We asked 10 people to test 8 popular pairs of headphones - blindfolded. Why blindfolded you
might ask, and judging by the thumbnail, why did we choose to dress them in those
hideous hats? Well, for one, we wanted people to be absolutely impartial in their judgment,
also some pairs of headphones, like the AirPods Max could be easily recognized by the unique
mesh texture of the ear cups so we purchased some very thin hats that wouldn't allow them to feel
any texture whatsoever, just the heft and the squeezing pressure for the most part.
Hey, Iskren here, but feel free to call me E, let me say this right out of the box - THIS IS
NOT A SCIENTIFIC TEST, not even close...for once audiophiles know how precise fit and ear seal
matter and with the hats, despite our best efforts and careful positioning we might have compromised
some of that, but even at 80% or 90% accuracy this experiment was important enough for us
to really understand how subjective sound quality is. Some of the pairs were kindly provided to us
by some of the participants themselves who were absolutely confident that they would be able to
recognize their own pairs but as we ran the test, absolutely no one could predict which
pair is which and the results were hilarious. For example, people that hated Beats headphones
chose Beats as their overall winner, and people who said how they enjoyed the noise canceling of a
pair were actually enjoying headphones with no noise-canceling features at all.
So here are the contestants: The Beats Studio 3, an older model already but very decent when it
comes to comfort, sound quality, and connectivity when it comes to the Apple ecosystem. The all
favorite Sony XM4 - the noise-canceling king and the headphones to compare with the newly released
Apple AirPods Max. Of course, the AirPods Max, the controversial $550 flex of Apple's combination of
sound quality, minimalism, and connectivity. BTW, the AirPods Max ran the test without special audio
activated, since it would've easily prompted the contestants and to throw them off, even more,
we turned off the noice-canceling as well. Next up is the Gold Standard of price vs performance and
accuracy, the Audio Technica M50x with Bluetooth. Afterward is the THX Panda, the underdog and the
kind of passive noise cancellation - praised by many experts in the field. The next big
name on the list is Bang and Olufsen and their expensive latest active noice-canceling pair
Beoplay H9. To stir the confusion, even more, we threw in my favorite
on-ear headphones by STATUS called BT One. First is the fact that they are on-ear and second,
they don't have any noise cancellation as you can expect. But they do sound fantastic. Finally, we
have a very interesting and extremely comfortable pair of very affordable headphones called
Avantree Audition coming in at $50. So this is how we ran the experiment. We
drew inspiration from MKBHD's bling smartphone camera test and faced all contestants in pairs
where each pair would qualify and participate in 3 rounds, the last being the final battle.
That structure was followed throughout all blindfolded listeners so you can imagine how
much time it took us to do this crazy experiment. First-round was a specifically selected song,
one that would expand and showcase the potential of each pair of headphones,
the second was a high-quality interview between Oprah and Obama and the final round would be the
first few minutes of the movie Avatar, of course, played in the highest quality possible. We would
give the listener one option for each round to come back to the first pair should there be some
doubts (which by the way, seldom happened). Also, all headphones were set up at the same
volume. By giving one point for each round, respectively 2 points for round 2 and 3 points
for round 3 we managed to calculate and have a winner but before we get to that, try and guess
in the comment section below which headphones took the first 3 places. I have this absurd goal
of hitting 100k subscribers by the end of 2021 which can only be done with your help so if you
end up enjoying this video, subscribe, it's free and you can always change your mind. So, here are
the results and conclusions. The Beats Studio 3 headphones were against the Sony XM4 in round 1,
since both pairs are very similar in weight, shape, and comfort. Both were noise-canceling
enabled and in round 1 both snatched equally 5 points each. The next two pairs were the
Audio Technica and AirPods Max since I consider them extremely sound accurate and since the ATH
doesn't come with active noice-canceling, we had the AirPods Max running as standard too.
Both split the wins 5 in 5 before round 2. The next two pairs were the Drop Panda with Status BT
One. One very heavy and expensive pair of passive noise-canceling headphones against one on-ear,
extremely light pair, 5 times less expensive. Interestingly in round 1, Status took 4 points
and the Panda 6, which was very surprising, expecting the Panda to annihilate the STATUS. The
final pair was the B&O against the Avantree. $450 vs $50, noise-canceling, vs no noise-canceling,
uncomfortable, vs very comfortable, surprisingly the Avantree managed to snatch 3 wins and
most listeners did find the B&O uncomfortable compared to the Avantree. Throughout all rounds,
the B&O were often described as too bass-heavy and not-so-clear in sound, but very fun to listen to.
So 7 for B&O and 3 for Avantree. In round 2, the interview, most points were taken
by that same Bang & Olufsen pair, 5 in total, followed by 4 wins of the Drop Panda and Beats,
Audio Technica and AirPods Max took 3 wins. Status and Avantree managed to grab 1 win at some point,
and it was clear where the results were heading. In the final round, the Avatar movie, things
were a bit evened out where the Beats, AirPods Max, the Panda, and B&O all grabbed two wins,
and the Sony XM4 and Audio Technica managed to win one time only. After the calculations,
Beats and AirPods Max ended up sharing third place with 17 points each,
second place went to the Drop Panda with 20 points and the overall winner was the Bang and Olufsen
leading with 23 points. So what are the conclusions? For a start, sound quality is VERY
SUBJECTIVE. My personal outcomes were that I did not expect the B&O to be the overall victor,
considering them very uncomfortable to wear and very bass-heavy, rather inaccurate if you ask me.
Also, I was absolutely confident that the Sony XM4 will either be the winner or at least come
in second place, but that wasn't even the case, coming fifth after the Audio Technica. Finally,
judging by the results and by most people's feedback, the AirPods Max ended up being glorified
Beats Studio 3's? What do you think? What are your thoughts? It's been an absolute pleasure,
This is E Over & Out