B&W enters the headphone market

[The Monkey]

Did you strap them to your head?

[Lone Midranger]

Did you strap them to your head?

LOL. No. Does that make them sound better?

[naamanf]

LOL. No. Does that make them sound better?

Only if you turn it up to 11.

Thought I liked the 804s once but I was mistaken.

[Voltron]

The 802s can be glorious although the other B&W speakers are not good.

And Lone Midranger might want to read the welcome PM again lest pain to the back of the head might ensue.

[n_maher]

The 802s can be glorious although the other B&W speakers are not good.

And Lone Midranger might want to read the welcome PM again lest pain to the back of the head might ensue.

One more LOL and he won't know what hit him.

[bhjazz]

I think I read that the only true way to wire these is similar to my avatar, for some reason. You can't see the multiple array of WBT connectors, but I assure you they are there.

[Knuckledragger]

I, for one, like B&W speakers. Not all of them, mind. I have had a soft spot for the 302 for over a decade now, though I have never quite gotten around to owning a pair. The bigger B&Ws have a really good synergy with Krell boat anchor amps. The older single 15" woofer Nautilus speakers (the 801s?) a bit two ...Cerwin-Vega-esque for my taste, but in a brief audition I liked the newer ones. I'm also quite happy with my CDN-CNT center channel speaker. It's kinda funky looking, but it spits out dialog with great clarity. I'm dyslexic, and I have a much harder time with auditory processing of language than "normal" people. I watch a lot of old movies, and I appreciate how well the B&W works with low-fi source material. YMMV. I like pie.

[Dusty Chalk]

I have to admit to having a soft spot for diamonds.

[swt61]

I have to admit to having a soft spot for diamonds.

Well they are a shaved headed guy’s best friend.

[Ben Gramain]

These have kind of drifted in and out of my sight for a few months. Still looking for a replacement for the Triports. Could these be it?

[mypasswordis]

Could be, yeah, if the headband also snaps like a dry twig.

[Ben Gramain]

Not a problem in my case... and I bought my Triports over three years ago. I don't stretch them like some sort of reverse thighmaster for the arms to put them on (which is what causes snappage, in much the same way as it does on A-T's).

All I want is a comfortable, lightweight circumaural portable phone which sounds decent, offers up actually usable isolation, and doesn't make you look like a dork. That hard? Apparently so. How does the B&W fare in those respects?

[mypasswordis]

My bad, I thought you were joking. But I wouldn't call the Triport circumaural, per se (unless you have small ears). I'm guessing you think the Shures look nerdy? They seem to be getting good rep and I heard the 840 out of the Pico Slim and it didn't suck (though was too bassy, though probably great for portable use).

[jinp6301]

I tried the B&Ws yesterday at the apple store. The isolation is great. Sound is ok and I think they look pretty snazzy.

[Ben Gramain]

The 840's are excellent for the price/performance/isolation/comfort but have to be the stupidest looking halfway portable headphone on the head out there. No way I'm walking around with one. And there are two Triports, the AE's and OE's. The AE's are definitely circumaural.

The biggest problem with the obvious phone of choice in this scenario for the typical peer-driven Head-Fier, i.e. those who automatically bash 'consumer' brands now they think they're above them, the Audio-Technica ESW's (aka Beats for snobophiles who don't have a pair of MDR-V700DJ's handy to smell the coffee with) is the lack of usable isolation. Well, that and the fact that from a distance you actually look like you have two chocolate mini cakes strapped to your head.

I use IEM's most of the time, but I tend to revert to the Triports during late autumn <-> early spring. Hasn't snapped or otherwise developed any issues, and apart from the closed-phone honk I think they do the job very well. And the thing is, I moved to the Triports after I'd had pretty much everything that the Head-Fi type would recommend given the task, because after consideration they do a better job of balancing comfort, isolation, acceptable mobile sound and counter-dork.

It's not like I don't have the money for a step-up... I'm definitely redy for one in terms of better sound quality, but I've yet to actually find that step-up which doesn't fatally compromise one of the other requirements. I kept the HD25's around for the longest time because they were the only other viable balance (i.e. good sound, superior isolation and not massively dorky, but poor comfort), but I realised that I was hardly wearing them anymore because of the comfort issues. And after the ESW9/10 and the SRH840, I've decided to be a little more discerning and not to piss my money away buying everything new without doing more research.

Well, apart from the T1 that I've just bought on impulse...<cough>

@jinp6301: From my POV, opinions gained from Apple Store trials (and Meets, although lets not go there) are kind of worthless from a sound aspect, but pretty useful from a handling point of view. Any plans to go back there? If so, I'd appreciate an isolation comparison between the Triport AE's (around-ears) which are probably out for demo as well.

[Dusty Chalk]

The 840's are excellent for the price/performance/isolation/comfort but have to be the stupidest looking halfway portable headphone on the head out there.

Wait, you think they're worse than the Triports?

[jinp6301]

Well, I just tried them to see how their isolation was, and since its a portable headphone, they should be able to sound pretty decent out of a noisy environment. If I go back there, I'll do a comparison with the triports.

[Ben Gramain]

Wait, you think they're worse than the Triports?

As I said, audiowise they're great especially given the isolation at hand and comfort is decent, but they look moronic when worn. Probably caused the bigest teeth-gnashing so far: If they didn't look the way they do when worn they'd have been perfect.

[Dusty Chalk]

As I said, audiowise they're great especially given the isolation at hand and comfort is decent, but they look moronic when worn. Probably caused the bigest teeth-gnashing so far: If they didn't look so stupid when worn they'd have been perfect.

I understand you were talking about the looks, I remain perplexed. The Shures are basically typical design headphones -- not too unlike the Sony MDR-V6/-7506 -- in looks, and black. The Triports -- I can spot them a mile away, and they look...toyish.

Anyway, you're entitled to your opinion, I just completely disagree. Must be an across-the-pond thing.

[Ben Gramain]

Thanks for your generosity in allowing me my opinion. They may look like the V6's on a webpage but I assure you that they look rather different on the head. Think of them like 7509's with head-mounted spoiler on a fairly large head.

[The Monkey]

@jinp6301: From my POV, opinions gained from Apple Store trials (and Meets, although lets not go there) are kind of worthless from a sound aspect, but pretty useful from a handling point of view. Any plans to go back there? If so, I'd appreciate an isolation comparison between the Triport AE's (around-ears) which are probably out for demo as well.

Jin's impressions from the Apple Store are good enough for you.

[Dusty Chalk]

They may look like the V6's on a webpage but I assure you that they look rather different on the head. Think of them like 7509's with head-mounted spoiler on a fairly large head.

I have a pair, I know what they look like. And I just don't find them that dorky looking.

[Ben Gramain]

Jin's impressions from the Apple Store are good enough for you.

Who are you? My mom?

I have a pair, I know what they look like. And I just don't find them that dorky looking.

I guess it's a matter of degree in terms of personal tolerance to dorkiness. Unless you have a tiny head and therefore don't need to extend the wide-shouldered headband, it's dorky to me.

[thrice]

There's dorky, and then there's dor-kay.

[Dusty Chalk]

Aw, c'mon, that dude looks good no matter what you photoshop on his head.