bedlamite
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Sony's reduced the number of buttons on the M2 from like 5 down to 2.
Bowers & Wilkins PX Noise-Cancelling Over-ears
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lifeinabox
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I think my review after 10+ hours of flight time got lost in the shuffle but you nailed it that overall relaxation is very big part of the user experience. I fully acknowledge that the Sony 1000X aren't the best sounding cans but they do allow me to unplug while on a flight without frankly noticing that they are on my head. I don't get the pressure feeling and background hiss is minimal. They are very comfortable to wear for a transcon flight and my body and mind feels as refreshed as they can be (sitting in business/1st goes a long way as well).On the verge of a long haul test between QC35 and PX. In that sense I am curious to see how things will turn out. For me, the quality of ANC is not necessarily defined by the level of NR that cans can provide, but on a combination of other factors ..
- Do I get the sensation of pressure on my ears
This is very important because If the cans in question constantly trigger me to take them off, they fail in their single most important role of traveling headphones. To make a (long haul) flight comfortable,
- How tired / well rested am I at the end of a flight ...
Again, very important. If flying is a big part of your (working) life, relaxation is key. For me, relaxation is all about being able to put my mind into a lower gear. This typically happens with reading, sleeping and listening to music. The cans therefore need to be able to successfully take away the negative edges of flying. I do enjoy flying mind you, but I need to be able to switch off.
Which leads me to another aspect ... I am a music lover and audiophile .. In order to enjoy music I therefore am burdened with a trait that unfortunately leads me to be critical about my listening devices even if the surroundings do not necessarily allow for HQ music reproduction.. Knowing full well that one can never expect cans to fully take away the external triggers form ones surroundings, I nevertheless expect them to be able to reproduce music in a balanced manner ...
Having said that, I also look at things such as ...
- Is there an audible hiss that is spoiling my music pleasure
- Am I still able to enjoy the complexity and layering in the music that I am listening to, even in an airplane cabin ..
From what I remember form the QC25, I was able to tremendously enjoy music and get to the end of a flight well rested ... What the QC25 could not take away however is regular irritation about the way some details were rendered (Nils Lofgrens guitar solo at 2:40 into Keith Don't Go on Acoustic Live for instance) ...
That is why I am very curious to see how the PX will hold their own against the QC35 later this week. I don't mind a "technically weaker" ANC if the end result is more music enjoyment and less travel fatigue ... In fact, even if should that be the case I would say the PX would actually have completely aced fulfilling their promise ...
I think my head and ears need to get used to the PX. I was fairly fatigued after my return flight wearing the PX exclusively. Top of my head was sore from the headband and my ears warm after wear and from the clamping. I also noticed that the PX are a bit finicky with fit and the ANC effectiveness impacted by how they fit on my head forcing me to fidget with them constantly. Background hiss was minimal and definitely didn't notice any vacuum feel. I'll give the PX the benefit of the doubt since they are new and need a break-in but I am hoping for comfort and ease.
I’ll have to agree to differ with some of the recent posts. I had the Sony MDR1000x for a year and think the PX is totally superior in every respect. The office NC mode doesn’t degrade the sound quality significantly for me and “in the field” the musical enjoyment is great, even on the subway. I do agree however that the other NC modes are too degrading to consider. Maybe it’s the attention draw of the PX’s sound signature that compensates for any technically inferior noise cancellation, but I don’t miss the Sony’s one bit and for me just enough distraction is removed for the music to then take over using the office mode. As far as comfort goes, this is obviously head-dependent, but for me they are more comfortable than the Sonys in spite of being heavier.
Entering my second week of at-work usage with these and will reiterate that setting ANC in Office mode makes for the perfect balance, at least for my main use case in an open office plan. VERY minimal effect on audio quality but it truly does a great job of eliminating almost all background noise. It's especially noticeable with the auto-sensor. If I leave my desk, say to refill my water bottle, when I return and throw these on my head there's a ~2 second delay while they "wake up" then suddenly all surrounding noise disappears as ANC kicks in. Another second or two and my music unpauses.
As for more PM-3 comparisons, I'll do my best. To start off, I adore my Oppo PM-3, and would consider them the best all-around closed-back cans I've ever worn. They're incredibly comfortable and sound incredible. In fact, if offered wireless PM-3 with at least Apt-X compatibility I'd pick them up in a heartbeat, regardless of ANC capabilities. Unfortunately, that's not (yet) an option, so I started looking for a different wireless solution, and came across the PX. I already have B&W speakers that I'm more than happy with, so I gave these a run.
First off, these PX come damn close to a wireless PM-3. They're a hair less transparent, seemingly trading a little bit of the analytical neutralness for a bit more "fun" in the form of a slightly boosted bass spectrum. However, it's by no means excessive. I listen to almost exclusively rock, mostly very technical progressive sub-genres and find these to be fantastic, giving the drums and bass guitar a bit more punch without losing the clear mids/highs. My only critical mark about the bass spectrum would be a SLIGHT loss of speed and precision, but that's an almost universal trait of dynamic drivers when compared to planar-magnetics. The mids and highs I think actually compare quite favorably to the PM-3. They're not better, but I'd put them on an equal footing.
