The Shure Aonic 50 headphone is a great headphone it’s very open great sound stage. it’s not bass heavy there’s enough bass without overwhelming you. The app works great you can really Custom tailor your sound, you can add more bass if your into a heavier bass response they are very comfortable to wear. I also have B&W PX headphones Studio beats some old Original akg which are great too. If you want Close back cans these are great

Immediately upon opening the packaging box, my reaction was “Boy, this has got to be the biggest case ever!”. I mean, we are talking 10” in diameter! While I appreciate the fact that this case would protect this investment quite effectively, I do wonder who would tote this huge case around while commuting, rather than leaving it at home for proper headphone storage. However, upon taking the headphones out of the case, I was like: “Wow, these are some great-looking headphones!” At this point, the case’s size was no longer a concern. The black AONIC 50 Headphones simply look stunning, with their sleek design, ionized metal arms, and chrome logo on the cups. It screams luxury and it is something I would be proud to take on a business class flight, a work meeting, or video conference. These seem very well built and durable. The headband is made of faux leather on top with sturdy stitching and is quite flexible. The earcups are made of a matte plastic, and, while they did attract some fingerprints, look great, nonetheless. The right earcup holds all the controls. Personally, I would have liked the buttons to be dispersed between the earcups as this seems to me a bit too clustered. Once I got used to the layout, I am happy to say I was able to control with ease all functions -power, volume, play/skip/forward, and assistant from one side. There is also a slider that controls noise cancellation (ANC), which I think is a bit awkward and somewhat clunky, but still effective. There, you also have a USB-C charge/connection port, which I appreciate for future-proofing. On the left side, we have the 2.5mm to 3.5mm jack, which I think is odd, but Shure included a cable for it. The most important factor, at least for me, is the sound quality. In this regard, I am very pleased with the default sound signature of the AONIC '50s. Having support for multiple codecs including Bluetooth 5.0 Qualcomm® aptX™, aptX™ HD, aptX™ LL and more, there is something for everyone. Without getting into audiophile territory, the 50mm drivers produce an even or flat-oriented sound with distinct separation and great soundstage. The bass is punchy, but in some cases may lack depth or resonance. Personally, I don’t mind this as I like the bass to be tight and not overbearing. The mids are clear and present and the high frequencies are not fatiguing or harsh. I found the sound great for easy listening, classic rock, classical music, live performances, and podcasts/audiobooks. Perhaps these may not be the best for hip-hop, EDM, or any deep bass-oriented music. Overall, I believe these provide an exceptional listening experience, which I expected from Shure. When it comes to comfort, these cans are decent. The headband padding is good enough, with good clamping on the sides. I found that the headphones shifted often while walking -especially on a hike with uneven terrain. The earpads are super soft and do not rub against my ears (I will admit that I have small ears) and had no issues wearing glasses. After a couple of hours, the side of my ears did get a bit hot and sweaty, so keep that in mind, especially if you rock out to music as I do. Call quality is good. I was told my voice sounded clear, a bit tinny and recessed, but clear. There were no hiccups or breakup. I did try calling in different environmental settings. The noise cancelling (ANC) was not quite to the standard of other headphones I own, but I thought it was well implemented. It helps that the headphones themselves can block a lot of ambient noise passively. I tried this feature while washing dishes, walking on a heavily trafficked road, and while the TV was on. Again, while not overly impressed, the ANC did block most of the noise. Perhaps this can be improved through a firmware update later on. The Environment Mode simply picks up the sound around you through the microphones. It’s a convenient feature when you need to be aware of your surroundings, like crossing a street or listening for the next train stop announcement. Again, it is nice to have but to me, it is a feature I really will not be using all that much. If you do get these headphones, I recommend downloading the ShurePlus PLAY app. There, you can adjust and customize settings like noise cancellation, environment mode, the equalizer, and update the firmware. You can also play music straight from there, but I thought it was a bit unecessary in my opinion. Other good things about the AONIC 50s include a 20-hour battery life (so far so good), strong connectivity throughout my medium-size apartment, experiencing no lag while watching videos, and high-resolution playback through USB-C, which I appreciated when gaming on my PC. In the end, I believe the Shure AONIC 50 ANC Wireless Headset is a welcome and worthy addition to the world of premium headsets. So far, no ANC headset at this price range has been perfect for me, and this also is no exception. Having stated this, I highly recommend checking these bad boys before making any decisions on other comparable headphones from other well-known brands, and if you do decide to get these, you definitely will not be disappointed.

