The world's MOST EXPENSIVE Bluetooth headphones (and why I WON'T be reviewing them)
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- Опубликовано: 16 окт 2024
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Audio-Technica ATH-WB2022
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Focal Bathys
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Bowers & Wilkins PX8
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Mark Levinson No.5909
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Mark Levinson No.5909 podcast review
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#bluetooth #headphones #hifi
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ANC is not necessary with those headphones, the back of my Rolls is very quiet 😂
So, no females a-screeching?
Full size, bluetooth headphones indoors ... I use my BeoPlay H95 exclusively inside my home. I love how I can just get up and move around without worrying about a wire. On the move I'd never bring such a bulky set off headphones! I've got IEMs for that.
I enjoy the freedom of wireless in the home more so than out and about. When at home your source is fixed, so a wire limits your freedom. When out and about, you’re carrying the source in your pocket/bag, so it moves about with you, making a wire connection less restricting.
When I got the Focal Bathys I started using it when doing things around the apartment. I discovered that being able to do things like cleaning records - which would be much harder to do with a wire around, even one just going to my pocket - was a very plesent surprise! I would never buy the ATs for the same reasons you stated - I think bluetooth and noise cancelling are a must for this type of device. But I will give it a nod and I think there is a not so small set of people who might consider this headphone.
Hi John. I’ve been loving your recent reviews of over-the-ear noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones, but I think there is one use case you’re neglecting to consider for this category of headphones - the post-pandemic office worker.
Many companies have downsized their office spaces leaving workers (like me) without a dedicated desk/office. That means sitting at a random first come, first serve desk with random co-workers sitting around me having in-person conversations or talking on Zoom calls throughout day. For this, headphones are a must. But it also means there’s no place to securely store personal belongings, like headphones. This category of headphones fold flat so they fit easily into my laptop bag or backpack. I don’t want a separate case to lug around just to bring my headphones back and forth to work. This is what I have to do today if I want to listen to my nice wired headphones at work. I would also pack up my headphone DAC and cables and bring them as well because why use high-end headphones if you’re just going to plug them into the 1/8” jack on your laptop? Many of the Bluetooth headphones you reviewed offer hi-res lossless audio with a simple cable - no need to lug around an external DAC. I currently use my Bluetooth IEMs at work and they’re fine. But the ones you reviewed are over-the-ear, so unlike my IEMs I don’t have to fiddle with them to get a good seal in my ears again after I take them out to go to the restroom, grab a cup of water, or answer a quick question from a co-worker who walked up to my desk. And having the music stop when I take them off to do one of those things and automatically start again when I put them on is a super nice feature in office scenario.
So, would I use high-end over-the-ear Bluetooth headphones while walking to a cafe to get a coffee? No. Would I use them while working or relaxing at home? Hmm… maybe. Would I use them while at work, where I need to block out my co-workers’ conversations to get work done? Absolutely. For that scenario I think these headphones may be the perfect tool for audiophiles.
Thought provoking video as always. I actually enjoy using my BT headphones at home. My wife works at home so it means I am able to listen to whatever I want without disturbing her. I have Bowers and Wilkins P7 gen 1 and numerous Beats,soundcore, earfun buds which I alternate all the time.Looking forward to hear your perspective on the new PX8. Thanks for videos and stay well
Thank you for taking time to explain Bluetooth CODECs and their relative importance. Most other headphone reviewers either ignore or gloss over this information.
When I'm at home I use my Focal Bathys while doing chores, garage work, and even while pooping. I also dance like a lunatic when the music becomes particularly enjoyable. All of these would be tricky if tethered to a desk.
I'd say there certainly is a niche for these Audio Technicas. Personally I'd love to audition them, although I'm pretty happy with my Focals.
The Audio-Technica ATH-W2022 are for people who can't sit still. You can wear these while working in the garden, raking the leaves, washing and waxing the car, walking the dog, ... The possibilities are endless.
But the problem I see with them is that Sony will now be able to hike up the price of their Bluetooth headphones and still appear affordable by comparison. This is exactly what happened when Starbucks set up shop and decided to charge a small fortune for their grande cup of coffee. Next thing you know, all the old fashioned coffee and donut shops jacked up their prices for a cup of Joe.
