Marshall Motif ANC test: our full review – Headphones and earphones – Frandroid

The specialist in PA amplifiers and speakers Marshall continues his foray into the world of portable hi-fi with the Marshall Motif ANC headphones. Very compact, these TWS headphones promise powerful and dynamic sound, close to live conditions. The reality is different, but not disappointing. Explanations.

The Marshall Motif ANC are the latest wireless earphones of the American manufacturer, and sit at the top of its True Wireless range. Very different from Marshall minor iii that we just tested, the Marshall Motif ANC are in-ear, equipped with transducers twice the size and offer Active Surrounding Noise Reduction (ANC).

Marshall Motif ANCTechnical sheet

This test was carried out with headphones loaned by Marshall.

Marshall Motif ANCDesign

The Marshall Motif ANC headphones are distinguished by their ultra-compact size. Their visual identity is reminiscent of Marshall’s sound electronics, mixing textured and grainy black coatings. The hulls are shallow, but elongated, extended by short stems. The touch control area is covered with the brand’s white logo.

Surprisingly compact and excellent wearing comfort

The earphones are very intuitive to put on and easily fit in the ear canal and in the pinna of the ear. Three pairs of tips are provided for this purpose. Comfort and stability are above reproach. You can move your head quickly, walk and even run without feeling the slightest discomfort. It is flawless.

Exotic imitation leather case

The storage and charging box is a horizontal top-opening model. The cover is held in place by a system of magnets. The front panel includes a control button, to force pairing the headphones or reset them, as well as an LED which provides information on the status of the box (charging, pairing).

The Marshall Motif ANC earphone case must be placed on its back in order to be recharged, either through its USB-C port or with a Qi wireless charger.

Marshall Motif ANCUsage and application

The implementation of the Marshall Motif ANC headphones is rather conventional. They automatically declare themselves to the nearest Android smartphone, thanks to the protocol Google Fast Pair. With an iPhone or a computer, you have to proceed conventionally and find the headphones yourself. Please note, two Bluetooth profiles are visible, one with the suffix “LE”. This is used to manage the headphones by the Marshall Bluetooth application. The other is used for listening to music. If you do not use the app, it is therefore in the profile “ANC PATTERN” that you have to connect first.

The touch-sensitive control zones are pleasant to use, especially since the headphones are securely attached to the ears.

A half-fig, half-grape app

Disappointment with the app proposed by Marshall to manage the Motif ANC headphones. Sometimes he cannot find the headphones, even though they are in use. This is probably due to the fact that the headphones are declared under two distinct profiles, one for the audio connection, and the other for their management (Marshall ANC LE peripheral). Maybe the LE profile of the headphones is experiencing random crashes? Restarting the headphones, however, fixes this problem, which I have encountered on Android and iOS.

Once this pitfall has been overcome, the app works well. Still, its ergonomics is not a model of its kind and that Marshall has limited the possibilities of customization of the equalization – yet useful if not imperative for my taste. In addition, certain touch controls cannot be modified, in particular those for reading and managing calls. Only the long press can be configured for each earpiece, in order to access noise control, equalization profiles or the smartphone’s voice assistant. Note that interaction sounds can be turned off.

Contrary to what the app indicates, it is not possible to create a custom EQ profile. Only pre-established profiles can be activated. In absolute terms, since only five equalization keys are available, from 160 Hz to 6250 Hz, the fine correction possibilities seem limited. At a minimum, the user should be allowed to play with frequencies between 30 and 100 Hz for the bass and above 8 kHz for the treble.

Finally, the Marshall Bluetooth app allows you to adjust the level of active noise reduction from 0 to 100%, and in the same way the intensity of transparency mode.

Bluetooth connection

With the exception of the problems of connecting the app to the headphones, the Marshall Motif ANC are stable for audio transmission. With my two test smartphones, I was able to listen to my playlists without interruption, while being almost 10 meters away and through a wooden floor. No transmission problem in the middle of a crowd either.

Marshall Motif ANCActive noise reduction

Good surprise, the active noise reduction (ANC) of the Marshall Motif ANC earphones gives very good results. It should be noted, however, that the passive insulation is already excellent, among the best I have ever enjoyed. When the ANC comes into operation, the loud noises are very well reduced, to the point that you can no longer hear any engine or road noise in the car in town. On the motorway, the ANC remains efficient and provides suitable listening comfort. Same observation at the edge of a boulevard at rush hour. As for the transparency mode, which mixes the surrounding noises with the music being listened to, it offers intelligible sound.

