[TellyBoi]

I have now listened to Superwoman and No One from Tidal Hifi via my Chord Mojo (connected to my MacBook Pro, exclusive mode in Tidal) connected wired to my P7W and my PX (ANC off). I am no expert in describing the sound, but these are my thoughts:

No One: the bass thump is clearly more present on the P7W than on the PX. The overall presentation is smooth, the vocals are nice, but maybe a bit thin (compared to the bass thump). On the PX, it sounds slightly more boxy, the bass is weaker, but more tight (I think). The sound stage is bigger on the PX and the vocals sound a bit fuller. When switching between them the P7W sounds like they are missing something in the mids (I think). Overall, the P7W sound nice immediately when putting them on, but the PX sound like it is more balanced.

Superwoman: On the PX the instruments in the beginning with the organ (?) are very well separated and the vocals come in nicely. On the P7W, the instruments in the beginning are harder to separate. The vocals are nice, but feel a bit thinner. At 1:12 when more instruments and bass come in, the PX separates them better, but the bass is stronger on the P7W.

I don't know exactly how to describe this, but my main impression is that when switching between them the P7W sound more bass heavy and smooth, but missing some parts (in the mids?). Again, when switching back and forth, the PX sound more boxy, but with better instrument separation and wider sound stage and more balanced. Vocals sound a bit fuller. I also get the feeling that the slightly boxyness to the sound of the PX goes away when you listen to them for longer periods and get used to their sound, it is only when switching back and forth you notice it as much. The P7W are more inviting in a sense, but PX more revealing. The P7W sound good immediately, but the PX benefits when you give them more time. It is hard to say that one is better than the other, they are different.

Just for fun, I also compared with my Focal Elear connected to the Mojo in the same way and it is (as expected) clearly better than both. Compared to the PX the Elear have a stronger bass, even fuller vocals and a bigger soundstage without any hint of boxyness. This is of course a completely different beast of headphone being open-backed and in a different price range.

After having used the P7W for quite some time and the PX for a few weeks now I have really started to appreciate the sound of the PX as it sounds more balanced and with better instrument separation. Bass is weaker, but tight. When I put on the P7W they sound inviting, but with an exaggerated bass. I do have one problem with the PX though and that is listening fatigue. I get much more tired listening to the PX than the P7W. I don't know if it has to do with the angled drivers shooting sound directly into my ears, the dynamic drivers or the tonality. It does bother me though.

there are only two things that cause me listening fatigue, over-emphasized bass and bright signature. with the PX, it is more likely the bright signature since I found the bass not that fatiguing. I have to lower the volume down to 30% each time as I found the brightness too much like listening to a brand new set of speakers before burn-in. some people suggested to burn-in the PX for a while with pink noise. from the looks of it, it might take awhile for the PX to reach their optimal performance if 2 weeks isn't enough. maybe 24-42 HRS of continuous playtime might do the trick.

 

[BigBobbie87]

If that was truly the case, your bluetooth connectivity would skip or cut out at home with no interference.

Good point. Looking forward to upgrading my phone over the next year or two.

 

[HD800NL]

there are only two things that cause me listening fatigue, over-emphasized bass and bright signature. with the PX, it is more likely the bright signature since I found the bass not that fatiguing. I have to lower the volume down to 30% each time as I found the brightness too much like listening to a brand new set of speakers before burn-in. some people suggested to burn-in the PX for a while with pink noise. from the looks of it, it might take awhile for the PX to reach their optimal performance if 2 weeks isn't enough. maybe 24-42 HRS of continuous playtime might do the trick.

How many hours did you use the PX? Burn in is no joke, especially to headphones with electronic components.

 

[edsjo]

How many hours did you use the PX? Burn in is no joke, especially to headphones with electronic components.

I played them over night when I got them and has since played them a few hours a day for the past three weeks. I think they did change in the beginning, but haven't noticed any changes for the last two weeks. I will give them some more pink noise though to see what happens.

 

[simon5451]

Got these delivered today and have been listening to them over the last 4/5 hours and these are my impressions:
My source material is Tidal HIFI and 24/96 FLAC through VOX on a Macbook Pro Retina. No external DAC.

I am in no way an audiophile, just your average consumer.

1) These definitely sound miles better wired, the music feels more alive, richer and more enjoyable. Hi res files over aptX sounded so harsh in comparison. Im not sure if its because they have to be compressed so much. I found 320 files over Spotify sounded better via BT than Tidal MQA and HIFI.
2) These arent for bassheads. When using an equaliser to emphasise bass they struggled and distorted quite a lot even when wired. Having said that the bass they offer naturally is tight and more than enough for me.
3)They are an absolutely beautiful piece of hardware in the flesh, I have the blue and gold and they are stunning.
4)They sound a lot better with ANC off as everyone has established.
5)The soundstage they offer is brilliant with movies. Really do get quite a good surround sound effect which is great for late night viewing!
6)I find them very comfortable, have worn for 5 hours straight with no discomfort.

