[AcademicBarzo]

I have to say I have both the B&Q PX7 and, recently, purchased the Shure Aonic 50 on a whim following a price drop to £210 on Amazon UK.

To my surprise, I find the Shures to be a much better sounding headphone and more comfortable to wear than the PX7. I have compared the Shures via Apt-X HD on a A&K Kann (so that codes are the same), but I primarily use the Shures with a Samsung S21 Ultra (where the PX7 is limited to apt-x, and the Shures connect via LDAC). The B&W sound dark and overbearing in the bass by comparison to a much more open and balanced sound signature on the Shures. No real idea on noise cancelling performance, as not really had a chance to test out the Shures yet but I suspect the PX7 are better here and the PX7 feel much better put together than the Shures.

On features, both do audio over USB (which is an excellent feature). The PX7 have the pause sensor, but that rarely works for me, doubtless due to sweaty ears, so I have the feature turned off. The A50s do not have that feature, but they can be used passively with a 3.5mm connection and sound even better that way.

Just sharing some views - big fan of the PX7s but they do sound inconsistent, dependent on recordings, and the Shures just appeal to me more than I thought they would.

 

[tinyman392]

I have to say I have both the B&Q PX7 and, recently, purchased the Shure Aonic 50 on a whim following a price drop to £210 on Amazon UK.

To my surprise, I find the Shures to be a much better sounding headphone and more comfortable to wear than the PX7. I have compared the Shures via Apt-X HD on a A&K Kann (so that codes are the same), but I primarily use the Shures with a Samsung S21 Ultra (where the PX7 is limited to apt-x, and the Shures connect via LDAC). The B&W sound dark and overbearing in the bass by comparison to a much more open and balanced sound signature on the Shures. No real idea on noise cancelling performance, as not really had a chance to test out the Shures yet but I suspect the PX7 are better here and the PX7 feel much better put together than the Shures.

On features, both do audio over USB (which is an excellent feature). The PX7 have the pause sensor, but that rarely works for me, doubtless due to sweaty ears, so I have the feature turned off. The A50s do not have that feature, but they can be used passively with a 3.5mm connection and sound even better that way.

Just sharing some views - big fan of the PX7s but they do sound inconsistent, dependent on recordings, and the Shures just appeal to me more than I thought they would.

The pause sensor on my PX (not PX7) was kind of iffy. The app does have sensitivity settings for it which can help. The issue is that I need low sensitivity if they haven't been used for a while, but if I've had them on my ears for a while, it needs to be on high sensitivity for it to work properly. It's shame really. Granted, I have to admit that the PX-series is one of the few headphones that have auto-on/off which is really nice; you don't need to ever shut off the headphones as they'll enter a standby time after about 15 minutes. If you put them on your ears while they're in standby they'll turn on and start playing. Though, it uses the same stuff for auto-on/off so you need to get it just right for that feature to work well.

 

[KPzypher]

I have to say I have both the B&Q PX7 and, recently, purchased the Shure Aonic 50 on a whim following a price drop to £210 on Amazon UK.

To my surprise, I find the Shures to be a much better sounding headphone and more comfortable to wear than the PX7. I have compared the Shures via Apt-X HD on a A&K Kann (so that codes are the same), but I primarily use the Shures with a Samsung S21 Ultra (where the PX7 is limited to apt-x, and the Shures connect via LDAC). The B&W sound dark and overbearing in the bass by comparison to a much more open and balanced sound signature on the Shures. No real idea on noise cancelling performance, as not really had a chance to test out the Shures yet but I suspect the PX7 are better here and the PX7 feel much better put together than the Shures.

On features, both do audio over USB (which is an excellent feature). The PX7 have the pause sensor, but that rarely works for me, doubtless due to sweaty ears, so I have the feature turned off. The A50s do not have that feature, but they can be used passively with a 3.5mm connection and sound even better that way.

Just sharing some views - big fan of the PX7s but they do sound inconsistent, dependent on recordings, and the Shures just appeal to me more than I thought they would.

I have both as well and Shure has way better tonal balance with slight but consistent bump past the 4-5khz range IMO. PX7 has too many dips and peaks throughout the range. But I think I kinda see what B&W was going for here. The Px7 has superb imaging/separation and good soundstage, at the expense of wonky FR. And it can be slightly sibilant/fatiguing on certain tracks. And Px7 IMO lose lot of the dynamics on lower volume.

Comfort wise, PX7 is way more comfortable, albeit heavier clamp force. The oval shape pads and steeply angled driver/housing makes it far more comfortable than the shallow and 'hot' pads on the Aonic 50.

All in all, PX7 is 'fun' and sprightly for an occasional listen, but far from neutral

 

[Phishin Phool]

I had really enjoyed my wireless PX but they are currently MIA. I was going to get the px7 but based upon recommendation form other head-fiers I went with the plain p7 and am amazed at how much better the sound is than the px. I only ever used noise cancelling for mowing the lawn (didn't like what it did to sound fidelity) so overall I am okay with losing that function. going to back to mini-usb port from usb-c is more of a pain than that.

