[CameronCrazy]

I've decided to send my Plantronics backbeat pros back. I love the functionality and they sound excellent but unfortunately the comfort is just not there for me. The ear cups are simply too small and my ears constantly feel bundled up inside and I simply can't get past it.

It is a great set of headphones if the fit is right… They have some really cool features, the range just terrific, can be used for a phone and just love the other little things they added to them I wish they would've made that ear cups bigger than 5.5 cm.

I'm going to wait on the MDR-1ABT.

 

[radi9red]

I had the plantronic backbeat pro for more than 6 months, the problem with Bluetooth earphones is , it can get annoying when you are about to use it and tyou realise you forgotten to charge the battery and it goes blinking low power and then dead.. but again, you can always keep a spare powerbank unit in your bag for this situations.
 
nevertheless, I find the audio quality from plantronic quite lacking, its suited for commuting or jogging.  I don't even use that to make phonecalls. I prefer the earphones that has the corded mic mouthpiece and the 3.5mm jack where you can just connect it to phones.

 

[david8613]

I had the plantronic backbeat pro for more than 6 months, the problem with Bluetooth earphones is , it can get annoying when you are about to use it and tyou realise you forgotten to charge the battery and it goes blinking low power and then dead.. but again, you can always keep a spare powerbank unit in your bag for this situations.

nevertheless, I find the audio quality from plantronic quite lacking, its suited for commuting or jogging.  I don't even use that to make phonecalls. I prefer the earphones that has the corded mic mouthpiece and the 3.5mm jack where you can just connect it to phones.

You do know that plantronics had an update on the website which improves sound quality, I think you heard them prior to software update because they sound amazing.I have been using the ue 9000 since it's release and have been trying to find an upgrade to it and failed miserably every time until I got the plantronics backbeat pro. They are more detailed and are almost as powerful bass wise to the ue 9000, and go higher in the highs, the extra features are a plus. 25+ hours of play time! No one should cry about not having charged headphones any more... I do have to agree comfort is an issue, they should have put bigger pads, or used oval cups it would have gone a long way to make these great headphones even greater. Ue 9000 wins comfort wise easily.

 

[orion23rigel]

@elektron

There is a bit of acidity in your post or I'm wrong?

1)i did NOT say that I'm sure the 1abt will sound worse than the 1rbtmk2.

I've said they are not MEANT to.

By that I meant that they are NOT successor of the 1rbt as also the 1a are NOT successor of the 1r.

They are a different line.

If they're going to sound better it's not possible to say it without testing them. And also, better is often a subjective matter of tastes.

I read somewhere that the 1abt are the successor to the 1rbt. I can't remember where, and maybe they were wrong. In any event, reviewed.com has a write-up of listening impressions that may be of interest to some.

 

[Giogio]

You do know that plantronics had an update on the website which improves sound quality, I think you heard them prior to software update because they sound amazing.I have been using the ue 9000 since it's release and have been trying to find an upgrade to it and failed miserably every time until I got the plantronics backbeat pro. They are more detailed and are almost as powerful bass wise to the ue 9000, and go higher in the highs, the extra features are a plus. 25+ hours of play time! No one should cry about not having charged headphones any more... I do have to agree comfort is an issue, they should have put bigger pads, or used oval cups it would have gone a long way to make these great headphones even greater. Ue 9000 wins comfort wise easily.

not necessarily.
I find the Plantronics more comfortable because the ue are too heavy and after one hour i have pain where the headband touches the head.
But i have normal ears which fit well in the Plantronics.
Yeah, they could have made them elliptical/oval.
I agree with David, i prefer the bass of the ue because with more subbass, which goes better with the music i hear the most.
But overall i consider the Plantronics excellent.

Btw, you can use them with cable when no battery.

 

[ilovespud]

I dont know if this is the right place to ask but did a search and couldnt see anything else applicable - I have just got a pair of Zik 2 which I am very very happy with especially after trying both the Sennheiser and Sony last year and being dispapointed with them both but what I am asking is - I generally use FlacPlayer+ and GoldenEar on my iPhone 5s to stream music to my Zik 2 which are FLAC player apps but wondered if as it uses Bluetooth 3 that there would be any discernible benefit over just using a decent encoded (say 320kbps) mp3 on the stock apple app ? 

