[Soundizer]

I've seen lots of discussion regarding the Px8 bass in this thread. I got my Px8 a couple of weeks ago and have been using them quite a lot. I would probably qualify myself as an audiophile, having had a genuine interest for the last 25 years or so. My preference is generally towards a pretty flat frequency response. When it comes to headphones, I have lots of experience with HD 650, HD 600, HD 25-1, Momentum over ear (original wired), AKG K550, ATH-SR5BT. Also experienced various other sets, such as HD 800 (my brother owned these), AirPods Max, AirPods Pro 2, Bathys, H95, Momentum 4. I would of course not characterize all of these as neutral/flat, but I'd say that the HD 650 probably is my overall favorite that I keep coming back to and that's a decently neutral sounding headphone (although definitely lacking in the sub-bass region). Especially if you compare to pretty much any wireless headphone.

Anyway, regarding Px8 bass: I saw someone comment on a frequency response graph for the Px8 and saying that they couldn't believe they would be 6-9 dB above the reference curve. I have no trouble believing that. These headphones are very bass heavy. It's not just a sub bas hump, as it extends into the low mids (~350 Hz) as well. The effect of this is that tracks with lots of bass and lower mid energy sound very thick. I personally listen a lot to rock and metal and the result of this boost is that chugging guitars and bass drums have an overpowering effect on the upper mids and treble. It quite simply sounds like the presentation is skewed and the lower range has an unnaturally high volume.

To me, this effect is quite uncomfortable and fatiguing. I know there are headphones with more bass, so it's of course not the worst offender. [I tried my buddy's XM3 a couple of years ago and sat there in disbelief at the thick, boomy mess...] Still, I would not characterize the Px8 as having a mild bass boost and I think it's important to make that point to prospective buyers.

With all this said, I must say I'm very happy with my Px8. How come? Fortunately, they offer bass and treble controls that work quite well and are stored in the phones and applied to all sources. After having compared them to most of my other headphones as well as the AirPods Max, Bathys, H95 and Momentum 4, I ended up setting the bass to -6 db and the treble to -1 dB. For context, I usually listen in pretty quiet environments with ANC off. At these settings, sound is still warm and the bass level slightly boosted compared to what I'd say is a neutral sound, but I very much like the result. For much of the music I listen to, I'd probably consider them sounding overall better than my HD 650. One area where the HD 650 wins is vocals. They just sound more natural and lifelike. I also easily preferred the Px8 to the H95, as I found the H95, while pretty spacious sounding, had weird/unnatural mids. It was a short listening session, though, so would want a bit more time with those.

Interestingly, my friend also bought the Px8 last week. He compared them to his AirPods Max and AKG K712 and ended up unknowingly setting the bass and treble to the exact same values as I did. He's not really an audiophile, but he does appreciate good sound quality and he thought the bass boost on the Px8 was pretty heavy as well.

The only wireless headphones I tried that could really compete with the Px8 are the Bathys. They clearly have much more space in their presentation, as mentioned here many times. The stock/flat EQ setting on them is much less thick sounding than the Px8 and they overall felt more dynamic in the lower end. I would also consider them to sound more natural with voices. While I think the Bathys have the edge in terms of sound quality, the overall package with the Px8 is great. They sound really good, are not overly big, very comfortable (more so than the Bathys) and look absolutely stunning. Therefore I am quite happy with my choice and will definitely be keeping them for a long time!

Thank you. The low end sub Base is greater on Bathys, Airpod Max and even AirPod Pro 2.

 

[Mikael]

Thank you. The low end sub Base is greater on Bathys, Airpod Max and even AirPod Pro 2.

Yeah, that could be why the Bathys seemed to have this quite pleasing and dynamic bottom end without sounding as thick as the Px8.

 

[angelom]

The funny thing for me is, I've been going back and forth between the PX8 and MW75 this past week, trying to decide if I want to get rid of one since they both kind of sit in the same space as a fun headphone to go with my Bathys, and I definitely have plans to try the new T+A Solitaire T and could use a little extra cash for that. Now all of sudden, yesterday this happens and on top of that, Flossy releases his review of the PX8 and came to the conclusion he did. I'm a person who definitely pays attention to signs

He always does this for his first listen. He likes to see how the headphones handle max treble and bass. He always goes off camera and does more realistic tests with multiple genres, he typically states so in his videos. Part of his appeal is catering to the average, modern day consumer. They typically listen to a lot of hip hop, pop, and other modern day music. They like it loud and with a lot of bass. Of course most of us on Head-fi don't listen this way, but I completely understand why he does it and the usefulness of it for his followers.

Is very improbable that Flossy will 'reviewing' the Solitaire T. But I can telling you right now that if he one day 'reviewing' this headphone, he will saying is a "major, major, major, major, major" fail.

 

[Zimmy68]

Totally agree. His personality and channel are popular on YT (over a million subscribers) because he is an entertainer who happened to have chosen audio gear as his platform, and obviously he has been very successful at that. His cat adds to his appeal no doubt. But as far as credibility, well that is questionable by many I'm sure. And as much as I enjoy YT I imagine I have an affinity for the myriad of channels of less than .001% (someone else can do the math on that one)

Could barely finish watching the video, this guy and his cat stress me out.
Also, first thing he does is setting both the bass AND the treble to MAX for his sound test.
I think he and I have different ways of appreciating headphones.

He states that he is far from an audiophile. He is judging them from 2 songs from a streaming site.
Besides his personality, the best reason to watch him is he answers the questions most normal users would have.
If someone buys these no matter what price, the question doesn't mean anything to them.
But if someone wants to know if money were no object, are they worth it?

