[AnnR]

Acoustic jazz. A jazz trio for example of a small quartet or quintet. Double bass in a proper recording sounds bloated and excessive on the PX8 without EQ. Gets in the way of mids and transparency. In my case -3.5 on the bass slider.

Virtually everyone is reducing the bass by -2/-3db suggests excessive bloated bass for most.

 

[skazz]

Virtually everyone is reducing the bass by -2/-3db suggests excessive bloated bass for most.

I wouldn't expect typical users on head-fi to be bass heads, so I'm not surprised.

 

[JPdavid16]

Virtually everyone is reducing the bass by -2/-3db suggests excessive bloated bass for most.

Well! I for one am not doing it. Just enjoying the sound coming out of this can. Don’t feel the need to. And I listen to every genre there is. So to me, there is no excessive bloated bass to reduce

 

[Denkmal]

Virtually everyone is reducing the bass by -2/-3db suggests excessive bloated bass for most.

But please. Your nack for statistics is amusing. Try checking on r/BowersWilkins and you'll see equally many posts that suggest people like the stock tuning or even more bass...

 

[AnnR]

But please. Your nack for statistics is amusing. Try checking on r/BowersWilkins and you'll see equally many posts that suggest people like the stock tuning or even more bass...

It was just a general observation based on the comments here, where a fair few people remarked that they reduced the bass by -2/-3db nothing more. They are not my statistics friend. I personally reduced all 3 sets I tried a little. If you like a lot of bass and enjoy it that's fine it's personal taste and choice. I also get that some people love these headphones, that's also fine. However having recently heard the Noble Focus Apollo my opinion is they knock spots of the PX8. I get you love them and that's fine, enjoy your evening.

 

[KopaneDePooj]

OMG they look like a Px7 S2 rip-off, such a glaring lack of originality, B&W should sue 'em
https://www.google.com/search?q=Noble+Focus+Apoll#fpstate=imgv&imgv=0

Back to px8:
I don't do -2db on bass. I think they're just slightly bassy sometimes, I like that, and right now I like what they do with 80's heavy metal. The vocal presence and timbre, and the overall oomph. Just an example. I listen to many genres and very rarely the bass was a bit too much - mainly when it is exaggerated in the studio mix.



Or this one. Milk and honey to my ears >>

 

[skazz]

Yeah maybe, there's some small QC issues with the PX8 I have as well. The headband is creased when not on the head and when I adjust the right side it's not smooth whereas the left side is.

Sound wise with some songs it's almost like switching from AM to FM when going from the PX8 to the SM4's. I've found it's especially noticeable with this song which sounds good on the Sennheiser but muddy on the PX8

coming back to this.... Earlier I wasn't at home so background noise got in the way of my test:

Ok, I am listening to Kodama 20syl on my Px8s as I type this, using Spotify very high quality setting with the Px8s in ANC mode via bluetooth off my MacBook Air (AAC protocol).

As usual with these headphones, they don't like to be soft. I need at least 6/16 on the MacBook volume for the track to come alive. At this volume I can hear all the little details easily, and don't hear any muddiness?

I am now at home with the B&Ws having set ANC off, but also comparing to a pair of Sennheiser wired headphones. I now hear what you are talking about.

This particular track is a really bad fit for the B&W sound signature. The lushness which sounds so good when listening to unamplified instruments really doesn't work with all the synth happening in this track. The smaller soundstage and more closed in feeling of the B&Ws dramatically changes the experience of the track. I agree completely that at least on my Sennheisers there's no comparison.

The B&W interpretation is awful at lower volumes too, muddy is a good way of putting it unless you turn it up (still 6/16 needed on the volume on this MacBook for that even at home). Even then, it's still closed in, but everything seems to be present. Other headphones don't have such a drastic change after you tweak the volume.

But in conclusion: If this is your type of music, and you particularly want that treble airiness in the synth, then the Px8s are not the right choice for you. Try something else.

