Luxuriously made with exquisite materials and top notch styling and sound to match, the Master & Dynamic MW60 are high-end headphones made with substance over hype for those with a good ear for music.
Anodized stainless steel has been used to reinforce key components such as the headband yoke and rod, as well as the grooved front panel of the driver housing, which has a vinyl record style with the Master & Dynamic logo embedded in the centre. The folding hinge and headband adjusting mechanism are also made of anodized stainless steel.
The MW60 headphone has the ability to fold up, just like the MH30 on-ear headphones, by folding inwards (in a U-shape), decreasing its footprint by almost half, making the MW60 headphones very portable for daily use and regular travelers.
The MW60 headband adjusts via the yoke rod in a hydraulic type fashion, smoothly (and silently) but very firmly so, it requires a two-hand operation.
The MW60 headband yoke provides up to 30 degrees up/down earcup tilt and rotation so, the earcups can be rotated so, you can wear the headphones behind the neck and around the collarbone. That said, the earcups cannot be fully rotated 90 degrees; hence the earpads cannot be laid flat.
Speaking of earpads, the MW60 earpads can be taken apart from the earcups since they are held together magnetically, the same way as other Master and Dynamic headphones such as the MW50 Plus headphones.
The MW60 do have the same earpad size as the MW50 Plus headphones but, as mentioned on the MW50 Plus review the earpads cannot be interchanged due to the positioning of the notches.
The MW60 earpads have very good magnetism, which is strong enough to keep the earpads securely attached without making it difficult to detach with the fingers.
Upon removing the earpads, you are presented with a perforated metal mesh protecting the speaker driver, as well as a total of 10 screws, four of which are "y type" security screws. The serial number of the headset is also etched on the metal mesh with laser engraving.
With 45mm neodymium drivers on-board, the Master & Dynamic MW60 (along with the MW40) have the biggest drivers of the Master & Dynamic headphone line-up. The drivers integrate polymer diaphragms, which provide a similar frequency range (5-25,000Hz) to the MH40 and MH30 headphones.
The right earcup driver housing integrates 3-buttons, which are the same mini sized aluminium buttons found in the MW50 Plus headphones. The MH40 Wireless headphone also has this same mini button style but they are made of rubber, which provides better grip, although they don't feel as premium as the buttons on the MW60.
The MW60 is Master and Dynamic's second heaviest headphone but it's also very comfortable, thanks to the lambskin memory foam earpads, breathable earcups, moderate clamping force and headband, which provides enough comfort for a couple of hours of use. For long extended periods though, like gaming marathons, the MW60 headband is not thick enough to prevent heat spot.
The back panel of the earcup is covered with top grain leather and features a small dimple that allows the back of the earcup to rest upright against the yoke rod. Sandwiched between the earcup and earpad, it's the frame of the headphone which is also made of anodized aluminium and discreetly integrates the bluetooth antenna across it.
The external bluetooth antenna is a rather bold move since most bluetooth headphones integrate the antenna inside the headphone. That said, the MW60 external bluetooth antenna works great, providing a strong and stable 10 meter wireless range. The antenna is made of machined aluminium, which should prevent any possible damage done to it.
The mini sized buttons mentioned earlier provide subtle responsiveness and have enough spacing in between to distinguish all three buttons, which control the volume up/down, play/pause (middle button), skipping of tracks and voice assistant.
The driver housing in the left earcup contains a rocking switch for powering and activating bluetooth pairing and battery status. Above the rocking switch, there are two status leds for battery level and bluetooth pairing.
The Master & Dynamic MW60 comes with an audio cable to physically connect the MW60 to an audio source such as a smartphone. The audio port is passive, meaning the MW60 headphones do not need to be powered on. The 3.5mm audio port in fairly recessed; hence you can only use an audio cable with a thin straight plug
The MW60 audio cable does not come with a built-in remote and microphone, like with the MH30 headphones, which means you cannot take calls from your phone when not connected via Bluetooth.
The microphone in the MH30 audio cable is very good, making it useful to connect to a video games console for in-game chat. The microphone quality via bluetooth is very good, thanks to the integration of dual noise-isolating omnidirectional microphones.
The MW60 drivers deliver good audio dynamics from a smartphone, especially when connected via the included auxiliary audio cable. Some smartphones have better DAC amplifiers than others but overall, the MW60 deliver good volume, although not as loud as the MW50 Plus, despite having the same 32 ohms low impedance rating.
A good complementary external amp can help excite the MW60 finely tuned, sensitivity drivers which are capable of 106 dB volume output. The MW60 headphones have a similar sound signature to the MH40 headphones with a spacious soundstage, deep soft bass, clear vocal midrange and crisp treble.
The Master & Dynamic MW60 have been out on the market for a few years now, presumably before the USB-C standard was adopted; hence it uses a micro USB charging port. Some prospective buyers may find the micro USB in the MW60 a deal breaker since USB-C is touted as the future.
Some even consider micro USB a legacy port, or that you can only get fast charging via USB-C, which is far from it since quick charge technologies pre-date USB-C and already worked well before USB-C came along.
With micro USB, there is also less risk of devices exploding because micro USB cables (and Type-A cables) are limited to 0.9 or 0.5 amps; whereas USB- C cables can draw as much as 3 amps, which is way too much power and a problem if the headphone doesn't have voltage/current protection built-in.
If you still prefer USB-C connectivity though, and like the look of the MW60, you should check out the MW65 headphones.
Speaking of charging, there is no audio pass-through support so, you cannot listen to wireless audio while the MW60 is charging, although most Bluetooth headphones are made this way. Full charge takes 2.5 hours from 0% to 100% and can potentially give you up to 16 hours of battery life (same as the MW50 Plus) via SBC codec and with audio set at 50% volume.
The MW60 bluetooth 4.1 chip also supports Apple's AAC and aptX (hi-resolution audio), as well as multipoint pairing so, you can connect the MW60 to two devices at the same time.
The MW60 comes with a tall cylindrical leather case and small drawstring canvas fabric pouch to store the accessories.
A zip pouch is made of thick canvas fabric and it's designed for storing the headphones while folded. The zip canvas pouch can be rolled up when not in use.
The cylindrical leather case appears to be hand stitched with traditional saddle stitch, similarly to the top of the headband, which is covered with thick grain leather and soft lambskin leather on the underside of the headband.
The included cables are a USB-A to micro USB charging cable, a 1.25 meter long auxiliary cable (3.5mm male to 3.5mm male) and a 3.5mm to 6.5mm gold plated adapter. Both cables are braided with anodized aluminum plugs and come with cable management velcro straps.
The Master & Dynamic MW60 come elegantly presented inside a hardbox with a shock absorbing foam insert cutout of the MW60 so, you can use it as a storage case, as well as for transporting the headphones safely. You can buy the Master & Dynamic MW60 luxury headphones from amazon. Check out the review of the new Master & Dynamic MG20 gaming headphones, MH40 Wireless V2