Comfort would be the only real mark against the PX I would give when comparing to the PM-3. I find the Oppo pair to have more comfortable earpads (wider contact area and a softer padding) and a lower clamping force. If anything the PM-3 might be a hair too loose for use if you're moving around, but considering 99% of my usage is sitting at a desk, I found them perfect for long-term wear. However, I'm still not willing to pass final judgement on PX comfort levels yet because they don't feel like they've "settled in" yet. Each successive day of use I notice myself making fewer adjustments due to discomfort, which tells me they're either breaking in or I'm adjusting to them. Also, if my memory serves me correctly I actually had a few minor comfort issues with the PM-3 for the first few weeks that went away, so we'll see where these end up after a month or so of wear.
As for more PM-3 comparisons, I'll do my best. To start off, I adore my Oppo PM-3, and would consider them the best all-around closed-back cans I've ever worn. They're incredibly comfortable and sound incredible. In fact, if offered wireless PM-3 with at least Apt-X compatibility I'd pick them up in a heartbeat, regardless of ANC capabilities. Unfortunately, that's not (yet) an option, so I started looking for a different wireless solution, and came across the PX. I already have B&W speakers that I'm more than happy with, so I gave these a run.
First off, these PX come damn close to a wireless PM-3. They're a hair less transparent, seemingly trading a little bit of the analytical neutralness for a bit more "fun" in the form of a slightly boosted bass spectrum. However, it's by no means excessive. I listen to almost exclusively rock, mostly very technical progressive sub-genres and find these to be fantastic, giving the drums and bass guitar a bit more punch without losing the clear mids/highs. My only critical mark about the bass spectrum would be a SLIGHT loss of speed and precision, but that's an almost universal trait of dynamic drivers when compared to planar-magnetics. The mids and highs I think actually compare quite favorably to the PM-3. They're not better, but I'd put them on an equal footing.
Comfort would be the only real mark against the PX I would give when comparing to the PM-3. I find the Oppo pair to have more comfortable earpads (wider contact area and a softer padding) and a lower clamping force. If anything the PM-3 might be a hair too loose for use if you're moving around, but considering 99% of my usage is sitting at a desk, I found them perfect for long-term wear. However, I'm still not willing to pass final judgement on PX comfort levels yet because they don't feel like they've "settled in" yet. Each successive day of use I notice myself making fewer adjustments due to discomfort, which tells me they're either breaking in or I'm adjusting to them. Also, if my memory serves me correctly I actually had a few minor comfort issues with the PM-3 for the first few weeks that went away, so we'll see where these end up after a month or so of wear.
Great .. B&W are coming to pick up my defective unit and swap it with a new one exactly 28 hours before my flight leaves. That will give me exactly 24h of burn-in ... 
richpjr
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Great .. B&W are coming to pick up my defective unit and swap it with a new one exactly 28 hours before my flight leaves. That will give me exactly 24h of burn-in ...
That is nice customer service. Mine are scheduled to arrive about 6 tonight, just in time for me to leave for a flight at 6am tomorrow morning - not much burn in is going to happen for me!
zviratko
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So after a whole weekend of testing, here's my updated mini-review
SQ is not bad, but it is very important (at least to my ears) to have them positioned correctly. Probably becasue of the deep pads and angled drivers, it is (on my head, with my ears) possible to put them comfortably in 2 different positions swiveling in different directions (either more to the front or more to the back), each position has very diffent sound, with the back position sounding better (to me ) - but it's a bit unnatural at first to have them like that...
I left my P7W at the office and spent the whole weekend with just the PX, and the sound is lovely on higher volumes, but seems off on lower volumes - I'll have to compare that to P7W to be sure it's not my hearing I'm hearing
ANC impacts the sound, but it's nothing too major - if you're in an environment where you need ANC you likely won't notice it's different. I'd describe the difference as a "Sennheiser" sound. In other words - too rounded and boring. All the details are there, but all the edge is taken off. ANC it not as strong as I'd like (with an app you could always dial it down) - had a construction work going on in the flat next to me and those didn't filter that too well. Works well for bus/car/ambient rumbling noises.
Comfort is good, I even fell asleep with them and while not the perfect cushion to sleep on, they were not too bad. However, putting them around the neck is a pain because of the way they swivel. Putting them on is similiar - I'll of course get used to that, but I very much prefer the way P7W fold and operate.
Buttons are not as responsive as on the P7W - bit of delay would be acceptable, but the power-on button needs a lot more effort to operate than on P7W - the difference being that I'm able to operate it with my right thumb with 100% accuracy on the P7W, but I need to use my index finger on the PX and then wait a bit to see if it worked. Again, something I'll probably get used to. This is made much worse by the fact that I have to use that button constantly for no good reason because we get Features!
