The headphones default to Marshall’s sound signature but there’s a full equaliser should you wish to tweak the audio profile. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

READ NEXT: The best headphones for every budget Marshall Major IV review: What do you get for the money? Sound quality, on the other hand, is a different matter with bass and mid and high-frequencies all presented in a lively, clean fashion. The Marshal Monitor II eschew the bass-heavy presentation of the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 and don’t sound as warm and punchy as the Sony WH-1000XM3, but there’s still a spaciousness and crispness to the sound that’s rather appealing. The fourth-generation Major IV possess all of the style we’ve come to expect from Marshall, while more than doubling the battery life of their predecessor. They’ve also undergone a few smart design tweaks, making them an attractive option for those seeking eye-catching, on-ear cans. Controls are equally simple to navigate. Marshall has taken a “less is more” approach, and I can’t fault the execution. A single multidirectional knob on the right earpad handles all of your key commands. Pressing and holding the knob powers the Major IV on or off, with a single press playing or pausing audio. A Tidal Master stream of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song zips along enjoyably, and while there are probably aspects I could point out – the Marshalls aren’t the most revealing or the richest-sounding pair – they make listening sessions less a chore and more fun.The ANC doesn't seem to affect the sound signature when audio was playing, which is a common pitfall of wireless ANC. Generally speaking, the noise cancellation here is useful, but it's not as effective as what you get from Apple or Bose. Marshall Amplification was was formed in 1962 and remained under family ownership for more than 60 years until March 2023, when they were sold to Swedish speaker manufacturer Zound Industries. Marshall still own a 24% stake in the company, making them the largest shareholders in the newly-titled Marshall Group. The takeover deal covers Marshall Amplification and its subsidiaries Marshall Records, Marshall Live Agency and Natal Drums Though they're not the best headphones on the market by any means the Bluetooth Marshall Monitors are a conveniently compact over-ear option. As you'd expect they look good thanks to the iconic Marshall design and with 30 hours of battery life it's nice to have a piece of tech that won't require charging every evening. I also love that the headphones come with a detachable coiled cord as the length is flexible without creating a mess of tangled cable, you can also find an in-line remote and microphone on the cable. Besides, the earpads are very easy to replace, there seem to be magnets inside and I just need to snap the earpads into place. Audio Quality

A fair question, seeing as Marshall’s focus for decades was guitar amps. The answer is, at least for some models (the ones featured in this guide, basically), very. The brand channels a formidable live music legacy, and that plays a part in how they’re tuned and their distinctive style look. The same goes for Marshall speakers, too. I wore them for a few journeys on a particularly raucous stretch of the Central Line on the London Underground and was immediately clear to me that the Marshall, while reasonably effective, struggle to deaden as much of the roar and rattle of the carriages as its rivals. Even the older Bose QuietComfort 35 II are better than the Marshall Monitor II ANC. The mic offers solid intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 8, we could understand every word we recorded clearly. There wasn't much in the way of Bluetooth distortion, and the audio was crisp. Our only complaint is that the mic signal seems a little faint. ConclusionsWhen working it’s an app (on iOS at least) that’s easy to use and swift to navigate. It offers the option to tweak to ANC and passthrough levels, customise the M-button function (Equaliser, Google Assistant and Siri), a choice between the Equaliser presets (or create your own) and an Auto-off timer. Battery life status can be viewed and the app will push updates over-the-air. Fire up Kraftwerk’s The Robots and there’s still plenty of rich, liquid bass, it just doesn’t hit with quite the strength or authority of the Sony WH-1000XM3 or the Bowers & Wilkins PX7.