Asspirin
500+ Head-Fier
The PI7 don't handle every genre of music perfectly, but I'm absolutely delighted by how they handle one of my favourites:
Bowers & Wilkins PI7
- Thread starter rsnhakan
- Start date
Just popped the Airpods Max back on for some portable use. Blimey, either the PI7 is unusually good value or Apple are absolutely robbing people; its been weeks, but listening to the same tracks i usually do on the PI7 the midrange is all messed up man, in the sense, it’s not there! No body, flat sounding.
If I was asked to guess I’d say the PI7 cost three times the price of the APM haha.
What they are making me really excited for is the next B&W headphone, the PX/PX7 didn’t really blow me away. Perhaps their next offering will be something special too.
If I was asked to guess I’d say the PI7 cost three times the price of the APM haha.
What they are making me really excited for is the next B&W headphone, the PX/PX7 didn’t really blow me away. Perhaps their next offering will be something special too.
toontoonizer
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Picked up my pair earlier today and excited to try them out.
Sadly, i'm getting the same issue as some others here...the headphones refuse to connect in AptX HD with my Sony NW-WM1A and will only connect via aptx (classic). Funnily enough, my BW PX's connect to the Sony with AptX HD just fine. Further, they do not connect to my Astell & Kern AK300 at all - nothing.
I have a creative BT-W3 lying around and I am able to connect with all codecs (AptX LL, AptX HD, AptX, SBC) with no issues.
Dropped a note to support, but if this can't be fixed then these will have to go back. The Sony is my primary source gear and if these can't connect via AptX HD as advertised then these will have to go sadly.
Sadly, i'm getting the same issue as some others here...the headphones refuse to connect in AptX HD with my Sony NW-WM1A and will only connect via aptx (classic). Funnily enough, my BW PX's connect to the Sony with AptX HD just fine. Further, they do not connect to my Astell & Kern AK300 at all - nothing.
I have a creative BT-W3 lying around and I am able to connect with all codecs (AptX LL, AptX HD, AptX, SBC) with no issues.
Dropped a note to support, but if this can't be fixed then these will have to go back. The Sony is my primary source gear and if these can't connect via AptX HD as advertised then these will have to go sadly.
Hoping this is a firmware issue. The PI7 seem very picky and seem to work really well with some devices and not so well (or at all) with others. With so many compatibility issues, it's hard to see how this cannot be an issue with the PI7. I got my PI7s back a few days ago (new pair via warranty replacement) and still have connection issues and dropouts with my LG V60 (constant hiccups and can't move a few feet away). However, the PI7s have been rock solid with my Oneplus 8T via aptX adaptive. I was using it with my 8T in the kitchen last night and forgot to take my phone with me. I walked 40 feet away to my bedroom and only realized I left my phone when it skipped. Also works fine with my XPS 13 laptop via aptX.
I thought it might be the app so I uninstalled the app and when that didnt work, I tried forcing aptX and SBC on my V60. In the end, nothing worked for my V60 so I stopped using them together. Unfortunately, my V60 and Node 2i are the two devices I wanted to pair with the PI7 (my main music sources) but neither work well with the PI7 currently. Hopefully B&W will get its act together and release an update soon. It is pretty buggy and I already had to do a factory reset on my new replacement PI7s last week because I wasn't getting any sound via the 3.5mm to USB input.
Asspirin
500+ Head-Fier
Bluetooth has always been a buggy affair and always will be, it's not necessarily a certain device's fault. Have you tried deleting all saved device's from your Bluetooth connections list on your V60 and start the pairing process anew?
toontoonizer
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Me too...if anyone has a Sony NW-WM1A and can confirm they have the same issue with the PI7s that would be interesting to know. This morning the headphones just lost the plot completely. There was a solid red light indicating a system crash so did a hard reset (pairing button for 15 seconds) but once it restarted the headphones would not stay in pairing mode for more than 4 seconds (making it impossible to pair anything). I did a soft reset (pairing button for 5 seconds) and they seem to be behaving again.
The app has a questionable connection to these making using multiple devices a real chore. I could forgive all this if the damn thing connected with the right codecs
johnston21
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Both the SONY NW-ZX507 and Fii0 BTA30 are only recognized with Aptx (classic), not Aptx HD.
