Meters Ov-1-b-connect

Not scared of needles, are you?

Bluetooth means these are neater Meters… but is their performance as entertaining as the flickering display on the earcups?

£350 / stuff.tv/ov1b

■ Featuring the same glowing VU meters found on parent company Ashdown’s bass amplifiers, the original Meters allowed you to walk around with the spirit of Abbey Road clamped to your head. Sort of. But that was 2017… and now, at last, Meters have gone wireless.

■ Available in black, white or tan

(in the name of God please don’t get the white ones), the Bluetooth Meters still come with a jack cable for wired listening. They are on the heavy side, but the headband and earcups are as plush as a sofa made of live kittens.

■ Another welcome addition is active noise-cancellation, which you can engage via a rather clunky switch on the right earcup. There are no levels or modes, just on or off, and it’s not the most effective we’ve ever used – plus the circuitry generates a fair bit of its own noise, which can be distracting.

■ On the subject of clunkiness, spaced around the VU meter on the left cup you’ll find controls for volume, play/pause, skipping tracks and answering calls… and they’re a bit fiddly. There are no separate buttons, so your finger has to locate the right segment of the dial to click down.

■ So far, so not very impressive… but it’s the sound that counts, and here’s where the wireless Meters turn it around. With big bass, zingy treble and somewhat scooped-out mids, they’ll be too hyped for audio purists; but if you prefer popping corks to sniffing them, these cans are really quite addictive.

Tech specs

Connectivity Bluetooth 5, 3.5mm jack, microusb charging Battery life 16hrs Weight 380g