[tomll]

One more failed headband here on the 5909 after 5 months of careful use and storage. Pretty disappointing.

 

[Altes]

One more failed headband here on the 5909 after 5 months of careful use and storage. Pretty disappointing.

that really is bad news and not good. i use it at home so it has no issues. if it breaks i'll just DIY it

anyway, i can now report that the treble peak was due to brain burn-in. apparently, using ML 5909 with ZMF Verite Closed still allowed brain burn-in for the ML 5909. However, after using my IEMs again, I noticed the treble peak on the ML5909.

I believe it just requires a neutral sound signature reset. Brain burn-in is perfectly acceptable imo.

 

[Greebo]

Going to have to put this one out to the universe....

I am looking to replace my beloved MW65 headphones that I shamefully left in a hotel room.... never to be seen again. Utter b*st*rds who nicked them. I am looking at the usual suspects (ST, 5909s, Bathys & MW75s) and have hit a wall after reviewing all of the superb content that is available. It's information overload and where I live, it's not going to be an option for me to do any form of A/B comparison.

The 5909s looked like and ideal fit but, given some of the comments here, I'm getting cold feet.

Here is my profile. ANY feedback would be greatly appreciated:

• Use cases: on flights (90%) / working in a hotel room (10%)
• What I listen to: podcasts 50% / EDM (Jarre, Vangelis, Kebu, etc) 40% / a bit of everything from John Williams, to Queen to Kylie (10%)
• Connectivity: I'm fine with using a cable into an iPhone. BT is convenient but if I'm on a many-hour flight, I always use a cable.
• How important is Sound Quality? 4-5 / 5
• How important is comfort & fit? 4-5 / 5
• How important is ANC? 3/5
• Anything else?
  • I have a relatively small head.
  • Not having a passive mode option concerns me.
  • My at-home system is a DCA Aeon 2 Noire which are superb (comfort and sound)

 

[ddlo]

Going to have to put this one out to the universe....

I am looking to replace my beloved MW65 headphones that I shamefully left in a hotel room.... never to be seen again. Utter b*st*rds who nicked them. I am looking at the usual suspects (ST, 5909s, Bathys & MW75s) and have hit a wall after reviewing all of the superb content that is available. It's information overload and where I live, it's not going to be an option for me to do any form of A/B comparison.

The 5909s looked like and ideal fit but, given some of the comments here, I'm getting cold feet.

Here is my profile. ANY feedback would be greatly appreciated:

• Use cases: on flights (90%) / working in a hotel room (10%)
• What I listen to: podcasts 50% / EDM (Jarre, Vangelis, Kebu, etc) 40% / a bit of everything from John Williams, to Queen to Kylie (10%)
• Connectivity: I'm fine with using a cable into an iPhone. BT is convenient but if I'm on a many-hour flight, I always use a cable.
• How important is Sound Quality? 4-5 / 5
• How important is comfort & fit? 4-5 / 5
• How important is ANC? 3/5
• Anything else?
  • I have a relatively small head.
  • Not having a passive mode option concerns me.
  • My at-home system is a DCA Aeon 2 Noire which are superb (comfort and sound)

i never used 5909 during flights. but its passive isolation is great and i don't see why it couldnt be used in flight. the fit is definitely on the weird side and looks big on head. i got big head and still could wear it comfortably for hours. genuine leather headbands and earpads work much better for me than syntenic leather like those in Solitaire T! btw, I used my solitaire T during my last trip to tokyo and it worked great for such use.

the sound of 5909 is amongst the best of all wireless over-ears for my taste and it got the best connection range/stability too. i got xm3/xm5, mw4, bathys, 5909, px8, solitaire T and ATH-WB2022 (in purchase order). I like the sound of wb2022 the best but it got only 9hrs battery and no anc so unlikely be on your shortlist. for my personal taste, 5909 is better than all the other wireless cans I listened too. i think 5909 will work nicely with EDM music with its slight bass boast and following closely the harman curve. ST's earcups are too small for me and i also like the more bass heavy 5909 (70hrs battery life is 2nd to none though). bathys is similar in tuning but 5909 sounds a bit more refined with better details. 5909 has LDAC, if that's important to you (wb2022 and of coz sony cans also have LDAC).

but frankly, in a noisy environment in-flight, i think XM5 or QC45 offers extraordinary good performance/price ratio. i'm not sure the finer details/better resolution offered by more expensive models is easily enjoyable in such kind of situation.

 

[RHMMMM]

Going to have to put this one out to the universe....

I am looking to replace my beloved MW65 headphones that I shamefully left in a hotel room.... never to be seen again. Utter b*st*rds who nicked them. I am looking at the usual suspects (ST, 5909s, Bathys & MW75s) and have hit a wall after reviewing all of the superb content that is available. It's information overload and where I live, it's not going to be an option for me to do any form of A/B comparison.

The 5909s looked like and ideal fit but, given some of the comments here, I'm getting cold feet.