 

[Sound Eq]

  I dont know if this is the right place to ask but did a search and couldnt see anything else applicable - I have just got a pair of Zik 2 which I am very very happy with especially after trying both the Sennheiser and Sony last year and being dispapointed with them both but what I am asking is - I generally use FlacPlayer+ and GoldenEar on my iPhone 5s to stream music to my Zik 2 which are FLAC player apps but wondered if as it uses Bluetooth 3 that there would be any discernible benefit over just using a decent encoded (say 320kbps) mp3 on the stock apple app ? 

can u give us a more review of ur experience in terms of sound signature
 
how they compare with sony and sennheiser
 
how is the bass, and are they warm and smooth
 
I am so astonished why such a headphone is not getting any feedback here

 

[ilovespud]

To be honest I didnt get on well with either of the other two as an ex dj and partially deaf in my left ear I found them both a bit lacking in volume and a bland sound which betrayed their high price back last year, one got returned after 2 weeks and one I sold on ebay. The Ziks certainly can crank up the volume and the noise cancelling is truly stunning. I tend to run with full noise cancelling on and a tiny bit of graphic which is all run from a very funky companion app on the iphone. I have IE800 for "proper" listening at home but for wandering around town or on the train these for me are the dogs, As an aside I have never been asked so much about a pair of headphones and I have a lot of headphones. They do tend to keep my ears warm as they are a snug fit on my (big) head but currently cycling to the gym that is a very good thing. Battery lift seems ok to good with me charging them once a week or so off my iPhone charger. To be honest I will try and post up a full review over the weekend. 2 quick moans - One is its too easy to turn on or off as the button is by where you remove them from your head, i think they should change it so you need to hold it down to power up or power down and also why is there no way to alter settings without using the app as you have a full touch control on the right hand ear cover.

 

[freakystyley]

Hi guys, I am a newbie too and I was searching for a pair of good portable headphones. I own a pair of Denon AH-D1001, for domestic use, and last year I was caught by the bluetooth tidal wave and I decided to get one of those wireless cans for an outdoor purpose. There was a problem: I use to store all my lossless music in my beloved iPod classic, which doesn't have the bluetooth feature, but I came to know there were many 30pin bluetooth adaptors out there, many of them unfortunately costed 50€ or more. I then met the Creative Labs website and decided to order the Creative WP-450 headphones along with the Creative 30pin Bluetooth adapter (there was a discount in the total, shipment was free and I was sure the two thing can work together, I asked in the FAQ section of their website). Both support the aptX codec, which is great, but overall the sound quality of the headphones wasn't worth 79€, though it's ok. After an year, I was thinking bout new pair of cans, not necessarily Bluetooth (it would be better, but not a must), with a better sound quality, good balanced tone (I don't like that v equalization found on many headphones these days) and if a bluetooth ones, with the wired option I missed so much in my WP-450. I then found in a shop the Sony MDR 10RC,tried em on, and after a few song I liked them so much I came back with a playlist of 5 lossless songs of different artist to compare them with my Denon (I really like how my AH-D1001 sound, the clarity and balance is awesome, even though the bass line should have been a little more present). That said, I was thinking bout the MDR10RC and the MDR10RBT, which I didn't have the possibility to hear cause in any shop will you find a pair of bluetooth headphones to try on in wired or wireless mode...
Any of you can say that one is better than the other? Which one is worth best for the price and for the sound quality?
The things I noticed from many reviews and tech specs are:
 
MDR10RC                          vs                            MDR10RBT
                         
                              both Hi-Fi oriented
                          both great sound quality
foldable                                                            the pads can rotate
on ear                                                                over the ear
two cables                                                        just one cable
                         same frequency response 
                      same driver material and size
                             same Sony series
you pay 79€                                                        you pay 150€
 
Does any of you tried both and can say which one has a better sound quality in wired mode?
The bluetooth is fantastic, but the frequency response supported till the 4.0 version goes just from 20Hz to 20000Hz, which is good but the frequency response given by sony (wired mode) goes from 5 to 40000Hz, which is a lot better. Please help me :|
 
 
ps. I also tried a pair of headphones that made me reconsider the price of good headphones nowadays. He got a pair of WISS Audio, which is new to the audio market, payed 37€ for them and they do sound A LOT better than many other headphones I tried, even better than my Creative ones, which is awesome. They do have a Bluetooth version of those headphones at the price of around 70€. I'll probably be able to try them on, I'll keep you up to date

 

[dieselvrr]

This seems like a deal to me if anyone is interested....Sennheiser 400X, 129.99
 
http://electronics.woot.com/offers/sennheiser-folding-bluetooth-headphones?ref=cnt_dly_wobtn

 

[cehowardNote3]

  I dont know if this is the right place to ask but did a search and couldnt see anything else applicable - I have just got a pair of Zik 2 which I am very very happy with especially after trying both the Sennheiser and Sony last year and being dispapointed with them both but what I am asking is - I generally use FlacPlayer+ and GoldenEar on my iPhone 5s to stream music to my Zik 2 which are FLAC player apps but wondered if as it uses Bluetooth 3 that there would be any discernible benefit over just using a decent encoded (say 320kbps) mp3 on the stock apple app ? 

