Shure AONIC 50 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones, Premium Studio-Quality Sound, Bluetooth 5 Wireless Technology, Comfort Fit Over Ear, 20 Hours Battery Life, Fingertip Controls – Black
INTRODUCING AONIC 50 WIRELESS NOISE CANCELLING HEADPHONES
ADJUSTABLE NOISE CANCELLATION
Eliminate distractions for a truly immersive listening experience.
PREMIUM, WIRELESS STUDIO-QUALITY SOUND
No cords. No wires. Just pure listening anywhere you go.
UP TO 20 HOURS BATTERY LIFE
Uninterrupted audio wherever you go – on the train, on an airplane, at work or at home.
| Weight: | 717 g |
| Dimensions: | 27.31 x 27.31 x 8.1 cm; 716.68 Grams |
| Model: | SBH2350-BK-EFS |
| Colour: | AONIC 50 – BLACK |
| Batteries Included: | 1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included) |
| Colour: | AONIC 50 – BLACK |
Noise cancellation comes with glitches. If no song is playing, I can even hear the mild breeze around which I don’t hear without the headphones or much less with the environment mode on. In addition, I feel they could be a bit louder for the listener and somewhat quieter for the neighbor as the sounds leaks quite a bit. With all these limitations, I am still keeping it for the outstanding sound and comfort I experience.
These headphones should be more widely known as class-leading for their sonic excellence and great features. When compared to other more well known brand names they perform as equals. I have used them primarily for home movie watching action films, so I don’t force my wife to endure the louder soundtrack and mostly without the ANC on. When there is background noise I want to block out, the ANC does a great job of letting me just focus on music/movie. I have these paired with a aptX-HD bluetooth transmitter from my TV. I notice zero lag and truly amazing sonics for a wireless signal. The tight, full bodied bass and overall very well tuned frequency response rivals some of my closed-back wired headphones for balance, dynamics, comfort and great build quality. Would highly recommend these, even to audiophile-type listeners. Another feature I really like (and wish others would copy) is the voice battery level notifications. Probably the only fault would be slightly lower ANC performance vs Sony, with an emphasis on slightly. Sony/Bose need more competitors like Shure to keep the industry innovative and consumer friendly. This is longest review I’ve posted in a while, because these were such an amazing find. Happy listening and no, I don’t work for Shure, but I hope that by my posting this review I give more folks the confidence to purchase these over other choices out there for premium wireless headphones.
I’m not a big user of noise cancellation, but these don’t seem to cancel out outside noises very well. I have the headphones on the highest setting, yet I can still hear my mechanical keyboard clicking away as I type. I can’t believe my keyboard would be that loud. So, take the noise cancellation rating with a grain of salt. Interestingly, they rated as having better noise cancellation than the Bose 700 headphones, though. Still – grain of salt.
Another odd issue is that, when I am listening to music through my computer and receive a phone call while my phone is also connected to the headset, the computer music won’t play after hanging up. Instead, my phone takes over and wants to play music from there. I have to disconnect the headphones from the phone. I’m not sure if that’s an issue with the iPhone or the headphones. It’s annoying, though.
I have read horror stories about the earpads coming apart and the leather on the headpiece coming apart. I just got these, so that’s not happened to me. But, it’s something to be aware of. More importantly, it’s important to be aware that, despite there being a part number for the earpads, you can’t find them anywhere online or through Shure’s store. I did find some in England, but the were both expensive and sold out. So, this is something to consider if you’re a heavy headphones user.
The range on these isn’t as good as my $35 MPow headphones. One would think the range would either the same or better. Perhaps I own a aberrant pair of MPow headphones. I don’t know. All I know is that the range isn’t as good. The Acronis 50 headphones are leagues above those MPow headphones in sound quality and volume, though.
One last thing is that finding the volume and power buttons can be a chore. They are almost flush with the headphones. There’s a button in between the up volume and down volume button that allows you to pause, go back, or go forward tracks that’s a little higher. That’s how I finally realize where they were.
Despite those cons, I stand by my four-star rating based solely on the phenomenal sound these deliver. I really wanted to give them five stars, but for the reasons I list above, I couldn’t.
Con la pandemia he generado una suerte de coleccin de audfonos (AKG; Sennheiser, Meze, Basso, FIIO, etc), de todos la imagen de los SHURE aonic es la mejor lograda, ya que desde el pabelln del oido se puede identificar la ubicacin de los artistas, as como detalles espaciales que no se aprecian en todos los audifonos. Si, la cancelacin de ruido no es mala, pero hay otras mejores, el tamao del case es poco prctico, pero en materia de calidad sonora el producto es muy bueno. Bien por Shure.
Everything about this is marvelous. Of course, I have never had any types of in this price range previously. But seriously I do not care about any other brands in the market recently being offered. I just went ahead by my gut feeling. I know, some people write 90 pages of reviews about certain products, trying to show off their expertise, and knowledge, that how much they know. Honestly, I never bother to read them. All I can say, I am satisfied with my purchase.
I don’t mean to disparage the Aonic cans but I read so many reviews that said they were ahead of the Bose 700’s and I’m not quite certain they are. What I am certain of is that they are better constructed, feel better on your head and sound better.
Come suonano? Sono bilanciate su tutta la gamma, con bassi ben presenti ma mai invadenti, medi e alti ottimi, chiari, che restituiscono benissimo le voci. La connessione Bluetooth stabile sia con dispositivi Android che Apple. Le ho provate anche cablate collegare al mio dac e fanno benissimo anche li, il leggerissimo fruscio di fondo che si percepisce quando connesse in Bluetooth, sparisce totalmente.
Il noise cancelling funziona bene, non a livello di Bose secondo me, ma va detto che la cuffia molto isolante gi di suo, mi sono trovato molto spesso ad usarle “nature” senza il noise cancelling.
Che dire, mi sento da consigliarle. Ottima come sempre la consegna Amazon.
I use these headphones mostly for just listening to music. Noise cancellation is ok- not on par with Bose, but I wasn’t expecting this.
I like the sound of the headphones- you can pick your settings on the app so a little customization is available, in comparison to Bose. I have a pair of Sony headphones too- that app is slightly superior in that the sound setting choices are a little more variable. The audio however is very clear on these Shure headphones. What I like most is there is a great sense of space in these headphones- the instruments sound like they are being played on a vast stage.
I returned a pair of Bowers and Wilkins for these because the B&W seemed to have touch controls that were way too sensitive- causing the headphones to stop a lot when I didn’t mean to pause them.
These sound just as good, fit on my head better, and don’t have fickle controls that cut the sound out= giant bonus.
The noise cancellation is average at best. This is the reason I don’t give them 5 stars for the price.
I really enjoy these earphones, the sound quality is very good with lots of detail and an exceptional sound clarity. They are a bit bulky but confortable and the lithium battery life never let me down so far. Now that the summer is coming I feel they are becoming a bit warm to wear, but that should be expected with every earphone with leather pads. Noise cancelling works very well although the sound quality decreases a little when this setting is set at max. This effect is barely noticeable when actually in need to use the noise cancelling, like on an airplane or bus.
These have excellent sound quality. (My main set are a pair of Focal Elears.)
However, the ANC is significantly worse than the ANC on my Sony WH-1000XM2. (So much so that I ended up returning these.)
Build quality is good. The metal arms between the headband and cups feel solid. However, it’s tough to predict how well pleather will hold up.
Absolutely flawless (except the active noise cancellation could have been a bit better), Shure sure knows how to make great headphones.
Kazdy syszy inaczej. To fakt. Biorc powysze pod uwag, ,oim zdaniem suchawki maja bardzo ciekaw sygnatur dwikow, s bardzo dobrze wykonane. Zupenie nie rozumiem negatywnych opinii, y moe kto spodziewa sie brzmienia pokroju Bayerdynamic TESLA, ale to nie ten adres. To po prostu bardzo dobr sychawki bezprzewodowe. Zasuguj na uwag z uwagi na peen komplet kodekw i pikne wykonanie. Oczywiscie ANC nie jest idealne, ale nie o to tu chodzi. MAX ANC osigniesz z SONY WH1000MX4 albo BOSE 700, za to tutaj pikne brzmienie i duo kodekw. POLECAM 🙂
Everyone hears differently. It’s a fact. Taking the above into account, in my opinion the headphones have a very interesting sound signature and are very well made. I completely do not understand the negative opinions, maybe someone expected the sound of Bayerdynamic TESLA, but this is not the address. They are simply very good wireless headphones. They deserve attention due to the full set of codecs and beautiful performance. Of course, the ANC isn’t perfect, but that’s not the point. MAX ANC can be achieved with SONY WH1000MX4 or BOSE 700, but here it is beautiful sound and a lot of codecs. I RECOMMEND 🙂
Pues si encajas en ese perfil…no busques ms, con estos shure y utilizando LDAC o APTXs con buena fuente como Tidal (el dongle creative btw3 es fantstico y con buen precio para conectar a pc y ver pelculas)…tienes lo que buscas. Los Sony me echaron para atrs por tener damasiado bajo y no me arrepiento de esta compra en absoluto.
UPDATE. Now with firmware version 0.7.0.0 it has equaliser support for custom too in hardware and mic quality for calls is also improved so now it’s a great headphone multipoint also works smoothly between two devices sound is awesome now , now u can crank up the bass etc
I really want to like these. The multi-homed feature is great. Can connect to my work laptop and phone and have it switch easily. The ANC is good but not as good as the 35s. My only real complaint is the material for the ear cups started coming apart from the plastic about 3 months in, just a little glue release. Now the whole back of the left ear is separated and the right one is going too.
These headphones are great. I do not agree or understand the complaints about the noise canceling feature, I think it works perfectly well. As far as the sound, for someone that likes to listen to a wide variety of music and lots of it I think the sound is awesome in these. The headphones are very well built and also very comfortable. I think they are much better than my Bose quite comfort as a reference point. The one feature I am missing is the automatic pause when you lift the headphones from your ears.
I’ve become a bit of a headphone junkie over the past few months. I recently bought some Bose QC II which I absolutely adore and yup noise canceling is A1. I was thinking about getting the 700s or these the Shure Aonic 50. I thought I’d give these a go and oh my goodness. I’ve never used any Shure audio till now but these are just beyond. Totally exceeded my expectations.
Basically I got them purely for audio not the NC because they
A : Cover all bluetooth codecs
B: Can be used wired switched off AND still sound amazing (unlike all my other Bluetooth headphones)
C: Sound amazing with Bluetooth on.
I tested all codecs apart from AAC on my nw-a55l Sony DAP and absolutely freaking amazing (only SBC missing out quality wise by a small margin) as well as wired with the audio cable.
Same goes for my phone Motorola android. Connects as AptX HD (closest are my Cambridge Audio melomania with AptX) on Bluetooth with it so even that sounds phenomenal through these headphones. They’re the only ones that do connect as AptX HD to my phone.
Comfort wise perfect. No clamping. In fact I’d put them with my Bose for comfort and fit.
No problems with pairing super quick.
I updated the firmware with the shure play app on my phone absolutely no problem.
Battery life seems to run in line with specs and charging time.
I don’t mind the case it’s kinda luxury in fact and since it’s not going to leave the house I’ve no concerns about transporting it.
My only problem now is actually getting them off my head and back into it
Just love them.
Will update if I run into any problems.
Hope my review is helpful.
La ricostruzione della scena sonora e le frequenze medie e medio alte sono di livello assoluto.
Chi avvezzo a una gamma bassa gommosa e invadente rester deluso.
In realt i bassi ci sono tutti, veloci ed articolati, forse un filo troppo secchi per i cultori del genere elettronico, soprattutto nelle prime ore di funzionamento. L’ ottima app permette comunque di enfatizzare finemente qualsiasi porzione dello spettro sonoro, permettendo persino di scegliere la pendenza dell’intervento in db x ottava.
Sinora non le ho mai utilizzate all’aperto, dunque non so riferire delle prestazioni del sistema di riduzione del rumore in mobilit.
In casa mi sono parse efficaci.
La batteria ha una durata eccellente, la connessione Bluetooth molto stabile con un set di codec molto completo.
A me paiono molto ben costruite, con materiali adeguati, confortevoli e stabili (ma qui si entra parecchio nel soggettivo).
Per come suonano valgono ogni cent del loro prezzo attuale.
My dad loves these, better than any headphones hes ever had
Very good build quality and excellent comfort.
Battery last long enough for virtually any situation.
After plugging these into a quad dac player I have to say that the sound is astounding. They may not cancel mids and highs quite as well as some of the other popular NC headphones but they blow them all out if the water when it comes to normal headphone use with everything turned off. If you predominantly want sound quality with the option of active noise cancelling then these are IMO the best of what’s currently available. These are better wired with everything turned off than my B&W PX and I actually preferred the PX sound to the PX7.
I’d go as far as to say these could probably replace most people’s best open backed headphones as far as sound quality goes.
They are a bit weighty and do clamp a bit tighter than some but not even close to the weight or clamping force from B&W PX. They feel way better built than the Bose and Sony’s equivalent.
Compared with some of the studio monitor-type headphones I’m used to – they’re a bit more “live”, but customizable in the app. Can choose or customize your own curves.
Negatives… not many. They’re big. Necessarily big for the sound, but could see that as a drawback for some.
I recommend. They’re as good for jamming out wired to my guitar rig as connected Bluetooth on flights. I prefer to Bose.
Update Dec 2022
Just don’t buy this – painful process for repair. It has to be shipped to somewhere in Illinois and you have to pay for shipping!!
Update: Nov 1, 2022
This headphones have developed serious bluetooth issues. It is getting automatically disconnected and wouldn’t connect again or show up in bluetooth settings. Tried hard reset by clearing the connected device but no use. Will be contacting the manufacturer though it just over an year since i bought so not sure what they will say – but i never faced such bizarre issues before with any of my bluetooth devices.
First Experience:
Wasn’t expecting this quality at all, after having owned Sennheiser’s earlier. Surprisingly good, and environment mode is the most intriguing; either for taking phone calls or just trying to hear your own voice – doing whatever. Latest software upgrade is a must to get the benefits. True the app equalizer works only within the app – but Spotify has its own equalizer and it works too!
Shure is a pro audio company founded in 1925 famously producing professional microphones that can be found all over the world. With the Aonic 50″s stated combo of studio quality sound and premium luxury materials, they straddle the professional and consumer audiophile markets but do they achieve that aim? And are they candidates for the most accurate and truthful sounding Bluetooth headphones in the world?
Well we’re going to need to go on a bit of a journeyto understand the sound of the Shure Aonic 50 by considering them against icons from these 2 quite different sectors – the Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro professional studio monitor and the Sennheiser HD 600 consumer audiophile headphones. Recordings of how they sound against eachother are on my Amazon profile.
In terms of sound the Shure is straddling these camps and more or less successfully incorporates sound characteristics from both – even though by their very nature the DT 990 and HD 600 are a bit like matter and anti matter in that certain characteristics can’t coexist in the same place at the same time.
The 115 DT 990 Pro’s most obvious characteristic is its prominent and incredibly detailed treble. It is fast so not harsh or sibilant but it is just too bright ie it is too much in quantity. It puts treble under the magnifying glass and while not the most natural or realistic presentation is very resolving of details. It has a similarly fast bass with good quantity and speed or impactthough not the resonant reverberance of a closed back. The other big characteristic is that the mids are recessed so vocalists are just too far back in the mix. Now if you’ve only listened to consumer grade before you may not notice this and they will just sound amazing. The open back design gives a good soundstage width. Ironically with the DT 990 you can feel a bit tethered due to the inertia of the weighty coiled cable.
