[Review] Bowers & Wilkins P7

[Majestic]

As this intended to be used as a pitch for the audio board recommendations, I'll be using the same format SSL used in his reviews.

 

Accessoires;

 

The Bowers & Wilkins comes shipped in a sleek, non-flashy cardboard box. It's placed in a pre-shaped and clothed Polyurethane enclosure within. The box and PU foam feels premium, but is ultimately not very special.

 

  

 

In the package is ofcrouse the P7, a booklet, a 3,5mm to 6,3mm adapter, a genuine leather with suede travel case and a replaceable cable with an inline remote that is designed for apple products only. The volume buttons don't work on android phones, play/skip however does. Weird.

 

 

Build quality:

 

Immaculate, that's honestly without any post-purchase rationalization. I'm very picky when it comes to build quality on everything I buy. I return power supplies because they exhibit coil whine or the bearings in the fans squeak.

There is nothing about this unit that feels cheap. The materials are all chromed steel, aluminium and real leather finish. Nothing rattles, feels loose or otherwise poorly constructed. It looks so well-built, you almost feel like a posh douche for wearing it in public. It's definitely designed to make a statement. And the smell when you first open the package, it's great.

 

The earpads are removeable, as is the cable but it comes with a proprietary 2.5mm connector. Maybe someone with mad DIY skills can bend their 2.5mm plug to fit the bay, but generally you'd have to buy replacement units from the B&W store. They offer up to a guaranteed 10 year guaranteed delivery of those accesoires, the store told me.

 

 

 

The pads are also genuine leather, but are sadly not memory foam. Which brings us to ergonomics.

 

Ergonomics:

 

As I said, the pads are not memory foam. But the quite fierce initial pressure they exhibit does reside over use fairly shortly. Not sure why this happens, perhaps something outside of the pads. But they remain fairly 'clampy' after they've reached their 'equilibrium'.  Especially compared to my K612's, which are really soft on the ears. They're also pretty heavy, which is unsuprising given the materials that were used. I wouldn't say they're unbearably heavy though. But I can see them becoming an issue if you decided to play some long gaming session with them in a static position. The added weight is not a problem when on the move, as they clamp pretty tight on your head. The added inertia of the cans does not make it easier for them to fall off your head. But I would give caution to people who wear glasses, if they're a pair which isn't slim or the type that is someone extended from your head...you'll run into issues with these cans.

 

Sound isolation is average I guess. I have nothing to compare this with, other than my open AKG's. I'd say they mute a good portion, but have not been in any particularly crowded or noisy enviroment with them to confirm how they isolate.

 

Sensitivty and amplification:

 

The cans have only 22 output impedance (across the entire frequency range, they vary very little) and have 111 db/SPL sensitivy. So they're extremely efficient and can be driven by almost anything. Though I would add the caveat that because they're 22ohm and 111db/spl, they're in the IEM region of sensitivity. And that comes with the added problem that output impedance becomes a factor of the source. And boy do these scale with audio gear.

 

Especially the bass suffers heavily if you plug these into a run-of-the-mill 10 ohm output source. It becomes very boomy, really quickly. If you want the best response out of these, I recommend you look for low impedance sources. They were designed for iphones, and those have 2-3 ohm max. Most of the times sub 1ohm.

 

Sound:

 

Now to the meat and potatoes. How do they sound? I guess "fun" is the easiest way to explain it. Though that immediately puts them into the 'millenial category' which is a little unfair, allow me to elaborate. For reference i'll be using my AKG K612 Pro 'reference headphones'. The gear i'm using is a AudioEngine D1 (SSL's favorite) DAC and for amplification i'm using an Objective O2 amplifier. The music I used is mostly a mixture of funk and metal. Think primus, tool, rush. But also Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd. 

