Bowers & Wilkins P5 Wireless

[Bananas Ananas]

  Someone mentioned that it came without a remote cable- do the remote buttons on the set work when it's wired? If not, has anyone tried connecting an older remote cable to the P5 Wireless?  Just curious, thanks.

I just checked out the package and the cable included indeed has no remote controls. I'm not sure if older remote cable would work, but my guess is that it would.

 

[AlanChi607]

 
I just checked out the package and the cable included indeed has no remote controls. I'm not sure if older remote cable would work, but my guess is that it would.

I think what he's asking if the buttons on the P5 Wireless (right earcup) work when in wired mode?

 

[twister6]

 

 
I just checked out the package and the cable included indeed has no remote controls. I'm not sure if older remote cable would work, but my guess is that it would.

I think what he's asking if the buttons on the P5 Wireless (right earcup) work when in wired mode?

 
If that is a question, they are NOT.  As soon as you plug the cable in, wireless controls on earcup are disabled.  The cable has TRS connection, so you are only receiving L/R/Gnd from your phone, and controls over the cable are not supported.

 

[mclaugh]

   
If that is a question, they are NOT.  As soon as you plug the cable in, wireless controls on earcup are disabled.  The cable has TRS connection, so you are only receiving L/R/Gnd from your phone, and controls over the cable are not supported.

That was exactly my concern- I remember further up the thread that someone mentioned the earcup buttons cease to work when the cable is plugged in- noticed that many buyers also own a wired version and was wondering if the remote cable from a P3/P5 would provide that remote functionality back.
If someone wouldn't mind testing, it could be helpful to the larger group- either to keep that cord when selling off an older version or to order one if they need that functionality with their P5W.   My thinking is this- that case has that pouch for the cord and there are situations where you might want it wired vs wireless (conference calls, critical listening, etc)- if the older cable reenables working buttons then you could upgrade to this model and keep all your prior functionality.
 
Make sense or clear as mud?

 

[twister6]

 

   
If that is a question, they are NOT.  As soon as you plug the cable in, wireless controls on earcup are disabled.  The cable has TRS connection, so you are only receiving L/R/Gnd from your phone, and controls over the cable are not supported.

That was exactly my concern- I remember further up the thread that someone mentioned the earcup buttons cease to work when the cable is plugged in- noticed that many buyers also own a wired version and was wondering if the remote cable from a P3/P5 would provide that remote functionality back.
If someone wouldn't mind testing, it could be helpful to the larger group- either to keep that cord when selling off an older version or to order one if they need that functionality with their P5W.   My thinking is this- that case has that pouch for the cord and there are situations where you might want it wired vs wireless (conference calls, critical listening, etc)- if the older cable reenables working buttons then you could upgrade to this model and keep all your prior functionality.
 
Make sense or clear as mud?

 
I don't have access to that cord at the current moment, otherwise would have tested it for you.  But in theory it should work!!!  You still get an audio only signal between earcup and in-line remote, and from remote down to 3.5mm connector going to your source - you have TRRS connector where you have all the "extra" communication to control the playback and volume, and to pick up your voice from the built in mic.

 

[chailee80]

Yeh it will just depend if they used the same connection inside the earcup on the wireless model. From what i can remember i think the original model used a slightly different connection and i never checked the series 2 model when i demoed it unfortunately.

 

[twister6]

  Yeh it will just depend if they used the same connection inside the earcup on the wireless model. From what i can remember i think the original model used a slightly different connection and i never checked the series 2 model when i demoed it unfortunately.

 
Identical 2.5mm proprietary connector with an angled housing/strain relief between P5 Series 2 and P5 Wireless.

 

[Bananas Ananas]

 
That was exactly my concern- I remember further up the thread that someone mentioned the earcup buttons cease to work when the cable is plugged in- noticed that many buyers also own a wired version and was wondering if the remote cable from a P3/P5 would provide that remote functionality back.
If someone wouldn't mind testing, it could be helpful to the larger group- either to keep that cord when selling off an older version or to order one if they need that functionality with their P5W.   My thinking is this- that case has that pouch for the cord and there are situations where you might want it wired vs wireless (conference calls, critical listening, etc)- if the older cable reenables working buttons then you could upgrade to this model and keep all your prior functionality.
 
Make sense or clear as mud?