Very good explanation. I’ll give you one better. I’ve always liked open backed headphones. They have an incredible soundstage and I actually do like to hear what’s around me. Yes, these are terrible for airplanes or drowning out office noise. However, a company called Grado makes an open backed Bluetooth headphone. Plus they also make high end open backed headphones with wood. If Grado made a new open backed headphone that was high end, with word, with a dac, and also could be driven with a balanced cable, I’d buy in a second, even if it was $2500. I btw have a Focal Bathys on order, but my main wired headphone is Grado 325 that have been amended with Black Dragon balanced cables. They are unbelievable. I would really like Grado or a company like the, to go the high end open backed Bluetooth that can ALSO be run wired, with a balanced connection. A girl can dream;)
Come on John, let the product convince you by hearing it.
im kind of surpirse how easily you overlook the desire for bluetooth headphones in the house. having that luxury sound quality while walking around the house, or cleaning the room or working out is the purpose. or possible whilst eating. but i'm with u on having the wire. seems like ancient technology, but man is there so much benefit to not relying on everything needing a recharge, or lose connections with wireless
Love your work John. (it's Al-can-tara) 😆
Love your honesty John . keep up the good work . Always wait for your lovingly made videos ( hey Olaf ) .
Cheers.
Hi John! Your latest video got me trying my wife’s Sonys WH1000mx3 wired up. To my surprise those things have a actual soundstage, wow. They give the Sennheiser hd600 sweaty run for their money. And that, using $10 lightning/dac to 3.5 mm cable of Amazon running on iPhone. Not only showing how good the Sonys are, but how far we went that $10 cable can host a good sounding DAC .
Technology is a wonderful thing and we are living through a wonderful times.Thanks for helping and guiding us into enjoyment of all of that. Cheers!
I think wired at home will soon become niche.
Wireless is so convenient
I moved from a set-up based on a Mojo and a Sundara to a Hifiman Ananda BT.
This gives a lot of freedom in-house, e.g. just walking to the kitchen getting something to drink.
If needed and I want CD/Highres quality I just insert the usb cable into my ipad mini and the headphone and the quality is better than my old setup.
Also no extra long cable needed when I want to see a movie and play the soundtrack via my headphone; just enable the bt connection between my tv and the headphone.
Agreed. Audiophiles, who are used to putting up with cables and being tethered to their listening chair, always get this wrong.
I’d argue these cans are NOT made for audiophiles, and therefore much less niche than John supposes. This is made for ordinary non-audiophiles who grew up with the convenience of wireless headphones … and now have money to burn on personal luxury bling. There are a lot more big spenders out there, than audiophiles.
Yep - same here, not über niche IMHO. Sometimes I’m sitting and listening and I want max fidelity = corded. But lots of the time I’m cooking, ironing, vacuuming, whatever and I need to be up and about, not out and about. So bluetooth on, sacrifice sonic purity for mobility all in same set of headphones.
My comments on this are:
First, I do wear wireless headphones at home sometimes and I find them very useful when listening to music if the rest of the family are doing something else or the music isn’t exactly child-friendly.
Two, I wear my cheap cheap cheap Soundcore Q10 around the house when I’m gardening and they are great. No ANC.
Tree, these headphones look strangely old/vintage design wise.
Just a quick correction. The AirPods Max retailed for $550 in the US and 629 euros in the EU when they came out, but before that one was released, the B&O H95 came out with a retail price of 800 euros ($800 in the US), and it currently retails for 900 euros ($900 in the US).
Hi John. Your mobile audio reviews are great and even as someone with many headphones and amps (portable like the Chord Mojo and Woo Audio in the system at home) I learn something new from everything you review. Great work.
For the same money I have Focal Stellia and it is great both indoors and outdoors (yes, I do have a terracotta coat).
