WIRED Sounds so sweet, you'll want to re-rip your entire music library into lossless files. Memory foam earpads block a ton of ambient noise. Go ahead and wear 'em in public — the low-profile headphones won't make you look like a ham radio operator. Interchangeable cables: one with an inline mic, one without. Included pouch is so swank, you'll probably see a knock-off for sale on Canal Street within the month.
TIRED One small gripe: The tiny sub-earpad tab that holds the cable in its routing channel is poorly machined and sharp enough to cut the rubber cord jacket. Pricey? Yep. Worth it? No doubt.
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headphones are awesome! They are everything B&W says they will be.
Most of the time, I listen to a wide variety of music, from Slayer and Metallica to Miles Davis and Mozart, and so far I am very satisfied. At normal listening levels, they've exceeded my expectations and after about six months, I still enjoy them as much as day one. If you are looking for headphones with earth shattering bass, don't buy these. I do listen to some Hip-hop/rap/R&B as well and I am very satisfied with the P5's but I wouldn't be surprised if someone didn't like them because they preferred the coloration that some headphones add to bass and highs of music.
The P5's are sophisticated and refined and reproduce the music as it was intended to be heard. They don't appear to boost the lower or higher frequencies as many other headphones do, but then they aren't marketing towards the teenager market.
I've auditioned almost everything else in the same price range and these seem the most "neutral" sounding. I got to play the Monster Beats and they are fun: loud, crisp highs, and head rattling bass but they quickly wear on you. After an hour or two I couldn't stand them any longer as they made my ears feel "tired." I also spent some time with the Bose headphones and they are well rounded but after two hours or so my ears would hurt. Everything else had either had crisp highs but lagged with bass or dull highs but heavy bass. As I mentioned earlier, if you're looking for over-the-top bass, these are not the headphones for you.
I've worn the P5's for as long as about four hours in one sitting and so far they haven't bothered my ears. They also do a nice job of keeping out ambient noise but I would never compare them with other "noise canceling" headphones. I haven't used the mic with my iPhone but I thought it was cool that it came with that cord. Overall build quality is comparable with others in this price range (good but not like a tank) and I wish the cord was built better but I haven't had any issues and if I ever do, it would be extremely easy to replace (as would the ear pads).
Overall, I would recommend the P5's to anyone looking in this price range. If something ever happened to my own pair, I would run right out and buy these again.