Melomania P100 SE

For background: I am not an audiophile, but I am a bit of a sound snob, have a background in audio engineering and spend a lot of time listening to studio monitors. I prioritize neutrality and clarity over custom EQs and tunings -- I want to hear exactly how they recorded at the studio, even if it sucks. I have wired Shure 1540s and absolutely love them, but thought I'd give the convenience of this newfangled Bluetooth technology all the kids are talking about a try. After reading a few reviews, I bought the **AKG N9 Hybrid** (list $439.95 / paid $249.99) Nice wide soundstage. Huge, boomy bass, but not necessarily in a good way. It's sloppy and not particularly tight. Decent clarity and resolution otherwise, and pretty flat, though the vocal midrange is prominent and it's not too easy to resolve background details. They sound decent, but not amazing. Physically, they're tight, but light weight and comfortable. The vinyl earpads get sweaty pretty quick. I had some functional complaints as well: Pairing is finicky (you have to disconnect or turn off Bluetooth on one device before you can even put these in pairing mode to connect them to something else.) I couldn't get them to work with my steam deck at all. This is forgiven a bit by the included usb-c dongle, which does sound better and makes them more plug and play. They also pause the music automatically when you take them off, which is fine, but then make a loud chime and say "Bluetooth reconnected" every time you put them back on, which is slow and ridiculous. They also sound terrible plugged directly into an analogue headphone jack -- the dsp is doing a lot of heavy lifting with these. I lived with them for a few months, but ultimately they left me wanting more. So, underwhelmed, and on a quest for audio excellence, I splurged and bought what are widely considered to be the best sounding Bluetooth cans: **Dali io12** (list $1750 / paid $1,399) Probably the widest soundstage, in terms of instruments sounding like they're out beyond the boundary of your ears. Incredibly bright and treble heavy, kinda V-shaped, except the bass is underwhelming, doesn't seem like there's much sub-bass at all and what is there is pretty muddy. The "bass mode" is even worse, emphasizing mid/upper bass and muting everything else. Overall, there's a weird thin-ness and lack of detail. Despite the wide soundstage, I had trouble picking out individual instruments in the background or resolving tight details. Describing audio is hard, but I'd say they're quite laid back, and don't present with a lot of energy. They don't sound bad -- just not, I guess, as amazing as I imagined $1400 headphones would sound. They *are* the most comfortable by a longshot, they're light on the head and the leather earcups are super soft. The controls are large and easy to use, but also *way* too easy to press accidentally just by turning your head towards your shoulder or taking them off and hanging them around your neck. I listened to them for a few days, but kept having nagging doubts that they were $1000 better than the AKGs. Surely we can do better. So I bought the next most expensive pair: **Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95** (list $1,250.00 / paid $704.31 open box) These have the narrowest soundstage of them all, the music really comes from the center of your head. Probably the most sub-bass extension of the lot as well, which is fun. However, the bass is a bit boomier than I like. Very V-shaped with overdone, sparkly treble at the very high end. They resolve details okay. There's a weird tinniness to them overall, they kind of sound like they're behind a heavy sheet or something. Might be the Bluetooth compression, they sound a bit digital perhaps. The analog dials are nice for volume, although I hate the left one for controlling the ANC. Build quality is great, they look cool. I had connection issues, when they reconnect to my phone, they stutter and drop out until I disable Bluetooth and reenable it. Not ideal. You also have to register for an account just to use the app, which is ridiculous. All in all, I think these sound the worst of the three so far, and I spent the least amount of time with them. **Bowers & Wilkins Px8** (list $699 / paid $449) What can I say, the hype is real. Soundstage isn't quite as wide as the io12s, but still really good, and individual instruments are actually more distinct and easier to pick out. The bass is definitely overemphasized, but in the most fun way, still incredibly tight and detailed, but you can feel it in your skull which I quite enjoy. Aside from the bass, I think they're actually the flattest response of the bunch. The treble is present but doesn't hurt my ears. The midrange is present, vocals are easy to understand but not as in your face as other models. And the detail -- these things resolve details I've never heard before. I can hear the transient click of the beater hitting the kick drum, the slight tap of the pianists foot pressing the pedal, individual voices in group harmonies. I'm actually blown away that these sound so good over Bluetooth, not sure what magic they're working there but, it works. I've read reviews about the build quality not holding up. They look and feel solid and well made, but time will tell. They're also not the most comfortable, maybe even the least comfortable, pretty tight and the headband needs more padding. I have to adjust the the headband around on my head periodically. The earpads are nice and soft and seem to breathe more than the AKGs. You do have to make an account to use the app. Yes, I updated the firmware to 3.1.0 and couldn't tell any difference in bass. They definitely have noticeably more bass in ANC mode than with it disabled, so maybe people are comparing apples to oranges. Not sure. I was genuinely surprised by these, especially at the price I paid. At the risk of sounding like an ad, I found myself getting lost in my test playlist and just letting it roll -- these are *fun* to listen to. Even though I really like the px8s, I had already ordered one more set: **Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 SE** (list $299 / paid $299) Pretty similar to the io12s, still on the bright side, but with much more bass. The bass goes deeper and is much tighter and more detailed. Soundstage is very good, and the detail and resolution is excellent. Starting to hear subtle background instruments and feet tapping the floor. These might sound better than the io12s to my ears. They're different, the io12s are a little more encompassing and put you more in the middle of the music, but the two are closer than you think. I do prefer the px8s, in a way I'm not sure how to describe... the P100s still sound like you're listening to headphones, and the px8s sound like you're standing in the middle of the recording studio. But for the price, they're damn good. They're fairly comfortable, the app has a full parametric EQ, and they have a user-replaceable battery (which scores huge points in my book). If I had ordered these first, I probably would have kept them. **In Summary** This is not a sponsored post, I don't work for any of these companies, I paid for them all out of pocket. I only listened to each model for an hour or less, so these are just initial impressions. I didn't compare ANC performance at all, they all make the A/C quiet when ANC is on and that's good enough for me. I A/Bed them all directly, connected over bluetooth to my pixel 9 pro, listening to Spotify at the highest bitrate. I would have also liked to hear the Nobel Fokus Apollos and Focal Bathys, but couldn't find them at stores with easy/free returns. **TL;DR: I'm keeping the px8s.** My ranking: 1. B&W px8 2. Melomania P100 SE 3. Dali io12 4. AKG N9 Hybrid 5. B&O h95

