[l0gge]

I finally found a video review of the headphones that shows them a bit better. Maybe it is also interesting for one of you:

 

[JoePR31]

PS: weight savings from carbon fiber make a major difference. Cups are larger, cavity deeper, and overall more comfortable. In fact, this very well may be B&W’s most comfortable headphone ever. Also, can confirm the drivers are angled but that the ear pads are - for the first time - not removable.

This is terrible! Do you mean to say that they are not easily removable (magnetic), or that they are flat out not removable? This would be a complete deal breaker for me. Ear pads wear out, without exception. It’s only a matter of time. I’m not buying $400 headphones that become trash when the ear pads wear out.

I find it hard to believe that after years of featuring easily removable magnetic ear pads on all of their headphones, B&W would be stupid enough to design new headphones that become paperweights when their pads wear out. I really hope that there is a way to replace them. If not, then I guess I’ll be keeping my OG PX’s for the foreseeable future.

 

[jainkjohn]

This is terrible! Do you mean to say that they are not easily removable (magnetic), or that they are flat out not removable? This would be a complete deal breaker for me. Ear pads wear out, without exception. It’s only a matter of time. I’m not buying $400 headphones that become trash when the ear pads wear out.

I find it hard to believe that after years of featuring easily removable magnetic ear pads on all of their headphones, B&W would be stupid enough to design new headphones that become paperweights when their pads wear out. I really hope that there is a way to replace them. If not, then I guess I’ll be keeping my OG PX’s for the foreseeable future.

That's because of magnets introduces weight? But removable ear pad was one of the best feature of PX

 

[JoePR31]

That's because of magnets introduces weight? But removable ear pad was one of the best feature of PX

This is from the Q&A section of the Amazon listing. I knew there was no way B&W would make such a dumb design decision. It’s possible that they’re no longer magnetic, but, according to B&W themselves, they’re definitely replaceable.

 

[JoePR31]

Double post

 

[jainkjohn]

This is from the Q&A section of the Amazon listing. I knew there was no way B&W would make such a dumb design decision. It’s possible that they’re no longer magnetic, but, according to B&W themselves, they’re definitely replaceable.

Good news.. but the build quality seems like a step back from PX. i was reading the QA section and found:

Are the ear cups genuine leather like the PX?
Answer:
Thanks for your question. The ear-cups are not genuine leather. They are a composite material.

Is the px7 made of ballistic nylon like the px

Answer:
The outer of the earcup on PX7 is made of a similar looking material to the PX, although it has a much softer feeling, more akin to a cloth feel. It is not ballisitic nylon.

 

[Mashimashimoomoo]

I finally found a video review of the headphones that shows them a bit better. Maybe it is also interesting for one of you:

Promising review - although they didn’t go into the noise cancellation performance too much. I have owned the P7’s and the PX’s and the problem I had with the PX was that the sound quality deteriorated dramatically on the City and Flight settings, so if i was going to use the ANC i would limit it to the Office setting. Interesting to find out whether this has been improved on the PX7’s. Also when switching ANC modes on the PX music and the ANC would pause for a fraction of a second. Do you think this will happen in the auto mode on the new PX7’s as it varies the level of ANC. Disappointing to read that they are no longer using real leather too.

 

[xenoVa]

This is terrible! Do you mean to say that they are not easily removable (magnetic), or that they are flat out not removable? This would be a complete deal breaker for me.

Well, 99.99% of the user don't replace the earpads hence it makes sense that they didn't feel the need to make it replacable. We crazy audiophiles love tweaking and modifying things but majority of the users don't care about doing such things.

 

[jainkjohn]

Well, 99.99% of the user don't replace the earpads hence it makes sense that they didn't feel the need to make it replacable. We crazy audiophiles love tweaking and modifying things but majority of the users don't care about doing such things.

