Bowers & Wilkins Px8 Review & Px7 S2 Comparison: Which One's Right For You?

It’s my humble opinion that Bowers & Wilkins Px8 is the most beautiful pair of headphones I’ve ever seen. They wear small and light on the head with minimal presence, but their excellence comes through in the details that come together in a work of art and craftsmanship. While both standard color choices, black and tan narrowly avoid being loud or gaudy, the black model is a little more subdued where the tan model is brighter and will attract more attention. But both tactfully make a statement in high-end quality. Lightweight at only 320-grams, Px8 is effortlessly comfortable and its seamless stitch-free Nappa leather-wrapped memory foam ear-pads are breathable on the skin and feel great for long listening sessions.

The included USB-C-to-USB-C cable isn’t just for charging. The included cable will connect Px8 to your phone but a USB-A-to-USB-C will let you connect directly to a computer. A USB digital audio source provides the best possible digital audio purity because it bypasses Bluetooth compression. The hard-wired digital audio stream goes directly to the DAC and DSP systems then to the headphone's amplifiers for playback. This is God Mode for Px8! Because the electronics inside Px8 are pretty much identical to Px7 S2, all of the Bluetooth settings and DAC-mode and battery work the same way.

Bypassing Bluetooth with Px8's DAC-mode is a theoretically high-res, lossless stream. However the DAC caps at 24-bit/48-kHz. Not even USB Audio Player Pro (UAPP), the audio Android app that lets you bypass your devices USB controller, will help you to achieve higher resolutions. Px8 will always up/down-sample incoming streams to exactly 24/48. Focal Bathys has a more complete USB DAC mode that works great with UAPP going all the way up to 24-bit/192-kHz.

3.5-mm-to-USB-C Cable

This cable lets you connect an analog source directly to the Px8’s USB-C port. Yes, it will playback sound but honestly, why would you? Like using DAC mode described above, Px8 will need to be powered on. The 3.5-mm jack is NOT activating a passive mode. Honestly, I’d be concerned for the safety of the headphone’s electronics if using an amplified analog signal. This ludicrous listening mode takes an already questionable analog source signal through the USB-C port's analog-to-digital converter before moving over to the Px8’s DAC to playback at 24/48 audio. It’s a messy process and I lack the imagination to see its use case. Perhaps it’s just a way for someone to let you hear a song from an unpaired device. I’d avoid using Px8 this way.

If Bowers & Wilkins' first flagship headphone is any indication, it’s possible that Px8 represents a new direction for its future wireless headphones for years to come. The P9 (2016) was the company’s first anointed flagship headphone that introduced the reverse-angled drivers for improved imaging and has since become a mainstay in B&W headphones. It will be interesting to see what, if any elements from Px8 will live on in future releases.

The most significant upgrade on the inside of Px8 compared to Px7 S2 is in the driver. Both use 40-mm angled drivers backed-up by 20-mm voice coils. The most obvious difference between the two headphone’s drivers is in the diaphragm material. Px7 S2 is biocellulose where Px8 uses a new carbon cone. Bowers and Wilkins is getting creative with its experience working with carbon as a driver material. The company has even trademarked its “Carbon Dome” driver technology found in the 700-series and Formation Duo loudspeakers. Biocellulose on the other hand, is an interesting diaphragm choice.

Biocellulose Vs. Carbon Cone

Biocellulose gets an undeserved bad rap sometimes derided as simply "paper". But biocellulose has found its way into many great headphones. Biocellulose diaphragm pictured right is from Denon's AH-D2000. We have Sony to thank for first converting a membrane produced by micro-bacteria into a loudspeaker material. So, if there was any doubt that audio engineers will leave no stone unturned researching loudspeaker development now you know—they’ve experimented with bacteria!

Sony patented the process in the early 90s after making its debut in a $2500 headphone, the MDR-R10 in 1989. That price in '89 would be $6,031.65 in today’s money. That's significantly more than Focal’s new Utopia! But its use hasn't been relegated to the dustbin of headphone history. Biocellulose is still used in some of the finest headphones made today, outside of Bowers & Wilkins it’s found in great headphones by Denon, ZMF and one my personal favorites Fostex. While today it’s certainly cheaper to produce than beryllium and carbon, it shouldn’t be dismissed as an ingredient in top-tier headphones.

For Px8, Bowers & Wilkins developed a new carbon cone driver that it says will bring added rigidity and less harmonic distortion. Unifying lightness and extreme strength gives carbon excellent potential for diaphragm material. Bowers & Wilkins’ also uses resin, presumably to aid in the shape and seal of the carbon cone.

Px7 S2 ranked highly for me, I loved its sound and felt it would make a great travel headphone because it didn’t always sound wireless and cost significantly less than any of the new luxury wireless headphones that hit the market in 2022. Px8 has a similar sonic profile as Px7 S2, with a little more cohesion under the most stressful conditions. Both will provide well-defined sonic imaging with a typical closed-back small soundstage that brings an intimate quality. Tracks that emphasize vocals and little instrumentation will come across warm and inside your head.

If I had to describe the overall sound of Px8 (and Px7 S2) in one word, I’d call it - refined. Bowers & Wilkins has distinguished itself in the wireless headphone market by offering a more balanced sound than mainstream offerings by Sony or Bose, both of which tend to exaggerate mid-bass. It’s a pleasantly balanced across the spectrum to bring versatility to a variety of musical styles while avoiding the flatness of a studio monitor. You'll hear lush details in midrange vocals with an engaging flair in the highs, and a modest but authoritative bass shelf. It all comes together to create a refined experience, even when I'm listening to decidedly unrefined music choices. For anyone new to higher-end headphones, both Px8 and Px7 S2 will beckon you to open-up your playlist and explore new artists and new sounds.

