[n00b2]

  In reference to Giogio's post, he's actually asking the question on 'Bluetooth hiss' on my behalf! Thanks Giogio! : )
 
I'm looking for a decent pair of phones for watching movies late at night without having a cable trailing across the living room floor! They need to have great bass and a warm exciting sound as I think this will best suit the kind of movies I'll be watching!
 
This is my shortlist so far;
 
Philips Fidelio M2BT
 
Plantronics Backbeat PRO
 
Logitech UE9000
 
Harman Kardon BT
 
Sony MDR-XB950BT (modded)
 
The most important thing is that they have very little to no background hiss at all!... Unlike listening to music, movies have lots of silent parts such as spoken parts and the audible hiss can be very distracting!
 
I'd be very interested to know whether anyone has any experience with the headphones above and can tell me how much hiss they put out?
 
Also if you have any other recommendations of other headphones that are great with movies?
 
Thanks

If you are looking for wireles headphones purely for TV viewing you could consider the Sennheiser RS series. Not bluetooth but wireless nonetheless and generally better for Tv due to having less hiss and latency issues. Otherwise you could go down the route of using 2 Avantree Saturn Pros and using a normal pair of headphones.
 
If you want Bluetooth then the Def Tech I just reviewed would probably be a good option. Good bass response with NC on and no notiecable hiss. Of the ones you mentioned the I have tried the HK BT and the Logitech UE9000. Both had good bass though the logitech was somewhat artificially boosted. Both had a pretty noticeable hiss however.

 

[Deckardk]

^ Thanks for the detailed review, noob. 
 
Where can I buy and/or try a set of the D'Techs? Also wondering how they are packed. Are they large and clunky like the BBPs, or do they travel well like the Senn MM Series? (The picture on DT's web site makes them look light and compact.)

 

[n00b2]

  ^ Thanks for the detailed review, noob. 
 
Where can I buy and/or try a set of the D'Techs? Also wondering how they are packed. Are they large and clunky like the BBPs, or do they travel well like the Senn MM Series? (The picture on DT's web site makes them look light and compact.)

Not sure where you can buy them from. I just went to the distributer in my country to try them out. I can't buy them yet. Amazon seemed to have some in stock last I checked. They are very large and chunky. The ear cups rotate sideways and fold flat but don't fuld up like the Momentum wireless. They are definitely light and comfortable but not compact.

 

[Deckardk]

^ Amazon US shows them not yet available.

From what you and other reviewers have said, these look like they may actually end this long search.

Did you find the signature to be warm, bright, or neutral sounding? If they sound anything like the warm, romantic bent of the Pendulumic Stance S1+, then I'll be sold.

 

[n00b2]

^ Amazon US shows them not yet available.

From what you and other reviewers have said, these look like they may actually end this long search.

Did you find the signature to be warm, bright, or neutral sounding? If they sound anything like the warm, romantic bent of the Pendulumic Stance S1+, then I'll be sold.

Haven't heard the Pendulumic I will say they were neutral and if anything slightly bright. I would classify them more neutral though and there definitely wasn't any of the treble harshness or sibilance that you would normally associate with bright cans. Didn't find them fatiguing either though a longer listen would probably give a better indication. Of the high end headphones I have listened to the sound was closer to the HK BT than Sony MRD 1RBT MKII. For me the Sony was on the warm side while the HK was a touch bright. Sound quality was much higher than both though. For me these have definitely ended the search. Just gotta wait they are actually available for purchase.
 
As for Amazon I did see it available before with an only 1 left in stock message though now I see again that item is gone. I guess it will come back again when the Def Tech website changes from pre order.

 

[Techfixation]

If you are looking for wireles headphones purely for TV viewing you could consider the Sennheiser RS series. Not bluetooth but wireless nonetheless and generally better for Tv due to having less hiss and latency issues. Otherwise you could go down the route of using 2 Avantree Saturn Pros and using a normal pair of headphones.

If you want Bluetooth then the Def Tech I just reviewed would probably be a good option. Good bass response with NC on and no notiecable hiss. Of the ones you mentioned the I have tried the HK BT and the Logitech UE9000. Both had good bass though the logitech was somewhat artificially boosted. Both had a pretty noticeable hiss however.

Thanks I'll definitely check out those phones!

I'd prefer to have dedicated wireless as having a receiver hanging out of the headphones doesn't sound too appealing although I have heard this suggestion before and I'm sure it would be a good solution for some people!

