B&W P5 review

spl23

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My local Apple Store got the new B&W P5 headphones in recently, and I noticed yesterday that they had them. I had a quick listen on the demo pair in the shop, and was impressed, and after a bit of agonising about spending £250 on a set of headphones, I reassured myself that they'd take them back if I didn't like them and went and handed over my credit card today...

My previous reference headphones were the Shure E500 IEMs, which I think sound outstanding, but, particularly when I am listening at work, they are a pain to have to keep removing and inserting when people come and ask you questions, so I wanted to try some on-ear phones instead. I've been using a pair of £30 Sennheisers, but the sound quality on them is nowhere near as good as on the Shures.

The P5s actually kill quite a lot of outside noise - perhaps not as much as the Shures, but there is certainly a noticeable reduction in outside sound when you put them on. The earpads are very comfortable; the only thing I'd say is that the headband clamps your ears quite tightly. It's not painful, but you are aware of the pressure. In all other respects the phones are comfortable and they're quite light in weight. Your ears can get a bit warm under the earpads, but they are no worse in this respect than any other on-ear phones I've used.

Sound-wise, these are a very good headphone, as you'd expect for the price. I'm assured they take a couple of days use to break in fully, and mine have only been out of the box for a few hours, but they already sound superb. The sound is very balanced; there is low bass, and high treble, but the overall effect is very well integrated and natural sounding - the one thing these phones won't sound is fatiguing. That said, they don't sound dull, either - it's a very well judged tonal balance. (Very reminiscent of my B&W XT4 speakers, actually.) Bass isn't seismically low and pounding, but if it is present on the recording, the P5s will capture it.

Volume-wise, I am amazed at how easy they are to drive. I'm using them with a 6G iPod classic, which hasn't got the most powerful headphone amp in the world, but it will drive them to very high levels with no sign of distress, and the dynamics are more than adequate - I'd say they lose out very little to the E500s, which are a comparably tiny driver coupled far more closely to the eardrum. For normal listening, there's no need to have the iPod volume much over 50%, and that's on an EU-volume-capped classic.

Finally, the build quality of the P5 is outstanding. There's no plastic anywhere on them - the headband is metal padded with real leather, as are the earcups. The supplied cables are on the short side, and feel a bit flimsy compared to the rest of the package, but they are easily interchangeable if they get damaged - I presume that B&W will sell replacements. (Actually, given the price, I'd expect B&w to give you replacements for free...) The package includes two cables, one with an integrated iPod controller and microphone, and one without, a 3.5mm to 1/4 inch adaptor, and a quilted carry pouch with an inner pocket to hold your iPod - a nice touch. (This was the only problem with mine - the pouch has a flap which is held shut with a magnet at each corner, but on mine, one magnet was missing. For £250, I wasn't putting up with that, but the Apple Shop happily replaced the pouch with one with the full complement of magnets - a bit worrying that B&Ws quality control didn't spot that though...)

Are they worth the price tag? Depends on your priorities - there may be better-sounding headphones at the price (although I suspect there aren't many - certainly I'm quite happily sitting here listening to them in preference to my Shures, and in preference to my speakers, come to that), but I don't think you'll find much that combines that sound quality with impeccable build and styling in the way that these do. Put it this way - I don't think I will be availing myself of the Apple Shop's 14-day return period!
 
Nice.

The specs don't suggest any amping is necessary, and I realise BW are marketing these at portable players, as that is a far bigger market, but it's a lot of cash for use with such a source, and on the go, which is where most phones meet their death.

Can't help feeling they're short-changing these phones running them from an iPod, just seems like a large quality mismatch.
 
I've had these for a few weeks now and like the OP switched from Shure - SE530 in my case, which I was finding increasingly uncomfortable to wear.

For sound quality from a portable player the P5s are hard to beat. I rip everything in Apple Lossless and use an iPhone 3GS, and IMO the P5s sound richer and more detailed than the Shures.

