[TooFrank]

A small question re the H95s. Say in a couple of years' time when the battery inevitably dies and can't hold its charge anymore, would the USB-C wired mode still be able to drive the headphones? It would be a shame if it becomes a paperweight..

Good question - don't think any of us have come to that point yet Why don't you ask B&O? and let us know the answer.....

 

[angelom]

The battery don’t dying even after 10 years using 6 hours 365 days a year. One battery charge is 38-50 hours. And after 500 charges battery have less capacity but don’t dying.

 

[Chiefdroid]

Good question - don't think any of us have come to that point yet Why don't you ask B&O? and let us know the answer.....

Gave them an email, will report back

The battery don’t dying even after 10 years using 6 hours 365 days a year. One battery charge is 38-50 hours. And after 500 charges battery have less capacity but don’t dying.

Cheers for the reply! The reason for the question was to ascertain if the H95's USB-C mode will be able to turn it into a wired-only headphones after the battery is long gone (however long that may be). I understand the APM doesn't have this mode so once the battery is gone, it's useless, which is rather shocking!

 

[angelom]

Gave them an email, will report back

Cheers for the reply! The reason for the question was to ascertain if the H95's USB-C mode will be able to turn it into a wired-only headphones after the battery is long gone (however long that may be). I understand the APM doesn't have this mode so once the battery is gone, it's useless, which is rather shocking!

You always needing the battery for the h95 for working. You can't using in passive mode (only with cable and nothing more). So, in this case the situation is similar like APM but with h95 you having many more battery life for many more years. After you doing 500 battery cycles (that probably taking more than 10 years) the battery capacity is then 80%, so in the theory you can having many more years than 10 years with the h95.

Usually headphones with ANC that you can using passively (only with cable) sound terrible when the headphone isn't using the battery (this meaning that the headphone isn't using DSP). The exceptions that I know personally after owning many ANC headphones, where the headphone is giving still very good sound passively, are the Shure Aonic 50 and the Mark Levinson 5909. (The aonic 50 costing 1/3 approximately of the price of the 5909)

 

[Audiowood]

Just bought the H95 after a brief listen at the airport store. sound very good. I am interested in the Mark Levison as well. I heard that it has less deep bass and I love deep bass. So I might give it a pass.

I have been testing these 2 days and I find the H95 scale up exceptionally well with good equipment using the 3.5MM wire. The wireless BT sound very grainy, compressed and digital in direct comparison. Its only obvious when doing comparison. Its fine if you just listen to Bluetooth. I was about to return it until I plug in the wire. With the wire, the sound quality is now in the some of the more expensive wired phone. Its smooth, no grain.

Exceptional sound quality..

 

[Audiowood]

I want to add that the bass, is exactly what I want and could not find in under the $1000 region in any ANC phone. Very deep bass. Its like a planar deep and more quantity.

 

[Chiefdroid]

You always needing the battery for the h95 for working. You can't using in passive mode (only with cable and nothing more). So, in this case the situation is similar like APM but with h95 you having many more battery life for many more years. After you doing 500 battery cycles (that probably taking more than 10 years) the battery capacity is then 80%, so in the theory you can having many more years than 10 years with the h95.

Indeed. The reply from B&O was "Please be informed that the battery is needed to be able to turn on the Beoplay H95 due to the DSP or Digital Signal Processors technology on the headphones. Therefore, even if the line-in cable was connected and sending charge to the headphones, a working battery would still be needed." And I think that is an ok compromise and I'm happy with that.

Just bought the H95 after a brief listen at the airport store. sound very good. I am interested in the Mark Levison as well. I heard that it has less deep bass and I love deep bass. So I might give it a pass.

I have been testing these 2 days and I find the H95 scale up exceptionally well with good equipment using the 3.5MM wire. The wireless BT sound very grainy, compressed and digital in direct comparison. Its only obvious when doing comparison. Its fine if you just listen to Bluetooth. I was about to return it until I plug in the wire. With the wire, the sound quality is now in the some of the more expensive wired phone. Its smooth, no grain.

Exceptional sound quality..