Here is my profile. ANY feedback would be greatly appreciated:

• Use cases: on flights (90%) / working in a hotel room (10%)
• What I listen to: podcasts 50% / EDM (Jarre, Vangelis, Kebu, etc) 40% / a bit of everything from John Williams, to Queen to Kylie (10%)
• Connectivity: I'm fine with using a cable into an iPhone. BT is convenient but if I'm on a many-hour flight, I always use a cable.
• How important is Sound Quality? 4-5 / 5
• How important is comfort & fit? 4-5 / 5
• How important is ANC? 3/5
• Anything else?
  • I have a relatively small head.
  • Not having a passive mode option concerns me.
  • My at-home system is a DCA Aeon 2 Noire which are superb (comfort and sound)

I liked them but I wasn’t crazy about them. My first pair were defective. I sent the second pair back because I didn’t think they were worth it. Quirky functionality, large form factor. The sound was good but if I could do it again I’d just get Bathys or something slightly cheaper and take a slight decrease in sound quality for ease of use and better design. I have other headphones (Utopia, Stella, PS2000e) for critical listening uses. I’m simply back to rolling my Sony 1000XM4’s for flights because they’re cheaper and if something happens to them…whatever.

 

[agisthos]

I love mine. They may look big (i dont care), but are very comfortable for my head/ears.
Every genre of music sounds great through them. Very balanced sound. If you are into EDM the slight bass boost is just right.
The ANC works great for bus/car trips and noisy environment but its not quite as good as the Sony. It good enough for me and only in direct comparison to the Sony does it fall slightly.

One negative, if you want to use ANC while walking/jogging, don't get the 5909. They have the footstep thud. The Sony XM4 (and I presume the XM5) has an advanced ANC tech that cancels out footsteps. The 5909 does not have it.

 

[Articnoise]

i never used 5909 during flights. but its passive isolation is great and i don't see why it couldnt be used in flight. the fit is definitely on the weird side and looks big on head. i got big head and still could wear it comfortably for hours. genuine leather headbands and earpads work much better for me than syntenic leather like those in Solitaire T! btw, I used my solitaire T during my last trip to tokyo and it worked great for such use.

the sound of 5909 is amongst the best of all wireless over-ears for my taste and it got the best connection range/stability too. i got xm3/xm5, mw4, bathys, 5909, px8, solitaire T and ATH-WB2022 (in purchase order). I like the sound of wb2022 the best but it got only 9hrs battery and no anc so unlikely be on your shortlist. for my personal taste, 5909 is better than all the other wireless cans I listened too. i think 5909 will work nicely with EDM music with its slight bass boast and following closely the harman curve. ST's earcups are too small for me and i also like the more bass heavy 5909 (70hrs battery life is 2nd to none though). bathys is similar in tuning but 5909 sounds a bit more refined with better details. 5909 has LDAC, if that's important to you (wb2022 and of coz sony cans also have LDAC).

but frankly, in a noisy environment in-flight, i think XM5 or QC45 offers extraordinary good performance/price ratio. i'm not sure the finer details/better resolution is easily enjoyable in such kind of situation.

I am intresserad to know more about Audio-Technica ATH-WB2022, but there seems to be few real reviews of them. You seems to have a big collection and experiences on both regular and BT headphones. Have you by any chance written any reviews on ATH-WB2022 and/or posted any SQ comparens to other other headphones you own and like like Utopia or HE1000se for exempel?

 

[ddlo]

I am intresserad to know more about Audio-Technica ATH-WB2022, but there seems to be few real reviews of them. You seems to have a big collection and experiences on both regular and BT headphones. Have you by any chance written any reviews on ATH-WB2022 and/or posted any SQ comparens to other other headphones you own and like like Utopia or HE1000se for exempel?

i'm not a critical listener and only listening through streaming services. this hobby is more or less toy shopping for me. i did try many abx tests and not able to identify 320kb mp3 vs lossless. i also couldn't reliably identify 3dB difference in many instances through the harman listening software. i've been through some front end/headamp/cables comparisons/testing too but also not able to identify reliably any difference from any properly designed/functioning cheap units from very expensive ones.

so i'm not confident enough to share my subjective listening comments in a detailed, critical way like many reviewers do. with such limitation in mind, my simple, subjective comment on wb2022 is: it sounds better than all other wireless over-ears to me but not by a very big margin (leaner bass than 5909 but slightly better details in the treble and mid than both S-T and 5909). it definitely is useful in only very specific situation (also better built, much more pretty looking and comfortable to wear than others). 5909, on the hand, is much more versatile, having much longer battery life. if i plan to own only one pair of wireless over-ears, i will go for 5909 anytime and happily pocket the difference in price.

wb2022 is relatively rare outside of japan and I only saw reviews in chinese and japanese. you may try to read the following (with translation software if needed):
https://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=180&t=6741497
https://forum.gamer.com.tw/C.php?bsn=60535&snA=22456
https://sandalaudio.blogspot.com/2023/03/ath-wb2022.html
https://www.phileweb.com/review/article/202301/31/5068.html

 