He owns and uses all of the stuff he has.
I bought the AirPods Max because of his review because I expected him to blow them up because of the price but he loved them.

Anyway, one thing that stuck out at me from this review...
He says you can really tell the difference between the SQ on an iPhone and Android because of the lack of Aptx.
It would be nice if the headphone mfgs would find a solution to that problem (since Apple will never license the tech).

 

[Denkmal]

Anyway, one thing that stuck out at me from this review...
He says you can really tell the difference between the SQ on an iPhone and Android because of the lack of Aptx.

I doubt that guy will be able to tell the difference, listening to crap masters (Usher etc) and with both bass and treble cranked up to max. While he is singing. I call bull.

And I must say, the implementation of AAC in Px8 is really quite good and I would be surprised if you could tell a big difference vs neither AptX or AptX HD. I couldnt spot AptX in a blind test. AptX HD or wired I could tell the difference. Barely.
Even though I am almost always within wire range I enjoy my PX8 with AAC straight from Tidal and an iPhone.

With some other headphones the difference is greater for some reason. I tried with Bathys and it is either poor at AAC or brilliant with APTX, either way the difference appears bigger between the codecs.

 

[Zimmy68]

I doubt that guy will be able to tell the difference, listening to crap masters (Usher etc) and with both bass and treble cranked up to max. While he is singing. I call bull.

And I must say, the implementation of AAC in Px8 is really quite good and I would be surprised if you could tell a big difference vs neither AptX or AptX HD. I couldnt spot AptX in a blind test. AptX HD or wired I could tell the difference. Barely.
Even though I am almost always within wire range I enjoy my PX8 with AAC straight from Tidal and an iPhone.

With some other headphones the difference is greater for some reason. I tried with Bathys and it is either poor at AAC or brilliant with APTX, either way the difference appears bigger between the codecs.

Good to know. Thanks.

 

[PauliusB]

Im joining here with battery issue. My PX8 007 edition battery drains from 100% to 5% in 24h WITHOUT using them.

 

[BooleanBones]

Im joining here with battery issue. My PX8 007 edition battery drains from 100% to 5% in 24h WITHOUT using them.

Are they really drained? Kind of reminds of the app display problem I had with some TWS sets. Just curious.

 

[PauliusB]

Are they really drained? Kind of reminds of the app display problem I had with some TWS sets. Just curious.

I just read it. You are roght. After they turned off because of "battery low". I have turned them on again. And now its 85% LOL!

 

[BooleanBones]

I just read it. You are roght. After they turned off because of "battery low". I have turned them on again. And now its 85% LOL!

Hopefully that can be resolved with firmware. Definitely worth a support ticket with the B&W folks. Keep us posted.

 

[mainguy]

Im joining here with battery issue. My PX8 007 edition battery drains from 100% to 5% in 24h WITHOUT using them.

Double check to see if anything is autoconnecting to them, if you're not manually turning them off. That sounds like the most likely culprit and happens with my BT dongle a lot because I forget to shut it off.

 

[vincenz]

I doubt that guy will be able to tell the difference, listening to crap masters (Usher etc) and with both bass and treble cranked up to max. While he is singing. I call bull.

And I must say, the implementation of AAC in Px8 is really quite good and I would be surprised if you could tell a big difference vs neither AptX or AptX HD. I couldnt spot AptX in a blind test. AptX HD or wired I could tell the difference. Barely.
Even though I am almost always within wire range I enjoy my PX8 with AAC straight from Tidal and an iPhone.

With some other headphones the difference is greater for some reason. I tried with Bathys and it is either poor at AAC or brilliant with APTX, either way the difference appears bigger between the codecs.

The Px8 have been so good they’ve made me upgrade my existing B&W speakers and also add another set to the house. I recently got a Bluesound Node for streaming for one of the systems and it also gave me a chance to try out the Px8 in AptX HD.

The difference to my ears between AAC and AptX HD is noticeable, a good 10% improvement at least. There’s a bit more spaciousness and everything is a bit tightened up and clarity dialed up ever so slightly. Ideally I would be listening to them like this, but even in AAC with my Apple devices I am more than happy. I would not walk around with dongles out of my iOS devices for it or get a dedicated player, nor am I switching away from my iPhone.

 

[7KRP]

@Maukey how would you compare the ANC on the mw75s to the px8?

 

[TK33]

Santa came early this year. Got my Px8 a day early (you were right @erockg )! These definitely put a smile on my face, especially with acoustic sounds like cello and violins. Sound signature is clearly in the same family as my Px7 S2 but definitely better in soundstage, separation and treble extension to my ears (and my last 45 min with them). Vocals also sound more cohesive vs the Px7 S2 and less inside my head. I am listening with no EQ initially just to get used to them but I EQ my Px7 S2 (-1.5 bass and +1 db treble) and know I will be EQing these eventually. When I do I think the treble will need less adjustment for me, if any (treble on the Px8 seems much better in my opinion). As I expected before I bought these, the bass is a bit overpowering for my taste (bass line and kick drum take over the music for me with no EQ) but this is really personal taste. I don't think it muddies anything, just sounds out of balance for my taste if that makes any sense.

I was worried that they would look too similar to the Px7 S2 but there are enough differences that I don't think I will be confusing them even as I am rushing out the door. There are clearly enough physical differences and upgrades and the pictures definitely don't do the Px8 justice.

Back to enjoying my music.

 

[Maukey]

@Maukey how would you compare the ANC on the mw75s to the px8?

I would say the strength of the ANC is comparable between the two. Where the PX8 has the edge is in the passive isolation.