What Sony was you using last year?  I am using the Sony MDR 1RBT MK2, with aptx.. I be playing FLAC files with a bluetooth connection. How can the Zik 2, be and honest bluetooth contender without aptx?? Just asking? Both my Note 3, Note 4, and my  Samsung Tab Pro 8.4 all have aptx, along with both sets of my headphones HK BT also aptx.. I am talking BLUETOOTH,  not wired. I have flac fills on my Note 4, and my Tab Pro 8.4.. Just asking? Plus, when I go wired with flac files with my  Sony MK2, it goes up another level too. But,  I am mostly bluetooth.

 

[Ndug15]

Anyone have some comparisons of the Pendulumic Stance S1+ to any other headphones?
 
In particular the Sony's that people are raving about in here

 

[orion23rigel]

  Anyone have some comparisons of the Pendulumic Stance S1+ to any other headphones?
 
In particular the Sony's that people are raving about in here

 
I'm pretty new to hifi equipment, but I just received the S1+ two days ago. Here are some notes of my initial impressions for what they're worth:
 
Solid mids; highs are slightly muted
Decent soundstage when bass isn’t rumbling
Bass is often muffled/undefined/boomy/lazy; overwhelms other elements
Clamping force is too high
Ear pads are slightly small for large ears
Cheap plastic feel of housing; button click haptics not ideal; slide switches each have different feel
A bit pricey for the build quality feel
Disconnected from phone repeatedly when battery icon on the phone still showed half charge
 
 
I had been alternating between the Air-Fi Matrix2 and the Samsung Level Over. The Stances definitely have better mids than either of those, with the mids on the Samsungs being particularly lacking. I'd like more highs on the Stance phones though, and they're definitely less comfortable than the Level Overs. 

 

[elektron]

By that I meant that they are NOT successor of the 1rbt as also the 1a are NOT successor of the 1r.
They are a different line.

 
I really don't understand why you keep insisting that this is the case when all publicly available information suggests just the opposite:
 
1) Sony discontinued MDR-1R when MDR-1A were released (i.e. the latter replaced the former).  Hint: the same will happen with MDR-1RBTMK2 in the first half of this year.
 
2) There is a thread on here called "Sony MDR-1A - Sony's latest update on the 1R", with not a single post in the 26-page discussion contradicting this statement.
 
3) Then there are professional reviews like this one, with the opening statement asserting that:
 

The Sony MDR-1A are the updated version of the MDR-1R we reviewed a couple of years ago.

 
I presume the journalist got this information from Sony along with the review sample.
 
I could go on, but I don't see the pont...
 
If you know something we don't, would you mind sharing it with the rest of us?
 
You are also suggesting that the 1A series doesn't sound better than the 1R series.
 
Once again, this goes against all available evidence, including technical information such as the driver specs, as well as the professional and enthusiast comparisons (both here and on Amazon), with many of the 1R owners upgrading to the 1A after hearing them.
 
And these are just the passive versions.  The MDR-1ABT will have the advantage of improved electronics / active circuitry compared to last year's 1RBTMK2 (not to mention the inclusion of LDAC with a compatible source).  So, in theory at least, the improvement in the sound quality will be even greater.
 
And you still keep insisting that the 1ABT are NOT MEANT to sound better than the 1RBTMK2??
 
While I appreciate your dedication to the cause of finding the perfect bluetooth headphone, the fact that you are giving advice based on factually incorrect information does not help anyone.
 
P.S. Not sure what point you are making in regards to AptX.  It will not make bad headphones sound good.  But what it will do is give you the ability to listen to CD-quality FLAC without compression.  That's all.  If you only listen to MP3s then you shouldn't care about AptX as it won't make any discernible difference in this situation.

 

[Ndug15]

   
I'm pretty new to hifi equipment, but I just received the S1+ two days ago. Here are some notes of my initial impressions for what they're worth:
 
Solid mids; highs are slightly muted
Decent soundstage when bass isn’t rumbling
Bass is often muffled/undefined/boomy/lazy; overwhelms other elements
Clamping force is too high
Ear pads are slightly small for large ears
Cheap plastic feel of housing; button click haptics not ideal; slide switches each have different feel
A bit pricey for the build quality feel
Disconnected from phone repeatedly when battery icon on the phone still showed half charge
 
 
I had been alternating between the Air-Fi Matrix2 and the Samsung Level Over. The Stances definitely have better mids than either of those, with the mids on the Samsungs being particularly lacking. I'd like more highs on the Stance phones though, and they're definitely less comfortable than the Level Overs. 

Thank you for the review, these are my first BT headphones, so no baseline for comparison
 
Obviously I prefer using my desktop setup, but I have been pretty impressed with the sound of these thus far (but I think I came in with extremely low expectations)...I agree with the build quality feel being a little underwhelming most definitely...only thing I don't necessarily agree with in my experience with them is the clamping!
 
Also, on mine the battery always stays at 100% never goes down, so I guess we are both having issues with that (albeit slightly different ones)