BEST BLUETOOTH, ANC, OVER-EAR <$400

[dallasjustice]

My Samsung Level Overs are held together by a paper binder clip. It’s time.

I use headphones for watching YouTube videos and movies. I also listen to a podcasts, audio books and occasionally some music.

I also do some work and take calls with headphones. So the mic has to be decent quality.

ANC is important but it doesn’t have to perform the best. Durability is important because I tend to break things.

Here are the ones I have an eye on but I’m hoping there are others I don’t know about other folks can suggest.

http://www.psbspeakers.com/products/headphones/M4U-8-Headphones

https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/headphones/over_ear_headphones/quietcomfort-35-wireless-ii.html

 

[March Audio]

The anc is excellent on the Bose, I havent found anything else that comes close.... and they dont sound too bad at all.......never thought I would say that about Bose... I cant vouch for the mic quality however

 

[March Audio]

Im afraid a quick search found lots of people complaing the bose mic is way too sensitive and picks up background noise and other people talking around you. Look on the bose forum.

 

[Thomas savage]

I got those Bose, they are very good noise cancelling can’s and the wireless function seems to work great too.

Iv abused them on various long haul flights and they are yet to lodge complaint .

Iv not used the mic on them.

 

[dallasjustice]

Paul Barton claims he used “beam forming” dual mics on the PSB. That sounds cool. But I’m not sure about the DSP room effect that he does. It seems like I’d want to turn that off. But I don’t that it’s possible according to this midget:

 

[Timbo2]

My Samsung Level Overs are held together by a paper binder clip. It’s time.

I use headphones for watching YouTube videos and movies. I also listen to a podcasts, audio books and occasionally some music.

I use a pair of Shure SE215s along with its optional bluetooth cable. One of the bad things about Shure's cable, besides its ridiculous price, is that it doesn't support AAC or aptX - especially low latency aptX. For critical listening I'm not a fan of any bluetooth, but for casual issues it's not a big deal. What IS a big deal to me is the latency with regular bluetooth while watching videos. On my Shure IEMs it is noticeable on video.

On my Shure cable Shure states a latency of 250ms whereas aptX is supposed to be around 40ms. So if your video source supports aptX I'd try to find a set of headphones that supports it. I'm not sure what the latencey is AAC, but that's mostly used on Apple products.

 

[tili]

PSB M4U8 is supposedly really uncomfortable but that might change with individual ears and heads, so please try them before you commit. Sony 1000x2 has really good ANC but not the best mic placement

 

[ljubisa_05]

My Samsung Level Overs are held together by a paper binder clip. It’s time.

I use headphones for watching YouTube videos and movies. I also listen to a podcasts, audio books and occasionally some music.

I also do some work and take calls with headphones. So the mic has to be decent quality.

ANC is important but it doesn’t have to perform the best. Durability is important because I tend to break things.

Here are the ones I have an eye on but I’m hoping there are others I don’t know about other folks can suggest.

http://www.psbspeakers.com/products/headphones/M4U-8-Headphones

https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/headphones/over_ear_headphones/quietcomfort-35-wireless-ii.html

Bowers&Wilkins PX headphones 100%. They don’t come cheap, but they sound fantastic!When you put them on your head and they’ll automatically power up and reconnect to your phone, playing whatever you last had on if the Bluetooth is on. Really cool headset.

 

[dallasjustice]

These new AudioTechnica headphones look good:

https://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/222c4aba71976084/index.html#BVQAWidgetID

 

[dallasjustice]

The new Beyerdynamic Amiron wireless is not ANC. But I like the hearing test it does to compensate for hearing differences using DSP. It’s much more expensive tho. It’s supposed to be available in a few weeks.
https://www.cnet.com/news/beyerdynamic-amiron-wireless-hands-on-preview-ces/

 

[Martin]

I have a pair of Plantronics Backbeat Pro 2 (https://www.plantronics.com/us/en/product/backbeat-pro-2) wireless noise cancelling headphones that sound very good to my ears. They rate better than the Bose for sound quality and nearly equal for noise cancelling; plus you can find them for around $150.

Martin

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

My Samsung Level Overs are held together by a paper binder clip. It’s time.