The headphones come in their own sleek zip up black carrying case. Inside of the carrying case comes the USB-C to USB-A cable (1M long), 2.5-3.5MM male to male audio cable (1.5M long), and the noise cancelling headphones. To adjust the headphone cups, you must twist them towards you. Inside the headphone cups, they are mark with an "L" and a "R" to let you know which side is which. The bottom button on the right headphone cup is the power button. When you turn it on for the first time, it will atomically enter paring mode with your device. Go to your settings and select "Shure 50". You will hear "connected" and then you are good to go. It took me 30 seconds to start hearing music in my headphones. It was the easiest setup ever. I was also able to connect to a phone call in the middle of the phone call with no problem. The sound of the caller is clear, and they were able to hear my voice perfectly fine with no issues. If you need to manually pair, then you need to turn off the headphones, press and hold the power button for 6 seconds, and then when you hear "Bluetooth pairing mode," release the button. From your audio source, select "Shure 50". When successfully paired, you will hear "connected". You can connect to more than one device (8 total). Here is what happens: I was connected to one device listening to music. I received a phone call that rang in the headphones. I answered the call, but it took about 15-20 seconds for the headphones to disconnect from one device to allow me to hear the caller in the headphones. Once it disconnected from my music device and connected to my phone, everything was great. It's just that initial connection takes some time to transfer over. Once the phone call was done and the caller hung up, it quickly connected to my music device in less than a second and continued playing my music. When you are listening to music, the center button (has an elevated circle to let you know which button it is) between the volume increase and decrease buttons will be your controller If you press it twice quickly, it skips to the next track. If you press it three times quickly, it goes to the previous track. Pressing it once will play/pause the song. Pressing it once will also answer/end a phone call. The noise cancelling button gets activated by sliding the button up or down. Up will deactivate the noise canceling feature (saving you battery life). Sliding it down will activate the noise cancelling feature and use up more battery. The headphones get up to 20 hours of battery life noise cancelling option off. The battery life is longer (up to 22hrs) if you are listening at less than max volume. You can get double runtime using noise cancelling without bluetooth. Standby time is about 35 hours. Fifteen minutes of charge gets you about 4 hours of use. Two and a half hours of charge gets you from 0% to 100% full battery. It weighs 11.8 oz. It does feel a bit heavy but when those headphones cover your ears and the sounds travel into your ears, it's like heaven. The bass is great, and the earcups feel soft on your ears and head. They are stable and do not move around while on your head. They cover your entire ear, so any discomfort is gone. The ear pads are replaceable, so all you have to do is twist and pull off. They are real easy to remove and put back. I would most definitely recommend these headphones to anyone and everyone. They are super comfortable, and the sound is amazing. They have a long batter life, and the bluetooth connection to multiple devices makes it very easy enjoy the headphones while doing other things.

The first thing that jumped out at me was that everything from the packaging to the headphones themselves screamed quality. The headset is solid with a build quality second to none, and comes in a quality (albiet a bit large) carrying case to store them. Some may be turned off by the fact that the headphones do not fold-- the ear cups roatate and the headset flattens for storage. Portability is not their strong suit. It seems durability took precedence. The removable earcup pads and headband are well cusioned with a soft faux leather covering. Comfort was excellent, though they may get a bit warm form some in hot, humid conditions. Extended usage for several hours did not alther the comfort -- they were great in that regard. Noise cancellation was excellent. Standing next to a gas powered tile cleaning machine (see picture), you could hear a bit of a drone when speaking but the call was clear. There was feedback to the call recipient however. While playing music the outside noise was barely perceptible and soon forgotten. The noise cancelling is adjustable, and at the high settings the noise was even less noticeable, however the music was slightly flatter to me. Not a huge deal, but the change in spatial sound is perceptible. The high density foam used in the earpads also doe a good job of passive isolation. Connection is via wire or bluetooth, and the Shure Aonic 50 seems support all the high end codecs (aptX, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, AAC, LDAC) required for reproducing high fidelity sound. Mulit point bluetooth is supported allowing connectivity to two devices at the same time. Battery life is a claimed 20 hours with ANC. After 2 days of normal use, the headset is still at 88%. Shure offers and app which allows you to control certain features as well as check and update the firmware (the evaluation was on the latest firmware (0.4.9.0) Sound is awesome. Drums were tight and snappy, and vocals were wonderful. In instances where vocals were somewhat overwhelmed in other headphones when multiple instruments can detract from the vacals, The Aonic 50s kept the vocals from being masked while the other instruments were clear and distinct. These are fantastic at reproducing music. Overall the sound quality is stellar, and the noise cancelling is quite effective. Compared to my Sony WH-1000XM4 which I considered to be in a class of its own, the Shure Aonic 50 is right up there when it comes to performance. The Aonic has a higher MSRP than the WH-1000XM4, but the Shure uses higher quality -- and more expensive materials, which may justify it's higher price tag. For me, if price were not a consideration, the Aonic 50 would be my favorite headset.