I agree. And I recommend trying the H95 with the USB-C cable, since that involves one less step of loss. In comparison with the 3.5mm wired mode, for me the USB-C mode has both an even deeper base, more slam, a fuller mid, as well as more volume (probably to do with the power being fed through that cable). For me the 3.5mm wired mode only removed the bluetooth step of loss (I think the H95's onboard DSP doesn't allow it to take full advantage of amps/dacs) but the USB-C mode really made it on-par with some of the mid-level wired Planars. If I have to give a hand-wavy rating, *for me* the bluetooth is 6.5/10, the 3.5mm is 7/10, the USB-C is 8.5/10, the USB-C + EQ would reach 9/10.

 

[jagwap]

The battery don’t dying even after 10 years using 6 hours 365 days a year. One battery charge is 38-50 hours. And after 500 charges battery have less capacity but don’t dying.

Yes, but battery chemistry ages as well, so there is a finite lifetime, often shorter than 500 charges if not used every day like a phone. This accelerates if it is left fully charged all the time. This is why new product are never shipped with full batteries. Usually <40%. Sitting in a hot warehouse at 100% will drastically shorten the life of a Li-Ion battery.

The usual end of life for a Li-Ion battery is being left in a drawer: If a battery is just left alone, it will very slowly self discharge. There is a threshold where it cannot be revived. This is for safety reasons. Very deep discharge states can be a fire risk if charged, so ALL battery systems should not allow this. So top up your rechargable products to 40% every six months and keep them cool (10<t<30C) an they will last years. Stick them in a warm place with 10% charge and they will be unusable in 3 months.

 

[angelom]

Just bought the H95 after a brief listen at the airport store. sound very good. I am interested in the Mark Levison as well. I heard that it has less deep bass and I love deep bass. So I might give it a pass.

I have been testing these 2 days and I find the H95 scale up exceptionally well with good equipment using the 3.5MM wire. The wireless BT sound very grainy, compressed and digital in direct comparison. Its only obvious when doing comparison. Its fine if you just listen to Bluetooth. I was about to return it until I plug in the wire. With the wire, the sound quality is now in the some of the more expensive wired phone. Its smooth, no grain.

Exceptional sound quality..

Hello Audiowood.

Yes, the h95 have more low bass than 5909, but this is only on BT mode only, when ANC is on in the 5909 the low bass is probably very similar (this is from my memory because I don't have h95 anymore).

But, in BT mode only (no ANC on), for me the quality (not quantity) of the bass is superior in the 5909 because you can clearly discerning all the bass notes. The mids and treble are superior too in the 5909, and the headstage is very open too, like not other BT headphone or earphone I hearing before. Resolution and dynamics for a BT headphone is at the top level of all BT headphones I using before.

If you have opportunity, my suggestion is you must trying the 5909 and then deciding if is sufficient good for you. Maybe you can finding online shop that giving chance for trying and returning if you're not happy with the sound.

 

[matteventu]

Just to make things clear: B&O do offer battery replacement service (at a fee, if out of the 3-year warranty).

In theory you could even replace it yourself, the battery is the same model as for the other B&O headphones from the H9 3rd Gen onwards (HX, Portal), so it's easy to find online "compatible" batteries. And the headphones are fairly easy to disassemble to replace the battery.

 

[TooFrank]

Just bought the H95 after a brief listen at the airport store. sound very good. I am interested in the Mark Levison as well. I heard that it has less deep bass and I love deep bass. So I might give it a pass.

I have been testing these 2 days and I find the H95 scale up exceptionally well with good equipment using the 3.5MM wire. The wireless BT sound very grainy, compressed and digital in direct comparison. Its only obvious when doing comparison. Its fine if you just listen to Bluetooth. I was about to return it until I plug in the wire. With the wire, the sound quality is now in the some of the more expensive wired phone. Its smooth, no grain.

Exceptional sound quality..

+1 - I was surprised to experience the sound improvement using them wired. It makes then indeed more versatile....

 

[Audiowood]

Indeed. The reply from B&O was "Please be informed that the battery is needed to be able to turn on the Beoplay H95 due to the DSP or Digital Signal Processors technology on the headphones. Therefore, even if the line-in cable was connected and sending charge to the headphones, a working battery would still be needed." And I think that is an ok compromise and I'm happy with that.