The 230 Sennheiser is almost completely the opposite. The treble is perfectly balanced. It is resolving and fast — almost electrostatic fast – without being too much in quantity or analytical and picking apart the music. The bass is its main failing being fast but not extending very deep and being even less in quantity than the DT 990 and so on occasion (but not all the time) unsatisfying for genres that rely on deep or heavy bass like edm and rock. Now the mids are where the Senns shine having arguably one of the best representations of any headphone in the world up there with electrostatics and the most expensive dynamics. Clear natural and lifelike. I have turned my head listening to these thinking someone was in the room. Soundstage wise these are considered fairly narrow despite being about as open as you can get though this never really detracts from the music.
Now at last we have the language to be able to consider the Shures. These have a punchy extended bass like the DT 990, natural mids like the HD 600, and a very resolving but not sibilant or harsh treble which is more present than the Sennheiser, perhaps unnaturally so, but comfortably below the sometimes ear piercing level of the DT 990. Bass extends to sub bass well in Hans Zimmer’s “Why so serious”however while Samsung Adapt Soundshows them to be flat I sometimes felt they didn’t quite deliver a satisfying amount of mid bass particularly when used wirelessly. Switching ANC on improves the bass noticeably and combined with a narrow deep bass boost via the Shure Play apps equaliserI could bring the mid bass to a good level however unfortunately the EQ only applies to music files played through the app and not streaming services. I could also get a satisfying bass response bydriving them wired while powered on so while the Shure clearly has the potential to be a great sounding headphone the current implementation means it doesn’t fully satisfy my tastes for my typical wireless streaming use case.
Moving on to comfort, despite the very comfortable leather pads we can’t get around their 334g weight and closed back design warming up one’s ears. My medium sized head needed the headband extended to 7 of the 10 clicks so big heads beware. Like the old wired Shure SRH840 the headband is quite flat so creates a hot spot on the crown which for me was only made manageable by the support from the clamping force and over more extended listening sessions I found myself repositioning the headband from time to time.
Note that these headphones don’t fold in on themselves but the cups do fold flat which is fine for slipping into a rucksack or satchel but not a small bag.
Considering features ANC boosts bass but also highlights the upper and lessens the lower tones in male voices so Sinatra’s voice sounds a little more natural with ANC off.The ANC control is a sliderwith OFF rather unsatisfyingly at the mid point since while there is a bit of a click there it’s very easy to slide past to one of the extreme positions of ambient or anc on. The slider may loosen up over time making this less of an issue however. The anc performance is on a par with the Soundcore Life Q30but not class leading like the Sony WF-1000 XM3. It adds a little hiss but as we talked about also some much needed heft to the bass so my preference is to keep ANC turned on at least when used wirelessly.
Unlike the other 2 of course, with the Shure, no amp or wires are needed and one can’t undervalue the effect of that freedom on one’s enjoyment of music.
So in summary the Shure is like a more convenient but slightly less comfortable HD600 sharing that headphone’s very natural mids but with some of the dt990s studio monitoring characteristics with bass extending down further to sub bass and a more analytical treble. Wirelessly at least it has less mid bass quantity and punch than either which while I found unsatisfying on occasions some may appreciate for not assaulting their senses – I personally like my senses assaulted now and again!
In all aspects other than wireless mid bass level then the Shure really performs very well however whether its additional clarity, detail and premium materials make it preferable over much cheaper Bluetooth ANC offerings is something only you can decide.
A good first attempt from Shure with some room for improvement in their next iteration.
I bought the xm4 but did not find the sound quality to be anything great. Tried the shure aonic 50 and ABSOLUTELY loved the sound quality! If you listen to a lot of edm and hip hop there are tracks that you will find the bass lacking but for most of my listening purposes the sound quality was brilliant (I listen to trance when reading/writing. and depending on mood, hip hop or rock/metal when coding… bands i listen to include pink floyd, queen, led zeppelin etc). Loved the staging and clarity. Unfortunately I have dumbo sized ears and the earpads were a little too small for me. It was very uncomfortable within an hour of use. And that is the main reason i’m sending it back. 🙁
tl;dr: if you dont have massive ears and sound quality is your priority, definitely get this!
Pros
The Shure Aonic 50s have the most sophisticated sound profile of all the headphones listed, alongside the widest range of support of codecs (matched by the Sony XM3s only, as they do LDAC, Apt-x HD, Apt-x LL, Apt-x, AAC, SBC). Paired with my current phone (Samsung S21 Ultra) via LDAC, the balance throughout the range with the Shures is superb. It makes the B&W PX7 sound dark (and I also used an A&Kann player to compare both, so that the same codec – apt-x HD – was used between both), the Sony XM3 sound closed in and very rolled off at the top end, and, while the Momentum 3 exceeded the Shures in soundstage (width) and has a much, deeper bass punch, it sounds fun but not accurate by comparison.
The Shures also work extremely well wired, whether with or without noise cancelling engaged, which the others do not. In fact, it improves their sound quality (as no wireless codec will ever match a proper wired connection). The Sony and Sennheisers can also work passively (with the battery off), but the Sennheisers sound notably worse (more closed in) in this environment and the Sony’s open up a bit, but also sound a bit nasal in the midrange. The Bowers & WIlkins need to be powered, even through the wired connection.
Finally, they are comfortable – nice, plus earcups and headband made of pleather and mental hinges. Look good, too.
Negatives
The Shures do not fold down, the case is huge, the ANC is ok (not at the same level as the others, though I have yet to test in earnest, given lockdown in the UK at the moment) and the slider button on the headphones to select between transparency mode and ANC feels cheap and less fluid that on the other headphones. There are no touch controls, which I feel is a strength – only the Sony’s offer touch functionality. Also, the app is poor as EQ settings are not saved to the headphones and the app, which touts itself as a hires music player, does not allow gapless playback of songs nor permit any streaming sources. The Shures also lack many usability features that the others have (such as automatic pause when taking the headphones on and off on the B&W PX7s and the Sennheiser Momentum Wireless).
So, nothing is perfect, but if sound quality is paramount in an ANC headphone, my choice would be the Shure Aonic 50s.
Nanmoins, le casque est luxueux et le son est excellent. Je le dis apr rapport un Bose 700 et un Sony WH-1000XM4 que j’ai tous les deux.
The Shure Aonic 50’s are a good set of headphones. They are not, however, a great overall set of headphones. The audio quality is really good. It sounds crisp and clear and the bass is solid, but not boomy. While large, the build quality is is very solid and these things look good. They are also very comfortable, but beware the earcups are not as deep as some others if that is what you need for comfort. However, just about every other feature they offer, you can do better elsewhere. Some might even say the sound quality is better elsewhere (very subjective).
Noise canceling is average. There is definitely an audio loudness difference between the low and max setting. They also sound a little different when using the two levels of noise canceling (at least to my ears). Transparency is pretty good. There is nothing you can adjust in between. They are not the lightest headphones available, but they are comfortable. They are not, however, good to wear while moving around. I could hear a lot of creaks and had a lot of movement while walking. The app is very basic. There is an EQ but it only works for music that is played through the app so it cannot be used to stream Spotify, Apple Music, etc. The case this thing comes in is just huge. It makes travel almost a non-starter. Battery life is average at best.
So why did I give them 4 stars? They are comfortable on my ears and they sound great. These are a pretty good first set of noise canceling headphones for Shure. I expect the next version to be even better. If you are looking for the best noise canceling or the best all-rounds, look to Sony or Bose. For me, these are not my primary set of cans, so they fill a niche by sounding good while I relax and listen. If you can get these for $300 or less, then give them a try. Look elsewhere otherwise.
One unusual feature is the ability to connect the headphones using a USB-C cable to a suitable device e.g. Apple iOS, or modern Sony Walkman, and use the headphones’ built-in DAC. This set up excels with high resolution material in particular, the performance approaching what some of my wired ‘phones deliver at several multiples of the Shures’ cost.
The noise cancellation, in isolation, isn’t quite as good as Sony/ Bose, but you’d be hard-pressed to tell when you’re playing music. Buy these for their outstanding musical naturalism, with the added bonus of good noise cancellation, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. They’re also among the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever worn.
Estos audfonos son excelentes. Los materiales son de primera calidad, son muy suaves despus de horas de uso, no fatiga. La calidad de audio es muy buena, sobre todo en modo BT, lo conect con su cable y mi DAC Audioquest Cobalt y el sonido no es tan sorprendente con formatos MQA, es mejor con Bluetooth. La duracin de la batera es buena. No tiene una buena portabilidad ya que su maletn es grande y ocupa mucho espacio, es preferible usarlo en casa y disfrutar su sonido de alta fidelidad que brinda Shure, los recomiendo ya que son los mejores en sonido mediante Bluetooth.
Noise cancellation is not near as good as Bose. It does behave well managing a dual connection – while working from home I connect to laptop for meetings etc., and listen to music from my iPhone rest if the time. This is great. Talking on meetings though makes your head sound muffled as you can’t hear your own voice clearly while speaking, making conversations a little uncomfortable- another thing Bose is much better at. I’m comparing to the wired noise canceling Bose earbuds from about 5 years ago. Last – just listening to music with canceling on is superb – love it even over Bluetooth. Better than my 535s. I think very true to the recording, if you always turn up the bass on your stereos then you may be dissatisfied.
To start off, I’m comparing my experience to Plantronics Backbeat Pro 2. I was not fond of trying any Sony, Bose or any other company headphones, either for lack of good Bluetooth codecs (greedy Sony with only LDAC), or sound not being neutral.
Which those headphones shine at. I really wanted only APTX HD, as I don’t trust LDAC quality, and they have it all.
Sound quality is much better compared to Backbeat Pro 2, at least in terms of neutral sound, and separation of frequencies. Songs have more “space” for everything, and all sounds are easy to pick up. At first it was even jarring when trying them out, but I got used to it quickly.
Many reviews set my expectations for ANC very low, but for my usage, they actually surprised me. At home on “Normal” setting, they’re more than fine, I don’t hear my computer or any other sounds that could be annoying. With music or any sound on, it’s very hard to hear anything around. The ANC doesn’t change quality of sound or soundscape, at least I couldn’t notice.
When going out, I switch to “Max”. I avoid it at home, as it creates tiny hiss noise, that often is associated with ANC.
But outside it’s not an issue, as any other noise would be bigger concern. Street noise, people chatting, wind or anything really, is silent, or very quiet without music, in the background. Street cars get more audible 5-15m to the street, with music, I barely hear anything else, unless I get close to the street and car drives by. Trams and busses are more audible, but not enough to cause issues.
In practice, with music on, ANC allows me to hear every note and sound without noticeable drop of quality, while any audible noises are in the background. Soundscape doesn’t seem to be smaller, I can hear all tones equally well.
On one of louder bridges, with cars driving by, it’s not perfect for sure, but good enough to be able to focus on music and most, if not all sounds in it. So far from my experience worst noises were more like part of the song, than something overwhelming it and reducing quality of bass or other tones.
Comfort is good, better than what I used for now, while being fancy.
Battery is good enough. As fast charging is trendy lately, it could use it, but I don’t mind.
If I’d nitpick, the buttons for loudness are less intuitive compared to Backbeat Pro 2, as I could just turn a big wheel on those, very easy even with big winter gloves. Here, I need to search for small buttons, and first feel the middle button, then go up or down. Impossible with gloves.
But overall, compared to Backbeat Pro 2, it exceeded my expectations. I assumed I would need to wait another generation of wireless headphones, 1-3 years, for better ANC while having superb neutral sound quality (and all good codecs), but in practice, this is more than enough.
If you don’t have physics-breaking expectations from ANC, this is a good buy.
Amazing sound stage, rests like a pillow on your head to a point where you don’t feel the weight. Noise cancellation very good – i stay in at an area where there is a lot of construction and heavy drilling, once I switch on the Noise cancellation and play I don’t hear anything in the background(95 percent). Environment mode: In this mode the surroundings sounds are amplified I can hear mom speaking, tv doing playing and still enjoy shure signature sound. Overall a very good noise cancellation headphone you can be SHURE about USB c cable- very good quality, charges under 2 hours. The charge lasts for 18-20 hours with Noise cancellation. It can be used to listen high res audio on pc too. The headphone wires 2.5 to quality is very good too. I have played audio using iPhone. Then used hidisz ap60 dac as well.
But it makes up for it in sound quality.
Noise cancelling isn’t that great but hey ho.
Kurzer Vergleich mit SONY WH-1000XM4: Der Sony-Klang ist mehr “mainstream”, viel mehr Bass (“boomy”) und deutlich “wrmer”. Fr ausreichend klare und prsente Hhen bes. bei Klassik muss der SONY jedoch mittels des App-Equalizers entsprechend geregelt werden (dies geht beim SONY fr alle Schallquellen, auch fr Streaming). Trotzdem fehlt dem SONY dann noch die Klarheit und Przision des SHURE.
Der Sony ist deutlich leichter, kleiner und besser transportabel, wirkt jedoch im Vergleich zum SHURE eher wie eine “Plastikbombe”. Sony hat touch-Steuerung, die nicht durchwegs exakt funktioniert, die physischen Buttons am Shure sind hier prziser. Noise cancelling ist am Sony um Klassen besser (der Sony hat nach Meinung vieler das beste nc):
Klangsieger: bei weitem der SHURE fr klaren, przisen, neutralen, jedoch etwas hhenbetonten Klang (audiophil).
Noise cancelling: eindeutig und bei weitem besser bei SONY
Tragekomfort: etwas besser bei SONY aber Geschmacksache.
Wertigkeit/Haptik/Verarbeitung: eindeutig und bei weitem bei SHURE besser
Transportabilitt: eindeutig besser bei SONY
Bedienung + App: eindeutiger Sieger SONY (bei weitem), jedoch physische Buttons am SHURE besser.
In Puncto Verarbeitung lsst der Shure Aonic 50 nichts zu wnschen brig. Durch die massiven Metallscharnieren an den Hrmuscheln wirkt er hochwertig und ist auf der Strae ein echter “Hingucker”. Die Hrmuscheln sind mit weichen Kunstleder bezogen und sehr grozgig dimensioniert. Gut gefllt mir die einfache Bedienbarkeit: Alle Tasten sind mit der Hand am rechten Ohrhrer gut zu erreichen und einfach zu bedienen. Mit einer Wippe lsst sich etwa die Lautstrke verndern oder auch ein Anruf annehmen.
Lieferumfang:
Im Lieferumfang befinden sich ein Klinkenkabel (2,5 Millimeter auf 3,5 Millimeter), ein USB-C-Ladekabel und eine stabile Transportbox. Mit dem Klinkenkabel kann der Kopfhrer direkt am PC angeschlossen werden. Die runde Transportbox fllt meiner Ansicht nach mit 25 Zentimetern Durchmesser etwas zu gro aus. Leider ist der Kopfhrer mit etwas ber 350 Gramm etwas schwer. Das merkt man mit der Zeit.
Pairing:
Das Pairing klappt mit unseren beiden Android- Smartphones mit mit unserem Tablet auf Anhieb, die Verbindung bleibt bis zu einer Enternung von 10 Metern (Smartphone- Kopfhrer) stabil und ohne Aussetzer.
