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

Product Information

As if out of the blue, their first venture into modern headphone craft has yielded this!? Yep. That sounds about right to me, they know what they are doing and it is vividly clear what the intent was with this No. 5909 model release. Mark Levinson, as a Harman company, has access to the minds – and ears – that created the Harman curve, which is a representation of the sort of sound supposedly preferred by most of the people most of the time. Usually this sort of marketing-speak suggests nothing more than endless focus groups and a result that’s inherently compromised; but in this instance, the goal is to reach an ideal.

The headphones use Bluetooth 5.1 for wireless connectivity, with SBC, AAC, LDAC and aptX Adaptive codecs supported. Sound is served up by a couple of 40mm beryllium-coated full-range drivers, and they’re said to adhere more closely to the Harman curve than any alternative. The metallic paint job on the Mark Levinson No. 5909 is just what you’d expect to see on a luxury item such as this. 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. MidsControls: 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. 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. Mark Levinson is to audio what Lamborghini, Porsche, and Ferrari are to automobiles. The high-end brand, named after its legendary founder, has left an indelible mark with audio products priced in the four and five figures. As for headphones used for comparing the Levinson 5909s: Sony WH1000-XM5, Bang & Olufsen Beoplay HX, Focal Bathys (review forthcoming) and Bowers & Wilkins PX-8. Also wired headphones, the Focal Clear and Hifiman Arya. Streaming was done through Qobuz, Tidal, and Apple Music. I tried a second filter at 12 kHz and was not sure if I liked it better. It seemed to be more "accurate" but made the sound more closed. Speaking of which, that is a major problem with this headphone. It has almost no spatial effects. With the small drivers, the sound is coupled claustrophobically inside your head. I switched to my DC Stealth headphone and what a revelation that was in this front.

I had perhaps hoped that it would be possible to play even louder and more powerful if the headphones were connected to an amplifier. Unfortunately, no. Because although the headphones accept an analogue audio signal through the USB input, the signal is sent through their DSP – which has a limit to how loud sound it can accept before it splits into nasty distortion. In other words, there’s no point in investing in an expensive headphone amplifier in the hope of getting even better or louder sound. Photo: Geir Gråbein Nordby Conclusion

Percussion has good snap but cymbals need a touch more energy to sound entirely realistic. The treble won’t please those looking for a flat response, but it won’t offend anyone by being too bright or fatiguing either. DESKTOP AMP/DAC & SPEAKERS: Oppo HA-1 & Pangea Audio Premier SE USB cable; Definitive Technology Incline speakers & ProSub800 Following the departure of Mark Levinson who has not been associated with the company for many decades, the company took a few wrong turns but now seems to be on very solid ground. Levinson and Krell were fierce competitors in the 1980s battling it out for supremacy in the world of uber high-end audio solid state amplifiers, pre-amplifiers, and CD players. The Levinson sport four microphones in each ear cup (two for phone calls and two for active noise cancellation. You’ll have confidence taking or making calls. The No. 5909 come standard with Bluetooth 5.1. Connectivity with my iPhone 12 Pro (which sports Bluetooth 5.0) was outstanding. I could go 90 feet from my iPhone, including between floors, without missing a beat.

ANC is very good to excellent. I don’t have the Sony’s or APM here to compare but after several commutes, I can say I don’t feel the need to have a set with stronger ANC. 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 The headphone is very smooth and easy to listen to. If you want a lower end, you can achieve it with the dedicated Mark Levinson App. If you want a more neutral tone, seek out a very neutral source and you can alter the tone a bit to lean that way instead of being highly musical and warmer than usual. Strings have good energy and timbre making the No.5909 a great choice for string quartet pieces. Piano notes are delivered with excellent weight, detail, and very realistic timbre and it was rather impressive how well the headphones reproduced one of the most challenging instruments to get right.Well, that’s all going to have to wait for another day. Because while the level of ‘value for money’ the Mark Levinson No. 5909 headphones represent remains a live question, what’s not up for debate is their level of performance. These are properly talented headphones of the sort that will steal your time away. 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.