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
I just bought a pair of H95.
My level of system understanding is novice and I like to get some advice.
I get the distinct feeling the sound has a odd setting if the neutral setting between ANC and transparency is set either with app or dial.
I know these headphones has the best sound available (sort of…)
Do anyone else encounter flat and uninspired quality at the neutral setting?I have the latest firmware and use the ‘optimal’ equalizer option.
If I test with most other headphones the depth and clarity seems more visible given the same source. Would you say the audio at full ANC is ‘true’ given the noise correction?
Best regards Jan
I also just got a pair of H95's and they sound slightly muffled.
I have to admit that these are the most comfortable headphones that I have, but the sound quality is just not there compared to my other B&O headsets.
My BeoPlay H8 have considerably better sound than the H95.
I don't know if possibly there was a bad batch of these made or what the cause is.
I had purchased mine on Amazon, and I am not sure if I am just going to return them for a refund, or should get a replacement pair.
Kevin
I am extremely baffled. I also have an old pair of Beoplay H8 Gray Hazel, but the H95 is a different league. If you claim the H8 headphones sound better, then there really must be something with the H95. I have got two pairs of H95 and both sound incredible, to the extent that I’d never consider listening to music on the H8 ever again. The H8 do sound old, less powerful and much less detailed by comparison. It could also be some setting or they really are defect. I’d really like to hear it.
Hello,
I just wanted to point out that I feel the middle (neutral) setting seems like it changes the audio somewhat 'strange'
The audio (especially in the ANC-end of the settings) seems OK. Compared with other B&O, Sony and Bose the sound does not seem to 'exciting', but I guess each brand has a 'signature' like bass-heavy or treble-full. However the H95 seems like reproducing all frequencies very well.
I have (possibly wrongly) assumed that with the ANC-correction the sound would be affected and due to this the center/neutral position was most correct for a perfect listening experience.
Kind regards Jan
Hi Jan,
The pair that I got there was no difference in sound at all when ANC was on or off, or if transparency was on. On my H8's when you turn off ANC, you got a deeper bass response.
I spoke with someone at B&O yesterday and explained the sound I was hearing and he agreed that it sounded like the pair that I have was defective and recommended either getting them repaired or replaced.
To further describe my issue if you were to listen to the song Hotel California on the When Hell Freezes over album by The Eagles, the instrumentals are very sharp, but once the vocals start the voices which are more midrange sounded very soft like it was slightly muffled. The vocals just did bot sound normal. I had someone else listen to them, and he agreed that the riff in the begining of the song sounded amazing, but once the vocals started the sound was off.
Another issue was that the volume at max was lower than the volume at 80% on the H8.
I am waiting on a replacement pair, and hoping that this will fix this.
From what I understood you are not even supposed to hear such a significant change in sound with the ANC turned on or off, if any at all. ANC has improved over the generations, and while my H8 made that typical «pressure» effect in the ears and a more closed sound with the ANC on, and a slightly more spacious and slightly more bassy sound with it off, the H9 3rd gen was much better at bringing the two extremes closer together so that the effect was negligable. With the H95 I’ve never noticed any difference in the sound with the ANC on or off, nor did I motice that background «pressure», which I’ve always found according to what reviewers have said. At this level of sound quality and price I wouldn’t expect that effect either.
I should also add that I indeed notice extremely small difference across the ANC range from full ANC to full Transparency, and I have yet to find a situation in which I can make a significant impact with the Adaptive ANC mode on. Are the H95 so good or so defect? With Transparency I’d basically expect all the noizes in the world, which I don’t really get, but I’d never think my H95s are defect. I have assumed I needed a better use case, but with home office I’ve mainly used them at home, while outside passive isolation (ear cushions) has worked very well too.
I do prefer ANC off in general, but with the H95 I have kept it in the middle (neutral). It is also seldom I’d find myself in noizy environments these days, so it might influence my impressions so far. When B&O claims you have a possibly faulty pair because of a little or no noticeable difference, then it sounds like both the pairs I have got may be defect. But it’s hard to believe unless professional ears very well trained exactly with the H95 can confirm it after actual listening. Furthermore I notice very little effect with my Beoplay EQ as well - which I’ve tested in traffic. I do notice a tiny difference, but really so small that I have no real use for it since passive noize cancellation does most of the job for me. This gap between on and off has certainly been much bigger with the H8 for instance. So I wonder if I have got two defect pairs, or are expectations different due to what we are used to with other headphones, or am I lacking more ANC experience with the H95?
