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

[luberconn]

creative aurvana gold are only $115 on amazon.  i might pick some up. 

 

[Giogio]

  Has anyone here listened to both the first generation over ear sennheiser momentum  and  sony mdr xb950bt?
 
I could really use some help.

there is no first generation of momentum wireless.
 the present one is the only one.
I have tried both. there is no comparison possible, they are on two extremely different levels. the sony is very unrefined, with poor highs, and bloated uncontrolled bass. it is clearly aimed to people who want a pure bass experience (although I do not like its bass at all, too much air, but there are some mods which apparently improve that a bit).
The momentum is much more balanced (although coloured) and clearly aimed to a more sofisticated listener.
Also, the sony has got zero soundstage, the momentum a very good one.
 

 The sound on the Symph 1s doesn't sound as crisp though. It's like the mids overrule the highs and lows, in a boosted sounding way. It feels fuller and louder than the M2s, but sound less real and crisp. There is more bass so I really like that. But still not enough for my liking. I want the sound to sound as real and loud as possible, with a rumble from the low frequencies in the bass.

The momentum sounded pretty much real to me.
Strange anyway, @orionschmidt says they lack mids and have bloated highs, you say they lack highs and have maybe boosted mids.

There are not two same pair of ears! And people still cannot see why EQ is useful.
 
If you want something with good punch and good rumble, which sounds present and loud, buy the ATH-WS99BT and replace the earpads with the Brainwavz HM5.
Or wait, I receive soon the HM9 earpads and can say if they are better.

 

[Yappadappadu]

@orionschmidt:
Thanks for your impressions. I am awaiting delivery of my MDR-1ABT on Saturday.
Will be interesting to see how they do against my Backbeat Pro.
 
One question though:
Unless I misunderstood you consider the Symphony 1 "not have as good of noise cancelling as the Backbeat, but to be on par with the Level Over"?  So from your point of view the Backbeat Pro a better noise canceller than the Samsung Level Over?
That's surprising to me, because from the headphones I had so far (Sennheiser MM450, Samsung Level Over, Sony MDR-1RBT, Plantronics Backbeat Pro, Sennheiser Momentum Wireless) I thought that the Level Over were the best when it came to NC. The very closed off design of the massive cans being a big factor. Still returned them due to the size and poor bass.

 

[orion23rigel]

One question though:
Unless I misunderstood you consider the Symphony 1 "not have as good of noise cancelling as the Backbeat, but to be on par with the Level Over"?  So from your point of view the Backbeat Pro a better noise canceller than the Samsung Level Over?
That's surprising to me, because from the headphones I had so far (Sennheiser MM450, Samsung Level Over, Sony MDR-1RBT, Plantronics Backbeat Pro, Sennheiser Momentum Wireless) I thought that the Level Over were the best when it came to NC. The very closed off design of the massive cans being a big factor. Still returned them due to the size and poor bass.

You may be right. Like I said, I was working off memory, and I didn't compare them directly. My impression when trying the backbeat pros was that the NC was better than the level overs.

 

[n00b2]

 
One question though:
Unless I misunderstood you consider the Symphony 1 "not have as good of noise cancelling as the Backbeat, but to be on par with the Level Over"?  So from your point of view the Backbeat Pro a better noise canceller than the Samsung Level Over?
That's surprising to me, because from the headphones I had so far (Sennheiser MM450, Samsung Level Over, Sony MDR-1RBT, Plantronics Backbeat Pro, Sennheiser Momentum Wireless) I thought that the Level Over were the best when it came to NC. The very closed off design of the massive cans being a big factor. Still returned them due to the size and poor bass.

 
Noise cancellation seems to be subjective as well based on fit and exactly what sounds/frequencies you are trying to cancel. I thought the Momentum Wireless had a better ANC then the Symphony 1 but on Amazon there are a few reviewers who feel the Symphony 1 had a better ANC than the Momentum. Also there was a guy on here who thought the ANC on the Symphony was better than Bose and I thought the Bose QC25 trounces both the Symphony and the Momentum in that regard.

