Major 2 marshall: Marshall Major 2/Major II Review

Oct 5, 2022 alexxlab

Marshall Headphones Major II review: Affordable on-ear headphones worth listening to

Marshall Headphones’ original Major was a likable on-ear model, but not a great one. Now we get the Major II, which looks similar to the original Major, but this new model is significantly improved, with a better design and sound that makes it a good value at its online price of $100 (£99, about AU $160).

For starters, the earcups have a more rounded design, and the hinges and headband are more flexible, and the headphones just fit your head better and are more comfortable to wear.

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Marshall has made the hinges and headband more flexible, so the headphones are more comfortable to wear. Sarah Tew/CNET

The double-ended coil cord has an inline one-button remote and microphone for cell phone calls — it works with Android and iOS smartphones — and that cord is now detachable. It also has a more durable L-plug instead of the original’s straight plug. I had a little trouble getting the plug to fit in the jack of an iPhone that was covered by a tougher case, so be aware that it’s not compatible with all smartphone cases.

On the headphones themselves, the dual 3.5mm jacks allow you to choose which side you prefer to wear your cable on, or you can have a friend plug in and share your music.

Marshall says Major II’s vinyl finish is more durable, and while I can’t tell how it will hold up over time, the new model does look and feel a little swankier and sturdier than the original Major and is closer in build quality to the special-edition Major 50 FX that we also liked.

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The headphones fold inward and have a detachable cable with a one-button inline remote and microphone for cell phone use. Sarah Tew/CNET

Performance

The Major II headphones also sound better than the first model, with improved bass response and increased detail. They’re fairly warm and forgiving; they work well with a variety of music, but maintain a decent amount of clarity. You sometimes get a little too much bass push in sub-$100 headphones, which leads to some muddiness, but overall these headphones are pretty well balanced and sound as good as more expensive headphones we’ve tested.

We compared the Major II with the Beyerdynamic DTX 350p , a $70 on-ear model we rated highly. The Major II was a bit more open and natural-sounding than the DTX 350p, which features slightly more prominent, articulate bass.

On big productions like Beck’s “Golden Age,” the Marshalls were more dynamically alive than the Beyerdynamics and on the next track, “Paper Tiger,'” Beck’s voice sounded more intimate over the Marshalls. But the Beyerdynamics did bring out the bass line out a little better.

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The earcups have a more rounded design than the original Major’s. Sarah Tew/CNET

On a really bass-heavy track like The Beta Band’s “Life,” the Beyerdynamic’s bass-forward nature put the low-end ahead of the vocals and percussion, which became lost in the background. The more even-handed Major II restrained the bass enough to bring the other instruments out of the background.

Compared with the now-discontinued Major FX 50 , if the Major II were a key lime pie, it would have a thicker graham cracker layer of bass while the Major FX 50, which has a little more sparkle in the high end, would have the tangier topping.

That said, both are based on the same recipe and — to switch metaphors — the Major II headphones can stand proud as the new flagship on-ear headphones from the company, and they even cost a little less than FX 50 model as it’s phased out.

Conclusion

With an improved design and performance, the Marshall Major II headphones are a nice upgrade over the original model and one of the better pairs of on-ear headphones for the money.

Marshall Major II Bluetooth review

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Marshall’s Major II is taking the show on the road

Marshall Major II Bluetooth

TechRadar Verdict

Marshall has maintained the Major II’s fun, bass-heavy sound signature in its wireless version, but its plastic build and noisy Bluetooth stop it from reaching the pinnacle of the audio equipment manufacturer’s career.

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You may know Marshall for its guitar amplifiers, often used on stage by rock stars and amateurs alike, but the company does way more than just amps. In the past few years, Marshall’s produced several lines of headphones, a Bluetooth speaker or two and even a smartphone.

Marshall’s headphones have been universally solid offerings that target the fashion-conscious more than the audiophile. Its latest offering, the Marshall Major II Bluetooth, is the company’s first wireless headphones and it continues Marshall’s trend for focusing on fashion and fun rather than pristine sound quality and a great build.

