Beforehand, I must say I didn't read all 88 pages... @Page 50 or so I ordered the B&W P7 Wireless
Still.....
For what it's worth, I wanted to give something back to the community, as I purchased the B&W P7 Wireless mainly whilst reading the topics over here. Now beforehand: my native language is Dutch, so please forgive any flaw on my behalf regarding grammar, punctionation and all that. I am leaning towards being an audiophile, that is I tend to listen to music intensely and more focussed than most, I'd say. I love the sensation of listening to good music and good equipment and I can distinguish a low-end sound-set from a higher end set for sure. I skip the Noise Cancelling setting on the PSB M4U as sound quality drops way to much to be part of any quality discussion IMHO. Nice gimmick, but that's about it.
Both the PSB M4U 2 and the B&W P7 Wireless were connected with the accompanied cable to a DragonFly Black V2 DAC to a Surface Pro 4. Listenend to samples of Pirates of the caribbean 2007 At World's End, especially "Hoist the Colours" and "Singapore" as well as 2011 On Stranger Tides, especially the track "On Stranger Tides" both FLAC, 672kbps / 746kbps / 711 kbps.
PSB M4U 2 set to Off setting.
-> Very good, rich, detailed, never really pronounced. Pure and fair throughout the entire spectrum, a touch less sprankling in the upper regions (>8 - 10 Khz) maybe and a tiny bit 'muddy' in the lower mids and lower regions (you hear a rumbling sound, but cannot really grasp it, hard to explain....)
PSB M4U 2 On setting (Red, no noise cancelling, internal amplifier on) -> Separation and detail overall increases a lot in my opinion. Even better detail, a bit more pronounced and detailed in the low regions (they tend to be flatter, more natural throughout the lowest you can hear, I found it to be more natural and pleasing, also with more detail than with the 'off' setting). Higher frequencies also get even better, more flat throughout the spectrum for sure. Detail and seperation both are very, very good at the On setting. I think the mids are a bit too pronounced though at some frequencies (very noticable listening to "Hoist the Colours" @ 0:18), and tend to get a bit too much aplification. Here the B&W's sounds much better I think. There is a detectable less detailed mid frequency response to my liking and it really is a bit too pronounced. In "Hoist the Colours" at the end you can hear what sounds like coins falling or chains. It is as if you can hear each coin falling seperately / each link in the chain seperately... It is subtle, but still. I can hear more detail and more seperation in the last few seconds off "Hoist the Colours". Whereas with the B&W's I can't. Here, the PSB wins in my opinion (although I still very much like the B&W p7 wireless 'but wired' upper frequency response!). Overall: mids are too pronouned, highest frequencies are very good with lots of detail and separation. Lower regions are true, pure and fair. Very pleasing indeed.
B&W P7, also with wired connection to aforementioned DragonFly.
Overall, these win in my opinion, except for the highest frequency detail. Although the highest frequencies do sound more pleasant (compared to PSB!), they lack some separation (compared to PSB!), B&W sounds more vidid / sprankling in the upper most regions though. I still like the B&W sound and can live with a tad less separation. I went over from one to the other many many times.... *Overall* detail is a tiny bit better. Lowest regions are way better with the B&W's I think. More separation, more detail. These are warm sounding headphones. The lower end is, hard to explain, warmer, lower, deeper, more pleasant sounding compared to the PSB. What I liked the most with B&W is the warmer sound, the better detail overall (except highest frequencies). The mids are a bit less pronounced compared to the PSB, I liked the B&W's way more!. I have to say I like hearing a rich and dark sound, one might say the B&W P7 sounds warm/dark/rich. But I do say the treble, the higher end of the spectrum also sounds very very good! Strange thing is, highest high is less detailed, but still more pleasant sounding. For mids and lows the B&W's really wins in all regards in my opinion. Highs might be subjective. I like it more than the PSB highs, although, as said, there is less detail and separation.
Overall, to me, wired, the B&W P7 wins by a hair compared to the PSB in the "ON" setting. Compared to the PSB in OFF setting the B&W wins by 2 hairs. If I was forced to give a recommendation, I'd say listen to both if you can, to me the B&W wins. Enough so to make me very very happy with my purchase... but read on!
The most strange finding of all (to me): The B&W WIRELESS (with a good source - same as wired - and a good bluetooth connection) sound almost as good as wired. Wired is detectable better, but not by much. You loose a hair of separation and detail, but it is really barely noticable! I have never ever heard anything sounding this good, WIRELESS. It really is astoundingly good, and barely detectable less good as a wired connection. I could hear a difference, but really, bluetooth B&W P7 wireless is very, very good indeed. So good I have decided to drop the dragonfly DAC and wire for my everyday listening pleasure. Only when I really want to immerse myself, and truly focus 100% on the music at hand, I find myself connecting the DragonFly / wire. It is better, by a hair (or 2, allright then...)
The B&W P7 Wireless really deserve a thourough listen. I think they are on par with the PSB M4U wired, and even with the B&W themselfs wired, although you lose maybe a few percent detail and separation. Well done B&W, very well done...
