[ekjellgren]

Is the PX7 S2E regarded an upgrade to the PX7 S2?

 

[Arctican]

This is a great write-up, thank you. Because of your comprehensive review and list, I bought the Focal Bathys as I put importance on "audiophile"-grade sound quality, as you have ranked the Bathys the 3rd best sounding ANC headphones in your extensive list.

My other consideration was B&O's H95, your favorite. I compared the Bathys and H95 extensively (H95 is a loan from my friend's audiophile shop here in Vietnam), and I find the H95 a little bit veiled vs the Bathys at the same volume level, with a tinge of bass bloat. Don't get me wrong, I also enjoyed listening to the H95 and its sound quality is superb as well, but its laid-back presentation is not my cup of tea. Also, I should point out that the H95 build quality and the metal carrying box feels more premium than Bathys's almost plasticky build + its fabric-covered case.

 

[Dalmonegrig]

Dear music lovers and audiophiles!

We are witnessing a stable and at the same time interesting trend in the world of personal audio. Relatively recently, manufacturers have released several models of Bluetooth headphones that can easily compete in sound quality with middle-end wired headphones. Here it is necessary to make a clarification: this statement does not apply to high-end wired headphones and systems.
I came to the conclusion that as wireless technologies advance, wired headphones will find it more and more difficult in the near future to compete with Bluetooth headphones.
Ladies and Gentlemen we crossed the Rubicon, with the ensuing consequences for the personal audio industry as a whole..

I will explain my conclusions below.

Bang & Olufsen

The first bell for me was the headphones Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95 (required EQ set up) and Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EX headphones, that sounded good.

T+A Solitaire T

At one exhibition, I had an introductory audition of the T+A Solitaire T Bluetooth headphones. These Bluetooth headphones were connected via a wired connection to the T+A HA 200 amplifier. The headphones reproduced music decently, but their sound character did not grab my attention. Perhaps this also happened because before that I had listened to Solitaire P and Solitaire P-SE. At that point in time, it was the last wired headphones on the list that were my main goal of familiarization.


Before the Christmas holidays, I had the opportunity to get acquainted with the sound of several Bluetooth headphones: Dali iO-12, Mark Levinson 5909, Focal Bathys. They were listened to via a Bluetooth connection.
This time I didn’t listen to Solitaire T (although I had the opportunity), they are simply not in my budget. Solitaire T is 300 euros more expensive than Dali iO-12 and Mark Levinson 5909. These 300 euros could be spend on AirPods Pro 2 or Sony WF-1000XM5 or Beoplay EX.

Focal Bathys

I would like to stress out right away that I did not like their sound quality. Unfortunately, the Focal Bathys had poor tonal balance and timbral fidelity. I don’t know the reason why they had such a bad sound and I didn’t have the opportunity or time to sort it out. Maybe they were simply defective. This was my personal negative experience.

Dali iO-12 and Mark Levinson 5909

To be honest, before listening to the Dali iO-12 and Mark Levinson 5909, I was skeptical and did not expect anything extraordinary or any significant breakthrough from these headphones. But here I was wrong and a pleasant surprise really awaited me. To my surprise, after listening, I had favorites in the Bluetooth headphone category: Dali iO-12 and Mark Levinson 5909!
What did I hear in these Bluetooth headphones?
First of all, what is my highest priority when choosing headphones is sound quality. Indeed, the ability of the Dali iO-12 and Mark Levinson 5909 to reproduce high-quality sound amazed me. I think by this criteria the Dali iO-12 and Mark Levinson 5909 are in the same league, but just with a different nature of music presentation.
What is unique about these Bluetooth headphones (their distinctive feature)?
And here is the most interesting thing. I'm not afraid of this statement, but I think that the Dali iO-12 and Mark Levinson 5909 can already be classified as audiophile headphones.
Why specifically to the category of audiophile headphones?
I ask for your attention! The answer is simple, these Bluetooth headphones can already be used for critical listening with Bluetooth and USB connections, which is something I have never encountered before in this category of headphones.


Unfortunately, other Bluetooth headphones, before the release of the Dali iO-12 and Mark Levinson 5909 (possibly also the T+A Solitaire T), were not able to compete on equal terms with middle class wired headphones. And even now, many of the leading brands that manufacture Bluetooth headphones were unable (or did not want) to create something truly competitive with high class wired headphones.
Based on the above, I dare to predict that in the near future a new round of competition is expected among Bluetooth headphone manufacturers for high-quality sound.
The challenge has already been issued!

I ended up buying one pair of Bluetooth headphones. Well, sorry, I couldn’t deny myself the pleasure, and I also really wanted to support the efforts of the manufacturer of these Bluetooth headphones.
And yes, these were wonderful Dali iO-12 audiophile Bluetooth headphones!

If anyone is interested => here you can see my short notes about the Dali iO-12 (test drive).

 

[angelom]

We crossed the Rubicon, gentlemen, with the ensuing consequences for the personal audio industry as a whole.

PLEASE don't underestimating women (I'm a man, by the way). Even when statistically more men are focusing in headphones, and paying more attention to good sound quality, you also having a (decent?) proportion of female listeners that valuing good headphones AND good sound.

