Soundmagic P60BT Bluetooth Wireless Headphnes – ANC With A Musical Twist
Soundmagic P60BT is a $189 USD pair of closed-back Bluetooth headphones with ANC and a comfy design. Although we’ve seen many good headphones from Soundmagic, P60BT is confusing to say the least as I was able to find it listed for prices ranging from $135 USD to $169 USD to $249 USD on the official Soundmagic Store. It will be compared to other Bluetooth headphones including Cleer Enduro ANC (129 USD), 1More SonoFlow (100 USD), and SuperEQ S1 (69 USD).
Introduction
Soundmagic is a top company for products which are affordable, but not cheap, with a reputation for good sonic performance, strong support and build quality, being a factory with experience and the will to design brilliant sounding headphones (bright too) for music lovers. The unit we’re reviewing today is not the flagship of Soundmagic, but it is a pretty expensive model compared to most of their offerings, as they typically deal in the entry-level range. I recommend purchasing Soundmagic products from Amazon, where you’ll typically find the best prices and best support. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, and using the purchase links in my reviews helps me maintain this website and YouTube channel.
I’d like to thank Soundmagic for providing the sample for this review, in exchange for my honest opinion. This review is a description of my personal experience.
Product Link
You can grab one from www.amazon.com here – https://amzn.to/3wnae6p
If you’re in the UK, you can grab one from www.amazon.co.uk here – https://amzn.to/42JUKFL
And if you’re from Europe, you can grab one from www.amazon.de here – https://amzn.to/3wgRm95
Build Quality/Aesthetics/Fit/Comfort
Soundmagic made a lot of interesting headphones, including the Soundmagic HP1000, the flagship that we reviewed a couple of years ago, and the Soundmagic P22BT, a headphone that I reviewed back when I started Audiophile-Heaven. Both of those have been quite bright in the tonality, and this seems to be a characteristic of Soundmagic, so it will be interesting to explore if the P60BT is also bright, or if they went for a darker sound.
The build of the P60BT is fairly clean and simple, this is a headphone that has a large touch sensor on the right earcup, and it has a fully black, smooth texture design, made to be comfortable to use. There is a transport case included in the package, and it has a USB Type-C port and cable for charging, a 3.5mm line cable for signal, and a really odd computer adapter.
The headphones have Large 40mm dynamic drivers to get their sound, and they have ANC, which provides additional noise isolation over the passive isolation of the headphones. The difference between the ANC On and ANC Off is quoted to be 5 hours, and the full battery life is promised to be around 50 Hours with ANC Off, and 45 Hours with ANC On. To enable or disable the ANC, you press on the button on the right earcup. To be honest, I rarely have such a straightforward control on a Bluetooth headphone, and I dig it. The microphone inside of the P60BT is mediocre, like that of most ANC Bluetooth headphones, it picks quite a bit of wind noise and other random noise, so if you’re using them for a call, the person on the other end will hear you with noise, but you will hear them clearly. To be honest, the ANC quality is up there with the best of the best, and although it is not very strong, it does not introduce any kind of artifacts or errors either, and Soundmagic delivers on the promised -30dB of passive noise isolation.
The ANC does not affect the sound and it can provide around 5 to 7 dB of extra noise isolation, being modest in effect. This being said, it works well, sounds good, and the extra noise isolation is great for wind noise, PC case fans noise, air conditioner and other noises that the passive noise isolation doesn’t cancel as well. The passive noise isolation is between 18 and 22 dB, and with ANC it reaches between 25 and 30 dB, which I consider to be very good for a headphone, and in class with what we typically get from IEMs. There is a transparency mode which records everything you’re hearing and adds it to the headphone sound, and the microphones have very little self noise, so P60BT just sounds like an open-back headphone, but with very little sonic leakage, which is much better than what we’ve seen with Focal Bathys.
There is support for high-end codecs, including aptX, aptX HD, but I am stuck with using SBC or AAC on Samsung S23 Ultra, as the smartphone only supports LDAC. We also have support for Fast Charge, and 10 minutes will get you 5 hours of music playback, plus the battery can be replaced. The technical data indicates a SPL of 115 dB, with an impedance of 38 OHMs, and with a weight of 311 grams, as P60 BT is rather lightweight.
