Marshall Major V review

The Major V headphones are the latest rock-and-roll-inspired on-ear cans from the legendary Marshall amplification company. While the on-ear design has advantages and drawbacks, Marshall is turning the features up to 11 with the Major V headphones. Boasting 100+ hours of playback, wireless charging, wired listening, and a foldable, compact design, let’s dive into this Marshall Major V review and see if these headphones are destined for the big stage or just the local touring circuit.

Editor’s note: this is the first version of the article. Updates will follow as the market changes.

What’s it like to use Marshall Major V?

As expected, the Marshall Major V headphones arrive with a vintage-looking, rock and roll-inspired finish, resembling one of their classic Marshall amplifiers. You’re supplied with a retro-looking, coiled 3.5mm cable for wired listening and a standard USB-C cable for charging. While these headphones fold up nicely and are compact for travel, a benefit of the smaller on-ear design, unfortunately, they don’t come with any carrying case or bag.

When you put these headphones on, they easily adjust to your head up and down smoothly, thanks to the old-school sliding metal bracket design. The entire headband is wrapped in soft padding from end to end, so there’s nothing to catch a hair on when you take them on or off, either. The faux leather earpads are pretty thick, roughly 3/4 of an inch, and provide a good amount of cushioning for longer listening sessions. A cushy earpad is essential for on-ear headphones, considering the earpads are sitting directly on your ears, not over them. That said, there isn’t a ton of clamping force. Simply shaking my head from left to right moves them out of place and off my ears, which is not ideal if you plan on being active with them.

Remember, the Marshall Major V headphones are not noise canceling headphones. While these thick ear pads help with passive isolation, you’ll want to look elsewhere if you’re searching for something to drown out the world around you on your daily commute. The Major V headphones also don’t have an IP rating, meaning they are not waterproof. If you live in a rainy or humid climate, you’ll have to take your chances.

How do you control the Marshall Major V?

You control your playback via the Marshall Major V’s almost joystick-like, multidirectional gold control button on the right ear cup. It’s identical to the one on the Marshall Willen portable speaker, and I find it pretty intuitive and easy to use. Below is a breakdown of how it operates.

The headphones also contain a discreet, customizable, one-touch “M-button” on the left ear cup. You can use it to immediately bring up Spotify, change EQ modes, or access your phone’s voice assistant. While I didn’t find the need to use this feature day to day, the button itself is easy to find and provides a satisfying click without knocking the headphones out of place. Its default setting is to open Spotify, but you’ll need the Marshall Bluetooth app to change it.

Should you use the Marshall Bluetooth app for the Marshall Major V?

I highly recommend downloading and installing the Marshall Bluetooth app to get the most out of these headphones, specifically the EQ options. You can select from a few presets or make your own with a customizable 5-band EQ, which I think should be the minimum standard EQ in any companion app these days. As mentioned, this is also where you modify your M button settings and some of the Marshall Major V headphones’ default settings.

Of course, installing any companion app comes with the risk of your personal data being collected, possibly used by headphone companies or the “The Man” to benefit from, which is NOT very rock and roll.

How does the Marshall Major V connect?

The Marshall Major V headphones connect wirelessly to your device via Bluetooth 5.3 and now offer SBC, AAC, and LC3 codec support. Their predecessor, the Marshall Major IV headphones, only offered SBC. They also provide multipoint connection if you want to connect to two devices simultaneously, which is handy when you want to switch between your phone and your laptop seamlessly.

You also have the option for passive, wired listening via a 3.5mm audio cable. The Major V headphones feature 106 dB/mW driver sensitivity and 32Ω impedance; no amp is required. But wait, there’s more! The 3.5mm is a dual-functioning input/output. When paired over Bluetooth, you can use the 3.5mm cable to connect the Major V headphones to a second pair of headphones that feature an AUX to share your music with a friend. It’s a rare occurrence, but it works. I tested this by connecting a pair of JBL Tune 660NC headphones without issue.

How long does the Marshall Major V battery last?

Marshall states 100+ hours of playback with the Major V headphones. In our testing, designed to emulated real world use, they lasted 92 hours and 52 minutes. Not quite 100 hours, but impressive nonetheless! Of course, it’s important to remember your milage will vary depending on your EQ settings and how loud you crank your music.

