Canada’s PSB Speakers is a company best known for making speakers, but has also been designing and manufacturing headphones for the past 10 years. The latest additions to the portable audio range are the M4U TWM true wireless earphones and the M4U 9 wireless ANC headphones, both of which feature the company’s proprietary RoomFeel processing and Audiodo Personal Sound technology.
We’ll cover those two features in a moment and what makes them special, but first let’s go over the details of the new models, which offer many of the amenities we’ve come to expect from the best wireless earbuds And best wireless headphones.
The M4U TWM True Wireless Micro-Planar Earbuds ($199 / £199 / ~AU$300) use “powerful magnetostatic technology in a hybrid planar dual-driver design,” according to PSB. Separate transducers deliver the high and low frequencies, and aptX Adaptive Bluetooth enables a zero-latency wireless connection. Both earbuds feature hard-click buttons for play and volume control, and a USB-C charging case allows for a maximum playtime of 32 hours with up to 8 hours without the case.
PSB’s M4U 9 Premium Wireless Active Noise Canceling Headphones ($499 / £449 / about AU$750) are a closed-back, over-ear design that uses new graphene-infused drivers that the company says it will “which improve cushioning, stiffness and efficiency. ” Like the M4U TWM, these feature aptX Adaptive Bluetooth for wireless connectivity, while 4 digital MEMS microphones deliver noise-free ANC listening and two additional microphones improve speech intelligibility during phone calls.
With the M4U’s three-position switch, listeners can easily choose between ANC with RoomFeel, Active with RoomFeel, or passive modes, and listening time extends up to 25 hours with the headphones in active mode.
RoomFeel Tuning and Audiodo Personal Sound
PSB’s proprietary RoomFeel tuning, now in its second generation, is designed to eliminate the “in your head” effect that many headphones produce and instead make it appear as if you’re listening in a real room best stereo speakers. Part of this process is applying the “energy and warmth” that a typical room adds to the sound response curve, which in turn makes music sound more natural.
Audiodo Personal Sound is a tool that uses algorithms to independently calibrate the sound output for the listener’s left and right ears. The process is conducted via a hearing assessment using the PSB Headphones app, which then creates a sound compensation curve tailored to the listener’s personal hearing ability.
Analysis: Headphones that drive you crazy are good
PSB’s new M4U TWM and M4U 9 are packed with most of the features that listeners love in portable headphones. The M4U 9 features active noise cancellation technology to block out external noise on the go, and aptX Adaptive Bluetooth on both models for lower latency and better quality than a regular Bluetooth wireless audio connection. And despite being from a specialist audio manufacturer, the new headphones are priced competitively with options similar to this AirPods Pro 2 And AirPods max.
But what I find most intriguing is PSB’s proprietary RoomFeel feature.
In my experience, many headphones really create an “in your head” effect, where it appears as if the sound is centered in your skull. Of course, we don’t encounter sounds that way in the real world, and so we don’t typically experience music at home through speakers or out in concert halls where musicians perform on stage.
Dolby Atmos Music (aka Spatial Audio) makes the listening experience with headphones more engaging as the presentation becomes 3D-like, with sound expanding outward from the zone between your ears and appearing to come out from positions in front of and behind your head as well . But not all music is available in Spatial Audio format, so it’s currently only a partial solution to the “in your head” effect.
I tried PSB headphones with the first generation of RoomFeel and immediately appreciated how this technology changed the soundstage by positioning them towards the front of the room, similar to how I would listen to music at home through my stereo speaker system. The presentation was more natural than what I’d heard from many other headphones, and the ability to easily toggle it on and off for listening comparisons helped validate my preference for RoomFeel.
This next generation of RoomFeel technology doesn’t seem much different from what I’ve experienced before – the main difference being that it’s now available in both wireless earbuds and over-ear headphones. But listening to stereo music on the go, much like listening to speakers at home, is a compelling proposition and one that should be just as impressive as spatial audio on my AirPods Pro 2.