Now on to autosleep and sensors. Those are driving me mad and I can't imagine anybody really tested those in real world.
Sensors are unreliable on all 3 settings and randomly trigger when moving the head (and in the winter it will get even worse if you have a coat with a collar that will touch them). One can of course disable them, but that makes situation even worse because of autosleep. I'm not entirely sure how it's supposed to operate because it's a bit random at times, but it seems to autosleep the headphones after just 2 minutes when nothing is playing (2 minutes!?!?!). It's probably supposed to wake up if you operate the headphones (seems to work only with sensors enabled, not sure if that's by design?) and it's disabled if you turn ANC on. There's absolutely no feedback that they turned off, so be prepared for blasting audio out of your laptop/phone speakers while mumbling "sorry". Because of the unreliable power button and delay, and for sure some glitching in firmware, I sometimes turned them on only to have them turn off instantly because I probably pressed the button twice... This was all instantenous on the P7W, not so on the PX. I think this "sleep" is different to turning them off, so sometimes turning them "on" from sleep turns them off first... but sometimes it does not.... really confusing.
USB DAC in the headphones works, but is limited to 48kHz/16b, not something to write home about. What absolutely boggles the mind is that autosleep is enabled even when the headphones are connected (and charging!) to USB-C, but the USB device never disappears. This means that everything will indicate the headphones should be playing while in reality they went for a slumber because you didn't play something constantly. When you turn them on, they will start playing _and_ connect over bluetooth to the last device (possibly the same laptop or to a phone) requiring even more fiddling in case the sound switches to bluetooth on connect. Supposedly it's not possible to use bluetooth and USB at the same time - to me it seems to work about as well as bluetooth multipoint. Another minor con - microphone doesn't work over USB DAC. This is just silly because I'm pretty sure all the circuitry has to be there already, and it appears as an input device on connect, just with no sound.
When using the USB DAC, the volume steps are wrong - the lowest one is too loud and the rest seems to be non-linear. Similiar issue was present in the P7W and was fixed in firmware update, but there it only applies to USB connection.
Bluetooth connection is good and strong, best range I've had on any device, no skips when in range and it just works. I have no aptX HD capable device, but I tested both aptX and AAC with no problems. AAC has a slightly better range (most likely due to lower bitrate it needs).
Overall I'm pretty happy with how they sound now, but can't recommend them until they fix the firmware - all the "features" are just annoying as hell. I guess all the cons are fixable in firmware, so I hope they will soon, otherwise I'll just use P7W and those will rest in a drawer...
SQ is not bad, but it is very important (at least to my ears) to have them positioned correctly. Probably becasue of the deep pads and angled drivers, it is (on my head, with my ears
) possible to put them comfortably in 2 different positions swiveling in different directions (either more to the front or more to the back), each position has very diffent sound, with the back position sounding better (to me ) - but it's a bit unnatural at first to have them like that...I left my P7W at the office and spent the whole weekend with just the PX, and the sound is lovely on higher volumes, but seems off on lower volumes - I'll have to compare that to P7W to be sure it's not my hearing I'm hearing
ANC impacts the sound, but it's nothing too major - if you're in an environment where you need ANC you likely won't notice it's different. I'd describe the difference as a "Sennheiser" sound. In other words - too rounded and boring. All the details are there, but all the edge is taken off. ANC it not as strong as I'd like (with an app you could always dial it down) - had a construction work going on in the flat next to me and those didn't filter that too well. Works well for bus/car/ambient rumbling noises.
Comfort is good, I even fell asleep with them and while not the perfect cushion to sleep on, they were not too bad. However, putting them around the neck is a pain because of the way they swivel. Putting them on is similiar - I'll of course get used to that, but I very much prefer the way P7W fold and operate.
Buttons are not as responsive as on the P7W - bit of delay would be acceptable, but the power-on button needs a lot more effort to operate than on P7W - the difference being that I'm able to operate it with my right thumb with 100% accuracy on the P7W, but I need to use my index finger on the PX and then wait a bit to see if it worked. Again, something I'll probably get used to. This is made much worse by the fact that I have to use that button constantly for no good reason because we get Features!
Now on to autosleep and sensors. Those are driving me mad and I can't imagine anybody really tested those in real world.
Sensors are unreliable on all 3 settings and randomly trigger when moving the head (and in the winter it will get even worse if you have a coat with a collar that will touch them). One can of course disable them, but that makes situation even worse because of autosleep. I'm not entirely sure how it's supposed to operate because it's a bit random at times, but it seems to autosleep the headphones after just 2 minutes when nothing is playing (2 minutes!?!?!). It's probably supposed to wake up if you operate the headphones (seems to work only with sensors enabled, not sure if that's by design?) and it's disabled if you turn ANC on. There's absolutely no feedback that they turned off, so be prepared for blasting audio out of your laptop/phone speakers while mumbling "sorry". Because of the unreliable power button and delay, and for sure some glitching in firmware, I sometimes turned them on only to have them turn off instantly because I probably pressed the button twice... This was all instantenous on the P7W, not so on the PX. I think this "sleep" is different to turning them off, so sometimes turning them "on" from sleep turns them off first... but sometimes it does not.... really confusing.
