[raccoon]

Excellent review, Skylab. I probably listened to it for about 30 minutes before I decided to return them and that was after a 50 hour burn-in. The intense clamping they do made them impossible for me to wear. Regarding the sound, I found it very hard to focus on the music, almost as if I didn't care what was playing. The music just became sort of white noise.
The build quality is great though...except the cord as you mentioned. So nothing is really great about them

 

[2rooi123]

Thanks for the review.. Now i have a reason not to sell my denons and finally have peace of mind

 

[immtbiker]

Thanks for the review, Rob. While I agree with most of your findings, I think that they are good for what they were produced for, and will keep mine. I have no problems with comfort and wish the headphones would extend a little farther on both ends, but the detail is there and go quite nicely with my Nano and iMod.
I know these ae being sold to come right out of a headphone jack, but find noticeable improvement with a Shadow or out of a HiFiMAN.

As always, thanks for your informative efforts.

 

[jjcha]

Thanks for the review, mate. I generally agree with your conclusions. The lack of transparency and fairly rolled off highs are depressing given what the competition have done for lower price points. From a sound quality standpoint, there are a number of other recommendations I'd have for the $300 bux and lower range before I recommend these. I will say that the comfort, at least for me, is fantastic - as good as the HD25-1 were, I couldn't get over how uncomfortable they were.

Back to the P5s, disappointing, given how much I enjoy my various B&W speakers. I would say one should not equate the quality of one for the other. My B&W LM-1s are actually extremely good for their $300-ish price range, as are my XT-8s. The P5s, no.

Best,

-Jason

 

[fella]

I'm happy with mine though I have 12 days to confirm that. I've been unable to get a recommendation on these boards for anything else that
-is portable, no amp, good build
-looks good
-offers some isolation
-are comfortable
-are not, and do not look like dj or monitor phones

It seems that these have my market cornered

 

[markheaps]

I agree with most of what Skylab says about these phones. I've spent about a week listening to them almost exclusively thinking I may be able to acclimate my brain to the sound. In the end I've decided to return them for 2 main reasons:
1. The amount of pressure they exert on my ears is too great to be able to listen for much more than an hour. I have a large-ish head and wear glasses. The combination results in severe pain after a short amount of time.
2. Even after about 60 hours of burn-in (or acclimation if you don't subscribe to the burn-in theory) the sound has still not met up with my expectations. Tonight I got a few moments to compare them side-by-side with my son's ATH ESW9. The difference was immediately obvious. A couple specific examples:

1. With Gypsy by Bella Sonus, the crispness of the castanets and the plucking of the guitar at the beginning are just missing on the P5's. The entire mid-range and up seems to be hiding behind a veil. It's there, just too muffled.
2. Listening to Dream Theater's Best of Times, about 2.5 minutes in where the electric guitar riff comes in, the notes seem to blur together, where on the ESW9's or my IEM's (Livewires and SF5Pro's), they are clearly and precisely defined, as you would expect from Mr Petrucci. Following the riff, as the rest of the spectrum fills in, my other phones build to a nice full sound. The P5's, while certainly providing plenty of bass impact, otherwise feel like a huge chunk of sound is missing.

I was hoping to be able to use these as an alternative / change of pace from my IEM's. Now I suppose I'll just go back to more researching. Maybe I'll wait until someone decides to put their ESW10's up for sale, or perhaps look into the Beyer T50p when it comes out.

 

[Drag0n]

Im so glad Skylab agrees with me on these phones so im not the only one.
Everyone was ready to throw eggs at me!

 

[fella]

I like how they sound on europe 72.... your avi made me think of checking that out

 

[2rooi123]

now guys, next stop, time to look out for the t50p

 

[mark2410]

damn, so everyone hates these then.

 

[Damnegy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark2410 /img/forum/go_quote.gif damn, so everyone hates these then.

Not really, they are a more than fair set of headphones IMO, but they could be better (maybe the next ones

) Anyway, I need to raise funds... So I'll give the others a shot, hoping I'll have enough by then!

 

[mark2410]

well when i say hate i mean that comparatively for the cash they just dont stand up to the competition. they do seem to be getting a near universal panning here

 

[Skylab]

They have some very avid fans, too. I think when you have a pretty colored headphone, you tend to get a more polarizing set of opinions. The closer you are to neutral, the less dissension there is.

There is a pretty good consensus building about what the P5's sound like. The only question is whether that sound will appeal to you. For some, it may. For me, it doesn't at all.

 

[Timbre]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drag0n /img/forum/go_quote.gif Im so glad Skylab agrees with me on these phones so im not the only one. Everyone was ready to throw eggs at me!

If you look at Skylab's pictures which show them more clearly, you have
to admit that the construction alone make them more costly than $75-100
dollars, being all metal and sheepskin leather. My Sen PX100's are all
plastic and still cost $75.00. I think the P5's are pretty classy looking
phones actually and at least LOOK up to the B&W standards.

Thanks for the great review as usual Skylab! Hopefully their next one will
match the higher bracket category.

 

[Drag0n]

I didnt absolutely hate them.
I had an expectation that was built up to a certain level and wasnt met, and i didnt think they sounded like $300, or even $150 to me.
But because of the build (less the cable) maybe theyre worth $100.

They dont sound annoying or anything....but they leave me wanting for more, because im not hearing that usual B&W detail or anything. They dont sound any better than the portable Sennheisers they sell there for alot cheaper, i think its a Senn 285 or something.
I still want to give them another listen, but i think others are confirming what i heard, even in noisy store conditions off an iphone or itouch, whichever it was.