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Best Audiophile Bluetooth headphones [2022-11-09]

metasharp

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Hello,

I thought it'd be nice to a a summary of the available products and information we have or lack.
I didn't mention below headphones that are most certainly not qualified to be the best. If I forgot anything, please mention it.

Model (candidates for best)Price (2nd hand)Audio Science ReviewRtingsHeadphonesComment / Other links
Apple Airpods Max629€Amirm 2021-08-08Rtings 2021-09-17Headphones 2021-01-14, TopicGood ANC
AKG N700 NC300€Amirm 2020-08-25Rtings 2018-10-04Topic
AKG N700 NCM2250€Rtings 2021-11-25
Audio-Technica ATH-WB20223000€More info
Bower & Wilkins P7(200€)TopicRtings 2016-08-08Topic
Bower & Wilkins PX7 / Carbon269€Rtings 2019-11-01
Bower & Wilkins PX7S2429€Good ANC?
Bower & Wilkins PX8 / 007699€ / 799€TopicTopicGood ANC?
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95899€
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay HX499€
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal499€Rtings 2021-05-04
Beyerdynamic Amiron / Copper555€ / 699€Rtings 2020-03-09
Bose NC700275€Amirm 2021-07-01Rtings 2021-10-29Superb ANC, Best Mic
Bose QuietComfort 35 II350€Amirm 2021-02-21Rtings 2020-11-26Superb ANC
Bose QuietComfort 45275€TopicRtings 2021-11-11Superb ANC
Focal Bathys799€TopicHeadphones 2022-10-04, Topic
Hifiman Ananda-BT789€Rtings 2020-09-03Topic
Hifiman HE-R9 Bluemini849€
Mark Levinson N°5909999€Amirm 2022-06-27, TopicTopic
Philips Fidelio L3/00300€
Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless249€TopicRtings 2019-10-21
Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless430€Rtings 2022-10-07Topic
Shure Aonic 50359€Rings 2020-07-29Topic
Sony WH-1000XM3(200€)Rtings 2020-11-13TopicBest ANC
Sony WH-1000XM4330€Amirm 2021-01-26Rtings 2022-11-01Headphones 2020-09-01Best ANC
Sony WH-1000XM5400€Rtings 2022-06-17Headphones 2022-07-07Good ANC

Noise Cancellation Performance comparative @ Rtings

I'll update the thread given provided links or the ones I find.
Any comment or link is welcome. :)

PS: since I'm not a forum donor I can only update my threads for 24h, so I'll renew it when there's enough content in comments with a new post.
 
Last edited:
OP
metasharp

metasharp

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Interesting comparison between 3 contestants for the throne :

Big comparative (but not too much in depth, no measures, ...) :
 
Last edited:

usersky

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AKG N700NC (/M2) sounds really good to me, definitely above some in the initial list. Also Philips Fidelio L3, bloated bass but really nice and better sounding (w/o eq) than some Sonys there. Both good quality build, especially Philips.
 
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metasharp

metasharp

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OP
metasharp

metasharp

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Added as well usersky proposals to my original post.
 
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metasharp

metasharp

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Today I listened to many of them that I would rank that way :
- Focal Bathys
- B&W PX8
- B&W PX7 S2
- Sony WH1000-XM4
- B&W P7
- B&W PX7
- Beyer Dynamics Amiron
- Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 4
- Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3
- Yamaha YH-L700A

Unfortunately, couldn't put my hands on the other bold items from my array that may be better than the Focal Bathys.

I'll need to add this tool in my post as well :
 
Last edited:

TonyJZX

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some of these headphones have long been discontinued

i have the AKG N700NCM2 and by the time I bought it they had long finished production (in the middle of the Samsung takeover???)

also most of the B&W P7 series is long gone

as a result a lot of the ANC and codec technology is behind the times
 
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metasharp

metasharp

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Still the P7 (2nd hand in parenthesis) is an interesting headphone for its price. The goal is here to consider all candidates that had more or less a chance to compete for the throne.
Sad thing ... i was in paris audio video show ... but didn't knew/see/listened audio technica 3000e flagship.
 

LTig

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I thought it'd be nice to a a summary of the available products and information we have or lack.
I didn't mention below headphones that are most certainly not qualified to be the best. If I forgot anything, please mention it.
Thanks. You might think about adding the AKG K371bt. @amirm reviewed the AKG K371 (non bt version) but so far the differences between bt and non bt seem to be small, and the bt version can also be used with cable. I bought it because the bt version was sold for almost the price of the non bt version.

Edit: the bt version also has a microphone built in so it can be used as headset for video conferences (Zoom, MS Teams, ...)
 
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usersky

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some of these headphones have long been discontinued

i have the AKG N700NCM2 and by the time I bought it they had long finished production (in the middle of the Samsung takeover???)

AKG N700NCM2 is current, you must confuse it with another model. It even uses Samsung's exclusive codec so it was done under Samsung ownership.
 

jhaider

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some of these headphones have long been discontinued

i have the AKG N700NCM2 and by the time I bought it they had long finished production (in the middle of the Samsung takeover???)

