[angelom]

I’ve flown with them several times. They are adequate. The loud, low rumble is more of a white noise hiss. APM and XM4 (own and flew with both) are significantly quieter. But they also are significantly more sweaty and don’t sound nearly as good. YMMV

This is exactly my experience in real life inside an airplane with 5909, except I comparing with my experience with XM3 that is having very similar ANC than XM4. (and xm3, xm4, APM and Bose nc700 and qc35 are always making my ears hot and sweating quickly too)

 

[Benesyed]

Are there any objective reviews of the ANC strength on the 5909, where they're compared against some other headphones?

Edit: nevermind, I found this that compares ANC performance and a bunch of other measurements (scroll down for ANC): https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/i...909-bluetooth-headphones&catid=263&Itemid=203

That contradicts my subjective impression from when I first tested them, but I have an open box on the way, will test them again for ANC performance.

I tested them semi-objectively against the PX-8 and the Bathys by using a airplane rumble simulator. They are as good if slightly better than the px8, noticeably better than the Bathys on me

 

[NCUS]

This is exactly my experience in real life inside an airplane with 5909, except I comparing with my experience with XM3 that is having very similar ANC than XM4. (and xm3, xm4, APM and Bose nc700 and qc35 are always making my ears hot and sweating quickly too)

The 5909s are effective muting lower frequency sounds like jet engines. They aren't as effective in the higher frequencies vs. a pair of Bose I have or the APMs. That means they are OK on airplanes but not as good as some of the alternatives because a lot of the noise on modern jets comes from the air vents, which I think are on a higher frequency than engines. I also have noticed the ANC tends to make thumping sounds occasionally when I ride jets that have more cabin pressure fluctuations, like regional jets or Airbus planes. I say this because when I ride regional jets or Airbus planes my ears get clogged while I don't get that on Boeing airplanes, which I attribute to more steady cabin pressure swings.

That said, the sound quality is much, much better than Bose of the APM, in my view. I wish I could comment on them relative to Sony's, but I've found that anything I buy from Sony either breaks or sounds muffled/boring, so I stopped buying that brand a long time ago.

 

[angelom]

The 5909s are effective muting lower frequency sounds like jet engines. They aren't as effective in the higher frequencies vs. a pair of Bose I have or the APMs. That means they are OK on airplanes but not as good as some of the alternatives because a lot of the noise on modern jets comes from the air vents, which I think are on a higher frequency than engines. I also have noticed the ANC tends to make thumping sounds occasionally when I ride jets that have more cabin pressure fluctuations, like regional jets or Airbus planes. I say this because when I ride regional jets or Airbus planes my ears get clogged while I don't get that on Boeing airplanes, which I attribute to more steady cabin pressure swings.

That said, the sound quality is much, much better than Bose of the APM, in my view. I wish I could comment on them relative to Sony's, but I've found that anything I buy from Sony either breaks or sounds muffled/boring, so I stopped buying that brand a long time ago.

I think you may be correct here. I mentioning before that my trip with the 5909 is with a very loud Ryanair airplane where the noise inside the airplane isn't only low rumble but having too more loud and high frequency sounds (not people or children) and this making the 5909 not very good and forcing me playing podcasts and music more loud than I want for not hearing the upside noise so much. And the bass is still difficult hearing unfortunately.

I remember other more quiet flights where I think the 5909 is better because is the low rumble sound that dominating the noise.

 

[TheOnetoWin]

Hey guys, how effective do you think the ANC on the 5909's would be for transit use (like riding a subway)?

 

[stiggy771]

I find the XM4 horribly uncomfortable on extended wear. There is almost no depth to the earcups, so they sit right on my ears - the cartilage starts to hurt after an hour or so.

If Sony decided to make a high-end wireless ANC headhone, something like their MDR-Z7M2 paired with their excellent ANC, they'd have a real winner.

I flew with the PX7 Carbons and found them more than adequate, and the 5909 should outperform those by a good margin according to the graphs I posted.

