Design and features:The headphones work with or without the noise canceling feature being turned on. You can use the noise-canceling feature without listening to music. These headphones can be used wirelessly with Bluetooth devices or can be cord connected. When cord connected they have low sensitivity regardless of whether the noise cancelation feature is turned on or off; so while they can provide satisfying volume levels when used with home audio equipment and higher powered portable audio devices, they may not be a good match for lower-powered portables. They can also be connected to a computer via a USB cable to play audio files stored on the computer. The PX7 has a noise canceling/ambient monitoring function button, built-in microphones and integrated volume and music player function Bluetooth and USB computer controls, and a call connect/disconnect Bluetooth control. It has high, low, and automatic noise cancellation settings and an ambient sound monitoring setting. In the automatic noise cancelling setting the noise cancellation level is automatically adjusted between high and low based on the ambient noise level. Additional features include built-in sensors that automatically pause audio playback when at least one earcup is removed from an ear and wakes the headphones from standby mode or places them in standby when they are placed on or removed from the head respectively, and earcups that swivel to flat for ease of storage and transport. This model comes with a detachable 48-inch long standard audio cable, a USB charging/data cable, and a carrying case. The free Bowers & Wilkins Headphone app download for Apple and Android mobile devices adds more features such as auto on/off sensor adjustment and defeat, ambient monitor volume level adjustment, and headphone firmware updating.
Sound quality: We found the PX7 provides Excellent active noise reduction and delivers sound quality that falls in the Good range - it reproduces music and voice reasonably well despite the obvious shortcomings in its sound. The overall sound was the same regardless of whether the headphones were Bluetooth or cord connected or if the noise canceling feature was turned on or off; it can best be summarized as bassy, muffled, and plasticy. Bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) goes deep, but is prominent and boomy, and has excessive impact. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is somewhat muffled and congested (think sonic traffic jam), and has a noticeable plastic resonance (something like what you would hear if you talked into a semi-rigid plastic cup). The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended, but is somewhat prominent and sizzly (sounds that should have a delicate shimmer have a sound reminiscent of bacon frying). While this model does a decent job of recovering the room ambience of a recording (the sense of the acoustic space in which the audio program that's being listened to was recorded) in the upper bass and lower midrange it does it doesn't recover it well any place else. The sound also has only a so-so sense of liveliness and is closed in--sound-wise it's obvious you have something covering your ears. These headphones provide Excellent noise reduction across the entire frequency range with the low frequencies reduced the most. When the noise canceling feature is used a very faint hiss is audible when there is no program material present to mask it.
Comfort: We found that these headphones produce a sense of light to moderate pressure around the ears. As typical of on-ear models the pads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use. Users with larger ears might find that the over-the-ear fit of the ear pads feel cramped, or that the ear pads sit on, rather than around their ears; in that case the less-than-ideal fit around the ears might interfere with the earpad seal and reduce the noise reduction capabilities of the headphone. Some users might find that the headphones feel unstable and shift forward a bit and may even fall off when they lean far forward. When wearing this model while walking the vibrations from each foot step can be heard faintly through the headphones. When the audio cable is connected the sound of it rubbing on clothing may be heard faintly through the headphones, but only in extreme cases (like when it's rubbing on a zipper).
