Bowers & Wilkins Px 8

newbie308

I have a long trans Atlantic flight coming up, and the last time I traveled the friendly skies I used a pair of Oneplus ear buds. The ear buds work ok, but about 40 minutes into a five hour flight, one of my earbuds fell out and I couldn't retrieve it until the plane landed and the person sitting next to me exited the plane. It was a real drag, and not an experience I'd like to repeat. Today I visited my local brick and mortar audio store with the intention of buying an inexpensive pair of wireless headphones. I tried several pairs from JBL, Sonos, and a few other brands I can't remember, but my eyes kept gravitating to this pair of B&W headphones. I asked if I could try them and from the moment I put them on, I was sold. These headphones are slick! They look great, and they are super comfortable. The noise canceling feature is superb, and the sound quality is spectacular! I really like the way they lay flat in their carrying case, too! Less opportunity for them to sustain damage when I'm not wearing them.

I'm not into headphones, I don't collect them, and I never really paid much attention to the market. I can't tell you why I like this pair better than the similarly priced Focals, but I'm really happy with my purchase, and I think I will be listening to headphones a lot more than I ever have before now that I own a quality set. Anyway, if you are in the market for a great pair of wireless Bluetooth or wired via the USB-C to 2.5mm cable supplied, give these some consideration!

newbie308

Clipdat

Nice! Congrats on your new pair.

I have the Focal Bathys which are great, but I've read high praise about these B&W headphones as well. Enjoy!

Clipdat

Bump for an update. How are they sounding now with more hours on them?

newbie308

I have not used them since my trip to France, but I was very impressed by their noise canceling capability. I wore them for the entire flight, both ways and didn't charge them until I got home. That's about 22 hours of playing with one charge. They are spec's at 30 hours, and I believe it. I had an issue with the "wear sensor" feature and needed to perform a factory reset just before my flight to France. That had me sweating a bit and really angry, but I called the store I purchased them from as I was sitting in the plane on the tarmac, waiting to take off, and they talked me through the process. After that, they performed flawlessly. The issue was that the wear sensor turned the headphones to deep sleep mode, and nothing I tried would wake them. The sound quality is very good. I did notice that passages with heavy bass would cause distortion in the high frequency, but the distortion is clears as soon as the heavy bass ends. Voices are crystal clear at all times, even during heavy bass. Overall, I am happy with my purchase. Oh, the headphones are very comfortable. After 9 hours of constant wear, my ears didn't hurt at all. I was concerned about the weight, but they really dissappear once I was settled in and enjoying the music, movies, and audio book I prepared for my journey.

newbie308

Oh, the 22 hours was 1.5 hours from Philadelphia to Washington Dulles and then 9.5 hours from Dulles to Geneva. Round trip 22 hours. I played them in my hotel room and while walking around the airport, too so it's probably close to 25 hours total.

Kex

I’ve used AirPods Pro (in ear) and Beats Studio Pro (full size, over ear) and IMHO they truly enhance the flying experience. Just being able to tune out ambient noise while others board in particular is especially soothing and relaxing.

Obviously, the AirPods have a size advantage, and they come with three different sized bud attachments, so you can lower the chances of them falling out.

Even so, the full size Beats Studio Pro are still better IMO. They have disadvantages. They cannot auto pause when you remove them the way the AirPods do. They do fold up to a compact size for travel. They are also much better than the airline provided noise cancelling headphones available in premium seats.

I’m sure the Studio Pro don’t match up in pure sound performance to your B&W (or the Focals) but they have other advantages, such as ease of pairing, switching across devices, and full support options for the lifetime of the product.

Whatever the choice, I wouldn’t travel without noise cancelling for long transatlantic flights — usually 10-12 hours from Los Angeles direct — or even on 2-5 hour domestic flights.

Geoff4rfc

newbie308 wrote: »

I have not used them since my trip to France

Hey, next time you go to France, tell the boys at Focal I said "hey".

Your new B&W's look great! "I think I will be listening to headphones a lot more than I ever have before now that I own a quality set.".......haha, be careful that you don't fall into the rut I did...like you, I was not much of a headphone guy, then I found a great deal on a pair of Grado's and it drove me crazy...all I could think of was finding a pair of speakers that could give me headphone quality.....ahhh to be able to have it all.....

newbie308

@Geoff4rfc I have not had that issue, but it definitely made me question how much better SQ I'd get from a high end pair of electrostatic headphones. Like, if these sound this good, a new pair of Stax SR-X9000's must be spectacular. I think I've talked myself down from that ledge...