I've tried quite a few good ANC headphones lately. Anyone who travels a lot or likes to be outdoors will appreciate the silence of the active noise canceling of the current over-ear headphones. On the plane, on the beach, during sports or simply in city traffic, heavenly peace and perfect sound go hand in hand. There are currently a lot of great headphones - and there is the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9. What can the high-end over-ear headphones do? How good is the noise canceling? We checked the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 in detail for all strengths and weaknesses.

I'll be completely honest: The 9rd generation Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H3 has me both musically and in terms of my demands for high quality Headphones messed up forever. The design of the headphones – simple, elegant and very valuable. The workmanship – top. The connection to my iPhone, iPad Pro and MacBook – fast and solid. The sound quality – simply outstanding. So many great features that make the headphones one of the best wireless active noise canceling headphones on the market today.

But the quality of the 9rd generation Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H3 leads to completely new problems that I had no idea of ​​before: the headphones are high-end, that much has already been revealed in advance, but the rest of the infrastructure is from the streaming service via the smartphone to the connection it is not initially. We all know the bottleneck principle. A product can only be as good as its weakest link - and in this case that is my streaming service and wireless connection. But I would like to tell you how I got the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 to its full potential.

Video – Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 review

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How can the 9rd generation Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H3 be brought to its full sound potential?

After just a few hours of listening, I realized that my streaming service only outputs mediocre sound - even in the downloaded music files. Highly compressed files that are intended to reduce data transfer rates and are certainly sufficient for ordinary over-ear headphones. In order to fully exploit the full potential of the Beoplay H9, the large and well-known streaming services are not enough.

So I had to change the service and am now on an offer that offers music in streaming and offline at higher rates - some albums even in master quality. Fantastic. And so far so good, because there was still a second hurdle to clear for the perfect sound. Current Bluetooth 4.2 connections only achieve transfer rates that correspond to the sound quality of the major streaming services.

So a wired solution was needed for better sound quality. And I can only speak for my MacBook Pro and iPad Pro. I connected the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 3rd generation to the Mac using a long, very high quality Thunderbolt cable. You then have to switch the audio output to this connection because the Bluetooth connection is active at the same time.

In the notebook's Midi controller, the format can be changed from the usual 44.100 khz - 2-channel - 16 bit to 48.000 khz - 2-channel - 16 bit and transferred via USB-C. This makes the sound quality audibly better. But be careful: you have to make sure that the sound is also transmitted via the cable. And that is by no means the end of the story.

If you want to take the sound quality to the extreme and really want to get the maximum out of the master files, you can also get an additional USB DAC preamplifier. It can be conveniently connected via USB or Lightning with the output device and delivers once again much better quality. As you can see, having one of the best headphones on the market does not do much good if the rest of your musical infrastructure fails.

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Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 (3rd generation) in the test – made for traveling?

If you want to get the best sound quality from the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 (3rd generation), you definitely need a wired solution. This is inconvenient when traveling and in everyday life, but it doesn't help. If you want to use the full potential of this practical holiday gadget, you will have to wire it up, willy-nilly. When you're on the go, you have the choice between solid Bluetooth quality or tangled cables. I think I'll opt for some cable clutter when traveling in the future.

Because either via USB-C on the iPad or on a smartphone with a USB DAC preamplifier, you can get the optimal sound experience with the Beoplay H9 even on vacation at the beach. And especially when you're on vacation or traveling, you don't want to miss out on perfect sound, right? Now let's get back to our Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 (3rd generation) test. We have uncovered many strengths and weaknesses for you.

Product features Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 (3rd generation)

• Model: wireless over-ear headphones
• Dimensions: 19,5 x 20 x 5,2 centimeters at 285 grams
• Materials: leather, aluminum, textiles, rubber, polymer
• Color: matt black - also in beige-gold-gray "Argilla Bright"
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.2, 3,5 millimeter mini jack or USB-C
• Battery: Lithium-ion battery with a maximum of 25 hours of playback at 2,5 hours charging time
• Frequency range: 20-22.000 Hz
• Control: Touch controls on the headphones and voice
• Microphones: 4 special electret microphones for ANC and 2 digital MEMS voice microphones

Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 – the functions

• Hybrid Active Noise Canceling (ANC) with transparency mode
• outstanding sound quality
• noble materials and high quality workmanship
• Operation via touch controls and language
• strong Bluetooth 4.2 codec for uninterrupted streaming
• solid battery life of a maximum of 25 hours
• Listen to higher quality music via USB-C
• Charging via USB-C

Strengths and weaknesses of the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 (3rd generation)

As may have already become clear, the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9's strengths far outweigh its weaknesses. On the plus side, the brilliant sound of these over-ear headphones is particularly impressive, especially in combination with the excellent workmanship and feel. Operation via the touch panel on the right ear cup is simple and practical once you have memorized the gestures.