It's not because of tweaking and modifying, what is the ear cup got damaged? any way B&W confirmed the ear cup can be replaced on the PX7

 

[Jester0fTortuga]

Brief update after one day, unfortunately unable to do any proper burn in (not sure I’m a believer, but the PX sure tried to make turn me into one). So I’m hesitant to comment on sound too much. Suffice it to reiterate that the signature of the bass is drastically changed from the PX. It’s not too much bass, but like I said it’s more like how I remember the P7 sounding. I sold my P7 two years ago and bought the P9, which I adore. I’d almost argue that the PX7 is bringing B&W noise cancelling headphones closet in line with the “signature” sound claimed by the P9. I believe the PX7 is more resolving than the P7 (as I recall) but less than the P9. Soundstage separation may actually be superior to the P9 but alas I’m traveling and don’t have them on hand to A/B this. The 43.6mm driver does seem to do what it promises, though, by delivering bigger sound stage and a more powerful, punchier bass. Everything is nice and separated here. Mids are not so much slightly recessed compared to the PX as they are more definitively isolated in a middle lane. One way to describe the mids is slightly boosted over the P9, with a more defined “lane” that prevents them from being drowned out in some tracks (as can happen on the P9).

My very early impressions are that the PX7 is a real winner:
- Most comfortable B&W headphone I’ve owned
- More resolving than the PX, better sound stage and separation than the PX, and more bass (but not too much). Basically it’s a reassertion of the B&W signature that some feared lost with the PX.
- Passive noise isolation much better. Active noise cancellation appears to be in a different league. Only tried the Sony’s once, but as I recall I’d say B&W at least now equals the Sony cans on this front, and especially with regards to the lack of impact it has on sound signature and quality. I’m doing a transatlantic flight tomorrow and will really test the ANC thoroughly.
- New app is great. Selections can be managed in the app (even if phone isn’t one of the connected devices)

With regards to the apparently non-removable earpads. I don’t see a way to take them off but can investigate more later. I will say that I’m not too bothered by this, since this seems to have allowed for the deeper cavity design. This cavity is angled and so a magnetic coupling design as we’ve seen before may not have worked here.

 

[Lakerfreak]

This sounds promising. How is the high? The PX highs sounded almost veiled, which I didn’t like too much, and I wonder if this changed with the PX7? Thanks

 

[l0gge]

@Jester0fTortuga Thanks for the quick report, I am very tempted to buy the headphones, but unfortunately they are not available yet in Germany. May I ask with which devices have you tested the headphones so far?

Can you perhaps say something about the delay when you watch a video on your smartphone (preferably youtube there seems to be the worst)?

Since I could hardly find any reports on the behavior of APTX Adaptive so far, I'm very curious how the headphones will behave with compatible players. As far as I have understood, the headphones/codec decide which codec to use depending on the content. So that e.g. aptx-ll is used as soon as you see a youtube video or similar.

 

[JoePR31]

Well, 99.99% of the user don't replace the earpads hence it makes sense that they didn't feel the need to make it replacable. We crazy audiophiles love tweaking and modifying things but majority of the users don't care about doing such things.

For me, It has nothing to with tweaking or modifying. Even quality leather ear pads deteriorate after a couple of years...especially on portable headphones that are often used outside of climate controlled environments. This is also the first time that B&W did not use genuine leather. Synthetic ear pads typically don’t make it to the 2 year mark if they are used on a daily basis.

That being said, if you’d read the posts following the post that you quoted, you would have seen that B&W has confirmed that the pads are replaceable.

 

[JoePR31]

Good news.. but the build quality seems like a step back from PX. i was reading the QA section and found:

Are the ear cups genuine leather like the PX?
Answer:
Thanks for your question. The ear-cups are not genuine leather. They are a composite material.

Is the px7 made of ballistic nylon like the px

Answer:
The outer of the earcup on PX7 is made of a similar looking material to the PX, although it has a much softer feeling, more akin to a cloth feel. It is not ballisitic nylon.

