Marshall has been synonymous with making some of the best-sounding and looking audio products for some time now. From their guitar amplifiers, which are a staple in the setup of many musicians, to speakers and headphones, which are conversation starters, the brand has cemented a reputation of its own in the audio market. Whenever they launch a new product, the expectations are set pretty high. So, when the Marshall Major V, their latest on-ear headphones, showed up at the Digit Test Centre, the first thing that came to my mind was whether they will uphold the legacy that is built by the brand and also make a space of their own in the already competitive personal audio space. As always, I put them through our tests, and here’s what I found out –
Build and Design
In terms of the build and design, Marshall has its A game on all the time. The Marshall Major V is a looker. The leather finish on the headband and the earcups give the headphones the traditional Marshall look and feel, and the metallic adjustment mechanism lends them amazing durability. The cans are made out of plastic; however, the quality of the material ensures that you are not left wanting for added durability when using the headphones. Add to that the tactile and responsive buttons, and you will get a fairly solid pair of headphones.
The design, as I mentioned earlier, ensures that the headphones look exactly like a pair of Marshall headphones. They are lightweight, and you will have no issues wearing them for long periods of time. However, for some people, getting the right clamping force might be tricky, so try them out before taking the plunge. The main reason for ensuring that you get the right clamping force is that without that, you will not get the bass response that you would desire from these headphones.
As for the padding on the earcups, it is really well done, and the foam is nice and squishy, ensuring that you get the best seal possible around your ears. The headband might look like it does not have enough foam to prevent it from digging into your skull. However, the overall weight and over-ear design of the headphones means that you don’t need to worry about it at all.
If you are using them as your daily commute companion, then these headphones will not let you down in terms of their portability. They fold into a fairly compact package and will fit in most of the pockets of your backpack.
Nothing to complain about here.
Features
Coming to the features on the Marshall Major V, there is not much to write home about. Traditional brands like Marshall, always prioritise the sound before padding the specs sheets with features and gimmicks that might serve little to no purpose in daily use. The same is the case with the Marshall Major V.
Unlike some of the more mainstream offerings, these headphones lack the bells and whistles, but they make up for that with the fact that whatever features are there, they are really well implemented through the Marshall Bluetooth App. Here’s a quick overview of the features and my thoughts on it –
| Feature | Remarks |
| Equaliser | Having an EQ built into the companion app of an audio device is always handy. The Marshall Bluetooth App has a pentaband EQ which lets your create your own EQ curve and customise the sound to your liking. Definitely a nice to have. There are five preset modes with the option to add a custom curve. |
| M-Button Customisation | From the app, you can control the function of the Marshall M-button. At the time of writing, there were four options to choose from, which seemed a little constricting. Nevertheless, the more customisation options, the better. One option that stood out was the Equaliser option, which is a nice addition. |
| Battery Preservation and Standby | Marshall’s primary focus on these headphones has been battery life. They claim to have a 100+ hour battery life on these headphones. More on that later. Within the app, you get the option to choose a custom plan to preserve the battery of your device, ensuring longevity. Way to go! Additionally, you get to choose the standby timeout on the headphones, which is pretty neat. |
Performance
The performance of the Marshall Major V was a mixed bag for me.
The sound signature of these headphones has a U-shaped curve, which is ideal for catering to a variety of musical genres. Mind you, the headphones were measured out of the box, and you can change the EQ curve to match your liking. Coming back to the sound representation on these headphones.
With the pre-configured EQ preset, these headphones sounded fairly hollow to me. While there was detail, the bass representation was lacklustre, and the headphones also struggled in representing some instruments in the 125Hz to the 1kHz range. That, coupled with the staging of these headphones, which is fairly intimate, makes you feel there is something left to be desired from the sound. This is especially true when listening to tracks like Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars, where I felt the bass to be lacking a little bit. Even tracks like Rescue Me by OneRepublic threw me off, and I had to go into the EQ to change the preset to Mid-Boost, which brought back the crispy vocals that are present on the track.
However, when it comes to the imaging of the vocals and stereo separation, these headphones hit the ball out of the park. I experienced some of the best stereo separations in this price range on the Marshall Major V. I took them out for a spin in a game of Rise of the Tomb Raider, and these headphones blew me off with the accuracy of their directional audio. Additionally, the imaging of the vocals in movies and that of the meal instruments is something that you definitely will be a fan of if you get to experience these headphones. The arrival of these headphones at the Digit Test Labs coincided with the return of Linkin Park, and I couldn’t stop myself from rocking out to their tracks with these headphones!
The bottom line with these headphones is that if you are a fan of music that has a lot of sibilants and bright vocals, for example, genres like metal, rock, and classical, you will be pretty impressed by what these headphones have to offer right off the bat. For others, you will have to tinker with the EQ to dial in the right settings to ensure that you are getting the best out of them.
Battery Life
The Marshall Major V headphones are one of the longest-lasting headphones that I have ever come across. They claim to have a battery life of over a 100 hours, and during my time of using these headphones and testing them with the volume set to 50 per cent, they lasted about 80 odd hours, which is impressive. A lot of this success in terms of battery life can be attributed to the lack of ANC. However, we have seen headphones without ANC last for a significantly shorter period of time than the Marshalls. So, kudos to the brand!
These headphones also have wireless charging baked into them, which is a plus, and when you are out of charge, you can juice up these headphones, as claimed by Marshall, to get up to 15 hours of battery life in just 15 minutes of charge. And, if you are a purist, and would like to go the wired route, then there’s the included AUX cable as well.
Verdict
The bottom line with the Marshall Major V is that these headphones, while not being the best value-for-money device in this price range, do hold their own. They come with exceptional battery life and a fairly versatile sound signature, which, in daily use, would fit the bill for most people. There is something left to be desired for the purists and the folks who would expect these headphones to hit the mark right off the bat, considering they are from Marshall; however, if you are willing to tinker with the EQ, you can dial in the performance of these headphones to meet all your expectations.
At ₹14,999, they might be slightly heavy on the pocket for some, in which case, you can look at the Sony WH-CH720N. They have an over-ear design, come with ANC, powerful sound, and great battery life in their weight class.
Marshall Major V Key Specs, Price and Launch Date
| Release Date: | |
| Market Status: | Launched |
Key Specifications
Dimensions
16.1 x 17.9 x 6.7 cm
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Satvik Pandey
Satvik Pandey, is a self-professed Steve Jobs (not Apple) fanboy, a science & tech writer, and a sports addict. At Digit, he works as a Deputy Features Editor, and manages the daily functioning of the magazine. He also reviews audio-products (speakers, headphones, soundbars, etc.), smartwatches, projectors, and everything else that he can get his hands on. A media and communications graduate, Satvik is also an avid shutterbug, and when he's not working or gaming, he can be found fiddling with any camera he can get his hands on and helping produce videos – which means he spends an awful amount of time in our studio. His game of choice is Counter-Strike, and he's still attempting to turn pro. He can talk your ear off about the game, and we'd strongly advise you to steer clear of the topic unless you too are a CS junkie. View Full Profile
