Mark Levinson No. 5909 - High Resolution Wireless Headphones with Active Noise Cancellation (Red)

Product Information

When Mark Levinson announced that they were coming out with a headphone, I expected it to be a high-end product. I was surprised to see that it was a wireless model as most reference level headphone makers still eschew wireless. I made a number of assumptions that proved to be wrong. The additional degree of impact is certainly noticeable but each listener will have a different preference in that regard and it can be turned on/off without any other issues. Instead don’t focus at all and sort of end up turning your brain off to the sound staging qualities. I tend to do that with my Beyerdynamic T5, which also has a very coherent sound. Coherency Analog input oddly, is provided via a special USB to 3.5mm cable. I appreciated that it was there, not forcing me to use Bluetooth. Plug in an ordinary USB-C cable and the headphone acts like a DAC which is very nice. What is not so nice is that it turns off Bluetooth so the accompanied app no longer works. The app is where you change the EQ settings and such. Why or why is this done? Worse yet, at least on Windows, the volume buttons did not work. I had to use the sound control panel in Windows which made me quite grumpy.

Controls: buttons of above average tactile quality. Only 16 volume steps (with iOs). A big negative, but the 3-4 usable (to me) steps are of reasonable volume yet I cannot usually dial in a 'perfect' listening volume. I commend them for that. What they’ve offered does indeed seem to house a great formula, a perfect storm of great quality parts that begins with the high-quality Beryllium coating drivers.Harman/Mark Levinson need to take a closer look at the more comprehensive apps being offered by Apple, Sony, Sennheiser, and Master & Dynamic in this category and make some improvements; consumers spending this amount of money will demand more. Up to this point, it might have been possible to dismiss the Mark Levinson No. 5909 as tinsel for the wealthy - beautifully made and good-looking tinsel, yes, but tinsel nonetheless. But give them some music to deal with (any kind of music, really - this test included everything from Billie Holiday’s Fine and Mellow through The Creation’s How Does It Feel to Feel? to Rudimental’s Waiting All Night) and they stop being an accessory and start being a thoroughly impressive source of thoroughly impressive sound. Low is recommended for “less noisy environments,” but a fair amount of noise still came through the mics. I could hear my mom-in-law’s speakerphone calls from one room over, as well as the tumbling noises from the laundry room. Adaptive was supposed to adjust ANC to my environment automatically, but it performed similarly to Low. The Harman target curve is a sound curve that both trained and untrained listeners preferred for headphone listening. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this response curve closely resembles the in-room response of an accurate loudspeaker in a semi-reflective room, as shown from Dr. Toole’s research.

The bass impact level is wonderfully easy-going and not harsh. This could have easily been another trash pile slam fest on the low end, but the No. 5909 stays elegant throughout. The entire low end is very soft and very easy to listen to. This is a chill headphone on the low end. Even when boosted, the impact levels are still less than moderate. Mids The mid bass is very linear and clean sounding with more than enough detail and texture; there was no bleed at all into the upper bass or lower midrange. One can use the app to engage the “bass boost” feature and while that does add more impact and emphasis to the bass in the mix, it also comes at the expense of some clarity. Who are these cans for? People with a thousand dollars who know what they want in an audio component, focus on sound and attention to detail and perhaps don’t fear what they desire. The Mark Levinson No. 5909 is a magnificent choice. In fact, it is one of the best wireless all-rounder headphones I’ve come across lately. The wireless features are just a bonus for me.The right cup has buttons for volume up and down, and a button in the middle that pauses and starts music as well as answering and ending calls. On the left cup is the power button, which also pairs Bluetooth, and also the ANC button, which activates noise cancellation and sound rejection. Press three times to disable noise cancellation completely. Carrying case and a selection of cables are included. (Photo: Geir Gråbein Nordby) The feeling of luxury The vivacious production of Toto’s Rosanna gives the Mark Levinsons a sonic canvas on which to truly showboat – those drums biting, vocals rich, and guitar lines and keyboards infectiously musical. They lap it up as enthusiastically as a dog eats spilled ice cream. No part of the frequency spectrum is given undue priority, and that, coupled with the headphones’ attention to detail and brisk nature, makes the No. 5909 utterly compelling to listen to in a way lesser wireless headphones are not. Driving for massive staging can sometimes ruin the density factor of the entire headphone and make it sound thin and stretched. The No. 5909 is quite dense and hefty for a dynamic driver.

So far, this review has been rather grudging in its acceptance of the No. 5909 as a properly premium item, and has been keeping its powder dry ready to unleash a volley of invective regarding ‘value for money’ and ‘credulous lottery-winners’.The Mark Levinson No. 5909 were comfortable to wear for long listening sessions, even with the surprisingly thin padding on the headband. The Mark Levinson No. 5909 have a USB-C port for charging, but the headphone can also function as a USB audio device. A USB-C-to-3.5mm audio cable for connection to an analog audio source is also provided.

This is a gorgeous headphone worthy of the Mark Levinson heritage, and it will exceed the sonic expectations of even the most demanding music lover. ANC works very well and is on par with Sony and Bose for noise reduction and extremely good when it comes to not changing the sonic signature when engaged. Like most models, it works more effectively with lower pitched droning noises and I found that the low or adaptive settings were quite sufficient for most listening environments. They designed these headphones very well. Nothing else needs to be said. It is both very comfortable, and extremely attractive, and also isolates very, very well. That passive isolation is still really good, and the active cancelation is even better. Let me cut to the chase: These are the best-sounding noise-canceling headphones I’ve ever reviewed.”Wired mode, both 3.5mm to usb and dac mode are excellent. Their is a small but noticeable increase in SQ with both. That can't be right? A pair of headphones for 1k without removable earpads... Holy crap. Even the cheap Shure Aonic 50's got removable pads.