[Sonic Defender]

I'm afraid I haven't. But, I can give you a brief description that might help you with pairing.

The P9 is a very full sounding headphone with rich and powerful bass that still manages to be agile/fast, mids that are both buttery smooth and detailed, and detailed highs that are never piercing or sibilant.

I would pair it with sources that are either neutral or slightly bright. I would not pair it with anything warm, dark, or overly "heavy" sounding.

Agree completely, neutral source is best for these headphones.

 

[Tubakien]

A strong dislike I have had with my P7 Wireless headphones is how they perform with classical music, particularly scores that feature a violin, and other less-produced genres with vocals and guitars. They all sound less lively and more distant to me than when listening to them on my AKG K702's or H9's, which is the recessed mids I hear people talk about when referring to the P7W sound. How do P9's handle the frequencies where those types of instruments come into play?

If you need some examples in songs:
Ljosio - Olafur Arnalds - I can almost hear the resin and bow scraping against the strings on the H9's. They are not perceptible to me on the P7W.
Saxo - Circle - Only the choral intro. I get very impressive separation of each voice on the H9's; I can pick one of the singer's voices and just focus on it, whereas I can't pick out the voices with the P7W.
Anno: I. Spring - Grace Davidson, Oliver Davis, Trafalgar Sinfonia - Violins have much better separation and liveliness in H9's that the P7W's. The singer's voice is much more detailed with the H9's and I can almost imagine myself sitting in the recording studio near her.

 

[Tubakien]

When I say "powerful headphone", I mean to say that it is very dynamic. When you listen to musical instruments being played in person, the music they create has varying degrees of physical impact that allow you to "feel" the music.

Music heard through most quality headphones that I've owned sounded a bit lifeless in comparison. Most headphones fail miserably at reproducing this visceral impact I'm describing because of the inherent limitations of small drivers...unless they have a very overemphasized bass in relation to mids and highs. The P9 doesn't have this problem. It sounds "live" to me, if that makes sense.

Now don't get me wrong....the P9 does not have a textbook flat or clinical signature. That isn't what I meant. If you were to look at its frequency response on paper, I'm sure the bass would be at least somewhat elevated in comparison to the mids. But somehow, B&W have managed to do this without having the mids or highs take a back seat in any way. Nothing sounds recessed in any way.

This is what I was getting at. Despite the powerful bass response, the mids and highs still sound fully present.

Howdy JoePR31,

As a current P7 Wireless owner, I'm interested on your take of the comparisons between the P7W and the P9. The only thing I think could be improved on with the P7W is that instruments like vocals and violins as well as mic'd music (live, classical, singer/songwriter) don't sound as engaging to me as something like my B&O H9's. That frequency is a bit more recessed on the P7W for me.

How do the P7W and P9 compare when you listen to music of the previously-mentioned genres?

 

[Blinxat]

A strong dislike I have had with my P7 Wireless headphones is how they perform with classical music, particularly scores that feature a violin, and other less-produced genres with vocals and guitars. They all sound less lively and more distant to me than when listening to them on my AKG K702's or H9's, which is the recessed mids I hear people talk about when referring to the P7W sound. How do P9's handle the frequencies where those types of instruments come into play?

Interesting observations! It makes sense from looking at the measurements from the K702 but I don't quite get how the sense is developed for the H9. Looking at these measurements, maybe what you are hearing is that the upper bass comes back down slighty later on the P7W than the H9.. The mids however are recessed on both. I don't have a H9 but the H6, there also the H6 seems to have the thinner voicing, and because of that dip in the high bass it sometimes seems a little more textured in the mids maybe. But my conclusion is that the P7W just has a cleaner background that is pitch black while the H6 (and H7) have a brighter background, the treble on H6 and H7 is not as resolving as P7W on the wire and the H6 is not as good on imaging as P7W. The H6 sounds wider, but the sense of seperation and distances is better on P7W. The whole treble is more resolving.

But again I don't own H9 so can't discuss the effect.

 

[JoePR31]

Howdy JoePR31,

As a current P7 Wireless owner, I'm interested on your take of the comparisons between the P7W and the P9. The only thing I think could be improved on with the P7W is that instruments like vocals and violins as well as mic'd music (live, classical, singer/songwriter) don't sound as engaging to me as something like my B&O H9's. That frequency is a bit more recessed on the P7W for me.

How do the P7W and P9 compare when you listen to music of the previously-mentioned genres?

Hey Tubakien. I listened to the tracks you listed, and I think you'll be more than pleased with how the P9 handles them.