 

 

The Objective;

 

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AKGK612.pdf

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/BowersWilkinsP7.pdf

 

The Subjective:

Bass: Since they're closed headphones, this is generally not much of an issue for these cans. They extend extremly far, without much roll off. The bass is, contrary to what innerfidelity says, fairly tight and punchy, if a tad boosted (i'd say they have a bit of a mid-bass hump). I think they didn't use a low-impedance source when they were testing the headphones. As I said, if I plug this directly into the D1 the bass becomes much more 'boomy' and loose. Though he does mention it scales really well with better audio gear, which falls in line with my commentary. Low extensions like "low" from Ludacris are no problem for these headphones, they present all the subwoofer tones with equal presentation. Both my AKG's and A5+ speakers fall short of representing the lowest tones at the same volume. 6-string bass guitars also sound tight. The coil control/response, given the correct source, is also really good. Meaning the bass doesn't blend into the midrange and thus loses soundstage and the "pulsating" sound cheap cans give with EDM/ bass-heavy music.

 

Mid-Upper: Compared to the AKG's this is a tad retracted. Tom's and vocals are tuned a bit lower than the bass is. After the midbashump there is a low-mid notch. Though i'm no sound expert so I don't know where all the frequency components of the different instruments lie.

 

Treble: The AKG's are 'treble cannons' compared to the P7's. The P7's are definitely not, but that's why I like both cans. The p7's have a lot of detail and seperation in the treble, but they're not as harsh. It makes for a much easier to listen pair, without losing detail. I can recall innerfidelity being exceptionally pleased with this aspect of the cans.

 

Soundstage: Well they're closed, so you definitely feel like you got a pair of cans on your head. Though because of the coil-control (def. better than the K612's, subjectively and objectively), there is still a lot of seperation of the frequencies thus leading to a still very immersive soundstage. But for gaming i'd still prefer my open-backed K612's, just because they're simply open they provide a better soundstage and are more "airy".

 

Dynamics:  No distortion on high volumes, and they retain most of the detail when at lower volumes. Though they sound a bit dull if you turn the knob down really low. But I guess that goes for every headphone. My K612 is no different in this regard. I have not driven them to extreme levels though, as I'm fully aware that the Objective2 can destroy these lightweights if i'm not careful. Even at the low gain setting. But let's just say I drove them to the point where my ears started ringing.

 

An important factor to mention is because these are 'fun' cans, listening to spotify or loudness mastered tracks is... bearable. The K612's are hurled at a reasonable speed into the corner if I start playing red hot chili peppers on those.

 

Recommendation.

 

This is tough, as at $399 they are not cheap. And they are not reference or neutral cans, so most audiofiles would most likely snub these outright for that reason alone. Though they are really easy to listen to, and I exhibit a lot less listening fatigue with these cans compared to my K612's. I can find myself listening to these for hours, whereas the K612's are usually back on their pedestal in about an hour or two. They are, however, very easy to drive and the build-quality alone makes them worth every penny (extremely well-built). I can see myself owning and using this thing for many, many years to come, without the fear of them breaking down on me. If you value feeling you got your money's worth, you value aesthetics and don't mind a little fun/easy-listening pair of phones that can be driven by whatever you happen to carry on you, and you have the money to spare, i can easily recommend them.

 

I may just buy a pair of pads right before they go out of sale, because I do not know the state of the leather in 10 years :-) Thanks for reading.

 

On an unrelated note, fuck this forums' auto-include picture functionality. It's nearly impossible to properly manually format. 

 

 

[Majestic]

Oh dear, this forum really hates you manually formatting pictures. Give me some time to fix the pictures...

 

EDIT: fixed...ish

[Majestic]

1 hour ago, Jud4s said:

Even the leather pads are still as good as new, so no reason to worry on that end. 

That's reassuring to know.

[EndlessOyster]

Did you make the frequency response graphs or source them, because I don't understand what it means by compensated, and averaged. In my mind I don't understand why any thing needs averaging and what is it compensating for. Also what does 5 positions mean ( im guessing different recording positions)

[Majestic]

8 minutes ago, EndlessOyster said:

Did you make the frequency response graphs or source them, because I don't understand what it means by compensated, and averaged. In my mind I don't understand why any thing needs averaging and what is it compensating for. Also what does 5 positions mean ( im guessing different recording positions)

oops, forgot to link the source. They're from innerfidelity.

 

Think it means the average of 5 recordings. And compensated for something related to loses from the test. In practice I think he just raises the graph.

 

EDIT;

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/headphone-measurements-explained-frequency-response-part-one

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/headphone-measurements-explained-frequency-response-part-two