Anyone who knows me will find the idea of me not wearing a set of headphone at all times a strange one, and for the last 6+ years I have been a faithful purchaser of the Sennheiser PXC range, gently working my way through the range over the years from the 360 to the 550, however when it came to buying a spare battery (after a spate of losing the devils) I found out that the style that I had been used to years had been changed, not a problem, all designs change and grow i’ll just get the new version…. Ah no I won’t… because the new ones are angled and that is a deal breaker, it means I can’t wear them the wrong way round 1 and I cant tuck one behind an ear which I NEED if I am on a client site as there is nothing that gets headphones banned faster than managers not being able to call you when they want.
Requirments
- Over-ear Design.
- Bluetooth + Wired.
- Standard Ports: I fecking hate proprietary ports of all types, you use your own ‘Special’ port so you can sting me for replacement accessories then you are on my s**t list.
- Vertical alignment: headphones must be vertically aligned, not tilted.
- No Noise Limiters: I’m not bloody 5 and I Like loud music.
The Choice
I looked at the new Sennheiser PXC but they failed because of the tilt issue raised above and their other suitable models tipped the hipster scale too far, Bose cost too much and just feel like they are not going to last long under the strain of my life and Plantronics are huge and just fall off my head, so enter an outsider in headphones but a venerable name in music: Marshall and their Monitor Bluetooth
The Good
- The Bluetooth is much much stronger than the Sennheiser, I can leave my phone on my desk and wander round the flat with no issue, a great improvement.
- Snug fit: The headphone are a very tight snug fit, far too tight for my wife, but a positive for me.
- Sound Quality: richer and far louder than the Sennheiser a huge improvement
- Duel Input: When working I am always using the Pomodoro timer from my phone via blue tooth, but am often wired in at the same time for things like calls and such, the Marshall headphones handled both of these at the same time which is a pleasant upgrade.
The Bad
- No Lateral Movement at all: was not really expecting any given their classic design and the absence of an extra join sure makes the whole structure stronger, but without one I can feel the extra pressure when I tuck a headphone behind one ear.
- Control knob: a poor gimmick, not a knob but a mini joystick which is both fiddly and unintuitive, the volume should have been changed by TURNING the knob!
The Unexpected
- The replaceable headphone pads are easy to swap: My beard and stubble shreds headphone pads so I was forever replacing the Sennheiser pads, and boy were they a PITA to replace, the Marshal ones are magnetic and nice and easy.
- The Marshall headphones gave me a total blast from the past to my dads old Pioneer SE-205 which I loved from years ago, true retro.
The Conclusion
It’s still early days and the Marshals are not quite as easy on my ears as the Sennheisers but the sheer upgrade in nearly all features blows that out of the water, Recommended.
- Which I want to do when I want the the cable or buttons on a certain side, or if the Bluetooth signal is having problems with my head!![↵]