ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
The H95 are the 3rd pair of B&O headphones I have owned - H4, H9i, H9 3rd gen. and for the first time I am blown away by a B&O headphone when it comes to audio quality. The sound is so balanced and smooth and in a different league from my previous B&O headphones. Wow! I never thought I'd say a $800 pair of headphones are a bargain, but to me these are.
To me they sound best with ANC turned off. Also, the volume over BT is higher than the H9, which was important for me.
Wonder what others think of the H95? met your expectations?
B&O in my life 😊:
Just resurrecting this thread as I am considering treating myself to a pair. Perhaps there will be a modest discount come Black Friday? Either way I am on the look out for a decent pair of headphones.
Wondered if other forum users who own these headphones also think they are worth the price tag? I am happy to pay anything up to £1,000 for the best set of headphones (sound quality wise) but are these them? Always difficult when you have a passion for a certain brand as I do with B&O. A bias opinion may not be right one. Be interested to hear other thoughts. Thanks, Simon.
B&O products are V1-32, BS2, H95, E8 and an Essence remote.11-46 now replaced with Sony A90J 65”, Sony HT-A9, Sony UBP-X800M2 and Sony SRS-NS7.
The Beonic Man:Just resurrecting this thread as I am considering treating myself to a pair. Perhaps there will be a modest discount come Black Friday? Either way I am on the look out for a decent pair of headphones. Wondered if other forum users who own these headphones also think they are worth the price tag? I am happy to pay anything up to £1,000 for the best set of headphones (sound quality wise) but are these them? Always difficult when you have a passion for a certain brand as I do with B&O. A bias opinion may not be right one. Be interested to hear other thoughts. Thanks, Simon. BV11-46, BV8-32, V1-32, BS2, P6, A1, E8, BR1, Essence
Duels... by spending £800 on a pair of headphones that aren’t worth £800!!! Should that turn out to be the case of course. Was that really a serious question? I am not in the habit of spending money just for the sake of it; I like to believe that what I am paying for is worth the price tag.
The Beonic Man: Duels... by spending £800 on a pair of headphones that aren’t worth £800!!! Should that turn out to be the case of course. Was that really a serious question? I am not in the habit of spending money just for the sake of it; I like to believe that what I am paying for is worth the price tag.
I bought mine, owned them 1 day, sent them straight back and received a full refund (after 3 weeks!). Nothing to do with audio quality, just fundamentally thought I looked a right old fool wearing them! Caught a glimpse in the mirror and thought: they are going back. And did. There's just something about the size and style that might suit a guy with a sharp face, but anyone with a slightly rounded face, these look daft (at least to me).
I wouldn't have worn them in public.
I've kept my H8's though.
Do you think the sound quality matches the asking price though Moxxey?
Are there better headphones on the market to consider? I am not really a headphone person so not much personal experience aside from a pair of E8s. It seems Seinheiser, Bose and even Sony (a lot lower priced) all have award winning headphones. I would also like to know if there is a significant difference between the H95 and 3rd Gen H9s?
The H9 3rd gen are an excellent headphone as well at half the price. The H95 are more of an audiophile quality headphone. Very smooth and balanced and you can literally listen to them for hours without ear fatigue. They are the only B&O product I own that replaced a more expensive product - based on comfort, audio quality, build and convenience. They replaced both a pair of Focal (I used wired at home) and H9 (used for travel and work)
I use headphones a lot and despite being a B&O fan have given all of their upmarket phones a miss.
Like most things it depends on what you value most and in the wireless field there are few choices at the top end of the market because you can buy super-audio quality, cabled phones, for little more than £800. For that reason there is little competition in that sector of the market.
Once you choose wireless it is a trade-off between quality materials, audio quality, features and price.
The H95: Comfortable, yes. Great build quality, yes. Audio quality, middling. Features, severely lacking.
If you want an easy-to-use pair of casual phones look at the Sony 1000XM4. Nowhere near the build quality of the H95 and a little work needed on the built-in EQ but features and codecs far in advance at about half the price.
If you prize audio quality most go for wired and there are a lot of great phones out there at that price.
If it's a compromise choice go for the H95 but you won't get bang for your buck!
