[ddoyle777]

Ad 2) yes, when I move my head swiftly from side to side I can hear very annoying crackling, also when quiet music is playing. I don’t know if it is a defect or normal behaviour.
I would really like to know it others can notice this.

I have the crackling noise as well.

 

[slunce]

I have the crackling noise as well.

Thanks, I actually noticed it’s most prominent when there is a good seal. If seal is not perfect the crakling does not occur or not as much. Also, the left side crackles a lot for me and right also but noticeably less… not quite sure I should send them back and get another pair.

 

[slunce]

I have two questions:

1. How many of you are still suffering from unreliable Head-on detection? Mine is completely unusable.
2. Do you experience some crackling sounds when wearing the 5909 ANC or Ambient Aware mode on when you move you jaw or turn your head?
I do - and so did Terry Ellis (Pursuit Perfect System YT Channel):
Pursuit Perfect System - 5909 YT review

Reason for asking is to get collect some feedback for Mark Levinson support.

Did you manage to contact ML and got any answers?

 

[Benesyed]

Did you manage to contact ML and got any answers?

for number one they said that they were working on a firmware upgrade for it to improve detection but that it wasn't ready to be released yet

 

[agisthos]

I tried moving side to side in all 3 anc modes, and nothing, no crackling.

And on head detection works perfectly for me, but I cleanly and swiftly take the phones off my head with two hands. I notice when slowly pulling off the side of my head it did not trigger once.

 

[Morphology77]

Thanks everyone for responding. Let's see how it goes from here.

It seems that there is some tolerance/qc issues as some people are not experiencing the issues. Few reviewers have had the issues as well.

20.10.2022 I got response from Harman Luxury support when I complained about 1.5.08 still not fixing the head on detection:
"The on-head detection problem is an isolated issue and our R&D team are already aware of that.
Hopefully the next software update will fix the issue."

What comes to the ANC related crackling sound it is difficult to say. I am quite disappointed in the quality of the headphones. Software and mechanical issues that have not been fixed at this price point is just lame.

 

[slunce]

Thanks everyone for responding. Let's see how it goes from here.

It seems that there is some tolerance/qc issues as some people are not experiencing the issues. Few reviewers have had the issues as well.

20.10.2022 I got response from Harman Luxury support when I complained about 1.5.08 still not fixing the head on detection:
"The on-head detection problem is an isolated issue and our R&D team are already aware of that.
Hopefully the next software update will fix the issue."

What comes to the ANC related crackling sound it is difficult to say. I am quite disappointed in the quality of the headphones. Software and mechanical issues that have not been fixed at this price point is just lame.

Hi, today I went to a store and listened to a demo unit and it exhibited the same behavior. I think I will have to take it as part of the deal and limit ACN to situation where I do not move much like sitting in tube, in plane etc. Can’t really use whilst walking unless music is loud.
I suppose I need to work around it since otherwise I like the sound most of all and I tried Px8, H95, Solitaire T and Bathys. Sometimes I sit at home and I am just fascinated by the sound
Petr

 

[Morphology77]

Hi, today I went to a store and listened to a demo unit and it exhibited the same behavior. I think I will have to take it as part of the deal and limit ACN to situation where I do not move much like sitting in tube, in plane etc. Can’t really use whilst walking unless music is loud.
I suppose I need to work around it since otherwise I like the sound most of all and I tried Px8, H95, Solitaire T and Bathys. Sometimes I sit at home and I am just fascinated by the sound
Petr

I use 5909 ANC off and Head-on detection disabled as they are plagued by issues. ANC feature is licensed from Sony and makes me really wonder what has gone wrong as it should be rock solid.

Sound quality is amazing despite the high treble resonance which I hope they will fix via firmware.

 

[SmitherineBoss]

I use 5909 ANC off and Head-on detection disabled as they are plagued by issues. ANC feature is licensed from Sony and makes me really wonder what has gone wrong as it should be rock solid.

Sound quality is amazing despite the high treble resonance which I hope they will fix via firmware.

how do these compare to the Focal Bathys and Bowers and Wilkins PX8? I've seen a few reviews but not sure how much I trust people that aren't in the community when basically anything they hear is the best ever haha.

 

[Morphology77]

how do these compare to the Focal Bathys and Bowers and Wilkins PX8? I've seen a few reviews but not sure how much I trust people that aren't in the community when basically anything they hear is the best ever haha.

If you ask from sound quality perspective 5909 is closest being neutral. Bathys have more flexible eq settings though. PX8 has consumer tuning and sound like trash.

If Mark Levinson manages to sort out their qc issues and fix treble resonance with firmware - 5909 would be very easy to recommend.

 

[XTF1]

I use 5909 ANC off and Head-on detection disabled as they are plagued by issues. ANC feature is licensed from Sony and makes me really wonder what has gone wrong as it should be rock solid.

Can you provide a link or reference about the ANC feature being licensed from Sony? I thought it was derived (identical?) from the technology used on AKG headphones…

 

[Morphology77]

Can you provide a link or reference about the ANC feature being licensed from Sony? I thought it was derived (identical?) from the technology used on AKG headphones…

Sure,
from Sean Olive:
https://twitter.com/seanolive/status/1560711037581611009

 

[XTF1]

Sure,
from Sean Olive:
https://twitter.com/seanolive/status/1560711037581611009

Thanks for the link! I didn’t know that…

ML may use a Sony chip, but the WH-1000XM5 ANC is much more efficient at reducing ambient noise IMO. It may be a poor implementation on the ML side… or on-purpose choice due to the tradeoffs between super-efficient ANC and SQ: the XM5 SQ is not the greatest… and, depending on the ambient, it sometimes sounds flat out weird!

 

[angelom]

So, suddenly, after little more than one year of release of the 5909, only NOW several people having a problem of "crackling sounds when wearing the 5909 ANC or Ambient Aware mode on when you move you jaw or turn your head?" Not me. And I think is strange than in one year people aren't never reporting this.

Even when I think the T+A Solitaire T is having better sound quality (the best headphone, wired or not, I hearing in my life, by the way), the 5909 is, in my opinion, the only ANC headphone that competing in sound quality with the Solitaire T, and I still thinking that the 5909 is a great headphone.

Is only a pity that ML isn't offering real EQ option for customising the sound, specially for adjusting the treble performance that affecting some albums, that can be a little much / hot sometimes. For this type of headphone, in this price, a good EQ is obligatory.

 

[Morphology77]

So, suddenly, after little more than one year of release of the 5909, only NOW several people having a problem of "crackling sounds when wearing the 5909 ANC or Ambient Aware mode on when you move you jaw or turn your head?" Not me. And I think is strange than in one year people aren't never reporting this.

Even when I think the T+A Solitaire T is having better sound quality (the best headphone, wired or not, I hearing in my life, by the way), the 5909 is, in my opinion, the only ANC headphone that competing in sound quality with the Solitaire T, and I still thinking that the 5909 is a great headphone.

Is only a pity that ML isn't offering real EQ option for customising the sound, specially for adjusting the treble performance that affecting some albums, that can be a little much / hot sometimes. For this type of headphone, in this price, a good EQ is obligatory.

Not sure what is your point. My second pair had this crackling issue since day one and Pursuit Perfect System had issue in their review unit. Some other people have those here as well. Creaking headband has been mentioned as well in certain places.
Flaky head-on detection has been common issue.

My gut feeling is that there is some qc issues but difficult to say.

Despite of all this 5909 is still my favourite headphone - I just wish they had put a little more quality assurance effort in these.