The Marshall Motif ANC are therefore very valid if active noise reduction is an essential criterion in your choice.

Marshall Motif ANCAudio

The Marshall Motif ANC headphones incorporate small dynamic transducers of 6 mm, associated with a Bluetooth 5.2 receiver compatible with the SBC and AAC codecs.

Test setup

I listened to the Marshall Motif ANC with a iPhone 13 Pro Max, a Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G and one MacBook Air M1, in Bluetooth AAC from Apple Music (Lossless). Listening results are similar from device to device.

Sound signature

Marshall promised the “Sound of the pit”, or a powerful, even brutal sound signature. The reality is quite different: the Marshall Motif ANC headphones produce a civilized, expressive sound in the midrange, which gives a lot of freshness and tone. Overall, the restitution is lively and full of detail.

However, with the default EQ profile (Marshall), the sound signature is particularly rising, the upper midrange and the treble being prominent, to the detriment of the bass therefore. You quickly get the impression of an imbalance, which makes listening tiring in the long run.

However, activate the equalization profile “Hip-hop” has the merit of putting things in their place, by strengthening the low midrange and the low register (at least between 100 Hz and 60 Hz approximately). Thus, we obtain a pleasant balance, without prejudice to the famous Marshall sound.

• Severe: lack of volume and extension with the default profile. In mode “Hip-hop”, the level is satisfactory, the extension more acceptable. A touch of presence in the upper bass reinforces the impact capacity. The transient capacities are good and nothing is lagging behind.
• Midrange: the low slightly behind favors the perception of the midrange frequency register, which I find well placed and fluid. The transducers do not provide any mechanical coloring, the voices do not suffer from whistling. We can praise the transparency of this register.
• Treble: a lot of energy in the high frequencies, with a peak of presence in the upper part of the register, clearly audible, which brings light to the signature, without distorting the timbres.

The signature evolves a bit when activating the noise reduction (ANC): the high bass takes weight, the midrange a bit too. However, the signature does not fundamentally change and that’s good.

On the other hand, with the ANC, the phase is a little upset, especially in the high bass, and the stereo image is disturbed. Nothing bad, but sharp ears might complain. The fact remains that, in the street, we hardly pay attention to it.

Sound stage

It is certainly by the spatialization of the Motif ANC headphones that we can recognize the Marshall sound the most. The soundstage is vast in width, but shallow, which gives a feeling of strong proximity to instruments and vocals. However, the organization of the sound plans is serious and faithful to the mix of the music played. The activation of the ANC somewhat undermines this picture.

Dynamic behavior

This is perhaps the major asset of Marshall Motif ANC headphones: their transient capabilities stand out. In addition to the large dynamic differences being highlighted, it is above all the refined variations of the sound signal that are transcribed with a certain accuracy. The extinction of notes (instruments, vocals), for example, often surprised me. This excellent transient regime obviously serves the human voices, which makes it easier to follow the backing songs or the choirs of a title.

Marshall Motif ANCMicrophone

The quality of the calls is decent, even if it is regrettable that the rising signature in musical listening does not bring predictable light to the voice of the interlocutor. Also, you have to push the volume quite frankly to fully understand it. On the other hand, we are better understood.

Marshall Motif ANCAutonomy

Marshall announces an autonomy of 4:30 with ANC and 6 hours without. I measured 4 hours and dust with ANC and equalization “Hip-hop” active, then around 5:15 am without ANC and active equalization, all at 50% of the volume of my smartphone. The hip-hop equalization profile reinforcing the low frequencies and incidentally increasing the consumption of the on-board amplifier, the autonomy announced by Marshall without equalization seems valid.

The charging case offers three additional charges for the headphones and requires approximately 2.5 hours to refuel the headphones. Charging is rapid during the first quarter of an hour, in order to recover an hour of autonomy. Finally, the case needs three hours to be fully charged via its USB-C port. The case is also compatible with Qi induction charging.

Marshall Motif ANCPrice and release date

The Marshall Motif ANC headphones are available in black at a price of € 199 including tax.