[chrisba]

ah sorry ... misunderstood you.
anyways they are bulky folded as well as on the head. but none of the two bothers me.
I love them with and regardless of their downsides - that's it

 

[WilcoRoger]

After 2 years of owning these, I'm very happy with them. (M4U2) At different locations/circumstances I use different cans and I ended up with these, using with either the Sony NW A25 or A35

Home - Senn HD598 + Topping NX1 amp -> best sounding
Work - PSB M4U2 active mode, no ANC -> excellent SQ. Closed back, so doesn't disturb coworkers. Not using the ANC, as the passive isolation is good enough. Too bulky for travelling and ANC not on par with the Sony (which beat Bose in their own game)
Travel - Sony MDR-1000X -> very, very good SQ, top drawer ANC. I'm flying six-digit miles a year, so ANC is very important. BT is nice, not really hooked on it.
Commuting - Etymotic HF5 (IEM) -> one of the best sounding IEMs I've heard. Noise isolating is scary. Dangerous to use while biking. Fits in your breast pocket or anywhere. Also doubles as backup for travel.
(retired from service - Bose QC15)

 

[rfan8312]

Thanks for the comparison. I have been considering moving up from the PSB's at some point.

It might not hurt to check out another Audeze headphone, the EL-8.

I literally auditioned PSB, EL-8 and LCD-3 all together. I chose the PSB because I couldn't afford the other two, EL-8 was 700USD at the time now it costs 340USD on Audeze official website, but also the PSB imo were the most comfortable, with the EL-8 coming in at a very close second, the EL-8 is supremely comfortable.

It also has the most sturdy build quality of any headphone I've ever held in my hands. Extremely impressive build on the EL-8.

The LCD sounded the best in every category imo except treble.

The EL-8 sounded odd, but myself being a mid-centric "the less veil the better" Grado nut, I did like the sound of the EL -8 a lot. In fact I feel the closed version of the EL-8 sound better than the open version.

 

[Kwant0hm]

I just received the PSB M4U 8's today.

It is more comfortable than the PSB M4U 2's so that is nice.

First impressions right out of the box in "Passive Mode" were awful. They sound so closed in and muffled and really quite bad for a 400 dollar headphone.

I compared it directly to the PSB M4U 2 in "Passive Mode" and the PSB M4U 2 is just so much better and sounds right compared to "Passive Mode" on the PSB M4U 8.

The best way I can describe the PSB M4U 8 in "Passive Mode" is if you talk while your hand is over your mouth, it changes it to muffled. That is what the PSB M4U 8 sounds like in "Passive Mode".

Then when I switched the PSB M4U 8 to "Active Mode", and when I first turned it on, it does have a very faint hiss, just like with the PSB M4U 2, but then when I started to play the same test tracks it sounded much, much better.

The "Active Mode" on the PSB M4U 8 sounds pretty close to the PSB M4U 2 in "Passive Mode" and "Active Mode" but the PSB M4U 2 still sounds just a little bit better in clarity.

Then I connected it to Bluetooth on my Samsung Galaxy S8 and it hisses really bad and pops every few seconds. And when I played a song on the S8 I didn't really notice the hissing or popping at all and the sound does sound decent via Bluetooth and it sounds OK, but I can definitely hear a quality loss via Bluetooth compared to when I have it plugged into my Schiit Stack and with "Active Mode" on.

I can't really test the "Noise Cancelling Mode" but I turned my fan and plug in heater on and then switched it to "Noise Cancelling Mode" and it really cut it out to a very faint hiss and the music still sounded pretty close to just "Active Mode".

So the bottom line is if you are intending to get the PSB M4U 8 for "Passive Mode" definitely hear it first to see if you like the muffled sound signature. But if you are getting it to purely use it wirelessly and/or in "Active Mode" wired then it's not actually that bad and compares pretty close to the PSB M4U 2.

Overall I am just really disappointed with this headphone. I thought it was going to sound like the PSB M4U 2 with a better headband and wireless mode. But it just doesn't sound as good as the PSB M4U 2 or the NAD VISO HP 50 for that matter.

I just can't believe that "Passive Mode" is so different than the "Active Mode" and "Noise Cancelling Mode". I had planned on using it in "Passive Mode" most of the time and then when I go out places to use the wireless with my S8.



Let me know if you have any questions about it.

 

[intlsubband]

I just received the PSB M4U 8's today.

It is more comfortable than the PSB M4U 2's so that is nice.

