Huge Comparison of [almost] all the Best Bluetooth Headphones - post your own comparisons here

[orion23rigel]

  Yes I have read that, but, did not happen to me yet, so... By the way, the guys at Pendulumic are very professional, if anything happen, you will be covered.
No, they do not look cheap at all. They look vintage. We are just no more used to this kind of look and build.

 
I have to disagree with you a bit here. The retro look of the S1+ is fine, if a bit polarizing, but to me they did have a distinctly cheap feel. The mirror finish on the sides seemed like a scratch magnet and I only had them for a couple weeks. The plastic didn't have a premium feel and the switches on my unit all had different slide and click haptics. By itself, this wasn't a deal breaker. The sound quality was impressive for the price range, even if the bass was a bit much for me. However, the way they pressed against my ears was too uncomfortable after just 30 minutes of wear, so I returned them.
 
I bought them directly from the Pendulumic site, and the return process was not seamless. Everyone I worked with was very nice, and they eventually even paid return shipping (which I didn't even ask for), but it took a couple weeks of back-and-forth to get the info. Mike apologized personally for it taking so long, so I doubt that will be normal, but it was my experience. 
 
Having said that, when the customer support involves being contacted by the owner directly, chances are any grievances you have will be addressed. They seem to act in good faith and stand behind their product.

 

[Deckardk]

^ It's the stellar service and great sound that kept my Pendulumic rating at 3 stars instead of 2. Once they get the QC issues worked out and add NC and isolation then they'll really have something.

 

[Giogio]

   
I have to disagree with you a bit here. The retro look of the S1+ is fine, if a bit polarizing, but to me they did have a distinctly cheap feel. The mirror finish on the sides seemed like a scratch magnet and I only had them for a couple weeks. The plastic didn't have a premium feel and the switches on my unit all had different slide and click haptics. By itself, this wasn't a deal breaker. The sound quality was impressive for the price range, even if the bass was a bit much for me. However, the way they pressed against my ears was too uncomfortable after just 30 minutes of wear, so I returned them.
Having said that, when the customer support involves being contacted by the owner directly, chances are any grievances you have will be addressed. They seem to act in good faith and stand behind their product.

I understand what you mean. Good points. I can feel your way of feeling them.
And to check on that, I have spent some time watching them closely today.
Apparently we differ there. Which is normal, personal impressions are, indeed, personal.
I mean, it definitely do not looks of feel like something "distinctly" or "particularly" cheap to me.
For sure, they do not have a Apple or Bang & Olufsen premium look and feel, but also not the price
About the general feel and look, I cannot notice anything strange going on there.
But I do agree that the switches have a "cheaper" look and haptic than the rest. And that the finishing of the borders of the plastic is not 100% perfectly polished, but 95% perfect. I mean, it's something very acceptable, not a "what a chinese crap".
And it fits in the general look of something vintage, "less massive production", handmade, somehow.
I must admit that I would not complain if those details would be improved.
And I can understand that they would gain more customers if they do. I will suggest them to.
Anyway, everything works well and it does not feel as anything fragile.
Talking of that, I have also examined the volume knob, to understand those users who said it was not properly glued.
I have pulled it quite strongly, and it is still there
I think it was isolated cases, it happens with any product.
I really like this knob. It is so practical! I have realized how annoying is having to look for the right button.
I think that this knob and the ring on the Backbeat Pro are the best solution, follower by the lever of the Fidelio.
 
I am still testing them.
I was given more time to keep them, so, I wait. I switch between them and the Fidelio, not to get used to them too much (or I will lose objectivity).
They are not bad at all.
We really differ, because the bass is definitely not enough to me
So, I suppose it will be ok for most people
What I notice is a slight muddyness on the low mids. I would decrease them a bit.

 

[Nothing Within]

A lot of people do buy Beats because the like the sound and not just because of a fashion statement. A lot of bassheads love the boomy, muddy bass that the beats provides and they can't stand anything else with less bass or even less going bass. I have a few friends like that. I always know when they have arrived at my house because you can hear their car from a mile away. I refuse to get in their car unless that tone it down somewhat lol. And whenever we go somewhere in my car they EQ the bass to maximum and everything else to minimum and still complain that the sound is crap and there's not enough bass. For these people, even if you have them a far superior set of cans to try alongside the Beats they will still pick the Beats because "the bass is better". These guys also don't seem to care much about sub bass response either as you don't get the boom from sub bass like you do from mid bass so the beats not going down that low doesn't bother them.