I agree. I added a comment below their answer to the ear pad material question. I politely gave them a hard time about it, and asked them to explain why, for the first time ever, they would choose to use a synthetic material instead of genuine leather.

I also hope that the “cloth like” material holds up over time. Cloth tends to fray. The ballistic nylon on my PX still looks brand new after 8 months of daily use.

 

[Jazz1]

I finally found a video review of the headphones that shows them a bit better. Maybe it is also interesting for one of you:

I just received my PX7’s today. Many thanks to Crutchfield for shipping these grey beauties overnight! Yes, I was that desperate that I could not wait another day

I haven’t spent a lot of time with them. But, I can say the video review seems to be a fair evaluation of the PX7 headphones. I have never heard the Sennheiser headphones also reviewed. But, I had considered them, and can say that I think that for me the PX7 headphones are a good choice over my formerly owned PX’s. Is this new headphone fever? I don’t think so as I list the many pluses below in a comparison of the PX and PX7 (by memory only to be fair).

Compared to my former favorite BT headphones, the PX, I certainly find these an improvement regarding on head general comfort and lower weight than the earlier PX’s. I don’t think I’m particularly sensitive to headphone weight, but I do not miss the heavier weight of the PX vs. the PX7’s. This feature is much welcome as I walk around or even swivel my head around left, right and up and down. A small thing I know, but it certainly makes a difference IMHO. Dare I compare the PX7’s comfort and low weight to my beloved Senn. HD-650? Well, it does come closer than the PX did.

Speaking of comfort I am a little disappointed to find that I don’t think the ear cup material is real leather like the PX’s had. I am not fond of pleather as I find artificial or lab based leather warmer on my ears. So, in my mind this is one demerit out of a lot of pluses in a PX vs. PX7 comparison. Let me add that pleather also tends to make “creaky” noises during head movement. Though this had pretty much disappeared in the two hours I had this perched on my head. Also, I have read that at least one person in these threads does not think the ear pads are removable like the magnetically held ear pads of the PX. It has been said though that the ear pads are replaceable. That is good to know.

I can’t yet comment on the noise reduction capabilities as I’m in the quiet of my home. If it is good enough in the coffee shop and on an airplane I will be satisfied. In fact I usually keep that noise reduction off unless I am in a public place, as I think music quality suffers to some extent. No matter how good of technology is at hand I think that noise reduction is a necessary “evil”.

I have not yet tested the call quality, but the video seems to fairly speak to that important function.

I also think, at least on my head, the clamping force is a lot less that the PX. The lighter clamping force of the PX7 seems more than adequate to keep them on my head while walking or bending over to pick up something of the floor. The inner space of the ear pads do encircle my smallish ears without issue. I used to have to adjust my PX’s ear pads to hit the right spot in the ear up cavity. With the PX7 I can just slap them with pretty much no adjustment. Sometimes it is just the little things that make headphones more enjoyable than the previous generation, and so far the PX7’s are proving themselves to me.

Sound? Well it is a little early to tell, but I think I do like the Improved, wider soundstage on these headphones, again vs. the PX. There seems to be a more apparent bass than the PX’s that I used to own. It isn’t overwhelming and/or overly exaggerated. At least not to this non-bass head user. In fact listening to Shawn Colvin’s “All Fall Down” I am definitely loving the soundstage with some rich drum beats. On music with heavy synthetic beats I do wish there was an equalizer function. The fact is that isn’t my favored music style (no Rap music for me sorry). So, for jazz, pop, alternative, blues, I’m good to go. Not that I think bass heads will find the PX7’s lacking by any means. In fact they might prefer the PX7 to the PX. So, I would urge people with all music preferences to give these excellent headphones at least a try.

The included hard, fabric, style case looks classier than the black PX one that eventually came available. I never liked the soft, fabric, quilted case that was originally supplied with the PX. The headphones were difficult to put in the case, and they really didn’t let the cups fall flat. The new PX7 case has a slight wedge shape, and I think is a nice looking compromise between a soft case alternative, if there was one.