In general I’ve been extremely happy with the H95, that’s why I’m considering a third pair now. I’ve had the H6, H8, H8i, H9i, H9 2nd Gen, H9 3rd Gen, and now H95. For me, H95 clearly wipes out all the earlier models in every way, but most importantly on the sound front. This thread makes me curious though about people’s experience, what you expect, what you percieve, how you use reference tracks, and how you really use yours. I might need to have mine checked out by a B&O dealer or I need to conduct a very thorough test of my own :).
Hi Csaba,
My issue is not the ANC. I was just stating the difference I experienced between the H8 and the H95 with ANC.
My issue is that the volume level was low compared to my other B&O headphones, and that the vocals and mids are very flat and muddy. When I spoke with B&O they said that this was not normal, and that the mids should be just as crisp as the mids and lows as they are on my H8 and H9i.
I have another pair of the H95 being delivered later today and I am hoping that they sound as good as you and everyone else has said that they should.
MacsBug: Hi Csaba, My issue is not the ANC. I was just stating the difference I experienced between the H8 and the H95 with ANC. My issue is that the volume level was low compared to my other B&O headphones, and that the vocals and mids are very flat and muddy. When I spoke with B&O they said that this was not normal, and that the mids should be just as crisp as the mids and lows as they are on my H8 and H9i. I have another pair of the H95 being delivered later today and I am hoping that they sound as good as you and everyone else has said that they should. Kevin
Hi Kevin, thanks for clarifying that. I thought your talk with B&O was referring to the ANC. I think my H95s are also pretty loud, also compared to the H9 3rd Gen I was using before the H95. I sometimes find myself turning it down a bit even if I like to push myself. They do sound best at 100% :).
I wish I could listen to a pair with similar muddy mids.
Please do share your experience with the replacement pair. I am curious to know how it went.
Csaba
I got the a new pair of H95 about an hour ago and they sound so much better than the 1st pair that I got.
The sound is definately cleaner than the sound on the H8 that I have, but I am so used to the H8 that it may take awhile to totally appreciate the sound signature of the new H95.
MacsBug: I got the a new pair of H95 about an hour ago and they sound so much better than the 1st pair that I got. The sound is definately cleaner than the sound on the H8 that I have, but I am so used to the H8 that it may take awhile to totally appreciate the sound signature of the new H95. Kevin
Really happy to hear that, Kevin! I remember having spent a couple if hours with them to get a good impression, and listened to a mix of favourite tracks I knew well from different genres. I was especially blown away by the rumbling bass in certain scenes in certain movies, which at first listen felt to me like sitting in a movie theatre. While you can immediately hear the difference, I think it might take a little while and some listening before you start moving away from the overall first impression and then start diving deeper into the tiniest details and sounds you never really knew were there. Then when you switch between the H95 and the H8, the distance becomes pretty clear. If I want to listen to music, I really couldn’t go back to any previous pair of headphones.
Again, glad to hear the replacement had a good outcome! :)
Hello Csaba
Am I to understand that the audio quality is not having a slight change just at the neutral setting?
I am satisfied with the overall sound, but seem to detect that with no correction, it feels like the sound is a somewhat 'flattened'. It might be my ear detecting that no 'adjusting' has been done ...
Thank you all for 'discussing' around this and sharing your experiences with the headset.
BTW: May anyone suggest any music for highlighting the good audio quality to myself and test. (I 'eat' most music styles)
/ Jan
After getting my new pair of H95 I cant notice much if anything with ANC/Transparency on or off.
The difference between the 1st pair that I got and then replacement is night and day.
As far as what music to listen to, I like classic rock, older pop, and some country. All sound amazing on the H95.
As for sugesstions for music.. I have listened to the following tracks that sound so much better on the H95 than they do on my older H8.
1. Hotel California on Hell Freezes Over by The Eagles
2. The Devil Went Down to Georgia by Charlie Daniels
3, 773 by Compilerbau
4. Anything by Queen
As Casaba had stated the more I use them the more I notice the quality of the H95, and sounds thet I haven't noticed before with my other B&O headsets.