About the rest of your post, you know already that the Solitaire T and the iO-12, in my opinion, are the best BT/ANC headphones in the market today when speaking strictly about sound quality. The ML 5909, for me, is have a very decent third place, but a VERY clear their place. These 3 headphones are, for me, true audiophile headphones. The Bathys, by the way, using some EQ, are also in this territory, and occupying a fourth place.

 

[Dalmonegrig]

PLEASE don't underestimating women (I'm a man, by the way). Even when statistically more men are focusing in headphones, and paying more attention to good sound quality, you also having a (decent?) proportion of female listeners that valuing good headphones AND good sound.

Of course, no gender preferences.
This is an error of inattention than any gender bias.
I enjoyed reading this review.

 

[bronco1015]

Got the M4u 9 on the way, arriving tomorrow.
Cant wait to hear what psb has done since the M4u 8 from 2018.

 

[subwoof3r]

Got the M4u 9 on the way, arriving tomorrow.
Cant wait to hear what psb has done since the M4u 8 from 2018.

Hello, any quick impression to share ? looks interesting

 

[Ruiqi]

I'm curous to see how the Focal Bathys compares to the Audeze Maxwells, I used the maxwells for a month when I had been daily driving the ZMF Atticus at the time and it surprised me how much good they sounded for the price.

 

[Bahnhof Zoo]

Got the M4u 9 on the way, arriving tomorrow.
Cant wait to hear what psb has done since the M4u 8 from 2018.

How do you like them?

 

[frostyforst]

Hi I'm wondering if there is anything out there that is a meaningful upgrade from airpods max? I got into this hobby new, and am using a focal clear mg and now my ears are just completely spoiled. I want a much improved wireless headphone in terms of sound quality (dont care for features).

 

[polymathic]

Hi I'm wondering if there is anything out there that is a meaningful upgrade from airpods max? I got into this hobby new, and am using a focal clear mg and now my ears are just completely spoiled. I want a much improved wireless headphone in terms of sound quality (dont care for features).

Yes: ML 5909, Dali IO-12, T+A Solitaire T are huge improvements over APM. IO-12 made me sell my Clear OG, that's how good they are. The Bathys are pretty good too.

 

[frostyforst]

Yes: ML 5909, Dali IO-12, T+A Solitaire T are huge improvements over APM. IO-12 made me sell my Clear OG, that's how good they are. The Bathys are pretty good too.

Wow this gives me hope thanks on to the research!

Can you give a sense of sound quality measure between those 3 you just listed?

 

[Dalmonegrig]

Can you give a sense of sound quality?

Dali IO-12

 

[Bahnhof Zoo]

Over the AirPods Max? There are a ton of options. Of those that I tried or have…like the others said, Dali are incredible but cost a fortune. Sennheiser momentum 4 are crazy good for the price and crush the APM on sound and battery (not ANC though). I’d probably even opt for the Sony xm5 or even the Cleer audio alpha. PSB m4u 9 are next on my list…similar approach to sound as the Dali (both are known for their speakers) but with replaceable batteries

 

[deviltrombone]

Sennheiser momentum 4 are crazy good for the price and crush the APM on sound and battery (not ANC though). I’d probably even opt for the Sony xm5

The XM5 are perhaps the most flawed headphone I've ever used. Positioning the things to get a good seal for ANC is a physics project, they squeaked against my glasses stems with the most minute head/jaw movements, and in wired, powered-on mode, they faintly played some radio station in the background. On reddit, others have reported the same thing, many reporting they experienced it in wireless mode. I've never experienced this with any other headphone, wired or wireless. I had the XM4 before them, and they died after 15 months due to the very common Sony Screech of Death, where they emit a deafening screech when ANC is turned on. The one thing Sony did improve from XM4 to XM5 was to reduce the bloated bass a little, so the XM5 are slightly more listenable without EQ.

I remember the Momentum 4 as having lousy ANC and just feeling cheap. The sound was weirdly toward the back of my head but was otherwise OK, better than the XM5, but I probably didn't evaluate them more than an hour.

After my XM4 died, I bought the APM after buying and returning both the XM5 and Momentum 4, and it was a huge hurdle for me to even consider trying the APM. The APM ANC is great, the sound is great and even better with oratory1990 PEQ, much better than the Sony with PEQ. The digital crown is the best control mechanism I've ever used. The only place they come up short is battery life and Apple's decision to make them basically always on. When unplugged from the charger, they sometimes don't wake up and require me to plug them back in and out again. I really wish they had a normal power switch. I caught a good sale on Amazon in Sep '22 IIRC and paid $429, which took some of the sting out of having to buy the $35 Lightning-to-aux cable, which I really had to buy, because my main use is wired mode using miniDSP 2x4 HD (DAC+PEQ) and Schiit Heretic amp. When I do use them in Bluetooth mode, they work as well as the other two WRT range and overall behavior; I can walk anywhere in my apartment, use the microwave, etc. My PC is my usual source in wireless, and there I use Equalizer APO to get the same PEQ as with wired.

I've never regretted purchasing the APM over the XM5 and Momentum 4, and that's not some Apple fanboi talking, either. It's also not the usual disclaimer, "They're great as long as you're in the Apple ecosystem." As I just explained, I almost never use them with my iPhone; about the only time is to update firmware. I use them maybe 90% in wired mode and 10% with my PC in Bluetooth. To be clear, I don't think the APM are merely better than the other two. I think they're a genuinely good product.