Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsIncredible!!! Amazing Sound from iPhone and Spotify -- NO NEED FOR AMP!!!
Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2014
I own the P5 too. I've owned the P5 since mid 2011, when the guy at the Best Buy "magnolia room" talked me into buying them instead of the Bose Quiet Comfort I thought I was going to buy. I LOVE the P5s -- their sound quality is AMAZING, as advertised, great noise "isolation" without needing batteries, great space, great bass, but also great mids. Great cans. As on ears, however, they do start hurting after not too long. They fit tight and are on-ear.
Well, as they say, my new P7s are *even better*. The sound quality is truly amazing in every way. They are over ear so super comfortable. Just perfect. I use my regular iPhone 5 and the old iPod classic, and Spotify streaming; no need for an amp. They are very efficient as others mentioned. These things are just flippin' awesome. If you care about sound quality and have $395, buy them immediately if not sooner. Great bass but also great everything else; it's like you are in the room or on stage with the band (incredible spacing/stereo/biaural or whatever they call it). Like others have said. If you have a good recording, it feels like you can hear the drummer breathing and the guitarist stomping his feet; it's like you are there in the recording studio or on stage with the band and you can tell where each musician was located (or where the producer put it in the "space mix").
Everybody says this, but I truly listen to everything, including a lot of jazz and classical, but also rock from Dick Dale to Hendrix to Nirvana to Black Keys to Jack White to Dinosaur Jr--some loud stuff. Jazz guitar like Grant Green, Wes Montgomery, Tal Farlow, Kenny Burrell, and Joe Pass. I play guitar, too, and I'm in to mids, not just bass like the hip hop folks, but these p7s kick some serious bass too. Just like B & W advertises, these things are "natural" sounding, with good mids and highs but not ear bleeding highs either. But they are bass enhanced too, or voiced with a lot of bass, it seems to me, but not in a muddy, bad way--unless you are listening to Muddy Waters, and then it's a Muddy all time great way.
I would not be caught dead with Beats, but I can't imagine anyone needing more bass than this; you feel it vibrating your ears. Style is a matter of choice, but these definitely separate you from the Beats and Bose people who have never heard of any other headphone manufacturer. I get questions about these (and the P5s, by the way) every time I bring them to work. They look sophisticated and different than the Bose and Beats that everyone has seen.
But back to sound: I do have hip hop in my collection too, from when I was younger, and when that stuff comes on shuffle, it's super clear with tons of bass. I listen to a lot of live recordings from the 1890s (Charlie Patton) through the 1960s and 1970s, which are not recorded in the best quality, but these headphones give you the best you can get as far as what the source is giving them. In fact, like a good guitar amp, these cans accurately give you what you give them. With studio recordings or other modern pop stuff that has fake computer bass, Britney Spears, etc, if you wanted to waste precious time listening to that, indeed these have tons of bass; not trying to be Beats because they are ten trillion times better, but they probably even hang with beats even if you are a hip hop guy while also having better clarity in the mids, as others have said.
One thing I'll say is I'm keeping my P5s too. I still love them. But P7 takes it to a whole 'nother level, as it should at this price point.
Only negative compared to P5; the remote control for adjusting volume and skipping/pausing songs or answering the phone -- on P5 it was with the middle button indented, and it was a "sticky" rubber, easy to find without looking, but with P7 they made the middle button sticking out and it's actually harder to find it without looking and more slippery with the shiny metal thing on the back. This is noticeable to me because I use them while walking the dog, and making adjustments, pausing or skipping songs, etc, is a little bit harder than with the P5s.
(by the way both P5 and P7 work great as mic for talking on iphone, answering phone, using siri, as advertised)
Also a different kind of discomfort can happen after too much listening--the P7s are heavy, as you can see in the specs. The P5 hurts the ears because of being on-ear and fitting tight, but the P7 starts to hurt the top of my head after a while from the sheer weight; what I do is adjust where it is sitting slightly or take a break from listening. The P5s are much lighter, as you can see in the specs. Overall I still love both and overall P7 is more comfortable.
I'm a huge Bowers & Wilkins fan now. I feel sorry for folks who have not yet discovered that there is a world of better sound outside of Bose and Beats.
Oh, one more thing: I do have an "amp" of sorts. My new Dell computer has a cool EQ/sound enhancer program that is actually good, unlike the useless apple ipod EQ. And I have used the P7s on my computer, too, and using the EQ to boost bass or mids or whatever you want, indeed these P7 headphones are flippin' AMAZING. Even bad audio quality youtube videos (live music recordings) can sound great with P7 headphones and a computer with a good EQ program.
