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

[mattmathur]

I am a mess forgot to mention the senns are not available at my reason but have creative aurvana gold any input about how they compete against bbpro

 

[Giogio]

I am a mess forgot to mention the senns are not available at my reason but have creative aurvana gold any input about how they compete against bbpro

May I know where do you live? You can write it in a PM if you prefer. I will say to everybody in a specific post titled "Where mattmathur lives" to disrepect your privacy.

I could even open a blog called "who`s seen mattmathur?".

You actually said that the Momentum are not available there, but yes, forgot to say "all Senny".
Ok, so, no Senny.
That's a problem man. Because the two best headphones which correspond to your description are, in order of excellence, the ATH-WS99BT, and the Urbanite XL Wireless.

I did not try the creative because I have only read bad things about them.
I may consider testing them, and eventually bringing some good light upon them if I find them to be valid, if Creative sends me a Test Unit.

 But let me ask people here if they know something:

HEEEEEEYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!
Hey, you, yes, you ALL, did you by chance try the creative aurvana gold?????? And could you give your impressions in change of a thanks?

While people realize that we are asking them something, which could take a couple of months depending on the wind, can you tell me more about the music you listen to. Although I have seen that most bassy music concentrates the bass in the frequencies between 40 and 80hz, which the Fidelio excel in, some other music may require more mid than low Bass, which other headphones may be better for.
If you do not like the Beats you are not the typical brainless hiphop consumer (there are anyway also brainfull hiphop consumers, like @Hawaiibadboy
), and to find the Fidelio not bassy enough you are not the typical techno and dubstep and other sub-bassy music consumer (although as said the Fidelio need EQ to really shine in the bass if you're a bashed, and you did not give them the chance to).

 

[Giogio]

Many of you do not yet know this useful thread which collects a never ending list of songs to test your headphones.
I have thought that my last post with the one and only song for a Moodstage Test could be the right opportunity to let you know the thread.
 
Enjoy.

 

[mattmathur]

@Giogio you don't seem to see my post no 630 take a look and I live in India what's there to hide.... And by senns I mean urbanate and momentum wireless are not present here wired momentum is there

 

[Giogio]

@Giogio you don't seem to see my post no 630 take a look and I live in India what's there to hide.... And by senns I mean urbanate and momentum wireless are not present here wired momentum is there

there's nothing to hide but you hadn't answer the first time I'd asked.
You're right, somehow i didn't see your other reply.
Now I've edited mine.
Pity, it was a funny part.
As said, i believe it is a very very very big mistake sending the Fidelio back if you're willing to EQ.
With EQ you can make them shake your head.
The Plantronics produce more bass without EQ, but have finally less body in the rumble, and i would also say overall less bass power (after EQ), and have more highs, do you should still use EQ...
The Sony also, with no bass boost active, they have less bass than the Fidelio. But the Fidelio with EQ have more and/or better bass than the Sony even when you use the bass boost button.

The Fidelio are also the more portable and the ones which fit tighter for threadmill.

Do you still have the Fidelio?

 

[mattmathur]

@Giogio that's why i said i am a mess i returned them after 4 days they were a little too tight for my head well what's done is done and now they are out of stock from every online store in India ........ well now i ordered backbeat pro can they be by any chance sound (bose like) anywhere what is want i can resort to eq if it will do the trick....... and also can i use them on treadmill or still have to suffer the beats wireless hell when doing some workout.

 

[WDitters]

Second take between Momentum Wireless and Backbeat Pro: After a few days of break-in, the Momentums still seem to suffer from overly pronounced mids. Highs and Lows are really nice and contribute as such to a great performance on acoustics, but in rock and indie, the mids ruin it as well as the (lack of) soundstaging ... More and more leaning towards returning the Momentums and sticking with the Backbeat Pro. I will put the Momentums away now, and put them through a few days of additional break-in with pink white and brown noise to see if that helps them improve. I will give them until Sunday ....

 

[mattmathur]

 
@WDitters hey man i was also getting bbpro could you shed some light on bass response it's boomy or tight and quantity against momentum..... plus can it be used while running/jogging on road/treadmill

 

[Giogio]

now i ordered backbeat pro can they be by any chance sound (bose like) anywhere what is want i can resort to eq if it will do the trick....... and also can i use them on treadmill or still have to suffer the beats wireless hell when doing some workout.

