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I’m going to compare the Marshall Monitor III ANC to the most popular headphones from Sony, Sennheiser, Bose and of course, Apple. Now, I was very excited about the Monitor III’s Soundstage spatial mode because it’s the only one so far which lets me control how spacious I want the sound to be, and the intensity of that effect. And after trying it, yes the effect is there, but it only added more reverb to the sound without actually expanding the soundstage by much, even with the large room setting and spatial set to max.

So although it’s a nice addition, I’m not so impressed. What I am impressed by is everything that Marshall did right with the Monitor III. Build quality is amazing, earcups can fully articulate, and it’s got metal headbands which should put to rest any concerns about the headband breaking. Earpads are super soft, easily some of the softest ear pads I’ve used, and it makes them super comfortable to wear, but of course, there’s a drawback to it which I’ll get into in a bit.

They’ve kept the ANC button from the previous model, but also added an M button which lets you toggle between EQ presets or Spatial audio, depending on what was selected in the Marshall app. You’ve got lots of settings in the app to try, with new features like Soundstage, and Dynamic Loudness which emphasizes certain frequencies at high or low volumes so that sound quality is more consistent

But if you were to compare its features to rivals from Bose, Sony and Sennheiser and Apple, those are going to be more feature rich. For example, the QC Ultra supports aptX Adaptive and has spatial audio with head tracking, Momentum 4 supports Auracast and auto-tuning of its sound to suit your preference, the WH-1000XM5 supports Hi-Res streaming over LDAC aside from its smart features, and of course the AirPods Max is the most seamless experience for Apple users.

But one area which the Marshall beats all of them is battery. Battery life is rated by Marshall for up to 70 hours with ANC which is double of what any of these flagships offer. Question is, does it also beat any of them in terms of noise canceling, mic pickup, transparency or sound quality?

Microphone Quality Comparison

In terms of mic pickup, The Monitor III is one of the better performing ones. In this group, only the AirPods Max and Sony WH-1000XM5 performed better at reducing background noise and wind, while keeping my voice intelligible.

👉 Have a listen to the microphone quality samples

Active Noise Cancelling

Active noise canceling, now that’s one area which the Monitor III doesn’t do as well as the others, at least in this comparison. It gets very silent in the sense that it tackles human chatter quite well, and I do need to activate transparency for verbal exchanges. But against the rumbling noises of traffic and public transport it’s not as silent. I think it has to do with the cushions. Since the cushions are much less dense than the competition, that noise blocking is less effective in the first place.

👉 Have a listen to the ANC samples

Transparency Mode

In terms of transparency, I would rate the Marshall better than the Sennheisers in the sense that it amplifies more in the highs so there’s a clearer sensation, but voices sound a little muffled, including my own voice. In this group, the Sony is only a little better, while the Bose and the AirPods have the clearest transparency.

Sound Quality

In terms of sound quality, the Marshalls are very bright-sounding, mids and highs are more sizzly, and indeed frequency sweeps show that the Marshall has the most emphasis in the upper mids and treble, but it never got to the point of sounding sibilant, thankfully. In terms of bass, it’s a bit more muted than the competition, and the default signature is great for more analytical listening.

But I do enjoy more bass in my music, so I set them to the bass boost preset just to give it that extra punch. It’s worth mentioning that that preset has very little effect on the tonality or clarity of the mids, so it does maintain that separation as well.

If we compare them to the AirPods Max, I do enjoy Marshall’s sound quality more, because the AirPods Max are simply too thin-sounding for my liking. There’s very little bass, and it’s really more about sounding clean and detailed. But that approach also means it doesn’t have as much soul or character as the Marshalls. But if you’re looking for something that sounds smoother, more non-fatiguing than the Marshalls, the Sony, Bose and Sennheisers have that. They are more muted in the upper range, with the Bose sounding the most balanced and clean in the mids. Now, some of you might be wondering, which has the best soundstage. For that, I vote for the Sennheisers because its background detail is better separated, and more distinct than the rest in this group, not just the Marshalls.

Build Quality & Design

Overall, if we’re talking about build quality and design, my vote goes to the Marshalls because the metal headband, the vinyl texture, it makes it feel more durable like, I don’t have to baby it. And there’s a certain cool factor to that heritage rebel design that defines the brand. When I’m wearing it. It looks good, and it gets extra points because it sits pretty flush on my head compared to the rest. Plus it easily has the best case, I mean just look at how premium it looks with that suede interior.

I’m not so sure about the exposed cable though? Because it turns through that hammock, sometimes it pops out of place which doesn’t look so premium. Would rather have the cable embedded in the headband, but maybe they had other considerations.

In terms of comfort, these are very comfortable to wear because the cushions are like soft pillows. On the other hand, they also trap heat, and they seem to trap more heat than the rest. Now, if you’re one of those lucky people who live in cold climates it won’t matter, but if you’re living in the tropics like me, be prepared to wipe them down and take breaks, frequently.

Speaking of cold climates, the Sony, Bose and Sennheisers all have touch controls so they may be inconvenient to use with gloves, but the Marshalls are entirely operated with buttons which are easier to operate wearing mittens. Yes I wear mittens because my hands are too large for gloves.

Verdict

Performance wise, they’re great in areas that matter, but as you saw, they’re not the best noise cancelers, and they’re not the most feature rich. For some people, they may not seem like the best value, given that they cost a cool $350 at regular retail, and that indeed is what is being said on forums. But what about the AirPods Max? Those are way more expensive and they’re not necessarily the best performers right now. Plus they only work best with Apple stuff, while with the Marshalls you have full access to all of their features and updates on both iOS and Android. These are also great performers and what they do bring to the table is an iconic, durable design and better battery life.

Check latest price:

Marshall Monitor III ANC - https://amzn.to/4hrvE4h
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones - https://amzn.to/3UecNzS
AirPods Max - https://amzn.to/3AoiHX3
Sony WH-1000XM5 - https://amzn.to/4bIqJtZ
Sennheiser Momentum 4 - https://amzn.to/3TAxQOb

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