Are these discontinued? If so that's too bad because they're excellent.
 

usersky

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Are these discontinued? If so that's too bad because they're excellent.
They trully are, much better sound, design and comfort than AKG K371bt IMO. Totally recomand it about K371. Of all BT closed I tested they sound the best without any EQ. The only fault I find to them is they are not obviously marked L/R but that's already nitpicking. Just checked, you can buy them at Amazon DE for example, no issue. Mine were bought just few weeks ago. I don't know why but they were never available in may countries (mine included).
 

usersky

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Thanks. You might think about adding the AKG K371bt. @amirm reviewed the AKG K371 (non bt version) but so far the differences between bt and non bt seem to be small, and the bt version can also be used with cable. I bought it because the bt version was sold for almost the price of the non bt version.

Edit: the bt version also has a microphone built in so it can be used as headset for video conferences (Zoom, MS Teams, ...)
K371 BT vs non BT differ in cushions size. This may change how these stay on the head. For me K371BT are not ok at all in the way they stay on the head and ears, mostly because of their unusual headband mechanism. Maybe 361 and 371 non BT, with different cushions were designed to stay betted but then BT came along and forced them to sacrifice (reduce) cushion geometry? I wond't regard these two as very similar because of that issue that make 371BT unusable for me.
 
OP
metasharp

metasharp

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Preview of next post integrating all comments :

Hello,

I thought it'd be nice to a a summary of the available products and information we have or lack.
I didn't mention below headphones that are most certainly not qualified to be the best. If I forgot anything, please mention it.

Model (candidates for best)Price (2nd hand)Audio Science ReviewRtingsHeadphonesComment / Other links
Apple Airpods Max629€Amirm 2021-08-08Rtings 2021-09-17Headphones 2021-01-14, TopicGood ANC
AKG K371-BT(170€)Amirm 2021-01-23 (not BT)Rtings 2019-12-18 (not BT)Headphones 2019-10-11 (not BT), Topic
AKG N700 NC300€Amirm 2020-08-25Rtings 2018-10-04Topic
AKG N700 NCM2250€Rtings 2021-11-25
Audio-Technica ATH-WB20223000€More info
Bower & Wilkins P7(200€)TopicRtings 2016-08-08TopicNo ANC
Bower & Wilkins PX7 / Carbon269€Rtings 2019-11-01
Bower & Wilkins PX7S2429€Good ANC?
Bower & Wilkins PX8 / 007699€ / 799€TopicTopicGood ANC?
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95899€
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay HX499€
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal499€Rtings 2021-05-04
Beyerdynamic Amiron / Copper555€ / 699€Rtings 2020-03-09
Bose NC700275€Amirm 2021-07-01Rtings 2021-10-29Superb ANC, Best Mic
Bose QuietComfort 35 II350€Amirm 2021-02-21Rtings 2020-11-26Superb ANC
Bose QuietComfort 45275€TopicRtings 2021-11-11Superb ANC
Focal Bathys799€TopicHeadphones 2022-10-04, Topic
Hifiman Ananda-BT789€Rtings 2020-09-03Topic
Hifiman HE-R9 Bluemini849€
Mark Levinson N°5909999€Amirm 2022-06-27, TopicTopic
Philips Fidelio L3/00300€
Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless249€TopicRtings 2019-10-21
Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless430€Rtings 2022-10-07Topic
Shure Aonic 50359€Rings 2020-07-29Topic
Sony WH-1000XM3(200€)Rtings 2020-11-13TopicBest ANC
Sony WH-1000XM4330€Amirm 2021-01-26Rtings 2022-11-01Headphones 2020-09-01Best ANC
Sony WH-1000XM5400€Rtings 2022-06-17Headphones 2022-07-07Good ANC

Noise Cancellation Performance comparative @ Rtings
IEF Neutral & Harman compliance comparison tool

I'll update the thread given provided links or the ones I find.
Any comment or link is welcome. :)

PS: since I'm not a forum donor I can only update my threads for 24h, so I'll renew it when there's enough content in comments with a new post.

Interesting comparison between 3 contestants for the throne :
Big comparative (but not too much in depth, no measures, ...) :
- Focal Bathys
- B&W PX8
- B&W PX7 S2
- Sony WH1000-XM4
- B&W P7
- B&W PX7
- Beyerdynamic Amiron
- Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3
- Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 4
- Yamaha YH-L700A
 
OP
metasharp

metasharp

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To me the main discussion turns around a comparison of :
  • Audio-Technica ATH-WB2022
  • Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95
  • Focal Bathys
  • Hifiman Ananda-BT
  • Mark Levinson N°5909
Inputs and measures are welcome.

From different reviews, final ranking could be this one
  • Audio-Technica ATH-WB2022 (not tested, pure supposition due to hardware involved)
  • Mark Levinson N°5909
  • Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95
  • Focal Bathys
  • Hifiman Ananda-BT
 
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Dazerdoreal

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As you also mention other not-so-expensive headphones, the Hifiman Deva Pro might also deserve a spot on your list. It is an open headphone but uses the same "bluemini" dongle as the HE-R9. That said, I am not completely satisfied with the dongle. Mine has rather high background noise while running, even in DAC mode (so it is not the BT connection). It doesnt have ANC.
 

Maxviii

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If earbuds are allowed in the above list, then you should consider to add:
I dislike the app with only preset-EQ, however parametric Eq should only relatively improve the overall performance.
 
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metasharp

metasharp

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no earbuds, just headphones in this topic
 

majingotan

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Mine is a custom-made closed headphones based on Sony MDR 7506 and a BT receiver with Mic + copper cables and no ANC.

Total Cost of BOM: 100€
Subjective Ranking: around Focal Bathy's sound quality

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