MASTER & DYNAMIC

MW60 Wireless Headphone Review

The ultimate modern thinking cap with warm, rich sound.

THE HIGH NOTES

• Wireless Design
• Premium Materials
• Warm Sound

Company & Product Overview

New York City is the home of a relative newcomer to the headphone market, Master & Dynamic. In a very short time, their new approach to audio has won them numerous awards for not only great sound, but a new artistic interpretation of how to combine beautiful design with high-performance. While they have been on the market for less than five years, they have achieved critical acclaim from musicians, the audio press, and even the fashion industry, which is extremely rare in the home electronics business. Their products focus on great sound and high-quality materials combined in a classic design. Master & Dynamic came to life because the son of a New York-based investor could not find a pair of headphones that addressed all of his needs. Being a musician, he wanted something both accurate and easy to listen to over a long period of time. He also used urban mass transit all the time and needed a pair of headphones built to withstand being kept in a backpack and getting banged around. Finally, he wanted them to have some fashion sense. Having found a gap in the headphone market, Master & Dynamic was born.

In today’s review, we are taking a look at their first wireless headphone: the MW60.

Packaging, Design & Build Quality

The Master & Dynamic MW60 is an over-the-ear model available in their popular finishes: silver and navy leather, silver and brown leather, black and black leather, and gunmetal and black leather.

The MW60 comes in a sturdy box that opens up to reveal the headphones and their handy, round leather cable box. As a nice touch, the cable box is the same color as the headphone earcups and headband. Inside the cable box is a standard headphone cable and charging cable. Underneath the headphones, there is a nice zippered pouch to store the MW60 for travel. The grey, tweed-like canvas pouch is well padded to protect your MW60 and has a high-end brass zipper that should never jam. Simply fold up the MW60 and they will fit right inside. A small drawstring bag with an embroidered M&D logo is also included to hold the charging cable. Both the charging cord and audio cable are wrapped in a silver colored cloth to give them a cool, retro look and is almost impossible to tangle. All of the connections also feel really solid.

The earcups are magnetically attached for easy replacement. This is true for every M&D headphone, and as part of their culture is intended to make things last. Behind the earcups, you’ll see a beautifully machined housing for the Neodymium driver used in the MW60.

The earcup has a built-in antenna that M&D claims gives them 3x the range of the typical Bluetooth headphone. There is also a noise-cancelling microphone on the left side.

Being able to easily identify the right and left side of a headphone is extremely important, and some brands make it a real challenge. When you first look at the MW60, you’ll see a tiny little “L” and “R” on each headband, but looking closer, there are three white stripes on the aluminum band of the left earcup and three red stripes on the right earcup. White is the universal color for left, and red for right, so this is the most elegant identifying scheme we have ever seen!  

Pairing the MW60 to our iPhone only took 10 seconds. Slide the power switch up to the Bluetooth antenna logo, hold it for a few seconds, and the pairing is complete. That same switch is also used to turn the headphones on and off. Above this switch are two tiny lights: the left light indicating charging status (green for good to go, red for charging), and the right light indicating that a Bluetooth device is currently paired.

On the other side, you’ll find three small, round tactile transport controls. This is another example of an elegant design that serves a functional purpose. If you click on the two outer up/down buttons, you will be able to raise and lower the volume, and holding either down for about 3 seconds will skip tracks up or down. The center button will pause/play with a quick click and will engage Siri on your iPhone if held down. If you have an incoming call, clicking the center button will answer the call.

Comfort

The lambskin earcups are very soft and pliable, and as a design touch, the inside of the leather cup is a soft cloth material instead of leather in order to reduce the chance of built-up heat. Behind the lambskin is a super soft memory foam. The cup itself is smaller than some over-the-ear types and therefore may push larger ears inside. We didn’t find this particularly uncomfortable and feel it was designed with the intention to keep the size down for portability. Like all Master & Dynamic headphones, the earpads are super simple to replace with their snap-on, self-aligning magnetic system.

The headband is wrapped in soft leather with a strip of memory foam under the leather that presses against your head. The ear cup portion slides in and out of the headband for adjustment.  Although, this is one area we were not that crazy about because there is only about a ½ inch range of movement. We were able to make them fit well, but if you have a larger head, this may not be a good fit for you.

Once you have them adjusted, you will notice the outside world is mostly muted. Even with no active noise-cancellation, the seal they provide really eliminates external noise.

Performance

The first thing we tested was the Bluetooth range of the MW60. We were able to distance ourselves 30 feet with one wall in between, and 40 feet with no walls.You should have no trouble walking around your office with these headphones!

Battery life is also pretty astounding too. Over the course of using the MW60 on and off for about two weeks, we never had to recharge them. M&D claims a 16-hour playing battery life, which is pretty impressive, especially since they can be easily recharged on a laptop.

If you have read any of our other reviews on the Master & Dynamic headphones, you probably know that they have a very simple philosophy on how things should sound: warm, rich, and never fatiguing! The MW60 sounds very similar to the wired MH40 model because they share identical drivers.  Having the power amp in the headphones themselves gives the MW60 a more effortless sensation of sound.

If you like the sound of vinyl, you will love these guys. They are warm and rich just like your favorite records. Many headphone brands have opted for a boosted sound either in the bass region, treble range, or both. Heck, some brands even make it part of the name of the headphones themselves as an effort to grab your attention when you first listen to them and choose them over the more natural sounding competitor. Speaker manufacturers have been using this trick for over 50 years. We have found that exaggerated sound in any frequency will gives you listening fatigue in less than an hour. So, if you want to wear the headphones for a long day at work, it’s best to avoid fatigue!

We went through our extensive library of test tracks that vary from 60s classic rock to folk, to classical, and to the latest electronic music. On every piece we played, the MW60 presented its wonderful, warm sound. As this review is being written, I’m jamming to The Who’s “Baba O’Riley”. It’s tempting to play air guitar along with Peter Townsend!

Finally, we tested how well these guys did with our iPhone. Incoming calls were super clear and the other receiving party reported very good clarity on the other end. As a matter of fact, using these for your calls will probably make your voice clearer than it is on your phone because super long bodied phones have their microphone too far away from the mouth.

Overall Recommendation

Master and Dynamic calls their headphones the modern thinking cap. We feel this is a great description that is especially fitting for the wireless MW60. With these headphones, you can seal yourself off from the world and get creative—without wires. We also love the classic color choices and retro design look of the MW60. If you like the idea of no wires, you will love the MW60. If you are ok with wires, grab a pair of their MH40 and put the $150 you’ll save towards a better turntable!

HIGH NOTES UNPACKED

Warm Sound

You can’t ever go wrong with warm, rich sound compared to exaggerated frequency extremes. You’ll be able to enjoy your favorite tunes for hours with the MW60 warm signature.

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