First impressions right out of the box in "Passive Mode" were awful. They sound so closed in and muffled and really quite bad for a 400 dollar headphone.

I compared it directly to the PSB M4U 2 in "Passive Mode" and the PSB M4U 2 is just so much better and sounds right compared to "Passive Mode" on the PSB M4U 8.

The best way I can describe the PSB M4U 8 in "Passive Mode" is if you talk while your hand is over your mouth, it changes it to muffled. That is what the PSB M4U 8 sounds like in "Passive Mode".

Then when I switched the PSB M4U 8 to "Active Mode", and when I first turned it on, it does have a very faint hiss, just like with the PSB M4U 2, but then when I started to play the same test tracks it sounded much, much better.

The "Active Mode" on the PSB M4U 8 sounds pretty close to the PSB M4U 2 in "Passive Mode" and "Active Mode" but the PSB M4U 2 still sounds just a little bit better in clarity.

Then I connected it to Bluetooth on my Samsung Galaxy S8 and it hisses really bad and pops every few seconds. And when I played a song on the S8 I didn't really notice the hissing or popping at all and the sound does sound decent via Bluetooth and it sounds OK, but I can definitely hear a quality loss via Bluetooth compared to when I have it plugged into my Schiit Stack and with "Active Mode" on.

I can't really test the "Noise Cancelling Mode" but I turned my fan and plug in heater on and then switched it to "Noise Cancelling Mode" and it really cut it out to a very faint hiss and the music still sounded pretty close to just "Active Mode".

So the bottom line is if you are intending to get the PSB M4U 8 for "Passive Mode" definitely hear it first to see if you like the muffled sound signature. But if you are getting it to purely use it wirelessly and/or in "Active Mode" wired then it's not actually that bad and compares pretty close to the PSB M4U 2.

Overall I am just really disappointed with this headphone. I thought it was going to sound like the PSB M4U 2 with a better headband and wireless mode. But it just doesn't sound as good as the PSB M4U 2 or the NAD VISO HP 50 for that matter.

I just can't believe that "Passive Mode" is so different than the "Active Mode" and "Noise Cancelling Mode". I had planned on using it in "Passive Mode" most of the time and then when I go out places to use the wireless with my S8.



Let me know if you have any questions about it.

Thanks heaps for the comments.

I'm also waiting for a pair, they should arrive before the weekend. I was in two minds about whether to order these. I used to use the M4U2 and absolutely loved their sound - they are the headphones that really pushed me into the hobby I would say - however they had a terrible build quality, and I had 3 different set die on me each after about a year and all in the same way (left channel died). Since then I shared my portable load between wired (PM-3) for music and wireless ANC (QC35) for wireless listening, planes, and other non-music portable applications (podcasts etc). But I wanted a pair that can do bluetooth music REALLY well, and was tempted enough to try the M4U8. I can only hope that PSB learned their lessons after the manufacturing issues with the M4U2, especially given that the M4U8 have been several years on the drawing board before the launch.

I'm a bit optimistic despite your review, as I have no use for passive mode anyway - I have other headphones to listen to in my home set-up (800S, PM1) and will only use the PSB in active and ANC modes.

My questions for you are...

1. After a while using the phones, do you find the active mode and ANC mode (both wired and wireless) to be comparable in sound quality to the active and ANC modes on M4U2? or still lagging?
2. Does the build quality seem any different? I guess time will tell whether these will last longer than their predecessor, but hopefully the headband cracking etc got reduced?

Thanks. Will post my thoughts on the M4U8 before the weekend. I might have the very first pair here in Aust, so it shouldn't be too hard to sell them on if I decide not to keep them. Is there a dedicated post to the M4U8 yet?

 

[Kwant0hm]

Thanks heaps for the comments.

I'm also waiting for a pair, they should arrive before the weekend. I was in two minds about whether to order these. I used to use the M4U2 and absolutely loved their sound - they are the headphones that really pushed me into the hobby I would say - however they had a terrible build quality, and I had 3 different set die on me each after about a year and all in the same way (left channel died). Since then I shared my portable load between wired (PM-3) for music and wireless ANC (QC35) for wireless listening, planes, and other non-music portable applications (podcasts etc). But I wanted a pair that can do bluetooth music REALLY well, and was tempted enough to try the M4U8. I can only hope that PSB learned their lessons after the manufacturing issues with the M4U2, especially given that the M4U8 have been several years on the drawing board before the launch.

