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Mark Levinson No 5909 Headphone Review

Rate this headphone:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 22 11.6%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 55 28.9%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther

    Votes: 88 46.3%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 25 13.2%

  • Total voters
    190

starfly

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Would anyone who owns these mind taking measurements of the ear cup size? The inner dimensions, height x width x depth in mm? And how much do the pads compress while being worn? Do the drivers end up sitting on the ear?

I currently own the XM4 and they're just not that comfortable to wear for longer periods as the pads almost completely flatten, meaning the drivers sit on my ears, making the cartilage sore after a while.
 

hampestampe

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No professional tools, but ~42mm x 65mm.
20220904_105025.jpg
 
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hampestampe

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This is my Sony XM3 and Mark Levinson 5909. The cup and the pads are more than double in the No5909. I don't known how much this differ from XM4. The distance is defenitly longer in 5909.
The pads of the Sony becomes like 50% compressed when I put them on, the pads of the No5909 are soft enough for good comfort, but they are just comotessed some millimeters.
 

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hampestampe

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This is my Sony XM3 and Mark Levinson 5909. The cup and the pads are more than double in the No5909. I don't known how much this differ from XM4. The distance is defenitly longer in 5909.
The pads of the Sony becomes like 50% compressed when I put them on, the pads of the No5909 are soft enough for good comfort, but they are just comotessed some millimeters.
This is how it looks like when i press them slightly together, similar presure like having them on head.
20220904_111653.jpg
 

starfly

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No professional tools, but ~42mm x 65mm.
View attachment 228601

Thanks - I actually picked them up at a local store to try them out, and I measured the pads with calipers. I measured them at 63x39mm.

I think these sound fantastic and are pretty comfortable (though comfort could be greatly improved if they used angled drivers, which would give a lot more room to bigger ears). But, I'm looking for a pair of wireless ANC headphones to bring with me on long flights, to block out a lot of noise. And the ANC (on the High setting), at least as I tested it with some white noise, is really poor. There's not a huge difference between passive isolation and ANC enabled. Also compared to the B&W PX7 S2, which is significantly better (the Bose QC45 and Sony XM4 are waaaaay better than either of those).

For the price at $1K it's an unacceptable compromise to me to have such poor ANC, so these are going back to the store. You'd think Harman could do much better with ANC as they appear to have a lot of brainpower there. Too bad though, as they otherwise sound really good.
 

Music1969

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I'm really confused by the measurements showing analogue with "bass enhancement".

Isn't analogue input by-passing any DSP?

@amirm

The only 'bass enhancement' is with bluetooth input ?

1662890632265.png
 

CedarX

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I'm really confused by the measurements showing analogue with "bass enhancement".

Isn't analogue input by-passing any DSP?

The only 'bass enhancement' is with Bluetooth input ?
With the passive/audio USB-C / 3.5mm cable, there are two modes: a true "passive" or pass-through mode and an "analog" or buffered mode. When 5909 is powered on, connecting the loose passive cable immediately powers it off—no need to connect anything on the 3.5mm end of the cable. There is a detection feature built into the cable (pin A8 connected to GND). What is not obvious is that, at this stage, you can re-engage the ANC/Awareness/Off mode by pressing the ANC button (in any case BT remains off). It is not indicated in the manual, and you have to look at p2 of FAQ to find that out:

1662908693367.png


I believe what Amir calls "pass-through" is actually the analog mode, and I don't think he has measured the true passive mode...

For reference, here is the wiring of the passive cable. It is following this part of the USB-C standard where certain pins can be repurposed. Not proprietary strictly speaking, but how ML repurposed these pins is proprietary.

1662909162439.png
 

asrUser

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Almost all wireless over-ear ANC headphones don't have enough size for large ears. So annoying. That's why I only use wired headphones.
 

Jimbob54

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Almost all wireless over-ear ANC headphones don't have enough size for large ears. So annoying. That's why I only use wired headphones.
I have the same issue. Guessing you've tried the Bose 35ii? That manages it for me. Hate any over ear that ends up more on ear.
 

asrUser

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Guessing you've tried the Bose 35ii? That manages it for me. Hate any over ear that ends up more on ear.
Maybe I should try Bose. I gave up before shipping around too many headphones.
 

starfly

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Maybe I should try Bose. I gave up before shipping around too many headphones.
The Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Carbon actually has pretty large ear cups as well. It's close to the Bose QC45 in comfort (though the Bose slightly edges it out). I've tried quite a few wireless ANC cans, and the PX7 and the QC45 are the only ones that have decent comfort.