The Marshall Major II Bluetooth are simply a wireless version of the Major II … which may be disappointing to fans looking for sound and build quality improvements over the original. There’s a $30 (£50, about AU$18) difference between the wired and wireless Marshall Major II versions which, in my experience with the category, isn’t too much to pay to go cordless.

As a package though, the Marshall Major II Bluetooth are an undeniably attractive product with its fun, bass-heavy sound and retro styling. But its plastic build and sound quality leave something to be desired.

Marshall Headphones Major II Bluetooth (Black) at Amazon for $199

You’ll either love or hate the styling of the Marshall Major II Bluetooth. It retains the exact same styling as its wired counterpart – both which is modelled after Marshall’s iconic amplifiers. Its combination of black and gold isn’t exactly subtle, but it’s also not shouting for attention either.

The Marshall Major II Bluetooth is made entirely of rubber and plastic, though there are some gold metal flourishes like the control joystick located on the left earcup and the gold “Left” and “Right” labels on the headband. The earcups and adjustment sliders are made of plastic too, which doesn’t inspire confidence. There have been reports of users snapping plastic adjustment sliders with the original Major II and it appears Marshall hasn’t yet addressed the issue here.

The headphones are padded with soft leather on the earcups and headband, making them comfortable for the most part though I experienced some pain from the headphone’s pressure on my ears after long listening sessions.

The Major II Bluetooth are an on-ear headphone, meaning the earpads rest on your ears instead of around them. Fans of over-ear headphones should check out the Marshall Monitor, though the Major II Bluetooth isolates noise fairly well without active noise cancellation.

Included with the Marshall Major II Bluetooth is an excellent headphone cable for when your battery dies. It’s a hybrid straight and coiled cable, featuring a short coiled section that gives you extra slack when plugged in. I expected the coils to add a lot of weight but was pleasantly surprised by how imperceptibly heavier the headphones became after plugging them in.

Performance and features

The Marshall Major II Bluetooth are relatively basic wireless headphones, offering only a wireless connection, mic and control stick. You won’t find noise cancelling or multiple device pairing like you will with more expensive wireless headphones like the Plantronics Backbeat Sense. However, these headphones are bit cheaper than Plantronics’, coming in at $150 (£129, about AU$197).

The gold adjustment knob located on the side of one of the earcups is quite useful, allowing you to answer and reject calls and pause, play or skip music. One feature Marshal’s headphones are lacking, however, is the ability to trigger Siri or Google Now. It’s a little disappointing, but not something that I would consider a dealbreaker.

In terms of sound, the Marshall Major II Bluetooth is nearly identical to its wired sibling. There’s a slightly bigger mid-bass bump that hits you over the head when playing back some songs, though this might be a plus for some people.

The Major II Bluetooth sounds the best playing back rap and electronic music where the mid-bass hump makes for a fun and exciting listening experience. Audiophiles won’t love the imbalanced sound but the Marshall Major II Bluetooth are undeniably fun.

Ironically, it’s this mid-bass emphasis that makes the Marshall Major II Bluetooth less than ideal for playing rock music, a genre where its guitar amps are frequently used. The bass simply overwhelms, drowning out cymbals and guitars.

That said, don’t even think of getting these headphones if you like listening to classical or instrumental music, as you’ll be left with rolled off highs that make violins and cymbals sound dull and lifeless. More discerning listeners should check out the Jabra Move Wireless and JBL Synchros E40BT, both of which offer more balanced sound than the Marshall.

Another area where the Marshall Major II Bluetooth lacks is soundstaging. The headphones concentrate the sound inside your head instead of projecting outward. It won’t give audiophiles the 3D audio experience of other headphones, but again, these are relatively affordable wireless headphones that perform moderately well within their price class.

If you’re looking for a positive, one area where the Marshall Major II Bluetooth blows away the competition is battery life. Marshall claims that the Major II Bluetooth can achieve 30 hours of playback and, over the week I spent with them, I struggled to drain the headphone’s battery.