The Plantronics are big, although not so heavy. But on my head they fit a bit loose. On the other hand the Fidelio fit perfect on my head, so if they are tight for you, the Plantronics may be good.
They have a very good bass, more boosted than the Fidelio, and at same time not so able to be strongly eqed (they distort a little bit on very bass heavy songs at max volume if eqed, but especially, the bass eats all other frequencies, something which with the Fidelio happens much less, and with the ATH nothing at all).
Just reduce a bit the highs, all what's above the 10000 hz, a bit, 1 to 3 db. You can then push all the bass from 30 to 90hz of 3db. I personally also increase the mids, from more or less 700 to 2400hz. This last thing because for my ears the Plantronics miss a bit mids. But as you can see above, other people like them so.
Maybe decreasing the highs will be enough for you to make the mids come out more.

Second take between Momentum Wireless I will give them until Sunday ....

what was your problem with the bbp? Small earpads?
Can't you reduce mids on the m2?

 

[WDitters]

what was your problem with the bbp? Small earpads?
Can't you reduce mids on the m2?

 
Yep, small earpads on the BBP are killing the joy in my longer listening sessions. Casual listening is fine though. I could reduce the mids on the M2, but that would go against my nature of a purist. My home stereo (Musical Fidelity A1008 valves with Usher Dancer Two DMD) is perfect without tonal adjustments. If you need any type of tonal adjustment, your set (or your headphones) is not chosen well enough to meet your preferences. I want the experience to be satisfying without altering the way the source material is reproduced  by means of equalizers for instance

 

[Giogio]

If you need any type of tonal adjustment, your set (or your headphones) is not chosen well enough to meet your preferences. I want the experience to be satisfying without altering the way the source material is reproduced  by means of equalizers for instance

apart for the fact that the bbp are all but purist headphones, i think that if you use some eq to compensate the unbalanced sound signature of the headphones (so, ONE general EQ preset) you are not altering the source, you are preserving it. The headphones are altering the source with their excessive mids. With EQ you are making its signature more neutral.

 

[WDitters]

apart for the fact that the bbp are all but purist headphones, i think that if you use some eq to compensate the unbalanced sound signature of the headphones (so, ONE general EQ preset) you are not altering the source, you are preserving it. The headphones are altering the source with their excessive mids. With EQ you are making its signature more neutral.

I am aware of that.. What I wanted to point out is that I actually find the €249 BBP pleasant enough in their uncorrected state whereas the €449 M2 in their uncorrected state definitely disappoint

 

[michaelsrevel]

This will be my first time buying higher end headphones and my first post on this forum.  I like a lot of what i'm reading about the Sennheiser Momentum 2 wireless.  Can someone fill me in on the main differences i will encounter with the on ear vs. over ear?
 
 
thanks.

 

[tholevn]

Hi Giogio,
 
I am kinda new to the wireless headphone world. i have owned several wired headphone like the Bowers & Wilkins P7, Audio Technica ATH-W5000, Audeze LCD2 but have never owned a pair of wireless one. Since it's for gym and i like bass, i will only listen to hip hop, rap, techno, etc. Which headphone would you recommend me to buy? My max budget for the cans is up to $300. I am from the US btw. I am using the iphone 5 as source and i paired it with the Onkyo DAC HA-200 to enhance the sound quality.

Thanks in advance for your help,
 
Eric Le

 

[Giogio]

  Hi Giogio,
 
I am kinda new to the wireless headphone world. i have owned several wired headphone like the Bowers & Wilkins P7, Audio Technica ATH-W5000, Audeze LCD2 but have never owned a pair of wireless one. Since it's for gym and i like bass, i will only listen to hip hop, rap, techno, etc. Which headphone would you recommend me to buy? My max budget for the cans is up to $300. I am from the US btw. I am using the iphone 5 as source and i paired it with the Onkyo DAC HA-200 to enhance the sound quality.

Thanks in advance for your help,
 
Eric Le

Hi Eric, welcome to the Forum
 
First of all, how should that DAC improve the quality of your BT connection or what has that actually to do with a BT headphone?
 
Anyway, of what I have tested my first choices for bass (actually also for overall sound) and which are also small and light enough on the head and fit enough tight for normal gym are the Audio Technica ATH-WS99BT (amazon from 250) and Fidelio M1BT (available in Ebay for about 250). But both are import, respectively Japan and Korea. So, no idea how much would the Import Taxes be at the end, but if it is like here the 20% you should be in your budget.
They are by far the best bass BT Headphones with best quality of bass and a huge amount of it (which anyway may need some EQ to be revealed if you are really a basshead) and excellent overall sound quality (for being bt headphones! Do not expect a Planar Magnetic!).
 
