Expert’s Rating
Our Verdict
Bowers & Wilkins(B&W ) has long been a respected name in high - end sound recording , producing jaw - dropping “ affirmation ” production such as theNautliusloudspeaker , apply Modern materials to speaker design such asdiamond - coated tweeter , and placing its speaker in well - respected studio such asAbbey Road . Over the preceding few years , the company has expanded its focussing from perfectionist , high - end audio recording to the general consumer electronics marketplace — and Apple accessories in particular — with docking talker systems such as the Zeppelin Air ( ) , computer speakers such as the MM-1 ( ) , and the companionship ’s first headphone / headset , the P5 ( ) . B&W lately release a second headset model — the company ’s first in - ear intention — the $ 180C5 In - Ear Headphones . throw B&W ’s account and the accolades its other Apple - focused products have incur , the C5 has a mass to survive up to .
Emphasis on design
With the C5 , B&W opted for a canalbud - style designing . Canalbuds split up the difference between traditional earbuds and in - capitulum - epithelial duct ( “ canalphone ” ) models . They ’re also usually less expensive than canalphones , but the C5 is an exception , falling squarely in canalphone terms range . Since they go partly in the ear canal , canalbuds block some international noise and purport to form an acoustic seal that improves bass performance . However , they do n’t block as much sound as genuine in - ear - duct models , and , as with those models , getting a proper fit can be crafty , the corduroy can produce unwanted microphonic noise in a listener ’s ear , and using the headset mapping can be weird due to theocclusion effectof having your auricle secure while talking . ( See our in - ear - channel phone primer for more detail . )
generate B&W ’s tradition of striking - but - functional designing and exotic or luxurious ( but , again , functional ) material , it ’s not surprising to come up some clever touches in the C5 . Each headphone is principally a gloss - black cylinder , with one end cap by a tungsten honker with a silicone polymer eartip attach . ( B&W includes one pair each of superfluous - small , little , medium , and heavy eartips . ) The summit are made with a twofold - dead reckoning - border process — similar to those on models from Apple , Moshi , and V - moda — that produces a loggerheaded inner core that ’s easier to fit on the earpieces and keep the tip untroubled . The nozzle itself is the external portion of a tube that balances the earpieces toward the ear for a more secure convulsion .
The diametrical end of each cylinder is filled with what B&W calls amicro porous filter , a feature the company says tunes bass response , like a traditional sea bass embrasure , but also enhances the roominess of sound recording . lawful or not , it pass on the C5 a singular and stylish appearance . But the C5 ’s most classifiable design feature is the cockeyed circumstances of cable that exits the earpieces at a 9 o’clock position and then curves around to route through a shallow notch on the opposite side , forming a p - determine loop . The cable is starchy but flexile , letting you resize it to meet firmlywithinyour ear to stabilize the earphone . If you prefer , the cable can be removed from the notch and rout downwardly or up and over the ear .
The C5 ’s silver - colour wiring is seeable through vaporous cables insulant , with the view interrupted only by gloss - fatal charge plate trapping for the earphone chaw ; the place where the left and ripe earpiece cables join ; and the inline module arrest a microphone and an Apple - mode , three - button ( intensity up , volume down , play / call ) remote . This last item is located on the remaining - earphone cablegram and is also cylindrical , but for a notch that point the location of the central play button button . ( I could find oneself no visible evidence of the microphone , though it ’s decidedly there somewhere . )
While these are serious-minded excogitation touch , in drill they result in a somewhat less - ergonomic headphone than I expected — at least for my ears . If you ’ve had issuance with in - spike headphones descend out , the phosphorus - loops and earpiece weight might do good you , but I find the phone ’ wide diameter made it more difficult to get an optimal seal compared to some other model . The cord is also starchy enough to hurt from a retentivity force , so it did n’t always hang straight down in my testing . And due to the mostly uniform form of the outside and microphone module , its buttons can be difficult to locate and activate .
B&W also includes a suede , semi - circular case that ’s both attractive and stout . The showcase bear an insert for managing the headphone cable , but I rule the cable television service - direction feature to be inconvenient in praxis , and I wish the case was a snatch bigger , as it ca n’t comfortably bind the headphones and several eartips .
The question of sound
give our reviews of B&W ’s other Apple - centric products , I expected the C5 to be voiced with lovesome bass and a little bite of gamey - frequence accent , yielding a pleasant , if not completely exact , sound that should attract to a broad range of a function of attender . Indeed , the C5 ’s high frequencies have skillful melodic item , but I found them to lack a bit of depth : cymbals shimmer but lack the effect of a physical object being attain . Midrange performance is also skilful , though the C5 seems to lack the magic , if you will , that I expect from $ 180 headphones — the something that takes headphones from “ that ’s a good rendition of a forte-piano ” to “ that sounds like a genuine piano . ” However , I ’m being admittedly fussy here due to the B&W ’s price — overall , the C5 is a hearty performer .
The one expanse I did take issue with the C5 ’s audio quality is in the lower registers . Upper basso is tight and comparatively balanced with good particular — in music with limited freshwater bass content or with mostly upper bass , I found the C5 pleasant . But as soon as deeper bass showed up , the lower frequence had a tendency to overmaster . I admit that there are attender out there who really need this level of freshwater bass volume , but to me , it detract from the C5 ’s overall execution . ( Interestingly , covering the C5 ’s filters with my fingers tighten up the bass enough that it no longer obscured the midrange and treble , giving the earpiece a more - even balance . )
On the control surface , Future Sonics ’s Atrio m5 ( ) has a slew in unwashed with the C5 . While the Atrio lack headset functionality , and does n’t match B&W ’s intent prowess , at $ 200 it ’s in roughly the same cost range , and Future Sonics similarly places an emphasis on bass performance . compare the two , I find oneself the C5 to have better high - oftenness body than the Atrio , but I preferred the Atrio over the C5 across depressed frequency , thanks to the aforesaid extra chip of midrange realism , and , more significantly , potent and positive bass voice that , while perhaps a bit too much for my tastes , does n’t get in the mode of the medicine .
I also compared the C5 to my bang - for - the - buck canalbud favorite , the $ 80Maximo iP-595 ( ) . The Maximo ’s bass reaction is n’t balanced , either , but I find oneself it to be more so than that of the C5 . The C5 , on the other hand , has a clear edge in high - frequence and midrange reproductive memory , but I ca n’t say that it ’s one that justifies the price disparity between the two models — at least not base on audio performance alone .
The C5 ’s mike carrying out did n’t let down . While voices charm by the microphone lack the richness of the very good microphones I ’ve tested , they were decided and easy to understand .
Macworld’s buying advice
The problem with having wildly successful old sibling is that you ’re often judged by their successes . Indeed , it ’s for that very rationality that I had gamey expectations for the C5 , and while it ’s a strong ware , it does n’t quite live up to the case law established by the caller ’s previous Apple - focused products . Whereas those products likewise sell for a premium , their combinations of very skilful sound character and standout design give them compelling charm . With the C5 , effectual quality is expert , but bass voice is stress enough to detract from the overall performance , and the attractive and well - intentioned pattern is not enough to keep me from feel that the C5 should deliver more give its price and heritage . Still , if you like C5 ’s design , have had problem with in - ear duct headphones falling out , or want good sound with an abundance of bass — a category that for sure includes many on - the - go euphony hearer — the C5 is worth a facial expression .
[ R. Matthew Ward live on in St. Louis and enjoy the finer things in life : food , fuddle , Apple products , and well - reproduced medicine . you could find his mentation on these and other subjects onhis personal web log . ]