Still deciding between the two which I'll keep.
 

Music1969

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For reference, here is the wiring of the passive cable. It is following this part of the USB-C standard where certain pins can be repurposed. Not proprietary strictly speaking, but how ML repurposed these pins is proprietary.

View attachment 230165
THanks for this info.

It's hard for me to tell from this if left and right channels have shared grounds along the cable length - or seperate insulated grounds along the cable length? cc @solderdude
 

solderdude

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Impossible to know without cutting the cable.
There don't seem to be balanced cables available and given the usage of the USB-C plug for audio as well (there must be some switching happening inside as well) it seems the most likely to be a 3-wire audio path.
Most likely SBU1 and/or SBU2 are monitored to see if these pins are grounded by the 3.5mm cable. That could be how the headphone knows to use audio or USB... or maybe the absence of Vbus when in cabled audio mode.
 

CedarX

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I did a quick test with 2x USB-C breakout boards and 3x Dupont wires, with 5909 in passive mode: L and R work correctly with GND (1 wire) connected to either A1, B1, A12, B12, or Shield pins.
Note that it also “works” (kinda) with just the L+ and R+ connected, no GND wire, but the sound is mono. It seems to indicate that the 5909 USB-C connector only exposes a 3-wire audio connection, no balanced cable appears possible…
 

CedarX

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Most likely SBU1 and/or SBU2 are monitored to see if these pins are grounded by the 3.5mm cable. That could be how the headphone knows to use audio or USB... or maybe the absence of Vbus when in cabled audio mode.
With 5909 powered on, connecting SBU1 or SBU2 to GND (1 wire on breakout board) immediately powers it off: at a minimum, 5909 monitors these two pins to detect that an audio/passive cable has been connected.
 

solderdude

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The next question would be if the drivers are connected directly via relay contacts or some SS switching.
 

CedarX

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The next question would be if the drivers are connected directly via relay contacts or some SS switching.
The only thing I can say is I dont hear any relay “click”… but that’s a clue, not a fact. If it is a switching chip, there may be some added non-linearity (probably inaudible). The other question is what happens when the battery is EOL, 0V. I believe some of these switching chips have a default pass-through even without power, but it’s not always true: I have an Austrian Audio Hi-X25BT (BT, USB-C digital & passive, but no ANC) and although I haven’t run into that situation, it requires ‘some residual energy’ to work in passive mode.
 

CedarX

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Another test: when in digital or BT mode, TX1/2+ and TX1/2- (the L+ and R+) show nothing... They are definitely switched "off" and don't expose the drivers signal. I also looked at the other unused pins on the 5909 USB-C connector and did not see anything interesting: I was secretly hoping that the internal DAC/HPA outputs would be exposed, so we could measure the internals performance and what the ANC/DSP does, all of this without taking the HP apart... but no... :(:(:(
 
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Hephaestus

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Mechanical quality of these headphones seems to be somewhat questionable:
-Leather started to peel off from the headband (glue joint failed)
-Headband mechanism has started to creak (Unit Amir tested had creaking headband as well..)
-ANC mic(s) began to create "crackling" sound in one of the earcups when moving/turning head
-No fix for the Head-on detection delivered yet

I had to file warranty claim. Really sad :(
 

Kevbaz

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Mechanical quality of these headphones seems to be somewhat questionable:
-Leather started to peel off from the headband (glue joint failed)
-Headband mechanism has started to creak (Unit Amir tested had creaking headband as well..)
-ANC mic(s) began to create "crackling" sound in one of the earcups when moving/turning head
-No fix for the Head-on detection delivered yet

I had to file warranty claim. Really sad :(
It’s a shame to hear already problems :( I’ve had mine for a few months with no issues so far, but I only use mine in the house for about an hour a day so they don’t get heavy use. You would expect as these are aimed at mobile use they would be tough.
I hope ML sort yours out on the warranty.
Kev
 
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