Bang & Olufsen
Very good for most listening situations – I purchased these in January 2019 for $799 at JB Hi Fi and at first ran into a few issues with quality but had them replaced under warranty in… Read more
February 2019. Ever since then I've absolutely loved them.
My review is based on the warranty replacement pair I've been using.
Look and feel: 9.5/10 I bought the natural ones, which are a light tan leather with silver throughout. These look absolutely stunning everytime I look at them and scream luxury (expected for the price tag). The lambskin leather on the earpads has started to patina over the last month or so which really gives it a character. They feel very well constructed and they don't have much give to them regarding bending and extending the earcups from the headband.
Comfort: 9/10 The pads on the earcups are very soft and plush, quite warm to the ears so they're fantastic in winter, however not so good to the summer at they cause a lot of ear sweat. The earcups are also a circle and not a very big circle, instead of the oval you'd find on most over ear headphones, so those with large ears will likely not fit their entire ear inside the earcup, my ears are about midsized and only just fit inside the cups. The cups are also fairly shallow and the hardware inside the pad will touch your ears, especially if your ears stick out, it took a while for me to get used to it. The headband is fairly comfortable however it's still fairly firm, so you won't forget you're wearing them unfortunately.
Wireless features, battery and ANC: 8/10 These are quite good, however are limited in their wireless support, they don't support AptX or AptxHD, nor LDAC (however that's a Sony exclusive I'm pretty sure). The gestures are all quite responsive except the volume as you have to be very accurate with circular swiping to get a response. The transparency feature is very good, allows you to hear everything going on outside without needing to take your headphones off. The proximity sensors are also quite good, however you need to let them calibrate before putting them on, so you need to turn the headphones on and wait for the white light indicator next to the power switch to turn off before putting the headphones on. Battery life is fair, close to the claimed time of 18 hours with wireless and ANC on and 24 without ANC. ANC is quite good, however I need to turn volume up a fair bit to completely cancel out transport noises. They cut out most of the jet engine roar.
Sound quality: 9.5/10 Disclaimer: I'm not exactly an audiophile but I appreciate good sound. I listen on my LG V30+ on high impedance mode wired using Tidal and streaming in FLAC and MQA most of the time. The summary I'd use to describe the overall sound signature of these headphones, warm, natural and not too overbearing. I'll start off with the bass: This headphone will disappoint bassheads. I myself am very happy with the quality of the bass, quite a good extension into the sub bass, I don't hear it very well but I feel it. There isn't that much mid or high bass but enough to round out most songs.
Mids: These headphones shine in the low mids, giving the warmth to the sound signature. Very full and rich. The high mids are very similar as well.
Treble: There is a fairly significant rolloff in the upper treble, I feel it's done to avoid sibilance. Lower treble does not bleed into the upper mids and vice versa.
Vocals: Due to the forward nature of the mids, most vocals shine, however bass male vocals and soprano female vocals not so much, especially high belting females, think Vanessa Amorosi and such. These headphones roll off a lot of the higher overtones of high female belting, leaving a lot to be desired. These headphones are great at allowing Baritone (think Buble, Sinatra, George Ezra etc.), Tenor (most pop males), Alto (Cher, Annie Lennox etc) and Mezzo-Soprano (Florence Welch, Adele, Beyonce) vocals to shine.
Soundstage: Instrument separation is fairly good however these headphones can get overwhelmed when a lot of production is involved.
Overall verdict: 9/10 Despite the price tag, the H9i's are a fantastic headphone and I do not regret buying them even when needing to get a replacement after warranty. I absolutely love the sound quality, look and feel of these and would not hesitate to recommend these.
Comfortable and noise cancelling so can shut out the world – Bought a pair of Bang and Olufsen headphones, first pair of headphones I have owned. They come with a silky fabric bag which is nice but doesn't… Read more
protect them. I wanted a pair for the gym and these are great, bluetooth so not messy cables, sound cancelling so I cannot hear anyone else around me, comfortable and with a simple set of buttons on the side I can change tracks and volume easily. They also sit round my neck comfortably when I am not using them.
Very happy with my new Explore! Great product & customer service. Highly recommend – Bought the new Explore as a birthday gift for my mum because I know how much she loves the Bang & Olufsen brand. Everything about it is amazing! I… Read more
was also very pleased with the service I received from Bang & Olufsen Adelaide. Theo kept me updated along the way & also shipped my order out that same day. Thanks guys! Very happy customer.