I'm a bit optimistic despite your review, as I have no use for passive mode anyway - I have other headphones to listen to in my home set-up (800S, PM1) and will only use the PSB in active and ANC modes.

My questions for you are...

1. After a while using the phones, do you find the active mode and ANC mode (both wired and wireless) to be comparable in sound quality to the active and ANC modes on M4U2? or still lagging?
2. Does the build quality seem any different? I guess time will tell whether these will last longer than their predecessor, but hopefully the headband cracking etc got reduced?

Thanks. Will post my thoughts on the M4U8 before the weekend. I might have the very first pair here in Aust, so it shouldn't be too hard to sell them on if I decide not to keep them. Is there a dedicated post to the M4U8 yet?

Unfortunately I don't think you will like to read this, but as I used them more and more I just kept finding things that I did not like about them and it basically turned me off of wireless again for awhile.

Active mode on the M4U8's does not sound as good as the M4U2's in active mode or passive mode or ANC mode. But sound is subjective. You may love the sound of them! I hope you enjoy them. And definitely try not to let my experience prime you for a bad experience if you can.

I used them with my S8 for about a week and it was just not good. Every time sound stops playing there is a loud POP and every time sound starts playing there is a very loud POP which definitely get annoying after awhile. After I got used to the M4U8 I then switched back to the M4U2's and immediately noticed the the M4U2's were quite a bit better sounding even in passive mode compared to the M4U8's Active and ANC modes. I never really used the ANC after the test on the first few days but the Active mode definitely does sound the best out of all three modes. Also I used it to watch YouTube videos and you can definitely hear the hiss while people are talking in the videos. So I just had to return it. I couldn't handle it anymore. I should mention here that the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 that I use for Wireless on the PS4 has much better bluetooth functionality. No hissing at all and no popping either. And it also sounds better than the PSB M4U8's in passive mode. But in active mode the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 sounds like crap compared to it. I don't understand how a 150 dollar cheapo wireless headset can have a better bluetooth dac/amp/circuitry than a 400 dollar headphone. What I mean is that the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 when paired with my Samsung Galaxy S8 had no hissing, had no popping, and sounded decent. I had to test it against the M4U8's because the bluetooth active mode was so damn noisy.

I also should mention that the sound very much lags by about 1 second in games like Subway Surfer on both the TB Stealth 700 and the PSB M4U8's but it seemed to be OK with lag in the YouTube videos. I don't know why that is though.

As for the build quality it was DEFINITELY better than the M4U2. The headband was steel not plastic and very sturdy and the materials and everything all felt much better than the M4U2's so in that respect I think it's a definite improvement.

Bottom line is the M4U8 to me was a DOWNGRADE to the M4U2's and all of the extra features could not convince me to spend the 400 dollars. So I had to send them back.

I hope it was just a defective unit or something but I doubt it. I would definitely love to hear your experience just to see if I got it really wrong or not.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[intlsubband]

Unfortunately I don't think you will like to read this, but as I used them more and more I just kept finding things that I did not like about them and it basically turned me off of wireless again for awhile.

Active mode on the M4U8's does not sound as good as the M4U2's in active mode or passive mode or ANC mode. But sound is subjective. You may love the sound of them! I hope you enjoy them. And definitely try not to let my experience prime you for a bad experience if you can.

I used them with my S8 for about a week and it was just not good. Every time sound stops playing there is a loud POP and every time sound starts playing there is a very loud POP which definitely get annoying after awhile. After I got used to the M4U8 I then switched back to the M4U2's and immediately noticed the the M4U2's were quite a bit better sounding even in passive mode compared to the M4U8's Active and ANC modes. I never really used the ANC after the test on the first few days but the Active mode definitely does sound the best out of all three modes. Also I used it to watch YouTube videos and you can definitely hear the hiss while people are talking in the videos. So I just had to return it. I couldn't handle it anymore. I should mention here that the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 that I use for Wireless on the PS4 has much better bluetooth functionality. No hissing at all and no popping either. And it also sounds better than the PSB M4U8's in passive mode. But in active mode the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 sounds like crap compared to it. I don't understand how a 150 dollar cheapo wireless headset can have a better bluetooth dac/amp/circuitry than a 400 dollar headphone. What I mean is that the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 when paired with my Samsung Galaxy S8 had no hissing, had no popping, and sounded decent. I had to test it against the M4U8's because the bluetooth active mode was so damn noisy.

