Mark Levinson Nō 5909

Mark Levinson is a luxury audio brand founded in 1972 by Mark Levinson, a musician, audio engineer, audio equipment designer, and entrepreneur. He left the company in 1984 and since then the company has changed ownership several times. Now, Mark Levinson brand is owned by Harman, a subsidiary of Samsung. The product range covers pre-amplifiers, amplifiers, turntables, streaming CD players, car audio systems. The № 5909 is the brand’s first headphones product and proudly exhibits the same characteristics of their line of products. It is all about clarity. I received this loan unit from Clarity Audio Singapore and spent 2 weeks testing it out.

Features​

I would want to jump straight into talking about the audio quality itself, because that is the most exciting thing about the No.5909. Yes, it is a wireless over-ear headphones with active noise cancelling and awareness modes. It also supports wireless Hi-Res LDAC codec (as well as aptX and AAC), passive wired analog 3.5mm input, wired digital USB input up to 24-bit 96kHz. These technical capabilities are above average compared to majority of premium headphones, and only a handful of headphones can match the functionality, like the Shure AONIC 50.



The thick deep ear cushions envelop the entire ears to passively keep noise out and large enough to keep my ears cosy and comfortable. The clamping force is also sufficient without wear fatigue. The No.5909 can provide 34 hours playback time or 30 hours with ANC. It comes with a hard case, airplane adapter, 6.3mm adapter, USB-C to USB-A adapter, USB-C cable (for charging and digital audio), two 3.5mm cables (1.25m and 4m length). On the left earcup, there are two buttons – one for power and the other for ANC. On the right, there is the volume rocker and play-pause button in the middle. The buttons are well-spaced and I do not have issues accessing them for the necessary controls. There is an option to auto-pause when the headphones are removed from the ears, but this can be disabled from the smartphone app.

Audio Quality​

Mark Levinson prides itself in optimising the No. 5909 headphones to the Harman Curve. To the uninitiated, the Harman target curve is researched to be the ultimate sound signature that most users prefer when listening to headphones. The tuning for headphones is different from speakers due to the human anatomy: on headphones, the audio is fed directly to the ears, while audio from speakers interact with the entire body. Simply-put, a flat frequency response will not sound good on headphones compared to speakers. Research also indicates that about 15% of the listeners prefer more bass while 21% prefer lesser bass. So on the smartphone app, you can select the bass contour, but there is no option for EQ across the frequency range.



I always review products without put too much credit or emphasis on the technology or hardware, because consumers are outcome-oriented. You can throw in all the best materials and R&D but it would not mean anything if consumers do not like what they experience. I, for one, do not worship the Harman curve, although it is supposed to be the “reference” tuning. But people needs a reference point, and for that, I do not deny the benefits of creating a “standard”. Still, a frequency curve does not reflect the sound quality of headphones. Simply put, even if two headphones attain identical frequency curve, they might not sound the same, because the frequency curve does not measure how the sound is presented, like the sound staging, instrument separation, dynamics.



Harman curve or not, the Mark Levinson No.5909 is simply an outstanding headphones purely from the audio quality perspective. The bass is so clean and not bloated that you hear them instead of feel them. The treble is also not overcooked, offering comfortable space in between the various instruments. The sound is presented in a frontal spatial headspace that delivers utmost details within each instrumental channel without encroaching another. Ask your ears what instrument you want to listen to, and you will be able to pick it up. Most headphones would require your ears to be more trained to pick up details because of distractions from other instruments like bass and other instrumental harmonics. The No.5909 takes all these distractions away so you can pick up even subtle timbre.



Switching between other headphones like the Sennheiser HD 800S, I come to realise a trade-off to achieve the musical precision on the No.5909. It is relatively shy of warmth and tame in harmonics, the sound is clinically detached, lacking in emotional connection (“It’s not personal, it’s business.”). This can be somewhat compensated by turning up the volume which elevates the lower frequencies presentation while maintaining composure at the upper frequencies without hurting the ears.

I also compared with the Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2, which is rather close in terms of the treble brightness. For casual laid-back listening experience, the M50 is equally gratifying in offering treble sparkles. Relative to the No.5909, the M50 sounds more cluttered and clouded. The same softer instruments are obscured by the louder instruments and the booming bass. Try as I might to adjust the EQ, I cannot achieve the same layering clarity that No.5909 offers. However, from an overall audio presentation, the M50 is more energetic and exciting. Switching to the Shure AONIC 50, the vocals are more warmth and intimate, bass has more beef, instruments are more forthcoming, while achieving the treble shimmer. Yet, the instrumental distinction is still not a match.

Despite the coldness of reality, I really love how the No.5909 brings out music in a precise fashion, making muddy tracks sound sparkling and rejuvenated. You will not be wowed by the energy, but more on the aural distinction to let you appreciate every musical element. The No.5909 will be exceedingly helpful if you want to transcribe music parts. Needless to say, the No.5909 is excellent for listening Classical, Jazz, and all audiophile-grade productions with meticulous arrangements. Bass-heavy genres like EDM, hip-hop turns out too academic for bass heads, and for that, you should consider Sony WH-XB910N.

• Bass: 6.5/10. Detailed, musical, disciplined, lacks extension and excitement.
• Midrange: 6.8/10. Detailed, clinical, lacks warmth and overtones.
• Treble: 8.8/10. Outshines with clarity, definition, dynamics, resolution

Connectivity​

There are three connection methods – Bluetooth wireless, 3.5mm analog wired, USB digital wired. Switching among the different audio modes have little difference in the sound tuning. If your DAC is premium, you might extract better audio resolution over analog wired, but the digital USB connection is very convenient to plug to Android smartphones where most no longer support 3.5mm connection, though I find the volume not loud enough on the Google Pixel 4XL. Connecting via digital wire also charges the headphones, but you cannot use the headphone mic for voice calls.

ANC, Awareness, Call Quality​

Mark Levinson No.5909 comes with three ANC modes – High, Low, and Adaptive. They do fine in reducing airplane noises and urban traffic but could not keep out the upper frequencies. The Awareness mode comes with two options – Voice Pass and Ambient. The Voice Pass makes voice more prominent while Ambient enables general sound to be heard. Overall, the Awareness modes still do not let you hear the surrounding in utmost clarity, once music is played, it would drown most ambient sound like fan, and you can only hear loud sudden noises, or keyboard clatter.



Mic pick-up is loud and clear. During calls, the Awareness mode is enabled to ensure you can hear yourself and prevent raising your voice excessively. There is no option to toggle the ANC mode.

Verdict​

For a pair of premium audio headphones to price at S$1499, the Mark Levinson No.5909 is actually not too exorbitant compared with other audiophile headphones like the Beyerdynamic T1 Gen 3 (also S$1499) or Sennheiser IE900 (S$1999). What makes it seem “expensive” is the association to “wireless headphones”, which makes people question why a wireless headphones cost so much.

The treble brilliance is nothing new in the world of audio. What is impressive on the Mark Levinson No.5909 is the ability for the headphones to deliver sonic distinction among the instruments and give them the space that they deserve. It is not often that I come across such musical qualities on a pair of wireless headphones, so at this moment, the No.5909 is a class of its own.