When it isn’t busy teaming up with the Rolling Stones or Aston Martin, Master & Dynamic spends time doing what it does best: making absolutely gorgeous headphones. On Tuesday, the company announced the new MW50 on-ears — the company’s second set of wireless headphones, which also happen to be some of the most striking headphones we’ve seen in some time.
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Like other higher-end Master & Dynamic headphones in the same series, the MW50 use a combination of premium materials, starting with an aluminum and stainless steel body. This is combined with leather, available in two different colors, as well as the company’s signature lambskin-covered memory foam ear pads for comfort and isolation from outside sounds. The MW50 are also 30 percent lighter than their sibling, the MW60, which should make prolonged listening a more comfortable experience.
The headphones feature Bluetooth 4.2 and use a milled aluminum external antenna. This gives them a claimed range of 100 feet, three times the industry standard of 33 feet for most Bluetooth devices. While buttons on headphones are usually barely more than an afterthought, Master & Dynamic says the buttons on the MW50 are the same found in luxury timepieces.
Inside are 40mm beryllium drivers which the company claims will make for crisp, clear sound. Noise cancellation is also included, thanks to a microphone array built into the external antenna which measures and rejects outside noise.
Looking at battery life, the MW50 offer 16 hours of playback time, which Master & Dynamic points out is the length of a flight from New York to Tokyo. When it comes time to plug in a cable to the USB-C port and charge the headphones, quick charging means you will not have to go without music for all that long. Otherwise, if the battery is low, simply connect the included cable and you are good to go.
The Master & Dynamic MW50 are available now in two color options: silver metal with black leather accents, or silver metal with brown leather. They retail for a price that matches their luxurious design, coming in at $450 at the Master & Dynamic website.
