Verdict
KEF has get plenty right with the Mu7 , not least the high-pitched - end sheen of their strait and the gently private flavour . But this segment of the mart is so cut - pharynx that mountain is n’t quite enough .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
give how many companies desire to deal you some wireless active noise - cancelling over - ear earpiece , it seems almost negligent of KEF to have left it until now .
The British specialist has lately been making wafture with its powered streaming - organization - in - a - pair - of - speakers models in special – but obviously the kingdom - catch is n’t over and last KEF is quick to nick a piece of music of the action .
Well , at least that ’s the theory . The toll and the wide spec of the Mu7 lines them up against some establish , successful and deeply covetable rivals … so how precisely does KEF intend to muscle into the marketplace ?
The KEF Mu7 are on cut-rate sale now , and they go for £ 349 in the United Kingdom . That translate to $ 399 in the United States and around AU$539 in Australia .
Design
Just a few second in the caller of your search engine of pick will reveal an absolute push-down store of similarly price , loosely similarly specified alternatives from a whole host of companies , from household nameslike Sonyto headphone specialistslike Sennheiservia KEF - like brand likeBowers & Wilkins . Which means the Mu7 will need to be something special if they ’re not going to get lost in the pack .
If you know much about KEF , you ’ll know the caller ’s a prominent fan of the clothes designer Ross Lovegrove . So not for the first time , he ’s brought his gently constitutive , buxomly slippy style to bear here – or , at least , as much as is possible when you ’re talking about a product as necessarily functional asover - ear headphones .
For the most part , the Mu7 are premium wireless over - spike headphone business as common . The lithesome arms and yokes are of politic , like an expert fitted aluminium , while the earpads and the central portion of the headband are breathable leatherette – the earpads are filled with memory froth .
It ’s really only the earcups that bear any polarity of having been design – they too are of smooth aluminium , with a healthy indent or recess on the upper part letting you know Mr Lovegrove has been garner his maize . The Mu7 count a fair 309 g , but they wear thin it well – it ’ll be a mightily long hearing sitting before they become in any means uncomfortable . Even the earpads resist pass on back your own body passion for a trivial longer than is the norm .
The Mu7 are usable in silver gray ( silver ) or charcoal gray ( black ) . Each earcup has time slot - shaped mic openings at the top of the earcups – the mics take upkeep ofactive stochasticity - cancellationand telephony , with the help of a further mic - hole towards the bottom of the right earcup .
It ’s the right earcup that does all the leg - work , in fact . Here ’s where you ’ll find aUSB - C socket , a 3.5 mm analog input , and button to cycle through your three ANC choice , to turn top executive on or off , and to initiate Bluetooth pairing . KEF provides quite swish USB - A - to - USB - C and 3.5mm-3.5 millimeter cables , along with a flight transcriber , in the phone ’ semi - voiceless carry - case . The Mu7 fold flat , but not in on themselves , to alleviate ( slightly ) easier transport .
The niche on the right earcup is also a capacitive tactile sensation - surface . It ’s a reliable and reactive interface , and allows you to set volume , skim forwards or backwards , or pause playback . A long press on the ANC push button defeat or turn on the touch - surface itself .
Features
Thanks toaptX HD codeccompatibility and Bluetooth 5.1 wireless connectivity , the KEF Mu7 are capable of cyclosis at an authentically high - resolution 24 - bit/48kHz standard . And if you choose to heavy - wire them to a source of euphony , then naturally even high - result playback is potential .
Unlike a number of rivals , the Mu7 do n’t have to be powered up to be listened to using wire – although you ’ll need to switch them on if you want to employ active disturbance - cancellation at the same clock time , of course .
However you choose to get it there , once the audio information is on board your Mu7 it ’s delivered to your ear by a duet of 40 mm full - range dynamical driver . A frequency reply such as KEF is claiming , of 20Hz – 20kHz , is both plentiful and eminently achievable .
Powering the phone is an 100mAh atomic number 3 - ion battery that ’s good for 40 hours of playback between charge – and that ’s when operate wirelessly and with ANC switched on . plug away the Mu7 into the mains via their USB - century socket for just 15 minutes and another eight hours or so of playback can be yours .
Those three active noise - cancellation mode I referred to consist of off , on and Smart on . This last setting seek to appraise your ambient surroundings in genuine time , and trim the ANC accordingly – KEF suggests specific expanse of the frequency range can be targeted in response to the information the Mu7 break up up . The headphones appraise your environment using their imbed mics , of class – and KEF has specified cVc ( clear voice seizure ) technology in a drive for optimum call quality .
So far , it ’s a feature film - set that ’s entirely appropriate for a mathematical product of this type and toll – but there are a couple of blanks on the KEF ’s specification - sheet . Unlike almost every price - like competition ( and quite a few that are fair bit more low-cost , too ) , there ’s no ascendance app accompanying the Mu7 . This intend no adjustable EQs , no skid weighing machine of ANC , no microcode upgrades or any of the other stuff I ’ve follow to ask where wireless headphone of all types are concerned .
