Sony WH-1000XM4 Review (noise cancelling headphone)

[jcebedo11]

Is that with or without the noise cancelling turned on?

I've had the XM2s for a few years and have been very happy with them for their intended usage - i.e. blocking ambient noise and listening to low level background music while travelling on public transport which I do a couple of times a month. I would judge their out of the box sound (over Bluetooth and with NC active) to be better than any of my wired headphones without EQ.

both settings are bad. It has colored midrange which for me is unlistenable. The akg earphones that came free with my samsung s10e has a more pleasant midrange.

 

[Sukie]

At what $$ level does that something that requires equalization to be listenable to not automatically get a headless panther?

On the matter of headphones, personally I would prefer the headless panther to be reserved for those that cannot be made to "work" even with equalisation. But I do understand where you're coming from.

 

[martijn86]

I had both the mark 3 and the supposedly much improved mark 4 when they came out and returned them within two weeks. The reviews were excellent but the actual headphone did nothing for me. I can see the average person with only a bluetooth speaker at home say that the 1000X sounds fine or great even when they have had no higher end experience. To me, it sounded soooo lifeless. I couldn't get into the music. Eventually I backed the Drop Panda which certainly isn't perfect but at least I enjoy hearing them. It is expected that the Drop Panda will get an app with customisable DSP and I cannot wait to test that.

PS Ask yourself if you really need active cancellation because a good sealed passive closed-back goes a long way.

 

[MayaTlab]

I need to test the Bose and Beats to see how bad they are. Hopefully someone will send them in.

If you ever get your hands on the AirPods Pro or Airpods Max be careful when measuring them as Apple's Adaptive EQ works a little bit differently from the usual feedback ANC mechanism and I believe, also works when ANC is off as well, albeit with a slightly different mode of operation. It's very important that you play pink noise - or at least a broad signal - right before measuring their response or every time you switch from ANC on to off, and favour measuring them with broad signals over sweeps if possible. Don't switch from ANC on to off and immediately perform the test.

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020...gic-of-airpods-in-a-stunning-over-ear-design/

You should not observe a significant difference between ANC on and off if you got it right (unless the HPs have become defective which can happen over time with the AirPods Pro at least) - at least nowhere near as much as some people's measurements suggest (a 5dB delta between ANC on and off on such a broad range would easily be A/Bed in subjective listening tests) :

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1348072065954299905

https://www.0db.co.kr/index.php?mid=REVIEW_0DB&page=6&document_srl=1017408

 

[bluefuzz]

Ask yourself if you really need active cancellation

I would answer emphatically yes. I found the XM2s to be life changing when travelling by bus or train. They very effectively remove the low rumble which means I don't have to turn everything up to drown out the noise and deafen myself in the process - and annoy my fellow passengers. Much better than ordinary closed-backs.

 

[3125b]

„muffeld and unpleasent“ describes it pretty well, I was all but impressed when I tried these a few month ago.
I guess people don‘t buy them for their sound quality but rather for convenience.
350€ still seems just too much money, the XM3 were down to about 220€, wich is much more reasonable.

 

[Koeitje]

„muffeld and unpleasent“ describes it pretty well, I was all but impressed when I tried these a few month ago.
I guess people don‘t buy them for their sound quality but rather for convenience.
350€ still seems just too much money, the XM3 were down to about 220€, wich is much more reasonable.

During Black Friday the XM3's were €199, I think that is a fair price for them. On mobile I use Wavelet, so they don't sound muffled anymore.

 

[Jimbob54]

Just want to add that the active mode (better sound) does not need to have noise cancelling active:

passive: bad sound
Active (on): good
Active and noise cancelling on: good and noise cancelling

I was going to ask that question, did A try them (or test) with active on but ANC off. I guess not but that is how i listen to my V2 unless in very noisy environment.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Not a fan boy. Just check out the iFixit tear down. You’ll be impressed. Take a look at steps 16-18 below:

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/AirPods+Max+Teardown/139369

Yes, and consider how much more you can pay for "audiophile" headphones which have crap performance.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Probably @amirm meant claustrophobic instead of cluster phobic. Not sure.