Klang:
Hier gibt es meiner Meinung nach nichts zu meckern. Der Kopfhrer berzeugt- oder besser berrascht mich durch einen angenehmen und detailreichen Sound. Hhen und Mitten sind klar und deutlich zu Hren- fast plastisch, kein Verzerren, kein bersteuern. Ein fast rumlicher Klang. Hinzu kommen przise Tiefen. Allerdings knnten meiner Meinung nach die Tiefen ruhig noch etwas kraftvoller sein, hier war ich etwas enttuscht. Reiner Gesang wirkt etwas zurckhaltend, dennoch wirkt der Klang klar und lebendig.
Noise-Cancelling- den Lrm einfach drauen lassen
Mit dem Schieberegler an der rechten Ohrmuschel schaltet man das Noise-Cancelling ein oder aus. Oder man wechselt in den “Transparenz-Modus”. In diesem Modus hrt man zu gleichen Teilen Musik und die Umgebungsgerusche. Die eingebauten Mikrofone geben dann die Umgebungsgerusche an den Nutzer weiter. Das ist praktisch, wenn man etwa auf Durchsagen achten mchte.
Am Noise-Cancelling gibt es nichts zu meckern. Dann hre ich von den Auengeuschen rein gar nichts, da der Kopfhrer die Auengerusche nicht durchleitet. Ist Noise-Cancelling aktiviert, betrgt die Akkulaufzeit des Aonic etwas mehr 15 Stunden.
mein Fazit:
Wer einfach nur Musik pur und in all ihren Facetten genieen mchte, der ist mit dem Shure Aonic 50 gut bedient. Er kostet nicht die Welt und ist auch seitens der Verarbeitung eine Anschaffung frs Leben. Ich kann ihn auf jeden Fall weiter empfehlen.
Hallo ihr Lieben, wir bewerten die von uns gekauften Produkte erst nach lngerem Gebrauch. Wir finden, das ist aussagekrftiger und fr alle fairer. Denn manche Mngel treten erst nach lngerem Gebrauch auf. Bei weiteren Fragen knnt ihr uns gern per Email kontaktieren. Unsere Email findet ihr auf unserer Profilseite. Wir freuen uns natrlich wenn unsere Rezensionen fr euch hilfreich sind. Das knnt ihr an dieser Stelle auch gern zum Ausdruck bringen. Liebe Gre Bettina und Ingo
Die Shure AONIC 50 sind die fr mich bis dato besten Kopfhrer die ich je getestet habe. Sie haben einen unglaublichen Sound und sitzen perfekt. Egal ob man einfach nur spazieren geht oder sie beim Sport machen (joggen) trgt – sie halten einfach ideal.
Auch die Tasche wertet die Kopfhrer auf.
Fr mich ein wenig doof – man kann nicht sooo einfach zum nchsten Lied schalten und auch den lauter und leiser Knopf muss man erst mal ein bisschen suchen.
Preislich zwar kein Schnppchen aber dennoch einfach nur begeisternde Kopfhrer.
Daumen hoch!
Die Shure AONIC 50 haben – erwartungsgem – einen tollen, relativ neutralen Sound.
Total super ist der Environment-Mode, wo man trotz Musik trotzdem noch Umgebungsgerusche mitbekommt.
Zum Aufladen steht eine USB-C-Buchse zur Verfgung, ber diese kann sogar Hi-Resolution-Audio (bis 32-bit/384kHz) abgespielt werden (mit 39Ohm Speakern wohl eher nicht als Tonstudio-Kopfhrer gedacht, aber trotzdem sehr guter Sound – ist wohl ein brauchbarer DAC verbaut). Via Bluetooth 5 stehen mit aptX HD, aptX Low Latency audio, Sony LDAC, AAC, SBC etc auch qualitativ hochwertige Codecs zur Verfgung.
Toll ist auch die stabile Transporttasche (nicht nur so ein Beutel), damit ist der Kopfhrer auch im Rucksack gut geschtzt.
Zur Optik: sieht sehr stabil und elegant aus. Das matt-schwarz der Muscheln und des Bgelpolsters passt gut zu dem matten Silber des Trgers. Fr mich wre ein mattes, noch dezenteres SHURE-Logo vllig ausreichend gewesen, insgesamt wirkt der Kopfhrer aber auf jeden Fall eher “dezent-elegant” (was ich sehr positiv meine!).
Insgesamt bin ich sehr zufrieden damit.
I have gone through half a dozen different units and finally settled on these being as close to my need as I was going to find.
In terms of sound quality I actually found a competing device has a more likable sound signature for my taste but the connectivity options for this were just unmatched. I have gone through many and found all lacking for the connectivity options found in the Aonic 50, example I can have these playing sound via usb-c but still remain connected via Bluetooth to another device and I could not get this function correctly working with any other pair I used.
But to focus up here, the bass profile for these are heavily lacking; even when I use equalizer settings I could not get a good bass response form this unit. The mids and the highs are fantastic though and more than make up for it of it is something you are looking for. These will not sound lively and thus if you are into edm or dubstep, as examples, they may not be the best for you. But for just about any other use case you will fall in love with these
The noise cancellation is right up there with the best, couple with the passive isolation of the cups a d you have a very focused but closed off sound. My use case involves me having consistently loud fan noise in my work space and this all but removes it.
Now the battery life is a mixed bag for me as I never have a need for extreme long sittings with it. I have easily covered a full 2 days with my use case bit have not personally timed how long it lasts. What I can say is each of my days has me using these for roughly 8-10 hours and have never had an issue in between this far. The charging is very fast considering the usb-c connection. Frankly the battery life is a non issue with them!
I realistically have 4 big gripes with this headset.
1. The cup depth is shallow, my ears are consistently touching the foam on the inside of the cup
2. The sound signature no matter what I do feels as if it’s lightly muffled, it just feels like this set can do so much more but is somehow not getting there. It’s an odd feeling for me because they do sound great but I just want so much more out of them
3. The leather used in the units feels fragile and cheap, I don’t imagine it lasting for a length amount of time
4. The equalizer on the application is not system wide or sticks. Meaning any changes are lost the moment you don’t play music from the app. This means if I connect this to another device, or a tv, I have no control over those settings whatsoever
End of the day, this is a very strong showing for a first unit from legendary company and I eagerly await a follow up
Tldr;
These are a jack of all trades mast of none situation with the connectivity being a highlight
Missing bass, strong mids and highs
Battery life lasting me between 16-20 hours
Noise cancellation very strong
Equalizer only while using the shure app
This is my first pair of Bluetooth noise cancelling headphones. I live and work in a place with a lot of traffic noise so I need them. I was skeptical since I am picky about audiophile sound quality. I’ve been using them for a month now and overall I’m happy with them.
The noise cancellation is very good for traffic rumbling and other low to mid-frequency disturbances. It isn’t quite as good at higher frequencies but is sufficient for me. I have nothing else to compare them too so it is possible there are better ones.
The sound quality through Bluetooth is good from my laptop but isn’t outstanding. My source files are FLAC. BT sounds lossy which it is: they lose some of the high frequencies and “sparkle” and details like room reverb. BT is acceptable for listing while I work or do tasks around the house. However, for critical listening I connect the cable to my Fiio DAC and they sound very good. I would say the sound is neutral with BT and slightly bright when plugged in by cable. The BT sync with the computer is almost instantaneous when I turn them on. BT range is decent but if I go into different rooms I do get an occasional cutout.
The build quality of these is great. The frame is aluminum and sturdy. They fit me well but I have a thin head. They might clamp a bit hard if you have a wide head.
Verpackung/Umfang
Geliefert werden die Shure AONIC 50 in einem relativ groen, runden Karton. Im Lieferumfang enthalten sind neben den Kopfhrern und einem ebenfalls nicht kleinen Softcase eine kurze Anleitung, eine USB-C Ladekabel und ein 2,5mm->3,5mm Klinkenkabel, um die Kopfhrer auch an Gerten nutzen zu knnen, die nicht ber eine Bluetooth Schnittstelle verfgen.
Verarbeitung/Qualitt
Beim in die Hand nehmen wirken die AONIC 50 – gem ihres doch recht hohen Preisen – wie echte Premium-Kopfhrer. Klappern oder quietschen tut hier nichts. Sie bestehen aus einer Mischung aus Kunststoff mit angenehmen Finish in matter Optik (Ohrmuscheln), Aluminium sowie Kunstleder an den Ohrpolstern und am Bgel. Die Kopfhrer machen dadurch einen robusten Eindruck. Optisch finde ich sie ebenfalls durch ihr eher minimalistisches und modernes Design gelungen.
Komfort/Mobilitt
Die Kopfhrer gehren zwar nicht zu den leichtesten Modellen, sie sind jedoch ausreichend gut gepolstert, sodass ich auch nach mehreren Stunden Musikhren keinerlei Schmerzen oder Druck empfunden habe, und auch der Sitz an den Ohren habe ich als angenehm empfunden. Im mobilen Einsatz sollte man bedenken, dass sich lediglich die Ohrmuscheln der Kopfhrer um 90 drehen lassen, ein Faltmechanismus fehlt, sodass die Kopfhrer im Rucksack oder der Tasche nicht wenig Platz wegnehmen. Zudem fehlt eine IP-Zertifizierung gegen Spritzwasser, sodass sie nicht im Regen oder beim Sport genutzt werden sollten. Sie sind daher eindeutig auf den heimischen Gebrauch ausgelegt.
Klang
Insgesamt kann man den Klang als “sehr gut” bezeichnen, gerade wenn man ein natrliches Klangbild bevorzugt. Dieses hat Shure bei den AONIC 50 sehr gut ausbalanciert und somit auch auf eine Anhebung in Bassbereich verzichtet, und somit einen relativ unverflschten Klang wiedergibt. Sehr gut hat mir die Differenzierung der einzelnen Frequenzbereiche gefallen. Die Bsse besitzen eine hohe Przision und keinerlei Hang zum Drhnen. Tiefenbsse kommen aber leider etwas kurz fr meinen Geschmack, sodass basslastiger Musik hufig etwas die Power fehlt. Die Mitten glnzen mit sehr hoher Klarheit bei der Wiedergabe von Stimmen und Gesang. Die Hhen liefern eine Menge Details und nehmen durchaus etwas mehr Volumen im Gesamtbild ein, sobald die Lautstrke jedoch in Richtung Maximum aufgedreht wird, gleiten die oberen Hhen gerne mal in Richtung zischender S-Laute ab, was je nach Lautstrke und Song unangenehm werden kann. Die Raumabbildung funktioniert mit den Aonic 50 komplett zufriedenstellend. Insgesamt ein eher warmes und entspanntes Klangbild mit leichten Schwchen in den Hhen bei angehobener Lautstrke.
Ausstattung/ANC
Die Shure Aonic 50 untersttzen eine Reihe gngiger Codecs: neben aptX, aptX HD und aptX Low Latency knnen zudem Sonys LDAC, SBC und AAC genutzt werden.
Das Aktive Noise-Cancelling lsst sich ber den kleinen Schieberegler auf der rechten Seite ein- und ausschalten, sowie ein Transparenzmodus aktivieren. Letzterer lsst sich ber die Begleit-App noch zustzlich in 10 Stufen einstellen und bringt die Umgebungsgerusche klar und deutlich auf die Ohren, ohne dass dabei die eigene Stimme dumpf klingt. Das ANC macht einen soliden Job und schirmt die Umgebung ausreichend gut ab, auch wenn Konkurrenz-Modelle dies zum Teil besser hinbekommen. In der App kann zwischen den ANC-Modi “Normal” und “Max” variiert werden, was immerhin zwei mgliche Stufen darstellt, wobei eine noch feinere Abstufung (im besten Fall wie im Umgebungsmodus 10 Stufen) sicherlich nicht verkehrt gewesen wre. Positiv fllt hier das geringe Grundrauschen sowohl beim ANC, als auch beim Umgebungsmodus auf. Zudem wirkt sich das Aktivieren des ANC nicht auf das Klangbild aus.
App
ber die Begleit-App “PLAY” lassen sich neben Firmware-Updates noch ein paar Kleinigkeiten feintunen. Wie bereits erwhnt kann hier der Umgebungsmodus in seiner Intensitt eingestellt, sowie bei aktiviertem ANC der Modus (“Normal”, “Max”) ausgewhlt werden. Zudem kann per Equalizer das Klangbild angepasst werden, sowie Infos zum Akkustatus abgerufen werden.
Fazit
Klanglich starker Kopfhrer (wenn man es natrlich und ausbalanciert mag) mit gutem ANC, hochwertiger Verarbeitung und mit 20h ordentlicher Akkulaufzeit! Dieses Gesamtpaket liefern jedoch auch andere Hersteller zu gnstigeren Preisen, ich wrde daher das Preis/Leistungs-Verhltnis bei einem Preis von 369 “nur” als “ausreichend” beschreiben.
Ich habe mir den Shure AONIC 50 zugelegt, weil ich mal etwas Neues ausprobieren wollte. Das Gert berzeugt auf jeden Fall mit seiner Wertigkeit.
In der zugehrigen App lassen sich wenige Einstellungen als aus Updates sehr einfach durchfhren. Die Konnektivitt ist zumindest zum iPhone sehr gut.
Zum Klang muss man nicht viel sagen, dieser ist sehr gut.
Der einizge etwas negative Aspekt ist, dass die Umgebung mitbekommt, was auf den Kopfhrern gehrt wird.
Diese scheinen nicht ganz abzuschlieen. Wer intensiv Musik hrt, sollte ich im Flieger gut mit den Sitznachbarn anfreunden 🙂
Die Shure Aonic 50 werden sicher verpackt in einer Verpackung geliefert die sicher nicht den Schluss zulassen, dass es sich hier um Kopfhrer handeln wrde, denn die Verpackung ist Rund und es knnte auch ein Rad enthalten sein. Aber wenn man die Verpackung auspackt und die ebenfalls Runde Tasche herausholt wei man warum auch die Verpackung Rund gewhlt wurde, sicherlich grenzt sich eine solche Form der Verpackung auch von anderen Verpackungen ab. Mir ist jedoch direkt beim ffnen der Verpackung ein komischer Geruch aufgefallen, ob dieser vom Kunstleder her kommt oder von sonstigen Materialen am Kopfhrer kann ich nicht sagen fakt ist auch nach mehreren Tagen im Einsatz ist dieser Geruch noch prsent was ich eigentlich schade finde. Nun gut man will ja den Kopfhrern eine Chance geben, also mal ausgepackt und geschaut was alles so enthalten ist. Zum Lieferumfang gehren, die Verpackung, die Runde Tasche, die Kopfhrer, eine Bedienungsanleitung, Miniklinkenkabel und USB-Kabel.
Nun will man solche Teile ja auch mal ausprobieren sie liegen tatschlich sehr gut in der Hand und sind nicht bermig schwer es sind tatschlich einige Knpfe am Kopfhrer enthalten aber zuerst bentigt man nur den Ein/Aus Knopf hier wird man dann schon von einer Stimme empfangen das Bluetooth Pairing funktioniert einwandfrei und es sehr schnell erledigt. Mir war besonders wichtig das es mit mehreren Gerten Koppelbar ist auch das ist gegeben hier kann man es dann z.B. mit Notebook und Handy gleichzeitig koppeln was ja auch Sinn macht.