This is great for people who don’t want to charge their headphones every day or travelers who don’t always have access to a proper wall outlet. Charging the headphones from dead takes about an hour, which is slightly above average.

One interesting feature of the Major II Bluetooth is the ability to share music with a friend by having him or her plug their headphones into the Major II’s 3.5 mm headphone jack. Volume for both listeners is controlled via the Major II, however, so it’s probably best to share it with someone who shares the same volume preferences you do. It’s probably particularly interesting for families, as it’s especially useful for watching movies with someone on a plane.

We liked

While the Major II Bluetooth won’t appeal to everyone’s fashion and musical senses, it offers a great package for those looking for a fun-sounding and long-lasting pair of wireless headphones.

The headphones offer a good value at $150 (£129, about AU$197) and can often be found much cheaper on sites like Amazon.

We disliked

The Major II Bluetooth produces overbearing bass on some tracks and its plastic build quality doesn’t inspire much confidence, especially when they’re meant to be portable.

Audiophiles should look elsewhere but rap and electronic fans will enjoy the sound.

Final verdict

While the Major II Bluetooth are meant to be wireless, I found its wired connection to sound slightly better. That’s because the Major II’s Bluetooth connection produces an audible hiss during quieter tracks. If that sounds like it’d bug you and you don’t need Bluetooth for any reason, the original Marshall Major II can be had for cheaper and are a slightly better value.

The Marshall Major II Bluetooth headphones offer a great portable package for those looking for a long-lasting and fun-sounding headphone. Its sound signature is one that only bassheads will love, but if you listen mostly to rap and electronic music, you’ll be very happy with the Marshall Major II Bluetooth.

Marshall Headphones Major II Bluetooth: Price Comparison

376 Amazon customer reviews

☆☆☆☆☆

Lewis Leong is a freelance writer for TechRadar. He has an unhealthy obsession with headphones and can identify cars simply by listening to their exhaust notes.

Wireless headphones Marshall Major II Bluetooth

ACCESSORIES

+7 (929) 973 58 40

Store address: Moscow,

Novinsky boulevard 8

MORE THAN 30 HOURS WIRELESS AUDIO

MAJOR II
BLUETOOTH

10 999 P

Major II Bluetooth gives you the freedom and convenience of wireless headphones, combined with Marshall’s 50+ years of audiophile experience. Connecting headphones via Bluetooth® aptX technology allows you to enjoy music for more than 30 hours. Not only can you listen to your favorite music in CD-quality audio, aptX technology also minimizes audio/video sync issues, allowing you to watch movies with total immersion.

Bi-directional cable with microphone and remote control is fully detachable and compatible with any music player with 3.5 mm mini jack connectors. When listening to music wirelessly, you can use the empty 3.5mm mini jack socket for additional headphones and listen to your favorite music together.

The analog joystick allows you to control the music you are listening to and adjust the volume. Phone control is also supported so you can answer, reject or end a call with a few simple clicks on the joystick.

The Major II Bluetooth headphones will give you a sound you will remember forever.

“The battery in Major II Bluetooth is 680mAh and lasts 37 hours of music playback at maximum volume. That’s about three times what you would expect from most Bluetooth headphones” Engadget.com, 02/23/2016

OVER 30 HOURS OF WIRELESS SOUND

Major II Bluetooth can give you over 30 hours of quality music playback on a single charge. This is several times more than most Bluetooth headphones.

BLUETOOTH®

Bluetooth® aptX gives you the freedom and convenience of wireless headphones, combined with Marshall’s over 50 years of audiophile experience.

FOLDABLE DESIGN

Major II Bluetooth is the perfect travel companion. Their foldable design makes it easy to store the headphones when not in use.

SPEAKERS

40mm drivers tuned for superb bass, smooth mids and screaming highs.

TELEPHONE CONTROL

Easy to use phone features make Major II Bluetooth the perfect everyday companion. The analog stick lets you answer, reject, and end calls, while the built-in microphone lets you talk or record voice notes through your headphones.

