. After a week with H9i, they went back to the shop too. And I'm back with B&W PXes.

My impressions on SQ (the most important part for myself) are:
When comparing them side by side, H9i are sparklier and more interesting than PX. Base is much more pronounced, highs are clearer. Also, PX do have this "tube" effect, especially noticeable when you comparing them side by side. It's most probably caused by the more linear frequency response, and emphasis on mids. And it's something that does make a 'meh' first impression.

Once you start listening more carefully to the different kinds of music, you start noticing that sometimes on H9i instruments sound a bit artificially, excessive base or treble often overwhelm the details, and the sound looses its clarity. It's especially noticeable on the difficult and complex parts. And that's where the B&W PX shines: the sound stage, instruments separation and the details are top notch, and much much better than H9i's.

Peter Gabriel - Growing Up: B&O H9i shines here. Lots of sub-bas, punchy and clear sound with lots of space. B&W PX is much more conservative here, lacking certain spark and emotions.

Carl Orf - Carmina Burana; Mozart - Symphony No. 40: Things become completely the opposite. B&O H9i simplifies the sound, lacking stage and texture of the instruments and voices, sounds shallow. B&W PX pictures the stage with the perfect clarity, instruments are sparkly, music moves you.

At the end of the day I realised that since I most often listen to the complex and symphonic music, B&W PX suits me much better in terms of SQ, but that is obviously 100% subjective.

And a slight note on the comfort. It turns out that PXes are more comfortable for me than H9i, despite the first impression. H9i's have shallower cushions and less space for ears. As a result, ears heat up much faster than in PXes, plus after some time H9i's somehow start to apply pressure on the ears inside the cans, resulting in discomfort and pain. And yes, my ears are rather big.

Hope it'll help some of you make the right choice.

For me, h9i is the much better headphone. My reasons:

- I personally think H9is sound better. Better highs better bass. Also they are more forgiving than PXs to badly recorded tracks. Some tracks just sound terrible on the PXs.
- Way better ANC. I mean on the PXs sometimes I had to press the ANC button a few times to see whether it was on or not. It is useless cancelling the voices either. H9i does a pretty good job.
- PXs were very uncomfortable. Earcups are not as soft as H9is. Clamping force is much higher. And man those things are heavy. It was creating a hot spot on top of my head after an hour.
- PXs leak a lot of sound. You know sometimes you have your moments and feel like listening to Whitney Houston's I will always love you out loud. It's so annoying when a colleague of yours asks you if you love life is okay after you took off the headphones.
- H9is look better and feel more comfortable on your neck in my opinion thanks to the way that they fold flat (earpads lay on your chest instead of earcup shells).
- PXs cut out and sometimes turn totally off in crowded places on the commute (For me it happened at Oxford Circus and Liverpool Street Station, tried 2 other pairs and same thing happened)

I also think H9is look better too.

About H8i v H9i

- I think H8i sounds better. But not by much. Less distortion and excessive mids.
- H8i looks cheaper. I did not like those plastic buttons and the new headband.
- H8i has a worse design in my opinion. I liked the old h8 design better. Not sure if I'm a fan of those Earcups as large as the earpads. It just looks bad to me.
- H8i is less comfortable, I cannot wear them longer than 2 hours.
- The reason that makes you feel like the ANC does not alter the sound as much on H8i is because it has worse ANC than H9i (This is also probably due to on-ear design).

 

[kartoon]

About H8i v H9i

- I think H8i sounds better. But not by much. Less distortion and excessive mids.
- H8i looks cheaper. I did not like those plastic buttons and the new headband.
- H8i has a worse design in my opinion. I liked the old h8 design better. Not sure if I'm a fan of those Earcups as large as the earpads. It just looks bad to me.
- H8i is less comfortable, I cannot wear them longer than 2 hours.
- The reason that makes you feel like the ANC does not alter the sound as much on H8i is because it has worse ANC than H9i (This is also probably due to on-ear design).

I’m not quite decided yet between H8i and H9i. I only compared the two in the shop. I only owned the 8i. For me the ANC is not that important. But I feel the NC is quite good on the 8s.
But i like the H9i comfort better. So you could help me decide
I felt the sound was “thinner” with lots of highs. I listen a lot to metal and rock. But also pop and hip hop. As far as I heard the Beoplays dont need burn in so the pair in the shop should be rpresentative and sound how they should.
What would you say is the main difference in sound between them?
About the buttons , I sort of liked getting back to ordinary buttons after using the original H8 and H9. Because the touch controls there was in best case challenging. Is the H9i better?
And compared to the original H8 the H8i feels a bit cheaper due to more plastic. But that also fixed a problem I had with the original H8, the fell of my head quite often because they was quite heavy. So not all bad the new design.