Das erste Mal einen Streaming Dienst gestartet und direkt mal ein bisschen Musik auf die Ohren gegeben die Qualitt und der Klang ist hier durchaus passabel was mir aufgefallen ist, dass die Hhen ziemlich stark ausgeprgt sind hier kommt es tatschlich darauf an was einem persnlich eher zusagt. Bei mir kommt es gut an. Die Bedienung ist auch nicht wirklich kompliziert wobei ich gerade Titel vor und zurck und Laut und leiser mit Knpfen am Kopfhrer nicht wirklich einfach zu regeln finden. Der Regelmechanismus anderer Hersteller z.B. per Touch am Kopfhrer selbst. Shure liefert auch ein App mit welche fr Android und IOS verfgbar ist diese App bietet hier und da auch noch Anpassungsmglichkeiten.
Der Kopfhrer bietet Noise Cancelling welches meiner Meinung nach wirklich sehr gut funktioniert und Gerusche von auen wegfiltert aber ebenso den Environment Mode welcher es zulsst Gerusche von auerhalb gefiltert zu bertragen.
Akkulaufzeit ist vom Hersteller mit 20 Stunden angegeben. Die Kopfhrer sehen tatschlich stylisch aus da sie nicht so Plastik mig wirken durch die Applikationen in gebrstetem Aluminium, ebenfalls haben diese hohen Tragekomfort welches ich sehr bevorzuge da man solche Kopfhrer ja ab und an auch mal paar Stunden trgt.
Ich kann dieses Kopfhrer bedenkenlos weiterempfehlen.
Sehr gute Klanqualitt! Mit der ShurePlus App lsst sich die Geruschunterdrckung den eigenen rtlichkeiten inviduell anpassen.
Ich habe die Kopfhrer hauptschlich im Homeoffice oder zum Gaming bentzt, und kann sie dafr empfehlen. Um Sie zu tragen, wenn man unterwegs ist, erscheinen sie mir persnlich zu schwer, dies muss aber jeder Nutzer fr sich entscheiden.
In der Preisklasse htte ich mir mehr echtleder Ausstattung gewnscht, evt. ging dies zu Lasten fr die sehr gute Klangqualitt.
Fr den Innenraumgebrauch kann ich das Produkt sehr empfehlen.
Selten gibt es heute Elektronik in solch solider Qualitt. Um derart gut verarbeiteten Kophrer zu bekommen, muss man fast nach vintage Vertreter aus dem Golden Age der Hi-Fi suchen. Hier zu einem vllig gerechtfertigten Preis liefert Shure, den viele ebenso als fhrenden Mikrofonhersteller kennen, eine stabile und leichte Konstruktion aus Metall mit super bequemen Ohrpolstern. Dezent gepolstertes Kopfband druckt nicht und erlaubt, zusammen mit Ohrpostern, einen langen Musikspass ohne drucken, zwicken oder Schweregefhl.
Musikalisch Spitze, mit exzelenter Wiedergabe von Hohen, Mitte und Basse, wunderbar empfindlich. Sprachqualitt in beiden Richtungen (getestet mit Smartphone, sowie Zoom und Teams) ohne Beanstandung, Geruschunterdruckung perfekt. Hier kein Kfiggefhl, wie bei manchen Marktbegleiterprodukten.
Das Design ist ebenso gelungen, kultiviert und zurckgehalten, richtig Studio! Mit Liebe zum Detail nicht nur beim gert selbst sondern auch bei der Verpackung und Reiseetui.
Fazit: Shure Aonic 50 hlt, was er verspricht, wertvoller Kopfhrer mit Tragekomfort und toller musikalischer Leistung!
First: The Bad:
Battery life isn’t amazing compared to similar from other manufacturers. It’s not bad, it’s just not amazing.
ANC isn’t the best I’ve heard. Again, it’s certainly not bad, but it’s not amazing.
Carry case is large, and the headphones may feel a little heavier than some.
The sound maybe “brighter” than some people may enjoy.
USB connection doesn’t appear to allow acces to the microphones.
Now The Good:
The Soundstage. Wether you’re listening to jazz, metal, or ambient, the Soundstage is incredible. Depending on the production of the music, you’re either transported into a huge lively spacious music venue, or you can feel like you’re in the front row of a small jazz club. “Wide” spacious recordings sound wonderfully airy and wide, and likewise the vocals on something like Gregory Porter sound like he’s singing inside your head. The sound of these cans is exciting!
Sound quality is incredible. Every breath of every vocal is clearly and faithfully recreated. Low notes are clean and tight, right down to almost sub-bass frequencies. Highs are detailed and bright, maybe too bright for some listeners, but I’ve found much of the competition (Bose, Sony) to be too dull for my taste. Midrange is where these really shine. In vocals and guitars I hear detail in these that I’ve rarely heard before.
Build quality seems very good. Obviously time will tell, but every Shure product I’ve owned has lasted well.
Environment mode is incredible. I swear I can hear things in environment mode that I couldn’t hear without the headphones on.
Call quality is good. Obviously limited by Bluetooth headset protocols/bandwidth somewhat, but generally good.
Connectivity is great. Bluetooth works very well. 3.5mm jack and cable allow plugging in to headphone sockets, and the USB C socket allows you to use the headphones as a digital sound output on a computer. I wish the USB connection also allowed access to the microphones in the headphones, but it doesn’t seem to.
Honestly, I’m really picky with headphones, but these are well worth the high price tag. They’re not only the best wireless headphones I’ve ever tried, but they’re some of the best headphones I’ve ever tried. I’m spending all my time listening to my music collection all over again.
I’m looking for a comfortable pair of wireless headphones. I don’t care too much about ANC, but if they have it it should work well. I’m not impressed with the ANC offered by these Shure Aonic 50 headphones. I can hear a high pitched whine and background noises are only dulled, not eliminated. In total, it sounds like the headphones just give a half-hearted attempt at cancellation. But I have excellent hearing – maybe I’m just too picky.
As for sound quality, meh. Bass is present but a bit weak. Mid-range is too recessed for my tastes, making these sound hollow (especially upper mid-range). Treble is reasonably crisp and only a bit sibilant.
Maybe I’m being too critical, but for $350 I should have NO complaints. Amazon is going to ban me soon for returning too many headphones…
well as a DJ and producer I gotta say this is really good stuff!
The first impression when I got it, I thought this came from space !!! seriously, the box is amazing! extremely well made, I was choked !! stunning !!!
the battery life is amazing and for ME the noise cancelation is one of the best I’ve tried so far, sound quality is good but for the price and as I really like bass, it could be better …
But still an amazing headphone !!!
Vamos a lo importante. Sonido? Los audfonos soportan los 2 mejores formatos que me interesan: aptX HD y por supuesto LDAC. Si tienes un dispositivo (en mi caso un celular) compatible con estos 2 codec. Vas bien, pero… conjugalos con una app. de audio en alta resolucin como TIDAL. No pierdas el tiempo con otras del montn que no son de alta calidad, tienen mucho volumen y distorsin). Porque de lo contrario sera como andar muy peinado, baado, locin… y las uas largas y sucias. Descarga la app. Free Shure Plus Play para personalizar los audfonos (Android/IOS).
El sonido es claro, limpio y balanceado en agudos, medios y graves. Gran fidelidad de estos Shure. Si tu buscas un sonido donde los graves dominen y apabullen a los dems INSTRUMENTOS porque a ti te gusta escuchar la msica as, adelante. Pero estos Shure no son para ti, mejor ve por unos Sony XM4/XM3 que son para las masas. Recuerda que los Aonic 50 estn hechos para msica y si los usas para: Zoom, contestar llamadas o para gaming no los recomiendo. cumplen su funcin pero sentirs que no son la gran cosa. Zapatero a tus zapatos…estos audfonos son para msica y lo hacen de una manera fantstica. Esto es audio fino, no del montn.
Hasta ahora el nico “pero” es que debo de cuidar muy bien de ellos porque no vienen con repuesto de almohadillas y para lo que cuestan debera incluirlas. Te sugiero que cada vez que los termines de usar los limpies con un trapo hmedo bien exprimido (solo con agua por favor) para que no se queden residuos de sudor/grasa.
Shure is a leading professional company specializing with microphones and headphones. Those headphones are pricy since their retail price is 399 at the moment but they are worth it. I have tried 3 other brands and got disappointed from the loud noise/sound/hum the headphones cause when turning on ANC. It’s very very low on here. So far so good. Have been using it for two weeks with no issues. I use them for my work mostly and specifically video/audio editing. Their built material quality is top of the line.
My dislikes are headphones lay flat in one direction only. I’d love it in both directions and you cannot fold them like my old Sennheiser headphones.
The noise cancellation is poor, the sound blockage is primarily from the high quality ear cups and not from the electronic noise cancellation.
The materials and workmanship are outstanding and beautiful. I use these for the wireless sound quality and because they’re so nice looking it’s almost like a fashion accessory.
They ARE expensive, but the expense gets you better build quality (everything is leather or cast metal, nothing creaks) they look like they will last for ever. The app makes adjustments and feature updates easy.
My only complaint is that I do not see replacement earpads available. I expect Shure will sell them soon….the original pads will last a long time I think. VERY pleased!
Habe den Kopfhrer mit anderen ausgiebig verglichen.
Sennheiser Momentum 3
Dali io 6
Audeze Mobius
Audio-Technica ATH-DSR7BT
Ich bevorzuge einen neutralen und analytischen Klang der aber nicht flach klingen sollte.
Positive:
Natrlicher und klarer Klang
Sehr gute Auflsung im Hochton. Auf Niveau Sennheiser
Saubere Mittendarstellung
Sehr gute Akkuleistung
Hchster Komfort von allen Kopfhrern. Kein Drcken am Ohr oder Kopf
2 Gerte per BT ohne Probleme koppelbar
Steuerung ok
ANC ist gut-sehr gut.
Negativ:
Bass ist sehr natrlich und druckvoll, fllt in der Tiefe im Vergleich zum Sennheiser leicht ab. (nicht wirklich ein negativer Punkt)
Keine Equalizer Einstellung die im Kopfhrer speicherbar und somit nicht fr alle Quellen nutzbar ist. Fr mich am Ende der ausschlaggebende Grund, mich fr den Sennheiser zu entscheiden.
ANC leider kein Windmodus
These remind me of a few pairs of really good quality headphones I had back in the 90s, the sound mix is very balanced and the depth of the sound really comes through here. I use the same set of songs to test general audio on all speakers and headphones, many of which are recommended for testing such as Caribbean Blue, Hotel California (live) and Paranoid Android, all of which test various qualities. These Shure AONIC 50s pass all the tests with flying colours, the only negative being that the app is next to useless unless you’re playing music through it, so don’t expect to fiddle with the equalisation.
Noise cancelling is an interesting feature that I admit I don’t use a lot but having used it on the Sony Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones I feel that it’s an important when done right. These don’t really come close to Sony’s efforts but they do provide a physical switch to change between hearing the outside world through Environment Mode and blocking it out, the latter not working as well but still providing some level of cancellation.
Feel and comfort are great for me, though, again, it’s a personal thing. The comfy earpads do clamp quite close to the ears but because they’re quite soft I was happy enough with this. The head rest has a nice soft sponge on which is comfortable enough. Some may find it a bit tight, though.
Battery life is good, near enough to the 20 hours specified and in the time I’ve been using these, both outside and inside, they’ve never dropped connection once including keeping my phone in the study while I went to make a drink in the kitchen downstairs.
The packaging is interesting and certainly eye catching, a huge round box, a bit like a hat box, contains the carry case (almost the width of an LP!) which seems a bit unwieldy for carrying around. Inside this is a template for the headphones to sit in comfortably and a separate netted section for the charging lead and an AUX lead for using these wired, as well as manual and warranty. It all looks very high quality but the size of the case does making it less useable.
So are they worth the high asking price? Well the sound quality is great and they feel good but if it was a choice between these and the Sony ones I would err on the side of Sony based on the noise cancelling and better control over equalisation.
The sound quality is great and the noise cancellation shuts out the world around you. I use these to listen to music while working during the day at home and they are very comfortable and shut out the background noise of the house so I can concentrate.
The case is good for transporting them in a case for holiday trips and will keep them safe
These are great headphones … Most audiophiles and music lovers have a bit of a hate-love relationship with wireless headphones .. Either the low frequencies are bloated boomy or exaggerated (V-Shaped), or the ANC put pressure on the ears, or is not sufficient … Or the the headphones support the wrong Bluetooth codecs.. In short, wireless cans never really seem to tick all the required boxes …
The Shure Aonic 50 are in fact the first headphones that managed to really satisfy me. And I really tried many of them over the years .. Of course they do not reach the quality level of similarly priced dedicated wired headphones from renowned brands such as Hifiman or Sennheiser .. But these headphones are the first that stay close to the so-called Harman curve and produce a beautifully balanced relatively neutral sound with good lows without becoming to pronounced, beautiful mids and clear and transparent highs, without sibilance. Feed them good quality sources such as Tidal or Qobuz CD quality sound, and pair them with devices that offer APTX-HD or LDAC codecs and they will offer a beautifully layered reproduction with more than decent soundstaging and imaging .. Not bad at all for headphones that are supposed to be travel headphones to begin with …
In addition, these headphones are extremely comfortable, do only leak a minimum of sound, and (important) provide a good seal, even when wearing glasses .. ANC is fine, not at par with the likes of Sony or Bose, but good enough. Interestingly enough they actually provide better ANC in the lower frequencies, making them more suitable for train and plane travel (where they actually beat Sony) than for office environments ..
The only headphones that I found to come close were the DALI IO series. But unfortunately, in comparison, I found the DALI’s balance between low mid and highs to be somewhat off .. a tad unnatural … My vote therefore goes to the Shure Aonic 50 …. Highly recommended!
The best headphones ive had by far proper music AMEN
I have used these headphones almost daily for the last two months. Because these headphones are so pricey, I wanted to find something that I did not like to mention in my reviews. After two months of almost daily use, I am forced to write a straight up good review for this product, because I really love it.
I spent a month in hospital over the summer. I shared a room with 3 very ill individuals. Ill people are never quiet. The noise cancellation on these headphones is incredible. I wore them pretty much 24/7 – even to sleep at night. While they were on, I had no roommates. I did not hear them AT ALL, nor their doctors, nurses, visitors…just peace for me. My hospital room got pretty loud at times and these headphones really kept me in my own world (be careful walking in public with these headphones on, a car could sneak up on you very easily!) No matter who was in my room or what was going on, I could listen to my music or movies with excellent sound quality and NO background noise. (That said – there is an environment mode that you can put these into so that you can hear background noise while out in public etc.)
The SOUND quality of these headphones is INCREDIBLE. I don’t think I can go back to my Beats by Dre headphones now after listening to these ones for so long. The sound is crystal clear, and the bass is fantastic – it really pounds! I find that when wearing these headphones, I hear all of the show’s little background noises while watching my Netflix shows. It really adds to the experience – I had previously always missed the background sounds! I will mention that the sound quality is better when you plug the headphones in to your audio source, as opposed to using Bluetooth. I generally prefer the convenience of Bluetooth and I am willing to sacrifice this bit of sound quality.
These headphones were really easy to set up – they paired wirelessly via Bluetooth to my Samsung Android phone with no issues. I am not very tech savvy and even I found these easy to set up. Now, all I do is turn the headphones on and my music goes straight to them from my phone – so easy. The range seems to be pretty good, too – if I stream music from my phone to these headphones, I can wear the headphones all over my house while my phone is in the kitchen with no sound interruption. I can even go downstairs to do the laundry with no interruption. Quite convenient, as I often don’t have pockets while at home to keep my phone on my person. Now I don’t have to.
