Shure Aonic 50 wi-fi energetic noise-cancelling headphone evaluate: Pleasing sound, mediocre noise cancellation

Shure has been a mainstay in recording studios and on concert phases for 95 years. The company’s newest contribution to its rich legacy is the Aonic 50 energetic noise-cancelling (ANC) headphones. These $399 headphones promise audiophile quality, distinctive comfort, superior ANC efficiency, and one of the deepest Bluetooth codec toughen you’ll get anyplace.

Maintain quality

The Aonic 50 are excellent headphones. Imitation leather-primarily based dominates the headscarf and ear cups, whereas at ease-brushed aluminum arms connect the two. The clicking on-adjustable arms open and shut with ease; but as soon as locked in pronounce, they’ll discontinue precisely the establish aside you positioned them. You’ll repeatedly face a swap-off with easy-to-alter headbands; no longer right here, I chanced on the pressure on my head to be shut to goldilocks absolute best.

This evaluate is section of TechHive’s protection of the absolute best headphones, the establish aside you’ll get opinions of competing products, plus a buyer’s recordsdata to the weather you would possibly serene sustain in tips when browsing.

The imitation leather-primarily based wrapped around the Aonic 50 is at ease and sumptuous. The headscarf is amply padded and didn’t manufacture any excess pressure on the tip of my head—even after prolonged establish on. The ear cups likewise are at ease and happy.

The real drawback I chanced on changed into breathability. These headphones made me sizzling and sweaty after prolonged listening periods. The extinguish shall be exacerbated when you use the Aonic 50 in sizzling or humid environments, even though your body would possibly perchance well perchance react in any other case.

Theo Nicolakis / IDG

The ear cups fold flat for skedaddle and storage, but they don’t give design additional admire one of the competition. The incorporated carrying case is expansive but fully impractical for skedaddle—it’s downright huge.

Battery existence is rated to closing for a loyal 20 hours. With some of this present day’s wi-fi headphones pushing 24 to 30 hours plus, right here’s on the decrease-close of the spectrum. That acknowledged, in actual world usage, it is seemingly you’ll well get a design to effortlessly race two to three days of prolonged listening or Zoom convention calls without ever needing to payment the headphones. Furthermore, re-charging the headphones is rapidly. Perfect 5 minutes of lag time will effortlessly get you out of the low-battery warning vary.

Theo Nicolakis / IDG

Ergonomics

The Aonic 50’s ergonomics are straightforward. Tactile navigation controls and a USB-C charging port are located on the attend of the ethical-hand ear cup. A three-methodology slider allows you to toggle between Environment Mode (extra on that below), ANC off, and ANC on. The toggle swap on my evaluate pair took awake fiddling to get it to sit down ethical in the heart pronounce (ANC off). Every time I moved the swap, it slid methodology too effortlessly to an undesired atmosphere, and it in actual fact wants a cramped have adjustment to make it anxiety-free.

Theo Nicolakis / IDG

I attain applaud Shure for providing a tactile bump on the Play/Waste button. I could perchance well perchance instantantly orient my fingers and know whether I changed into urgent volume-up, play/live, or volume-down. Pressing the play/live button twice advances to the next tune, whereas urgent it three cases rapid will race to the old tune.

Deep Bluetooth codec toughen

The Aonic 50 are versatile to fit your evolving daily life. These cans will characteristic in three completely different modes: analog wired (the use of the incorporated 3.5mm analog cable), wi-fi, and wired digital by design of USB-C.

Bluetooth 5.0 is identical old, and also you’ll get about 30 toes of wi-fi efficiency (barring any boundaries). The Aonic 50’s wi-fi efficiency is a shock, bolstered by its spectacular codec toughen, including the corpulent Qualcomm aptX codec suite: aptX, aptX HD, and aptX Low Latency. AptX HD will movement excessive-resolution audio up to 24-bit resolution and 48kHz sampling rate. AptX Low Latency is absolute best for avid gamers with traumatic synchronization between audio and video.

That you just can additionally take earnings of Sony’s very honest staunch LDAC codec, which supports excessive-res audio up to 24-bit resolution and a 96kHz sampling rate, with recordsdata charges up to 990Kbps. Final but no longer least, there’s toughen for Apple’s AAC and identical old Bluetooth SBC.

