Bowers & Wikins announce a new flagship ANC wireless headphone called the Px8.
As we all prep for more travel in the coming months, headphone manufacturers are announcing a slew of new wireless headphones ready for airplanes and portable audio enthusiasts alike. Bowers and Wilkins have seen some success in this area alongside companies like Bose and Sennheiser, all competing for mindshare alongside Apple’s newest proprietary indulgences. The B&W Px8 enters the fray with updated proprietary drivers and new codex like Apt-X Adaptive alongside the ability to stream music directly from the B&W Music App, allowing users to monitor EQ, charge levels and preferred noise cancelling mode. Hard wired options include the usual analog jack and USB.
More details in the presser below.
“Bowers & Wilkins, the renowned British premium audio brand, has launched its new flagship wireless headphone, the Px8. The new model sets a new reference standard for sound, build and finish in the active noise cancelling wireless headphone category.
The heart of the Px8 is the same active noise cancelling wireless platform found in the Px7 S2, already one of the best-sounding headphones in its class. In Px8, that stellar performance is taken to even greater heights of detail, resolution and spaciousness thanks to all-new bespoke 40mm Carbon Cone drive units.
Inspired by the Carbon Dome drive units used in Bowers & Wilkins highly successful 700 Series loudspeaker range, the Px8’s new Carbon Cones deliver an unparalleled combination of ultra-fast response plus exceptionally low distortion throughout the frequency range. The result is resolution, detail and timing that surpasses the high bar set by the Px7 S2, ensuring an even more engaging and natural musical performance that gets closer than ever to the True Sound of the artist’s intent.
The Carbon Cone drive units in Px8 are carefully angled inside each earcup to ensure a consistent distance relative to the listener’s ear from every point across the surface of each driver, to produce a more immersive and highly accurate soundstage. The result is the best sound quality Bowers & Wilkins has ever delivered from a pair of wireless headphones.
A new leader in headphone design
The design of Px8 is just as inspiring as its sound quality. The new headphone is available in two finishes, black leather or tan leather, and now has a cast-aluminum arm structure that references Bowers & Wilkins signature design language, plus a diamond-cut bright edge on each elliptical logo plate. The earcups, memory-foam cushions and headband are trimmed in soft, luxurious Nappa leather for the ultimate, premium feel. Together, these design and material choices ensure that Px8 confidently asserts Bowers & Wilkins’ position as a premium audio brand like no other in the category.
Unparalleled high-resolution sound
The Px8 uses Qualcomm’s aptXTM Adaptive wireless technology to ensure the best possible sound quality from compatible phones, tablets and computers. USB-C and 3.5mm analogue cable connections are also supported, with both cable types included in the carry case that accompanies the product.
Whether using wireless or wired connections, the Px8 combines its ultra-high-performance drive unit configuration with powerful Bowers & Wilkins-developed DSP (Digital Signal Processing) to deliver outstanding, 24-bit high-resolution sound quality from leading streaming services.
Cancel the noise, not your music
The Px8 uses proprietary Bowers & Wilkins-optimized noise cancellation technology to effectively shut out unwanted noise – crucially, without harming musicality in the process.
Six high-performance microphones work together to deliver the best results: two measure the output of each drive unit, two react to ambient noise from the outside world and two provide outstanding voice clarity with enhanced noise suppression.
As with Px7 S2, the performance of the system has been further improved by moving the two external microphones closer together, adjusting the angling of each microphone to improve voice capture and changing the position of the second mic to reduce wind noise interference.
A breakthrough in user experience
Excitingly, the launch of the new Px8 will see a major upgrade for the Bowers & Wilkins Music App. From launch, the Music App will allow Px8 users to stream their chosen music directly from their mobile device to their headphones, with Deezer, Qobuz and TIDAL all supported. The same functionality will roll out
to owners of Px7 S2 on the day Px8 launches. As just one example of the benefits of this breakthrough feature, Bowers & Wilkins customers can now easily switch between listening at home – for example, via a Zeppelin, or a pair of the Formation Duo stereo speakers – and listening on the move via a mobile device with a pair of Px8 or Px7 S2 headphones.
As before, the Music App also simplifies connection of the Px8 to a mobile device, supports fine-tuning of the sound through adjustable EQ, and allows owners to configure their preferred noise-cancelling mode, all while monitoring the headphone’s charge levels.
Physical controls on each earcup are also included, ensuring full control even without the Music App, while users can also use the Px8 to seamlessly launch their phone’s Voice Assistant at the touch of a button. With 30 hours of battery life, Px8 can play all day long – and more – on just one charge, while a 15-minute quick recharge is sufficient to provide up to seven hours of additional listening time, so you’ll never be without your favorite music for long.
Commenting on the launch, Giles Pocock, Vice-President of Brand Marketing said “I’m thrilled that today, we’re transforming customer expectations in the premium headphone category with our new Px8. It perfectly encapsulates everything we stand for as a brand, with outstanding sound quality that properly reflects our True Sound promise, plus unrivalled design and finish.”
The premium design and class-leading sound quality of the new Px8 will be available from September 28th, from the Bowers & Wilkins website and selected retailers priced at $699.”
More info: Bowers And Wilkins Px8