[m4rkw]

Just noticed something weird on my Pi7 S2 that I didn't notice before - turning on ANC seems to quite dramatically increase the bass. Anyone else finding this? I thought maybe it was my aftermarket tips but I swapped back to the stock ones to test and it's the same.

Both "On" and "Auto" modes result in a substantial increase in bass

 

[m4rkw]

If I play white noise or pink noise there's very little noise different between the modes. Wondering if these could be faulty, I know their ANC is regarded as weak but boosting the bass just seems odd

 

[ryanmatic]

Enabling ANC does add a couple of dB of low end—on both the Pi7 S2 and Px8—in my experience. I wouldn’t call it a massive increase though, and it does help a bit when the environment gets noisy. You can use the Px8’s EQ to compensate a bit, but I’m pretty confident that’s just how B&W have tuned both headphones.

 

[m4rkw]

I got this response from B&W:

“
ANC functions by using adding additional audio signal (Active noise cancelling) to or modifying the audio signal being produced (Adaptive noise cancelling) to cancel out external noises that may be noticeable if ANC was not being used.

This will have an effect on overall audio quality and output, with the higher the level of ANC involved resulting in an increase in impact on overall quality, this in turn may result in a change at the headphones.”

Which doesn’t really answer anything lol

For me it’s night and day, with it on the bass is full and rich, off it’s almost not there.

 

[dlorde]

I got this response from B&W:

“
ANC functions by using adding additional audio signal (Active noise cancelling) to or modifying the audio signal being produced (Adaptive noise cancelling) to cancel out external noises that may be noticeable if ANC was not being used.

This will have an effect on overall audio quality and output, with the higher the level of ANC involved resulting in an increase in impact on overall quality, this in turn may result in a change at the headphones.”

Which doesn’t really answer anything lol

For me it’s night and day, with it on the bass is full and rich, off it’s almost not there.

Did you get any further with this?

I'm finding the same thing, but it only happens when going from ANC OFF to ANC Auto. It then stays hyper boosted even if I switch from AUTO to ON, but resets to normal if I switch it to OFF. I nearly deafened myself the first time this happened!

It's fine if I switch from Off to ON and from ON to AUTO. I have to make sure I only go to AUTO via ON... very weird.

 

[ryanmatic]

Not a direct answer to your question, but for what it’s worth I’d highly recommend turning off ANC Auto and just toggling between on and off. Auto for whatever reason causes abrupt and noticeable changes to both sound and ANC level; it’s much more disruptive than just turning ANC off wholesale when you’re in a quiet environment.

Would not surprise me if the bass elevation is weirder and more obvious with Auto turned on.

 

[dlorde]

Not a direct answer to your question, but for what it’s worth I’d highly recommend turning off ANC Auto and just toggling between on and off. Auto for whatever reason causes abrupt and noticeable changes to both sound and ANC level; it’s much more disruptive than just turning ANC off wholesale when you’re in a quiet environment.

Would not surprise me if the bass elevation is weirder and more obvious with Auto turned on.

It's not just a bass elevation, it's as if the bass has been turned up to max. But I get the expected slight bass elevation if I switch from ANC ON to ANC AUTO, so I think it's a bug.

I found a thread on Reddit that discusses this problem - it only occurs when 'Passthrough' is enabled and you switch directly from ANC OFF to ANC AUTO. So there's a couple of simple workarounds - turn off passthrough or go to AUTO via ON. I've only just received the buds today, so I want to try out all the listening modes, but I'll bear your advice in mind

I've submitted a report to B&W about the problem.

 

[ryanmatic]

Aah, that makes sense. Given how supremely inconvenient pass through mode is on these earphones (what was B&W thinking making it an in-app toggle that takes, on average, 10 seconds to connect and enable), I'm pretty much never used it. Same for automatic ANC mostly because in my initial experience it causes all sorts of odd, abrupt changes to the sound as mentioned earlier.

At the risk of repeating something from another thread — if you dig these earphones, try getting a set of JVC SpiralDot++ ear tips and give them a try. They fit nicely but the bore is a bit wider, which curbs the mid bass slightly and results in an expanded soundstage with a little more midrange. I think they transform these into one of the best true wireless sets out there, between sound quality and noise suppression.

 

[m4rkw]

Interesting comment about the spiral dots, I have these and tried the Tri Clarion tips which are also wide bore and open up the sound stage but also introduce sibilance. How’s the sibilance with the spiral dots? Tempted to try them but they’re a little pricey here (uk)

 

[m4rkw]

Might have ordered them >.> <.<

 

[ryanmatic]

Oh nice. I hope you enjoy them.

I haven't noticed any sibilance with the SpiralDot++s in normal listening. I just tested them with some Brody Dalle (her voice is prone to that when treble is boosted, in my experience), and at moderately loud volume there's a little bit. It's not much. At a lower listening volume it's totally fine. (Tested with 40 year old, healthy ears.)

 

[dlorde]

... if you dig these earphones, try getting a set of JVC SpiralDot++ ear tips and give them a try. They fit nicely but the bore is a bit wider, which curbs the mid bass slightly and results in an expanded soundstage with a little more midrange. I think they transform these into one of the best true wireless sets out there, between sound quality and noise suppression.

Thanks, I'll check them out.

 

[m4rkw]

My favourite tips so far are the Azla Max Standard, will update when the dots arrive.

 

[m4rkw]

Also: https://www.audioreviews.org/guide-to-iem-silicone-eartips/

Very curious about these: ALPEX Hi-Unit HSE-A1000

They sound interesting but amazon japan only has the actual headphones now not the tips, postage to UK is twice the cost of the headphones and it would only be one set. Not sure. Would love to know if anyone has tried these!

 

[dlorde]

Just a quick update - I returned my B&W Pi S2 buds for exchange as faulty. Excellent customer service arranged a next-day exchange (which didn't go to plan because of the courier), but I eventually got the replacements in their sealed packaging.

And they behave exactly the same - if you turn on ANC Auto from ANC off while passthrough is enabled, you get an extreme bass boost. I think it's a software/firmware bug and I expect them to fix it in a future update. But it's not a big problem - if you need ANC Auto with passthrough you can get there either via ANC On or by going to ANC Auto with passthrough off then turning passthrough on.

I don't like ANC Auto as it is implemented - it turns ANC on or off without any transition, so you get sudden changes in the sound experience without warning. I'd rather do that manually so I'm expecting it.