That said, I have no idea what the hell Beats are doing on that list. Haven't seen something that out of place in a list in a long time.

Agreed and that is why aslong as that crowd is there, beats will always be here. I just consider it to be a mistake that they are on the list ahaha.

 

[Nothing Within]

I completely agree with you that the Beats are not a good pair of headphones and that their bass is not good. Their bass is just boomy and muddy. It lacks depth and is focused on heavy mid bass. What I am saying is that many people are so used to Beats that they think that is what bass is meant to sound like and anything with deeper, tighter bass sound wrong even if the quantity is stronger. Believe me I have listened to many headphones that have much stronger bass than beats in both quantity and quality. None of them were boomy however and that is what Beats fans like. Beats attacked the market at the right time and have made a lot of people think that is what bass should sound like so many many people associate muddy, boomy bass with good bass and hence "the bass is better".

As for my friends they are a lost cause. I have tried to show then headphones with better quality bass. They still prefer the Beats. I've gone with them to high end audio stores and listened to $200000 speakers and subs like the Paradigm Sub 2. They still prefer their Muteki and others that distort like crazy and drown everything else out. Honestly if you heard what's in some of their cars you would think the Beats are an audiophile system that is seriously lacking in bass.

I have no problem with the cans... But i just believe the price for the cans should be lowered considering the quality of durablity and sound of the studios it's ridiculous. Just wish people understood Beats are NOT a brand to go to for exceptional sound quality. Just try telling your ignorant friend to not get beats And instead get something actually worth it, my bud kills me man lol. I personally hardly care for style when it comes to a headphone if it we had the technology to make the sennheiser Hd650 wireless and still sound great with a closed back design you would easily see me bringing them to school and wearing them. All in all to those who wonder why beats are so popular its Marketing my friends. My teacher studied phycology in college and has told me about the marketing strategies buisnesses use to make people feel different ways such as colors like red and blue warm and cold. Quite fascinating. Also i bet your buds are brand lovers which as may be why they prefer beats.

 

[Giogio]

@Nothing Within, yes, marketing for sure. Although, I think it is a bit more complicated than just red or blue like the pill in Matrix.
I also agree that the price should be different IF they would want to make it proportioned to the quality. But, a part of that Marketing is that with such an high price they make people think that they are buying something really good. And that they are cool because they have it, that something which everybody would like to have but cannot afford to pay.
Which probably also happens among audiophiles. I am pretty sure that if you give two high end headphones to audiophiles, which sound absolutely IDENTICAL, but one looks better and costs 2 times more and possibly comes from a more famous brand, the 90% of them will try to find reasons to prefer the more expensive, and will found them, even if there isn't any.
On the other hand, if the price becomes too high, then the effect gets reversed and people start admiring how wonderful do the cheaper sound.

 

[n00b2]

I have no problem with the cans... But i just believe the price for the cans should be lowered considering the quality of durablity and sound of the studios it's ridiculous. Just wish people understood Beats are NOT a brand to go to for exceptional sound quality. Just try telling your ignorant friend to not get beats And instead get something actually worth it, my bud kills me man lol. I personally hardly care for style when it comes to a headphone if it we had the technology to make the sennheiser Hd650 wireless and still sound great with a closed back design you would easily see me bringing them to school and wearing them. All in all to those who wonder why beats are so popular its Marketing my friends. My teacher studied phycology in college and has told me about the marketing strategies buisnesses use to make people feel different ways such as colors like red and blue warm and cold. Quite fascinating. Also i bet your buds are brand lovers which as may be why they prefer beats.

I've tried telling my friends and showing them. They will always prefer their Beats until something comes along with more distortion, muddy bass and less clarity. They are truly a lost cause and it drives me crazy sometimes. They are brand lovers to some extent but they still prefer their boomy bass over brands. I remember when we went to the Bose store for the first time they were so excited that they could finally afford the only uber premium brand that they knew about and then they walked out disappointed that the Bose didn't sound anywhere as good as they had expected (in other words the bass wasn't boomy enough).
 