My first proper ANC was a Sennheiser Momentum II but went over to the first of the Sony line WH-1000XM1. Then I waited until the WH-1000XM4. When I started with the Senns, I did that because “everybody” was wearing Bose. I really don’t like doing what “everybody” else is doing. If you don’t have much choice in the matter, fine. But if you do have a choice, I will tread the path less trodden. You could argue that “everybody” is wearing Sony’s now. Not where I live in Stockholm, Sweden. There’s so much choice on the market now that it’s a real mixed bag. People are wearing all sorts of brands in all price categories, both ear buds and over ear headphones. By far the most common earbuds are AirPods and AirPod Pros. When it comes to over-ear, I think Bose still leads the pack but not even close to the same margins just a few years ago.
Thank you for the information provided about the lossy factor of Blue Tooth. With that said, I do own a set of B&W P7 Wireless that I LOVE. But the piece has broken, and B&W offers no replacement. Very Disappointing.
I then have a pair of B&W PX7, that I absolutely love. I also have a pair of M&W Earphones MWO8S.... I like them, they're cool, small, and convenient, Sound quality is great, but I would never again pay nearly $400 for Earphones.
NEXT... I have my eyes fixated at B&W PX8. So, can't wait for your review. I was also very excited about Mark Levinsons 5909; however, after Focal's Bathys review, I am no longer excited about Mark Levinsons.
Bottom line...Absolutely LOVE the channel and your attitude toward high-end audio :)
Cheers
I personally find these headphones very interesting, I like things that are unique, I have an Abyss PHI TC and a Fold 4.
for that kind of money they could easily put a WIFI 6e into it and be able to stream at ridiculous speeds, like the oculus quest II for example, speeds are crazy and would easily be capable of lossless, as long as you have a wifi 6 mesh router that is
just sayin
I was planning to make a smartarse comment about the 5909s selling for €1000 - whatever a dollar was equal to, but at time of writing (according to google) $1 = €1. Foiled. Cheers for another informative video John, you got me started down the raspberry pi audio route with your intro vids and I've not looked back. Massively levelled up my listening game (without spending a fortune) and I'm enjoying music so much more now.
Another thing Sony has going for them on their 1000x line, is DSEE HX processing.
Essentially it's gap-filling/gap-smoothing for lossy formats, and no, you can't just invent details out of nowhere, but it really does noticeably improve the sound, especially when streaming music.
It's a rather overlooked/looked-down-on feature, but it does make a genuine difference.
I like to use wireless headphones at home when my ears get tired of having IEMs in them and I get sick of having an IEM cable hanging down my torso and under my arm. I think the noise-cancelling isn't required provided these are for inside use only and have sufficient noise-isolation. I'd be interested in these for about 800 EUR, without the free replacements after a 3-year warranty. I'm a bit disappointed they didn't use a planar magnetic driver for thes though. That said, I might not like the sound signature, as my preference is for neutral with bass boost and the Audio Technica headphones I previously owned were very bright and anemic in the bass region, as I believe this is their house sound. I have the Shure Aonic 50 bluetooth headphones but their sound quality is really lacking, even after I EQ them to have bass, compared to my Thieaudio Monarch MKII IEMs. I'd love to upgrade to a better sound quality bluetooth headphone with LDAC.
Agree totally John. A-T have a long history of rolling out these niche products - I recall another pair of expensive woodies that were designed to match an expensive tube amp that was released for the Japanese market. Between these and the new turntable it would appear that A-T is ready to celebrate in 2023 !
I'm watching this video with one thought in mind.. Our fun friend - RUclips - 'Dankpods' has said many times, "If you look after them, headphones ('Head-pehonies') WILL last DECADES. He has a pair of Stax Lambdas - late 70's, as well as some newer stuff like Meze Impyreans, HD600s ('Her-Der-Six Hungeos') etc.. So, question is.. Are the batteries replaceable/how easy are they to replace the batteries? At $3,000 they SHOULD be relatively easy to do using a generic/standard type battery... 🤔🤔🤔
Hear, hear! (Pun intended.) I'm still getting good use from a pair of fifty-year-old Trio KH-71s. It irks me that Bluetooth headphones are literally landill-in-waiting, when they could easily be designed to run off user-replaceable batteries.