Chetan2412
New Head-Fier
I just ordered a Bta30 to use mainly with my TV. Has not yet arrived. Does it at least correctly handshake through Aptx-LL with the Pi7?
johnston21
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No, only Aptx. And I’m not convinced that the Pi7’s case TX’s Aptx LL, as my Shure BT2 has no TV latency from the BTA30 where both the Pi7 via the case and the Noble Falcon Pro’s via the BTA30 do have TV latency, though less latency than the original Noble Falcons have with TV.I just ordered a Bta30 to use mainly with my TV. Has not yet arrived. Does it at least correctly handshake through Aptx-LL with the Pi7?
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Yes and, just to humor you, I did do another network reset (wipes out network, wifi and bluetooth settings) last night and paired everything again. Got skips within 5 minutes of the network reset and I just had to put the buds back in the case a few minutes ago because my V60 showed it was playing audio to the PI7 but I got no sound.
This is not my first or only bluetooth device but it is the only one that has these issues. My current Bluetooth devices that are paired to my V60 include the B&W PI7, JBL Reflect Flow, M&D MW07Go, Qudelix 5K, Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, Senn MTW, Shure BT2 and ONLY my PI7 have this issue. If it has a problem with other devices being paired to my phone then that itself is a problem. A device at this price point should just work and not have so many compatibility issues or require resets or constant restarts (putting buds back in and taking it out). It is better than my first set (which sounded like R2D2 was in my ear at times and only a factory reset of the PI7 helped). There is an issue with the PI7 and other people have posted about it too. I think part of it may have to do with poor aptX adaptive implementation and would love to be able to force aptX HD, which I cannot on my V60.
Also, this does not explain why my Node 2i and the other devices that other people have mentioned are not able to negotiate aptX HD with the PI7 when other headphones can (as I stated in my earlier posts).
I really like how these sound with my Spinfit CP100z tips and still hope B&W can address some of the issues people have highlighted here with firmware updates.
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Chetan2412
New Head-Fier
This is disappointing to hear. However, all Aptx (and family) transmitting and receiving BT chips are made by Qualcomm and cannot be customised in any way. Since these chips are working without a hitch on other products, any problem we are having with the Pi7 must be software based and should be easily fixed.
The one surprising issue I have discovered with the Pi7 is they have different volumes with different transmitters and it does not make any sense to me. Signals from all devices are going through the same DSP in the buds so I do not get it.
With a Note 8, I can barely cross 60-70% Vol without fearing hearing damage.
If I connect my BT-W3 to the same phone and stream using that, suddenly I have to max out the Vol in the buds.
Now if I connect the BT-W3 to my MacBook M1, the Vol is much louder than when the Bt-W3 streams from my phone.
This is not deal breaking for me since the Vol is more than high enough when I stream from my 2 main devices which are my Note 8 and MacBook via BT-W3. But I wonder what happens when I upgrade my phone.
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Little test in the interests of science, dragonfly cobalt playing via the case. Very interesting, changes the sound sig quite a lot, clearer, not as warm.
You can drive the volume way up over the original max, but they distort at max vol, the drivers clearly weren’t meant to go that loud.
Worth a try if you have one, you might prefer the sig. I definately prefer the default PI7 sound, it’s smoother. It does get louder on the Cobalt though, at like 80% it doesnt distort but is def louder than before.
Cool part is its really portable, just pop the combo in your pocket and you’re good to go. Works with smartphones too.
It’s another really unique feature of the PI7, would be fun to try lots of portable DACs.
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I've had these for about 10 days now and really love the sound! ANC never works that great for me, but it does help a little. However, I have had a strange issue that will result in me ordering a new pair and returning the original - when I have the ANC set to AUTO, the anc cuts out after 22 seconds and reverts to non-anc listening. If I have the anc on without the AUTO setting, it works absolutely fine. And anc turned off is fine also. I usually listen without anc as the sound quality is great, and also find that bass goes up with ANC on. I could work around by not using the AUTO setting, but I figure with what was spent for these, would like to be able to use all the features. Has anyone else had this issue? I've tried factory reset to no avail.
smith
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Any IPhone owners with these...how is the volume level ?
Have read reports of it being on the low side..
Have read reports of it being on the low side..
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