I bought them 2 weeks ago. I wanted to get ANC headphones, but I never experienced other brands, just went straight forward to B&O. My first intention was to order them for testing because of price tag and than return them back but I never did. I was shocked by sound. They are awesome for almost every genre out of box with default EQ. I'm not experienced B&O owner, I have only A1 bluetooth speaker which was my first experience with B&O product and I was shocked as well how can such small speaker perform like it does so I was kinda hoping in same experience with H95. Design is great, but it's subjective opinion. You like it or not. Theye are comfortable, but if you wear glassis with wide and thick arms you have to put them down because ear cup doesn't seal that well which is causing performance degradation especially for lower frequncies. In that case use lenses as I do :) Most of the time I use them behind PC through jack cable. I know there are better sounding cable only headphones in similar price range, but I want ANC for reason (noisy environment while working) and have ability to simply unplug cable from ear cup and move away to do some calls or whatever. I'm satisfied with ANC. I does exactly what I expected. Can't hear ambient noise while listening. Of course you can hear environemnt while you pause music but I doubt there is someone who will wear any ANC headphones just for ANC itself. In my opinion it's not meant to be used that anyway. I like fact I can use them wirelessly, through jack cable or even while charging through usb-c cable and I can toggle ANC/Transparency in all cases.
I bought 5.0 bluetooth USB dongle to experience aptx adaptive but I can get only standard aptx to work on Windows 10. I know I will not hear much difference, but it's there so I want try at least. Anyone found a way how to try this quite new qulcomm codec?
I have technical question. I use them on jack cable connected to Steinberg UR12 audio interface supporting ASIO do I wonder how to set volumes. Max out volume on heapdhones and regulate on audio interface or vice versa? I found it better max out on headphones because when I did it opposite way (maxed on sound card) I heard some distortion and crackling during peaks, but I'm not sure if it's good for headphones overall to have them set on max volume even music reproduction is on decent level. Or third option would be to find balance between headphones and sound card volume levels.
Thought I had answered but my post disappeared :-(
Great that you really like them :-)
In my experience you are better to increase the volume on the amp (provided you do not have noise) but leave yourself sufficient headroom for loud passages.
Then adjust/increase the headphone volume until you get the right balance.
moxxey:I bought mine, owned them 1 day, sent them straight back and received a full refund (after 3 weeks!). Nothing to do with audio quality, just fundamentally thought I looked a right old fool wearing them! Caught a glimpse in the mirror and thought: they are going back. And did. There's just something about the size and style that might suit a guy with a sharp face, but anyone with a slightly rounded face, these look daft (at least to me). I wouldn't have worn them in public. I've kept my H8's though.
Beosound Stage, Beovision 8-40, Beolit 20, Beosound Explore.
MaxH: Thought I had answered but my post disappeared :-( Great that you really like them :-) In my experience you are better to increase the volume on the amp (provided you do not have noise) but leave yourself sufficient headroom for loud passages. Then adjust/increase the headphone volume until you get the right balance.
I took your advice and found balance between amp volume and heaphones volume. 70% is fixed output level without distortion and rest is done on headphones. What about codecs. Did oyu are anyone been able to test it?
That sounds about right, although you may be able to ease off the amp a little and push the headphones a little higher, but it's never recommended to use headphones on full volume.
I don't understand the question about codecs. Aptx Adaptive is best for sound quality on the H95 - is that what you mean?
Sure, but I mean have can I get it to work? With iphone you will get AAC. I don't know about other phones, but I thought on PC I can choose which codec I want to use but obviously it still standard aptx (no aptx HD or aptx LL or aptx adaptive) no matter how hard I try.
If the source is APTX that's what you will get on the H95.
If the source is a lower quality codec ( AAC) that's what will play.
If your question is how to get APTX adaptive out of a PC I'm sorry but I don't understand the world of Windoze :-(
I have had a black pair for a month now - average 4hrs daily usage - verdict = can't live without them!
I ordered mine, with B&O promo free Raf Simons x Kvadrat headphone bag (value $200 USD) - love the bag vs the case
I have paired to 2 devices - HP Elitebook Windows 10 corporate laptop and iPhone 12 Pro
For work, I'm on MS Teams web calls all day and although the ANC doesn't work in Teams, the sound isolation of the headphone pads and Teams sound isolation settings is enough I can work in the dining room while my wife does the dishes 10 feet away and no one know any better. The audio, microphone and comfort work perfectly for me. 1 problem experienced - if I'm on a Teams meeting and my iPhone rings - i can cancel the incoming call but occasionally my mic drops from Teams and I'm forced to reestablish my audio session by turning off and back on the headset (this can possibly be explained as my corp uses Tech Preview of Teams and I have beta builds of IOS so I use this excuse so far).