I wear glasses, which do impact very slightly on the closeness of the earcups on the ears and according to several reviews I've read, positioning of the cups can make a difference to sound quality. I generally fiddle until everything feels comfortable and then just enjoy the sounds I'm hearing .....

The clamping does ease with time, or at least it has in my case. I find the P5s extremely comfortable to wear for several hours.

Overall, they're excellent and well worth the money if you want a high quality on-ear headphone that can be driven easily by iPods and iPhones. I just wish I still had one of my Sony players to see if the P5s could sound even better with a better portable source.
 
Nice review by the way. I don't mean to ruin your thread I just thought I'd give my opinion on these headphones.

I recently visited an Apple store to listen to these new P5's. I took my X Series Walkman along and honestly wasn't impressed at all. I don't really know what I was expecting from these phones, but I honestly didn't think they were worth £250. Granted, Apple Store's are always extremely busy and loud so it wasn't the best place to audition but I experimented with different settings on my Walkman, enhances on/off, playing with the equaliser but just couldn't make sense of it. I couldn't really find any advantage over my Klipsch X10's. I really wanted to like these headphones but in the end I walked away disappointed.

Obviously this is just my opinion, and maybe they would sound better with an amp and they probably would be better with a proper quiet listen but I suggest listening for yourself before making the purchase.

I've actually decided to sell my Walkman and my Shure + Klipsch IEMs. They just can't compare to a proper home set up.
 
That's a fair comment, J2C. I think one of the reasons I like the P5s is that they aren't "impressive", in that you don't put them on and think "wow!", which in my experience is usually a sign of some artificial enhancement somewhere. (See Bose's non-noise-cancelling phones for an example...) What they do is provide a very natural sound that is far less fatiguing to listen to for long periods than any other phones I've tried, but they don't do it by sucking all the life from the sound, as I find some Sennheisers (which also sound fairly neutral) tend to do.

If you want your socks blown off, the P5s aren't for you - but if you want something that you can listen to for hours, they might be.
 
FWIW, I've never listened to a single headphone that made me go WoW. I guess it depends on prior expectations.

The MS2 impressed me straight away, but was extremely fatiguing in a short time. The AKG701 was dull and lifeless with some music (properly amped too, BTW).

I liked my RS2 instantly without being floored, despite hyping myself up for them, and going out of my way to get them for a bargain while in LA last year.

My DT250 was the least impressive phone I ever auditioned, but I kept going back to it whilst trying out other phones, bought it, and it's grown on me, to the point where its probably my favourite. It allows you to listen to anything at all, reproduces everything from metal to classical equally well, with no fatigue and extreme comfort.

No wow necessary.
 
I currenly own a pair of P5 and iphone, wonder if is is worth in spend money in a LOD cable and IBasso headphone amp?
 
I currenly own a pair of P5 and iphone, wonder if is is worth in spend money in a LOD cable and IBasso headphone amp?

My guess would be not worth the expense, since the P5s are meant to be optimised for use (unamped) with iPods etc. But I'm absolutely no expert in headphone amps so would be interested to read about anyone who's tried one with these headphones.

Now to show extreme ignorance - what's a LOD cable??
 
I've tried the P5s into my Arcam AVR350 - not a dedicated headphone amp, but still a rather more beefy source of amps than the iPod, and they didn't sound noticeably better. I really don't know how B&W have managed to get the volume and quality they have from the iPod with these cans, but my guess would be that a small headphone amp won't make a noticeable difference.
 
Have to say i purchased a set of these from the apple store but returned them within a week as i found that although they sounded ok with my iphone 3gs playing Apple lossless files they seemed a bit bass heavy for my tastes and when i played them through the headphone output of my Arcam A28 Amp the bottom end got very boomy to the point where i could not listen to them

Just my personal experience

Also although they felt wonderful i feared for there ability to survive long term

My search for some closed over the ear headphones goes on

Gone back to my B&O A8's for the moment
 
We had a pair of B&W P5's on loan for evaluation. I agree with D-FENS comments about the P5's warm sound signature. They definitely sacrifice clarity for a warm, relaxed sound.
 