The Major V headphones also offer wireless charging by placing the outer side of the right ear cup on a charging pad. It certainly works; I can charge these headphones with my wired Anker charger pad and MagSafe battery pack. Unfortunately, there’s no magnet, meaning it doesn’t snap into place, so it’s pretty unreliable. It takes a few tries to get the placement right before charging begins, and then it’s too easy to knock out of position. I’ll stick with wired USB-C charging.

It’s also worth noting that the Major V headphones are the first pair of Marshall headphones to be included in their new repair program. If, down the road, your headphones no longer hold a charge and your batteries need changing, you can hit up an authorized Marshall repair center to have them replaced — for a fee, of course.

How well do the Marshall Major V block out noise?

The Marshall Major V headphones are not noise canceling headphones, so those looking for noise attenuation may want to look elsewhere. While the thick ear pads resting on your ears offer some passive isolation, you’ll still hear some activity around you when using the Major V headphones.

Co-workers talking loudly, the landscapers outside, doors opening and closing, the sounds around you will be slightly muffled, but there’s a good chance you’ll still be aware of what’s happening around you, which brings me to an important point. You may be tempted to turn up your volume to compensate when your surroundings get noisy, but as you may already know, this always comes with the risk of noise-induced hearing loss. It’s essential to watch your volume levels if you’re trying to compete in a noisy environment without any noise canceling.

How do the Marshall Major V sound?

In its stock form, the Marshall Major V has an overwhelming treble-heavy sound that users will most likely prefer to modify.

Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Scores (MDAQS)

The chart below shows how the sound of the Marshall Major V was assessed by the Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Score (MDAQS) algorithm from HEAD acoustics.

Regarding our simulated panel of listeners, unfortunately, the Marshall Major V headphone’s poor distortion score brings down its overall MDAQS rating. This may result from the Major V’s treble-heavy stock tuning, which the average listener doesn’t always prefer. While this doesn’t mean you’ll dislike the sound of the Marshall Major V headphones, don’t be surprised if you find yourself in the EQ section sooner than you expect.

Reviewer’s notes

Editor’s note: this review uses a hover-enabled glossary to describe sound quality based on a consensus vocabulary. You can read about it here.

Objective Measurements

As shown in the chart above, the Marshall Major V headphone’s frequency response drastically deviates from our preference curve. While a boost in the low end and a dip in the mid frequencies certainly isn’t anything unusual for a consumer-friendly sound, we see a vast, wide spike in treble frequencies. Going from -5 to +16 is a fairly drastic range. Fortunately, thanks to the companion app, you can tame some of these wild frequencies and modify the sound of these headphones more to your taste.

Can you use the Marshall Major V for phone calls?

You can take phone calls while connected to the Major V headphones, which perform well in ideal conditions. Take a listen to the rest of our demonstrations below to hear for yourself how they perform in various environments.

Marshall Major V microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

Should you buy the Marshall Major V?

The Marshall Major V headphones have plenty to offer. Still, without ANC, I only recommend buying them if you can’t resist their rock and roll-inspired design (no judgment) and don’t listen to music in noisy environments. They’re comfortable headphones with long battery life and good connection options, and while their stock sound is indeed treble-heavy, it can easily be modified.

At $149, you’re paying a few extra bucks for that vintage rock and roll look when less expensive alternatives exist—alternatives that also offer a variety of ANC, not to mention transparency modes.

What should you get instead of the Marshall Major V?

Sticking with the on-ear design, I recommend checking out the JBL Live670NC (£119 at Amazon Site) headphones for less money. These headphones offer a similar laundry list of features, such as wired listening, a compact foldable design, and EQ options, but as mentioned, they also provide a variety of ANC and transparency modes. If you prioritize value and features over the cool rock and roll look, for $129, it’s hard to beat the listening options and versatility the Live670NC headphones can offer.

Straying from the on-ear design but sticking with value, at $99, the over-ear Anker Soundcore Space One ($99.99 at Amazon) headphones have plenty to offer the casual listener. The Space One headphones offer quality ANC, a companion app with EQ options, and wired listening. Unlike the Major V’s, they also come with a cloth carrying bag.

Frequently asked questions