When it comes to headphone design, Master & Dynamic has carved out a niche for itself. The company’s signature metal and leather look immediately set it apart from the competition when the wired MH40 was launched. M&D followed up with a wireless Version, giving its on-ear headphones without ANC (Active Noise Cancelling) a modern update. Now the company is back with a second-generation wireless model, touting improvements in audio, battery, etc. The third iteration of the MH40 is undoubtedly an improvement over the last, but are the company’s design chops enough to overcome the lack of features compared to equally inexpensive alternatives?

Design

An element that has always distinguished Master & Dynamic from the competition is the Design. For these first MH40 headphones, the company relied on aluminum construction rather than plastic for several products. In addition, it combines metal with other high-quality materials such as canvas and leather. For the second generation MH40 Wireless, the company has remained faithful to its roots, up to the vintage aviator-style look.

In addition to the aluminum matter, a headband wrapped in coated canvas is color-matched with removable lambskin ear pads. With all these high-end materials, the MH40 weighs 280 grams, which is 30 grams more than the Sony WH-1000xm5. Nevertheless, the extra weight is not a burden, these are light and comfortable, and the padded ear pads prevent you from feeling the outer edge of the ear cups.

Like the previous version, the built-in controls are located on the right earcup. A network of three catchs is located near the hinge of the headband and offers you controls for calls, music, voice assistant and volume (including a mute catch). The dual-function power/pairing catch is located on the outer edge, next to the USB-C port and a multicolored pairing/battery life indicator. I will always advocate body controls via a touch screen, mainly because they are more reliable. This is certainly the matter here, because I was able to easily perform several presses on the central catch to skip tracks.

Software and features

The m&d Connect application is the companion software of the MH40. This is where the battery level is most clearly indicated, as well as a hint as to whether your headphones are up to date with regard to the firmware. Press the gear icon to display options for sound, controls and “about the device”.”In the sound menu, Master & Dynamic offers four Eq presets: Bass Boost, Bass Cut, Podcast (mids and vocals) and audiophile (mids and treble). By default, no equalizer settings are selected and the application remembers the one you selected so that you don’t have to select it every time you activate the so-called E-Preset Equalizer. You can also turn on the listening sound in the Sound menu, which allows you to hear your own voice during a call. This is convenient because passive noise isolation does not make you feel the need to speak loudly to hear yourself.

Although Sidetone is a nice feature, you can only activate it in the app, which means that you have to swipe to the Sound menu before a call (or more likely in the first seconds of a call) to activate it on. I realize that the MH40 has no ANC, so there is no special catch that selects a noise cancellation mode. But maybe there could be an Option to reassign the long press of the central catch, from calling a voice assistant to triggering a listening sound.

In the control menu, the application offers you the possibility of renaming the M &D MH40W device and changing the automatic shutdown timer from the default 30 minutes (one hour, three hours and never are the other options). You can also trigger a factory reset from this screen.