USB DAC in the headphones works, but is limited to 48kHz/16b, not something to write home about. What absolutely boggles the mind is that autosleep is enabled even when the headphones are connected (and charging!) to USB-C, but the USB device never disappears. This means that everything will indicate the headphones should be playing while in reality they went for a slumber because you didn't play something constantly. When you turn them on, they will start playing _and_ connect over bluetooth to the last device (possibly the same laptop or to a phone) requiring even more fiddling in case the sound switches to bluetooth on connect. Supposedly it's not possible to use bluetooth and USB at the same time - to me it seems to work about as well as bluetooth multipoint. Another minor con - microphone doesn't work over USB DAC. This is just silly because I'm pretty sure all the circuitry has to be there already, and it appears as an input device on connect, just with no sound.
When using the USB DAC, the volume steps are wrong - the lowest one is too loud and the rest seems to be non-linear. Similiar issue was present in the P7W and was fixed in firmware update, but there it only applies to USB connection.
Bluetooth connection is good and strong, best range I've had on any device, no skips when in range and it just works. I have no aptX HD capable device, but I tested both aptX and AAC with no problems. AAC has a slightly better range (most likely due to lower bitrate it needs).
Overall I'm pretty happy with how they sound now, but can't recommend them until they fix the firmware - all the "features" are just annoying as hell. I guess all the cons are fixable in firmware, so I hope they will soon, otherwise I'll just use P7W and those will rest in a drawer...
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lifeinabox
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Yes, glad someone posted about the finicky positioning. I find slightly angled facing back the best as well. When you find the sweet spot, they’re magic. Could be a touch airier and the soundstage could be bigger. Completely agree about the ANC constraining the sound but it does boost dynamics.So after a whole weekend of testing, here's my updated mini-review
SQ is not bad, but it is very important (at least to my ears) to have them positioned correctly. Probably becasue of the deep pads and angled drivers, it is (on my head, with my ears
I left my P7W at the office and spent the whole weekend with just the PX, and the sound is lovely on higher volumes, but seems off on lower volumes - I'll have to compare that to P7W to be sure it's not my hearing I'm hearing
ANC impacts the sound, but it's nothing too major - if you're in an environment where you need ANC you likely won't notice it's different. I'd describe the difference as a "Sennheiser" sound. In other words - too rounded and boring. All the details are there, but all the edge is taken off. ANC it not as strong as I'd like (with an app you could always dial it down) - had a construction work going on in the flat next to me and those didn't filter that too well. Works well for bus/car/ambient rumbling noises.
Comfort is good, I even fell asleep with them and while not the perfect cushion to sleep on, they were not too bad. However, putting them around the neck is a pain because of the way they swivel. Putting them on is similiar - I'll of course get used to that, but I very much prefer the way P7W fold and operate.
Buttons are not as responsive as on the P7W - bit of delay would be acceptable, but the power-on button needs a lot more effort to operate than on P7W - the difference being that I'm able to operate it with my right thumb with 100% accuracy on the P7W, but I need to use my index finger on the PX and then wait a bit to see if it worked. Again, something I'll probably get used to. This is made much worse by the fact that I have to use that button constantly for no good reason because we get Features!
Now on to autosleep and sensors. Those are driving me mad and I can't imagine anybody really tested those in real world.
Sensors are unreliable on all 3 settings and randomly trigger when moving the head (and in the winter it will get even worse if you have a coat with a collar that will touch them). One can of course disable them, but that makes situation even worse because of autosleep. I'm not entirely sure how it's supposed to operate because it's a bit random at times, but it seems to autosleep the headphones after just 2 minutes when nothing is playing (2 minutes!?!?!). It's probably supposed to wake up if you operate the headphones (seems to work only with sensors enabled, not sure if that's by design?) and it's disabled if you turn ANC on. There's absolutely no feedback that they turned off, so be prepared for blasting audio out of your laptop/phone speakers while mumbling "sorry". Because of the unreliable power button and delay, and for sure some glitching in firmware, I sometimes turned them on only to have them turn off instantly because I probably pressed the button twice... This was all instantenous on the P7W, not so on the PX. I think this "sleep" is different to turning them off, so sometimes turning them "on" from sleep turns them off first... but sometimes it does not.... really confusing.
USB DAC in the headphones works, but is limited to 48kHz/16b, not something to write home about. What absolutely boggles the mind is that autosleep is enabled even when the headphones are connected (and charging!) to USB-C, but the USB device never disappears. This means that everything will indicate the headphones should be playing while in reality they went for a slumber because you didn't play something constantly. When you turn them on, they will start playing _and_ connect over bluetooth to the last device (possibly the same laptop or to a phone) requiring even more fiddling in case the sound switches to bluetooth on connect. Supposedly it's not possible to use bluetooth and USB at the same time - to me it seems to work about as well as bluetooth multipoint. Another minor con - microphone doesn't work over USB DAC. This is just silly because I'm pretty sure all the circuitry has to be there already, and it appears as an input device on connect, just with no sound.