Ramin Djawadi & Prague Philharmonic Orchestra | Light of the Seven

For a comparative listening test I decided to journey back to one of Game of Thrones last great seasons. Ramin Djawadi is widely considered the new Hans Zimmer for his thrilling and emotional compositions. This track might be the musical highlight of the show's entire run by bringing several aspects of sound quality to light. Light of the Seven from GoT Season 6 is a veritable headphone/loudspeaker listening test in a bottle.

It begins quietly with wistful tones of a lone piano. A gentle tension rises as the cello makes an entrance before different sections of the orchestra take turns rising and falling through the piano’s opening minutes. Px8 presented each instrument in uncomplicated detail and timbre.

Px7 S2 and Px8 demonstrated excellent dynamic range through the transition between subtle, intimate details all the way up to the bang and crash of the track’s bombastic climax. At about mid-track, what sounds like a children’s choir (actually female sopranos) brings an element of creepiness before the music’s tension explodes into full orchestral power. The climax is accompanied by the deep pulse of organ and drum that bring rumble and weight to ground the bang and crash of violins, brass and woodwinds. It’s a full-range aural spectacle and the most challenging section of this track to reproduce.

Both Px7 S2 and Px8 present excellent timbre during the intimate listening moments when the sonic spotlight is one instrument or one section. Both headphones present a sharpness in the upper-end detail, typical for Bluetooth. But Bowers & Wilkins does a great job of tempering that sharpness so as not to sound harsh, instead coming across as detailed. Presumably, this is accomplished with the help of the headphone’s DSPs that may let you forget you’re hearing digital Bluetooth audio. Both headphones bring the little details in the track’s quieter moments, like the decay of a piano note as it hangs in the air. The transition between scant milliseconds of silence and the full orchestra's dramatic fury sounded very similar between the two heaphones, but this is when I noticed distinct improvements in Px8.

Light of the Seven’s crescendo would be complicated for any headphone, but the Px8 presented that little bit more in the details of the full orchestra where Px7 S2 could seem clustered at times, especially in the extreme lower and higher frequencies. The difference is subtle, but Px8 keeps its cohesion under stress, simultaneously presenting precision in the crash up high and boom down low. The worst I could say about Px7 S2’s performance in those scant seconds of orchestral peak is some smearing of distinct separation between instrument sections. But it really only lasts a second here and there. Overall, both headphones give a refined listen.

Esthetic design is a matter of personal taste, but in my humble opinion the Px8 is the most subtly beautiful wireless headphone I’ve seen. As beautiful as it is, the quality of its build is anything but skin deep. From the swivel of an ear-cup, press of any button to sliding headband adjustments, Px8’s exudes sophistication and quality with no extraneous creaks or crackles. In sound quality Px8 provides a fine rendition of today’s aptX Adaptive Bluetooth sound that stands up to all competitors in its price range. Apple iPhone users might be less incentivized to commit themselves to the Px8's premium price since they’re limited to the AAC codec.

In comparison to Px7 S2 ($399), Px8 ($699) provides tangible improvements in both sound quality and design, but the differences are only slight. Px8 is an esthetic luxury feast in look and feel, where Px7 S2 is its plastic imitation. But it is imitating what I consider best-in-class design and that ain’t half bad. The overall sound-profile is similar in timbre and tonality, both could resolve engaging levels of detail and added enough lift in mid-bass to bring authority to aggressive tracks, but not enough to dominate. Both are suitably comfortable and lightweight enough to bring hours of enjoyment to an eclectic variety of music. Where Px7 S2 fails to live up to its counterpart is in Px8’s cleaner rendition of finer details in only the most complex instants of certain tracks. However, one quantifiable advantage Px8 has over other competitors in the nascent luxury wireless headphone category is its price. Among new flagship wireless headphones out there, Px8 is priced below similar offerings from Focal and Mark Levinson.

In my own cost/benefit analysis I’m putting the clever money on Px7 S2. For me the job of wireless headphones is mobile listening, outdoors or away from home. I’ll always prefer the majority of my at-home, stationary listening over passive headphones plugged into a DAC/Amp. This is why today in the opening 90-days of 2023, I’d personally buy Px7 S2 over any in this market. Of course, selecting Px7 S2 is not a knock against Px8 or any of its pricier counterparts that bring their own strengths. However, between the arrival of Bowers & Wilkins new flagship and in my practical listening to what that extra $300 brings, only serves to make the price of Px7 S2 so much sweeter a deal.

In Px7 S2 you’re sacrificing all that gorgeous brushed aluminum for plastic. But the build quality in Px7 S2 is quite similar, the electronics inside, app functionality, codec compatibility and DSPs are all pretty much identical. The slight sound quality improvements in Px8 are tangible, but just aren’t enough for me to pass-up the absolute bargain of Px7 S2 as the entry-level luxury wireless choice. Of course, we’re all of different means and situations, those willing to pay that little bit extra in Px8’s added performance and style make an excellent choice. If I ever saw someone wearing either B&W headphones out in the wild, I'd give them my nod of approval as a listener with discriminating taste in quality and sound.