For iPhone usage, it's flawless and exceptional audio quality - my other headphones are Apple AirPod Pros (BT), Audeze Mobius (BT) and Grado RS1 (wired)
Another problem, the IOS Beoplay app doesn't currently connect to the H95s although it connects to a portable P2 speaker with no issues so I can't change some settings or check for software updates - again may be my IOS beta software issue
PC connectivity/sound/function - 9/10 - ANC missing for VOIP apps
iPhone connectivity/sound/function - 9/10 - IOS app not reliable
Comfort for my round head - 9/10
Style/quality/value - 9/10
Great review futurecake.
I was able to trial a pair recently and i wanted to see if they could replace my work supplied jabra headphones as I'm on teams calls all day too. They were paired on on a Lenovo ThinkPad win 10 and also my MacBook pro and iphone X, swapping between the three was quick.
We don't use a preview of Teams, and i didn't try that use case of being on a call on teams and then receiving a call on my mobile.
The jabra work supplied headphones are pretty good for what they are, they always connect (prob because they use a little USB dongle), call quality is good, but one thing lacking from B&O is that the Jabra have a little charging docking station they can stay on and charge.
I coudn't get the H95 to work passively, eg with a 3.5 audio cable and no power, and that's how i use my H8 most of the time and when i walk with the H95 i get a weird noise. It could be that i dont have hair on my head and maybe if you have hair it cushions the headphone so you dont get that walking feedback noise.
Apart from that, they were comfortable, sound great, connect easy between windows and mac tech and you didn't have to over compensate when talking, just regular talking picks up very well.
I didn't think they suited me fashion wise, i thought i looked a bit awkward with them, but that's prob more to do with my head as i'm sure all over the head headphones are massive on me.
The H95 look stylish, and the way that the two huge rings on one or the other side of the earphones are staying there, however can likewise be pivoted to play out a capacity, is very much planned. The correct wheel controls the volume; the left one controls the versatile commotion dropping.
YourTexasBenefits
I am very happy with my H95 number 14
For me they sound great with my BV Eclipse. I like the volume controls and the high sound level for my old ears
MaxH: If your question is how to get APTX adaptive out of a PC I'm sorry but I don't understand the world of Windoze :-(
Yes, that's exaclty I was asking and I think I found answer. It's not how but when, because only aptx classic comes out of PC by default and for HD or Adaptive version there is licensing issue. Technically it's possible but probably microsoft didn't paid Qualcom for these.
futurecake: For work, I'm on MS Teams web calls all day and although the ANC doesn't work in Teams, the sound isolation of the headphone pads and Teams sound isolation settings is enough I can work in the dining room while my wife does the dishes 10 feet away and no one know any better. The audio, microphone and comfort work perfectly for me. 1 problem experienced - if I'm on a Teams meeting and my iPhone rings - i can cancel the incoming call but occasionally my mic drops from Teams and I'm forced to reestablish my audio session by turning off and back on the headset (this can possibly be explained as my corp uses Tech Preview of Teams and I have beta builds of IOS so I use this excuse so far).
I use them on PC also on Teams meetings without any issues. ANC or Transparency work no matter what connection type I use (jack, usb or BT). For mic drops it's known thing that multipoint connection work best in apple ecosystem, but there is nothing wrong behind this behavior and I explain you why. When you connect them to PC over bluetooth, windows see them as 2 devices (heapdhones - for music and headset - for calls). If you are live on Teams you are using them as headset. Thats why your mic is dropped during incoming call on your iPhne because iphone is trying to use them as headset already used by Teams. You can have multiple bluetooth conenctions, but only single one bluetooth stream (sound you hear) is possible at the time. One could expect Windows will take it back to continue with Teams, but ... The other story is accept call while you listen to music. This is more seamless experience because of 2 devices I explained above. This will not be any better soon unless microsoft will do something with it.
futurecake: Another problem, the IOS Beoplay app doesn't currently connect to the H95s although it connects to a portable P2 speaker with no issues so I can't change some settings or check for software updates - again may be my IOS beta software issue
Same applies here. Disconnect headphones from any other sources (PC or whatever) and re-establish only one connection to the phone/tablet where you want to use B&O app. App won't work when you listen music from PC even your phone says it's Connected.