When using the USB DAC, the volume steps are wrong - the lowest one is too loud and the rest seems to be non-linear. Similiar issue was present in the P7W and was fixed in firmware update, but there it only applies to USB connection.
Bluetooth connection is good and strong, best range I've had on any device, no skips when in range and it just works. I have no aptX HD capable device, but I tested both aptX and AAC with no problems. AAC has a slightly better range (most likely due to lower bitrate it needs).
Overall I'm pretty happy with how they sound now, but can't recommend them until they fix the firmware - all the "features" are just annoying as hell. I guess all the cons are fixable in firmware, so I hope they will soon, otherwise I'll just use P7W and those will rest in a drawer...
I also agree with others that they are super revealing in a good way. Heard things i’ve never heard before on tracks played hundreds of times. Listening to Radiohead’s Worrywort is a revelation.
AlwaysForward
Headphoneus Supremus
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So I think I've found my perfect fit. It’s essentially when the ear cup gently hugs the bottom and back of my ears.
Something about this is giving me not only my most comfortable fit but also the best musical cues across frequencies and spacial cues. Here’s an illustration to help with the description:
The main "hug" happens along the darker area. Doesn't need IEM type seal but just having it nestled there seems to improve bass and soundstage while also being the most comfortable position. At least for my noggin'
Cheers and hope this helps someone!
Something about this is giving me not only my most comfortable fit but also the best musical cues across frequencies and spacial cues. Here’s an illustration to help with the description:
The main "hug" happens along the darker area. Doesn't need IEM type seal but just having it nestled there seems to improve bass and soundstage while also being the most comfortable position. At least for my noggin'
Cheers and hope this helps someone!
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starpause
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Ok, PX in hand so I can chime in... Agree 100% on B&W trending away from a neutral sound like the PM-3 for boosted bass. Better than any of the other ANC headphones I've tried but I do miss detail that I would otherwise get on the PM-3. Frogs by Charles Murdoch was playing and A/B on the PX all I was getting was the beat. If I really tried I could pick out the interesting samples swirling around in the bass but on the PM-3 they were right there, hadn't even noticed them on the first listen through with the PX.
Sound stage tho! On Come Down (IFE) PX has each voice and drum distinctly placed, where as the PM-3 gels everything together in a tighter space.
Since the hobby is all about compromises, I value neutral detail more than sound stage... and I'm with you that I'd take a apxHD PM-3 in a second. But since the Chinese Gods are fickle... and looking at the options... PX comes out as my favorite wireless ANC HP so far. Especially compared to the waaaay too bass driven H9 (tamable with their in-app EQ, but the EQ settings don't stick so you need their crappy app running), 1000WBX (an improvement from Sony, metal headband is nice, nothing offensive about the FR but just kind of sound like an average closed back HP), QC35 ii (wasn't expecting anything, didn't get anything, not just boring but strange FR), and the slew I tested a year or so ago.
NOW FOR THE KICKER... in wired mode, the left driver cuts out. Totally silent while the right driver keeps playing music. Once in a while I can get it to start making sound again by unplugging and replugging the minijack, powering down and up. Issue is reproducible with the handful of cables I had around and tried it with. Obviously a software problem since both cups blast fine in bluetooth mode (and that sound stage!) but yeah, B&W needs some serious quality control. PX feels rushed and unready, like us early adopters are their beta testers.
So this pair is definitely going back to Amazon and I'll wait to see if they work out the kinks. Messaging from the company suggests they're dedicated to delivering new firmware with features etc but I don't believe anything until it ships
Putting the carriage before the horse but... one promising thought... is that since they have DSP on the headphones, they could open up EQ that can be written to the headphones as your desired FR default, and then maybe I could enjoy a sound closer to the revealing PM-3.Update: Ran Neutralizer on my LG G5 and got the flatness I was missing from PM-3 going on the PX. Having a hard time putting these down! Really has me hopeful we'll be able to bake EQ into the PX with a future firmware because I'd love to take this experience to devices besides my phone. Graph for giggles since everyone's will be different, but I recommend going through the exercise! Also interesting what was bothering me was actually emphasis in the high bass / low mid range. Cranking up the low bass sounds right on.
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bedlamite
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To each their own...but I'd hate a neutral sound signature for an outdoor can. Ambient outdoor noise is going to kill the bass, which is why pretty much all portable cans have a bass boost. Take the H9 for instance, on a desktop listening rig it's unlistenable; absolute mush, but outdoors the bass evens out and has a nice lush sound signature (IMHO).
AlwaysForward
Headphoneus Supremus
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Eh, these have elevated bass (sub bass emphasis) and slightly recessed highs. It’s a smooth, warm & neutral slope that sounds excellent indoors and out. The mids, in particular, are some of the best I’ve heard.
