The Montblanc MB 01 is the best pair of noise-cancelling headphones that I’ve heard in a long time, and the physical design is nothing less than what you’d expect from the luxury maison.
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The Montblanc MB 01 combines elegant Montblanc design, long-lasting comfort and good sound quality for a great travel companion.
When Montblanc first launched the MB 01 over-ear headphones in Singapore, I was curious on whether they would be able to produce the sound quality to compete with the market leaders.
I love their stationary, but audio wise, this was their first foray.
So when Montblanc asked if I would like to try out the MB 01, I decided to give it a spin.
The leather headband and ear pads, aluminum parts and silicone ear cups give the Montblanc MB 01 a luxurious and stylish design.
The MB 01 made a great first impression when I first scooped it out of the box – the luxurious leather ear cushions and headband and shiny metallic parts give you the same feeling of luxury as when you behold one of the company’s fountain pens.
Then I put it to charge – it takes two hours for a complete charge via the USB-C port.
So my son comes along and, with my permission, tries out the headphones.
When I was ready to try out the MB 01, I’d barely picked up my smartphone when the Android notification told me that the MB 01 was ready to pair, and in no time I was listening to the headphones (after my son disconnected).
This must be the easiest I’ve connected to a new pair of headphones!
The MB 01 can be connected to two Android/iOS devices at the same time over Bluetooth 5.0 with a range of up to 10m.
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Unboxing the Montblanc MB 01 over-ear wireless headphones in Singapore.
The wireless connections were very stable and up till now I haven’t experienced any dropouts.
A USB-C to 3.5mm audio cable is included in the box if you prefer a wired connection.
Putting on the headphones, the huge ear cups fit snugly around the ears and muffled out most of the sound even without switching on the Active Noise Cancelling (ANC).
An excellent over-ear headphones that sounds great and looks good, with fantastic ANC. Ideal for travelling, the wireless MB 01 is portable, integrated with Google Assistant and supports both aptX and AAC codecs. Matching price tag: S$925.
Overall, the headphones felt really light on the head and the earcups didn’t feel too warm even after extended use – thanks to the aluminum and leather padding used.
The swivelling metal joints allowed the cups to be rotated slightly to adapt to the position of the ears, and ensure the fit is not too tight or too loose.
The joints also enable the MB 01 to be folded flat to be slipped into the included pouch when you bring it along for our travels.
Control wise, there is a row of buttons on the metal band around the right ear cup – a Google Assistant button, an ANC button, a volume +/- button and the power button.
Personally I’ve always preferred physical buttons over touch buttons.
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The Montblanc MB 01 gave me many hours of sweet listening while being cooped up at home due to pandemic lockdown.
There is a multifunction button on the flat silicone surface of the right cup that enables you to make/pickup/hangup calls; as well as to play, pause and select the next/previous track.
Beside the on/off button is a row of four status LED lights that indicates the battery level upon startup, and also Bluetooth pairing when it’s on.
By holding down both the volume minus and ANC buttons simultaneously, you can activate automatic control of Play/Stop using its sensor – playback is stopped when you take off the headphones, and resumes when you put it back on.
Superb Active Noise Cancelling
Pressing the ANC button toggles between ANC on/off and the Live modes.
The ANC is so effective that the silence can sound unsettling when you’re not playing any music.
The Live mode amplifies external noise, so that you remain aware of what’s going on around you, and can even conduct conversations with the headphones on if you don’t mind appearing discourteous.
Sound wise, the overall sound is well-balanced with a wide and well-graduated stage and precise reproduction.
Bass reproduction is well defined and powerful all the way down to the low frequency range.
Midrange and treble reproduction is crystal clear with balanced and harmoniously matched frequency ranges.
Battery-wise, the MB 01 is supposed to last 20hrs on a full charge even with ANC on, so it’s definitely good enough for that long haul flight when travel resumes after the pandemic.
A travel adaptor is included in the box to plug the MB 01 in when you’re inflight.
besides this light colour scheme, what other colours do they have?
The one I’m using is the light grey leather with polished metal finishes. There are two other colour schemes. There’s one with black leather with chrome metal finishes and another with brown leather with gold coloured metal finishes.
You can see what the three designs look like here.
http://tech4tea.com/blog/2020/03/26/new-arrival-montblanc-wireless-over-ear-headphones/