When it comes to subjective comfort, we have a fairly good material for the earpads, they have enough depth, and they are somewhat tight, with a 3N force to sit safely on my head. The headband doesn’t have much padding, but it is not uncomfortable either. You can fold the Soundmagic P 60 BT for transport and storage.
If you try to use the Line In Cable, the headphones turn off, and you have no ANC or Transparency. The line in cable is also the goofiest thing ever, with a tiny microphone coming from the headphones, so you can use them for gaming. That microphone is of a decent quality, although with no windscreen, your breathing will be audible for all your teammates while you play, if it was any more in your face you could rely on smell to find your enemies rather than hearing. The PC cable is the goofiest thing ever too, you cannot plug in the line in directly, you also need the PC adapter, which splits the one line in cable, into microphone and audio jacks.
Sound Quality
The sound quality of the Soundmagic P60BT is better if using them wireless, the internal DAC, processing and overall resolution is better, even if you’re driving them very well from a HIFIMAN EF600, Aune S9C PRO, or FiiO K9 PRO ESS, but the sound using them wireless is very quiet, even at maximum volume they barely reach 90 dB, which is incredibly quiet compared to all the wireless headphones I reviewed to date. You can think of it as a feature, Soundmagic wants to protect your hearing, but since the wired connection doesn’t use the internal DAC or AMP, it can go really loud, and I will review both sounds, drawing a comparison between them, you basically have access to both if you buy the headphones, but please keep in mind, the limited volume of the wireless is a bit of a dealbreaker for me and might be for you too, if you are used to listening loudly. To get the P60BT to sound loud on the wired connection, I need to be at 80% on a FiiO Q15 at super high gain, which is darn crazy, HIFIMAN HE1000SE needs less to be more loud.
For this review I’ve used a series of sources to power the Soundmagic P60BT, including HIFIMAN EF600, FiiO K11, HIDIZS S9 PRO Martha, FiiO BTR15, Hiby Digital M300, and Shanling UA1. In actual usage, if you’re using the wired cable, Soundmagic P60BT is quite hard to drive and needs high volumes to get loud, which is likely why the internal DAC / AMPs struggle to get it loud. The sound is generally detailed, clean, vibrant and vivid, with excellent dynamics and resolution, and the wireless signal has better resolution, clarity and bass depth than the wired sound, but the wireless mode also is much quieter. It feels like the internal DAC/AMPs are so well matched with the drivers that they can generate a truly magical sound, especially if you have an aptX HD enabled source. Best sound is at quiet and medium listening volumes, where P60 BT has the most musicality, best resolution, clarity, punch and detail. At louder volumes, the sound becomes distorted and there is not a lot of headroom.
Starting with the bass, we have a deep, powerful, punchy and tactile bass for the wireless mode, and a shallower, flatter bass for the wired mode, which has less depth and sub-bass extension, but is still fairly good. Especially if the source can push enough punch, P60BT can totally reproduce it, and it can deliver a good punch, but the wireless bass is simply more, deeper, thicker, and slower in character. The wired connection character and transient response is faster, which adds a bit of grain and texture to sound, while the wireless sound is fluid and grain-free. If you push the sound too loud on the wired connection, it turns to distortion, so there is a certain limitation to maximum volume the P60BT can have and sound good.
The midrange is clean, we have a natural towards wide soundstage, and on the wireless connection, you can hear both the compression from the bluetooth algorithm, but also a special processing that Soundmagic applies, which separates the voices from the result of the music really well, and makes every single spoken word really easy to distinguish for female voices. This is a headphone clearly tuned to sound best with female voices, and both voices of HimeHina and Takanashi Kiara sound insanely sweet, it is separated in a way I have not heard before on headphones, and the frequency response is clearly not linear nor following the Harman Curve. The curve response provided by the company has a huge peak with a difference of 20 dB between the midrange and the treble, but the headphones actually sound fairly balanced, except for the super weird way they split the soundstage. The female voices emphasis is present with both wired and wireless connection.