These headphones are designed to be worn for long periods of time. They are well padded and soft on the ears. The leather is smooth and soft against the skin. These headphones sit nicely overtop of your ears without pinching your head and giving you that horrible “headphone-headache”. Some summer days were very warm, and I could still comfortably wear these headphones without sweating all over them (comparatively, I cannot wear my Beats by Dre headphones in the summer because my head sweats too much with them on).
The headphones come with a really nice case to store them in. The headphones use the same charger as my Samsung Android phone which is incredibly convenient. They seem to charge quickly, within a few hours, and the headphones will last me all day with no issues (constantly watching Netflix for 16-20 hours).
I like the location of the buttons on these headphones. With one press of a button, you can switch songs, pause, adjust volume…even take phone calls! All without ever having to reference your phone.
If you’re looking for a comfortable pair of wireless, over the ears, noise-cancelling headphones, these AONIC 50 noise-cancelling wireless headphones by Shure are a strong contender. While they are a bit on the pricey side, I would consider them an investment that it sure to provide excellent sound quality for years to come.
Aonic 50 sports Bluetooth 5.0 which has matured quite nicely and works very well to the point where it is hard to distinguish it from cable connection, at least to me, HiFi community would disagree. I love that they added support for most industry-standard codecs which ensure that the compression of the music is handled properly (Qualcomm aptX aptX HD aptX Low Latency audio Sony LDAC AAC and SBC), almost all smartphones will have at least one of these standards supported. Shure made available an app for their products, however, at its current form is very basic and offers very little functionality, you can upgrade the device firmware, adjust Environment Mode strength (Hear-Through), select active noise cancellation profile (normal or max), and play songs located on your device.
I love the interface, the buttons are located on the right earcup, the buttons are well spaced so it is easy to find the right one, especially the play/pause which has a raised tactile bump to help identify it. Personally, I would have liked it if they went with the touch interface as it is much easier to use and does not require searching for buttons like Sony does on their WH1000 headphones. The headphones can be quickly charged through USB Type-C connector which can transfer music as well, they also included 2.5 mm jack which is a bit odd as they could have gone with 3.5 mm one instead as it is much widely used. But thankfully they did include 2.5 mm to 3.5 mm cable.
Finally, the sound quality, what can I say other than beautiful, I love it, so well balanced, I wouldn’t change a thing, or would I. Well, the factory EQ is great and well balanced as I said, you can hear most of the range and nothing is overdone, however, for the price I would have liked hardware EQ, or even software one for that matter, just so I could adjust the frequency response when I am listening to different music genres. They only included software EQ for songs present on your device, I personally no longer download songs, I love the streaming services too much, they are just so convenient so the provided software EQ is useless for me if they could extend it to external apps that would be excellent. Other than that I do not feel competent enough to comment on the quality of the sound and would advise looking for professional reviews online where they go in great depth.
As for the noise-cancelling, it works really well, it blocks low frequency and high-frequency sounds, the midrange is subdued in performance, so you can still hear voices from the close surroundings, I expected slightly better performance on that end. The noise-cancelling mode actually increases the sound volume a bit as well to compensate. When it comes to battery life, for my personal use case, 20 hours is more than enough to get me through the workweek, so I am not complaining.
Overall, I would say that if sound quality is the main purchasing decision then these headphones are the ones to consider, but if you, like me, look for features as well as sound quality, then these may not be the right one and instead, you should shop around. Especially if you consider the price, then you would expect a near-perfect experience which sadly I did not get.
I’m not a headphone expert or an audiophile. So this review is for casual users I guess. I enjoy listening to music and that’s about it. Ive never been a huge fan of over ear headphones as I mostly use headphones when working out so I tend to go with in-ears. Took a punt on these and haven’t been disappointed.
They are super comfortable. The padded ear cups are soft and cushioned, which are big enough to cover the ears and rest nicely around them. The adjustment in the over head band is adequate, so i have been able to get a snug fit to ensure they don’t move around too much while wearing them on the move.
The sound quality is superb. Very crisp with no low or high end distortion or buzzing at higher volumes. I tend to listen to rock/ metal or synth/ dub and everything I’ve listened to, sounds brilliant.
Ive never had noise cancelling headphones so was unsure what to expect. I was a little dubious that any headphone could cancel out outside noise to a point that Id notice while listening to music. I have been proven wrong. These are superb. I am a caretaker and the ride on mower we use to cut the grass on our field is very loud and required us to wear ear defenders while using. I thought I would give the headphones a try to see how they held up. I could barely hear the mower. No more than if I was wearing my usual ear defenders. I was very impressed. Also, the field is quite uneven in places making it a bumpy ride. At no point did the headphones try to escape my head.
Alongside the noise cancelling, they switch to standard and environment, which basically lets in more outside noise. So if you need to be more aware of your surrounding environment if say you’re walking or cycling, this is a very handy little feature.
They come in a nicely presented hard carry case which is a little bulky and I’ve mainly used for storage rather than transport but its a solid case that would work well if they are to be packed away in a case or bag, without worry of damage.
I can’t really comment on value for money as this being my first pair of over ear headphones, I don’t have much basis for comparison. Otherwise im very happy with them overall.
The Aonic 50’s are quality through and through.
Upon unboxing for the first time, the carry case (whilst inevitably slightly chunky) is sleek and understated, but gives me every confidence that it’ll protect the contents. The handy inner pocket also allows me to stow both the 3.5mm audio cable, and USB-C charging cable neatly.
For me, these headphones are primarily for wearing whilst I work, and so far they have excelled in almost every area. The battery charge can easily handle a full day’s worth of playtime, and they are so comfortable that I have no problems in wearing them for 10-12 hours non-stop. I might add that the build quality is fantastic – every part of the Aonic 50’s looks and feels incredibly well engineered.
Working at a PC with graphics cards and fans working hard (and noisily) all day, the ANC was a feature that I was particularly looking forwards to testing. Without headphones, my 2x 2080ti blower cards are loud, and often distracting, but the ANC easily cuts out the sound of these to a huge degree. Passing traffic noise is also a thing of the past. The ANC doesn’t seem to deal as well with noises such as door knocks, but all in all it’s a really welcome feature.
Sound quality is also fantastic – I constantly feel like I’m discovering new depth in songs which I’ve been listening to for years. Probably worth stating that I haven’t experienced any of the unpleasant resonances discussed in other reviews.
I’ve had mixed feedback regarding the microphone, and general call quality – some calls which I’ve tried to take (both via my phone and via skype/hangouts/discord on PC) have reported that it sounds like I’m speaking very softly / muffled compared to when not using the headphones. Frankly, it doesn’t feel like a ‘dealbreaker’ though, as these instances have been few and far between.
I admit I mainly chose this because of the reputation of the Shure brand, but once I got it I was glad to have done so. These are so comfortable, and the sound quality is brilliant. I didn’t actually have a pair of quality headphones, except for tiny in-ear ones, but these are chunky REAL headphones. Mind you, these are probably only good for listening to at home or in a professional environment: they look too big for me to want to get them out on the train.
These headphones have the best sound quality I have experienced the Bass,Mid and Highs are very well separated and the clarity is immense. They are very comfortable to wear and easy to connect.
connecting to my phone was easy but you can only use the EQ with the Shure play app, downloaded via relevant store. The app is also good for viewing battery level and adjusting the environment mode/noise cancelling settings.
While the unboxing experience is top notch the carrying case is almost comically large. I do feel that on a headset in this price bracket that the noise cancelling should be much better than it is, unlike another headset which cancelled out 100% this headset only managed 90% of the environment.
On that note the environment mode is good for walking around and still being aware of traffic.
While these are on the pricey side the sound quality and features seem worth it, so I forgive the noise cancellation not being 100%.
Compared to my well used Sony XM3 headphones:
* Comfortable and well padded but heavier
* Easy set up with blue tooth
* Excellent sound quality
* Noise cancelling quality not as effective
* Has a luxury appearance
* Less charging required
* Button control only which can be quite fiddly
Once I got over my initial excitement of opening them up, I had to try them out immediately. Even just listening to streamed music, the sound is incredible. I am not an expert, but I loved the sound. The base is amazing, especially when you consider the size of the earphones. I loved the rich, clear sound with no distortion. The noise cancelling effect seems to work well. I had the TV on quite loudly at the same time I was testing these headphones and genuinely could not hear anything coming from the TV. This is such a great feature for shared space living. The depth of sound delivered by these headphones, combined with the way they block out every other extraneous sound, creates a truly immersive experience. I think I could get quite addicted to these!
I’ve tried probably dozens of variations of noise-cancelling headphones over the years (like many of you, I expect) – across all price points and brands. These Shure AONIC headphones (Shure AONIC 50 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones, Premium Studio-Quality Sound, Bluetooth 5 Wireless Technology, Comfort Fit Over Ear, 20 Hours Battery Life, Fingertip Controls – Brown) are running with the top of the herd in this regard. Everything – and I mean everything – about these is pure quality. Right from the get-go, when you receive the package, you can tell these are no low-end headphones – they’ve clearly put a lot of thought into the boxing and presentation – this is the first clue that no detail is too small for Shure.
The sound quality is absolutely beautiful. With the noise cancelling feature on, you’re immersed in your own world of musical happiness. I really like how, with the ShurePlus PLAY app, you can customize and play high-res music files. You can also select when you’d like to be ‘interrupted’.
One of my favourite things about these headphones is that they are really practical – the microphone actually really works on these. And works really, really well. You can control this function and when to use it in the app as well.
Another feature that sets these Shure headphones apart is how intuitive the controllers and buttons are. I am not a fan of other brands of expensive headphones that really seem to put aesthetics above all else, to the point that the spartan interface just makes it annoying to use as a listener. Shure went with common sense here, refined. Using the commands is intuitive and easy. Thank you, Shure.
I’m a huge fan of the brown colour – it’s sleek and sophisticated, yet different. The leather around the ear cups is buttery-soft yet it is no doubt going to last years and years. Shure’s lengthy history in the audio sphere really shows itself off with these headphones. I normally like to balance out my reviews by listing the pros and the cons in every case – but I frankly cannot give anything but glowing feedback here. Easy recommend.
The Aonic 50 headphones are Shure’s first foray into two highly competitive markets at once – wireless Bluetooth connectivity and noise-cancelling headphones – and this is an assured debut from the reputable brand.
The Aconic 50’s are every inch premium headphones, matched by the hefty price tag which puts them above some of the high-end contemporaries on the market. They arrived well packaged in sturdy circular cardboard packaging. Sliding the lid off reveals a quick start guide housed in the lid itself and a large circular carry case in the remainder of the packaging. The carry case is firm to the touch which provides protection to the headphones within, also coming with a built-in carry handle (justified by the size of it!).
Inside the carry case we have the Aonic 50 headphones securely held in place with an elasticated strap. Also included is a cable with 3.5mm jack for wired connection and USB-C cable for charging the headphones. On the subject of battery – these headphones have up to a 20 hour battery life which is excellent and I can verify that they do seem to be holding their charge well even after prolonged used.
The headphones are exceptionally well made, comprising premium materials. The headband is very well padded for good levels of comfort and the padding on the ear cups is soft and very comfortable on the ears, even after wearing for sustained periods. My ears also don’t seem to get too hot from wearing these which is very pleasing. The headphones are not foldable; instead the cups rotate so the headphones are flatter during storage.
Bluetooth connectivity has proven to be effortless, syncing with my devices very quickly and without any connection or stability issues thereafter. The wireless range of these headphones is good – it advertises a range of up to 10m/30ft and I only noticed disruption in the sound when at opposite ends of the house and on different floors.
Noise cancellation works very well at eliminating outside noises for better immersion and is adjustable both on the headphones via a selector switch and with more nuanced control with Shure’s mobile app. The app also has adjustable EQ settings but I find the default ‘flat’ pre-set to sound the best, at least from the defaults that are currently available. The ‘low boost’ EQ setting for added bass was actually quite poor as it noticeably muddied the sound.
On the default EQ setting which I have generally stuck with these headphones sound excellent. They may lack the punchy or booming super deep bass of some other headphones (and I am a bass lover) but the sound on these is ever so natural, probably more in line with how the recording artists and producers intended, with no artificial overlay of bass. The Aonic 50’s are intended as neutral sounding headphones and this results in a remarkably well balanced sound. The bass notes are there and audible but not as pronounced as bass heavy headphones, whilst the mids are very crisp and clear and the trebles don’t sound overly sharp which I like. I am impressed with the level of clarity and balancing of the sound frequencies on the Aonic 50’s.
The wide sound stage to these is also very impressive and I am hearing sounds I’d never discovered before in some songs. The headphones handle all types of music very well indeed and I can make out individual instruments and overlays easily in more layered songs. I have tried these headphones with various genres and they all sound great so far. I have also tried these with Netflix and find them to be immersive to use, reacting well to dynamic sounds and even in more action orientated scenes with a lot going on I can still pick up individual sounds.
In summary, these really are excellent headphones. If you like a deep booming bass I would advise to look elsewhere but for those wanting something more neutral with a rich, layered, natural sound with excellent clarity and fidelity these really do tick the box. Stunning.
I used also Bose SoundLink (very good, but a bit different sound balance), Onkyo BT
But so far Shure are the best from sound quality and technical point. They fit quite Ok on my head and during the vacation I used them several hours per day, without problem.
Shure can make the buttons a bit larger on the next version- with large fingers is difficult to manage small button without looking at the buttons. Bose BT button size is good for me- I don’t need to look at the buttons using Bose.
For Shure I use flat equalizer, and switched off the noise canceling.
Their isolation is quite good so usually I don’t need the noise cancellation. Shure guys know these things and their headphones are made isolating without even specifying this.
Shure is one of the few brands specifying correctly the isolation- for example for Inear phones. I think, their Series SE215, SE425, are the best you can have on a long flight. For general use very good are Shure SRH1540, Shure SRH750DJ-E. I use SRH1540 to play piano. Shure give numbers- not just speculating something – noise isolating headphones. And these are not only some numbers written in the specs- they isolate to the specified degree external noise.
When walking, training- the ordinary headphones with wires make a big noise. So you better use BT version in the case you are moving.
Where do I start?!
From the quick postage to the phenomenal sound quality, I am in love with these headphones! I’ve never purchased from Shure before and never bought wireless headphones either, so I wasn’t sure (haha) what to expect out of these headphones but when they arrived at my door, a day after I ordered them, and I put them on, my jaw dropped.
Being someone who listens to music nearly every waking hour, sound quality is important to me. After figuring out how these worked and starting up some music, I instantly knew that this pair put all my other pairs to shame. Now, when I listen through other headphones, the quality sounds flat. These ones are so good that you can practically hear the music in 3D! You can clearly pick out instruments in songs and details that you may have missed while listening through other headphones comes to surface. I will say that for a while as I got used to the newer sound quality, it was a little painful, due to such a big difference, but once I got used to it, it was euphoric!
I’m still getting used to all the buttons on the side of the headphones as well as the different modes. Environment mode and the noise cancelling mode has provided me with some interesting experiments. The environment mode seems to amplify your surroundings yet cleverly doesn’t interrupt what you’re listening to, while the noise cancelling mode is beautifully engineered to muffle all outside sound. Definitely the best experiences yet!
As I normally use wired headphones, the jump from wired to wireless has been interesting, more than once I have moved to make sure the headphone lead doesn’t snag on a door knob or wrap around my chair, only to have a sense of relieved freedom when I realise there are no wires! For those who are strictly traditional, a long adaptor cable is included but I will mention that I found the sound quality through the wire didn’t seem as good as without. However, it does mean that if you have a device that hasn’t got Bluetooth, you can still use these headphones.