And there ’s no voice - control available , either – which is perhaps not as bad an omission as the deficiency of app control , but nevertheless go away a loge unticked that you might expect your £ 349 outlay to have ticked in big fat magic marker .
Sound Quality
It ’s difficult to know for sure , of course , but if the Logos good appreciation and grown - up were n’t as high on the list of Mu7 sonic requirement as detailed and high - faithfulness then I ’ll eat my metaphoric chapeau .
Of of course , there ’s a bit more to these KEF than a high - lustre , smooth and rather ego - consciously mature introduction . Five minutes in the company of a TIDAL - infer current of Cornflake Girl by Tori Amos allow the Mu7 to explicate a lot of what they ’re all about – and a wad is a lot of what they ’ve got .
The soundstage they create is big , convincingly place out and absolutely rock - solid in its focus and interval . Despite the agreeable amount of space each fibril of the recording enjoy , though , the KEF unify every ingredient into a coherent whole and present the entire matter as a single entity . Even the densest mixes or most complex recordings are fair easy to trace as a result .
The unlimited weighing machine of sound they ’re able-bodied to produce is telling too – but detail levels are always high , even in the midst of a feverish or multi - faceted transcription . Harmonic variations are made patent , a singer ’s proficiency is made plain , and everything from the broad strokes at the front of the stage to the most momentary , short-lived upshot at the back of it is given appropriate emphasis and weightiness . The Mu7 do n’t sound donnish or dispassionate , though – they only seem very attentive . Tonality is natural enough , too .
There ’s not a whole mess of exercising weight or purpose about the low frequencies the KEF generate , though . For all that they reply all the way to 20Hz , there ’s not a whole quite a little of pith to the basso here – and their powder - puff lack of body rather counteract the directly - edged controller the headphones demonstrate . It play along that rhythmical foregone conclusion is rather , well , uncertain – and music that relies on momentum and drive can sound otiose .
Consider an as obvious lack of outright dynamic headroom at the same time , and it becomes seeming the KEF Mu7 are far from the most assertive or demonstrative headphones around when it comes to the more visceral aspects of music - qualification . Their stance is welcome when listening to Fleetwood Mac ’s Songbird , for sure , but it ’s a hinderance if you switch over to something as deranged as Melt Banana ’s Candy Gun . The Mu7 are overly implicated with not giving offence – which , when the medicine you ’re listening to seeks to be as offensive as potential , is no help whatsoever .
Of course , this kind of sonic position will be absolutely hunky-dory for those listeners who are n’t concerned in this sorting of shouty , pimply nonsensicality in the first place . But there are enough price - like rivals around to make the KEF sound somewhat one - paced and less than adaptable .
Oddly enough , the Mu7 manages to combine similar trait when it comes to the room they deal with external sound . Switch ANC on or ( Smart on if you ’re out and about ) and there ’s no two way about it : they do a very decent line of work on all ambient noise short of capitulum - splitting .
But unlike almost all credible alternatives , they alter their audio position a little when ANC is switch on – the top of the frequency range seems to diminish and round off just a little . And more importantly , tack on ANC enter just a petite hint of retort - sign , an almost cabin pressure sensation of the type I thought I ’d heard the last of .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
When the KEF Mu7 are enjoying the music you ’re listening to , they ’re as gratifying a listen as any toll - comparable rival
The Mu7 have a definite comfort - geographical zone – and taking them out of it is unlikely to end well
Final Thoughts
As the star - military rating advise , the KEF Mu7 require to be better if they ’re going to appeal to as blanket an audience as potential . That they ’ll find their constituency is undeniable – no duet of headphone that ’s as sweetly detail , as tonally correct and sounds as out - and - out glossy as these KEFs can fail to do so . But there ’s more to lifetime than hi - fi sound , just as there ’s more to life than fine dining – and who does n’t savor a take - away every now and then ?
Trusted Score
How we test
We try every readiness of earphone we review good over an extended period of time . We use diligence stock tests to liken features properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to review a product .
find out out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
The Mu7 do n’t have to be powered on to enable noise - cancellation , so ANC can be used when punch into a wired source without turning the headphones on .
Full Specs
Sustainability
trust Reviews ’ take the fact that worldwide warming is not a myth as a core value and will continuously endeavour to help protect our satellite from harm in its business practices .
As part of this mission , whenever we review a product we send the society a series of questions to help us gauge and make gauze-like the shock the machine has on the environment .
We presently have n’t received answers to the questions on this merchandise , but will update this page the moment we do . you may see a detailed partitioning of the questions we ask and why in oursustainability information page .
