Hi, I’m in the market for Bluetooth headphones. My usage is around 50% for streaming movies/tv on my MacBook Pro; 25% for music on MBP or iPhone; 25% YouTube on MBP or iPhone. Currently, I’m using Audio Technica ATH-A700. I do enjoy sound stage on Audio Technica for movies/tv; it’s wide and immersive, though it is not necessarily directional. I don’t like the thin vocals in music & voices in movies on Audio Technica.
Features I care about are:
- Sound stage: Wide sound stage for movies
- SQ: Reasonably flat response, but I don’t like thin vocals or voices
- Latency: Low latency for movies
- Battery life
- Similar sound wired without power vs powered
Features I don’t care about:
- Portability. I have Shure E4C IEM that I use on airplane.
- ANC: nice to have, but I never use ANC on my AirPods Pro. This headphone is for home use, so I don't care much for ANC performance.
I’m looking at the following 3 headphones: Shure AONIC 50, Sennheiser Momentum3, Bowers & WIlkins PX7. Just thinking thru features I care about. If anyone can provide more info, I really appreciate it. I have read all 19 pages of comments for M3 + 98 pages for PX7, which took me several hours over 3 days.
AONIC 50:
- Sound stage: I read Alexi’s review that M3 has better sound stage. Is A50 that much worse? Or M3 is slightly better? Can someone describe the sound stage, as best as you can.
- SQ: Seems to be most neutral among these 3. When folks mention studio or reference monitor (to describe AONIC 50), what does this mean for vocals? Does vocals sound thin?
- Latency: Any feedback on latency on MacBook Pro or iOS? LIke for watching movies and YouTube.
- Battery life: A bit below average vs competitors. Is 20 hrs with ANC on? Just curious if anyone checked how long battery last without ANC? Shure does not provide this spec.
- Wired without power: Already read feedback that wired no power is just as good was with power. This is a plus.
Sennheiser Momentum 3:
- Sound stage: roughly on-par with PX7. Some like PX7, while others like M3.
- SQ: Some say this has most enjoyable SQ among the 3. But bass a bit boomy. On JimsReviewRoom on YouTube, seems good with that limited 20 seconds of audio.
- Latency: rtings measured iOS latency as 389 msec. Not sure how accurate this is. If correct, this is pretty bad.
- Battery life: Big concern. Smaller battery, frequent charge cycles, shorter overall life. I prefer not to have a dead can after 1-2 years of use.
- Wired without power: Not as good vs powered. This is worse when combined with possible short life span (#4).
Bowers & WIlkins PX7:
- Sound stage: roughly on-par with M3.
- SQ: reviews vary a lot. I heard sound samples on JimsReviewRoom on YouTube. The vocals sound similar to Sony 1000XM3, which is a bit thin.
- Latency: rtings measured iOS latency as 100 msec. If accurate, this is very good.
- Battery life: excellent
- Wired without power: not applicable
- Many reports regarding clicking sound defect or flaw. Very concerning for $400 unit.
Thanks