Well, we had some fun and spent way too much money on headphones, and then retuned most of them. That was part 1, check it out.
I did keep the Bowers & Wilkens P7 Wireless, and I’ve had them for a few years now. They’re still functioning just as they did when I bought them, but they’ve presented some challenges that I’ve tried to remedy since then.
First off, wireless was the way to go. Really great for getting some work done in the lab or taking care of things around the house. The cord comes out occasionally when I really want to pay attention — sometimes listening to tunes with my Dragonfly Red, but it’s also a great option for my HAM radio, guitar amp, etc. Great feature, having both.
That said, the over-the-ear cans are also primarily only useful in those same situations. If I’m doing yard work or it’s a hot day in the sun, I can’t use them as I’ll get too sweaty. The sound isolation is also too good for times where I should be more aware of interruptions (having a kid), but not good enough to serve as earmuffs when mowing the lawn. Additionally, I’ve found the headband to be a bit constraining on my giant head, so I do have to adjust the position every so often when wearing them for a long time.
Otherwise, they’ve held up well, still sound great, and look super cool. I’m happy with the purchase.
Alternatives
Since there are still a few situations that can be a problem when using the P7s, I searched out other options. I’ve used wired earbuds for a while for those times where more isolation is required, such as the 1MORE Triple Drive In-Ear headphones. These sound great for the price point (I’m not going to discuss the number of earbuds I’ve been through), isolate better than the P7s, and are more transportable. However, after being spoiled by the P7s I wanted to go wireless.
While I could certainly take advantage of Amazon and order vast numbers of wireless earbuds to test, I ended up just doing some research and settling on an option, the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1. This was primarily led by this article on What HiFi, where they call them “detailed and insightful” – yup, sure. They have proven to be exactly what I was hoping for, proving a solid wireless performer with a great battery life. The sound is clear (I mean, detailed) with good separation and well isolated. I do find them a little heavier on the low end, though not muddy (insightful?) – definitely not comparable to the P7s but much better than the Triples. I use these a lot when the cans aren’t suitable, namely when I need more portability or I need more hearing protection.
Next Up
I’ve mentioned the DragonFly Red USB headphone amp that I purchased a while back, and that’s really allowed these various wired headphones to shine. It’s not much of a surprise that most audio jacks have garbage output, essentially whatever low-cost chip was available at the time. The DragonFly Red fixes that for sure — noticeable improvements on multiple laptops, cell phones, etc. Anytime I’m doing a wired connection, I use this device. Certainly if you’re going to spend a couple hundred on headphones, you need one of these.
It’s encouraged me to solve my last problem, which is very specific to a working from home environment.
As with most office working slobs, I’ve been booted homeward due to COVID. That puts me in my basement, where I have a reasonable setup. I often have opportunities to listen to some music while working, but I often get interrupted and need to be aware of what’s going on. That requires exactly what I don’t get with any of the above options – – zero isolation, at a reasonably low volume. What does that mean? Well… almost certainly a niche the Grado 325e is eager to fill. We’ll see… maybe a Christmas present to myself!
