Bowers&Wilkins P5 Headphones Evaluation Report

Bowers & Wilkins [B&W] is a well-known audio brand from the UK. The company was founded in 1966. Since the 1970s, the technology and products have developed rapidly, which has established the status of HiFi acoustic products. Although B&W is the traditional HiFi brand, they are It is also enthusiastic about the iPod and the surrounding audio equipment of the iPhone. Especially from their digital peripheral audio products, you can't see the taste of B&W HiFi products at all, and even the sound style is also "Americanized" and younger.

B&W launched the Zeppelin airship in the iPod Dock sound period, and later released the Zeppelin Mini. It seems to be similar to BOSE, JBL and even Logitech, Altec Lansing, etc. from the product positioning. But the price of B&W products has been It's more expensive. I have reviewed B&W's miniature speaker MM-1. The performance of this speaker is extremely impressive. Its sound style is completely without the British flavor of B&W HiFi, but it is under a small volume. It shows incredible low-frequency effects. The performance of the entire speaker details also shows a high level. The MM-1 is not only a speaker that shocks the user, but also a product that is enough to shock BOSE.

In addition to audio, B&W has also launched a series of headphones for iPod and iPhone users. The low-to-high models are P3, P5 and P7. They are basically the same in style and simple in design, while the speaker unit and cavity are very simple. The space occupied is much smaller than the headphones we usually use. The P5 white model we evaluated today is purchased by a friend in the US. Currently, the price of the P5 in the US Apple Store is $299. The price in China is 2898 yuan. The white model is currently not sold in mainland China.

The shape of the B&W P5 is very simple. It is also relatively small as a headphone. Although it uses a 40mm diameter speaker unit, the cavity of the whole speaker is very small. The P5 is divided into white and black. The appearance, headgear and earmuffs are all wrapped in leather material [official information: New Zealand sheepskin], the official promotion also emphasizes the better touch and wearing experience, leather materials do have this advantage. Headphone head The frame uses a metal steel frame structure, although the small weight is not very light, of course, the weight of the 195g is still a lighter type of headphones.

The surface of the P5 bracket is chrome-plated, the workmanship is very detailed, and the surface is very flat. In the outer part of the earmuff, there is probably a protruding cavity of more than 1cm. The earphone speaker unit and the back magnet may occupy this small space. Part of the aluminum casing is used, the surface is finished with a delicate drawing process, and the trademark of Bowers & Wilkins is also embossed.

The headset uses a single-sided interchangeable cable access method. Interestingly, the earphone cover on this side of the cable is fixed by magnets. The P5 provides two earphone cables, one of which is a common cable. The other one provides a line control and microphone function compatible with iOS devices and iPods. Just change the magnetic cover and plug it in. The B&W P5 [including P3/P7] looks like a different type. Headphones, its shape seems a bit retro, the style of the headphone unit is so small and lacks trust. The surface of the leather is in line with its high price. The leather material is not resistant to dirt in the atmosphere of China. Need to clean and maintain is also a big problem. This white P5 is even more so, so the picture taken this time is not so satisfactory.

B&W emphasizes the long-term wearing comfort in the P5 product introduction. As a headset of this size, its unit is worn outside the ear instead of the ear. Because the earphone design also considers passive The function of noise reduction, so the pressure of the head frame inward is still relatively large. The advantage is better sealing, better listening effect, more stable wearing, and the lack of ear is still hurting. Especially the users wearing glasses will suffer. In general, the P5 sheepskin feels really good, but the wearing comfort is average.

B&W P5 headphones are positioned in the same way as most of the digital peripheral audio products of B&W. They have a unique design style in appearance, and they do not hesitate to work on the cost. The appearance looks very delicate. This is quite obvious with BOSE headphones and speakers. Contrast. Although Apple stores are the main display channels, B&W headphones are obviously different from Beats style. What is the style of P5's 2000 yuan headphones? What is the overall quality?

The original owner of the P5 headset used this time has been used for some time, and we have taken the headset for more than 200 hours. The test is based on portable audio sources: including iPhone 5s, iPod Classic, vivo Xplay, etc. Monitor 03 US, fantasy Qu DA decoder, HP11 amp, etc. as a reference. It seems that for the P5 positioning headphones can not find a good contrast object, we will simply refer to AKG Q701, innovative Aurvana Live!

Overall impression: On the iPhone or iPod Classic, the P5 performed well, the mid-range, vocal performance was very full, showing a higher level than the Aurvana Live!, the rambler H840 and other headphones. Its high-frequency part of the upward extension seems to There are special restrictions, so the high frequency is not very bright, which is a little worse than Auvana Live! P5 can also maintain a neutral soft sound style on the portable sound source, the sound is relatively balanced, especially the medium frequency and low frequency in portable play There is a deep impression on the device, and the high frequency is slightly darker.

High-frequency performance: The high frequency of B&W P5 is not particularly bright, and the high-frequency upward extension is more general. However, as a small-sized closed-type earphone, the sound does not appear to be particularly dry, but the performance is relatively soft. The sharpness of the traditional closed-type headphones. Compared with the headphones such as the Q701, its resolution is naturally worse. The difference in the transient performance of the P5 high-frequency is the most obvious. However, on the audio source such as xPlay or IPC. P5 also shows good quality, even in the middle and high frequency part of the dynamics is slightly better. However, we believe that the performance of P5 under xPlay will be significantly better, although the high frequency is not so open stretch, but introverted soft.

IF performance: P5's IF has a relatively good performance when paired with iPhone, IPC or even xPlay, but if you hear it on 03 US or decoder, you know that it is still not a particularly easy to drive headset. It In the iPhone and IPC, it shows a thicker intermediate frequency than xPlay, and the sound is more introverted and fine under xPlay. From the resolution to the dynamic, and the thickness and shape of the intermediate frequency, the performance of P5 is stronger than Aurvana. Live! Such a level of headphones, and we are also difficult to find a 2000 yuan-level headphones and its comparison? For example, K702, Q701, etc., their performance on the iPhone will obviously be too light, the overall listening sensor is not as good as P5, The only advantage is that the resolution is slightly better.

Low-frequency performance: The low frequency of P5 is abundant in IPC. The resolution of the low frequency of iPhone5s seems to have declined, but there is still a strong style, which is good enough for pop music. Under xPlay, the sound of P5 On the contrary, it obviously converges, the resolution of the whole low frequency is obviously improved, the sense of quantity is reduced, the sound is soft and delicate, and the sound is more balanced, but the dynamic is not as good as IPC.

With desktop audio: If we use Monitor 03 US or even HP11 as a reference, then P5 is not a particularly easy to drive headset, its soft performance on the portable audio source also shows that it is not dynamic enough Of course, this is based on two different types of sound sources. With a better desktop sound source, the overall sound dynamics of the P5 will be significantly improved, and its low frequency will show a good momentum under the amp.

Summary: B&W P5 is a small-sized, special-shaped closed-type earphone. Compared with the traditional closed-type earphone, its sound is not so rigid, and the transient is not so sharp. The high-frequency quality is relatively high. Short board. Compared with Q701 and closed K271 MKII, it is weaker. However, in most audio sources, especially smart phones, P5 sounds balanced, soft, full-range, and vocal performance is its In particular, it is better at using it with portable audio sources, but it has a lot of potential if it is equipped with better audio equipment. The style of P5 is of course more balanced than Betas, although it is still difficult to see from the price point. Compared with the traditional HD650, K701 and other headphones quality, but under the premise of exclusive smartphone accessories, P5 does have a higher quality and the advantages of traditional high-end headphones.