I use headphones for watching YouTube videos and movies. I also listen to a podcasts, audio books and occasionally some music.

I also do some work and take calls with headphones. So the mic has to be decent quality.

ANC is important but it doesn’t have to perform the best. Durability is important because I tend to break things.

Here are the ones I have an eye on but I’m hoping there are others I don’t know about other folks can suggest.

http://www.psbspeakers.com/products/headphones/M4U-8-Headphones

https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/headphones/over_ear_headphones/quietcomfort-35-wireless-ii.html

Hi Mike,

Do you really like Bluetooth headphones? I really have not found any that are really worthwhile. When necessary I prefer running my wired headphones via bluetooth I use a Bluetooth adapter. For phone calls I prefer to use the Plantronics Voyager Edge. Also the wired HiFi Man 400s sound pretty nice.

The Noontec zoro II wired or wireless are pretty cheap and decent sounding if you want to stick with Bluetooth. The microphone is not that good though.

https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/competent-and-low-cost-noontec-zoro-ii-wireless

https://www.amazon.com/Plantronics-Voyager-Edge-Wireless-Bluetooth/dp/B00JLVNF2O

https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Re...8-6&keywords=bluetooth+adapter+for+headphones

https://www.amazon.com/Hifiman-HE40...pID=4186pR7fj2L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/terrific-hifiman-he400s-planar-magnetic-headphones

 

[dallasjustice]

I went ahead and ordered the PSB M4U 8. I have a lot of respect for PSB’s approach to engineering. We will see. I ordered them on audio46. I saved a little compared to amazon. I’ll report once I get them.

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

I went ahead and ordered the PSB M4U 8. I have a lot of respect for PSB’s approach to engineering. We will see. I ordered them on audio46. I saved a little compared to amazon. I’ll report once I get them.

Read the Inner fidelity review looks like a good choice. To much going on for me though.

This quote might prove meaningful...
"I think they may be particularly well suited for older folks who are starting to get some hearing loss for both movies and music."

Read more at https://www.innerfidelity.com/conte...nceling-headphones-page-2#RXA7EljAoEKRxmL3.99

 

[dallasjustice]

I got the PSB M4U 8 on Wednesday. I’m sending them back. The Bluetooth is difficult to connect. It won’t automatically connect when I switch the headphones on. I have to hold down on the Bluetooth button every time I turn the headphones on.

They also have very high clamping force. I have a normal size head. They aren’t very comfortable.

The RoomFeel DSP doesn’t seem to be noticeable. Of course, there’s no way to tell what it does because it’s not defeatable. Everything sounds like normal headphone sound. There’s nothing special I can notice from the DSP.

The bass is overdone. It’s okay if I listen to rock music or movies. But if I want to blast some deadmau5 at higher volume, I can hear a little driver distortion and I can tell that the bass is way off from neutral. My reference being my JBL M2 system where I measure flat bass out to 20hz. It’s a bit disappointing to be honest. Maybe I was hoping for too much. They are just headphones after all.

 

[FrantzM]

Ok. Here I go

I tried the Bose and liked it. Tried the Sony and was blown away by its ANC implementation. Plainly put: it works IMHO better than the Bose itself better than anything other than the Sony

Soundwise I prefer the Bose by a slight margin. Slight enough to have gotten the Sony. I tried many some with audiophile creds. My conclusion ? On the ANC front it’s Sony or Bose nothing else comes close. Frankly the Bose headphones are good to very good. Again on a par or even to my ears....Gasp! Better than most if not all ANC Models from audiophiles reputed brands. And the Sony TOL is close to the Bose 35. Some may prefer it.

 

[dallasjustice]

I relented and ordered the Bose.

 

[Thomas savage]

I relented and ordered the Bose.

There you go, not the absolute in terms of sound imo but damn fine and you can abuse them.. my fat arse has sat on them , fellow plane passengers who weigh considerably more than me have sat on them and they are still working.

They are fat arse resistant.

 

[dallasjustice]

Bose is the correct answer to the question. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

Bose is the correct answer to the question. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.

Depends who you ask I guess. If Dr. Bose was still around he would give you a hug!