We have a bright, sharp and airy treble, the extension is much better than with most wireless headphones, and even wired headphones around the price point, although there’s a bit of grain and a bit of too much at times, making rock and metal sharp and brilliant. In fact, for most music, the sound is very good, with just the right amount of brightness and texture. Transients are fast in the treble too, which causes that extra texture and subsequent grain, but P60BT is very satisfying in resolution and clarity thanks to it. That peak of separation I spoke about can be heard with Lucrecia – Sleeping Slaves Of Fate, at the guitar solo at the intro, where it sounds both grainy and somehow cut off from the song, too excited and having too much force, compared to the rest of the song. This being said, the singer’s voices sound crisp, clear and very easy to understand, while the guitars play nicely in the background for the rhythm, and the drums are spaced all over the stage, which is good, that’s how the song should be presented.
Comparisons
Soundmagic P60BT vs SuperEQ S1 (189 USD vs 69 USD) – The build quality of both is fairly good, but P60Bt has a better comfort, better design and looks sleeker, while S1 looks cheaper in person, being made of more fragile plastics. This also means that S1 is a bit lighter. The earpads of both are downright great, but sonically P60BT sounds much better, they have a better soundstage, better dynamics, better clarity, and better overall punchiness. The raw difference in sonics is so high, that even though P60BT costs more than double the price of S1, I would recommend the P60 BT headphones from Soundmagic when asked which I’d go for more.
Soundmagic P60BT vs 1More SonoFlow (189 USD vs 100 USD) – Sonoflow is a full feature pair of headphones, which have ANC, Bluetooth and most of the features present in P60BT. This being said, the comfort of P60BT is better, they have a deeper earpad, and a more comfortable headband too. Sonically, Sonoflow can get louder, but also sound more open, wider, and more holographic. This being said, P60BT does something special and unique in the midrange which creates a cleaner female voices presentation, pulls female voices forward more easily, and has more bass, a deeper bass, and the ANC changes the sound less than with 1More Sonoflow. The decision here is a bit harder to make and you should grab the one that looks cooler, the one that seems like a more ergonomic option for you, and while P60BT is more advanced and a better sounding headphone, the difference in price makes it easy to recommend the Sonoflow too if you want to spend less, and don’t need the improved ANC, improved Bluetooth, and improved midrange presentation for female voices, and can settle for a slightly lower level of detail.
Soundmagic P60BT vs Cleer Enduro ANC (189 USD vs 129 USD) – With the price getting closer, I can start by saying that both headphones are comfortable, both headphones are well made, although enduro ANC has a different headphone adjusting mechanism, which is interesting, but the earpads are shallower, so P60Bt has more space for my ears, being the more comfortable headphone in the end. For both headphones, the ANC does not change the sound, and sonically, they are different, Enduro ANc is more dynamic, more punchy, more V-Shaped, with far more treble, more bass, and even more lower midrange, while P60BT sounds lighter, airier, with more upper midrange, being absolutely perfect for female voices, and it has a bit more detail. Both headphones are excellent options, P60BT is a bit more comfortable and more refined, but both can be similarly fun to use.
Value and Conclusion
The value of P60BT is extreme if you listen quietly, and they provide a really complete package, good materials, and comfort, a usable desktop microphone, bluetooth and wired modes that actually work and make sense, and a complete product with resolution much better than competition in the price range, and even pricier, for a really decent price.
At the end of the day, Soundmagic P60BT falls short of providing the same magic on the wired cable as they provide over the wireless connection, but they can get much louder, there is no USB DAC, but better to not include it than to include but for it to be broken, as we had the experience with Focal Bathys, and at the end of the day, if you’re looking for a detailed sounding, high-resolution headphone with great ergonomics, and a fully working, not sound-breaking ANC, and especially if you’re okay with quiet listening volumes, Soundmagic P60BT is a fully recommended purchase.
Technical Specifications
Style – Over-ear, Closed-Back
Transducer type – Dynamic Driver
Transducer size – 40 mm
Sensitivity – 115 dB/1mW
Impedance – 38 ohms
Weight – 311g
Product Link
You can grab one from www.amazon.com here – https://amzn.to/3wnae6p
If you’re in the UK, you can grab one from www.amazon.co.uk here – https://amzn.to/42JUKFL
And if you’re from Europe, you can grab one from www.amazon.de here – https://amzn.to/3wgRm95
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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