The headphones come with a sturdy case which I have included pictures of for reference of how big it is. The case also has a pocket with elastic and a velcro seal, so you can easily store any chargers and wires if travelling.
Been wearing them for five hours non-stop now and no aching at all as well as continued great sound quality and little change in battery. Brilliant headphones, here’s to hoping they last for years to come!
A quick note on how I tested the sound quality of these headphones. I use Spotify Premium on the highest quality setting on my OnePlus 7T phone. As I’m playing music, I switch Bluetooth output between 3 different headphones: 1) Shure AONIC 50; 2) Jabra Elite 45h (my current favourites); 3) V-Moda Crossfade II Wireless Codex Edition (300+). The latter are ny daily drivers when I’m sat at my PC.
All 3 sets of headphones sound excellent to my ear, with lots of detail, strong bass and crisp highs. There’s just a slight difference in the character of the sound. The Jabra Elites and the V-Modas add a little extra emphasis to the bass, whereas these Shure AONICs are more neutral-sounding.
But which sound better? Well really I think this just comes down to personal preference. Depending on the particular track, I preferred different headphones. Besides, you can use a graphic equaliser to alter the sound if you so wish.
Sadly, the noise cancelling on the AONICs was effectively useless even on its max setting. With no music playing, it only slightly reduced the volume of external noise. And with music playing, the noise-cancelling changed the volume and character of the music in ways which I didn’t find pleasant. These headphones have large over-the-ear cups which already do a reasonable job of physically reducing the volume of external sounds even without any ANC turned on.
For ANC I think it’s important to set your expectations appropriately – “Active Noise Cancelling” is a misnomer. External noises are slightly reduced in volume, but certainly not “cancelled”. For example, with no music playing but ANC turned on, I could still clearly hear a conversation a few feet away. I actually preferred to have ANC turned off. I wonder how much the cost of these headphones could be reduced if the useless ANC feature was removed. If I was travelling on an aeroplane, I doubt ANC would help much, if at all. I’d simply turn up the music volume to block out the engine noise.
I like the Shure’s environmental mode, which boosts external noises so you can clearly hear what’s going on around you without removing the headphones. Using the Shure smartphone app, you can turn environmental mode up to full, turning the headphones into a kind of hearing aid, boosting the volume of external sounds. I wonder if this might be useful for people who have some degree of hearing loss.
Battery life is just OK at 20 hours – I’ve been spoiled by the Jabra Elites which can manage up to 50 hours between charges. The Elites are smaller, lighter and only a third of the cost too.
The Shures sure do look and feel like a premium product made with high-end materials. I wouldn’t choose the brown colour personally, but it’s not horrific. I can imagine myself wearing the Shures, leaning back in a posh leather armchair, listening to highbrow music via expensive high-end audio system… if I actually owned any of those things! By contrast, my Jabra Elites don’t scream high quality based on their looks alone… but then they’re a third of the cost.
In terms of comfort, I think my Jabras have a slight edge – they have smaller on-ear cups rather than the Shures’ over-the-ear ones which cover your whole ears. The Shures make your ears warm as they’re fully enclosed, but the Jabras let your ears breathe more. With the Jabras, it’s easy to forget you’re wearing headphones, but the larghe ear cups of the Shures definitely make their presence felt.
The Shures can accept a 3.5mm jack for wired listening, which is one area in which they surpass my Jabras, which are wireless-only.
Overall, if it was my money, I’d pick the Jabra Elite 45h headphones at a relatively modest 89.99. Even if the Shure AOINIC 50s were reduced to the same price, I’d probably still choose the Jabras.
Don’t get me wrong, the Shure AOINIC 50s are not BAD headphones. In fact, they’re really very good and only narrowly miss out of 5 stars due to the useless ANC. They’re similar in many respects to my excellent V-MODA Crossfade Wireless II headphones (also 300+), which are my daily drivers when I’m sat at my PC.
But when headphones like the Jabra Elite 45h which cost a third as much can do everything just as good or better, you have to wonder why anyone would pay the extra for the Shure AONIC 50s.
I am far from being an audiophile so I can’t really remark on the sound quality other than being a regular consumer who likes to listen to music.
What drew me to these headphones was the fact that they have an environmental mode. I like to listen to music while i am busy doing things like folding towels, running, etc. and while there are people in the house I hate having them show up out of the blue and scare the beejesus out of me. I also like walking outside with them and being able to hear everything going on around me. It works really well, but seems to amplify the sounds in some cases. My rec room is right next to the shower. If I have it on environmental mode, I can hear every single thing going on in the shower…which with 2 teenage boys is not something you want to hear. That is where noise cancellation comes in.
The noise cancellation is great. It isn’t the best I have experienced in that price range, but one of the best. It is decent and does a pretty good job though. I have them on right now and have a fan about 4 feet away from me and occasionally hear it, but not consistently. That likely it due to the fit although they do seem they seem to be on very snug.
The sound quality is amazing. Everything is so crisp and clear. No hissing or crackling with sound changes (song changes, receiving text messages, etc) as I have experienced with many other headphones or earbuds. In my own personal experience, there has been nothing that tops the sound quality of these.
They do have a bit more weight to these compared to other brands I have tried, but they are so comfortable that I really don’t notice it. It has a nice amount of padding on the top and and around the ear cups. I can wear these for hours and have no issues. The quality is great. Very nice, solid build.
Overall, I am very happy with these. They came nicely packaged and have a nice case.
My only real issue is keeping these away from everyone else in the house.
What I did appreciate however was build quality and material choice which both seemed to be worth the cost. The headphones were also very light and comfortable to wear for extended periods. People with large heads beware though. I’m 6’5″ and these where in the last clicks and just barely managed to fit me properly.
A lot has been said in other reviews, so I wont rehash. I noted people say the EQ doesn’t work but that is not true.
The EQ DOES work;
You just have to know that it works only for music content on your device that is played back through the ShurePlay app you can get at the play store. It does a nice job too. It would have been nice that it worked for all audio coming through, but the processing is probably done by the app so the audio needs to run through the app.
I have an issue with the App. it’s not showing up on my Huawei p30 pro list of installed apps. I have to go to the play store every time to launch it.
The sound quality is the best I’ve had in headphones. my p30 pro has the latest Bluetooth and takes advantage of the LDAC codec and I played around with the settings. On highest quality, I could not get far from my phone before losing audio (5 feet); I have lots of wifi traffic at home and this clearly showed. On balanced mode I could go about 10 feet before sound started chopping up, and in the best connection mode (lowest sound quality) I could go about 20 feet with no issues.
I have it in balanced mode, as I usually have my phone with me.
It should be noted that the aonics support aptx as well, another fantastic codec for Android users.
Noise reduction is seriously impressive. I’ve worked with noise cancelling headphones for the past 10 years and noise reduction has come a long way. The environment mode is cool, it allows you to hear mid/high frequencies louder and you can adjust this through the ShurePLay app. The max NR is really fantastic. When there’s nothing playing, you hear a very slight hiss, but I haven’t had headphone that did a good job at noise reduction and didn’t have a hiss.
Updating the firmware is done the same way, through the app.
Battery life is as stated, 20 hours for me. I used the headphones for 2 weeks on and off and forgot I even had to charge them.
I’v attached two screenshots, one of what the settings look like for the audio quality bluetooth options and the other of the ShurePlay app while playing back music using the EQ.
Amazing headphones.
Comfort/fit: I have a large head, being a big guy (6’3″ 230 lbs), and they fit snug. I would have like them a wee bit wider. They are very sturdy, high quality construction and superb feeling material is very confortable around the ears, even with my glasses on but I will feel it after an hour.
I’m really into music production, and so I have owned a lot of headphones in my time. This product is Shure’s first release in the noise cancelling, over-ear headphone arena. And I am shocked. Comparing these with all my over-ear headphones back to back with the same songs playing on the same devices I can say without hesitation that the Shure Aonic 50 beats everything wireless that I have, for sound quality.
I use a pair of higher end Sony wired cans for studio work when it’s too late for my Yamaha monitors and then my Bose QC35ii’s are my go-to for down-time listening when I’m out and about and need noise cancelling. Not because they’re great audio quality, but because they’re comfortable and sounded decent. I say “sounded” in the past tense because these Shure Aonic 50s have ruined my experience of the Bose cans. Seriously, if you listen to any high quality and well produced track on the Aonic 50s for 60 seconds, particularly something with a lot of different sounds in different frequency ranges and then switch to the Bose, you’ll think the Bose are broken. You’ll think you suddenly went deaf or your ears are stuffed with cotton. The difference is that dramatic. I’m not trying to be funny here.
The clarity is just so incredibly high on these. The bass is extremely tight and solid but this is not the kind of bass you’ll find on Beats headphones which put bass before everything else. This is not a boomy kind of bass but a meticulously crafted, ultra tight, controlled bass. But only when noise cancelling is turned on. When it’s off, the bass is very weak and the highs are increased too much for my liking.
The mids and highs when NC is on are perfect. These produce a crystal clear sound without fatiguing my ears. The stereo separation is incredible. Every subtle sound, every faint detail that’s in the recording is brought out and given space to exist. I have been going through my favourite tracks and rediscovering them, occasionally hearing things I didn’t even notice before.
The active noise cancellation is fine but not excellent. It’s not as effective as the Bose Qc35ii and after careful experimentation and comparison I hypothesise that it isn’t because Shure are using less effective ANC processing hardware, but simply because the physical design of the cups does not seal off the outside world as much as my Bose or Panasonic cups do, and so there’s only so much the ANC can cope with when more noise is getting in through the cups. It’s still good, but not the best out there.
The Environment mode is present and very useful, letting me mix in some external sound so I can be aware of my surroundings and hear conversations. And the quality of the mics used for Environment mode is exceptionally high. After several minutes it sounds like I’m not wearing anything and I’m just hearing analogue sounds coming into my ears rather than sounds being picked up by the outward facing mics and processed and fed into the drivers. I’m really impressed with this.
The design and build quality is a mixed bag. The materials are all excellent, particularly the brushed aluminium parts which are extraordinarily solid and stiff to adjust – not a bad stiff though. The let down is with the buttons. First of all, the down volume button on mine doesn’t have the same tactile click that the up volume button has. Instead it’s sort of squishy. It feels like a defect. And worse; the 3 position switch for choosing between ‘Environment mode’, ‘Environment mode and ANC both off’ mode) and full noise cancelling mode, not only feels cheap and rattly, but trying to select the middle position is all but impossible with one finger. I have to grab between my thumbnail and finger nail and gently click it to the middle position while trying not to overshoot.
They are quite lightweight and very comfortable, but they look massive and dorky on my small to medium sized head.
I’m willing to easily forgive these shortcomings because the sound quality is just so unexpectedly, ridiculously good. I have never experienced wireless headphones sounding this good. This is the kind of quality that’s on a par with wired studio monitoring headphones. In fact, I have been experimenting with using them in the studio while producing and it’s absolutely doable. They have extremely low latency APTX and when paired with a suitable bluetooth transmitter I’m getting such little lag that I can comfortably play the piano and synths with these wirelessly – something I have not been able to do with any of my other wireless headphones or earphones because even a little lag makes instruments unplayable and most headphones don’t support aptX LL.
I have to congratulate Shure for this first venture into ANC over-ear headphones. These now take the crown as the best wireless headphones in my collection. I really want to rate these with 5 stars but I’m deducting one for the buttons.
UPDATE:
After putting dozens of hours on this I discovered a serious problem that I haven’t been able to solve. These headphones work fine on bluetooth devices which use SBC (that’s your basic lower quality, laggy bluetooth connection) and aptX HD and LDAC (both higher quality codecs), but when connecting to devices which support aptX Low Latency they become unusable because the audio pops and clicks at random points, several times per minute.
If you work in audio production, this popping and clicking will sound familiar as it’s an indication of a latency problem whereby the audio processing equipment cannot support the low latency setting and the latency must be increased to solve it. I am guessing that the processor in these headphones can’t keep up with the low latency signal and drops out periodically. Unfortunately I can’t use these headphones with my stand-alone bluetooth transmitter connected to my PC or with my low latency supported portable audio player because both of those devices support aptX LL and the default connection on both will always be that codec as they are designed to operate with low latency (it is automatic and can’t be changed) and thus I get the audio issues. So I can’t use these for audio video work on the PC unless I use the wired connection.
I am running the latest firmware as of August 10th 2020. I have contacted Shure to see if they are aware of the issue. I will update this review if a fix is presented, but for now, I advise not buying this if you plan to use it for low latency use. Of course, I could just have a defective product, but hopefully I will find out soon, if Shure can work with me to figure this out.
UPDATE 2:
Shure’s customer service has been brilliant. They sent me a replacement pair very quickly and the buttons are all fine now. The rattle in the left ear cup is gone too. S I’m moving this up to 4 stars. However, the problem with the low latency bluetooth codec is the same on the second pair. I’m thinking it may need a firmware update. I believe their engineers are looking into this now. I have also ordered a new low latency bluetooth transmitter to test with these headphones as there’s a small chance that my other two aptX LL devices both have a problem running the aptX LL codec, rather than the headphones. It’s unlikely as one of these devices is a pro audio recorder designed to be used for exactly this use.
I will update this if and when I get it resolved, but the headphones are superb in every other way and are my new favourite wireless cans for listening pleasure and even for audio video work (using the wired connection). It’s just that if you need them specifically for using in aptX LL mode for low latency wireless work I would say hold off until this is (hopefully resolved). For any other kind of use they are just outstanding.
UPDATE 3:
I ordered a new Bluetooth transmitter which supports aptX Low Latency like my other devices do but for some reason this one works much better with these headphones and the pops and clicks are basically gone. For the first few seconds after connecting the headphones and playing the first track there are some audio artefacts but then it stabilises and I have no further problems for the remainder of the listening experience. So it seems to be an incompatibility between certain aptX LL capable devices and the headphones but on other devices it’s fine. And so now that I’m getting a flawless connection in low latency mode and amazing sound quality in LDAC and aptX HD modes I have no complaints and have moved my rating to 5 stars. These are my favourite wireless headphones. I just adore them.
Sound – These sound great (I also use ATH M50s and Senn. HD 6XX & 600s for reference). Make sure you have your codecs and all that straight – on Android you have to enable LDAC. I’ve been listening on Amazon Music HD They simply sound great. You hear everything – the drivers on these won’t let you down and the low frequency response favors higher bass, and rolls off lower bass. These sound nice and clear as a result – no mud. If you love a lot of low end, maybe you’ll need to EQ it in.
Connectivity – Bluetooth 5, so make sure you have you’re drivers and antennas up, and these will work. They connect automatically once paired. Connected to my phone and PC, while watching Netflix on PC, a phone call will pause the video and come through the headphones seemlessly.
I have a couple gripes/suggestions. These are far from deal breakers and I didn’t consider them in my scoring.
1 – I wish the hinges opened both ways – so I can lie them flat either way. Right now you can only turn the hinges outward – think taking headphones off and you want to turn the ears so they can lie flat, these turn the opposite way my brain thought they should. Overall they could improve the foldability – the case is comically large due to the their structural rigidity. More of a note… not a problem
2 – ANC Switch – You can only access the option to choose Normal vs Max ANC in the app. Whichever you have chosen will be the option available via the hardware switch. Top to Bottom the options are Environment Mode (works fine btw), off (normal headphone function, and ANC (Max OR Normal). I wish the hardware switch somehow had an option to pick Normal vs Max ANC, instead of it being locked in the app.