Theo Nicolakis / IDG

Whilst you get wi-fi streaming anathema to your audiophile handsome, lag a USB-C cable into the Aonic 50 and transport your favorite tunes in the digital domain. I extinct both the incorporated cable and a six-foot Monoprice Monolith USB-C cable without mission. Best seemingly of all? That you just can hear to the headphones whereas you’re charging their battery.

Shure doesn’t specify the DAC that’s onboard or the audio resolutions and sampling charges which shall be supported, but after I linked these cans to my Mac, the laptop’s Audio MIDI Setup reported them as supporting audio up to 32-bit resolution with sampling charges up to 384kHz.

Talking of which, Mac customers would possibly perchance well perchance serene take level to: Whilst you are seeking to play excessive-res tune by the Aonic 50, know that your Mac will constantly use a mounted bit depth and sampling rate in the Audio MIDI Setup app (located in Utilities folder). That mounted rate will generally be CD-quality 16-bit 44.1kHz.

After I extinct the macOS Qobuz app, as an instance, any excessive-res file I played defaulted to 16-bit/44kHz, and I had to manually swap the output at any time when in the Audio MIDI Setup app. I due to this truth counsel the use of a tune app that will robotically swap the output to verify the tune source, which is one thing iTunes won’t attain. So, iTunes customers would possibly perchance well perchance serene sustain in tips buying a program admire Bitperfect that will robotically swap your Mac’s bit depth and sampling rate.

Theo Nicolakis / IDG

ShurePlus Play mobile app

Shure affords iOS and Android customers with the ShurePlus Play app, which is traditional but practical. The free app reveals you the most recent battery degree and allows you to position both ANC intensity (identical old or max) and Environment Mode intensity (on a 10-level scale). That you just can serene be in each and every respective mode to swap their settings.

The app would possibly perchance well perchance additionally get entry to your tune library, which in my case changed into the iPhone’s Track app. I could perchance well perchance no longer connect with fully different tune provider apps, a lot like Tidal or Qobuz. With the tune app linked, I had the option of making use of 5 pre-defined EQ settings or creating my have. Would perchance well perchance simply serene you take to fracture your have EQ preset, it is seemingly you’ll well get a design to position the fracture and bandwidth for four frequency aspects: Low shelf, excessive shelf, and two parametric EQ aspects. The app doesn’t come up with the flexibility to customise the ANC algorithm for airplane, roar, subway, or altitude.

Theo Nicolakis / IDG

Environment Mode is a winner

The Aonic 50 comes with a suite of tools and tech for the boulevard warrior. Chief among these is a feature called “Environment Mode” that allows you to listen to the outside world without taking your headphones off. Shure’s Environment Mode is honest very honest staunch and ranks up there with the absolute best I’ve experienced. It’s fully pure in its default atmosphere.

I detected none of the tinny artifacts or completely different stressful distortions that plagued competing products that came earlier; if truth be told, the actual anomaly that gives Environment mode away is a heightened brightness to your environment. I could perchance well perchance even press the play/live button to summon Siri for hands-free commands. Best seemingly of all, it is seemingly you’ll well get a design to play tune with Environment mode enabled, The tune I listened to retained its fidelity and sounded downright unbelievable—as a minimal until I extinct to the ShurePlus Play app to raise Environment Mode to its max atmosphere. Doing that offered a well-known quantity of recount. Final analysis: Shure’s Environment Mode is spectacular.

Mediocre noise-cancellation efficiency

When it comes to the absolute best energetic noise-cancelling headphones on the market this present day, there’s Sony, Bose—and all and sundry else. The Shure Aonic 50 attain nothing to swap that picture. I when compared them to Bose’s QC35 and Bowers & Wilkins’ PX noise-cancelling headphones by taking part in recorded cabin noise at 91dB (as measured by a sound pressure degree meter C-weighted and establish aside to sluggish). Regular airplane cabin noise ranges from 90- to 96dB.

I stood two toes below a pair of ceiling audio system and cycled by the three headphones various cases. Alas, in each and every context, I chanced on the Aonic 50’s energetic noise cancelling to be staunch but no longer broad. Whereas the Aonic 50 would possibly perchance well perchance take the brink off, its ANC efficiency constantly came in in the attend of the Bose and B&W.