I've actually tried both the Sennheiser 160's and 170's and have to say I was rather disappointed especially as they both get such great reviews! I found they were seriously lacking in bass and body and actually found them quite tinny an un-exciting even after decent burn in, the soundstage was good but that's about all I can say about them!

The 170's were certainly a lot better than the 160's with much more fullness and a bit more warmth but they still lacked any real punch even with bass boost on and they felt like a much much cheaper pair of phones compared to my very moderately priced wired in ear Klipsch S4's which are an unbelievable set of phones by the way!

I also tried the SoundMAGIC WP10's which cost quite a bit more at £240 from Amazon compared to £90 for the 160's and £150 for the 170's. The SoundMAGIC's also utilize KLEER technology like the Sennheisers and like the Sennheisers the signal is virtually hiss free, although I did find the SoundMAGICS did seriously screw with my WiFi and did occasionally drop signal! They were however a decent step up in quality and had a much better sound than the Sennheisers and were also much better built and much better to look at. Unfortunately though they were still nowhere near as good as my S4's, with a lacking bass and still a bit of tinnyness!

Has anyone tried the August EP650's?....I know they're certainly not what someone would call 'high end' especially at just £32 but I think they sound quite amazing for the money, bass is fantastic and seriously punchy, they certainly don't lack body or warmth.... perhaps they could be a little more refined but they are still great for movies with a really exciting sound! They sound much better than the Sennheisers and SoundMAGIC's in my opinion! They just suffer from a bit too much hiss which is a real shame!

 

[Giogio]

Trying the Pendulumic right now.
I can see why you like them.
But they are not flawless.
The bass is quite powerful but a bit limited in range, and not particularly clean and detailed. And if you boost it it affects the mids and in part also the highs, making them sound less detailed. So, it does not change much the colour, it does not make things dark or muddy, but less detailed, with a sort of vibrato. I suppose because the bass is a bit boomy and the drivers vibrate too much to keep the control of other frequencies when the bass is dominating.
But used without EQ, out of the box, are really excellent headphones. Very balanced. Still not very detailed, and the soundstage is a bit flat, but overall a very good headphone.
And for my head and ears they are extremely comfortable, among the most comfortable I have ever tried. Very light, very gentle albeit firm clamping and extremely soft pads. Really pleasant.
 
@Techfixation, I think they can be good for you, because with TV you are not going to be able to boost the bass, and they have more than enough for films, and do not have penetrating highs but rather a warmer to balanced signature which works good on movies. Vocals are well present. Not like in the ATH, but present.
And they are just being distributed now in UK for the first time. Amazon. Try, return if not satisfied.
The hiss is non audible. If you can hear hiss during silence in these headphones, I will be hugely surprised.
Now, when music is being played, there is, in ALL BT headphones, always more hiss, because you are adding the Amp hiss of the Headphone to the hiss of the song, which, unless perfectly mastered and in lossless format, is always there.
I do not know in TV, but I can suppose that the TV itself can produce some hiss (try the headphones with other sources, if you have a BT phone and/or notebook, try them too). The Avantree can add a little bit hiss. The Transmission on the TV can add hiss. So... Forget it. Unless you have a very expensive, digital TV with EQ and audio filtering and bla bla, you will have hiss.
But, as said, you can at least reduce the one of the Amp. And the Stance are, together with the Matrix2 and the BeoPlay H8, excellent.
I still prefer the ATH, they have a tiny little bit more hiss on total music stopped, but somehow less global hiss on music playing. Probably for the way they render hig frequency in music.
 
 
Somebody somewhere was complaining that they have a "closed mic", by which you do not hear your your own voice in the speakers when you make a call.
Now, I have 6 headphones at home.
ALL of them are like this. With ALL of them I can NOT hear my voice in the speakers when I make a call.
Not even with the Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H8 (which, being ANC, should offer this function. Infact with the non ANC ones you can easily listen to your voice from outside of the speakers).
 
So, I would like to ask, could you please tell me if your BT headphone let you hear your voice, amplified, through the mic in the speakers?
You can easily see the difference if you press the mute button on the phone.
 
Thanks.

 

[n00b2]

Thanks I'll definitely check out those phones!

I'd prefer to have dedicated wireless as having a receiver hanging out of the headphones doesn't sound too appealing although I have heard this suggestion before and I'm sure it would be a good solution for some people!

I've actually tried both the Sennheiser 160's and 170's and have to say I was rather disappointed especially as they both get such great reviews! I found they were seriously lacking in bass and body and actually found them quite tinny an un-exciting even after decent burn in, the soundstage was good but that's about all I can say about them!