The switch works better with 3 options – hardware wise – so I’m unsure how they’d do it, but I want it.
3 – EQ App Music Only – These can’s app’s EQ only apply to the songs you have loaded in the app. It would obviously be nice if this was universal EQ. This noted – I don’t know that I’d change anything from the default EQ.
I’ve got to review a couple Shure products, which have all been made with outstanding quality. Even the box and packaging is over the top-quality.
The leather is so soft! I wore these for a few hours straight and did not get sore, the head band part is very comfortable too.
The sound quality is the best I’ve ever witnessed, and I have tested several other high end headphones for comparison.
I really love the sound cancellation, and what I like to refer to as ‘sound enhancement’ – where you can hear everything around you, especially your own voice, in an enhanced mode. You can use this with or without music playing.
Bluetooth connectivity is painless, like it should be.
Has some skip/previous buttons, and one of my favorites, the assistant button. Since it’s linked to your phone, it will use the assistant you have on your phone. I just use Google assistant as I have Alexa on my smartwatch.
Comes with an aux cable and a charging cable (usb C)
The price seems steep, but if you’re aware of Shure products, you already know you get what you pay for. If you want professional grade headphones with insane quality, you’ll pick up a set of these.
This is a premium wireless headphone, clearly. When you’re going to spend 600$ on Headphones, you must absolutely expect seriously high-end build, extremely exceptional audio, and a microphone performance that surpasses expectations.
Long preamble here: If you are not familiar with the brand, I’m going to sound like a commercial here, but let me assure you, Shure makes professional audio equipment that is absolutely renowned for industry standard recording equipment; especially in studio and stage microphones. A few obvious ones that come to mind are SM58, SM57, SM7B, QLXD wireless, In-ear monitoring, SE215 and IEMs the list goes on and on. There is no doubt Shure is NOT newbie to the scene. I own several Shure microphones and Shure IEMS so I kind of had an understanding when I’m about to review their premium headphones, I’m EXPECTING some seriously good cans. So when I had the privilege to review this headphone, I was absolutely thrilled. I personally own Beyerdynamics 990 wired headphones, B&O H8, Bose QC35II, PSB M4U-8. I’ve used extensively Sony WH-1000XM3, Grado wired SR80, and several others.
BATTERY LIFE:
Before reviewing, I charged these AONIC 50’s to full. I let the headphones break-in and played a long playlist of classic, hiphop, rap, acoustic coffeehouse style music, lounge music, jazz, Christian worship live music, and country. I let the earphones play over Bluetooth LDAC from a phone until the battery warning went to 5%. I enabled full noise reduction as well. I kept the volume to reasonably loud (meaning near max on my Android phone). I let the playlist go forever and when it hit 5% warning, The battery lasted 14 hours!!!! Yes 14 hours!. If I had let the battery drain down to 0% dead, I would have gotten another hour. So about 15 hours on a single charge. Shure claims 20h playback wirelessly . I’m certain if I repeated the test without noise reduction, and left the volume at normal listening volume, I would achieve that 20 hours. When I plugged it in to charge it, thankfully usbC connection, within 2 hours, I was able to charge to 95%. With 15 hours of battery life at ridiculous volume, There is no doubt this headphone will last more than a day. Nobody is going to listen to music at max volume for 15 hours straight. Typical users stop playback, turn it off, turn it back on, a few times in the course of the day. That means that if you’re an average user, you really don’t need to charge this headphone for a good work week here. I have nothing to complain here about battery life.
AUDIO QUALITY:
After breaking the headphones in with continual playback. I finally listened to the headphones for a while, mixing between all sorts of genres. Everything from electronica , acoustic , classical to live band music, this AONIC 50 delivered exceptional high end audio. I’ve been switching between WIRED and WIRELESS Bluetooth LDAC codec. I actually cant tell the difference blind folded. There is no need to go wired. On my phone I used android backdoor developer option to force LDAC 96khz 660kbps. When I forced 909kbps, the audio was choppy and unusable. I was not able to get any headphone to work in this mode by the way.
This headphone has a fairly neutral response with some slight bias in high end . I am not going to say this is a “bass thumping” headphone. That is not true. If you want serious bass bias, I think you will be disappointed to be honest with you. This is an extremely clean crisp flat sounding headphone that has absolutely no Bluetooth compression artifacts. It truly packs a serious punch and snap to music. To be honest, I would have loved to be able to control some EQ here where sometimes my ears get fatigued and I’d prefer to filter out some of the higher frequencies** more on that later. Sound stage is not ultra wide and spacious like open ear design wired headphones such as my Beyerdynamics open ear cans, nor is it narrow like the popular Sony wireless.. I’d say the stereo imaging in my ears is fairly middle ground here and standard like my B&O wireless cans or my cheaper bose QC35II’s.
Now , all of my testing is with LDAC mode codec. I was curious about the difference. I swapped headphones to my B&O H8’s which only supports aptx. There is an insane difference between the two. There is more presence and detail on the Shure over the B&O. I then listened to the Shure again and dropped the phone’s codec to turn off LDAC mode this defaults to APTX on android phone. There is an absolute difference here. Anyone will be able to tell you blind folded which one sounds much more clean , crisp, and “present”. One more experiment, I swapped to an earbud I own that supports BT LDAC codec — this isn’t a fair comparison because these are earbuds vs headphone cans. Obviously the Shure’s win.
MICROPHONE PERFORMANCE:
Shure makes microphones. I expect and assume the built-in mic works exceptionally and this is true. When I’m on a conference call, I tested with my spouse talking and I was listening in on other end and My voice isn’t muffled nor choppy. It is clean, clear, and unmistakable. I have NOT had a headphone that delivers good mic quality. This is the first headphone I can honestly use for a conference call without pulling out my stand-alone mic. Bravo — but this is expected result from Shure.
NOISE REDUCTION and ENVIRONMENTAL MODE:
Noise reduction performance is exceptional. There are some reviews mentioning these are mediocre in this category but I’m not sure why? I’ve tried the Sony’s and Bose which in my honest opinion have been pretty darn good. But this one is ON PAR or better than those two. My spouse has to literally YELL at me while I have these on and listening to music while working. In fact she get very upset that she cannot catch my attention while she is 2 meters away from me. Music is completely isolated and I’m in my own world when enabled. When you are just using these headphones without any music playing, you don’t “feel” that isolation as much as BOSE headphones. But once you start listening to music, there is something that is slightly better than bose or sony noise reduction here. I think the Shure mic engineering is doing some kind of trickery here that makes the noise reduction work fantastic when listening to music and it doesn’t make the music sound bad with NR enabled. This is important because if you are in a droning airplane I can see this headphone being quite effective over other competitors. If I wanted silence, without music, I would just use foam plugs right? My assessment here is BOSE and SONY do better noise reduction to make it feel like dead silence when there is no audio playback happening. But Shure somehow does a better job intelligently filtering out outside noise while listening to actual music and not making that music sound horrible . On the flip side, Environmental mode is a marriage saver. When I’m working and I’m expected to help out at home, I enable this “Environmental mode” and I can hear my children or wife calling me easily . Yes this sacrifices audio quality big time of course but I’m able to hear my own keyboard typing and doorbell and people calling me from my home office. I’m very grateful to have this mode of operation as an option. The only other headphone that works WELL in equivalent “environmental mode” was the B&O H8 headphone that works similarly but not nearly as clean as this Shure headphone where I’m able to totally hear everything happening around me (perhaps too much??). This is adjustable in the phone app!
APP PREFERENCES:
All headphones now offer free phone app to adjust settings, EQ and perform firmware updates to the headphones. The Shure app is clean and connects with zero issue. The app performs firmware updates and allows you to adjust noise / environmental mode sensitivity or intensity. Here is the ONLY issue I will complain about in this review:
There is a setting to change EQ or add custom EQ. However it doesn’t work. I tried setting various presets such as bass boost and treble boost, I created some pretty outrageous presets to make sure I’m literally not hearing a difference. At the time of review, this EQ adjustment does not work. I’m not sure why. I’m using a Samsung Note10+ phone — perhaps that is a compatibility issue here? Does not matter because it just does not work. I really do wish this is fixed in an update because as I was mentioning before, I would love to have adjustment of EQ to cater to specific kinds of music. This is a huge miss here but I’m VERY certain Shure will fix this.
BLUETOOTH PERFORMANCE:
This headphone has very stable Bluetooth connection. If you’re stationary and BT source is nearby, you should experience no drop out whatsoever. If you set your phone forced to LDAC 660kbps, you will experience limited range and drop outs and choppiness when you walk away a few 5-8 steps thru a wall in your home. I disabled the backdoor forced-660kbps mode and put it under Androids “best effort mode” and I was able to easily walk around my home on the same floor with no drop outs. I curiously dropped LDAC and moved to aPtx codec. I was able to achieve longer range with this mode at the sacrifice of audio quality of course. I just love the options. I can disable LDAC when I’m outside and need wider range, and re-enable it when I’m just sitting on my desk and I want awesome audio quality.
A word on connectivity time. Once you pair them, these connect IMMEDIATELY. I appreciate that because often headphones take a few seconds too long to connect OR I have to manually select it on my phone. I’m happy to report this set has no hesitation.
CONTROLS ON HARDWARE:
Shure AONIC comes with all the necessary buttons. No “touch sensitive” stuff. I detest those inaccurate controls based on “touch”. I’m happy to have hard buttons with textured contours that help you blindly select the button you desire. You’re able to do all the basics like skip/back tracks, vol up and down, power on / off, pair and phone assistant. There is a slider switch that quickly lets you move between noise reduction mode, to standard, to environmental mode. I like that this is a three way switch and not a toggle button. Thank you very much because this is a function I would continually use and the three switch positions allow you to definitively make that quick change without a doubt. The pause/play button slightly sticks out from the rest so you can get your bearings easily blind folded. This allows you to access VOL up/down quickly. Heres a very very nice welcome: volume up/down is adjusted by just press+holding and it will continually increase or decrease. TOO MANY implementations overload the volume button with press+hold to skip tracks. I detest this because that means I need to discreetly press the button to change volume levels. Shure does this differently. It overloads the play/pause button instead: single tap toggles playback/pause, while double tapping skips forward tracks and triple tap goes back a track. This implementation to overload the play/pause button allows volume up/down to operate independently; yes it seems so small but this makes the most sense on a daily office use-case. I really appreciate this. A hidden gem is double tapping power button: this intuitively speaks out the battery life outlook. Unfortunately it just spits out a lady saying “battery high/medium/low” which isn’t precise. It would have been nice to just tell me the percentage which is available when you look at your phone display but that’s ok — I’m ok with a quick check with a 2x tap on power. Perhaps an easy firmware fix. There is one last thing to mention which is very minor but it makes me happy. Any in-ear announcement I have experienced with headphones have been a lady with a foreign accent talking English. For example, when I turn on my headphones or battery announcement in-ear, if there is an announcement, it is usually an English speaker, always female, with a foreign non-north American accent (either Indian or Chinese accent). Shure has ensured the announcement is a much more familiar Canadian/American English accent making the in-ear notifications. Thank you.
The Shure AONIC50 comes with a semi-hard carrying case, usbC cable, and a microplug to miniplug wire for wired use. This wire is kind of rare so don’t lose it. There is no charger plug but I’ve been using any cellphone 2A charger to get speedy charging. I wish at this price tag, Shure included an actual approved charging power supply.
COMFORT:
These headphones are not light. I found them to be on the heavier side of things. It weighs in at 338g. B&O weighs in at 285g. Bose QC 35II’s are even lighter. Wired headsets are lighter too. I was worried I’d be getting fatigue. I can work an entire day with these on because the exceptional padding and materials used. I do not have ear “sweat” nor do I have any soreness around the ears wearing these. The build materials is a very SOFT “leather” style material with excessive padding around the ear and around the headphone band. Most of the weight appears to come from the metal frame. While testing, the climate was 35C with 40C “feels like” weather outside — and airconditioning indoors can only do so much . I have no had any discomfort wearing this at home all day. I thought I would be unhappy about the weight but, Shure has somehow made the weight distributed enough to make me not notice too much.
SUMMARY:
Shure, sure enough, delivers — I’m extremely happy with the small details Shure took to make this work so well. Especially the hardware controls that make for a really pleasant day-to-day use. While I wish the headphone were a bit lighter and I wish the EQ presets actually worked, I’m not able to come to a knock off a star for that yet. I think for certain, the EQ issue is resolvable with an update. If these are so far the only two issues I’ve found, it is very nitpicky now. Audio and mic performance is second to none based on all the competitor headphones I own or have extensive usage with, and this is expected from Shure. With a battery life claim that actually delivers too, there isn’t much left else to say. I highly recommend these if it fits your bill.
I must say these headphones just ooze quality, the plush ear cups and head band are baby soft memory foam with (faux?) leather finishes and the metal adjustment and can twisting mechanisms feel solid and hold on to their last position very well. Everything comes nicely packaged in the large travel case with a Velcro top pocket that are perfect for the 3.5mm and USB-C cables. Tested the sound mainly with my S9+ at home with LDAC enabled so use that as a baseline. Using as a regular Bluetooth headset is very straight forward, pairing and taking and rejecting calls as well.
Putting the headphones on, they felt very comfortable and lighter than some other gaming headsets I own, and I was immediately impressed at how well they passively isolate noise. They were also sufficiently tight to stay on without them felling like they are too tight. The environment mode by default is tuned to almost enhance ambient sounds and would make my keyboard typing louder than if I were to not have them on luckily this is tune-able with the “ShurePlus PLAY” app on android. Now the piece de resistance for these AONIC 50s would be the active noise cancelling feature. While I haven’t been on an airplane or a subway to really test these things out, I have used them right next to my 3d printer and I must say I am very impressed as it does away with the noise very well. Playing through some of my favourite tracks and I must say that it has a relatively flat sound signature that allows you to hear details across the full audio spectrum and was able to really enjoy tracks from multiple genres.
In terms of cons, there is one main one for me, and that is the lack of a strong thumping bass. As mentioned before, you can definitely hear the details in say a bass guitar or cello, it doesn’t have quite the same level of soul filling rumble that can be had on other products. In terms of smaller gripes, in the default MAX ANC setting in a noisy environment with no music playing will produce a noticeable pressure in the ears as the headphones fight to cancel out the noise; thankfully this goes away with some music playing. Finally, the mic pickup is only passable in my experience, it is able to pickup on the environment very well but isn’t able to isolate my voice from the TV as an example, though it is worth nothing that it worse than other non-gaming/conference focused headsets I’ve used in the past.
In the end, I am still blown away by the construction and quality of parts for these headphones. They are comfortable to wear, easy to use with dedicated buttons/switches, and the active noise cancelling / environment passthrough modes work well and are tunable to let in as much or as little of the world around you as you want. For all out details, a good pair of IEMs will still give more detail and bass heads will likely want to look elsewhere but for the casual listener these cover a wide gamut very well and should cover a mainstream audience well. As I haven’t tried the direct competitors to this headset, I can’t say if there are any better or worse than these but I am very happy with these and find myself reaching out for them when I want to quiet listening at home.
— Fantastische Soundqualitt ( zu vergleichen mit Denon AH-D5200 )
Die Hhen kommen besonders gut zur Geltung. Wer es etwas basslaster mag, muss den Bass allerdings am
Endgert erhhen. Bei hherer Laustrke sind die Hhen fr meinen Geschmack etwas zu stark ausgeprgt.
