Master & Dynamic - MW09

My rankings based on what I own. My criteria are big soundstage, tight articulate bass, and comfort. 1. Noble FoKus Prestige 2. Master & Dynamic MW09 3. Devialet Gemini II 4. Noble Fokus Rex5 5. Denon Perl Pro 6. Technics AZ100 7. B&W Pi8

On pure SQ alone: Noble Prestige > Devialet Gemini 2 > Master & Dynamic MW09 > Noble Fokus Rex5 > Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 > Denon Perl Pro > Technics AZ100 > Sennheiser MTW4

Few things Bose sucks. I know you said you used them but they are trash you don't compare them with the best of the best in terms of sound quality lol Soundcore is very well known it's one of the most popular budget earbuds you can get an they are also known for their workout earbhds that have great battery life an last forever Now I also have these too along with others an ill say they are one of the best sounding earbuds but not the best. Nobole beat them any thing noble but noble fokus rex5 is the absolute best you can get for your money. I have the pros an mw09 an listen to them along side the noble rex5 using the proper codec an support an yeah the way songs sound on the rex5 is different than on the dpp. For instance psycho by system of a down you feel the song when you listen on the rex5 you hear it very well on the dpp. They are a great choice though if you don't wanna shell out too much money. Now for their problems or some what problems. The battery life is as advertised however once you out on spatial audio an use the other feature it's knocks it down quite a bit from the 8 hours mark an you start getting airpods quality battery life or little better. They don't connect 100 percent of the time out of my noble an mw09 other high end earbuds these don't always connect. They are easy to use as a daily driver with touch controls but if you disconnect them an then take them out of the case again sometimes it will not pick up. I made sure it easnt just my device as it happens on my laptop too. Great earbuds sound better when my mw09 but not best money can buy

They are not the loudest earbuds by any means, pretty disappointed to be honest. At max volume they pale in comparison to M&D MW09, Galaxy Buds 3 Pro (or even 2 Pro for that matter), and the Noble Audio FoKus Prestige.

Sounds like you have a bad earbud. The ANC on these is phenomenal to me. I can listen to music at a very low volume /on a plane that is actively taking off from the runway/ with barely a hint that I'm anywhere noisy at all. My gf popped them in during takeoff and was so impressed by the ANC she had a pair of her own on order before we reached 50k altitude, lol. More than 3x the noise cancelling of her daily driver at the time. They come with extra foam inserts and stuff. Make sure you try out the different sizes until the app test says you're getting a proper ANC seal

I'm a former recording and mixing engineer, current digital product designer. Highest profile record I worked on was a Fountains of Wayne album. Note that I don't use ANC so won't comment on that. Comparing to other premium TWS earbuds. I indicate which is a 10 in comparison. 10 doesn't mean perfect--just means it's the best one out of what I've tried out, so it's a relative scale. Using the buds with iPhone and Mac. Overall: 8 These earbuds tend to get mediocre, or negative, reviews. I think that's because of the price and the dark sound tuning. I would've preferred to pay like $280 for these rather than $349, but these are actually becoming my daily drivers over the Denon Perl Pro so I'll pay the premium. I find these buds are very well rounded across the features that are important to me. Sound Quality: 8 (includes sound stage, detail, frequency response, Denon Perl Pro is a 10) You MUST EQ these buds, either using one of their presets or custom (I included a screenshot of mine in the post). Out of the box the sound is quite dark with an overly strong bass emphasis. This results in the mids and highs sounding a bit muddy and vocals getting lost. But, if you're into bass heavy sound, you might love the ootb sound here. Surprisingly, a bit of EQ cleans the sound right up. I didn't expect it to "fix" the sound how it did. Now, when I compare against the Perl Pro, the MW09 gets pretty close. Great bass--I feel the rumble and gut thud. well defined mids for vocals, strings, guitars, etc with a lot of detail. Smooth highs with plenty of definition though not as much sparkle as I like on things like acoustic guitars or the snap of a snare drum. Very good sound stage, again not on the level of Perl Pro where you truly feel immersed, but we'll above most of the competition. Overall a pleasing sound. Music definitely comes to life with these. I have a 50-song playlist on Tidal that I use to check sound quality. If you want the playlist, DM me. You can use the link to convert to other streaming apps using Tunemymusic or Soundiiz. Mic Quality: 7 (Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 is a 10) No issues when I tested out calling a number of people and then also had my wife call me using the buds. Tried in both quiet and noisy conditions. The sound is slightly tinny with not a ton of natural resonance, but still comes through clearly. Doesn't sound like you're in a bathroom or far away like some other buds. Used on Zoom calls at work and people said I sounded clear. Comfort: 9 (Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 is a 10) The MW09 are very light with a small size. They fit snugly into my ears and I can wear them for hours with no discomfort. Battery: 10 The buds themselves as well as the case last FOREVER. And with fast charging via USB-C I'm really just so happy with the battery. Also nice they have wireless charging. Design: 9 (includes buds design case size/design, Airpods Pro 2 is a 10) The buds have a high class design. They look good in my ears with a minimal footprint. The buds snap into the case easily. The case feels premium with a good snap to the lid and nice feel of the material. The case is a little heavy, but I'll take that tradeoff for the great battery. Love that the case is still pretty close in size to the Airpods despite much better (bigger) battery. Stability: 8 (Technics AZ80 is a 10) Only reason it's not a 10 is because they don't fit my right ear quite as well as my left, which is probably due to a shape difference in my ear, and I ordered some new tips to see if I can get the fit up to a 10. Controls: 8 (Oneplus Buds Pro 3 is a 10) Some people don't like the physical buttons but I do, for the most part. Cuts down on accidental presses. The buttons are surprisingly sturdy feeling. The volume rocker, despite being tiny, is pretty easy to use. However, the buttons can be cumbersome to use depending on what else you're multi tasking at the time. And sometimes when I press a button it dislodges the seal. App: 7 (Sony is a 10) I'd like to have ability to save multiple custom EQ settings. I'd also like to be able to customize the controls, although I think how they mapped the controls is very intuitive and matches what I most use the controls for. The app is easy to use, although it's weird that basically all of the functionality is within the Settings section and not just right there on the app home screen. I like that it gives you exact battery percentage of both buds and case. Nice feature to enable side tone and manage Multipoint connections. Connectivity: 8 (Airpods Pro 2 is a 10) Multipoint works very well. No dropouts. Only reason not a 10 is because sometimes when I answer a call using the UI on the phone it doesn't automatically connect to the buds so I have to tap and hold the speaker icon and select the buds. Can't figure out the rhyme or reason the buds aren't prioritized but it only happens every now and then and isn't a big deal.

