Master and Dynamic MH40 Wireless Headphones REVIEW | Mac Sources

5 min readJan 31, 2020

Master and Dynamic MH40 Wireless Headphones

9.3

Headphones that sing.

I’m pretty minimalist when it comes to devices like headphones and speakers. Don’t get me wrong — I like quality, but I don’t like paying for high priced items when a lower priced item will get the job done. I’ve used plenty of $50 headphones that do just fine, but they don’t really hold a candle to what some of the premium brands like Master & Dynamic provides. A couple of years ago, I was fortunate enough to be able to test out the MH40 Over-Ear Headphones. They were extremely comfortable and produced a premium audio sound. The only issue I really had with the headphones was that they were wired. Fortunately, Master and Dynamic recently released the wireless version of these headphones — the MH40 Wireless Headphones.

DETAILS

The headphones retail for $299 and there are three different color schemes — black metal/gunmetal coated canvas, silver metal/brown coated canvas, black metal/black coated canvas. With the MH40 Wireless, Master & Dynamic wanted to stay true to the original design, but deliver a wireless solution for those who wanted it. This model features Bluetooth 5.0 with a 100ft connectivity range. The battery has an estimated 18 hours of playtime.

The headphones are made with coated canvas and lambskin leather details. They have custom 40mm drivers for the rich, expansive sound. Master & Dynamic redesigned the frame of the headphones to be aluminum for a lighter weight headphone. There are dual-microphones included with the headphones that are designed to filter out external noise.

SPECS

Model: MH40
Dimensions: 205mm x 202mm x 71mm
Drivers: 40mm Neodymium
Impedance: 32 Ohms
Weight: 276g
Materials: Coated Canvas, Anodized Aluminum, Lambskin Leather
Headphone Connection: Bluetooth 5.0 Supporting AptX and SBC
Cables: USB-C to 3.5mm & USB-C to USB-A for charging
Ear Coupling: Over-Ear
Microphone Type: Beamforming Noise Reduction Mic Array
Antenna: Internal Antenna
Ear Pads: Replaceable Lambskin-Wrapped Memory Foam
Charging: 100% in 80 minutes, 50% in 30 minutes

USER EXPERIENCE

My previous experience with the MH40s was very pleasant. I loved how comfortable they were and the premium sound quality I received. My main purpose for the wired MH40s was for monitoring audio while I was editing videos. There was enough ambient sound eliminated that they were ideal for listening for details. While the wireless version of these headphones had the same ‘feel’ sound quality-wise, I did think that they tended to slip off my head more. They are still super comfortable to wear, but I think the weight of them caused them to slip forward more than the wired version.

I did love having the ability to get up and walk around while wearing these awesome headphones. Battery life seemed to be quite good. I got through several work sessions (3–4 hours long) without having to charge the headphones. I have the silver metal/brown coated canvas version of the MH40 Wireless headphones and think they are very classy looking. I’ve listened to podcasts, music, and movies through these headphones and have thought the sound quality was superior to most headphone experiences I have.

I do wish that the headphones had a case that came with them, but I’m glad that Master & Dynamic included the cables they did. One of the things I really enjoyed was being able to use them as wired headphones if the battery was dead. One night when I was working, I picked up the MH40s and tried to turn them on. They were dead. I didn’t have time to let them charge as I had work to do and needed to isolate myself a bit from the world going on outside my desk. So, I picked up the USB-C to 3.5mm cable, grabbed my 3.5mm to Lightning adapter and plugged the headphones into my iPhone 11 Pro. I was able to use the headphones quite easily using this wiring combination and loved that Master & Dynamic designed the headphones this way so that I didn’t lose any productive time waiting on them to charge.

CONCLUSION

“There is a set of headphones for every occasion. I believe that you need to find the headphones that work best for you — that fit you well, sound good to you, and fit your use situation.” This was how I started the conclusion for the wired version of the MH40s. I still find it to be true and love that I now have the MH40s as a wireless headphone. I do wish that the fit on me was a little different so they didn’t slide on my head quite as much, but that’s probably just an adjustment I need to make. These are great headphones and any audiophile or even professional audio developer/editor will get great use from these.

For more information, visit masterdynamic.com/mh40
Find Master & Dynamic on Facebook and Twitter.

Originally published at https://macsources.com on January 31, 2020.