This review is going to focus solely on sound quality, pictures, details of accessories are all in the others. So lets get into the meat of why these headphones are superb, and stand up even to giants like the Focal Clear.
I picked up the P9 a year ago in the bargain bin at John Lewis for £405. At the time I owned the fun Sennheiser Momentum 3, MW65 by Master and Dynamic, beautiful Focal Clear, and renowned Campfire Audio Andromeda.
So I'd say I owned the class leaders in the £300-400 range and the £1000-1500 range. Which are interesting comparisons for the P9
The P9 surprised me in a big way. They reproduce music in such a fun, dynamic way, which is hard to describe - for instance everything on my MW65 and M3 felt hollow or flat when I went back to them. A sad realisation, as both of those headphones were far more convenient to use.
I decided to take the P9 and Momentum 3s with me on a 5 week trip to Greece to properly feel them out. By the end, the P9 was so far ahead that the M3s were collecting dust.
The P9s delivered a far more textured, nuanced bass than the M3, but the most evident improvement was vocals. They're so much wider and deeper on the P9, it became blatantly obvious listening to Lana Del Rey, or the Norwegian singer Aurora. Vocals are a big part of my collection, so I found this a noticable difference. Add to this the fact the M3s colour music a bit too much for my liking, and the P9s easily justified being £100 more. Actually, they'd have justified being £500 more to me at this point, the difference is that stark when you hear the wonderous tonality the P9s produce vs even a stellar headphone like the M3.
That said these headphones have their flaws. The bass can be too thunderous at times, while fantastic for movies, and certain genres, it can be overbearing and take too much of the show.
They also have a laid back quality, and lack the excitement of something like the Clear, not to mention the nuance.
These really are a unique sounding headphone, something you have to try. Beautifully flawed in a way.
