[WDitters]

@AKGunkie just out of curiosity... With respect to internal wiring of the 3.5mm to USB cable, I take it that the analog signal is transported over unused channels outside the USB-C spec. I would be curious to learn if on the headphone side, the ground signal is offered L+R separately or combined. If offered separately that potentially would allow for a balanced custom cable

 

[AKGunkie]

@AKGunkie just out of curiosity... With respect to internal wiring of the 3.5mm to USB cable, I take it that the analog signal is transported over unused channels outside the USB-C spec. I would be curious to learn if on the headphone side, the ground signal is offered L+R separately or combined. If offered separately that potentially would allow for a balanced custom cable

that's a great question and i honestly dont know. i havent even received my own pair yet.

A few minutes with a multimeter could probably answer it if you have a probe small enough. That being said, almost all of Harmans headphone offerings from AKG & JBL have not included balanced executions, and i would expect the same here.

 

[WDitters]

First flight with the Ml 5909 tomorrow, curious to see how they will hold up in ANC mode

 

[angelom]

First flight with the Ml 5909 tomorrow, curious to see how they will hold up in ANC mode

I want hearing your opinion about this.

I think probably you will thinking is sufficiently good. I'm saying this because I comparing in my house the 5909 and h95 with speakers using simulation videos of airplane noise and busy cafe noise and the results of the 2 headphones are very similar. In real life last year I using the h95 in airplane and for me anc is sufficiently fine, not like Bose, Sony or APM but enough good for my enjoyment of the music.

 

[jthomp72]

I want hearing your opinion about this.

I think probably you will thinking is sufficiently good. I'm saying this because I comparing in my house the 5909 and h95 with speakers using simulation videos of airplane noise and busy cafe noise and the results of the 2 headphones are very similar. In real life last year I using the h95 in airplane and for me anc is sufficiently fine, not like Bose, Sony or APM but enough good for my enjoyment of the music.

I actually took them on a walk downtown yesterday during a busy festival (Rossini festival, knoxville) and they blocked out everything. Now, the caveat to that is with music on, I don’t notice the world. With music off, it’s very dull but I sorta can hear. But music at any noticeable volume and I’m good

 

[angelom]

...the caveat to that is with music on, I don’t notice the world. With music off, it’s very dull but I sorta can hear. But music at any noticeable volume and I’m good

This is often very personal because many people listening to music very loud, so in this cases blocking the noise from outside is easy. I listen at medium volume usually and for me, specially in a train or airplane is important that I can hearing the bass without needing playing loud. In my real life test the h95 is very good in the train, underground and airplane. Because my comparison and results with the 5909 is only in my house, I'm thinking that the result in real life is very similar for persons like me that needing sufficiently good anc so that isn't necessary using loud volume.

 

[jthomp72]

This is often very personal because many people listening to music very loud, so in this cases blocking the noise from outside is easy. I listen at medium volume usually and for me, specially in a train or airplane is important that I can hearing the bass without needing playing loud. In my real life test the h95 is very good in the train, underground and airplane. Because my comparison and results with the 5909 is only in my house, I'm thinking that the result in real life is very similar for persons like me that needing sufficiently good anc so that isn't necessary using loud volume.

That’s about right. I was listening to Princess Leia’s theme from A New Hope at about 70% volume which, has a lot of single flute passages and low instrument density moments, and I couldn’t hear the world. So what you said tracks.

 

[WDitters]

First impressions of ANC during flight are mixed... The initial impression is positive, good degree of noise cancelling, on par with the H95... But the difference between low and high ANC is smaller than I expected...

Also when combining ANC High With enhanced bass, there is quite a significant degree of distortion in the bass, almost as if the amplifier was running out of breath .. Balthazar's album 'Sand' became unplayable..

I therefore spent most of the flight with enhanced bass switched off

 

[angelom]

First impressions of ANC during flight are mixed... The initial impression is positive, good degree of noise cancelling, on par with the H95... But the difference between low and high ANC is smaller than I expected...

Also when combining ANC High With enhanced bass, there is quite a significant degree of distortion in the bass, almost as if the amplifier was running out of breath .. Balthazar's album 'Sand' became unplayable..

I therefore spent most of the flight with enhanced bass switched off

Is a surprise for me reading what you're describing of the combination of "enhanced" bass with ANC "high".

I just doing some tests now in my house with "neutral" and "enhanced" bass and with ANC "high" and ANC off. First I doing this with no external noise and then with a loud fan in maximum setting in background. In all my results I don't hearing a problem with the bass (and I choosing different music with strong bass and playing at different volumes).

The only thing different I hearing is that with ANC "high" and "enhanced" bass, the bass is little more "enhanced" (maybe 2-3 dB) than with ANC off (this happening with many ANC headphones and earphones), but I'm not hearing distortion in all the tests. Maybe inside the airplane the situation is different because the outside noise is different type from my loud fan and the mics of the 5909 are acting differently for cancelling the noise and maybe affecting low frequencies in the music more.

But I must saying too that I still prefer "neutral" bass in the 5909 (with and without ANC) that, in my opinion, is giving very satisfying bass in general.

 

[angelom]

Balthazar's album 'Sand' became unplayable..

I remember now that I have Spotify in my MacBook Pro and so I trying little bits of every song of the "Sand" album with the 5909. I can't listening with "enhanced" bass (with ANC on or off) because this album is heavy in bass already, not because of distortion that is causing by the ANC on.

I must asking: since when is WDitters becoming a basshead?! (By the way, the music isn't bad)

 

[WDitters]

I remember now that I have Spotify in my MacBook Pro and so I trying little bits of every song of the "Sand" album with the 5909. I can't listening with "enhanced" bass (with ANC on or off) because this album is heavy in bass already, not because of distortion that is causing by the ANC on.

I must asking: since when is WDitters becoming a basshead?! (By the way, the music isn't bad)

It's not necessarly this album alone, but it made a good example.. Glad you liked it.. Am now boarding to go back to Amsterdam... Will try and find less bass heavy examples

 

[Matiasa]

@angelom Just curious, how does the 5909 compare to your HD800/600 in ur view??

 

[sonicdream]

How does no. 5909 compare to Ananda BT and Amiron Wireless?

 

[angelom]

@angelom Just curious, how does the 5909 compare to your HD800/600 in ur view??

Your curiosity isn't sufficient reason for me spending some time comparing this headphones. Sorry.

How does no. 5909 compare to Ananda BT and Amiron Wireless?

Using the word "please" is always good idea.

 

[sonicdream]

Sorry, I forgot to say PLEASE I mean it would be great to share info here, it would help a lot of people probably. We all know there are levels in this game, but how many, a lot of us do not have chance to experience. That is why I always ask to see how people think, what do they like and to start making idea what would I appreciate from that. Amiron Wireless (closed) is on the top of the "HiFI food chain" as is Ananda BT (open) and no. 5909 (closed). But how can they be compared? Is there any difference, how noticeable it is? As I assume a lot of us would love comparisons in terms of BLUETOOTH SQ. For me sound quality is most important thing, than build quality and comfort and then features. It would be nice to have it all, but there is no such thing as a perfect anything so there must be always compromises. Amiron cans have a lot of problems with clamping force that can ruin bass response, making it sound "shallow", they are built in German but a lots of reviews on amazon suggest they can brake, so its really a question are they worth the money and also is Ananda or no. 5909 better option and how do they compare . If they all sound similar (as someone wrote in the comments on headfonics no.5909 review that Airpods max sounded very similar to no.5909 ) for me there is no point investing more than the cheapest option mentioned. Its a lot of money difference and no sound quality gain.


THANK YOU