Microsoft's new Surface headphones

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface-headphones/8nrm8dz2zw43?activetab=pivotverviewtab

These seem interesting to me, as I have a 40 minute daily train commute, and the adjustable noise cancelling is appealing. I also have USB-C charging at work, so I could plug them in for a few minutes a day and be all set.

Price is $350 I think? I have a $100 Microsoft store giftcard, which makes experimenting with these a bit more palatable.

I'm a sucker for anything "over engineered", and it looks like they put a ton of R&D into these things.

 

Don't know how this is implemented, but the Sony WH1000 XM2 and XM3 have something similar.

 

I understand that the “rotating ring” adjustment on these is much easier to use than on the Sonys.

 

Interesting info on the design, and early sound impressions. From Digital Trends.

"Ralf Groene, head of Industrial Design with the Microsoft Devices group and the man most responsible for the look and feel of the company’s products, told me it took 3 years to finalize the design. Three years spent honing the grease levels in the ball bearings that actuate the dial around the earcup. Three years spent perfecting the memory foam that makes them so comfy. No wonder they feel good.


As for the million-dollar question: I didn’t have the time to do any sort of audio analysis of the headphones, so it’s hard to answer the fundamental question: Did music sound, you know, awesome through these? Sure, it sounded pretty decent. And when I turned noise cancellation up all the way, despite the dozens of tech journalists shouting at my elbow for time with the Microsoft Surface Headphones, I was able to tune them out. I was in the zone. And in the end, isn’t that what it’s all about?"

 

They look good, not showing on UK site yet.

 

They look a whole lot like B&O headphones so thats probably who makes them.
The Sony MX 3 is the one to get right now.

 

Microsoft designed and made them in-house.

 

We just have to wait for first comparisons against XM3
But, I kinda doubt it has better sound or NC than Sony, its first version they released and everybody knows MS needs at least 3-4 versions to get things right ...

Interesting take with dial thou

 

Rather fascinating look at the design process:

The team behind Microsoft's Surface Headphones - Video

 

Reports say these will be available for pre-order on November 15th and start shipping on November 19th. Pretty sure I will go ahead and pre-order, as I have a trip planned for late November and it would be great to give these a try during that

 

As an owner of a MX3 set I find it difficult to recommend them.

 

Order from someplace returnable, order a set of the Bose, and take them both to an airfield near you to compare. The sound of my Bose QC25 is just good, definitely NOT great, however they really kill a TON of noise crud on jet flights. Or my lawn mower. I can still hear my wife if she is in a nagging mood, though...

Another thing I love is they do NOT charge by USB, they use an actual AAA battery which if it dies I can just replace with the spare the case has a spot for. Because otherwise you will inevitably be mid-Pacific with no charge port in sight. I would NEVER buy USB-charged headphones for myself.* I was given some lovely Blue Mo-Fis, and they are always discharged. I don't have a good spot to leave them charging and just do not adopt a habit of thinking about it. YMMV.
(*well, maybe if something sounded really good, AND then I started to carry a backup little charger around, AND then headphones would still play actively WHILE being charged).

 

I plan on buying from the Microsoft store.

USB-C is actually one of the main reasons I'm interested in them. Both my personal and work-issued laptop use USB-C for charging. So, I literally have 10+ USB-C chargers around the house, and even a USB-C power-bank battery for travel.

No one knows (yet) if you can still use them while they're charging, but even worst case, I carry around at least two spare headphones in my backpack while traveling: Apple AirPods and Pioneer Rayz (which actually do support charging while listening), so I cannot imagine ever running out of battery for headphones.

 

So apparently I was the first person at the Microsoft Dallas store to purchase the Surface Headphones As such, the staff was very excited, taking pictures and all. They sent me home with a nice bag of swag, thanks Microsoft!

 

I look forward to your review.

I just wish the time they spent designing these headphones had been spent designing USB-C into the rest of the Surface lineup.

 

Yeah, no kidding. I made a point of telling the Microsoft team (maybe 6 employees?) that USB-C was one of the main reasons I bought these.

I'll set them up and post a short review later tonight. Gotta get kids fed and in bed first

 

Here are some initial impressions:

Design/ergonomics: They are overall very comfortable. I've only worn them for about 1 hour at a time, and they may be a *tiny* bit on the tight side. I think they're well suited for on-the-go listening. The ear cups are crazy comfy! The fit and finish is very nice, no exposed screws. I'm not 100% sold on the color. Seems like it might look grungy after a while. I would have preferred a much darker gray. The side dials for volume and noise cancellation (13 steps, but no indents) are a joy to use. Incredibly smooth to turn, feels like a much more expensive device. How do I get these quality knobs/rings on my A/V gear??

Technical considerations: Setup was straightforward and I was listening in just a few seconds. Today, I downloaded the Cortana app, which walks you through a more sophisticated setup, and gives you access to more setup options, including the ability to disable Cortana, update the headphone's firmware, etc. They have USB-C for charging, and you can charge while listening. However, the USB-C port does not support audio input. I tried with iPhone (Lightning to USB-C), MacBook Pro (USB-C to USB-C) and Surface Go (USB-C to USB-C). Nothing recognized, but this is not really an issue - rather a technical curiosity I had. They also have a nice feature to auto-pause the music when you take them off, but leaving them around your neck is uncomfortable for me.

Sound: Without using the Cortana app, the default is a "Flat" EQ setting. Problem is.. it's not so flat! Too much bass at ~ 100Hz. Not to the level of most Beats, but definitely "plump". In the Cortana app, you can customize a 5-band EQ. I took Bass and Mid-Bass down one click each, and that evened things out nicely. I had no issues with the mids or high-end. I don't find them to have the dreaded "cupped hands" sound of the midrange, so I'm grateful for that. The adjustable noise cancellation is impressive to me. I guess it has 13 steps, but I find it hard to distinguish. You get a small beep when you reach either end of the extreme: full-on NC, or actually amplifying ambient sounds. So far I've left it at the highest setting and it was nice on the morning train ride. I can hear a bit of NC hiss in between songs, but it's not too distracting for me.

Anyways, that's all for now!

 

If you're interested in these headphones, I highly recommend watching the first 4 minutes of this video from Marques Brownlee:

 

Some further thoughts after spending a few days with them:

It is interesting (to me, at least) that these have two bluetooth connections between the headphones and the paired device. One is the standard Bluetooth 4.2 for receiving audio, the other is Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) for transmitting/syncing data such as the EQ settings (more on that below).

Comfort! Wow these are very comfortable. The ear pads are covered in the normal stuff found on similar headphones, but the padding itself is some kind of magical foam that has the perfect density and comfort for long-term wearing. Obviously this is very subjective, but it definitely was unexpected for me.

EQ: I think I've found a very flat setting, that still delivers a nice full bass, and keeps the midrange very natural. I sent some feedback within the Cortana app to Microsoft - they need to put markers or detents on the EQ, as it can be a bit fiddly to adjust. Notice how the Low is a notch below Mid-Low, which is one notch below centered.