Beozip:I am very happy with my H95 number 14 For me they sound great with my BV Eclipse. I like the volume controls and the high sound level for my old ears
Livingroom: BL3, BL11, BV11-46 Kitchen: Beosound 1 GVA, Beocom 2 Bathroom: M3 Homeoffice: M3, Beocom 2 Library: Beosound Emerge, Beocom 6000 Bedroom: M5, Essence remote Travel: Beoplay E8 2.0, Beoplay EQ, Beoplay Earset
Considering the price I still have no problem recommending either the Logitech g930 or the Corsair Wireless Vengeance/h 2100. You just have to take extra care not to over rotate or over extend the ear pieces. I own both and in my case the cracking didn't show up for at least 2 years. I will give kudos to Corsair service. I sent my Corsair Vengeance 2000 for an RMA and got a brand new vengeance 2100 replacement from them. It's currently sitting in the box as my "spare".Between the two I would say the corsair sounds the best, but has terrible range. The logitech g930 sounds good, has excellent range and has the added functional buttons. It gets my pick as the better of the two unless sound quality is super important. If you can spend a bit more I would look into Corsairs new wireless void headset. It's a bit cheaper then Logitech's upcoming g933, and hopefully they've learned from their mistakes. Initial reviews are looking very positive.
Hiort: Beozip:I am very happy with my H95 number 14 For me they sound great with my BV Eclipse. I like the volume controls and the high sound level for my old ears Still not removed the plastic films?
Still not removed the plastic films?
No, maybe they goes sometime from alone when I use it. I will safe the surface so long as I can.
klaboor: MaxH: If your question is how to get APTX adaptive out of a PC I'm sorry but I don't understand the world of Windoze :-( Yes, that's exaclty I was asking and I think I found answer. It's not how but when, because only aptx classic comes out of PC by default and for HD or Adaptive version there is licensing issue. Technically it's possible but probably microsoft didn't paid Qualcom for these.
BTW I have aptX Low Latency drivers on my Windows laptop, which I use very successfully with my H9 3rd Gen (I am very sensible to audio latency, so unfortunately any headphones that don't have aptX LL are a deal breaker for me).
Unfortunately, no Windows drivers exist for aptX Adaptive, but actually what's more concerning is that no aptX Adaptive transmitter (standalone dongle) exists to date (and aptX Adaptive has been out for more than 2 years).
If your laptop (or whatever source device you have) doesn't support aptX Low Latency, you can purchase a digital or analogue Bluetooth transmitter that supports aptX Low Latency.
You can't do that with aptX Adaptive, because no aptX Adaptive transmitters exist (just a couple of receivers, but no transmitters or transreceivers).
The only devices capable to transmit audio with aptX Adaptive codec, at the moment, are some Android smartphones that support that codec. Nothing else.
Quite pathetic if you ask me. I've been messaging for more than a year Qualcomm PR, CS and anybody I could find to ask for when they plan to approve Bluetooth TX devices with aptX Adaptive, never had a single response. Same thing for messages I've sent to OEMs that manufacture Bluetooth transmitters with aptX Low Latency, asking when they plan to add aptX Adaptive support as well, never got a single meaningful reply.
If you guys can help me to raise this, I'm sure we can change things all together.
matteventu: BTW I have aptX Low Latency drivers on my Windows laptop, which I use very successfully with my H9 3rd Gen (I am very sensible to audio latency, so unfortunately any headphones that don't have aptX LL are a deal breaker for me).
Sorry matteventu for replying that late. Having aptX LL at least would be great. I was googling that for aptX LL I need some specific intel bt. I use Asus BT-500 dongle since I use headphones behind my dekstop PC, mostly connected through in-line, but if aptX LL was there for I would consider using it.
But I'm experiencing few drawbacks after update to software 5.7.4. They stated in changelog they did some mic algorithm modification which produce less sharper, less clear transparency mode for me so I cannot normaly talk to person why listening music anymore even on low volume. I wish there was some EQ also for mics when using trapsnarency mode. Another nonsense thing is when I use them with in-line cable, with ANC or transparency enabled, than I switch them off and later when I want to use them again I expect that my ANC/Transparency setting will be preserved but not anymore. When in-lilne cable is connected the ANC or transparency is set to neutral right after I switch them ON. That wouldn't be a big deal either, but when I turn knob to go back to my previous ANC/transparency setting I cannot do that. Sound notification tells me I have ANC or transparency maxed out but I can clearly hear it's neutral. To work arround this, I need to set transparency first (when ANC was my last setting and vice versa) and than I can reach ANC settings again. This is not problem when in-line cable is off and when I use them wirelessly. But since I do not use them like this, it's drives me crazy. Non of these happened on version 5.2.1. I have 2 tickets opened with customer service so will see if there is way to rollback to previous software version. Have you guys experienced something like this or can someone replicate that behavior with in-line cable for me whether it's just my unit or it's new software related?