Still not succumbed to the luxurious quietude of premium wireless over-ear
headphones with active noise-cancellation? Here are two new options...Hush
cuppies
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What’s the story?
Unlike Sennheiser and all the other
brands mentioned on the left, Dali has
no pedigree in headphones and is writing
its own history as it goes along. The Danish
company’s been a leading light of passive
loudspeaker design for over 35 years, so
it must have thought the time was finally
right to get a piece of the noise-cancelling
wireless headphone action. That’s if there’s
any left to grab...Are they any good?
Who wants to tear up the rulebook? The
IO-6s look exactly as you’d expect a pair
of expensive headphones to look, and
feel how you’d expect them to feel. The
earcups swivel through 180°, which makes
them easy to sling around your neck or
pack into their case, and build quality seems
up to prevailing standards.
There’s a selection of controls and
inputs on the right earcup, with a 3.5mm
input on the left in case the battery dies...
but that really shouldn’t happen when
you’re getting 30 hours of playback time
even with ANC engaged.
Right from the off these over-ears
give a detailed, three-dimensional and
tonally impeccable listen. It’s not always
possible to describe the sound of a pair
of headphones as ‘fun’, but in this case
it’s pretty easy.Price £349 / stuff.tv/Dali6
Tech Bluetooth, 3.5mm, USB-C charging +
audio, voice control O 30hr battery O 325gStuff says ++++,
For sound, the Dalis are easy to recommend;
for features, not so muchWhat’s the story?
These days if you’ve got £300 or so spend
on some wireless over-ear headphones
with noise-cancelling skills, it’s hard to
go wrong. Bose, Bowers & Wilkins and
Sony each have a great pair to sell you;
even Microsoft has a decent option. The
Momentum Wireless have always been
in the mix too... but they’ll have to be really
good to take on the class of late 2019.Are they any good?
This is a truly over-ear design, and those
generous earcups will overwhelm anyone
whose lugs are on the smaller side. They’re
distinctive without being show-offy, with
a smart combo of exposed steel and soft,
tactile sheepskin. Everything looks and
feels made to last.
The 17-hour battery will be exhausted
long before Bose or Sony rivals start to
flag, but at least charging (via USB-C) is
rapid – and there’s a jack socket for wired
listening when the juice runs out.
Sound-wise, they’re brilliantly capable.
It doesn’t matter what sort of music you
like to listen to, where you listen to it or
at what volume levels – these cans are
always an enjoyable listen. Presentation
is open and wide, with great attention to
the details and texture. Bass hits hard but
the overall tonality is brilliantly judged.Price £349 / stuff.tv/MomentumWireless
Tech Bluetooth, 3.5mm, USB-C charging,
voice control O 17hr battery O 304gStuff says +++++
Big headphones, big price, big sound: these
are the best Momentums yetSennheiser Momentum
Wireless (2019)
Dali IO-6
O The Sennheisers
offer three ANC
modes, plus
a ‘transparent
hearing’ feature
that actively
amplifies external
sounds to keep
you in touch with
the outside world
when you need
to be. All this can
be controlled via
a suite of physical
buttons on the
right earcup, or
using the neat
and reliable Smart
Control app.O There’s no Dali
app, and the IO-6s
don’t have degrees
of ANC – it’s either
on or off. But there
is a ‘transparency’
setting, as on the
Sennheisers. The
noise-cancellation
is pretty gentle,
which means you
don’t get that
feeling of inner-ear
pressure that some
rivals inflict – but
background noise
is never completely
eradicated.ENJOY THE
SILENCE...
OR DON’T,
WHATEVER