No. If you're looking for something like that, the Hifiman Deva Pro are great-sounding. They don't have ANC either (and are open-back), nor do they have replaceable batteries. The bluetooth module used, however, is detachable, replaceable, doubles as a hi-res DAC when connected via USBC and the headphones can also be connected via traditional dual 3.5mm cable (balanced or not). They don't seem to have been reviewed much by the top-notch You Tubers like John, though.
Recently picked up a set of Pioneer se-305 headphones from a local charity shop. They are in very good condition, and the listening experience is very interesting. These headphones came out before I was born, but a lot of the music I like also came out then too. They have very crushed bass, like its there, but zero mud. Highs are there, but also crushed. The mid to low mid is strong. They have a kind of opinionated sound stage, unlike modern perfect response from low to mid. Its a bit like a vintage lens, in that technically it is much less perfect than a modern one, but has 'character'.
Would love to see you do reviews of some high quality vintage headphones Darko!
I went with the focal bathys myself. Never heard of these before and the other option was mark levinson 5909 but i was told they sound detailed but uninspiring
For what it's worth, most streaming services cap 'CD Quality' or 'HD' music at 850kbps. It's relatively easy to lock LDAC at 990kbps in Android and also to permanently do this on a lot of DAPs. I would think of this as a head-to-pocket cable replacement rather than leaving your phone and wandering round the house, but the signal actually seems to carry almost as well as normal SBC. LDAC carries these streams to the headphone where they are unpacked on-device losslessly. When it comes to streams 24-48 and above (technically Hi-Res) then the process John describes often comes into play (although some of these come through with surprisingly low bit rates). LDAC can support up to 24-96, but lossily. This is why JAS accredited LDAC for both.
When it comes to ripped CDs in FLAC, then any that exceed 990 are indeed lossy, but I've found that different ripping software (as well as remixes, etc.) can yield lower (or higher) bit-rates. The higher-rate rips don't seem to follow any logic (ie complexity or silences, etc.), so 'lossy' in this case may well be a relative term anyway. Error-correction is taken care of at-rip and as far as I am aware, no further bandwidth is required for this upon streaming or playback. All of which is to say that anyone waiting for an eventual higher bit rate BT codec to blow them away may be disappointed when it doesn't sound any better than LDAC (or even AAC on iOS, which I rate as a very close second-best).
It doesn't matter to me as I can barely distinguish between most standard resolution streams and CD-quality, let alone Hi-Res (particularly on the types of headphones that are used for Bluetooth). I have a cheap £25 BT adaptor connected to a pair of HD560S that sounds really good and I suspect that it utilises SBC (they didn't even care enough to list it). As John has previously stated, after 256/330kbps the importance of bit-rate falls down the pecking order.
As for very expensive BT headphones, what are the chances you'll be testing the T+A Solitaire T? 🙂 I'd be extremely interested in your opinion on this!
The biggest problem will definitely be the tiny dac/amp in those cups. It will be so difficult to take advantage of any decent headphone driver over amp/dac. You’ll lose quality in that regard. You ideally want the most efficient driver you can make and dsp it to be acceptable. Focal might be onto something quality/price wise, fine efficient driver, dsp.
As long bluetooth and amp/dac’s are a bottleneck it’s a battle of trade-offs.
Seriously considering buying the Focal Bathys, with the DAC mode it would basically give me the best in both wired and wireless and rival my existing Clear which is doing my head in with all the cable issues.
Great logic applied. Very convincing and matching what I think about Bluetooth. BT is convenient when on the road but not for enjoying music at home. At least, that's waht I tell my wife when I take some time off my "at home duties" arguing that I have to sit down for listening (doing the dishes later :-D ).
Yeah, I agree with all of what John said. Though, I am a fan of wood on any audio product. And I also agree that wood on a headphone does alter the sound for the better having heard a lot of Grados in my time. I’m a fan. But I’d never spent more than £500 on a Bluetooth headphone for outdoor use. Though I’m definitely drawn to the PX8. The fact that these are not ANC are just ridiculous.
