[AlwaysForward]

Do you equalize your music? I feel PX need equalization especially for rock and jazz music, boosting highs and lowering mids. What apps you suggest to equalize on Android? I use VLC's equalizer for FLACs

Quite the contrary, I love their balance. It’s surprising to hear that people would want to suck out the sumptuous mids on these.

Perhaps you’re more accustomed to V-Shaped tunings. I see you’re new to head-fi, welcome! What kinds of headphones and systems have you had in the past? Any experience with music production? Not needed but it’s helpful knowledge for recommendations.

Generally, I’d recommend trying these without EQ for a month and ONLY listening to them if you have another set that you’re quite accustomed too. I wouldn’t expect most who have a lot of experience in Audio or music production to want to make the adjustments you listed and this could be a great opportunity to “calibrate” your ear to a better experience.

 

[Sonic Defender]

@AlwaysForward, I completely agree with your thoughts. The mids are very nice and worth protecting and I also strongly encourage somebody to really acclimate to a new signature by using it exclusively for at least a few weeks. Going back and forth between signatures can really skew our perception, especially if one of the signatures is already well known and the other unfamiliar. If at the end of a few weeks when you go back to the original signature that you really liked, if you still prefer it then you can be fairly confident in your impressions as they relate to your preferences.

 

[cdawg92]

I’ve tried that now.
Doesn’t seem to work either.
Put them on normal again today, stops playing if I just turn my head.
Sometimes it start playing again, sometimes not.
Maybe some other fault with mine then, maybe I’ll return them...

When I first got my PX the wear sensors frustrated me so I tried a few things to see if I could improve the performance. What finally worked for me was the following:

• I use the More setting as I wear glasses and with this setting adjusting my glasses or turning my head doesn't pause the music
• I power the headphones on while wearing them, then I pause music and take them off then put them back on and hit play. This seems to reset the sensors or something. If I don't do this then they pause randomly.
• I make sure to power them off if I'm not going to wear them again for an extended period of time. I found the battery was draining if I took them off and didn't power off for more than a couple of hours.

Of course, YMV, but these steps have made the wear sensors very usable for me and I've found it to be a really nice feature.

 

[songoftime11]

I have no experience in music production and never had high quality headphones. I play drums and I feel boosting highs helps me distinguish the various toms and cymbals. I grew up listening with a treble boosted equalizer so I quite got used to it. The reasons for which I think it sounds better is that it seems much more "crystal clear". When I switch back to no equalization the music feels warmer but somewhat muddy, dark. On the other hand, boosting high frequencies brings listening fatigue to my ears much sooner.

I feel the need to equalize just with rock, jazz, blues. Classical music is way better with no equalization.

I'd really like to better appreciate mids and if you got some suggestions on what should I focus on while listening (and why) I would be happy to try.

Thanks a lot!

Quite the contrary, I love their balance. It’s surprising to hear that people would want to suck out the sumptuous mids on these.

Perhaps you’re more accustomed to V-Shaped tunings. I see you’re new to head-fi, welcome! What kinds of headphones and systems have you had in the past? Any experience with music production? Not needed but it’s helpful knowledge for recommendations.

Generally, I’d recommend trying these without EQ for a month and ONLY listening to them if you have another set that you’re quite accustomed too. I wouldn’t expect most who have a lot of experience in Audio or music production to want to make the adjustments you listed and this could be a great opportunity to “calibrate” your ear to a better experience.

 

[MICHAELSD]

@songoftime11 Once you get used to a certain sound signature, you start to prefer it. I would take AlwaysForward’s advice and listen without any EQ for a month. (Same goes for any new headphones, quality headphones are tuned in a very specific manner.) You may find you prefer it after some time.

 

[Sonic Defender]

@songoftime11, I have played drums off and on for over 30 years so I can relate, but I would never boost treble. man getting your brain hooked to that artificial sense of detail would be an issue with masking dynamics and timbre. I totally say back the treble EQing back a little at a time and get your brain off of the audio crack and see how things go mate.

 

[AlwaysForward]

@songoftime11, I have played drums off and on for over 30 years so I can relate, but I would never boost treble. man getting your brain hooked to that artificial sense of detail would be an issue with masking dynamics and timbre. I totally say back the treble EQing back a little at a time and get your brain off of the audio crack and see how things go mate.

Agreed. I'm a musician and can sympathize with how playing can make one focused on a single Instrument, especially in the early years.

However, being a better -listener-, to the whole band/soundscape, makes you a better musician and music lover. Before you picked up the drums, you used to not focus as hard on them. Perhaps this is a opportunity to take that step in your music journey.

 

[songoftime11]

Thanks everyone, I'll surely try and see how my listening experience change.
But I was wondering why most Jazz and Rock preset equalizers are V-shaped? Most people prefer this equalization? If so, why aren't these genres produced with this equalization?
Sorry for the nooby questions, if you got some material you suggest about this topic I'd be happy to read it.

