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Reddit Reviews
Adrian1616I've had a pair of B&W PX (The OG B&W Bluetooth pair with real leather pads) since 2018 and have used them in the heat, cold, sweaty, snowy etc and they still work flawlessly. Pads are still in great shape. I'd stick with real leather if I were you.
dom6918Got my pair of the McLaren edition yesterday. Had the original PX, Px7 and P3s. In between all that I bought the Sony series and Bose. The Px8 s2 is the biggest upgrade I’ve ever experienced. It’s on a level I never thought was possible. The engineering must have been done using 2000 agentic designers. How they’ve managed to perfectly balance the soundstage … every detail is there. Every detail punches you in the heart. I’ve fallen in love with music, again.
Flippy1801PX8s are great, I agree although the leather on the earcups is a bit scratchy. I'd suggest you to listen to original PXs which sound even more natural and detailed imo, although they lack a bit of bass. They don't sell anymore, but if you'll ever be able to listen to them, I'd suggest you to take a chance
OverExclamatedI use the Denon D9200 daily. B&W PX when I'm wandering around, doing stuff. I also use the Meze Empyrean (almost) daily, but you might consider those bulky.
SomeFuckingMillenialI've used the XM6, XM5, Airpods max 1, 2, B&W Px2, Bose Nc700, ultras, B&O H9is, portal, and HX. honest answer? They're all fine. XM6 has great anc. So do the air pods max. If you're spending $250+ on a big name, for sound quality, they're all good enough. My favorites were the HX for sound. XM6 for overall.
Acceptable-Win-3669Bose QC line and B&W Px line for me are the most comfortable headphones and they have pretty similar architecture and just differ in build quality. I don't find the Sony line very comfortable as the headbands are not extremely well padded and the earcups are really shallow.
BusyMeringue8935I’ve got a pair of B&W Px series that I use for air travel that I like. I gave my wife my Bose ones after I got them. Good sound quality, good noise cancelling, comfortable, come with a nice case for travel. Can find them on sale or used in your range if that is an option.
DaemonxarM4; I find the the Px series muddy and shrieky; the S3 is better than prior gens but still not great (and can’t fix it without a third party tool).
They're generally fine, consumer-focused tunes. They're not awful, and MOSTLY you can make them sound better with included EQ. The Ultra and Ultra 2 are genuinely good headphones, once you make a couple of adjustments in the app. Their ANC is pretty middle of the road; similar to what you get with the Sennheiser Momentum 4/Apple/Px series from B&W, slightly behind the Sonys (though the Sonys sound genuinely terrible to me). At any given price point, a good pair of open backs will always sound better (at least to my ears) than an ANC headphone. You're generally not buying an ANC headphone for sound quality; you're buying them for sound isolation first and sound quality second, but it's all about your own personal balance. I personally wouldn't buy the basic Bose; if you can't afford the QC Ultra line, you're better off getting the Sennheiser Momentum 4. It's a better balance, with perfectly competent ANC *and* good sound quality with a little tweak in the Sennheiser app. Most of the others require a third-party EQ tool to get good sound quality.
Rankings by Use Case
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Best for Audiophile music listening
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Best for Bass-heavy music
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Best for Guitar practice
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Best for Long-haul flights
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Best for Marathon gaming sessions
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Sennheiser - HD 560S