I also should mention that the sound very much lags by about 1 second in games like Subway Surfer on both the TB Stealth 700 and the PSB M4U8's but it seemed to be OK with lag in the YouTube videos. I don't know why that is though.

As for the build quality it was DEFINITELY better than the M4U2. The headband was steel not plastic and very sturdy and the materials and everything all felt much better than the M4U2's so in that respect I think it's a definite improvement.

Bottom line is the M4U8 to me was a DOWNGRADE to the M4U2's and all of the extra features could not convince me to spend the 400 dollars. So I had to send them back.

I hope it was just a defective unit or something but I doubt it. I would definitely love to hear your experience just to see if I got it really wrong or not.

Sorry for the long post.

Thank you very, very much for the detailed response! It is much appreciated.

Well, I guess there's nothing to do now but wait and see/hear for myself. Some of your comments really do make me concerned - for example the lag with videos, that would make these useless for movies. However don't let this turn you off from wireless audio altogether. Lagging, popping, or hissing simply don't exist with my QC35 for example. There are plenty of other bluetooth contenders these days, including the Sony, Sennheiser, and BW models that seem to be getting good reviews. I personally didn't find the Sennheiser (550) to be comfortable, and I didn't like the touch controls used on the Sony and Senn models - I prefer actual physical buttons like the PSB or Bose models. I was hoping for the PSB to maximise all of the simplicity and comfort from the Bose model, but with M4U2-style sound quality. We'll see if my hopes were in vain...

In terms of bluetooth, the main devices I'm likely to use are the AK240, Samsung S7, and a couple of computers. I truly hope the hissing and popping you mentioned are not a common occurrence...

I'll make sure to update once I get these. The current expected delivery date is Thursday, so I should have plenty of time to try them out over the weekend.

 

[intlsubband]

OK, I received the headphone this morning - which is a bit of a surprise! I was advised that the package would be delivered before the end of the day, but when I woke up at 7:30 I already had a text from earlier in the morning that the package is outside my front door! gotta love 3-day delivery from the other side of earth... This meant that I can take it with me to work this morning, so I just gave them a good test on the way to work, about an hour altogether of walking and catching the train.

First impressions are very positive for me. The wired active mode sounds a lot like the old M4U2, however I am recalling those from memory as I don't have them on hand. (my old pair has been on a long-term loan with a friend, so will have to grab it sometime soon to do a proper comparison). I switched to bluetooth and personally didn't find the difference to be very big at all. Connecting via the AK240, there seems to be a slight loss of fidelity at the very botton of the scale - bass becomes more bloomy and less articulate. However, this is relatively minor, and the tonal outcomes appears similar.

I do particularly like the bluetooth amp-only mode, this is a great feature to have. Similar to the M4U2, the ANC mode produces a slightly more V-shaped sound, but perhaps a bit less noticable on the M4U8.

However, funnily enough, I find these slightly less comfortable than the M4U2 - pads seem stiffer and perhaps a bit smaller. But this can also be a function of being out of the box.

Will post more comments over the weekend, when I get to compare it to other headphones.

 

[Kwant0hm]

OK, I received the headphone this morning - which is a bit of a surprise! I was advised that the package would be delivered before the end of the day, but when I woke up at 7:30 I already had a text from earlier in the morning that the package is outside my front door! gotta love 3-day delivery from the other side of earth... This meant that I can take it with me to work this morning, so I just gave them a good test on the way to work, about an hour altogether of walking and catching the train.

First impressions are very positive for me. The wired active mode sounds a lot like the old M4U2, however I am recalling those from memory as I don't have them on hand. (my old pair has been on a long-term loan with a friend, so will have to grab it sometime soon to do a proper comparison). I switched to bluetooth and personally didn't find the difference to be very big at all. Connecting via the AK240, there seems to be a slight loss of fidelity at the very botton of the scale - bass becomes more bloomy and less articulate. However, this is relatively minor, and the tonal outcomes appears similar.

I do particularly like the bluetooth amp-only mode, this is a great feature to have. Similar to the M4U2, the ANC mode produces a slightly more V-shaped sound, but perhaps a bit less noticable on the M4U8.

However, funnily enough, I find these slightly less comfortable than the M4U2 - pads seem stiffer and perhaps a bit smaller. But this can also be a function of being out of the box.

Will post more comments over the weekend, when I get to compare it to other headphones.