Completely agree with you here regarding ANC. I've been dabbling with BT headphones for 8 years now, between Master&Dynamic/Bose/Sony/BOwers-Wilkins. I've come to my general endgame for BT: my IEMS are for serious listening where I need really good sound isolation. Planes/Trains/public transit/walking I'll use airpods pro or pro max. My Abyss Diana TC for home pc listening.
I m with about wirering. But people like wireless at home. When cooking, when doing cleaning, etc
Hi John, never commented before but I'm a big fan of your work so first of all I'd like to thank you for all the great content you publish! 😊 Apologies if this is not related to the Audio-Technica headphone but I was wondering if you could elaborate a bit on the MDR Lab that you mentioned while talking about the first iteration of the Sony ANC bluetooth cans? is/was it a different company or a different team at Sony? The reason why that caught my attention is because i have a pair of the MDR-1000X myself and in my humble opinion all the following releases from Sony, while being better at most aspects, they're inferior in audio quality so when you mentioned that MDR Lab i was wondering if it was different people involved... Thanks a lot for your kind attention and keep up the amazing work!
When I clean my house, I wear a pair of BT-headphones with an iPhone, which has no noise cancellation. The iPhone stays on the table; I have an appartment. It's a ATH-DSR7BT. About a tenth of the price, but expensive enough. It is a use case I can think of for headphones without noise cancellation.
No vacuum cleaner then?
630 euro's speaking here. (translation: another European owner of the AirPods Max here, and yes, that's not a typo they sell for €630 over here (€629 to be precise), that includes Darko's country Germany and mine, Holland (The Netherlands).)
When you were about to share the price ...I was like please don't say 2xxxEURs... and you did not! :D
Making the Focal Bathys look reasonable, ha!
A collector’s item. They look beautiful though. Thanks for your thoughts!
Thank you but this is NOT a review. 🙂
EDIT: thanks for editing your comment to remove the 'R' word 😉
When it comes to headphones at this price point the first order of business should be an evaluation of the sound. My guess is that, in wired mode, they sound amazing, and AT just tacked on the Bluetooth functionality so that they can be used without the wire if desired.
Imagine when the special edition Kim Kardasian version comes out - 6k with even bigger ear pieces
Very informative and not too harsh on criticism, just honest questions on actual usability
Not trying to be negative but 3000 Euros on your head walking around the street seems to be a bit of a security risk doesn't it?!?!?
Same with a watch though, although I reckon more would be thieves would be more aware of a rolex than these
@@starofcctv94 as they say, Those in the know know!!
You can try 30000 Euros in China without any risk.
depends where you live.
A lot of people feel this way about even 300 dollar ANC devices; theives and their fences know exactly how much they worth and what they can sell them off for when they see it on your head
And then you leave them in the train.... :p
They should offer a KLEER version
Hi Darko! Are you gonna do a review on the AirPods Max? Heard you mentioning them quite a lot, stating they are some of the best anc headphones on the market. I’d be very interested. Keep up the great work!
Why are we not using Airplay2 over wifi for headphones which I believe has more bandwidth then Bluetooth?
Energy consumption with Airplay is to high. A headphones battery is much smaller then the battery of your phone.
Because Bluetooth is low power compared to wifi. Which is important for wireless headphones running on battery.
If it was using WiFi the battery wouldn't last as long.
Needs lots of power, big hardware..
Enjoys these vids but your supposed to be slowing down a bit. !
I get the confusion on the marked for the Audio Technica
Personally I love my ATH-A700, but I only use them at home or at the office and not outside. I use them with a USB/DAC/Amp.
Darko, I have a question, as you say "but even if it's operating at 99 it not capable of carrying a lossless CD quality digital audio signal"
That only happens when you pass through a CD quality of 44.1/16 at 1,411 kilobits per second
But you can pass through the same with compression lossless, like using FLAC instead of WAVE.
I see the point you're making, but that isn't how the LDAC protocol works. LDAC will always take a "full bandwidth" signal i.e. CD quality and then send the audio data to its client using the compression algorithm within the protocol. The point being that just because a FLAC is less than 990kbps it can't be carried as it is on an LDAC stream. The compression algorithm has to be a standalone entity within LDAC so that it can fall back and fall forward between the 3 defined bitrates depending on bluetooth signal strength and quality.