Have to say i purchased a set of these from the apple store but returned them within a week as i found that although they sounded ok with my iphone 3gs playing Apple lossless files they seemed a bit bass heavy for my tastes and when i played them through the headphone output of my Arcam A28 Amp the bottom end got very boomy to the point where i could not listen to them

Did you allow it to run in first? Others say this headphone need a good 24 to 48 Hours run in. and the bass could sound muddy before running in.
 
Yes, they were left running in over a weekend before review.

The B&W P5's are excellent headphones, but if you do your research you can do better for less. You are definitely paying a premium for the brand with the P5.

If you like the design and enjoy a warm sound signature then you can't go wrong with the P5.
 
I had these headphones for best part of a week and compared them to AKG701s and Sennheiser HD600 as they were good for a cost comparison.

All sets were running non stop for a whole weekend before any listening took place.

Please see attached sheet for findings. Apologies - this is how I presented the results for a project I was working on.

What is not noted in the test

1. the build quality of the B&Ws is excellent.
2. The B&W are so easy to drive - perfect for portables.
 

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I had these headphones for best part of a week and compared them to AKG701s and Sennheiser HD600 as they were good for a cost comparison.

All sets were running non stop for a whole weekend before any listening took place.

Please see attached sheet for findings. Apologies - this is how I presented the results for a project I was working on.

What is not noted in the test

1. the build quality of the B&Ws is excellent.
2. The B&W are so easy to drive - perfect for portables.

Thanks for the review.

I wonder if the other 2 headphone open or closed? As I need the headphone in my office without gaining too much attention.
Wonder how the P5 compared against X10i which is simlar price, which have the iphone button and does not lack sounds to surroundings.
PS, this P5 headphone did not block the chatting from others, not very good sounds blocker
 
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Yes the AKG 701s and the HD600 are open backed and you'd look a bit more conspicuous on a train! I use little sony in ears for the office which cost around £50 10 years ago, they were to my ears better than the B&Ws but obviously there isn't the material cost or quality involved. I also listened to the HD600s in the office and they were great for hearing people and not being totally zoned out!

I think the B&Ws have their market, and probably those who can afford them for portable use already have something like AKG or Sennheisers at home for more focussed sessions.
 
I have owned the P5 for a couple of week now, compared to my old in-ear headphone Etymotic hf2, it gives the bass that my in-ear headphone lack of.

However I found the sounds is a bit muddy, and I find that I can not wear the headphone as long as my in-ear headphe as I start feeling pain in the ear-drum after a an hours of listening, my old headset can last for 8 hours with no problem.

wounder if it is due to the music in my iphone is mp3 192 and 320.

May have to return it to apple shop as the headphe cause me headache atm.
 
Yep, I agree. I also felt the B&W P5's are a little muddy, especially when compared with an earphone as accurate as the Etymotic HF2. The HF2 is also very bass light, so maybe not a completely fair comparison.

You may want to consider the Beyerdynamic T50p - we've just written a mini review comparing the Beyerdynamic T50p with the B&W P5. In my opinion the T50p can safely be called the best high end portable headphone available. They appear to have got the tonal balance spot on (in my subjective opinion!)

Shaun
 
However I found the sounds is a bit muddy, and I find that I can not wear the headphone as long as my in-ear headphe as I start feeling pain in the ear-drum after a an hours of listening, my old headset can last for 8 hours with no problem.

wounder if it is due to the music in my iphone is mp3 192 and 320.
As Shaun says, more likely the inherent sound of the phones. I can't tell the difference between 192/320 and lossless (so long as I've ripped them and not downloaded from dodgy sources), few people can with any authority.
 

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