The ATH has got a more powerful bass (53mm drivers) whit more punch but still good rumble. It's vibration and impact can be quite notable, specially after EQ (they do not boost the bass artificially, so it is gentle and natural on most music and becomes naturally powerful on bassy music but for real bassheads needs EQ, and I can promise you that no other BT Headphones in my list can produce the bass that the ATH can produce after EQ) . It's a very detailed, clean sounding headphone, with an excellent presence specially in the mid range with a little accent on the low-mids which does produce muddiness anyway, but can be perceived as colouration. Zero sibilance detailed highs, and a quite nice soundstage. The fit is gentle but firm enough for fitness, specially if you have a rather big head. The earpads are almost 5cm in inner diameter (they get a little bit bigger inside) and are rather thin, so that if you have protruding ears they will touch the drivers. I have just modded them with  some isolating material similar to the yoga mats and it solved the problem for me, making the pads at same time also a bit larger and harder (which I still feel as very comfortable and which has the advantage of transmitting the vibration of the bass to the skull a bit better than before, as @Hawaiibadboy kindly taught me).
They are so good that even after boosting the bass with EQ and on heavy bass tracks they do not let the bass eat the other frequencies, if not a bit on some really heavy tracks, but less than any other BT headphones in my list.
They can also get quite loud.
 
The Fidelio are On-Ear, 40mm drivers, balanced sound with a little boost in the bass, which has got a really good body in the very low rumble, and can, when EQed, be really intense, but not at the level of power and vibration and impact of the ATH, and also with less punch than rumble (a bit slower bass) but still with more than enough punch for Techno.
An example, these two headphones are the ONLY ones in my list which can play Balloons (Club Mix) of Nils Hoffmann with no distortion (and that is a really killer track for the kind of bass and kick used, and one of the very few tracks if not the only one where the ATH can produce so much bass to eat a little bit the other frequencies if you have EQed the bass a lot).
I may eventually prefer a bit the Fidelio in that specific track for the kind of bass they can sound out, although the ATH can produce more of it, but for example going to the track Bosporus (Original Mix) of the same Dj, the ATH are absolute King. The punch and impact is amazing (after EQ).
The Fidelio are quite comfortable too, very light. Their mids are not as present as in the ATH but are not lacking. It's more a matter of how the sound is produced, than of mix of frequencies.
They react very well to EQ and also resist very very well to bass boost without eating other frequencies, which is amazing for a 40mm driver. They are in this on second place after the ATH.
They have a bit sibilance in the highs.
The soundstage is nice for an On Ear.
 
If you do not feel comfortable with an Import, the Harman ´Kardon BT (even cheaper), and the AKG Y45BT can be different solutions.
The HK can reach the 75% of what the Fidelio can do, but with a warmer sound. They fit tight, some people had problems, like @n00b2, but I felt them perfect (and I have used them with their smaller headband -yes, they come with two different headbands, a strange system). Their pads are not very deep, so you will have the ears touching the drivery, which can cause some discomfort after some hours. For gym I can think that if you move the head a lot you could hear the metal construction of the headphones quirk a bit at low vol music.
They have, after EQ, a very good bass too. I liked them quite a lot.
 
The AKG are my favourite portable BT Headphone. Out of the box they sound a bit muddy, with too much low-mid and a muddy slightly dark bass. I increase a bit the low and some mid bass, decrease a bit upper bass and low mids, increase some upper mids and highs, and they are wonderful. They are incredibly portable and come with a very very nice round soft carrying case.
Do not expect skull shaking bass! They have very small drivers.
 
The Plantronics Backbeat Pro would be an excellent choice but I do not know if you are willing to go to gym with such big headphones, and they also fit quite loose, so, unless you do not mind the dimensions and have a quite big head, they're out.
If you consider them, I can tell you that they have a very nice soundstage, a boosted but not muddy bass which for example without EQ can be more noticeable than in the ATh but after EQ can not dream with what the ATH can do (and eats more other frequencies than the ATH and the Fidelio, specially in the Balloons track), a boost in the highs too, and balanced mids.
The bass is balanced between rumble and punch, a middle way between Fidelio and ATH, but a bit more blurred in the rumble.
 
The JBL Synchros S400BT have also a very good bass for what you listen to, quite a v-shaped sound but not exactly lacking mids. They also tend to fit a bit loose, but less loose.
The Touch controls are problematic to some people but I had no issues.
 
Unfortunately I cannot suggest you anything else. I am sorry that my best choices are not so easy to get in US (actually the ATH are not available in EU either and I had lot of luck because they do not have the CE conformity which electronic products must have to be imported here, but the girl at the Custom did not notice it).
I have no idea how they sound but I imagine that a nice choice can be the Sennheiser Momentum On Ear. That is anyway on the limit of your budget.
Otherwise the Gibson Trainer should be available soon. Google them. Really amazing look. Made specifically for running and training. But nobody knows how they will sound...