CONTROL

Analog joystick allows you to control the music you listen to and adjust the volume. Phone control is also supported so you can answer, reject or end a call with a few simple clicks on the joystick.

SHARING

When listening to music wirelessly, you can use the empty 3.5 mm mini jack to connect additional headphones and share your music.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

Major II Bluetooth comes with a detachable 3.5mm mini jack cable and a USB charging cable. In case you find your headphones are discharged and there is no time to charge, just connect the detachable Mini jack 3.5 mm cable and the headphones are ready to use.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

AUDIO SPECIFICATIONS

Frequency range

10-20000 Hz

Speaker type 900 03

Dynamic

IMPENDANCE

64 Ω

Speaker

40 mm

9000 3

Sensitivity

99 dB

DESCRIPTION

Headphone type

Wireless

WEIGHT

260 g

BATTERY

BACKUP

up to 30 hours

Charging time

2 hours to full charge

90 002 20 minutes gives 2 hours of playtime

INCLUDED

Major headphones II Bluetooth

Micro USB charging cable

Audio connecting cable

User manual

CONTROL AND CONNECTION

Microphone and remote control

3

Yes

wired

3. 5 mm jack

Bluetooth range

10 m

Control Button

Yes

Wireless

Bluetooth aptX

DELIVERY & PICKUP

SERVICE CENTERS

PAYMENT

RETURNS & EXCHANGE

THE INFORMATION ON THE SITE IS NOT A PUBLIC OFFER.

How to distinguish a fake? Portable. Blog.

Blog filter

Packaging

Let’s start the comparison with the appearance of the box. The first thing that catches your eye is photos of Major II headphones. “High resolution” – golden words! But not in the printing industry, where they printed a cover for a fake, which came out blurry, both on the front and on the back of the package.

Difference on the right and left side of the packaging:

“special disposal”, “CE marking” and “recycling” signs – clearly visible on the original box and reduced on the copy,
on a fake under the barcode there is no inscription of the model, colors and product code.

Headphone housing

The closed earcups of the Major II headphones are made of plastic with a good skin-like texture, which is straight, makes you feel character and spirit of the legendary brand Marshall . The same cannot be said for the fake cups, which are more crudely made and more like the uneven paving stones on old roads.

Also, the ear cups connect to the headband thanks to a steel wire attachment, which is thinner in the fake than in the original.

Headband

If the quality of the materials used does not indicate the authenticity of the headphones, then the inaccurately stitched headband and catchy logo will indicate a fake.

One of the most notable differences is the “Left” or “Right” inlays, which are always made of brass on original Marshals. But the counterfeit manufacturer is sure that beauty and style are gilded details and sophisticated font.

Ear Pads and Filters

At first glance at the photo it might seem that this is a comparison of the new Marshall Major II with a used one. Although, a copy is issued:

poor quality leather deputy
sloppy seam
unevenly bonded filter
rough to the touch material

mini Jack (3.

5 mm)

natural gilding,

with stretched spring damper for anti-kink protection.

Remote control

The Marshall logo neatly stands out on the original remote control, but on the copy it looks like a catchy stamp.

Sound

The best way to verify the authenticity of headphones is to listen, but only when you know the true sound of Major II. No matter how well the copy is made, its sound will always be the worst. So it is with this fake Marshal, the speakers of which give out a slightly muffled, blurry and non-colorful sound.

The administration of the personal audio store Portable thanks the caring people who provided a sample of fake headphones. We hope this information will be useful for future buyers of the original Marshall Major II headphones.

Let us remind you that in our showcases you will always find only original products of famous brands.

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Reviews (7)

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Marshall Major II Headphones: How to spot a fake?

im’ya

Electronic mail

Comment

Sasha Savin

06/09/20

Does the original have a QR code under the pillow?

Andrey

01.10.18

Hello.

Please tell me in which country these headphones are made?

Thank you.

portativ.ua

01.10.18

Assembly country – China.