Please make a review of this headphone.,keep an opened mind and welcome new experiences
John. You don't need a digital input to implement noise cancelling, do you ? I have a pair of old PSB M4U2 cans which have decent noise cancellation and are hard wired from an analogue source. Or do they convert to digital with an ADC, do the noise cancelling magic in the digital domain, then convert back with a DAC ? You have me confused now.
Thanks for the vid. Look forward to hearing your take on the Momentum which seems to have garnered lots of praise elsewhere.
John, would You like to review the t+a Solitaire t? Currently I use the Apple Air Max. Before these I use Sennheiser and Beyer. None of them had the ability to hear it wired without any electronic inside the headphone. I think that’s the big difference!
Best regards, Wolfgang
Wireless at home is great for listening while doing chores around the house. The issue is really: how easily the slip off when I lean forward to reach into a low cupboard , looking into the sink as I wash dishes, fall into the pan of food or casserole dish as I cook etc.. Maybe I should not have bought on-ears with a smooth leather ear pad ! Disaster averted (more then once when holding a hot oven tray) by tilting head to one side as they slip , so they land hooked over my forearm or elbow joint.
Haha, my Bose QC35 does a great job with that, but I hear your pain :)
Well, if your headphone can't stand the heat, don't take it into the kitchen 🙂
This pricing seems like a good reflection of widening wealth inequality in the economy... Apparently there have been lots of changes in luxury brands since the pandemic. More super-expensive stuff for the super rich, less kinda-expensive stuff for the aspirational middle class. It's interesting to see mainstream brands reaching for the top like this.
The luxury economy is a weird upsidedown world... But you know it *is* hard getting cash out of millionaires, so best give them diamond mahogany headphones quickwise as we need that sweet VAT for the NHS etc.
Cheers John, when do you think CDLossless Bluetooth will be with us
You made so many good points. I have no idea why I would want that either.
It's for collectors...
Looking at qualcomm letting me think, that quite soon there will be step forward in case of loseless (truly) transmission. Having this in mind I think it is worth waiting like a year or two for new products...
Until then I am happy with IEMs with BT dac/amp I can use on desk or on the go.
Interesting video and am curious to hear these and what AT will offer. Similar to ath wp900 with a lively mids and upper end??
Maybe adding NC would take away from the AT “house sound” hence the choice for these not to have NC.
Personally noise cancelling is not a crucial factor for my Bluetooth headphones. I find with my sony wh1000xm3 and b@o h9i 2nd gen that the NC feature is detrimental to the sound quality for me and/or gives me a feeling of compression (air, not sound) that i prefer not to have so 85% of the time i turn off the NC feature.
Not being able to turn off the NC on the Bathys is more of a deterrent for me but i have not heard them yet.
If i flew more often then maybe NC would be more important to me. Decent passive noise cancelling is all that i need when commuting/ on walkabout. .
For me BT is a handy feature when not “critically listening” (eg doing the dishes) or when happy to forgo cd quality streaming/listening but I can take or leave NC.
And of course ymmv
As a guy who has 2 Audio-Technica wireless headphones (SR6 & DSR7), I can tell you that I would be interested in these, except for the ridiculous pricepoint. As a matter of fact, my DSR7 does pretty much the same as these, but with better battery life. I would get these, but at a 70% discount.
Hi John, is there a reason why you never mention the B&O H9(i) when discussing the NC BT headphone price development? I bought mine in March 2018 for 499 euro (and still use them daily!). Also in September 2020 they launched the H95 for 800 euro, so before Apple did.
Any views on T+A Solitaire… there are hardly any decent reviews of this headphone… I happened to test them out and loved the sound and feel on my head over Focal’s Bathys, which I was seriously considering. Would love for a good review of the T+As and a comparison between 5909s and Bathys. Thanks
It's coming.... 😉
Kinda sad that they abandoned DSR9BT's fully digital tech, they have something going with it.