I've used my XM4 like 20-30 times since I bought them when they released. So uncomfortable and I always hate it when I have to use them. Great ANC, sq is okay but thats about it

 

[Benesyed]

Hey guys, how effective do you think the ANC on the 5909's would be for transit use (like riding a subway)?

What music are you going to listen to? If you need a perfectly silent session for orchestral music with lots of silenc eits not gonna work well

 

[TheOnetoWin]

What music are you going to listen to? If you need a perfectly silent session for orchestral music with lots of silenc eits not gonna work well

Ah, mainly like hip hop.

 

[Benesyed]

Ah, mainly like hip hop.

It should be totally fine then

 

[tdx]

Has anyone used these on a Windows machine as BT headphones? I can connect but no matter what I do they have terrible audio lag. They have no lag on my phone, just the PC.

Has anyone had that issue?

Thanks

 

[starfly]

Alright, I did a quick ANC test, playing back airplane noise () over my speakers (these are bookshelf type, JBL LSR305 studio monitors, so they're not full-range speakers, and roll-off a lot below 50hz or so).

The Mu7 and 5909 perform about the same, which is pretty decent - some subtle differences between the two, but they reduce the noise quite a bit. The Bathys is noticeably worse. Didn't bother testing my XM4 as I know that one will outperform all of these.

Comfort wise, the Mu7 is overall more comfortable than the 5909 (mainly because of relatively shallow earcups), still. I want to like the 5909 though because of the extensive codec support (AptX Adaptive + LDAC) as well as app support with a basic EQ (just for the bass really, but that's all I need).

SQ wise I like both for different reasons. Mu7 is smoother, 5909 sounds more detailed as they're a bit brighter than the Mu7.

The ANC on the 5909 is better than I thought when I first tested them, or I had a defective unit.

The Bathys is definitely going back, will pack them up tomorrow. Just not good enough ANC performance at this price point.

 

[TheOnetoWin]

Hey guys, one last question for you all. How would you say these cans perform in passive mode connected to a good source compared to other closed backs in the $500-$1,000 range? Specifically when applying eq to the 5909s.

 

[Morphology77]

Has anyone used these on a Windows machine as BT headphones? I can connect but no matter what I do they have terrible audio lag. They have no lag on my phone, just the PC.

Has anyone had that issue?

Thanks

Hi there,

to mitigate the lag problem with Windows PC you will need an AptX Adaptive BT dongle - such device reduces the lag to a reasonable level (around 60ms) which is fine to watch videos and to play games. For reference the lag is +200ms when using SBC codec.
Two examples of these dongles are:
Sennheiser BTD 600
Creative BT-W4 (I cannot recommend this as there are reports of audible distortion with device)

Hey guys, one last question for you all. How would you say these cans perform in passive mode connected to a good source compared to other closed backs in the $500-$1,000 range? Specifically when applying eq to the 5909s.

5909 is somewhat unique wireless headphone what comes to tonal balance between different modes, including fully passive mode - the frequency response is pretty similar.
Sean Olive has provided measurements on his Twitter profile. These are fairly competitive in the above mentioned price bracket against wired closed back headphones. I have replaced my all headphones with 5909´s and use Qudelix 5k with them when using in wired mode. Once equalised with Qudelix the Levinsons really shine.

 

[polymathic]

Hey guys, one last question for you all. How would you say these cans perform in passive mode connected to a good source compared to other closed backs in the $500-$1,000 range? Specifically when applying eq to the 5909s.

In this podcast review, one of the two reviewers did his entire review on the ML 5909 wired and passive. I don't have vast wired experience to speak, but this guy seems to think they are competitive wired headphones. and https://darko.audio/2022/09/mark-levinson-no-5909-a-podcast-review/

 

[polymathic]

Since the latest firmware update, has on ear detection been perfect for everyone here? In my case, to make it work I must have the headphones on when powering them. Then I must remove the headphones and put them back on (otherwise I get a pause every few seconds). After that on ear detection works perfectly until next power down.