Extra test: The sub-bass on this track was mostly missing on my wired Sennheisers, and it's there but as notes rather than a physical experience on the B&Ws. But on my Bose QC Ultras there's more of that Sennheiser neutrality (with less ambience/airiness) but with a very healthy dose of physical sub-bass. A completely different sound (and probably the most enjoyable of the three for that bass alone).



I'm keeping this track as a test track, thanks. The way it completely changes depending on which headphones I am using is really neat.

 

[Drakester]

OMG they look like a Px7 S2 rip-off, such a glaring lack of originality, B&W should sue 'em

That's a bit unfair, there's some resemblance but hardly look the same in person. I own both Px8s and recently the Fokus Apollo.

They were the same price at where I got the Apollos and they absolutely murder the Px8s in SQ. I'm keeping Px8s too but if I had to choose one I'd definitely go for the Apollo.

Px8s are still extremely good to me in terms of comfort, too bad about the headband issues (mine haven't but it's a ticking bomb AFAIK)

 

[Denkmal]

That's a bit unfair, there's some resemblance but hardly look the same in person. I own both Px8s and recently the Fokus Apollo.

They were the same price at where I got the Apollos and they absolutely murder the Px8s in SQ. I'm keeping Px8s too but if I had to choose one I'd definitely go for the Apollo.

Px8s are still extremely good to me in terms of comfort, too bad about the headband issues (mine haven't but it's a ticking bomb AFAIK)

PX8 were expensive when launched but have come down in price dramatically. I saw them for 330€ here. Meanwhile the Apollo pricing is very different.

I am sure Apollo sounds great but from the looks of them, to me they would be competing with Dali IO-12, ML no 5909 and other ANC headphones that I feel are just a tad too big for general mobile use.

 

[Vin571]

How is the clamping force compared to the px7s2 (and px7s2e I guess)?
I have the px7s2 and I find the clamping force and stability on the head just about perfect.

 

[Denkmal]

How is the clamping force compared to the px7s2 (and px7s2e I guess)?
I have the px7s2 and I find the clamping force and stability on the head just about perfect.

To me it is very similar, but the leather pads on PX8 are more comfortable. They do form a bit to your head in the first few days, so if you try a new pair they may feel a bit stiffer. But overall my impression is that PX8 is more comfortable.

 

[skazz]

Acoustic jazz. A jazz trio for example or a small quartet or quintet. Double bass in a proper recording sounds bloated and excessive on the PX8 without EQ. Gets in the way of mids and transparency. In my case -3.5 on the bass slider.

Coming back to this: After deliberately picking a bunch of bass heavy music, I decided that I prefer -4dB bass EQ. As you stated, the bass gets in the way of the mids and obscures some smaller detail in this type of music.

Curiously, none of the jazz I tried sounded bass-heavy or had sluggish double basses, although the initial pizzicato hit on a strummed double bass did sound crisper on my wired Sennheisers... But this came at the loss of that B&W lushness on the other instruments which for me was a worse result.


As a hifi-only guy for so long, I'm starting to realise why headfi denizens tend to own lots of pairs of headphones. Each genre needs different compromises.

 

[Jazzophile]

Coming back to this: After deliberately picking a bunch of bass heavy music, I decided that I prefer -4dB bass EQ. As you stated, the bass gets in the way of the mids and obscures some smaller detail in this type of music.

Curiously, none of the jazz I tried sounded bass-heavy or had sluggish double basses, although the initial pizzicato hit on a strummed double bass did sound crisper on my wired Sennheisers... But this came at the loss of that B&W lushness on the other instruments which for me was a worse result.


As a hifi-only guy for so long, I'm starting to realise why headfi denizens tend to own lots of pairs of headphones. Each genre needs different compromises.

This!!!

 

[peterinvan]

@Skazz

As a hifi-only guy for so long, I'm starting to realise why headfi denizens tend to own lots of pairs of headphones. Each genre needs different compromises.