Overall I am very happy with them, the sound is wonderful when wired and good enough when wireless for my daily commute. I wonder if aptX-HD would make them closer to wired. I would also love to try these out with an external DAC and see if they improve even more. Others have reported they improve a lot with burn in too, so thats something I need to do and will report back.

These are just my brief impressions from an amateur, so take what I say with a pinch of salt!

 

[AlwaysForward]

Ok so here's some new thoughts and observations:

While the QC35 is definitely a tier above for ANC, these perform their duty well.

The earpads have GREATLY softened and they're MUCH more comfortable with long use.

I -think- B&W has EQ DSP during wireless mode. While they lose a little resolution when wireless, I am preferring the B&W house sound over the lightning wire at the moment. This is something I've gone back and fourth on. With the wire, the treble and mid resolution kicks up a notch. With wireless, there's an improved overall bass response. Both have their advantage and probably compliment different styles of music in different ways.

I've commented on how Wireless Airplane mode ANC loses musicality before and how the wire fixes that . Well, I found the wired PX to be HIGHLY competitive with the QC35 for SQ. Of note: the QC35 seems to have no performance advantage or sonic change with a wire. The QC35 is a good sound, but not quite on the PX level.

Net-net, I'd recommend the PX overall for music/sound nerds. It does all the jobs well enough but favors sound reproduction over ANC. The Bose is on the other end of the spectrum and favors ANC first. It's probably worth noting that the Bose is stupid comfy. I'll probably be favoring it for flights but have had good flight experiences with both the PX and my foam tipped 1More Quads.

Isolation: QC35>PX>Foam-Quad
Sound: PX=Quad>QC35
Comfort: QC35>Quad>PX (smallest gaps here and no major dip between the 3 for me).

 

[GrussGott]

It's probably worth noting that the Bose is stupid comfy.

Ha, that's what annoyed me about the QC35s so much ... for me the QC35 SQ was horrible and ANC ineffectual for what I care about (voices & babies) so overall it was a big zero BUT SO COMFY! I wanted to love that HP from the second I put it on ... I just wish I'd never played anything on it ... I might still have it. Probably the only HP I've worn that's more comfy is the Aeon Flow Closed, it practically floats on your head while still feeling substantial somehow.

 

[329161]

Ha, that's what annoyed me about the QC35s so much ... for me the QC35 SQ was horrible and ANC ineffectual for what I care about (voices & babies) so overall it was a big zero BUT SO COMFY! I wanted to love that HP from the second I put it on ... I just wish I'd never played anything on it ... I might still have it. Probably the only HP I've worn that's more comfy is the Aeon Flow Closed, it practically floats on your head while still feeling substantial somehow.

If the ANC on the 35s isn't good enough for you, then no ANC on ANY headphone will be good enough for you.

 

[GrussGott]

If the ANC on the 35s isn't good enough for you, then no ANC on ANY headphone will be good enough for you.

Yeah, that's' why I switched to the P7W and now those are my airplane headphones ... but they sounded so good they got me back into music and now I just got some HD600s and the TH-X00s, a mojo, and am thinking of getting a Jot

 

[329161]

Yeah, that's' why I switched to the P7W and now those are my airplane headphones ... but they sounded so good they got me back into music and now I just got some HD600s and the TH-X00s, a mojo, and am thinking of getting a Jot

Very few portable setups will beat HD600 + Mojo, however, I personally find the sound on the P7W relatively congested and the bass to be a little bloated and loose (in wireless mode). For wireless I prefer the 1000x. I'm hoping the PX will be even better.

 

[jchandler3]

Yeah, that's' why I switched to the P7W and now those are my airplane headphones ... but they sounded so good they got me back into music and now I just got some HD600s and the TH-X00s, a mojo, and am thinking of getting a Jot

Doooooo it

 

[jchandler3]

Sorry if this has been discussed (I can't find it clearly), but is there any sort of volume control when using a 3.5mm cable? Also, is it TRS or TRRS? I'm thinking about them running directly into an XB1 controller.

 

[GrussGott]

Very few portable setups will beat HD600 + Mojo, however, I personally find the sound on the P7W relatively congested and the bass to be a little bloated and loose (in wireless mode). For wireless I prefer the 1000x. I'm hoping the PX will be even better.

I can't wait to hear your review, as I agree about the P7 and am super curious about the PX

 

[Tjinnitus]

The B&W PX have the very latest Qualcomm aptX HD: https://www.aptx.com/products?field..._brand_tid=253&field_product_category_tid=125

The latest Sony, the MX2, also have this. Still rare.

 

[edsjo]

Sorry if this has been discussed (I can't find it clearly), but is there any sort of volume control when using a 3.5mm cable? Also, is it TRS or TRRS? I'm thinking about them running directly into an XB1 controller.

There is no volume control when used wired with the 3.5 mm cable, you need to set volume on the source. The connector is a three-pole 3.5 mm connector, so TRS. You don't have access to the microphone when using it with the 3.5 mm cable. If you want to use it as a headset with the microphone you need to use it wireless via BT.

On a side note, when connected via USB to my Mac, it does show up as a sound device both for output and input, but if I select its microphone as input, there is no sound, i.e. it only seems to work as headphones, not a headset even with the USB connection.