hifi quality headphones
Discussion
Here we go....
I have B&W P7X. The sound cancelling is ok-ish. Not up to Bose, but I bought these because I didn't like the sound of the Bose without N/C and N/C is fundamentally playing noise alongside the music, which is always off unless I have to have it on in the office. Supports APT-x. Also has a 3.5m jack in case you have Tidal, but then I can't hear any difference between BT and wired with standard Spotify compression and I have it set to very high quality which equates to 320kbps I think
Not Beats. Under any circumstances.
I have B&W P7X. The sound cancelling is ok-ish. Not up to Bose, but I bought these because I didn't like the sound of the Bose without N/C and N/C is fundamentally playing noise alongside the music, which is always off unless I have to have it on in the office. Supports APT-x. Also has a 3.5m jack in case you have Tidal, but then I can't hear any difference between BT and wired with standard Spotify compression and I have it set to very high quality which equates to 320kbps I think
Not Beats. Under any circumstances.
Edited by TimmyMallett on Friday 3rd July 10:52
Edited by TimmyMallett on Friday 3rd July 10:53
Edited by TimmyMallett on Friday 3rd July 10:56
I have Sennheiser PXC550s. They sound pretty good, noise cancelling is good. But the Auto power off feature can do my head in. These can also be converted to Wired if you want to use an Headphone amp/DAC. I belive there is a Mk2 now.
If I was buying this sort of thing again I'd probably go Sony XM1000Mk3, These are also noise cancelling.
It sort of depends what you want them for, for on the go. A closed headphone is the way to go (If you don't want in ears).
For home listening open backed headphones are often preferred (YMMV). I think Grado have the GW100.
Please note, for ultimate sound quality Bluetooth is a bit limited. But to be honest it's generally good enough for most listening.
If I was buying this sort of thing again I'd probably go Sony XM1000Mk3, These are also noise cancelling.
It sort of depends what you want them for, for on the go. A closed headphone is the way to go (If you don't want in ears).
For home listening open backed headphones are often preferred (YMMV). I think Grado have the GW100.
Please note, for ultimate sound quality Bluetooth is a bit limited. But to be honest it's generally good enough for most listening.
Besides the B&Ws, I'd be happy with any of these (all around £300):
Seem to be similar recommendations on hi-fi mags/websites.
I've got the Bose 700s, as I was offered them by Bose as an upgrade from a faulty set of QC35s - pity they don't fold like the QC35s though.
Seem to be similar recommendations on hi-fi mags/websites.
I've got the Bose 700s, as I was offered them by Bose as an upgrade from a faulty set of QC35s - pity they don't fold like the QC35s though.
I have bose qc35 mk2's, using over Bluetooth. The noise cancelling and sound quality is sublime to my non-audiophile lugs, brilliant volume, bass, detail etc. The only downside is sometimes stutters over Bluetooth. Not sure if this is the phone or headphones, but when its having a 'moment' can do my head in.
I have the Bose NC 700's, they are not Hifi quality. 
The noise cancellation seems to have only been tuned for constant noise (air travel, car) etc. I'm not familiar with the technology and how it works, but for background noise like construction, or high pitched voice (kids) they are not the be all and end all I was led to believe.
The sound quality through an iphone X is also akin to 128kbps MP3 of old, but I believe that to be the fault of the phone. Since a recent firmware update, there is now at least an EQ setting for the Bose headphone app on IOS.
The noise cancellation seems to have only been tuned for constant noise (air travel, car) etc. I'm not familiar with the technology and how it works, but for background noise like construction, or high pitched voice (kids) they are not the be all and end all I was led to believe.
The sound quality through an iphone X is also akin to 128kbps MP3 of old, but I believe that to be the fault of the phone. Since a recent firmware update, there is now at least an EQ setting for the Bose headphone app on IOS.
adamlstr said:
I have the Bose NC 700's, they are not Hifi quality.
The noise cancellation seems to have only been tuned for constant noise (air travel, car) etc. I'm not familiar with the technology and how it works, but for background noise like construction, or high pitched voice (kids) they are not the be all and end all I was led to believe.
The sound quality through an iphone X is also akin to 128kbps MP3 of old, but I believe that to be the fault of the phone. Since a recent firmware update, there is now at least an EQ setting for the Bose headphone app on IOS.
iPhones only have support for AAC at up to 250kbps over Bluetooth.The noise cancellation seems to have only been tuned for constant noise (air travel, car) etc. I'm not familiar with the technology and how it works, but for background noise like construction, or high pitched voice (kids) they are not the be all and end all I was led to believe.
The sound quality through an iphone X is also akin to 128kbps MP3 of old, but I believe that to be the fault of the phone. Since a recent firmware update, there is now at least an EQ setting for the Bose headphone app on IOS.
It’s likely that whatever you are playing is being decoded and re-encoded adding to the loss.
That’s why any Bluetooth headphone played from an iPhone is limited in sound quality terms.
I use H9i and Sony with an iPhone and it’s great for travelling or casual listening but it’s not hifi quality and never will be.
A phone and headphones supporting higher bitrate AptX or Sony’s LDAC will sound a lot better.
Otherwise for optimal sound quality you need wired but that comes with a lot more faff.
Horace Van Khute said:
Do you want hifi or do you want Bluetooth?
This was my first thought. I don't think even expensive BT will come close to a mediocre pair of wired. You can get some that have both wired and wireless I have a pair of RHA in ear ones that you can use either way and you can tell the difference. Likewise the Sennheiser Momentum wireless don't match the wired version.indigochim said:
This was my first thought. I don't think even expensive BT will come close to a mediocre pair of wired. You can get some that have both wired and wireless I have a pair of RHA in ear ones that you can use either way and you can tell the difference. Likewise the Sennheiser Momentum wireless don't match the wired version.
The best compromise for those that want hifi headphones and BT is set of hifi headphones and a hifi BT receiver - something like e.g. EarStudio ES100 which also has an USB DAC. It's a perfect device for when you need to be mobile and for when you sit at your desk plugged into your computer (and I'm not saying this because I own one 
)Some of the suggestions for "HiFi" are funny!
anyway:
https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/ananda-bt.html
anyway:
https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/ananda-bt.html
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