Marketing is the correct word for Beats just like it is for Bose. Beats get away with that price because a lot of people think they are a premium brand. Indeed in many stores they are by far the most expensive brand available, with all the others on offer being cheapo no name brands or Logitech. If a store had other premium brands along with Beats at the same price many people would still go for the Beats simply because they have heard of it before or their friends have raved about them. Same reason why a lot of HTIB owners save up or look forward to buying Bose Cubes. Bose is the only premium speaker brand they know and they always hear such amazing things bout it so it must be amazing. I remember a story about this one guy around here who went to get his hearing tested after buying a set of Bose Cubes. He thought they sounded crap and thought there must be something wrong with his ears for him to think that!
 
Beats are like the best selling mainstream over ear headphones brand now. Arguably they should make their prices even higher. They would probably get more profit if they did. Lowering their prices to match their sound quality would not only lower their profits but also ruin their mainstream reputation of being a premium headphones brand with excellent sound quality.

 

[n00b2]

  @Nothing Within, yes, marketing for sure. Although, I think it is a bit more complicated than just red or blue like the pill in Matrix.
I also agree that the price should be different IF they would want to make it proportioned to the quality. But, a part of that Marketing is that with such an high price they make people think that they are buying something really good. And that they are cool because they have it, that something which everybody would like to have but cannot afford to pay.
Which probably also happens among audiophiles. I am pretty sure that if you give two high end headphones to audiophiles, which sound absolutely IDENTICAL, but one looks better and costs 2 times more and possibly comes from a more famous brand, the 90% of them will try to find reasons to prefer the more expensive, and will found them, even if there isn't any.
On the other hand, if the price becomes too high, then the effect gets reversed and people start admiring how wonderful do the cheaper sound.

You do get that with audiophiles. I've heard of a lot of audiophile HT enthusiasts bad mouth Paradigm purely because of their low prices and the Paradigm Studios at least seem to be universally rated as among the best value in that class. When I was testing them out they sounded better than many speakers twice their price. It's not just with audio though. It's human nature to do that with eveything really. People always assume something more expensive is better and look for ways to prove that is so even when it clearly isn't. Smart marketers like Bose and Beats (Monster Cable are arguably the best at this) take advantage of this aspect of human nature very well.

 

[Yappadappadu]

These days the only ppl with Beats around that I see are kids. Headphones worn by adults are more diverse, though I see a lot of Sony cans.
 
A few days ago I finally saw someone else wearing the Plantronics Backbeat Pro and it was a disheartening sight. I'll definitely miss the design of my Momentum Wireless when I send them back.

 

[cehowardNote3]

  These days the only ppl with Beats around that I see are kids. Headphones worn by adults are more diverse, though I see a lot of Sony cans.
 
A few days ago I finally saw someone else wearing the Plantronics Backbeat Pro and it was a disheartening sight. I'll definitely miss the design of my Momentum Wireless when I send them back.

 
You sending back the M2s?? 

 

[Yappadappadu]

I think the bass is a bit lacking compared to the Plantronics Backbeat Pro and the Sony MDR-1RBT, but more importantly there are the bluetooth connection issues as discussed in the Momentum M2/Wireless thread. I might give another set a try once the Sony MDR-1ABT are available in may for comparisons sake, though I really don't think that mine are defect, considering how many other ppl have those problems.

 

[n00b2]

I think the bass is a bit lacking compared to the Plantronics Backbeat Pro and the Sony MDR-1RBT, but more importantly there are the bluetooth connection issues as discussed in the Momentum M2/Wireless thread. I might give another set a try once the Sony MDR-1ABT are available in may for comparisons sake, though I really don't think that mine are defect, considering how many other ppl have those problems.

Have you considered doing a comparison with the Definitive Technology Symphony 1? They seem to just be available now.

 

[Giogio]

Not in EU.
He's from EU like me.
And the seller of the symphony in amazon does not ship here...

 

[n00b2]

Not in EU.
He's from EU like me.
And the seller of the symphony in amazon does not ship here...

It will arrive soon enough though I would suspect. I know it is suppose to reach the UK in the next 2-4 weeks. Definitely worth doing a comparison once it arrives. He's waiting for the 1ABT which will arrive in May. Surely the Symphony 1 will reach EU before then as it is already out in America.

 

[Viryu]

What's the headband of WS99BT made of? Is it something prone to breaking, like plastic, or something better?
 
And out of curiousity after reading you guys' recent posts - what's the point of testing M1ABT now? Hi-Res uses LDAC codec, but there is no device using it to send music through it to the headphones anyway, is there? So it would be using aptX at most anyway, right?