I agree. And I recommend trying the H95 with the USB-C cable, since that involves one less step of loss. In comparison with the 3.5mm wired mode, for me the USB-C mode has both an even deeper base, more slam, a fuller mid, as well as more volume (probably to do with the power being fed through that cable). For me the 3.5mm wired mode only removed the bluetooth step of loss (I think the H95's onboard DSP doesn't allow it to take full advantage of amps/dacs) but the USB-C mode really made it on-par with some of the mid-level wired Planars. If I have to give a hand-wavy rating, *for me* the bluetooth is 6.5/10, the 3.5mm is 7/10, the USB-C is 8.5/10, the USB-C + EQ would reach 9/10.

I tried with the USB C cable and it was even more impressive than the 3.5mm. You are right, BT is 6.5 and usb c is 9/10 even better than 3.5mm. I then tried the usb c on my samsung but the volume is very low while the PC ones is very loud (both using USB C). Do you know why the phone is outputting low volume? I dont have a volume limit set on my phone.

 

[Audiowood]

Hello Audiowood.

Yes, the h95 have more low bass than 5909, but this is only on BT mode only, when ANC is on in the 5909 the low bass is probably very similar (this is from my memory because I don't have h95 anymore).

But, in BT mode only (no ANC on), for me the quality (not quantity) of the bass is superior in the 5909 because you can clearly discerning all the bass notes. The mids and treble are superior too in the 5909, and the headstage is very open too, like not other BT headphone or earphone I hearing before. Resolution and dynamics for a BT headphone is at the top level of all BT headphones I using before.

If you have opportunity, my suggestion is you must trying the 5909 and then deciding if is sufficient good for you. Maybe you can finding online shop that giving chance for trying and returning if you're not happy with the sound.

Now I am really curious about the 5909. Does the BT vs Wired sound the same or is there also vast diff like the H95.

Man.. the BT sound quality vs Wire (USB C) on the H95 diff is really huge.

 

[Audiowood]

I am trying to get my Samsung S20 usb c to work on the H95. Its outputting too low vol (same as Samsung Tab, M11pro) - All these devices are like vol 3 using USB C vs PC. PC is really loud. If I cant get the usb C to work on the mobile device, I will return the H95. The BT SQ is not good at all. very grainy.. like playing a 128 mp3

 

[Chiefdroid]

I tried with the USB C cable and it was even more impressive than the 3.5mm. You are right, BT is 6.5 and usb c is 9/10 even better than 3.5mm. I then tried the usb c on my samsung but the volume is very low while the PC ones is very loud (both using USB C). Do you know why the phone is outputting low volume? I dont have a volume limit set on my phone.

Yes, I believe the low volume is due to some phone/tablet restricting the power output of the usb-c port whereas the PC usb-c is not similarly restricted. For my case with the iPhone 12 Pro Max, I had to use the cumbersome camera adapter to connect the USB-C and connect a power bank to boost past the power restriction on the iPhone to achieve full volume. Now that is an ugly solution for daily commute, but may just be viable at a push for longer train/plane journeys. You might be able to get an USB-C to USB-C + USB-A adapter from amazon and plug one into the H95 and the other into a bank to get it to work to full volume.. ugly but should work theoretically.

Another approach if you're on android is to use the wavelet app to apply the AutoEQ preset for the H95. I haven't used this personally on a mobile device but from EQ-ing on the PC, the mids of the H95 benefitted a lot from EQ and made even the BT sound very acceptable, so you might want to give that a go. Sadly this doesn't work on iOS so I've had to use the B&O app to EQ, which is a bit like a seance, but I've now got it to my liking after much trial and error..

For me the BT was more than acceptable when I'm on the noisy underground train or walking around in town and if I'm at my desk I plug the USB-C in, so it was fine. (I am intrigued by your comment that the BT sounds like a 128 MP3. The wired mode was a tangible improvement over BT sure, but the BT certainly wasn't unlistenable.. so I wonder if it's not a codec issue, esp since on Android you should really use the aptX options not AAC. But I'm just speculating.)