Ljosio - Olafur Arnalds - The piano has a very natural tonality, and the strings sound heavenly. The difference isn't night and day, but the P9 is more resolving than the H9...and in another leauge compared to the P7W.
Saxo - Circle - Only the choral intro - It is very easy to pick out and follow each individual singer. Imaging and separation on the P9 are top notch.
Anno: I. Spring - Once again, the imaging capabilities of the P9 shine. And, if you listen carefully, not only can you hear every nuance of the sound created by the singers's vocal cords...but all the non-vocal little noises her mouth makes as she moves it.

The P9 and P7W share a general B&W house sound and, despite being on the larger end of the scale, they are both very viable as portable headphones...but that is where the similarities end. The P9's hit harder and extend lower. Their bass is also tighter, faster, and more detailed...despite being north of neautral in quantity. Their mids are more present, cohesive, and detailed. And the highs are more extended than on the P7W, but I've never heard even a hint of sibilance or harshness.

The P9 have a more "realistic" tonality. They sound more natural than any other closed headphones that I've personally heard. But where they really leave the P7W's in the dust is in their ability to reconstruct the sensation of space and ambiance in music...epecially of live performances. The P9's soundstage is substantually wider than the P7's, and there is no comparison when it comes to imaging and separation.

You should buy a pair from an authorised dealer and try them so you can decide for yourself if they are worth $900 to you. When you also take into account the truly luxurious build (they make the P7's feel cheap) and amazing efficiency, I think they're worth every penny.

 

[Tubakien]

Interesting observations! It makes sense from looking at the measurements from the K702 but I don't quite get how the sense is developed for the H9. Looking at these measurements, maybe what you are hearing is that the upper bass comes back down slighty later on the P7W than the H9.. The mids however are recessed on both. I don't have a H9 but the H6, there also the H6 seems to have the thinner voicing, and because of that dip in the high bass it sometimes seems a little more textured in the mids maybe. But my conclusion is that the P7W just has a cleaner background that is pitch black while the H6 (and H7) have a brighter background, the treble on H6 and H7 is not as resolving as P7W on the wire and the H6 is not as good on imaging as P7W. The H6 sounds wider, but the sense of seperation and distances is better on P7W. The whole treble is more resolving.

But again I don't own H9 so can't discuss the effect.

Thank you for the in-depth analysis.

I did a quick search on what frequency spectrum violins and female vocals generally lie in as they stand out the most to me on the H9's and found a pretty sweet frequency spectrum chart for many instruments.

Both female vocals and violins fall within the 200 Hz - 2000 Hz frequency range, which are considered low-mid to mid range frequencies according to the image.

When comparing that frequency range with the nice frequency response curves (is that what they're called?) you posted, it looks like the P7W and H9 should have similar responses in that region, whereas the K702s are relatively flat throughout.

I guess other factors other than frequency response must explain why the H9 and P7W sound so different to me. I'll have to continue comparing them on different fronts as it seems they are similar on this reading.

 

[Tubakien]

Hey Tubakien. I listened to the tracks you listed, and I think you'll be more than pleased with how the P9 handles them.

Ljosio - Olafur Arnalds - The piano has a very natural tonality, and the strings sound heavenly. The difference isn't night and day, but the P9 is more resolving than the H9...and in another leauge compared to the P7W.
Saxo - Circle - Only the choral intro - It is very easy to pick out and follow each individual singer. Imaging and separation on the P9 are top notch.
Anno: I. Spring - Once again, the imaging capabilities of the P9 shine. And, if you listen carefully, not only can you hear every nuance of the sound created by the singers's vocal cords...but all the non-vocal little noises her mouth makes as she moves it.

The P9 and P7W share a general B&W house sound and, despite being on the larger end of the scale, they are both very viable as portable headphones...but that is where the similarities end. The P9's hit harder and extend lower. Their bass is also tighter, faster, and more detailed...despite being north of neautral in quantity. Their mids are more present, cohesive, and detailed. And the highs are more extended than on the P7W, but I've never heard even a hint of sibilance or harshness.

The P9 have a more "realistic" tonality. They sound more natural than any other closed headphones that I've personally heard. But where they really leave the P7W's in the dust is in their ability to reconstruct the sensation of space and ambiance in music...epecially of live performances. The P9's soundstage is substantually wider than the P7's, and there is no comparison when it comes to imaging and separation.

You should buy a pair from an authorised dealer and try them so you can decide for yourself if they are worth $900 to you. When you also take into account the truly luxurious build (they make the P7's feel cheap) and amazing efficiency, I think they're worth every penny.

Thank you for putting the time in to preview those songs!

It's great to hear that the P9's are a step above the P7W in terms of resolution, imaging, and separation. I tried listening to the 3 songs again with your observations in mind and I think those three factors may be what make live recordings more engaging to me on the H9's. Instead of feeling like I'm listening to a recorded track on the P7W, it feels like I'm in the room with the performers recording the song live on the H9's.

I'll definitely put the P9 on my short list of possible upgrades, especially considering the high praise I've seen on the forums and from reviews on websites.