The streaming connection from the smartphone (in our case an iPhone) and other devices from the Apple-Kosmos works perfectly. We can't say what it looks like with the gadgets of other manufacturers who use the Android operating system. The headphones work with all voice assistants - including Siri. It is somewhat disturbing that the Google Assistant has been brought to the fore in the B&O app. But that's more of a minor matter. To be honest, one of my highlights is that the headphones can be charged while listening to music.

While working during the day, the over-ear headphones can basically stay connected the whole time and be fully charged the next time you go outside. This is not possible with most current ANC headphones. It's also great that the headphones are displayed as an AirPlay 2 device. This means you can easily access them via the AirPlay list and quickly switch the sound output back and forth between different devices.

The weaknesses of the third generation Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9, as is often the case with technical devices, are in the area of ​​software - in this case the manufacturer's iOS app. It also works very well and runs stably - but it doesn't seem like a big hit. In addition, only two devices can be connected via Bluetooth at the same time. As soon as you want to use a third device, you have to re-pair it and one of the previously added devices will be removed from the list. To do this you have to go into the Bluetooth settings each time. As long as you only use two devices anyway, this isn't a problem. In addition, the headphones do not have the new Bluetooth 5 standard.

In case of doubt, this could even make sense, because other manufacturers who rely on it sometimes use a rather low-quality Bluetooth 5 codec. The third generation Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 comes with an airline adapter, a USB-A to USB-C charging cable, a thin jack cable and a soft fleece carrying case. If you want the high-quality leather case for your headphones, you have to pay a hefty surcharge. As already mentioned at the beginning, the strengths of the Beoplay H9 clearly outweigh the rather negligible disadvantages. Our test showed that the H9 is one of the best headphones available today.

Power

• brilliant sound
• great workmanship and feel
• Easy to use
• stable streaming connection
• usable with all voice assistants (Siri, Alexa, Google)
• is displayed as an AirPlay device
• load at the same time and listen to music

weaknesses

• the associated B&O smartphone app is okay
• only two Bluetooth connections at the same time
• Switching between more than two devices (MacBook, iPhone and iPad) sometimes does not work immediately
• no Bluetooth 5 yet
• the high-quality carrier bag must be bought separately

Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 – Alternatives are numerous

The market for Active Noise Canceling Headphones is indeed full of great products that provide a great user experience. Even the older models of Sony and Bose such as the Bose QuietComfort QC35 II (Test) and the Sony WH-1000XM3 offer an excellent sound - the Active Noise Canceling of the Sony is currently still considered the best on the market. Current models like the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 (Test) are also a little ahead of the Beoplay H9 when it comes to active noise canceling. And competition also comes from within our own company:

The significantly cheaper predecessor Beoplay H9i is definitely worth a look. When you're on the go, the biggest competition comes from headphones like these AirPods Pro 2 and Apple AirPods Max. However, if you expect anything close to perfection from your headphones, you can't avoid the H9, as our Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 test has shown. The overall package scores with the H9. The alternative models cannot compete with the third generation Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 in terms of workmanship and sound perfection.

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Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 in the test – brilliant sound for audiophiles and world explorers

My conclusion

I already said it at the beginning: since I checked the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9, I have been completely spoiled when it comes to headphones and sound quality. All headphones and sounds that I previously considered to be halfway acceptable quality no longer seem so worth hearing to me. In fact, the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 test changed my listening behavior significantly, made me switch music streaming services and also gave me an expanded understanding of high quality sound.

It's now difficult for me to be satisfied with the standard sound of the major music streaming services and I'm currently thinking about an adequate solution as to how I can use the brilliant sound when traveling and on vacation. The Beoplay H9 is already an essential part of my travel equipment and will definitely be with me always and everywhere in the future - whether on the beach in the Maldives or in the jungle in Southeast Asia. Because what could be nicer than having the perfect sound when traveling and on a luxury vacation and enjoying the right background music as an explorer with a thirst for adventure?

Which ANC headphones do you use? Are you considering purchasing the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9? Let us know your experiences in the comments.