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Marshall Monitor II A.N.C. Headphone - Black

£174.995£349.99Clearance
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A Tidal Master stream of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song zips along enjoyably, and while there are probably aspects I could point out – the Marshalls aren’t the most revealing or the richest-sounding pair – they make listening sessions less a chore and more fun.

It is worth noting that the battery is rated for 500 charge cycles, which Marshall says is about eight years of average use, after which the battery will be limited to below 80%. The battery is not replaceable but the headphones are broadly repairable, with replacement ear cups, cables and filters that can be bought from Marshall. Controls are equally simple to navigate. Marshall has taken a “less is more” approach, and I can’t fault the execution. A single multidirectional knob on the right earpad handles all of your key commands. Pressing and holding the knob powers the Major IV on or off, with a single press playing or pausing audio. Victoria Marshall added: “With Marshall Group, the potential to further impact an ever-modernising music industry is a highly genuine one. Together, we will preserve the Marshall legacy and shape the future of ‘Live Loud’. Having worked alongside my father during his later years, I know he would be excited at this direction and the potential to reach a larger worldwide audience with innovation and passion which he always had in spades.” How we test If you do ever run out of battery you can always rely on the cable that comes with the headphones. This cable as we said previously is well-designed and it features a button for pausing and playing your music as well as taking and rejecting calls. They are certainly not cheap, and you can get a similar Marshall experience from the brand’s excellent Major III series of headphones for about half the price, but the Monitor II ANC are a warm, inviting listen that’s hard to put down.A convenient additional function of the cable is that when you’re listening to music via Bluetooth, someone else can plug their headphone into your the Monitor’s 3.5 mm input and share the music you’re listening to. This built-in splitter functionality is a nice way to make up for the fact that the headphones don’t have multiple-device connection via Bluetooth. Another attractive feature is the ability to share your audio using the included 3.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable. Plug the cable into the Major IV, connect it to any pair of headphones with a 3.5mm port and whatever you’re listening to will be played through the other device as well. A section of the cable stretches so you don’t have to worry about pulling the headphones off your head if one of you moves, which is a nice touch. Opportunities to take advantage of such a feature may not present themselves too often – particularly at the moment – but it’s a thoughtful and useful inclusion nonetheless. Usability is good – one touch controls Play/Pause, two touches will skip you forward. The buds will Auto Pause when you take them from your ears.

Marshall estimates battery life to be up to 30 hours with Bluetooth and ANC on, or up to 45 hours with just Bluetooth, but your results will vary with your volume levels. Performance

Rock-inspired headphones that pump out stellar performance

When working it’s an app (on iOS at least) that’s easy to use and swift to navigate. It offers the option to tweak to ANC and passthrough levels, customise the M-button function (Equaliser, Google Assistant and Siri), a choice between the Equaliser presets (or create your own) and an Auto-off timer. Battery life status can be viewed and the app will push updates over-the-air. Unlike some headphones at this price, the Monitor II ANC don’t have sensors that pause the music when you take them off your ears. Marshall doesn’t provide a hard or semi-hard case with the headphones, either. You only get a soft, canvas bag in the box along with a USB Type-C charging cable and a coiled 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable for analogue connections. In short, you’ll need to be careful when slinging them in a bag or suitcase. I wore them for a few journeys on a particularly raucous stretch of the Central Line on the London Underground and was immediately clear to me that the Marshall, while reasonably effective, struggle to deaden as much of the roar and rattle of the carriages as its rivals. Even the older Bose QuietComfort 35 II are better than the Marshall Monitor II ANC.

Marshall claims these headphones offer battery life up to 30 hours with active noise cancellation activated, which puts them among units such as the Sony WH-1000XM3 and B&W PX7. Turn ANC off and it’s 45 hours. A 15-minute top-up is enough for five hours, and charging to full battery takes two hours. Marshall waded into the noise-cancelling arena with the MID ANC on-ears, but the Monitor II ANC are its most expensive headphones.

What’s the battery life like?

We pushed our selection of Marshall headphones through a range of music genres - from bass-heavy bruisers, riff-filled wonders and gentle acoustic pieces to get a proper feel for what they can deliver.

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