[MayaTlab]

Quote:

Interesting, since I've found every Beyer quite bad in this regard. Even the T1. 
 
It's true what you say, in this regard the HD25 is not that much better, but many things are still much better discernible. I could listen to many genres with the P5, but I was missing so much. I think the engineer/designer was probably listening to simple pop, folk, or tonal music in general when developing them.
 
The KNS8400 are truly fantastic, however. The DT1350 would have to be quite good to beat them. Sure on paper they look good, as do the P5 for that matter, but I don't really trust the numbers in the end.
Regarding the vocals comment, I purely meant that hearing differences in pitch in vocal presentation is much easier with many phones than it is with more complex material, like modal jazz. In other words, listening to the latter makes the difference in this factor much  more clear and truly separates the good headphones from the bad, tonal preferences aside (which is a much more subjective and debatable matter). 

So you think the KNS8400 are good ? Never heard of them before. I'll inquire a bit more into those - for now, they measure quite badly, but it's only on paper, and they may sound much better in practice.
 

 

[electropop]

They do have a tonality which may not be to the liking of many, but they do make some information on recordings more apparent and not just by boosting parts in the FR. I can't comment on square wave patterns: each seem to have their own view on them. The P5 seem to have a fast attack according to them, but do they really sound like that? The decay plots by Purrin seem to be much more logical and reflective to a headphone's actual performance. But I'm no expert...
 
However, great treble transients: even fast 32nds with hi-hats or cymbals have air around them and are easy to distinguish. 16ths on a P5 are a struggle Same goes for kick drum and an arsenal of toms which are all distinguishable even on poor recordings. Brass and synth are great as well. I don't think I'm completely lost/off with my observations: a reviewer on Sound on Sound commented that it was easy to hear whether an instrument is in tune with these. Also my girlfriend who plays the trumpet, thought these were great for tabbing notes. She's now using these for that task. She was quite shocked actually and disappointed at the same time that she had tabbed the notes to each player in her band project using HD25-1's (I think); everything was correct to a certain extent with the brass section minus the little vibratos and improvisational cues but the bass was really missing, heh. Though not faulting the bass-player. But it was just as If you'd done a midi'd 8 bit version of a complex jazz piece  
Recommended for a discerning musician. I don't have the skills to such an extent, but I do enjoy being able to listen to music "dyslexia free", as it is a good metaphor to say that you wouldn't like it either if you were to read a text and couldn't read every word, or at least would have to go back and read more carefully since you wasn't sure. 
 
As you said, there are many other issues I take into consideration, but pitch accuracy is a clear priority.

 

[MayaTlab]

Quote:

They do have a tonality which may not be to the liking of many, but they do make some information on recordings more apparent and not just by boosting parts in the FR. I can't comment on square wave patterns: each seem to have their own view on them. The P5 seem to have a fast attack according to them, but do they really sound like that? The decay plots by Purrin seem to be much more logical and reflective to a headphone's actual performance. But I'm no expert...
 
However, great treble transients: even fast 32nds with hi-hats or cymbals have air around them and are easy to distinguish. 16ths on a P5 are a struggle Same goes for kick drum and an arsenal of toms which are all distinguishable even on poor recordings. Brass and synth are great as well. I don't think I'm completely lost/off with my observations: a reviewer on Sound on Sound commented that it was easy to hear whether an instrument is in tune with these. Also my girlfriend who plays the trumpet, thought these were great for tabbing notes. She's now using these for that task. She was quite shocked actually and disappointed at the same time that she had tabbed the notes to each player in her band project using HD25-1's (I think); everything was correct to a certain extent with the brass section minus the little vibratos and improvisational cues but the bass was really missing, heh. Though not faulting the bass-player. But it was just as If you'd done a midi'd 8 bit version of a complex jazz piece  
Recommended for a discerning musician. I don't have the skills to such an extent, but I do enjoy being able to listen to music "dyslexia free", as it is a good metaphor to say that you wouldn't like it either if you were to read a text and couldn't read every word, or at least would have to go back and read more carefully since you wasn't sure. 
 
As you said, there are many other issues I take into consideration, but pitch accuracy is a clear priority.

From what I understand, the P5 measurements indicate exactly the opposite : the rounded attack on the 30hz square wave, the ascending 300hz one, and the "plateau" on top of the impulse response spike. As you, I'm not an engineer though.
 

 

[wilzc]

The problem with the P5 is that the marked improvement with use is so tremendous, most people give up on them before they fully 'arrive'
 
But yes, even as the treble presence and extension improved over time, the bass extension still rolls off too soon. The midbass hump does make bass tones slightly harder to discern from one another but the P5 were not meant to dissect music, but to replay them for enjoyment. Their bass 'weaknesses' were made more obvious with my constant using of the Vsonic Gr07 and Edition 8's recently. These two have insane bass extension, texture and detail. But for those not nit-picking, the P5's are an extremely good sounding piece of portable audio. I've pretty much sold everything I own to fund for the Edition 8's and the GR07..  but I'm highly considering just holding onto the P5 jsut because.
 

 

[MayaTlab]

I don't think the P5 has weak bass extension at all. In fact I think it goes lower than most other headphones. It's not well defined, but it's there, contrary to a Z1000 for example. See Innerfidelity's measurements for example.
 
Also, what do you suggest is at play here to make them substantially better with time ? I'm quite doubtful that burn in does massive changes (even though I still think it does make very small ones).