 

[beoneo]

And compared to the original H8 the H8i feels a bit cheaper due to more plastic. But that also fixed a problem I had with the original H8, the fell of my head quite often because they was quite heavy. So not all bad the new design.

I like the light weight, I don't mind having the H8i around my head. The H9 and H9i requires a separate bag to carry. I haven't had any discomfort wearing them for long listening sessions, but the proximity sensor kicks in on bumpy roads and railroad tracks out of the blue sometimes. This is not a headset for professionals, but a prosumer listening set, and there will be cabled selections that will offer more per dollar, but will it have a more complete package? I don't think so. The H8i is a lightweight headset that has good enough sound and good enough ANC. There will be better headsets in the future with better sound and ANC, but these are the best allround contemporary headphones on the market.

 

[Yreme]

I’m very intrigued at the comments comparing the H9i with the H8i. I suppose I need to audition the H8i myself, but does anyone else have any opinions between the two? Specifically on what some people have said around the highs not being so pronounced on the H8i’s? I’ve never considered a pair of on-ears before but if the sound is tuned differently on the H8i’s it might be a new thing for me.

 

[kartoon]

I like the light weight, I don't mind having the H8i around my head. The H9 and H9i requires a separate bag to carry. I haven't had any discomfort wearing them for long listening sessions, but the proximity sensor kicks in on bumpy roads and railroad tracks out of the blue sometimes. This is not a headset for professionals, but a prosumer listening set, and there will be cabled selections that will offer more per dollar, but will it have a more complete package? I don't think so. The H8i is a lightweight headset that has good enough sound and good enough ANC. There will be better headsets in the future with better sound and ANC, but these are the best allround contemporary headphones on the market.

Agreed on the light weight. Really a lot more user-friendly on the go! Since you mention cabled sets, listening the H8i trough the USB-C sounded really good! Reckon that will be the same with the H9i.
I'm really torn between the two sets. Maybe I need to get the H9i from a dealer who has a return policy and live with both for 30 days!

 

[xfeldman]

I tried both H9i and H8i today in store. In my opinion H8i lacked the clarity comparing to H9i, and that does of course mean that all the distortions are gone, but unfortunately some of the wanted high frequencies are gone with them. Again, for my taste, H9i sounded noticeably better. Soundstage was also better on the H9i.
Some other observations. H8i are much lighter, do make an impression of a cheaper, more plasticky product, if only tactilely. It was hard to tell if ANC is comparable to H9i, but for me H8i produced much less "cabin pressure" than the H9i when ANC is on, which is a good thing. The ANC effect on the sound quality also felt less dramatic than with H9i.
Two concerns I had with H8i besides the sound quality: clamping pressure is always there, and they also sit less firmly on my head, meaning I felt a bit more constrained in head movements when wearing them.

 

[kartoon]

Anyone knows how to turn of the proximity sensor in the H8i? I've seen it somewhere but can't find it again!

 

[kartoon]

I tried both H9i and H8i today in store. In my opinion H8i lacked the clarity comparing to H9i, and that does of course mean that all the distortions are gone, but unfortunately some of the wanted high frequencies are gone with them. Again, for my taste, H9i sounded noticeably better. Soundstage was also better on the H9i.
Some other observations. H8i are much lighter, do make an impression of a cheaper, more plasticky product, if only tactilely. It was hard to tell if ANC is comparable to H9i, but for me H8i produced much less "cabin pressure" than the H9i when ANC is on, which is a good thing.
Two concerns I had with H8i besides the sound quality: clamping pressure is always there, and they also sit less firmly on my head, meaning I felt a bit more constrained in head movements when wearing them.

I guess the clarity difference in the two sets, and the impact it does on the experience for different users, have to do with the type of music you listen to (To state the obvious :-D). For me the H9i sounded to clear and bright on some tracks (ala Architects and other metal bands and tunes). But on other songs really much better! I think what I mean, and what I thought when choosing the 8 instead of the 9, is that the H8i is a compromise if listening to a very wide and diverse music styles.