Even if we cannot afford or would not choose to spend our disposable income on a 3000€ BT headphone, I see it a positive development because; a) it’s nice to see beautiful industrial products, b) the technology in it will eventually trickle down to more affordable products and c) it raises AT’s image as a technological tour-de-force.
Glad to hear about the batteries. For that price I’d expect to get 15 years of use from them. This is what’s preventing me from being interested in the PX8. At a high price I demand serviceability.
If rumours are to be believed, and each person needs to make their own decision on that, bluetooth / wireless headphones are not too far away with true lossless codecs. Who knows when, but to spend £3k now, and potentially within 12 to 24 months we get proper lossless bluetooth / wireless, then it is a little too much of gamble for me to be honest. Great video by the way.
Hifiman have Bluetooth open back headphones, but it is an adapter you can remove or buy it separately. As for the DLC or diamond like carbon there are several IEMs made with the same material like the moondrop kato. The kato is only 200 US dollars mind you.
Loved the video 👍🏻
Is it suitable for running?
How well would those go with a cigar, slippers and a tumbler of whiskey? Wonderful 70s aesthetic!
hey what ever happened to the lossless BT codec that's supposed to come out this year??
Just get Soundcore Space One. Will do well on your next flight. Anything else use TWS or IEMs.
Dear John, please also talk about whether such BT-ANC headphones can be used without battery. Headphones like the B&W PX& S2 and B&O HX need battery to work at all, even with a 3.5mm cable. So when your battery degrades in ~3-5 years, your headphones go in the bin.
Would be nice to also hear if any of these headphones can be used while charging too, so you can have the piece of mind that your BT headphones won't be useless for urgent meetings because the battery has run out. I have loved this peace of mind A LOT with my Sennheiser Momentum 2 Wireless.
I have a pair of wired ANC headphones which run off a replaceable AAA battery. They came from Finnair, but I think they were also sold under a few brand names - Creative Aurvana HN-900, Goldring NS1500 look extremely similar. Call me an old cynic, but I can't help but think that the only reason stopping more audiophile brands from doing the same is planned obsolescence.
I am positive these will sound amazing. But like the scientists of Jurassic Park, A-T spent so much time and money on if they COULD build it, they never considered if they SHOULD build it. Point is Apple will likely debut a (proprietary} codec to deliver lossless in their AirPod Max for under £1000. These will be a niche headphone for collectors.
Hi, do quality WiFi headphones exist or this is the most likely next evolution of noise cancelling headphones to have at home since snobs can't have wire connected to them.
ANC changes the sound... and not in a good way.
Talks about lossless transfer, A-T had already produced the DSR9BT years ago. It doesnt have a D/A converter chip within.
I guess these are like active speakers for your head, however, more like KEFs where you need a wire going to one of the speakers, rather than the Dali, which have a separate hub with no wires - if that makes sense!
Maybe Dali should bring out a new pair of headphones to work with their Hub and compete with these - truly wireless high res headphones for the home - it’s the future - I should patent that 😂
The price alone makes these a super niche product. $2700 for wired headphones is one thing, but once you add a sealed battery it’s an entirely different story. That battery means at some point the headphones will become useless. The only people who wouldn’t have a problem with that are wealthy.
Agree with what you say about indoor listening & bluetooth although I could see ANC for home listening to block out what others are doing around me. It's nice to see a company thinking about the downsides of batteries until those batteries are obsolete for newer technology. I have bluetooth speaker by tribit for pc listening & it's a good little speaker but it always switches off when you least expect it with the inbuilt battery saving mode I can't seem to extend which niggles at me. I've started to go back to wired connections with everything again like tools etc as the battery alternatives are good but don't seem to have the longevity of what cables offer especially with hiifi equipment, as recessions hit all around the world & will get worse prices like this are for the rich, the most I've spent on headphones is £500 for Shure 1540s & was going to invest in a separates system until the prices got jacked up. It will be a shame to see some companies go bust over the next 5-10 years with the current planned inflation that will hit them soon.