 

[electropop]

For someone, as I said, it's difficult to enjoy music if it's not heard. Same as it is hard to enjoy reading if you have severe dyslexia. Music, as a language, is notes (instead of words) after all. I don't think I'm nit-picking, but you're right that they might "sound" nice. Music > sound, for me however... Also, considering the price, I think there are many "better sounding" cans out there as well.

 

[power]

ah !  another B&W fan!  You should try there speakers if you haven' t already, and if you haven't you may discover why the p5's sound like they do.

 

[HK47]

Quote:

The problem with the P5 is that the marked improvement with use is so tremendous, most people give up on them before they fully 'arrive'
 
But yes, even as the treble presence and extension improved over time, the bass extension still rolls off too soon. The midbass hump does make bass tones slightly harder to discern from one another but the P5 were not meant to dissect music, but to replay them for enjoyment. Their bass 'weaknesses' were made more obvious with my constant using of the Vsonic Gr07 and Edition 8's recently. These two have insane bass extension, texture and detail. But for those not nit-picking, the P5's are an extremely good sounding piece of portable audio. I've pretty much sold everything I own to fund for the Edition 8's and the GR07..  but I'm highly considering just holding onto the P5 jsut because.
 

Don't make me want to get them again, just don't..

 

[JohnFrank]

I bought B&W P5... and I'm very happy. Great sound, great design....

 

[Dubstep Girl]

i dont like the p5 because they are too dark and colored for my taste.  however, they do look really cool.
 
u could also take a look at the v moda m80s since they look cool and every1s giving them great reviews. kinda want a pair myself lol

 

[dirkgently]

I demo'd the P5 and I really liked the sound -- very smooth and enjoyable.  But I felt like my head was in a vice.  Ear pain set in in less than 5 minutes.

 

[wilzc]

Quote:

I demo'd the P5 and I really liked the sound -- very smooth and enjoyable.  But I felt like my head was in a vice.  Ear pain set in in less than 5 minutes.

Pain goes away after 1-2 years of use

 

[DarkSleip]

Quote:

ah !  another B&W fan!  You should try their speakers if you haven' t already, and if you haven't you may discover why the p5's sound like they do.

 
I am a B&W fan and I own a pair of 700 series (paired with a mcintosh amp, simply beautiful) 
 
For all others I have to say that the P5 are a shrunk version of everything B&W does, I think my feedback will be useful because I have listened to several P5's.
The first time I was searching for a pair of headphones to move tier up from my XB700,I know it sounds as a harsh buy, but that is because I mainly listened to the speakers, but then something changed...
Because as I wasn't being able to be in my house for an appropriate amount of time to listen to music peacefully I decided I needed something better, I saw various headphones on the forum, but discarded them because there's no place I could hear them, and I couldn't use the option to return them via shipping
because i live in Mexico (and the best thing you can find in the particular zone I live could presumably be Monster Beats); so on a trip to US I looked at all the headphones in the range I was hoping for, tested the senn's, the grados (not the SR325), and several more which are not as important or good for different tastes. Since they didn't had the P5 on display I bought them at Best Buy and would be returning them tomorrow if I didn't like them. Back in the hotel I tried them, my first impression being they were not at par with the senn's, and I decided to return them next day.
After doing some stuff I decided to go to sleep, being still quite awake I decided that some music would relax me, when listening to music I felt emotionally connected to my music, as it happened with my speakers so I changed my mind and decided I would do a comparison between them tomorrow instead of just returning them.
And so I went the next day to do the comparison and make myself clear, but the senn were no longer on display and there were no hd25's left in stock, so needing to leave I kept my P5 thinking that they were not as good as the hd25 in SQ, but they would do. 
After Christmas a friend happened to buy the hd 25 and I asked him if I could do the comparison with them, I listened and they sounded exactly as I remembered them, then changed to the P5 and listened, this time I felt that they now were compared to the senn the other way around, fearing this might've been suggestion or adjustment to the sound I asked my friend if he could give me his verdict, he said that 
he was happy with his senn, but he also said that hearing mine he felt something was missing in his, objectively they both had the same SQ, different signatures.
We also discussed some other things about them but I think this reply is long enough.
Also i'd like to add that reading thoroughly this forum I have the suspicion that burn in produces drastically effects in sound when applied to tiny headphones (not earbuds or IEM's), like the M-80 or the topic of discussion P5, maybe their "small" size requires manufacturers to use a different building technique in such a fashion that when the frame and driver come in they are expected to fall in place, and it only does so properly by vibrating and slipping into place.

 

[roma101]

And here I am, back to being interested in a P5. It's more because I'm after a portable headphone with good tonality/timbre while also having some good isolation. Lately I've been really interested in these and the Z1000s. If anyone can compare them for me in regards to tonality (or even just comment on one or the other in general) it would be much appreciated.

 

[DarkSleip]

I haven't heard those, but they are studio headphones, they are probably very neutral and clear. The problem is that this kind of studio neutrality is what many find rather "tasteless". On the other end (P5) you have colored headphones with a timbre I would describe as relaxed. On many sources/amps they might sound muddy and congested, for example on my iPhone 3G the midrange feels down around 4khz, which makes it sound like there was a thick fog in the air. I don't know the reason of this, but they sound as they should on my mac. They weigh appropriately for my tastes and are comfortable, but it's easy to put them on the wrong way. The right way is to fit the headband a third the depth of your head from the front backwards (direction). I enjoy them and don't regret the purchase. The sony's seem to cost an additional 200$ MRSP, price range in with many enjoy open-backs like HD600 and grado's