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So I think I've found my perfect fit. It’s essentially when the ear cup gently hugs the bottom and back of my ears.
Something about this is giving me not only my most comfortable fit but also the best musical cues across frequencies and spacial cues. Here’s an illustration to help with the description:
The main "hug" happens along the darker area. Doesn't need IEM type seal but just having it nestled there seems to improve bass and soundstage while also being the most comfortable position. At least for my noggin'
Cheers and hope this helps someone!
I've found the same exact thing. shifting them slightly towards the front of your head can make a world of difference in soundstage
UoKTeN
New Head-Fier
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I just switched to PX from P7W.
The sound is smoother than P7W, the amount of details you get are way more than P7W, the bass is weaker, the seperation is crazy.
One thing to mention here that no one else mentioned. These leak like CRAZY. I could easily wear P7W at max volume in the office and it was impossible for someone to tell which song I was listening to, however, I was only at %80 volume with these and one of my colleagues already told me that he could hear what I was listening to. I blame the quality or thickness of the earpads.
Anyone else noticed the same issue?
The sound is smoother than P7W, the amount of details you get are way more than P7W, the bass is weaker, the seperation is crazy.
One thing to mention here that no one else mentioned. These leak like CRAZY. I could easily wear P7W at max volume in the office and it was impossible for someone to tell which song I was listening to, however, I was only at %80 volume with these and one of my colleagues already told me that he could hear what I was listening to. I blame the quality or thickness of the earpads.
Anyone else noticed the same issue?
Tamas Bonis
New Head-Fier
Hi All,
I got the PXs on the 11th of October, I thought - after reading this thread through - it would be useful for others to read my mini-review. Most of the things are written down already in this thread, but there are a few untouched areas I would like to cover.
I am coming from the MDR-1000Xs, that I returned after 11 months of usage (and surprisingly got a full refund). I really liked the sound of them, main reason for returning was that my own voice was cancelled together with background noise during phone calls. I always had to take them off when someone was calling me. I am using headphones for commuting (trains and downtown walk), and flying about once a week. I am using them in the office as well, but there I am using a cable connection instead, driven by a dragonfly 1.2. Listening to Spotify when travelling, but mostly hi-res flac files in the office, usually jazz.
How I made my choice:
Wanted to make a step up after the MDRs, in terms of sound quality. Also, read articles that even the 1000XM2s have got issues with phone calls, so wanted to try other brands.
First I got interested in the Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BTs. Unfortunately I could not try them anywhere, and £500 was slightly over my budget, that I did not want to spend without trying them (and was lazy to start the "send it back game" with Amazon if I don't like them). After getting the PXs, I had a chance to compare them side-by-side, let me talk about that later.
After that I got interested in the Master & Dynamic MW60s, however again, I could not try them anywhere. I asked a few questions from Master & Dynamic customer service, but they still haven't got back to me after 6 days. I was wondering if they would be the same if I had any issues with my pair of cans, so I decided to search elsewhere.
I had a flight a few days later from Luton airport, and had a few hours before departure. Dixon's travel had quite a few pairs of headphones on stock, and sales guys were very helpful with me wanting to try all of them. I was kinda well informed, I went through the negative PCMag review, but on the same day I also read PXs got the "Best wireless headphones over £300" from What Hi-Fi. Also went through tons of other reviews and youtube tests. I have to say thank you to the guys at Dixon's travel, they were really patient with me. After listening to (and making phone calls with) WH-1000XM2s, H9s, Momentum 2.0s, PXC550s and the PXs, I knew it's gonna be a question of comfort. The PXs sounded by far the best for me, but they were the least comfortable as well. I decided to go for them, and see if the comfort is really distracting me. I have a 30 day money-back opportunity.
Briefly:
- Very detailed and natural midrange, lively instruments, wide stage when comparing to other wireless pairs. They sounded a bit thin after the MDRs, but after a few days I find the MDRs bass-heavy instead. Becoming a bit messy when lots of things happening in the music at the same time. Loves quartets, trios and duos though. Low quality recordings will be shown with all their issues, the PXs don't try to make them sound any better. I think they are very good for jazz and classical music, not the best for classic rock though, where the sound becomes messy quite a lot, and cymbals can become dirty easily. Surprisingly they were quite happy with electronic and other types of pop music.
- OMG how nice they sound when connected to the dragonfly. They sound MUCH better than using the built-in dac with the USB-C cable.
- Phone calls are very good. People I call say I sound exactly the same as using my iPhone, no difference at all.
- I hear much less cracking and other deep noises when walking on the street. The MDRs were not the best at those, it was quite noisy to walk when wearing them. PXs are still not perfect, but much better. (this is not about noise cancelling, this is about mechanical noise made by the headphones themselves).