One question John which is off topic but I need a help. I have a headamp which supports impedances 16-600 ohms. If I connect to it a headphone with impedance of 13 ohms what would happen?
im no headphone or home audio expert (im into car audio) generally if the impedance of the speaker is lower than the amp it can cause the amp to run hotter so out of spec and shouldn't be used. in an extreme situation like car audio with a 500w subwoofer amp for example that's specced to run 4ohms running it with a 2 ohm subwoofer will cause extreme heat and overloading the amp will die . if you go the other way you just don't get the power out of it but it won't cause damage .
Nothing really. You'll have to use the volume knob at the lower end and it still might be quite loud.
to be sure just use a long extension cable, it will increase the ohm.
High volume dude, if you still using them for long periods of time or you use them at a really high volume you will damage your headphones and your hearing, c'mon just keep down the volume
Thank you for the video. I think there would be many reasons for people to buy closed back bluetooth headphones.
But if anyone is after sound quality, open back just throws closed backs out the windows.
$3000, That is a steep money. I’d rather get Meze Elite used for that money.
Hi guys. What is the best way to get my non AptxHD NonAptxLossless phone to send AptxHD/Lossless to my AptxHD/AptxLossless headphones? What dongle can I buy
Good video, John. $3000 is a bit much for BT headphones.............but I guess that's why it's a limited production.
I don't care about noise cancelling or the highest of bitrate lossless DSD-whatever music as I listen at higher volumes to mostly heavy psych rock and metal. Stuff like Elder, Orchid, King Buffalo, Black Sabbath, etc. I do however care about GOOD sound quality, good bass and good soundstage. The only way I'd personally buy bluetooth headphones is if they were openback planar with great sound quality, great bass and great soundstage. But I can get that with wired (and have that already) so the 3 most important features would have to be that they would need to be affordable enough (no more than $1000 AUD) to be able to buy 2 pairs - 1 for listening while the other is charging. The second is that the battery and internal amplifier would need to be able to constantly deliver a sufficient amount of current to the drivers to not make the music sound thin and lacking in dynamics compared to listening to wired with a $300 to $500 desktop DAC/amp. The internal DAC chip, while it doesn't have to be dCS Lina quality, would also have to be comparable to a half-decent external DAC. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm guessing there's currently no openback planar bluetooth headphones and the internal headphone amp of most bluetooth headphones can't really cut it against a wired planar counterpart with a half decent desktop DAC/amp like a Jotunheim 2.
Focal should pay AT a % of the bathys profits, because AT just made the bathys look reasonable.
Reason why i buy wireless headphones is the same as you, for convenience without the cables. Solitaire T+A id good enough.
What about trying some more affordable alternatives? I wouldn't feel confortable wearing such expensive gear on my head, out on the street. I've heard good things on the Anker Soundcore q30. 😀
the Anker q35s are great, have LDAC, for the price. Broken in they are very comfortable as well.
Those batteries BETTER be user replaceable!!!!
Would it work with MQAir by next year maybe for HiRes playback?
I think the convenience of wireless headphones is overrated. I don’t actually own any, but I do have a Qudelix Bluetooth adapter and I don’t use it nearly as much as I thought I would. It’s so much quicker to just plug a wire in than doing the pairing, especially if I want to use high bitrate LDAC. A big part of the bother is that my phone defaults to ‘adaptive’ LDAC, to get to 990 or 660 it is buried in the developer settings of the phone. The range and stability of 990kbps LDAC is not good, I have extension cables with longer reach. Also I own a couple of little USB C dongle DACs that sound really good, I find them quicker, easier and better.
If you want to wear bluetooth headphones at home. . . perhaps the $275 Grado GW100x headphones?
A lot of people under 40 really don't like wires (why I am not aware as that's just more hassle when you have to plug them in to charge them as opposed to them always being plugged in, though I guess moving around the house is more convenient). You're thinking too far ahead when asking who is this for, obviously the buyer has to like the aesthetics and might look for reviews but this is basically just "default headphone for people under 40 that have too much money" and depending on budget and aesthetic preferences it's the same thing for the rest of them except cheaper and/or slightly different looking.
PS: The only thing that's niche about it is the price. Also, not having ANC might actually give them more Hi-Fi appeal.