Well I am glad you are liking it more than I did. Yeah as I said the Active Wired and Active Bluetooth seemed pretty fine to me. Except for the hissing and popping on the bluetooth with S8! You didn't mention it but I would like to hear if you have the hiss or popping sound via bluetooth. It was really loud on mine. If you don't have it then I bet my unit was defective!

 

[intlsubband]

Well I am glad you are liking it more than I did. Yeah as I said the Active Wired and Active Bluetooth seemed pretty fine to me. Except for the hissing and popping on the bluetooth with S8! You didn't mention it but I would like to hear if you have the hiss or popping sound via bluetooth. It was really loud on mine. If you don't have it then I bet my unit was defective!

So, I have now connected via bluetooth to my Samsung S7 Edge, and I have no such issues - sounds smooth, no hiss or popp. Very faint hiss in the ANC mode when there is no music playing, which stops when I play some audio. I tested this with CastBox (podcast app) and various youtube videos. Sounds like you may have had a problematic pair?

 

[intlsubband]

Well I am glad you are liking it more than I did. Yeah as I said the Active Wired and Active Bluetooth seemed pretty fine to me. Except for the hissing and popping on the bluetooth with S8! You didn't mention it but I would like to hear if you have the hiss or popping sound via bluetooth. It was really loud on mine. If you don't have it then I bet my unit was defective!

Sitting at work listening to music while I work, a similar thing happened to me as with the old M4U2 - after listening for a while thinking I'm in amp mode (wired to AK240), I suddenly realised that I'm actually listening to them in passive mode. The amp mode injects some more "life" into the sound - especially noticeable with percussions and horns I find - however the passive mode still sounds nice and clear to me. This makes me think even more that perhaps you got a bum unit? not sure. But I'll keep updating.

 

[Kwant0hm]

Sitting at work listening to music while I work, a similar thing happened to me as with the old M4U2 - after listening for a while thinking I'm in amp mode (wired to AK240), I suddenly realised that I'm actually listening to them in passive mode. The amp mode injects some more "life" into the sound - especially noticeable with percussions and horns I find - however the passive mode still sounds nice and clear to me. This makes me think even more that perhaps you got a bum unit? not sure. But I'll keep updating.

Ah OK. Yep it definitely seems to me that I got a bad unit. It sounded so bad in passive mode that I couldn't believe it when I first got it. And then when I switched it to Active or ANC it literally cleaned the sound up to similar to the M4U2 so I bet my unit was bad for sure. I might check it out again in the future.

Oh and yeah the hiss was very loud and the popping was very very loud when music would stop playing or right when it started. My other bluetooth headphones did not have the hiss or pop at all so that points even more to a bad set.

 

[Tommy C]

Very interesting.
A couple of years ago I demoed the NAD HP 50 which I liked in terms of sound but the fit was bad, they also didn’t look good with the funky headband.
The NAD HP70 have all the features of the PSB M4U8 but I wonder if the sound quality is identical. I don’t think I can demo both yet in my area.
I must admit I prefer the design of the HP70 more than the M4U8 with the thinner headband.

 

[intlsubband]

After a few days of listening to the M4U8, I think it is safe to say that audio quality is inferior to M4U2, especially when used with a DAP or DAC/amp rather than via phone.

Mostly, there seems to be less detail throughout the spectrum. My initial thought is that this is because the M4U2 had an analog-only amp, which worked excellently with high quality sources, and utilised a passive roomfeel. But the M4U8 seems to convert ALL input - including via analog cable - to apply DSP and have roomfeel applied as a digital filter, even if you use a wired connection. This is a very poor design choice if true!

It has some really good and useful bits, and the tonal balance is good, but for those who connect this to devices other than phones and laptops, it is a bit disappointing.

 

[Tommy C]

After a few days of listening to the M4U8, I think it is safe to say that audio quality is inferior to M4U2, especially when used with a DAP or DAC/amp rather than via phone.

Mostly, there seems to be less detail throughout the spectrum. My initial thought is that this is because the M4U2 had an analog-only amp, which worked excellently with high quality sources, and utilised a passive roomfeel. But the M4U8 seems to convert ALL input - including via analog cable - to apply DSP and have roomfeel applied as a digital filter, even if you use a wired connection. This is a very poor design choice if true!

It has some really good and useful bits, and the tonal balance is good, but for those who connect this to devices other than phones and laptops, it is a bit disappointing.

Not what I was hoping to hear...
I am wondering if the NAD HP70 follows the same pattern.