I haven't had issues with buds cutting out and I have been using them for multiple hours a day. Sorry to hear about the ANC. I can't use ANC because it makes me sick so I wouldn't know, but I do love the amount of passive noise canceling I get just from the good seal in my ear. One month later and I'm still loving them. Sound awesome, and yes rhe battery life is insanely good. Their customer support has responded to questions within 48 hours so I definitely recommend contacting them about your issue. They'll probably tell you to reset first, so just get past that and into a warranty repair conversation.

The way ANC works is by sending sound waves into your ear that cancel out noise. Those sound waves make me nauseous and sick. Thanks for the note about rtings. I wonder how accurate it is because some buds sneak the ANC in there even when "off". If all you care about is sound quality, I recommend Perl Pro. If you also care about battery, design/looks, comfort (of course this varies from person to person but many don't find Perl Pro very comfortable after long use), and mic quality then I recommend MW09.

Glad it was helpful. Note that I ended up returning the Denons and keeping the Master & Dynamic, which I hadn't tried yet at the time of writing. With the M&W, I traded a small decrease in sound quality for big gains in battery, comfort, design, and fit. You can check my profile for the M&W review. I included my EQ settings.

The Sennheiser‘s have a giant case that will not fit in your pocket nicely. I don’t know if that’s a factor or not. And to me their sound is overly warm and a bit subdued sounding, and the microphone quality is not great. The Denon’s are the best sounding of the bunch. But they’re not that comfortable and will fall out during exercise. The Bowers and Wilkins have surprisingly poor sound. they are great for certain genres of music that are more bass heavy but for something like rock music they sound like trash. I saw you mention banging Olsen in another comment. They don’t sound great to me either and are hit or miss as far as the fit, depending on your ear shape. that leaves the Sony‘s and techniques. If you have the capability, I would buy them both, try them out, and return the one that you don’t like best. Between noise canceling, sound, quality, mic quality, fit, the battery, etc. they each have their pros and cons, but end up stacking up fairly equal. I had a problem with the Sony‘s in that they would not make a perfect seal in my ears, and I’ve seen other people mention that as well, so that could be a factor. You will absolutely see a difference in sound quality and noise canceling if you’re able to achieve a perfect seal. In the end, after trying out 20 earbuds, I kept the Master & Dynamic MW09. But they’re sold out everywhere now. If you want to pursue those, check out my review in my post history.

I tried all three at the same time, with the same songs in about 10 different genres. TLDR; the Technics AZ80 for me, despite slightly better battery life in MW09. An all rounder in sound. PI8 are very pretty looking, but bad call quality, enough to not regret at all sending them back.

Interesting I’ve been having the same problem with mine from the charging case to left bud crackle and drop. Mine were free at a racing event so I can’t complain - but it’s a bummer because they are the best for battery and comfort that I’ve ever had. My issues seemed to start after I used wireless charging - before that they were fine. Support was useless, but I get it - mine doesn’t have a serial number as it’s a promo set for a racing team even though the problems showed up 6 months after I got them.

My MW09 is doing the same thing with dropouts. Happened the first time I took them to the gym. Did a factory reset to see if that helps. I think the ANC is good on mine though.

Sounds like I should just return them and get a refund and cut my losses. Got them on Monday. Did you get green with the carbon fiber case?

Tried them out again on Thursday at the gym, and they dropped out about every 20 seconds on the stair stepper.. Sent them back for a refund. My old B&O eq never had an issue. I have no idea why no one else reported this issue in a crowded environment.

I have had similar issue MW09s. When Do seal test get not sealed properly from one ear (left) and then sound always feint in that ear or crackly at times or just none at all. Tried every size silicone and foam bud, sometimes get "good seal" but this is brief and then just go back to problems. I have exchanged email with M and D have sent them video and pictures as requested. All the did was offer me a new box of buds....which is clearly not the problem. I refused this, and since there has been a week of radio silence. Problem was from soon after I got them they were purchased at start December 2024 and emailed them about the issue after Xmas. Been a frustrating experience and can't recommend this product to anyone. I understand there can be problems. But when there are problems you need to be proactive with solutions. Something M and D are not. I've also tried contacting them on Facebook. No response there either. Incredible that this seems to be ok in their world.

See my other post...same experience. They are terrible. I would not recommend this brand to anyone. I have basically been ignored when I clearly have defective MW09 funny to hear others have the same left ear issue

Love my Master & Dynamics