Like a kid on Christmas, I excitedly awaited UPS delivery, and immediately tore into this review First impression was super premium across the board, packaging, build quality, subtle touches to detail, The Whole 9’s. When companies. Ail the little things, you can trust their core competency. For Shure that usually nebas studio level sound quality. Having long been a fan for Shure cans for studio usage — HD 598 open-back wired that have held up remarkably for years and remain my go-to reference cans, I cherish the comparisons. As is typical of my review methodology of audio products, I feel it is imperative to critially listen to audio recordings you are well familiar with, paying close attention to the subtletes between notes, as well as various kit materials, driver types, crossover frequenices, etc. Mike Oldenfeld’s 1973 recording Tubular Bells (The Exorcist seemed fitting considering Halloween holiday). Very smooth mid bass integration, with detailed and crisp highs without even a hint of top-end harshness all too common as manufacturers try to artificially inflate sonic detail by applying unnatural frequency curves. It’s not uncommon for audiophile evaluation material to include Pink Floyd catalog. Staples include 1973’s “Dark Side of the Moon”, and 1979’s “The Wall”, but let us not forget 1975’s “Wish You Were Here”, and 1977’s “Animals”. WYWH starts with “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”. These Shure 50 headphones present the music with the appropriate weight striking the delicate balance between the heft of the bottom-end, textured and rich mid-range, with smooth top-end. David Gilmour’s delicate note and a half triple fret bends on his trusty Strat are a joy to experience. The saxophone solo that launches 11:07 into the song is filled with such emotion and character, offset by an ensemble of supporting instruments to the coda. The transition into “Welcome to the Machine” is another all-time favorite. The synthesizer’s stereo separation pulsing between left and right earphones is something to behold. As with reviewing high-end 4 and 5-figure loudspeakers, it’s prudent to remind focussed on what you’re listening for specifically, but with the best of the bunch, it’s difficult to not get lost in the music as the cans and walls melt away leaving only immense sonic enjoyment. Once the brunt of the review “work” is done, it’s always rewarding to listen to something new. Fortunately one of my favorite rock bands AC/DC just released their new single “Shot in the Dark”. I’m pleased to report that these Shure 50 headphones do not skimp on the raw classic rock image produced by a combination of Gibson Guitars and Marshall Amplification. The band’s sound has remained iconic for decades, yet Angus and the boys are able to retain the gritty sound with a certain rawness to it. These headphones don’t miss a beat, and stayed on my head the better part of 2 hours consecutive on first listen with no ear fatigue whatsoever. The cans are super comfortable, light weight, feature packed, sound absolutely killer, and offer a tremendous feature set from Shure’s exclusive ShurePlus PLAY App. The App unlocks the true power of the Shure AONIC 50. In addition to media library management (useful to segment your audiophile tracks from general music) the app enables high-resolution and uncompressed audio playback. The fun is just getting started bc it also includes a parametric graphic equalizer, with gain, frequency, and bandwidth adjustments possible to create various sonic profiles for diff genres of music. I was also pleased to learn that Shure pulled no punches, and used the much more advanced version of Active Noise Cancellation known as Hybrid ANC, by using an environment microphone inside and outside the cans. These really are the real deal, with and without the App. I’m so thankful for the sonic enjoyment they bring me each and every time I’m in need of serious ear candy. Button Operation —————————— *Power On/Off - Hold PWR 2 seconds *Pwr Bluetooth pairing - Hold 6 seconds *Pwr Battery status - double tap *Center button - press 1x play / pause *Next track - double tap *Prev track - triple tap *Answer / End call - single press *Decline a call - press 2 seconds *Siri voice control - triple press *Vol +/- volume up/down *ANC switch up - environment mode *ANC switch down - active noise cancellation Specifications ———————— *50-mm driver (excellent bass) *dynamic neodymium transducer *20 hz - 22 kHz frequency response *97.5 dB/mW sensitivity @1 kHz (easy to drive) *39 ohm impedance *100 mW max input power *11.8 oz (334 g) weight Codecs ———— *aptX, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, SBC, AAC, LDAC ShurePlus PLAY App ——————————— *uncompressed audio files iOS / Android *Shure EQ for customized sound profiles *parametric graphic equalizer *Frequency / Gain / Bandwidth settings *Bypass EQ setting to audition changes *factory and custom sound mode presets *music library management features *Ten Environment boost level adjustments *Hybrid ANC normal / max toggle switch *Firmware updates are enabled in app PROS ———- + excellent solid build quality + impeccably perfect balance + world class tech incl Bluetooth 5 + lightweight and uber comfortable + smooth and volumous bass response + rich and exquisitely textured mid-range + subtle top-end detail that avoid harshness + 20-hour battery lasts days and days of usage CONS ———- -eq curves apply to both cups vs independently -no personalized listening test to match user ears -app incompatibility with iOS 14.2 beta (public release fine) CONCLUSION ———————— As more and more audio companies spring ANC headphones on the market, the quality difference widens further between good, better, best. I clearly place these Shure AONIC 50 cans in the latter category. They skimp on nothing, and integrate excellent materials and craftsmanship for a truly rewarding step above all the other “me too” products. The headphones alone are a fantastic purchase, and with the power features of the ShurePlus PLAY app, it puts these over the top. Strong buy recommendation