 

[AlwaysForward]

Thanks everyone, I'll surely try and see how my listening experience change.
But I was wondering why most Jazz and Rock preset equalizers are V-shaped? Most people prefer this equalization? If so, why aren't these genres produced with this equalization?
Sorry for the nooby questions, if you got some material you suggest about this topic I'd be happy to read it.

Generally, V-Shaped can be considered "Fun" or "consumer" oriented. Many brands have V-shaped EQ on their headphones, like VModa. I am pretty sure Jazz is not usually V-Shaped because it is a mid-emphasized genre, most of the time.

The goal of any studio engineer is to make music sound right while it's in a dead-flat setting. Dead-flat mastering is key to having a mix translate best because some will have bass heavy systems, some will have flat systems, some will have v-shaped systems and people such as yourself will have a treble heavy system. Mixing engineers make music neutral. They want the bass guitar to sound just as good as the vocals and guitars and cymbals etc. They need to present every element of the recording.

I don't have any specific material for you to read up on but the B&W you purchased is fairly neutral with a slight reduction in the upper treble and a slight boost in the sub-bass, as I hear it. It's much closer to what the mixing engineer intended, meaning the bass, vocals/guitars and cymbals are all presented in a similar level. You hear the whole band a little better this way and it's why most audiophiles prefer it. Because it reproduces the original sound.

 

[Sonic Defender]

I often wonder why the midrange isn't more carefully protected from encroachment and voids in headphone signatures? It isn't everything, but damn midrange is so critical to get right that I think, within reason of course, that the midrange should almost be foundational in a signature. If I had to make an educated guess, in all of my time here and on other headphone community forums, I would say compromises in midrange are almost the most commonly lamented as really hurting a headphone. I know overblown, weak bass, or bright treble are also significant issues, but poorly done midrange seems to really skew the perception of a headphones signature in a more profound way. Depends of course.

 

[AlwaysForward]

Yeah most music "lives" in the mids. It's where almost all Melodic phrasing happens.

When I worked in music, I heard two profound statements:

"People want something they can wistle when it stops"
&
"People just want something they can dance to"

V-shapes probably most appeal to people who want the latter but haven't studied or paid significant attention to the former. Or maybe people who have a purpose of just focusing on the dance side.

Yet I'm and EDM head and prefer neutral with sub bass boost. There is always a bit of variation person to person. And I wouldn't mind VModa's in my collection...

 

[cresny]

I think drum sounds are done especially well on the PX in timing, timbre and propulsion, very crisp. I get people's complaints that, taken as a whole, the music seems less clear because there are no boosted highs to immediately whelm you, but to them I say just raise the volume and all that detail will suddenly be there! Of course that won't be comfortable so edge it down, relax and listen. For me, that in a nutshell is what V-shape signatures put you through continuously and is why they are always ultimately fatiguing, no matter how impressive they first seem.

 

[Sonic Defender]

I think drum sounds are done especially well on the PX in timing, timbre and propulsion, very crisp. I get people's complaints that, taken as a whole, the music seems less clear because there are no boosted highs to immediately whelm you, but to them I say just raise the volume and all that detail will suddenly be there! Of course that won't be comfortable so edge it down, relax and listen. For me, that in a nutshell is what V-shape signatures put you through continuously and is why they are always ultimately fatiguing, no matter how impressive they first seem.

I agree, the PX is a very capable and musical headphone, and indeed, percussion and cymbals are very nice with it. I wish the comfort was better and I would still own the PX. I quite miss it and have on a few occasions since returning them almost broken down and purchased the PX again. Then I just think for more than $500 (after tax here in Canada) that I can't spend that money and not be able to simply forget they are on my head, which sadly, I just couldn't do. I hope that B&W get enough feedback and implement changes in either newer production runs or with future models. I do miss the PX, sigh.

 

[qba3d]

I thought once I hade a clear preference in signature but after many headphones I learned that any well done signature can be a point of view and I can adopt to it. I will always love a deep sub-bass and a bit of air, so a hint of v or U shape if done right right balance. I learned later that well done centric signature is also an extremely full filing experience to me. I really like PX, I also noticed a positive sound quality change after firmware update and later read that I was not the only one, but to me, the PX has a different problem. It has a slight mid-centric ( or neutral by some - to me there is a touch too much high roll-off for neutral) signature to me but mids are actually the least focused area in PX in terms of precision. Maybe it is a DSP doing some magic to widen the stage? Not sure, did not managed t nail it, but I guess that this is why people look for a fix in EQ, with some V-shape, to “read” better. Also the frequency is uneven and lacks a touch of energy , but I think that with really precise mids and high mids it would be just fine. If not perfect for what they are. That is a bit how I hear them. Like them a lot, but change to some more detailed neutral phones with more / less close signature always bring a feeling of focus and coherence.

 

[cresny]

So my volume up button no longer functions. Warranty service is a 14-day turnaround plus shipping costs -- ouch!