Mini-review of Bowers & Wilkins P5 headphones
quadzilla
Posts: 1,543
These are designed for the iPhone, with a volume control/mic combo, but also come with a standard cable. Changing this cable is a very simple task; just pop off the magnetically held ear pad, and swap the cable. This also allows you to use longer cables and/or any 1/8" cable of your choice.
As for the sound, I prefer it over my previous favorite headphones, the Triple.fi 10 in ear monitors. The bass retains all of the depth, but loses the overbearing presence I found in the Triple.fi's. Instead, this is a much more balanced sound. The high frequencies are also more extended that my previous favorites. High-end is very detailed and crisp while avoiding harshness. I also like that these phones are also sound suppressing, but not sound cancelling, avoiding all the extra processesing of the Bose or other sound cancelling phones. And as with all good phones, these will reward you for high-quality sources, though they don't seem to punish you quite as much when you're using something less that the highest available bit-rate or listening directly to a CD.
Where these suffer is as with nearly all cord mics, a lot of background noise or wind will make conversations tricky. It's possible, but you might find yourself holding the mic closer to your mouth or just pulling out the cable to talk directly into the phone. I've had this problem with every cable-mounted mic I've tried, and have yet to find one that's even close to as clear as my Jawbone when allowed to just hang by the cable.
Finally, I was able to briefly compare these to a couple of Sennheiser and Grado mid-line models, and prefered these to any of the others. So for ~300, especially if you have an iPhone but dislike in ear monitors, these should be on your audition list. Or if you're just looking for a good set of headphones that are very comfortable over extended listening sessions, with the standard 1/8" cable, these still deserve a listen.
As for the sound, I prefer it over my previous favorite headphones, the Triple.fi 10 in ear monitors. The bass retains all of the depth, but loses the overbearing presence I found in the Triple.fi's. Instead, this is a much more balanced sound. The high frequencies are also more extended that my previous favorites. High-end is very detailed and crisp while avoiding harshness. I also like that these phones are also sound suppressing, but not sound cancelling, avoiding all the extra processesing of the Bose or other sound cancelling phones. And as with all good phones, these will reward you for high-quality sources, though they don't seem to punish you quite as much when you're using something less that the highest available bit-rate or listening directly to a CD.
Where these suffer is as with nearly all cord mics, a lot of background noise or wind will make conversations tricky. It's possible, but you might find yourself holding the mic closer to your mouth or just pulling out the cable to talk directly into the phone. I've had this problem with every cable-mounted mic I've tried, and have yet to find one that's even close to as clear as my Jawbone when allowed to just hang by the cable.
Finally, I was able to briefly compare these to a couple of Sennheiser and Grado mid-line models, and prefered these to any of the others. So for ~300, especially if you have an iPhone but dislike in ear monitors, these should be on your audition list. Or if you're just looking for a good set of headphones that are very comfortable over extended listening sessions, with the standard 1/8" cable, these still deserve a listen.
Turntable: Empire 208
Arm: Rega 300
Cart: Shelter 501 III
Phono Pre: Aural Thrills
Digital: Pioneer DV-79ai
Pre: Conrad Johnson ET3 SE
Amp: Conrad Johnson Evolution 2000
Cables: Cardas Neutral Reference
Speakers: SDA 2.3TL, heavily modified
Arm: Rega 300
Cart: Shelter 501 III
Phono Pre: Aural Thrills
Digital: Pioneer DV-79ai
Pre: Conrad Johnson ET3 SE
Amp: Conrad Johnson Evolution 2000
Cables: Cardas Neutral Reference
Speakers: SDA 2.3TL, heavily modified
Post edited by quadzilla on
Comments
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Great review. Glad you enjoy them and it's nice you got to compare it with other cans. Enjoy.
