In this Shure Aonic 50 review, you will learn everything about Shure's flagship headphones and whether or not they are right for you. For almost 100 years now, Shure has been providing multidimensional technology into consumer and professional audio products. The name Shure, within the audio industry, is a household name known for quality and innovation. It's a brand you can trust that will sound great and withstand the test of time. With that being said, the Shure Aonic 50 premium wireless headphones are no exception. In this Shure Aonic 50 review, you will learn about their sound quality, listening modes, microphone, connection options, battery life, comfort, the ShurePlus Play App, price, and lastly the pros and cons of these popular headphones. If you want to learn if the Shure Aonic 50s are for you then read on!
The sound quality of the Shure Aonic 50 headphones is great. They are made up of an 11mm dynamic driver and 12 db/octave crossover for less distortion. They have a particularly flat frequency response. The low end is tight and not overdone like consumer brands like "Beats". The high end is the only area that is noticeably not flat. It's a little bit on the brighter end so you must account for that if you choose to mix with these in the studio.
The Shure Aonic 50 frequency response goes beyond the human range of hearing covering frequencies between 20Hz to 22Khz. This ensures that you will hear the deep bass and pristine highs of a mix. Overall, these are great headphones for mixing music.
The Shure Aonic 50 sound quality will also impress the non-audiophile listener. Whether listening to music or podcasts, you can expect to get a clear and true sound. With an immersive listening experience, these are also great for watching movies and videos.
The Shure Aonic 50 headphones come with two different listening options. These options cover you whether you are at home or out and about in your town or city. These modes include Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Environment. lets first begin with Active Noise Canceling.
With the inclusion of Active Noise Cancellation, these Shure headphones are able to get rid of cumbersome background noise. This will let you enjoy a pleasurable listening experience throughout your day. You can choose between normal and max ANC modes. Normal mode gets the job done very well but if you are in a high noise environment then maybe kick it up to max. Active Noise Cancellation mode is recommended for listening to audio or making phones call in a place where you don't need to be aware of your surroundings.
Environment mode is the oppose of Active Noise Cancellation Mode. This allows for some outside noise to be brought into the headphones so you can be aware of your surrounding environment. There are 11 different environmental modes you can choose from. This is ideal if you are out and about listening to audio or on a phone call. After all, if you are walking around the city with these on, you don't want to get hit by a car!
In this Shure Aonic 50 review I felt it was important to also talk about it's microphone. It comes with 6 built-in microphones for making phone calls and talking on the internet. The Shure brand is known for their microphones and this cluster does not disappoint. It provides clear sound quality that isn’t too high or low in volume and it also works well when you are in a crowded area.
The 6 microphones are located in different areas of the headphones. The 2 beamforming microphones are located in the right earcup. There is also one per earcup used with environment mode and feed-forward Active Noise Cancellation. Lastly, there are two per cup for feedback ANC. These 6 microphones have you covered for quality, clarity, and noise cancellation.
The Shure Aonic 50 headphones support Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, and 1/8 mini jack connections for listening to audio. Having these 3 options gives the user flexibility depending on their listening scenario. In this Shure Aonic 50 review, let's first discuss Bluetooth.
These headphones features Bluetooth 5.0. This gives you up to a 30' range from your computer, laptop, or tablet. The AptX, AptX HD, AptX Low Latency, AAC, and LDAC codecs are supported so the listener will have the best possible experience with these wireless headphones.
The Shure Aonic 50s are automatically in pairing mode when you power them on for the first time. To pair them manually, press and hold the power button for 6 seconds. You'll hear an audible notification that you are in Bluetooth pairing mode. Lastly, release the button and select the audio source "Shure 50". You will hear "connected" and you are good to go.
The USB-C connection is for charging the headphones but also listening to high-resolution audio. This is a great feature and makes the headphones have a modern feel to them. With USB-C quickly becoming accepted as the new standard, you don't have to worry about these headphones going out of date anytime soon.
The mini jack allows for you to connect a 3.5mm cable to it for analog audio. This is ideal for studio use and also allows you to save on battery life. When using this connection no battery is used.
No Shure Aonic 50 review would be complete without talking about battery life. Shure reports a battery life of 20 hours with noise canceling switched on. On a single charge, battery tests yielded 19 hours, 46 minutes of playtime. Attach it to the given USB-C cable for a few hours and the headset will be fully recharged. When battery life is low, the LED indicator will steadily blink red and will stay solid red red when charging.
These headphones were made with comfort in mind and to wear for long listening sessions. However, they are one of the heaviest headphones out on the market. They come in at 0.47 pounds. This may not seem like a lot but when compared to other headphones they take the cake. Now, I have worn these for long mix sessions and have honestly forgot I was wearing them. They really are comfortable and made of premium quality.
Stylistically they come in black or brown options. The ear cups are filled with memory foam and covered in soft aromatic leather. They are detachable from their frame which is made of a durable plastic material. The plastic is coded with a silver paint giving them a sleek modern feel.
The head support at the top of the frame has the same characteristics of the ear cups. It is very comfortable making long mixing or listening sessions a pleasure. The look, feel, and quality of these headphones is second to none.
You can't have a Shure Aonic 50 review and not discuss the ShurePlus PLAY app. This app is available for iOS and Android devices and provides additional features for these headphones. This free app tells you the current amount of battery life left and allows you to adjust both the ANC and Environment Mode's sensitivity. To change your settings, you must be in each respective mode.
You are able to import and play high resolution and standard file types. You can organize your own custom music library and are also able to create playlists. The main benefit of creating a library in this app is that the files don't have to be mp3. You are able to put high resolution wav or flac files in it so you can hear music at studio quality levels.
The app also lets you adjust the equalization of the headphones. We all don't hear the same so you can customize the frequency spectrum to your liking. You can also choose from a couple presets created by Shure.
The initial release price of these Shure headphones was upwards of $400. The price now averages around $299. This is a great deal for all these headphones have to offer. They can be your studio headphones, laying around the house jamming to music headphones, and even your out and about headphones. These headphones will go a long way for the price.
As with every product out there, no matter how good it is, there are always some shortcomings that accompany it's strengths. Here we will discuss the pros and cons of the Shure Aonic 50 headphones. In this Shure Aonic 50 review, lets begin with the pros.
The Shure Aonic 50 headphones are great for audio engineers and also the average listener. They provide a great balance between connections, features, and quality. They really do give you the best bang for you buck out on the market today. I hope this Shure Aonic 50 review has given you some deep insight into these amazing headphones. If you ended up liking this review, please feel free to share it on your social media. If you feel like these headphones are right for you, there is a link below where you can purchase them. Peace out!
"Some of the links within this article are affiliate links. These links are from various companies such as Amazon. This means if you click on any of these links and purchase the item or service, I will receive an affiliate commission. This is at no cost to you and the money gets invested back into Audio Sorcerer LLC."