Plus Audeze Maxwell, Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 SE, Dali I0-12, Mark Levinson No 5909 and I could keep going.

Wow that’s incredible. Had no idea. I am testing the frost blue px7 and the warm stone px8 but agree with what you said. I got a corporate discount on the Bowers that i can no longer get so i have to decide between what i got by next week. I was thinking of getting the black px8 but no longer possible as they pulled that discount. I do think they’re the best current colors of the two models. i should likely go with the px8… the px7 has been going on sale in the states for similar to what i got it for. The px7 tends to be the one that hits harder with some songs where it gives me a rush but can be not so great or natural sounding with some others- people call that fun and it is… it’s the fastest driving bass I’ve ever heard on headphones. The px8 can basically handle all genres and songs even if it can’t surge or have impact like px6- people describe that as more intimate or refined. You have to focus more on the px8 to hear the seperation in the music, the px7 when handed a good master does it easier. I find the px7 less worrisome cuz it’s cheaper and less vulnerable to damage vs the leather and metal. (Also trying Cambridge p100se which has a crazy good soundstage but can get very uncomfortable)

For Soundquality and battery life: Cambridge P100SE

I don't understand people who compare pears with apples. You can't compare the sound of an ANC headset to an open-back wired headset, they have totally different purposes. That said, I just jumped from the Bose QC ultra and Focal Bathys to the Hdb630. On the one hand, the dongle is very useful to get the most out of Bluetooth, and on the other hand, they sound very, very good via cable. The ANC does not reach the level of the Bose but is much higher than the Focal. Another one that I really like the sound of is the Cambridge P100SE. I'm going to test it with the dongle to see how it goes.

Can assure you the Cambridge Audio P100s sound better than the XM6 and Pro Max and at half the price too.

They sound super interesting, but the Momentum 4 (with EQ) and the Cambridge P100 were already capable of some great tuning. My main gripe with all ANC headphones except the Bathys is usually that they have tiny, super hot earcups. I'd rather have larger velour/cloth pads.