Andersherum lassen sich die Hhen bei basslastigen Kopfhrern nur schwer einstellen.
— Eine gute Geruschunterdrckung ( reicht nicht ganz an BOSE Quietcomfort 35 II )
— Ein schnes Design
— Guter Tragekomfort
— Riecht anfangs nach Kunststoff, dies legt sich aber nach 1-2 Woche
Now the NC is okay but it’s far worse than the Sony XM3s for example. I’ve read some reviews that stated these as having better NC but I really have no idea how they come to that conclusion. It’s not bad though so I could live with that, it works well enough for me.
Now the small, but annoying issues: For some reason on the left ear, there was a slight buzzing when no music was playing from any of the connected devices which is strange but again no big deal. Also, I simply couldn’t get the Bluetooth connection 100% stable with my iOS devices. I’d get very short breaks every once in a while playing music. I never have such issues with my AirPods. Also while these are nicely built, some parts could have been of higher quality like the switch to change between NC modes. It feels cheap and like it might break after a year or so and this shouldn’t be in that price category.
But overall these are good (I’d give 3.5 stars). The sound quality is great and they are comfortable (and big). So I did almost keep them and I hope Shure can solve the mentioned issues in the future!
Sound is outstanding in all respects. Noise cancelling is mixed bag, sometimes great, sometimes just ok (maybe mine have a problem) They do block out a/c units, car road noise as well as Sonys. I have a leather bag that I carry my stuff in and they will barely fit in them, but they do fit. One glaring oversight-no way to one touch music stop and NC stop so you can talk to someone. You have to pause music and disengage the NC. With the Sonys, you just place your hand over the right ear cup and talk. Sennheiser is one touch to do same. Spoke with Shure engineer yesterday and they are working to provide this in an up date to download. Then, they would be the perfect headphone. Great bargain at price point.
I have always used shure for live production
But these headphones sold me
I had the Bose q35 and the 700
The sound quality is good but it’s unlike share
The quality build is sturdy and durable
I like how they hug your head unlike Bose. They are just the right amount of head pressure and room for ears
Noise cancellation is great
The switch doesn’t tell you what setting you’re on so it doesn’t interrupt music
I can link my iPhone and iMac simultaneously pause and listen to either platform.
Presentation to unbox product was exhilarating
No complications
Bluetooth is quick and simple
Doesn’t depend on an app.
Bluetooth 5 is wonderful and gives me 30ft
Over all it’s a very comfortable rig
And it’s everything I wanted and I am super happy with this product.
No google assist or Siri
Just simple high quality and simple buttons to use.
Usbc charge is a major plus
Carrying case is very nice as well
Even though Adam Levine is endorsing them, they are great headphones and I highly recommend if you want to spend the extra $$$ versus Sony and Bose. Do it you know you want too and even if you hate it you can return it and get your refund
But you get what you pay fo
As for the noise cancelling, i also rated 5 of 5 stars. I bought the Bose 700 at the same time & have been going back & forth every day for a month now. The difference isnt how much they block out, its the frequencies. The Bose seems to do a better job cancelling high to mid level frequencies while the Shure cancels mid to low frequencies better. I find that both cancel 99% of all outside noise if i have music at even very low levels.
Fit & comfort are the BEST ive ever experienced. I have worn them for 8 to 10 hours straight on numerous occasions with zero discomfort. I have had no hardware, software, or pairing issues whatsoever. Control are easy & intuitive & better than aggrivating touch controls on Bose 700.
If you want to treat youself to headphones that offer beautiful fit & finish, unique style with premium materials, & sound quality that makes every song you play a NEW DISCOVERY OF DETAIL & EMERSION, look no further.
I know of no other over the ear, bluetooth, noise cancelling headphone on the market that can even come close to these in any aspect. I am in love, my wife & cat are getting jealous.
The Aonic 50’s arrive in neat and nicely deSigned packaging – it shows off the product and the features really well and gives an indication of the quality of the product inside – you won’t be disappointed..
As soon as you unbox the headphones you realise that everything about their design is Premium – the headphones have been well designed and look elegant whilst retaining a rugged build standard – the big 50mm drivers are evident but unlike many ANC headphones there is plenty of room, even for oversized ears in the soft pleather ear pieces – the headband is also made of a quality pleather material and the Shure logo has been imprinted on the underside of the metal headband. The outside of the earpieces are embossed with the Shure logo in silver too – discrete but noticeable – these headphones will attract glances.
The included hard carry case is massive – it feels like you might have to check it in on a flight – there’s bags of room inside for accessories and for storing the headphones Whilst extended which is a good thing.
Operating controls are on the right earcup. Connectivity was a breeze – these have USB 5.0 so connecting to iPhone and PC took seconds..
The sound is terrific – it is a neutral footprint but the bass response is exquisitely well defined so it doesn’t feel lacking at all unless you really need to have a continuous high sub-bass signature – in which case these headphones aren’t for you… the midrange is detailed and allows for vocals and stringed instruments to flourish as they’re meant to – they feel close enough to touch at times whilst the treble is adjusted to be a touch on the warm side for ease of listening. I kept my EQ in neutral as the natural response of these headphones has been so beautifully tuned – these are headphones for musicians. Burn in is a mix of two things in my opinion – mechanical( phones) and psychological (user)- you have to burn in as well as the phones actually. After 20 hours Of listening the Aonic 50’s are only improving -these are ANC headphones for musicians if not audiophiles
Tracks which do well on these headphones – Tusk, Fleetwood Mac -you’ll hear a tuba on the track and in fact it’s fascinating to hear another few layers of detail in the song – it’s like almost having a microscope for sound…
Anything from Ry Cooder’s library sounds fantastic – layers of delicate guitar interactions and intricate percussion work really well -the track slow dancing in a burning room By Joanne Shaw Taylor highlights how good vocals sound in these headphones too… most headphones work well for some genres but not in others, these haven’t struggled anywhere yet… they are by far the best sounding ANC headphones I’ve listened too so far.
The ANC – well it’s good but it doesn’t stand up to the Bose NC700 – it Does well on low frequency noise mind you – but whereas the Bose fades voices, Tv sound and neighbour’s lawnmowers into the background the Aonic 50’s just reduce a bit.
Connectivity is fantastic – so is the microphone so these headphones are fantastic for long webinars and conference calls – you’ll be heard when you speak, and not sound at all muffled.. another tick.
Battery life is close to the advertised 20 hours – more than enough for me and with the USB C charging is quick and easy..
Shure do provide an app with these phones but functionality is very limited – the included EQ Only functions for music that’s played back through the app ( it doesn’t do Spotify) and doesn’t affect the firmware.. it will handle firmware updates and allows you to select the level of environment noise that is let through in “Environment”mode. The app notes that switching through ANC modes should be done on the headphones..
Things that aren’t so good about the Aonic 50’s (why they don’t get 5-stars): The music doesn’t pause automatically or reduce volume in “Environment mode”, so renders it pretty much useless. What were they thinking? A mic mute button would be really useful – allowing you to walk away from the PC to the window whilst being able to control the mic would have been a great addition. No firmware EQ – whilst I love these phones in neutral many people will need the ability to tweak the EQ to their preference – it’s a shame this hasn’t been implemented. Portability – a smaller travel case would have been useful and more practical rather than this huge container – yes, it’s a quality hard case but even when travel resumes I can’t see me hanging this off the back of a seat in the economy cabin, social distancing or not.
All in all – the Shure Aonic 50’s are fantastic sounding beautifully built ANC headphones – but they aren’t perfect either given their premium cost. Buy them for their terrific sound quality and connectivity but not for ANC or for portability ( you’d have to buy another case)
Best wireless headphones on the market, especially for premium audio and calls.
In terms of audio quality, these are clearly superior to other wireless headphones and earbuds like the Bose QC35, Galaxy Buds+ and the Sony WF-1000XM3. The Aonic 50 support not only the standard Bluetooth codecs SBC and AAC, but also a wide range of premium codecs like aptX, aptX HD, aptX LL, and LDAC, and their sound reproduction and stage is amazing. ANC is on par with other top models. Very comfortable to wear. They also offer 3.5mm and USB-C wired audio connection for ultra-high bandwith and quality listening.
What sets them apart even further is the excellent call quality, which makes them a perfect solution for home office for conference or video calls.
I also like the buttons, which I find much easier and more reliable than touch controls.
The only slight disadvantage I have noted is that they do not fold, which makes them not very portable; on the other hand, that should also make them last longer.
Noise Cancellation is great. I notice it takes a lot more out of low rumble sounds compared to Bose and Sony, but I do think Sony wins at cancelling out voices. But this is something you’ll enjoy more so on a plane, or public transportation. I don’t really have issues with environmental noise while music is playing at anything more than 50% really, much like another reviewer stated.
Update Summer 2020: I used to hear a lot of distortion on the top end when utilizing LDAC. Problem has been fixed as well as microphone improvements when making calls!
Update July 2022: these headphones keep getting better. The vegan leather on the headphones did start to come apart, shure replaced it very quickly within a week. The customer service experience was really easy. I tossed them in a cheap usps flat rate box and in came brand new headphones in original packaging . As I said, took about 5-6 business days in total as I didn’t pay for next day shipping. But they were shipped out ups ground. Also I love the new firmware based EQ. Getting to hear that extra bass from every audio source has been awesome.
I have tried endless earbuds. The closest I have found so far are the Bose QC30 neck-band earphones with -very good- active noise cancellation. Although good, they are aging and don’t support LDAC, APTX, APTX-HD etc. for high quality audio. Other earphones, although good, fall short at least in one or more areas. And in almost all cases, they don’t support multipoint fully or correctly, even if they claim they do. Bose and Shure are the only ones that do.
The Sony WH-1000XM3s are good, (I have a pair) but in audio quality (supported CoDecs) they fall short, and they do not support multipoint fully.
The Shure Aonic 50s are, thus far, the only headphones that meet all my requirements, and I am VERY impressed. I use mainly Dell and HP notebooks, and they connect successfully with both the ‘Stereo’ (music) and ‘Voice’ profiles – this is a primary requirement for multipoint to work correctly. On my phone (Samsung Note 10+) they connect also for voice and music (as you would expect) but also, importantly, the LDAC option shows up in the Bluetooth profile, allowing one to enable the LDAC steaming providing up to 990kbps streaming – Yay. (In Developer options you can select APTX and other Codecs manually but not needed for me)
Multipoint: This one is not easy. So far I have found that only Bose and Shure have been able to implement it fully and correctly. I can now be simultaneously connected to my computer and phone, and seamlessly switch between the two, no questions asked. This is exactly as designed, but hard to implement correctly in practice. If I’m on a Skype or Zoom call, I can answer a call on my phone, and then get back to my conference cal. I can be streaming from a local server or Spotify on my phone, and interrupt it with a YouTube stream on my computer, and then restart my phone music. So far it really has been perfect.
Noise cancellation: Better than Bose and Sony, who have, until now, been battling for first place. They just lost that. Adjustable setting is great too. (Off, Normal and High)
Environment mode: Sony have this but the pass-through audio is not very good. On the Shures the sound is very natural, and the level is variable through the app, which I find super helpful, especially when on calls, so I can hear my own voice naturally rather than muffled, or in the case of the Sonys, distorted.
Music fidelity: Being Shure, with nearly a century of experience in this space, there is no doubt these come very high in the entry-level audiophile headphone space. They are no Audeze, Grado or other $1000-and-up cans, but for the money, they perform exceptionally well. I won’t try to go into audiophile details as I believe this to be a very personal, subjective experience, but suffice it to say that in my experience they outperform Sony and Bose significantly (the Sonys are very highly rated for sound quality) and they have the added benefit of an analog connection through a standard headphone jack (3.5mm -> 2.5mm cable included) OR full digital through the USB-C port.
Aesthetically, although this is not my top criterion, these do look a significant cut above their competitors, so if you like something a little more unique and quality-oozing, these will cut the mustard.
Size: Yep, they’re big. But when you get all of the above, who cares? 🙂
Sorry, this ended up being longer than I expected.
Sony WH-1000XM3:
– Bass thumps nicely, you feel it in your body but it’s a little unbalanced (Not everyone will want this much bass, but you can use the EQ in the app to reduce it to a tasteful amount)
– BEST noise cancelling (I was surprised how well the noise cancelling worked, best I’ve ever heard and there are a few customizable options in the app)
– Overall sound quality is good/great depending on the song.
– Comfortable for short uses, but least comfortable in the group. After a full workday, the band on top made my head hurt and I had a mild headache.
– Having the touch controls on the outside of the right earpiece is a fun feature. After an hour or so, I got the hang of it.
– Earpieces fold up into the headband and can twist to lay flat. Firm case for storage will protect them well and is compact for traveling.
– Third Place
Sennheiser Momentum 3 (~$60 more than the Sonys):
– More balanced sound quality that I preferred over the Sonys, but there’s less distinction between instruments. Occasionally, some songs sounded muddier than I preferred but overall it sounded great. The EQ in the app sucks though.
– Noise cancelling was fine, did not come close to how well the Sony worked.
– More comfortable than the Sonys. Didn’t have a headache at the end of the day and I had to reposition the band on top fewer times.
– No touch controls, there’s physical buttons along the rim of the right earpiece. Easy to use.
– Earpieces fold up into the headband but cannot twist to lay flat.
– Feels higher quality than the Sonys and the leather smells fantastic.
– A really nice feature is when you take an earpiece off your ear to talk to someone, the music pauses automatically and plays when it goes back on your ear. Even putting the headphones on your head but not on your ear doesn’t cause this to misfire. It was perfect.
– Case is softer and not rigid, so least amount of protection in the group.
– Second Place
Shure AONIC 50 (~$110 more than the Sonys):
– Very balanced sound quality with the most detail from the group. I enjoyed listening to these more than the other headphones. In most songs, I can pick out an instrument and follow it throughout the song. Bass-heavy songs or songs with a lot of treble, it doesn’t matter, these headphones sound the best. I haven’t listened to a song yet where the highs squeal in a way that makes you feel like a knife is being stabbed in your neck, which I did encounter on the other headphones. (I’ve been listening to my regular music but also various Headphone Test playlists that help you get a feel for all aspects of your headphones. I recommend the What Hi-Fi? playlist on Spotify and Tidal. The song “You’ve Got to Have Freedom” by Pharoah Sanders gave me the neck-stabbing feeling on the other headphones, FYI.) One frustrating thing about the EQ, it can’t be used unless you’re listening to your personal music stored on your phone. The EQ will not work with Spotify or Tidal. However after a week of use, I wouldn’t adjust the EQ anyways so it’s not an issue for me.
– Noise-cancelling is mediocre. There isn’t much of a difference with it on or off. However, having my volume between 50-75% drowned out most noise so it’s negligible in my situation. Some reviews from audio websites have said these have great noise cancelling, but that was not my experience. Keep in mind, your milage may very.
– Most comfortable in the group. No headache and rarely adjust the band on top, even after a full workday.
– Earpieces do not fold up (not good for commuters), but they do twist for a thinner profile. Largest case, but is rigid, so great protection.
– Quality feels on-par with the Sennheisers. Both have more metal than the Sonys. Leather is also high quality and smells great.
– First Place
All 3 headphones are good enough to be bought and will be thoroughly enjoyed, especially considering the price difference. I will keep the Shures because they sound the best to my ear.