 
I asked about the cable from B&W Support and got this answer:
 

In regards to the P5 S2 remote cable, it should work just fine on the P5 Wireless -but please keep in mind that all active components (bluetooth, amplifier, and control buttons) will be inactive when the cable (standard audio or remote) is plugged in. Any phone calls or audio recording apps will utilize the cable's microphone instead of the internal P5 Wireless microphone(s).

 
Thus, remote cable from P5 S2 should be perfectly functional with P5 Wireless.

 

[Ultrainferno]

Finally got it to connect to my AK player

 

[twister6]

Finally got it to connect to my AK player :rolleyes:

Ak120ii has the worst bt radio, and I'm 100% convinced they tuned down strength of the signal. I did pair up p5w with it but sound was intermittently choppy. No issues with any of my Galaxy phones or nexus tablets.

 

[RipcordAFF]

So I recently picked up the P5 wireless cans. I am still getting used to the sound, the highs are a little more recessed than what I am used to (though it still sounds wonderfully detailed). 
 
What concerns me more, however, is the comfort. I have found that these start hurting my ears after about 20-30 minutes. Its not exactly painful, but just uncomfortable enough that I start constantly fiddling with the positioning on my ear. Has anyone else experienced this? Is something that either my ear will get used to or the padding will start to break-in a little? This is my first pair of on-ear headphones and so I am not sure what to expect. 
 
Thanks!

 

[chailee80]

So I recently picked up the P5 wireless cans. I am still getting used to the sound, the highs are a little more recessed than what I am used to (though it still sounds wonderfully detailed). 

What concerns me more, however, is the comfort. I have found that these start hurting my ears after about 20-30 minutes. Its not exactly painful, but just uncomfortable enough that I start constantly fiddling with the positioning on my ear. Has anyone else experienced this? Is something that either my ear will get used to or the padding will start to break-in a little? This is my first pair of on-ear headphones and so I am not sure what to expect. 

Thanks!

They do have a firm clamp out of the box, you'll either have to let them wear in naturally over time or else manually stretch the headband over a stack of books or similar to loosen the clamp.

 

[Bananas Ananas]

  So I recently picked up the P5 wireless cans. I am still getting used to the sound, the highs are a little more recessed than what I am used to (though it still sounds wonderfully detailed). 
 
What concerns me more, however, is the comfort. I have found that these start hurting my ears after about 20-30 minutes. Its not exactly painful, but just uncomfortable enough that I start constantly fiddling with the positioning on my ear. Has anyone else experienced this? Is something that either my ear will get used to or the padding will start to break-in a little? This is my first pair of on-ear headphones and so I am not sure what to expect. 
 
Thanks!

 
Original B&W P5 was my first pair of on-ear headphones as well, and I have to admit that they pretty uncomfortable to wear when I had them. However, since then I have gone through P5 S2 and now using P5 Wireless – comfort is no longer an issue to me. In fact, I find P5 Wireless to be very comfortable to wear. Thus, it's very much possible that you might get used to the headphones over time, but I won't guarantee it as people are different. 

 

[claytonlai]

  So I recently picked up the P5 wireless cans. I am still getting used to the sound, the highs are a little more recessed than what I am used to (though it still sounds wonderfully detailed). 
 
What concerns me more, however, is the comfort. I have found that these start hurting my ears after about 20-30 minutes. Its not exactly painful, but just uncomfortable enough that I start constantly fiddling with the positioning on my ear. Has anyone else experienced this? Is something that either my ear will get used to or the padding will start to break-in a little? This is my first pair of on-ear headphones and so I am not sure what to expect. 
 
Thanks!

I'm surprised. I find the headband of the P5 Wireless much looser than that on my P5 Series 2. 

 

[AlanChi607]

Just bought a pair of P5 Wireless. Exceptional build quality (my first B&W on-ear headphone) and fantastic to look at. Feels very durable and luxurious.
My first hour of using it: very bright compared to my C5 S2s. Treble is far more present. Bass is not as tight and well-defined as my C5 S2s. Soundstage much wider though. Might require some burn-in. Will see after around 50 hours of burn-in!
Just another point: I use Apple devices so obviously my iPhone doesn't have the aptx bluetooth codec, but one thing to note that is that the newer Macbook Pros actually support aptx codec and enable it by default once I connected to my MacBook Pro. Sounds much better on mac than iPhone.