 

[shawnlee3010]

Hi giogio!
 
I was checking out the AKG Y45BT as I thought they were very portable, stylish and yet not ostentatious. 
 
However, several reviews that i have read about it says there is an audible hiss.
 
Can you kindly compare the hiss on this pair of headphones vs the rest (Momentum over ear wireless & Philips M2BT)?
 
Thank you!

 

[n00b2]

   
I had this issue when I was listening to music and walked out of range of my tablet. I think it was trying to reestablish the connection to the tablet. The same thing happened to me using multipoint with the little MPOW receiver. I think the logic isn't yet sophisticated enough to gracefully drop one connection if it goes out of range while another is in use.

 
I got the issue when both were sitting on the table in front of me and not just when I walked out of range of one of them. It didn't happen all the time but it happened enough to know that multipoint still has a lot of bugs to sort out. When it did work though multipoint was great. Another issue I had was that different music players didn't seem to react the same way with it. For example one time I tried to use multipoint on laptop while pausing my phone and MusicBee worked as expected but MediaMonkey started playing through my speakers even though sound troubleshooting was showing it as going through bluetooth. Another time MediaMonkey worked fine but youtube failed. Can't reproduce these problems at will though so it's hard to try and actually fix them.
 

 
Yeah, I tried that. I've spend many hours troubleshooting device issues in Windows. No matter what I did, I couldn't get Device Manager to find the proper drivers on any computer. Neither could their technical support. I think there was just something wrong with the pair I got. Definitive Technology did offer to send a free shipping label and replace the headphones (A+ for customer support), but I opted for just returning them due to the other issues I experienced.

 
Yeh it must have been a bad headphone then. I couldn't get the test pair that I tried at the distributer to work with USB OTG no matter what I did but the pair I bought worked fine after a bit of fiddling. Their customer service is definitely top notch. Whenever I called up for problems their tech guy worked with me until the problem was fixed. Sennheiser were a lot less helpful with my RS 220 and the actual tech guy never seemed to be there and they would always say they will call me back when he comes but never did.

 

[sashakrik]

I will be very happy to get some advice regarding my post:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/746519/huge-comparison-of-almost-all-the-best-bluetooth-headphones-post-your-own-comparisons-here/1020#post_11584757
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thank you !

 

[bladefd]

  @orionschmidt:
Thanks for your impressions. I am awaiting delivery of my MDR-1ABT on Saturday.
Will be interesting to see how they do against my Backbeat Pro.
 
One question though:
Unless I misunderstood you consider the Symphony 1 "not have as good of noise cancelling as the Backbeat, but to be on par with the Level Over"?  So from your point of view the Backbeat Pro a better noise canceller than the Samsung Level Over?
That's surprising to me, because from the headphones I had so far (Sennheiser MM450, Samsung Level Over, Sony MDR-1RBT, Plantronics Backbeat Pro, Sennheiser Momentum Wireless) I thought that the Level Over were the best when it came to NC. The very closed off design of the massive cans being a big factor. Still returned them due to the size and poor bass.

 
I'm curious about something..
 
From the headphones you own, how do you think the Backbeat Pro hold up against the MM450, Level Over, 1RBT, and the Momentum? I ordered the Backbeat Pro, should be getting them in a week or so. My first BT headphones ever so I have no experience (I own a wired Beyerdynamic DT880).

 

[Giogio]

I'll answer as soon as possible, sorry, been busy.
If I forgot to answer to somebody, please make like sashakrik made, so I can remember.

 

[mulanj]

"Giogio",i meant first generation over ear non bluetooth version .I am just curious whether i could do much better or whether the improvement will be merely incremental .
 
In-terms or clarity ,separation ,detail, sound-stage basically all the element that makes one go wow .If the difference is only minute i wont upgrade .Anyone here has listened to wired vmoda m80? sennheiser momentum over ear first gen? ath 50x? etc basically any community favorite wired headphones? ,or any Bluetooth headphones that provides substantial upgrade ,like night or day etc.
 
Anyway ,thanks a lot for the reply .

 

[291835]

Hi giogio!