The identical efficiency changed into simply of fan and HVAC noise. I examined the Shure Aonic 50 with the central air at my dwelling and with air purifiers from Hunter and Blueair. When establish aside to excessive and measured just a few foot away, the Hunter registered 84dB and the Blue 77dB on the SPL meter. The Bose as soon as extra handily trounced the Aonic 50.

I also noticed particular recount after I activated the Aonic 50’s energetic noise cancellation without taking part in any tune. You won’t leer this in a excessive-noise environment, but the recount called consideration to itself in quieter locales.

Theo Nicolakis / IDG

Listening Checks

I examined the Shure Aonic 50 primarily with Astell&Kern’s Kann excessive-res digital audio participant as effectively as with an iPhone XS. Source fabric incorporated a mix of CD-quality and excessive-res recordsdata, plus streams from Tidal.

Merely establish, sonics is the establish aside the Shure Aonic 50 shine. In the origin hear, the Aonic 50 stumble upon as wonderfully effectively balanced, heat, and intimate. Sarah McLachlan’s “Fallen” sounded oh-so-ethical. Via the Aonic 50, McLachlan’s vocals on “Resign and Easy job” sounded rich, detailed, and dimensional. Turning on ANC or Environmental Mode, nonetheless, tended to flatten the soundstage.

A effectively-fashioned soundstage is a energy I noticed tune after tune. I changed into enveloped intimately with devices abounding on Accept as true with Dragons’ “Substandard Liar.” Case in level changed into spinning up “Natural.”  The outlet refrain changed into precisely recessed in a deep, atmospheric journey, with vocals firmly ahead and heart stage.

Theo Nicolakis / IDG

Style didn’t topic. Rocking to Joe Satriani’s “Browsing with the Alien” or Eddie Van Halen’s immortal “Eruption,” the Aonic 50 mesmerized me. Aaron Copeland’s majestic “Fanfare for the Basic Man” as played by the Minnesota Orchestra and carried out by Eiji Oue stumbled on in all its elegance. Bass drums thundered and trumpets were delicate, with brass and cymbals exhibiting a cramped roll-off on the tip.

But it changed into Elaine Paige’s defining rendition of “Reminiscence” from Cats, and Yo-Yo Ma’s rendition of Ennio Morricone’s “Dinner” that made the hairs on my arm stand on close.

I encountered a few disappointing quirks at some level of my evaluate period that vastly dampened my enthusiasm for the Aonic 50. Basically the most troubling of these occured after I had the headphones on Bluetooth mode, but and not utilizing a tune taking part in: The Aonic 50 pumped out annoying digital noise artifacts. This took place no topic source: an iPhone XS, Astell&Kern KANN excessive-res digital audio participant, or my Mac. I will’t emphasize adequate how bothersome this changed into—it changed into nails-on-a-chalkboard worrying. And the artifacts were newest whether ANC changed into engaged or off. As soon as I began taking part in bid, the artifacts would go and the noise ground diminished. The engineering crew at Shure would possibly perchance well perchance serene take care of this shortcoming; hopefully, with a firmware change. 

Conclusion

Shure’s Aonic 50 headphones are constructed for excessive-resolution sonic bliss, whether you’re listening with a cable (analog or digital, by design of a USB-C cable) or wirelessly (by design of Bluetooth, with toughen for every Bluetooth codec that issues).

The truth that energetic noise cancellation takes a attend seat right here isn’t a broad deal—for me, as a minimal—but the traumatic audio artifacts I encountered when the use of these cans wirelessly without tune shall be a deal-breaker for a superb deal of. That mission fee the Shure Aonic a half of-star in this evaluate, so right here’s hoping Shure can repair the problem with a firmware change. I also chanced on breathability to be a divulge at some level of lengthy listening periods, but your mileage would possibly perchance well perchance vary on that procure.

• Mountainous sound and sturdy wi-fi codec toughen are highlights, but we encountered some audio peccadilloes as effectively as mediocre energetic noise cancellation.

  Execs

  • Unimaginable sound (whereas tune is taking part in)
  • Comprehensive wi-fi codec toughen (including excessive-res)
  • Perfect fabricate quality, materials, and have

  Cons

  • Mediocre energetic noise cancellation efficiency
  • Tense buzz when linked wirelessly and not utilizing a source taking part in
  • Are inclined to get sizzling at some level of lengthy listening periods

Theo Nicolakis is a C-Stage technologist and digital communications official. He is also a passionate audiophile and dwelling theater aficionado.