The 170's were certainly a lot better than the 160's with much more fullness and a bit more warmth but they still lacked any real punch even with bass boost on and they felt like a much much cheaper pair of phones compared to my very moderately priced wired in ear Klipsch S4's which are an unbelievable set of phones by the way!

I also tried the SoundMAGIC WP10's which cost quite a bit more at £240 from Amazon compared to £90 for the 160's and £150 for the 170's. The SoundMAGIC's also utilize KLEER technology like the Sennheisers and like the Sennheisers the signal is virtually hiss free, although I did find the SoundMAGICS did seriously screw with my WiFi and did occasionally drop signal! They were however a decent step up in quality and had a much better sound than the Sennheisers and were also much better built and much better to look at. Unfortunately though they were still nowhere near as good as my S4's, with a lacking bass and still a bit of tinnyness!

Sounds like you are after something with more bass and less other detail. A set of headphones geared towards movies rather than music reproduction. I'm not too sure what would be the best option for you but maybe one of those virtual 5.1 or 7.1 headphones might do a better job. Gaming headphones are also something you could consider and in thet sense the UE9000 might be a good option if you can find a pair and put up with the hiss.

 

[cehowardNote3]

 
I agree for only quoting the part needed.

 
Ha, that is what I just did!! 

 
On the headphones. .I haven't heard none of them, but IMO, the Def Tech might come out the winner. My reasons are, it can turn off the ANC, bluetooth and wired, and its price of $100 cheaper then the M2.. I barged in on  Definitive Technology office, only to find out they have moved to the city. No problem with that, I work in the city. However, Definitive Tech told me that do not keep any products in the office. I would like to have the Sony, Def Tech and the M2 all at one time..That way I could tell which one would be the BEST FOR ME!!
 
Will see...

 

[Deckardk]

  Trying the Pendulumic right now.
I can see why you like them.
But they are not flawless.
The bass is limited in range and power, and when boosted is imprecise and make also other frequencies become imprecise.
But used without EQ, out of the box, are really excellent headphones. Very balanced.
The soundstage is a bit flat anyway.
 
Somebody somewhere was complaining that they have a "closed mic", by which you do not hear your your own voice in the speakers when you make a call.
Now, I have 6 headphones at home.
ALL of them are like this. With ALL of them I can NOT hear my voice in the speakers when I make a call.
Not even with the Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H8 (which, being ANC, should offer this function. Infact with the non ANC ones you can easily listen to your voice from outside of the speakers).
 
So, I would like to ask, could you please tell me if your BT headphone let you hear your voice, amplified, through the mic in the speakers?
You can easily see the difference if you press the mute button on the phone.
 
Thanks.

I do enjoy bass. Use a REL Storm III in my HT and have it set flat using LFE (Audyssey). Most cans are overblown with bass and it gets people expecting more from repeated experience. The Stance is not punchy to be sure, something I'm thankful for. Don't use an EQ because I have no idea what I'm doing and would probably just make things worse.
 
The BBP has an open mic. Not sure about mic off/on based on NC setting because I didn't toy with it. They've been returned, else I'd check for you.

 

[headcoatman]

A couple of brief notes to follow up on my details about the BBP and the newly acquired (for testing) Bose Soundlink on ear headphones.
 
I finally got around to trying the BBP with my iPhone 4S instead of the Galaxy S3. No dropouts over two nights. This is both good and bad. Nice to know a steady connection can be maintained, but I was hoping not to carry around two devices every night. The other issues of inconsistency with the auto pause/resume feature and the button press to hear the battery life still exist, even after applying the udpate (and "fake" update) techniques suggested to me by Plantronics via Giogio. And a new, admittedly minor issue was introduced. Between every song I play there is a slight pop or click. Didn't hear that when played through the S3. Kind of odd.
 