 

[WhiteFox01]

Pretty decent ANC BT headphones, but I don't agree with the original retail price. I think I would have gone with a much cheaper XM3.

 

[billbishere]

anyone got a decent deal on pads? I know they sell on the site but they are like $60. I would like to not pay that much.

 

[pawwilon]

anyone got a decent deal on pads? I know they sell on the site but they are like $60. I would like to not pay that much.

I just created an account to share my journey through the same problem. I've been on a hunt for replacement pads since I increasingly couldn't stand the original ones diging into my jaw, losing seal everytime I chewed on something. So if you're up for some DIY, I just slapped some perforated pleather brainwavz on mine. I assume sheepskin ones will get you closer to original sound signature, I'd consider them a little more distant now, with touch less base and highs not as ear-rapey, but 10x more comfortable.

Spoiler: How to detach pad from the magnetic base

Note: the outer plastic layer can snap (as seen in pic 4 above) if you're not careful, so placing a finger behind it when ripping off the old pad is recommended.

Spoiler: Finished result

They still magnetise and hold fine, albeit with a little less force needed to detach

EDIT:
After playing with headphones a little more I've decided to remove the inner foam. I flipped out the leather "lip", then cut through the middle of foam layer with a knife and safety nail scissors to get within a few mm of the inner stitching cut the foam out. I then wrapped the pads back on. Ears are no longer touching anything, it feels much better.
I decided to go a step further and using same the same "Jimmy" tool, I carefuly (ish) pushed the stitching into the original gap for the pad, restoring original magnet strength and making the overall look a little more slick. On the 2nd pad, I found it easier to push the stitching in after I scraped out bits of the old pad out with a thin tool (pic 5 below)

Spoiler: Modifying pads

Spoiler: Finished Result (2.0)

They deffinitely sounds like they got a little more of their old soul back, I need to lower volume in songs like Rockefeller Street by Getter Jaani to feel comfotable again.

 

[codythelucario]

Pretty decent ANC BT headphones, but I don't agree with the original retail price. I think I would have gone with a much cheaper XM3.

They were $191 when I got them. At that price I would get the PX. but other than that I totally agree with you. For $400 it’s not justified given the amount of problems with ANC and sound quality drops when ANC is turned on.

 

[3Putter]

Why would any price ever be justified if the sound quality were poor? I’d always be thinking I should have bought better.

 

[Rebel0014]

Hi guys

New to forum and using these wired - what lights should be on ?

I am getting a blue light slowing flashing despite Bluetooth disconnected on devices

Thanks

Nick

 

[mainguy]

Just got mine `nx connected them in parallel with P7 Wireless (over bluetooth) to my Macbook to compare.
First impressions:

1) everything sounds muffled and cheap
2) ANC makes everything sound even more muffled
3) bass response is close to P7W, 160Hz+ region seems more emphasized while the bottom is weaker. Doesn't sound natural.
4) ANC is weak and the profiles it has make no sense (I don't have a plane though)
5) they randomly start/stop music when I'm moving around. No glasses.
6) comfort-wise, they are more grippy, but they will likely loosen-up a bit. Earcups are weird and my ears are touching them from inside. I can tell they will be much hotter than the P7W. Not as comfortable as the P7W.
7) build quality is good but not as good as the P7W, even the metal looks like plastic. Few months forward the P7W will still look the same, those will show wear and tear for sure.

Overall I'm VERY disappointed

Second impressions after playing with them for a while

8) USB audio works, but is 48kHz/16bit top - no hi-res ;-( Sound is indistinguishable from Bluetooth AAC or aptX (at least to me). I get some weird gaps in playback every once in a while, those don't happen with BT.
9) SQ is not that bad without ANC but really turns to mush with ANC on. Sounds like a very badly compressed MP3 (think 64kbit) played through a pipe.
Whoever had a P7W will be able to tell it's nowhere near as good from the first time they turn it on and hear the same familiar power-on chime the P7W has - that sound tells you everything you need to know because it's muffled badly and simply sounds cheap.

My recommendation: Get a P7 Wireless, return the PX if you can, those are $150 headphones at best. If all you wanted is P7W with ANC, those cans are NOT it.
Philips SHB8850 I also have are better headphones than this. That should tell you something...

years on i can echo this, PX is garbage compared to P7w

 

[aabw]

can anyone still managing these headphones recommend and quality 3.5mm cable for an iPod

 

[matteventu]

can anyone still managing these headphones recommend and quality 3.5mm cable for an iPod

Why would you use them with an iPod? They're digital headphones, they have an internal DAC that runs at all times.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Why would you use them with an iPod? They're digital headphones, they have an internal DAC that runs at all times

The poster may want access to files locally stored on the device, or just to simply use their iPod. They may be redundant devices now, but I'm sure many people still have a soft spot in their hearts for the device that changed personal and portable audio.

 

[aabw]

Why would you use them with an iPod? They're digital headphones, they have an internal DAC that runs at all times.

its noted but with the use of an external source even something analog i think an external device would sound better to convert the audio