Mainstream review of H9 3rd gen

Very laudatory review from a tech pub.  It does, IMO, raise a question for B&O’s product management: where are the reviews for Edge?  Shape? BL20?  

Still...a gift horse here. 

 https://www.techhive.com/article/3452038/bang-olufsen-beoplay-h9-headphone-review.html 

Because they never really send out review units, is the reason virtually none of the established big tech / AV publications review them.

AV Forums in the UK did a short piece on the Stage, and people were asking the reviewer in the comments section- but he made exactly the same point I.e they never receive review units

BeoFrederic:

 https://www.techhive.com/article/3452038/bang-olufsen-beoplay-h9-headphone-review.html 

That's our website. I work for IDG, amongst other publishers worldwide.

The problem is more basic than more people realise:

1) There's absolutely loads of kit out there that needs reviewing and only so many reviewers and limited budget to pay them. So you pick and choose carefully to keep manufacturers happy (not happy in a good review, I mean happy that we've reviewed one of their products). For this reason, you might pick 1 in every 10 of their products to review.

2) Cost. Frankly, the TechHive audience wouldn't really be interested in the Edge, so it will attract limited views and views are everything for a website.

3) Availability. Getting hold of kit isn't always easy. You sometimes have to go to the manufacturer to 'review' and most reviewers would never do this, so it doesn't get reviewed. I can't imagine B&O being too proactive to send out an Edge to a reviewer, so they tend to send the cheaper products, such as those from the old BeoPlay brand.

 

B&O should target specific products with specific outlets. Often they have a mismatch. There are many cases where people reviewing the product have no idea a wireless speaker can cost $2,000! So the reviews (I.e Verge) are nonsense. While not all B&O gear is top notch, the current H9 3rd Gen and A9 Mk4 are amazing products in their class.

B&Os new wireless/smart audio products are so much better than just a couple of years ago. I had the first gen H9 and also A6 and  A9 before the AirPlay 2 update and the software was not reliable. The E8 was the worst experience. Over the past 6-7 months I have started using and recommending them.

Great review by the way 👍🏻

Thank you for the review link; as a very recent owner of a pair of H9's Gen 3, I would concur with every point made in the review.

I particularly like that they work so well for travel, commuting etc with the ANC/Bluetooth wireless mode, yet, using them in quieter surroundings in wired mode definitely allows them to perform at their sonic best.

I use them with my iPhone XS and Apple Music, and also my iPhone 7 Plus which is full of CD's ripped to iTunes in ALAC and loaded onto the phone which, minus it's SIM, is now a portable music player.

Both phones need the Apple Lightening to analogue female connector, which has an almost amazingly engineered tiny DAC built into the lightening end of the cable.

Feeling the Apple lightening adaptor/DAC might be a weak point, I invested in a Chord Mojo battery powered headphone amp, which connects to the phone with an apple lightening to USB adaptor; this improved the performance of the headphones quite noticeably adding more air and space, with less of an 'in head' sound presentation, greater resolution, and improvements in bass definition and pitch accuracy.

A little bit costly perhaps, but it certainly allows the headphones to perform to a higher level - at which they are definitely HiFi, and not just a lovely commuting and travel headphone set.

All in all, I'm exceptionally happy with the H9's - a lovely headphone both aesthetically and sonically.

Cheers

John