Bowers & WilkinsPi7 S2 True Wireless Earbuds - Active Noise Cancellation, Qualcomm aptX Technology, Bluetooth, Crystal-Clear Calls, Wireless & 15-Minute Quick Charging, Satin Black

The sound quality is far superior to any other product on the market. No other earbud at this pricepoint even comes close. To realize how amazing these really are, I recommend you subscribe to hi-res music services like Qobuz or Tidal. These services offer hi-res music in 96/24 formats. With these hi-res formats (compared to CD quality or MP3) the music is equivalent to being in the studio in a live performance. Even the smallest details are reproduced with stunning detail and accuracy. You may hear the musician tapping his foot to the beat, of fingers sliding on the strings of a guitar. Vocals are seductive and luxurious. The bass is thunderous, and at the same time tight and detailed. The fit of the earbuds is excellent and critically important to get the deep bass these are capable of. Take your time to select the earbur tip which best fits your ear canal. The HD codec aptx is amazing and works flawlessly. LDAC is supposedly superior (not supported in these buds) but those differences in technology don't matter if the amplifiers and drivers can't reproduce all that goodness. Make sure your phone supports these hi-res formats. The Pi7 S2 meticulously reproduces the magic of hi-res music. If you are an audiophile, where the quality of music trumps every other consideration, the Pi7 S2 is a a good buy at $399. Note that you need to play these buds for at least a week before they reach their full potential. Like most any speaker driver - a mechanical component - they need some time to burn in, figuratively.The app doesn't have an equalizer or other frills you typically see at this pricepoint. A well designed earbud doesn't need an equalizer to force it to do something it can't do natively. That's the case here. The Pi7 is already perfect, and doesn't need artificial EQ tweaks. The app has a built in music player that connects to Tidal or Qobuz.In initially purchased this as a renewed product. Big mistake. The case was defective and caused connectivity issues. I recommend you purchase new, and get the 2 year BW warranty.Hi res music is more demanding of a good and fast bluetooth connection. So keep the phone close by for best results.The various other purchaser comments about the app are true. It's overly complicated and unreliable for installing and accessing the product. Problems installing and connecting get annoying fast. Easily installed on one phone, but same buds refuse to install on a secondary phone. I've also observed that the replacement for the defective buds does not have the pristine sound of the original ones.Highlights:1. beyond spectacular music reproduction2. considering audio quality only, worth every penny even at $3993. subscribe to Tidal of Qobuz. you can easily transfer your playlists from other music services.4. Expect some challenges with the app. Customer has been very helpful so far. Easy to reach on the phone and responsive to email.I initially tried 2 renewed products and often these are fully capable products. With these buds, I strongly suggest not. Spend a few extra bucks to buy new and avoid some of the issues reported by other buyers. For example, the buds are matched to the case. they are not interchangeable. products look identical, so used you may get Pi5 in a Pi7 case, or buds and case that are incompatible.So what about the BUT...1. While the app integrates nicely with Qobuz and TIDAL, during playback via the app, it decides that a non B&W bud is connected and stops working. Only solution I've found is back in the case for awhile despite that the battery is still charged.2. Without fail, after 1-2 hours the right buds stops working. Back in the case for awhile despite that the battery is still 50% charged. The app doesen't differentiate between left and right battery level, so it's almost like the right uses twice the power of the left.3. ANC feature is generally poor. If ANC is at the top of your priority list, and you are willing to sacrifice audio quality, then the Bose QC may be the better choice. Bose QC II does not support hi-res codecs so the music reproduction is worse in a quiet environment but better in a noisy environment.4. No firmware update since release, so not sure if these issues will be resolved by some future update.5. The buds fit tight initially, but after a few minutes they lose the seal and sound quality degrades. The Bose QCII stay tight in the canal. This problem contributes to the poor ANC of the B&W.Everything considered, despite the stellar sound engineering, the problems are just too annoying. Back in the case every hour to charge or reset or whatever. No...