The H95 is truly the best bluetooth headset that I have used.
If you are experiencing flat or muffled sounds especially in the vocals then you may also have gotten a bad pair.
Hi,
Thank you all.
I tried and tried. After a testing phase I found out that the process was to have blind tests done.
My friend was helpful by highlighting that there is a limit to how low a headset will play ...
I have had a 'careful' listening volume for years. Now it is 'paying the penalty'.
By reproducing the volume and the music, I can say the difference is in the H95 favor.
I have also been somewhat fooled (or fooling myself) by other headset having distinct characteristics.
On listening I adjusted the level of ANC/Transparency and I felt that the headset had some latency on the audio result.
When starting on the chosen level and keeping the volume up, the audio remained pristine.
Your advices, experiences and recommendations made me break the barrier to high quality listening
Now I can enjoy "Walk of life" with Dire Straits, "Ecuador" with Sash or "Empty rooms" with Gary Moore.
Regards Jan
@Jan,
I apologize for my late answer. I am glad to hear you’ve managed to find a better listening experience with your H95!
I am still not so sure how you perceive sound quality but it’d definitely help me if I had a listen with your pair. Am I right that you live in Moss, Østlandet? If you still need one more opinion and are in Oslo any time, I can offer to meet you (preferably in the weekend) and bring one of my H95s as well for you to compare. I speak Norwegian by the way :).
Have you by any chance brought yours in to a B&O store? They helped me out once with my Beosound 1 for a similar reason.
What I can say, though, about the neutral ANC setting is this: since I spend 90% of my time at home due to home office and a one-year-old, sadly, I seldom find myself using my H95s outside these days. Therefore I did a small ANC test of them as a result of this thread. While it is rather silly, I still found it interesting. I had just had some chocolate, listening to music, when I paused it and started crunching its wrapping paper next to my earphones. It was very clearly audible with the Transparency mode turned up to the max, and it was almost not possible to hear with ANC at max. As you’d expect neutral was a little in-between, but to me the noize I was making at the neutral/halfway setting sounded closer to the full-ANC than the full-Transparency. I wonder if that is why I have heard very little difference in music quality between neutral and full-ANC. I mean, ANC works clearly, but I wonder if the H95 just handles most scenarios so well that you have to really listen to hear the tiny nuances. This would never have been the case with previous headphone models. I have no other brands to compare to, since I’ve been buying B&O headphones since the H6.
I have also noticed that the quality of the tracks I listen to impact how «full» I perceive them on my H95. Some are extremely well mastered and the result I feel becomes mind-blowing, especially if you listen purely to music with careful attention in the late hours when the world has gone quiet :). I’m fairly sure even that can impact your listening experience. But if I listen to a track which is either not well mastered or the musician didn’t place the instruments too well in space/stereo, then you’ll notice it on the H95. I do think the H95 is a precision tool even compared to the H9 3rd Gen.
A few tracks I’d highly recommend for their mastering are:
Coldplay - Everyday Life, from their album with the same title
Hammock - Without Form and Void
Alex Somers - Trust Me Honey Boy
Finally, I’d also recommend the Beosonic equalizer in the B&O app. I notice that the H95 handles pretty much any setting quite well, which is not true for some earphones for example.
@Csaba
Thank you for the 'experiences'. I was actually not cranking up the volume enough to get the headset going at the potential.
I can understand if the explanation seems off compared with normal worries (people seems to want more volume than headsets give ...)
But with the help of a friend bringing a Bose 700 and over time now also tried the H9i and a Sony WH-1000XM3, I learned something
about sound differences and adjustments.
Yes, that is Moss, Norway (now in Viken county ...earlier just Østfold )
I was prepared to bring the headset to Oslo and a B&O store, but something told me it had to be a 'tweak' somewhere as I progressively has
started to see that with full ANC it closes all noise out and still gives me a super and rich sound.
Some music is actually not perfect ... as you said you pay attention to it with the H95
I have played a little around with the app EQ and it actually works great (even if it might be most correct with a more neutral setting ...)
Now I will have a go with your 'playlist'