As for the Bose...
I have to admit that most of the technical jargon and information I see on these forums is lost on me. I don't know what roll-off means, or how to distinguish the sound of mid-bass compared to low-bass, or how one range or frequency extends into and affects another, etc, etc.
Comfort compared to the BBP: Strangely, about the same. The Bose are significantly lighter, and an entirely different design, but I still felt a bit of uncomfortable pressure on the top of my head, and, sometimes, more discomfort on my ears. Or rather, IN my ears. I don't know if it's because the on-ear design puts your ears closer to the...drivers (?), but I sometimes needed to play the Bose at lower volume than the BBP just to attempt to avoid some painfulness in my ears.
Aesthetically: Pretty boring. Nothing but plastic, all the same shade of black, and a bit of fabric around the headband.
Controls: Limited. Basically, one button to control everything. Click the rocker up to increase volume, down to decrease volume. Click the center once to pause/play, click twice to advance to the next song, click 3 times to back track to the previous song. Seeking is not an option. The Bose will tell you the remaining battery life with actual percentages (unlike the BBP which only says 'high', 'medium', and, I presume, 'low' (haven't gotten there yet). But the only time you can hear this is when turning them on. I've found no way of hearing the remaining battery life via the controls, only the power on switch.
Sound: Wish I knew how to be more detailed about this...They sound quite similar to the BBP, IMO. I think there's a bit less bass, but the soundstage and clarity seem about the same. I believe vocals were just slightly louder. However, even though everything sounded so much the same, after listening to them for a while I found myself becoming a bit bored with the sound. Maybe that's an odd way to put it...but there's something a bit more engaging about the sound from the BBP. At various times I found myself thinking that these expensive Bose headphones sound like something that should sell for about $100-150. In other words, nice but no "wow" factor.
 
Oh, another thing...The Bose do not have NC, right? Well, something about the design of the cups or the way they fit on my ears makes them sound like they do. In comparison to the BBP, with NC activated, I think the Bose actually canceled out more outside sound! As an example: I've mentioned before that I use these at work. During my shift there is a janitor who uses a floor buffer and another machine, both of which are quite loud. With NC turned on on the BBP that sound becomes muffled, like a distant rumble. With the Bose, no NC, the noise is virtually gone. Admittedly, I listen to my music pretty loud whenever I can, but I was shocked by this. At one point he was standing right next to me running his machine and I had no idea until I happened to glance his way.
Verdict (so far): Not worth $250. Once I return these, I may actually be able to get a pair for $100-150 from a connection at a local Bose factory outlet. If so, I will definitely spend that much for them.

 

[Giogio]

  Don't use an EQ because I have no idea what I'm doing and would probably just make things worse.
 
The BBP has an open mic. Not sure about mic off/on based on NC setting because I didn't toy with it. They've been returned, else I'd check for you.

EQ is easy. One of the best guides I have found about it is this article in three parts (with a last fourth part about Parametric).
All what they say about Parametric you can forget it for now, because unless you use Neutron in Android, then all other players have a non parametric EQ, a normal EQ where you can't do anything else than moving a slider up  and down and decide the loudness of that frequency.
And this is how I have learned. I have moved ONE slider at a time, all way up, all way down, to see what was going on there in each freqeuency.
Till now I was using addictive EQ (boosting), but after this article and some suggestions on another Thread here, I have started subtracting first.
It works nice.
So when I have more or less clear how I want to tweak this headphone, I make 2 or three similar versions of that preset, and I switch between each of them and also "no EQ" till I decide which one is the best or if I have to find a new one.
It does not take long to learn and it is fun and you cannot damage anything because you are not recoding the music, the EQ is applied on the fly only while you listen, so you can change it anytime you want.
If you boost too much, you must reduce some gain. If you subtract too much, you must add some gain (general gain).
 
Let me know if you need help.
 
 
About the Open Mic, I think you may have misunderstood that function, it is not supposed to be used during calls, but when somebody want to talks to you. For example, you listen to music, with or without ANC, and somebody talks to you, and you just press that button and the music is reduced to min and your and his voice are boosted.
Or when you just want to hear what's going on around you.
i am not aware that it is possible to use it during phone calls to hear your own voice. but even so, you would amplify also all the noises around you...
SO, were you the one complaining about the Stance having "closed mic"?

 

[Deckardk]

^ Thanks for that EQ tip. Will look at that.

As far as open mic, perhaps that's a misnomer on my part. What I'm referring to is the ability to hear my own voice when talking on the phone, through the mic.

Yea that was me regarding the Stance. Couldn't hear my own voice.

 

[Giogio]

As far as I know there is no headphone able to do that.
Guys?

 

[Soundofmusic]

One of the Momentum Wireless reviews state this:
 

the integrated microphone, which is actually dual mics, worked very well for making calls with my cell phone. You can hear your own voice as you talk inside the headphones, which keeps you from talking louder than you need to.

 
http://www.cnet.com/products/sennheiser-momentum-wireless/
 
Unclear wether they mean it's an active feed, or if your own voice leaks through the cups or is somehow singled out by the ANC.