[Nogoodnamesleft]

i'm not a critical listening and only listening through streaming services. this hobby is more or less toy shopping for me. i did try many abx tests and not able to identify 320kb mp3 vs lossless. i also couldn't reliably identify 3dB difference in many instances through the harman listening software. i've been through some front end/headamp/cables comparisons/testing too but also not able to identify reliably any difference from any properly designed/functioning cheap units from very expensive ones.

so i'm not confident enough to share my subjective listening comments in a detailed, critical way like many reviewers do. with such limitation in mind, my simple, subjective comment on wb2022 is: it sounds better than all other wireless over-ears to me but not by a very big margin (leaner bass than 5909 but slightly better details in the treble and mid than both S-T and 5909). it definitely is useful in only very specific situation. 5909, on the hand, is much more versatile, having much longer battery life. if i plan to own only one pair of wireless over-ears, i will go for 5909 anytime and happily pocket the difference in price.

wb2022 is relatively rare outside of japan and I only saw reviews in chinese and japanese. you may try to read the following (with translation software if needed):
https://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=180&t=6741497
https://forum.gamer.com.tw/C.php?bsn=60535&snA=22456
https://sandalaudio.blogspot.com/2023/03/ath-wb2022.html
https://www.phileweb.com/review/article/202301/31/5068.html

2 more:
https://www.moon-audio.com/audio-technica-ath-wb2022-wireless-headphone-review

https://musicphotolife.com/2023/06/audio-technica-ath-wb2022-review/

 

[Benesyed]

Going to have to put this one out to the universe....

I am looking to replace my beloved MW65 headphones that I shamefully left in a hotel room.... never to be seen again. Utter b*st*rds who nicked them. I am looking at the usual suspects (ST, 5909s, Bathys & MW75s) and have hit a wall after reviewing all of the superb content that is available. It's information overload and where I live, it's not going to be an option for me to do any form of A/B comparison.

The 5909s looked like and ideal fit but, given some of the comments here, I'm getting cold feet.

Here is my profile. ANY feedback would be greatly appreciated:

• Use cases: on flights (90%) / working in a hotel room (10%)
• What I listen to: podcasts 50% / EDM (Jarre, Vangelis, Kebu, etc) 40% / a bit of everything from John Williams, to Queen to Kylie (10%)
• Connectivity: I'm fine with using a cable into an iPhone. BT is convenient but if I'm on a many-hour flight, I always use a cable.
• How important is Sound Quality? 4-5 / 5
• How important is comfort & fit? 4-5 / 5
• How important is ANC? 3/5
• Anything else?
  • I have a relatively small head.
  • Not having a passive mode option concerns me.
  • My at-home system is a DCA Aeon 2 Noire which are superb (comfort and sound)

If its mostly for flights it really depends on how much you dislike the Sony wireless house sound, they are just so good for podcasts on a flight with ANC on. That being said between the 5909 and the SolT , I would suggest the latter even though I own the 5909. The sound quality is better on the SolT. I prefer more bass than the SolT offers out of the gate but if you use any EQ app like wavelet to give a little bottom end boost it is much better than the 5909. Unfortunately the 5909 does not respond as well the EQ and distorts.

 

[Greebo]

A HUGE thank you to all for your feedback. I'm split 50/50 between the pragmatism of going with the Sonys (significantly cheaper - spend the money on the open-backs that I'm eyeing, I'm not really doing critical listening on a flight, if it gets lost, damaged or stolen, such is life) against choosing something like the 5909s or the ST (can work passively, wonderful sound and build quality).

I have pair of STs arriving for demo so, we shall see.

 

[NCUS]

Bose quietcomfort 2 earbuds have incredible ANC, well beyond the 5909. On a flight these may be a better bet as they are much less unwieldy than traveling with large headphones and airplane noise tends to overwhelm headphone audio quality anyway.

 

[Greebo]

Bose quietcomfort 2 earbuds have incredible ANC, well beyond the 5909. On a flight these may be a better bet as they are much less unwieldy than traveling with large headphones and airplane noise tends to overwhelm headphone audio quality anyway.

Very true but, try as I might, I have never been comfortable with anything that's in-ear.

 

[Kiats]

Had the pleasure of spending some time this evening with the 5909. LDAC out of the DX320 edition X. Courtesy of Wilson from Jaben Singapore.

Not tried it on a flight yet. But I will say that I am impressed with the sound quality and signature. My faithful DAC of the past 10 years per more is the Bricasti M1 by a group of chaps who left Mark Levinson when it was taken over by Harmon Kardon. I can hear the similarities between the house sounds of ML and Bricasti.

Thus far I have had Bose, Sony and Senn. I was surprised by how neutral yet nuanced the 5909 is. Nice layering and instrument separation. Good head room as well. Seems like an excellent choice for use on the road. Especially since I tend to travel with a DAP when I travel. This will be a good option to have alongside custom IEMs.

 

[Not so fat head]

Just an fyi. I spent last night with my AKG N90Q’s and they still sound amazing. These are the younger brothers to the 5909’s, except not Bluetooth. The cross feed mode is very special, and allows for a super wide soundstage. Piano Concerto have great depth and emotion