The very plush way to listen to your music

Danish audio legend Bang & Olufsen has some high-end electronics to offer for those who can afford them. It isn’t just their speakers and televisions that are aimed at the lifestyle segment, but their headphones and portable speakers as well. All of these usually cost a pretty packet, and the recently launched Beoplay H9 over-ear headphones are no exception.

Take the H9 headphones out of their very serious and professional looking box and you’ll find yourself holding one of the best looking headphones around. I spent some time with a grey and beige model and it really looks sophisticated, apparently made of lamb leather. Poor lamb. The headband too is in the same material. The ear-cups are where there are metallic discs with the B&O logo and the plushest cushioning on the inside. These ear-cups are exceptionally comfortable. I expected to feel nice and hot wearing them for a while, but indoors, I didn't.

The headphones have a nice grip, though my head seems too small for all of them — tilt back a bit and they’ll fall off. The headband is adjustable and the cups swivel around a bit so as not to be stiff and inflexible. But they don’t fold inward or anything.

Overall, the build is very strong and solid. A super soft pouch in the box is how you’d carry these around or store them.

If I were to be asked to describe the sound texture from the H9 headphones, I would use the word resonant. It’s a full head-filling sound with a depth and bass that’s in a way generalised rather than delineated and defined. Higher frequencies don’t really come through as prominent and yet the sound is not muffled and is really very pleasant. I believe that audiophiles who carefully listen and expect certain specifications may not find them and that seems to be the case from the handful of reviews at the moment, but for ordinary listeners it’s a more than pleasing experience. I listened to tracks with deep bass and found they didn’t turn out booming or distorted or unpleasant in any way. While I always felt sharp sounds could have been more detailed and defined, it wasn’t enough to turn me off at all. I believe Indian listeners would rather love the sound from the H9 headphones — if they decide to spend that much on this pair.

The minimal controls are located on the directionally marked ear-cups. There’s the usual micro-USB slot because this is a Bluetooth pair. Also a 3.5 mm inlet so you can switch to wired listening after the 14 hours of battery are over. But the one thing that’s different from other headphones is that the metallic discs on the ear-cups are touch sensitive and can be used to control volume (with a circular gesture), change tracks (with a swipe) and turn off or on (with a tap).

This is really convenient, except for the fact that the touch controls seem to do what they want. Alarmingly often, touching them to reduce volume instead induced them to make a phone call — luckily it was to my own second phone. Accidental touches happen rather easily and the music either turns itself on or off.

Swiping up or down on the disc leads to active noise cancellation on or off — indicated by a little ping you can hear. The noise cancellation is achieved by speakers on the outside that neutralise noise with the ones on the inside. While the cutting out of noise is not quite as good as Bose’s on their Quiet Comfort series, it’s pretty good and air conditioner noises disappeared, the vacuum cleaner could barely be heard, and soft conversation falls on deaf ears. Good enough for most situations.

While the H9 headphones offer a lot — a comprehensive lively sound, good comfort, sturdy build, adequate battery life (with the possibility of replacing the battery), and noise cancellation, they do come with a hefty price tag.

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