 

[329161]

Can anyone make a comparison between the P9 and the Shure 1540?

 

[avraham]

I can make a comparison between the B&W P9 and the Shure SRH1840. The Shure is a great headphone for the money. I also have Oppo PM-1, PM-3, Sennhesier HD-600, HD-650, B&W P-3, P-5. When I want to do serious listening whether, Jazz, Classical, Rock or Blues I always reach for the P-9. They are just simply my go to headphone.

 

[forestitalia]

I had the P9 recently, has a sound signature that surprised me a bit, but I really like too!
The bass is different from all other bass-heads, voices are not recessed at all, in fact I enjoy it a lot with Opera. With some jazz records the bass is a little in your face.
Really different from the D7200, P9 is more "fun"; btw I like both.
With the mobile Lgv20 sounds poor compared with the AR20 that makes the P9 fly

 

[JoePR31]

I had the P9 recently, has a sound signature that surprised me a bit, but I really like too!
The bass is different from all other bass-heads, voices are not recessed at all, in fact I enjoy it a lot with Opera. With some jazz records the bass is a little in your face.
Really different from the D7200, P9 is more "fun"; btw I like both.
With the mobile Lgv20 sounds poor compared with the AR20 that makes the P9 fly

The LG V20 QuadDac has 3 different power modes based on the resistance/impedance it detects when you plug a headphone cable into its headphone out. The P9 has such a low impedance that when you plug it in to the V20, the QuadDac automatically runs at its lowest setting which it says is for "regular audio devices". It seemed gimped to me.

I started tricking it by holding down the middle volume button on the inline mic of the P9 cable and then plugging the cable into the V20 while continuing to hold the button down for a few seconds after plugging it in. This raises the inline resistance and the V20 compensates by setting the QuadDac to its middle power setting, which it says is for "external audio devices". The extra juice seems to make the P9 sound more open and controlled to my ears. Another way of tricking it into going into the "external device" power setting is to disconnect the headphone cable from the headphones, plug the 3.5mm end into the V20, then reconnect the cable into the headphones.

Also, be aware that my listening volume when on the lowest QuadDac power setting was around 50-55, but I needed to drop that down to about 35-40 when on the middle power setting to maintain a comfortable listening volume.

 

[JoePR31]

I can make a comparison between the B&W P9 and the Shure SRH1840. The Shure is a great headphone for the money. I also have Oppo PM-1, PM-3, Sennhesier HD-600, HD-650, B&W P-3, P-5. When I want to do serious listening whether, Jazz, Classical, Rock or Blues I always reach for the P-9. They are just simply my go to headphone.

You started out by saying that you can compare the P9 to the SRH1840, but didn't follow through except to say that the Shure is great for the money. Can you give more specific feedback, please?

 

[rpaul]

Can anyone make a comparison between the P9 and the Shure 1540?

The 1540 sounds a little rolled-off at the top end compared to the P9, and the P9 presents a wider soundstage. Overall the P9 sounds more like listening to speakers and is more engaging, for music. I still prefer the 1540 for watching movies/shows - for that it seems to offer a more focused experience that seems appropriate for dialogue while still providing solid low frequency response for soundtrack/effects.

Not a very detailed comparison, but hope it helps. I definitely prefer the P9 for music and think it's great directly from tablet/phone. Very curious to hear if/how the lightning cable will change things.

 

[avraham]

I hesitate to give detailed comparisons because hearing is so subjective, no two people hear alike. Any listening device is the result of compromises to please a larger number of listeners. I am seventy-five and still have good hearing for my age but certainly not even close to what my hearing was at twenty-five. You need to make comparisons yourself, if possible, alone in a quiet room.

 

[forestitalia]

The LG V20 QuadDac has 3 different power modes based on the resistance/impedance it detects when you plug a headphone cable into its headphone out. The P9 has such a low impedance that when you plug it in to the V20, the QuadDac automatically runs at its lowest setting which it says is for "regular audio devices". It seemed gimped to me.

I started tricking it by holding down the middle volume button on the inline mic of the P9 cable and then plugging the cable into the V20 while continuing to hold the button down for a few seconds after plugging it in. This raises the inline resistance and the V20 compensates by setting the QuadDac to its middle power setting, which it says is for "external audio devices". The extra juice seems to make the P9 sound more open and controlled to my ears. Another way of tricking it into going into the "external device" power setting is to disconnect the headphone cable from the headphones, plug the 3.5mm end into the V20, then reconnect the cable into the headphones.

Also, be aware that my listening volume when on the lowest QuadDac power setting was around 50-55, but I needed to drop that down to about 35-40 when on the middle power setting to maintain a comfortable listening volume.

Interesting, but all these tricks seem odd to me, they should have put a system to switch power in the LG