- Noise cancelling does affect the sound (becomes flat), but I have to turn it on only on an airplane, passive isolation is enough otherwise. ANC does its job during flying, doing cancellation in a less aggressive way compared to Sonys. With the Sonys, I did not really like the cabin effect, there's nothing like that with the PXs. I wouldn't say the PXs are any worse or better than the MDRs, I would say they are different. Engine noise is put off completely, flight attendant speech is slightly audible. It is very similar to the Sonys, but without the cabin effect, which is a big advantage for me.
- Motion sensors are overall working good, but it happened once that it turned itself off on my head, and also once it kept on playing after taking them off. I guess it will improve by time with firmware updates. Overall I find this feature really useful, as I always left the MDRs on my desk turned on.
- I was surprised on the zero amount of sound leak the PXs have. The Sonys were leaking a bit, but nothing was coming out from the PXs. Somebody sitting next to me in a silent room could not hear anything from my music.
- I quite like the possibility to connect to two devices in parallel. I have a secondary Android phone, that I can use for listening to music while saving battery on my primary phone, but still not missing any calls. This feature was completely missing from the MDRs. Well, at the same time this is a problem as well. When iPhone is connected, I connect my Android to listen to music. Headphones go standby, they come back, and connect back to the Android only. I press play on my iphone, and I don't understand why I cannot hear anything, and why everybody on the train laughs at me.
- Somebody has written about noise cancellation changes on head moves. I think it is not the noise cancellation itself causing the issue, but the isolation foam moves away from the head in special positions, letting outside noise in. Happened to me once, could fix it by changing can position. I was sleeping on an airplane while this happened, so I could not pay too much attention to it.
- Comfort is still a big issue. I wear glasses, and I can see their shape in the ear pads. Mostly my left, but sometimes both of my ears hurt at the same area after about an hour of usage. I can change the cans positions, but it is way too difficult to find the optimal fit. I am just about to contact B&W if they (planning to) have any replacement foams to be used, as I feel that could help a lot. Just to compare: MDRs were much more comfortable, and the best one of the pairs I tried was the Sennheiser PCX-550s. With those I simply did not feel I am wearing headphones.
After 3 days of usage I found a shop with ATH-DSR9BTs on stock, so I decided to give these a side-by-side comparison. Yes, the DSRs are more detailed with a wider soundstage. However I felt them having a bit of a "laboratory" sound. Too perfect and a bit too bright if that makes sense. I found the PXs being less digital, and a bit more enjoyable. In terms of phone calls (you know, it is important for me) the person I called told me I am talking from the end of a long tube, while picking up all surrounding ambient noise as well. Overall sound input seems to be much worse than the PXs. It's so weird, that wireless headphones in the £300-£500 range are not necessarily good at this feature. Anyway, the DSRs are waaaaay more comfortable to wear, compared to the PXs. Passive isolation is similar, which means they probably would not be the best choice for my weekly flights either. I found them really interesting, but at the end of the day I did not want to spend the extra £200 on top to get them.
Summary:
Do I miss the MDRs? Not really. Now I feel they were quite coloured, and giving you what you love to hear instead of the truth. For the kind of music I listen to I feel the PXs do have a better sound signature.
Will I send the PXs back? I don't know. The comfort worries me quite a lot, but I have cca 20 more days to make a decision. I honestly don't know what I would get instead, if I choose not to keep these. Probably the DSR9BTs, but would not be entirely happy with those either...
I got the PXs on the 11th of October, I thought - after reading this thread through - it would be useful for others to read my mini-review. Most of the things are written down already in this thread, but there are a few untouched areas I would like to cover.
I am coming from the MDR-1000Xs, that I returned after 11 months of usage (and surprisingly got a full refund). I really liked the sound of them, main reason for returning was that my own voice was cancelled together with background noise during phone calls. I always had to take them off when someone was calling me. I am using headphones for commuting (trains and downtown walk), and flying about once a week. I am using them in the office as well, but there I am using a cable connection instead, driven by a dragonfly 1.2. Listening to Spotify when travelling, but mostly hi-res flac files in the office, usually jazz.
How I made my choice:
Wanted to make a step up after the MDRs, in terms of sound quality. Also, read articles that even the 1000XM2s have got issues with phone calls, so wanted to try other brands.
First I got interested in the Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BTs. Unfortunately I could not try them anywhere, and £500 was slightly over my budget, that I did not want to spend without trying them (and was lazy to start the "send it back game" with Amazon if I don't like them). After getting the PXs, I had a chance to compare them side-by-side, let me talk about that later.
After that I got interested in the Master & Dynamic MW60s, however again, I could not try them anywhere. I asked a few questions from Master & Dynamic customer service, but they still haven't got back to me after 6 days. I was wondering if they would be the same if I had any issues with my pair of cans, so I decided to search elsewhere.
