[Zaroff]

Let's not OT too much with burn-in. Can of worms here...
 
I shall add that the P9 appear as they're quite easy to drive. Directly out of the ZX2 the sound is plentiful in all ways. Authoritative, precise, and loud.

 

[akg fanboy]

Let's not OT too much with burn-in. Can of worms here...

I shall add that the P9 appear as they're quite easy to drive. Directly out of the ZX2 the sound is plentiful in all ways. Authoritative, precise, and loud.

Do your entire ears fit inside the earcups?

 

[Zaroff]

Mine do, at least 

  I have normal sized ears, but I don't believe it should be a problem for the vast majority of people. There's room to spare.

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

What struck me as a positive thing about the P9 when I auditioned them, apart from the excellent soundstage and the general massive feel of the sound, was that it didn't have any annoying treble peaks. I haven't heard the TH-900, but I did own the Denon AH-D5000 which was one of its predecessors, and that one has an elevated treble that could sound quite nasty. The P9 was smooth and clean, without sounding rolled off or overly dampened, like for example the Audeze LCD-2. Because the only headphones I had to compare it with in the store was the P7 and Audioquest Nighthawk, I didn't have any other high end headphones to compare it with. The P9 blew those two out of the water to such an extent it was no competition. One thing I can say for sure, is that the P9 avoids most of the horrible issues high end headphones have had in the past.

man oh man. I keep hearing/reading wonderful news about these things. I will most likely pull the trigger.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Very tempting, gorgeous design, but 40mm drivers. There is certainly (IMO) a relationship between driver size and sound scale portrayal. It would have been nice to see a 45mm or 50mm driver. Still, I'm going to keep my attention on this design for sure.

 

[XERO1]

  I just received mine today.
 
Very briefly, the good: massive sound. Corrects most of the flaws of the P7, which I already enjoyed a lot. The bad: massive leakage (in comparison to both P7 and Denon MM400, as I own both). Isolation is correct, but the leakage of sound to the exterior is important, surprising from a closed back.
 

 
B&W lists 'Controlled acoustic air leak cushions' as a feature of the P9, so it shouldn't be too surprising that they leak sound at high volumes.

 
 
To my ears, the best sounding headphones have always been either open-back or semi-open-back.  So while the P9 leaking sound might rule it out for in-public use, I think B&W had SQ as a first priority for the P9 and choose to make it a semi-open design and target it more towards at-home use, rather than sacrifice SQ and make it a fully closed design, which would have been better for on-the-go use.
 
I just wish they would have went all the way and gave it an external connector for each earcup, so that it could be run balanced.  Oh well.

 

 

[Sonic Defender]

   
B&W lists 'Controlled acoustic air leak cushions' as a feature of the P9, so it shouldn't be too surprising that they leak sound at high volumes.

 
 
To my ears, the best sounding headphones have always been either open-back or semi-open-back.  So while the P9 leaking sound might rule it out for in-public use, I think B&W had SQ as a first priority for the P9 and choose to make it a semi-open design and target it more towards at-home use, rather than sacrifice SQ and make it a fully closed design, which would have been better for on-the-go use.
 
I just wish they would have went all the way and gave it an external connector for each earcup, so that it could be run balanced.  Oh well.

 

You don't need two connectors to have balanced, just the correct internal wiring. The PM3 can be run balanced with just one external connection. Unless I'm missing something which is always possible.

 

[noplsestar]

   
 
FAIL!
 
Thanks for the impressions so far.
But seeing "leakage" just steers me away... I work with people close to me and although I don't blast my ears, any leakage == Bad.
I'll be getting the Ether Flow Cs soon and these caught my attention but... yeah....

Me too ... the downside of the Ether C Flows is the price (compared to the P9)

 

[philipdharris1]

Because of the unique cables the B&W uses when the jack goes directly inside the earcup, is there anything adapter wise you could use so that then you can purchase any 3.5mm to 3.5mm/6.3mm cable to use?
 
Say possibly using a braided V-Moda cable for instance...

 

[scarfacegt]

Aynone compared these to the audeze sine? I just got the sines,and they sound fantastic. but i guess the p9 will be a little more comfortable.But how is the sound?

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

Aynone compared these to the audeze sine? I just got the sines,and they sound fantastic.

but i guess the p9 will be a little more comfortable.But how is the sound?

The Sine are on-ear design, The P9's go over the entire ear. So there deft going to be wayyyy more comfortable (P9) then the Sines. Completely different audiences i think.

 

[netdog]

Just picked up mine.

I'll post first impressions in a few days.
 

 

[scarfacegt]

  Just picked up mine.

I'll post first impressions in a few days.
 

 
Would love to hear how the isolation is.How good they block out outside noise,when playing on medium volume.And how much they are leaking sound.

 

[Mark Up]

 Aynone compared these to the audeze sine? I just got the sines,and they sound fantastic.

From what I hear the Sine is brighter and has less bass. Audeze revisions have carved more and more bass from the frequency spectrum it seems. These would probably be good as an alternative offering a warmer sound, with far better sub bass extension and impact, and less fatigue, while being larger and more comfortable over ear headphones instead.

 

[Sonic Defender]

  From what I hear the Sine is brighter and has less bass. Audeze revisions have carved more and more bass from the frequency spectrum it seems. These would probably be good as an alternative offering a warmer sound, with far better sub bass extension and impact, and less fatigue, while being larger and more comfortable over ear headphones instead.

I'm not sure you get true sub bass with 40mm drivers. I think the bass will roll off significantly after say 50Hz, at least when amplitude is considered. I find typically if the smaller driver headphones sound really full down low, the mid bass is usually elevated with decent low bass extension, but where sub bass is concerned, our brain is apparently able to "fill in" the missing information. Not sure of course as I haven't heard the P9 yet, and I may yet buy it, but damn, at this price it is hard to go for a 40mm driver. Anyway, really looking forward to getting more impressions of the P9.