I wanted to try these because they're apparently for "audiophiles". Sound quality for music is good but not good enough to justify the price.The connectivity and app is worst.About 1 in every 5 times either one earphones will stop working or audio will have gaps and you'll have to turn it off and on by putting them back in the case.Call quality is just terrible, I'm not even talking about the ANC - the other side can barely understand you. So maybe instead of 2 or 3 microphones they can work on positioning one efficiently.No equalizer in the app, so you will have to you use the streaming app or a 3rd party to adapt different genres.I was looking forward to trying these, very disappointing experience.

Absolutely can't beat the sound on these B&W earbuds.. Yes, they are not inexpensive, but once you experience the richness of these buds, you'll not be disappointed in your purchase. Absolutely amazing from one who has listened to almost every quality earbud made. The one drawback is the App. It's just of hardly any use to download. But with that said, these buds are so well tuned, you won't miss not having an app. If you have the $, get these!

I've been tussling with these for several days now. They're pretty. The case is pretty. They do sound better than Apple air pods. And at this price point, with that subjectively improved and candied-up sound, they will certainly satisfy many consumer's need to spend money in order to feel like they're getting "the best." I'm just starting my search for wireless headphones with a mic, so I don't know for sure, but I strongly suspect and actually hope that these are not the best on offer in this segment. My core gripe is with the sound. These are marketed and described in reviews as having neutral sound, but they most certainly do not. "Hear music and movies as the artist intended" says the B&W website. I guarantee you this is not what was coming out of your favorite artists' studio monitors at mixing and mastering phases of their production. I don't know enough about speaker design to know if the effects I'm about to describe are being achieved by the physical design or by signal processing. Probably by a mix of the two. BTW, yes I've got them fitted properly, and no I'm not using any EQ from the players I use. Anyway, here's what I hear in these things: "rich bass!" Oh yes, the low end is definitely hyped, probably from about 200Hz on down, by as much as 4db. "Warmth!" yep, the low mids are also overrepresented, though not as badly as the low end. Also says the website: "..from deep and powerful bass to expressive and detailed high notes, and everything in between" - I do think that description should be amended to remove "everything in between" because the higher mids are definitely scooped out. Fans of loud guitar-based music should look elsewhere. The high end is certainly in better shape than the rest of the spectrum, but does seem oddly focused on transients. What I mean is that you've got the initial attack of things like hi-hat or ride cymbal, percussion, etc., but that these sounds decay somewhat quickly, unnaturally. This isn't super bad, but I hear it. It probably reads as "detail" to most consumers and reviewers. Speaking of transients, some reviewers mention the "punchy bass" of these things. The bass is certainly punchy. By that I mean the bass is both overrepresented and the attack of sounds like kick drum or bass guitar is very, very fast. It's a pretty cool effect, actually. This could certainly be due to speaker design - think about a teeny tiny transducer throwing out gobs of low end - that is gonna happen very quickly. I bet a lot of people enjoy this and I could definitely see it being the most special quality of these. B&W have really nailed that effect here. My point is just that it's an effect that interferes with my ability to listen to mixes critically, and, after the novelty has worn off, to even enjoy listening. Reviewers also describe the wide soundstage. Yes, it's wide because it's been tweaked, likely via signal processing that adjusts amplitude and phase relationships between the left and right channels that increases perceived stereo spread. This is also kind of a cool effect. For like 2 minutes. Then I just want to hear the recording. So all this is to say that if, like me, you are looking for accurate sound and you would notice the issues I've described, then these are probably not the headphones you are looking for. I'm sure all of it is by design, and this is probably what most consumers will enjoy. Just like a lot of people enjoy Thai food with a bunch of sugar in it. If you're really into sound, my advice would be to look elsewhere. Once I get sick of continually untangling the wires of my trusty old Etymotic ER4P's, I'm sure I will be doing just that myself.

If you put these on and close your eyes, you will be right next to the band or in studio with whatever song you’re listening to. The clarity, bass, sound stage (yes, these earbuds have a soundstage. An unbelievable one). They’re worth the cost of you really love good sound.