I think it’s worthy of a listen for sure, especially if you can find a place with a good return policy.
Bowers and Wilkins PX8 Wireless Discussion
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erod
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Could somebody compare them to the original PX? I still have them as my street cans. I bought them after the massive price drop, and for what I paid, I like them. I may be due for an upgrade, so I would love a comparison. Thank you!
Unless someone beats me to it, I can if you give me a few days. I need to charge up the PXs and have a busy couple days at work.
tiagopinto
500+ Head-Fier
I also have the Aonic 50 and, although they may not have the best sound, I like their neutrality.
One thing I also love about the A50 is that I can drive them passively. Do the PX7, PX7S2, PX8 or any other BT/ANC full size cans allow this?
None of the Bowers have a truly passive mode. Neither does the B&O H95. The ML 5909 does and the early indication is that the Focal Bathys launching tomorrow also does. Also T+A's upcoming Solitaire T definitely does.
ML 5909 does (i use it with my Hiby r6 in that way)
tiagopinto
500+ Head-Fier
Im guessing the earpads will be way too small like all other ANC-cans I've tested...
I have rather large ears and the Aonic 50 don’t rub against my ears. Maybe not the best out there. But I’m still happy.
Houstonnewbie
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I never tested H95 so I don’t know how bad is it, but I’ve tested qc45 and 700, xm5 as well
Px8 is less powerful than xm5( but doesn’t give you that kind of ear pressure)
In a very noisy subway you will still hear some chatter from people, but I think if it’s from a group of people come from the same direction it’s pretty quiet.
If it’s in a shopping mall where people are less crowd then it’s pretty quiet too
Hope that gives you some insight
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MdJdB
New Head-Fier
I found another review of the PX8: https://www.t3.com/reviews/bowers-wilkins-px8-review
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Jazz1
1000+ Head-Fier
Ouch, this iPad and iPhone user got spanked by this article
The PX8 use Bluetooth 5.2 for wireless connectivity, and they are compatible with Qualcomm’s aptX, aptX HD and aptX Adaptive codecs – which is uncomplicatedly good news. Well, it is for anyone who’s not using an iPhone as a source player, anyway – although it’s at this point I ask why you’re using a codec-poor smartphone with £599 headphones anyway?
Lol so catty! But more seriously, is there a really pronounced quality drop when using headphones with apple products?Ouch, this iPad and iPhone user got spanked by this article
The PX8 use Bluetooth 5.2 for wireless connectivity, and they are compatible with Qualcomm’s aptX, aptX HD and aptX Adaptive codecs – which is uncomplicatedly good news. Well, it is for anyone who’s not using an iPhone as a source player, anyway – although it’s at this point I ask why you’re using a codec-poor smartphone with £599 headphones anyway?
marcr
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After reading the article, this was the only thing that stuck with me. Primarily because it fails to mention Samsung phones do not support aptX adaptive or aptX HD either and iPhone would still connect via AAC.Ouch, this iPad and iPhone user got spanked by this article
The PX8 use Bluetooth 5.2 for wireless connectivity, and they are compatible with Qualcomm’s aptX, aptX HD and aptX Adaptive codecs – which is uncomplicatedly good news. Well, it is for anyone who’s not using an iPhone as a source player, anyway – although it’s at this point I ask why you’re using a codec-poor smartphone with £599 headphones anyway?
Personally, I didnt see much substance in that article and feels more like a marketing piece than a review.
I only have Android phones so can't answer from personal experience but there are many iPhone users who enjoy bluetooth headphones and TWS that are not made by Apple. Generally, third party devices support AAC and, unless you read somewhere that the AAC implementation is awful on a specific headphone, I wouldn't worry too much about it. While I do have some aptX adaptive capable phones (LG V60 and OnePlus 8T), I actually find myself using my Px7 S2 with my Galaxy S22+ the most purely out of convenience (it is my primary phone but does not support aptX adaptive or aptX HD so just uses aptX). Persobally, I think tuning, sound signature and fit/comfort are more important than bitrate when it comes to my own enjoyment of music.
You're right, the headphone is No.1
There's an easy test I've done for this. My Focal Stellia on AAC via iFi go blu on my iPhone, vs Master & Dynamic cans on an aptx hd sony xperia. The Stellia sound miles, i mean miiiles better. They sound considerably better in this setup than any bT headphone I've heard, they sound better than a Focal Clear wired in most cases...Which is a decent indication, AAC is not a bottleneck yet, headphone drivers are.
starfly
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The only way to know for sure whether a codec really matters is to do a volume-matched double-blind test with the same headphones, but switching codecs. And then ideally through a Bluetooth transmitter with a good AAC implementation, as it appears that on iPhones the AAC implementation is better (which you'd expect given that it's a codec created by Apple) than on many Androids.
In general codec differences are probably overstated though. Once you're above a certain bitrate it becomes effectively transparent to >90% of people. I certainly don't hear the difference between 320kbps MP3 and FLAC for example (did a double-blind test to confirm).
Having said that, AptX Adaptive has other features, such as an auto low latency mode for certain types of streaming like movies or playing games. And those are nice features to have. It's dumb that Samsung is omitting it from their phones because they're trying to push their own Scalable codec. As usual, when someone tries to introduce a new standard, you just have more "standards", but no universal one.
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