My PX8s are set to +6db treble, and -6db bass. It's not convenient to keep changing this setting in the app.

With my wired headphones, I am now a big fan of the Loki+ tone control to adjust the sound for each genre of music, in fact I adjust the tone on a track by track basis to find my preferred sound profile.

Much cheaper than buying multiple headphones, speakers, or room treatments.

 

[ArjenIsM3]

Sound is all about preferences. PX8 is warm and lush and if you’re sensitive to this it might give the impression they they are not detailed. Technically they are superior to Senn M4.

You have not specified your source and what codec you are using. My impression is that PX8 sound better over AAC than AptX but of course better over AptXHD.

Did most of my testing using my Samsung S23 Ultra which I believe doesn't support aptX HD only regular aptX and it was set to that. I also used my work laptop which is a HP Elitebook running Windows 11. Can't install anything on it so hard to check but considering Windows 11 doesn't support aptX OOTB I'm 99% sure it's using AAC. Source is Spotify set to the best quality setting (and yes I know there are streaming services that support better quality).

coming back to this.... Earlier I wasn't at home so background noise got in the way of my test:


I am now at home with the B&Ws having set ANC off, but also comparing to a pair of Sennheiser wired headphones. I now hear what you are talking about.

This particular track is a really bad fit for the B&W sound signature. The lushness which sounds so good when listening to unamplified instruments really doesn't work with all the synth happening in this track. The smaller soundstage and more closed in feeling of the B&Ws dramatically changes the experience of the track. I agree completely that at least on my Sennheisers there's no comparison.

The B&W interpretation is awful at lower volumes too, muddy is a good way of putting it unless you turn it up (still 6/16 needed on the volume on this MacBook for that even at home). Even then, it's still closed in, but everything seems to be present. Other headphones don't have such a drastic change after you tweak the volume.

But in conclusion: If this is your type of music, and you particularly want that treble airiness in the synth, then the Px8s are not the right choice for you. Try something else.

Extra test: The sub-bass on this track was mostly missing on my wired Sennheisers, and it's there but as notes rather than a physical experience on the B&Ws. But on my Bose QC Ultras there's more of that Sennheiser neutrality (with less ambience/airiness) but with a very healthy dose of physical sub-bass. A completely different sound (and probably the most enjoyable of the three for that bass alone).



I'm keeping this track as a test track, thanks. The way it completely changes depending on which headphones I am using is really neat.

Yes I agree. These kind of tracks the Sennheisers shine. I wouldn't say it's my genre per se. I listen to a lot of different music and I was just looking for a track to test headphones with and stumbled across this track in an old playlist of mine. It's definitely a good test track. You're also right the PX8s need a high volume to bring out the best in them which is a bit of a shame. Most of my testing with my phone I had them set at one click below where the volume slider goes red to indicate potentially dangerous volume levels. This is pretty loud and louder than what I'd ideally want when at the office or at home for example. On the laptop they were set at 60-70%.

Having used them for a few hours at the office today I didn't have the headband irritation I had with the SM4s nor did I experience heat issues but I did have a similar issue to what I had with the SM4s where my right ear would get slightly irritated after a while. I found myself shifting them around on my head a bit but was unable to find that perfect fit. Maybe it's just that I'm not used to this type of headphone anymore as at home I mostly use my Sennheiser Epos GSP 670 headphones for work (lots of Teams meetings and love the flip to mute mic for that) and these have fairly large dual material earcups so it's fabric touching your skin and not (p)leather. I don't have the issue with them. When I want to do some more critical listening I grab my old Philips Fidelio X1's and these are also very comfortable and light with large fabric earpads. The PX8's are obviously smaller with leather pads and a higher clamping force for the ANC.

I'm still unsure whether I'm going to keep either of these headphones. I'm leaning towards the PX8s but they're not without their flaws and they are twice the price of the M4s. Will try both of them out a bit more before I decide.