Furthermore, if you are playing back that digital music from your computer or smartphone, as more and more audiophiles are doing these days, you already have a basic equalizer at your fingertips. In the modern world, however, when most of our playback originates in the digital domain, a digital equalizer avoids many of the problems of analog equalization. Second, even the best analog equalizers do degrade the sound somewhat by introducing many more electronic components into the signal path. With regard to headphones, there isn’t even any agreement on what flat would be, although there are researchers working on that problem. That fails as an argument against equalization, because there are essentially no loudspeakers with ruler-flat frequency response - especially once placed in the listening room. First, we usually insist that we want to hear exactly what is on the recording. Given the many things I liked about the P9 Signatures, I wondered whether equalization would be a way to have my cake and eat it too.Īudiophiles have historically been against using equalizers in the playback chain, believing they would muck up the sound of pristine recordings. On the other hand, I, personally, do prefer a more neutral tonal balance, with perhaps just a touch of low-end augmentation. Headphones with a V-shaped response tend to do very well in the marketplace - as I’m sure Bowers & Wilkins is well aware. Here at SoundStage! Solo, we acknowledge that not every consumer is looking for neutral frequency response in a pair of headphones.

In his measurement comments, he wrote, “If that dip were about 6dB less deep, it would be pretty close to what I’d call a textbook headphone frequency response.” After looking at the measurements, Brent identified the clear cause of what we were both hearing - a valley in the frequency response centered at about 550Hz. When my colleague, Brent Butterworth, heard them while performing their measurements, he also noted the overabundance of bass. In my review, I noted the pumped-up bass and upper-midrange emphasis. What was more problematic from an audiophile perspective was their frequency balance. Sonically, the P9 Signatures did an exceptional job delivering soundstage cues, a real sense of space, and explosive dynamics. While industrial design at Bowers & Wilkins is always top-flight, it was obvious that the company’s engineers had also put a lot of work into the acoustic design - evidenced by the earcup suspension, attention to resonance reduction, and angled drivers with proper surrounds. When I reviewed the Bowers & Wilkins P9 Signature headphones, I found much to praise in their looks, materials, and build quality.

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