I was checking out the AKG Y45BT as I thought they were very portable, stylish and yet not ostentatious. 

However, several reviews that i have read about it says there is an audible hiss.

Can you kindly compare the hiss on this pair of headphones vs the rest (Momentum over ear wireless & Philips M2BT)?

Thank you!

I don't hear any hiss on my Y45BT. Maybe I have a good one.

I'm putting mine up for sale.

 

[LivingProof]

I'll answer as soon as possible, sorry, been busy.
If I forgot to answer to somebody, please make like sashakrik made, so I can remember.

Hey Giogio, I have another question to add onto your list (haha). I just want to know, out of the UE9000, WS99BT, and Fidelio M2BT, which one sounds the crispiest with lovely bass outside of the box? Without EQ. For music ranging from Alternative Rock, to Indie, to Reggae, to Underground Hip Hop, to Trap, and to DubStep.?
I usually just listen to music on youtube/soundcloud/spotify and can't find any apps on mu iphone to EQ live streaming music. Your answer is greatly appreciated!

 

[Klosterliv]

Hello!

My first post on head-fi.org! I have lately been on the prowl for a new pair of headphones; having crossed this thread a couple of times I figured I might step out from the shadows of internet traffic to get some good and experienced personal advice! :- )
 
Aesthetics (highly subjective) and audio quality (difficult to explain?) aside I have come up with a few hard criteria:
1. Over-ear (and closed back...)
2. If ANC-featured, then it must be possible to switch it off
3. Possibility to plug it in using a standard audio cable (like 3.5mm)
 
Many or most of the top-recommended bluetooth headphones seem to fail these criteria : /, but on the other hand this limits my options.
I will be bringing it places, so it shouldn't be too clumsy either, the Backbeat Pro for instance seem a bit unwieldy so I am apprehensive toward them.
When it comes to audio, I will admit to not having tremendous experience (thankfully this board seems less elitist than elsewhere on head-fi), but I sure like strong bass and warmth, but there has to be a balance of course; I might be more opinionated on audio than I think, though. I'll claim to have a quite varied taste, but I listen to black metal more than little (which I think sounds terrible on the wrong stuff), as well as various synth-centric genres to hip hop. I have mostly been using a pair of Sennheiser HDR-170's and am quite satisfied with the audio and comfort if those happen to be within someone's frame of reference. I read somewhere that the Parrot Zik's have a sound signature intended for classical, which I assume might capitalize on other qualities than I would be instantly comfortable with, perhaps a pity because I think the styling is very nice and clean and they seem compact enough! There seem to be some differing opinions on them though, and they are pricey. 
 
I will mention that I have fairly small ears, so not too specific on the fitting, and I am generally not bothered with heat/sweat, but I tend to use headphones for very long sessions and value overall comfort in that regard. 
 
When it comes to budgeting, I am not wealthy by any means, but if I was entirely convinced that the choice is right I could probably eke out upwards of 400$, but hopefully less. In any case, seems like I will be spending some money on this, and I'd feel entitled to some nice build quality after investing possibly hundreds of dollars; the Pendulumic S1+'s seem a bit dodgy when it comes to this? Perhaps also on sound leakage? I am really paranoid about that stuff. :F On another note I find it difficult to get much-appreciated hands-on with particular headphones where I live (Stockholm) even though there are some audiophile stores (generally focusing on massive equipment setups) with that possibility it's mostly what they happen to have, and I bet the clerks would frown if I asked for bluetooth gear anyway. :- P
 
Perhaps the Aurvana's (haven't researched them much) or the MDR1RBT's would be good competitors for my investment? Perhaps something else? :0

I hope I have employed this thread correctly, and I am very thankful for any advice you might give me. :- ) I'll also be happy to share my experiences with whatever I decide to buy if that enriches the discussion.
 
Thanks! /Måns

 

[291835]

Maybe you could try to get the Kicker Cush earpads.

Anyone with impressions on the Kicker Tabor? I wouldn't mind a basshead alternative. I was kind of disappointed with the Sony XB950BT and the Beats, well, are Beats.