I had a flight a few days later from Luton airport, and had a few hours before departure. Dixon's travel had quite a few pairs of headphones on stock, and sales guys were very helpful with me wanting to try all of them. I was kinda well informed, I went through the negative PCMag review, but on the same day I also read PXs got the "Best wireless headphones over £300" from What Hi-Fi. Also went through tons of other reviews and youtube tests. I have to say thank you to the guys at Dixon's travel, they were really patient with me. After listening to (and making phone calls with) WH-1000XM2s, H9s, Momentum 2.0s, PXC550s and the PXs, I knew it's gonna be a question of comfort. The PXs sounded by far the best for me, but they were the least comfortable as well. I decided to go for them, and see if the comfort is really distracting me. I have a 30 day money-back opportunity.
Briefly:
- Very detailed and natural midrange, lively instruments, wide stage when comparing to other wireless pairs. They sounded a bit thin after the MDRs, but after a few days I find the MDRs bass-heavy instead. Becoming a bit messy when lots of things happening in the music at the same time. Loves quartets, trios and duos though. Low quality recordings will be shown with all their issues, the PXs don't try to make them sound any better. I think they are very good for jazz and classical music, not the best for classic rock though, where the sound becomes messy quite a lot, and cymbals can become dirty easily. Surprisingly they were quite happy with electronic and other types of pop music.
- OMG how nice they sound when connected to the dragonfly. They sound MUCH better than using the built-in dac with the USB-C cable.
- Phone calls are very good. People I call say I sound exactly the same as using my iPhone, no difference at all.
- I hear much less cracking and other deep noises when walking on the street. The MDRs were not the best at those, it was quite noisy to walk when wearing them. PXs are still not perfect, but much better. (this is not about noise cancelling, this is about mechanical noise made by the headphones themselves).
- Noise cancelling does affect the sound (becomes flat), but I have to turn it on only on an airplane, passive isolation is enough otherwise. ANC does its job during flying, doing cancellation in a less aggressive way compared to Sonys. With the Sonys, I did not really like the cabin effect, there's nothing like that with the PXs. I wouldn't say the PXs are any worse or better than the MDRs, I would say they are different. Engine noise is put off completely, flight attendant speech is slightly audible. It is very similar to the Sonys, but without the cabin effect, which is a big advantage for me.
- Motion sensors are overall working good, but it happened once that it turned itself off on my head, and also once it kept on playing after taking them off. I guess it will improve by time with firmware updates. Overall I find this feature really useful, as I always left the MDRs on my desk turned on.
- I was surprised on the zero amount of sound leak the PXs have. The Sonys were leaking a bit, but nothing was coming out from the PXs. Somebody sitting next to me in a silent room could not hear anything from my music.
- I quite like the possibility to connect to two devices in parallel. I have a secondary Android phone, that I can use for listening to music while saving battery on my primary phone, but still not missing any calls. This feature was completely missing from the MDRs. Well, at the same time this is a problem as well. When iPhone is connected, I connect my Android to listen to music. Headphones go standby, they come back, and connect back to the Android only. I press play on my iphone, and I don't understand why I cannot hear anything, and why everybody on the train laughs at me.
- Somebody has written about noise cancellation changes on head moves. I think it is not the noise cancellation itself causing the issue, but the isolation foam moves away from the head in special positions, letting outside noise in. Happened to me once, could fix it by changing can position. I was sleeping on an airplane while this happened, so I could not pay too much attention to it.
- Comfort is still a big issue. I wear glasses, and I can see their shape in the ear pads. Mostly my left, but sometimes both of my ears hurt at the same area after about an hour of usage. I can change the cans positions, but it is way too difficult to find the optimal fit. I am just about to contact B&W if they (planning to) have any replacement foams to be used, as I feel that could help a lot. Just to compare: MDRs were much more comfortable, and the best one of the pairs I tried was the Sennheiser PCX-550s. With those I simply did not feel I am wearing headphones.
After 3 days of usage I found a shop with ATH-DSR9BTs on stock, so I decided to give these a side-by-side comparison. Yes, the DSRs are more detailed with a wider soundstage. However I felt them having a bit of a "laboratory" sound. Too perfect and a bit too bright if that makes sense. I found the PXs being less digital, and a bit more enjoyable. In terms of phone calls (you know, it is important for me) the person I called told me I am talking from the end of a long tube, while picking up all surrounding ambient noise as well. Overall sound input seems to be much worse than the PXs. It's so weird, that wireless headphones in the £300-£500 range are not necessarily good at this feature. Anyway, the DSRs are waaaaay more comfortable to wear, compared to the PXs. Passive isolation is similar, which means they probably would not be the best choice for my weekly flights either. I found them really interesting, but at the end of the day I did not want to spend the extra £200 on top to get them.
Summary:
Do I miss the MDRs? Not really. Now I feel they were quite coloured, and giving you what you love to hear instead of the truth. For the kind of music I listen to I feel the PXs do have a better sound signature.
Will I send the PXs back? I don't know. The comfort worries me quite a lot, but I have cca 20 more days to make a decision. I honestly don't know what I would get instead, if I choose not to keep these. Probably the DSR9BTs, but would not be entirely happy with those either...
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