In the context of "Gone is the recessed and cluster phobic sound" I'd put money on you being correct. It's a strange auto "correction" though.

 

[DrJayDub]

My ears tell me that the xm4 is better than qc35II . But i've only tested both with their built in amplifiers via bluetooth.

I agree with you on this. I have both the Bose QC35II and the Sony XM4. I find the Sony’s to sound better than the Bose. I use them both with the internal amp and ANC on.
if the team is interested I would be willing to send in my Bose QC35II for testing. Not using them much these days.

 

[bt3]

Many years back purchased four brand new sealed box pairs of Bose QC25's at a very large discount. I use rechargeable batteries. Now on pair number three. Have listened to Sony's as well as Bose QC35I/II and Bose 700's. Nothing there to make me want those. For studying/reading books with need for noise abatement, for listening to digital audio books/educational recordings, the Bose QC25's have been a God-send. The Bose ear pad's wear out to soon. OEM Bose pads are only ones to use as replacements for QC25 and they are expensive. Third party pads are no-go and I've done that. Loads of buttons, swipes, etc. are a PITA and not my thing. Been there, done that. Keeping a lookout for my next NC headphone as my QC25's will not last indefinitely. Very good active NC, lightweight, small form factor and affordable. That's the cat's meow. Too much to ask? I think not, but won't hold my breath. The latest Bose 700 did not fit my head as well as the QC25/35 design - though I get that consumers expect ever-evolving appearance and oodles of features.

 

[JohnBooty]

Hi,

Mind you, I'll NEVER EVER pay more than 50 or 60 euros for headphones that work good in active mode only and offer no passive mode.

Because : if electronics fail AND/OR when battery will (inevitably) fail, you have scrap metal/plastic. So I will not move to the B&O H95 and stick to the H9 for wireless usage.

But of course, this is only a personal POV of a an old conservative european guy... and I will not force my views of durability upon any member of this forum.

Regards.

I agree with you. At least on the batteries. Electronics don't usually fail. But batteries *always* fail. I liked the Bose QC25 because they used a standard AAA battery.

I would potentially consider a newer Sony or Bose model if they are popular enough to have an ecosystem of third-party replacement batteries. I know that such an ecosystem exists for the QC35s. Lots of YouTube videos showing up to do the replacement. It's an inconvenience I might be willing to put up with every few years. Maybe.

(I know mentioning Bose is like poison. They're not audiophile! But in active mode the QC25 sound pretty nice and sometimes noise canceling trumps audio quality if work needs to be done or I'm on a flight...)

Many years back purchased four brand new sealed box pairs of Bose QC25's at a huge discount. I use rechargeable batteries with them. I'm on pair number three now. I've listened to the Sony's as well as the Bose QC35I/II and Bose 700's.

Yeah I spent about an hour with the QC35 and found them too bass-heavy compared to the QC25, which definitely have boosted bass but in a way I did not find to be obnoxious.

You can still (usually) buy factory refurb'd QC25's from Bose's eBay store at a decent price, usually like $125. I've been thinking about getting a second pair as a "backup" especially since my wife seems to have claimed my first pair. (They are not currently available at that price, sadly)

 

[mkawa]

fyi the sony connect app has a toy 5 band eq built into it that applies to active mode. when i kind of roughed out oratory's curve, the sound improved to "listenable". also works particularly well from android phones due to an excellent implementation of LDAC

i returned my first pair (purchased at 350$), but bit again at 280$. look at it this way: the qudelix 5k costs 110$ and you still have to deal with the cable to the qudelix, don't get ANC or the other somewhat nice (but still also a bit buggy) touch controls, assistant and easy to use programable button. (although the qudelix has a PEQ, which is nothing to sneeze at). the tax you're paying over a passive headphone is easily > 150$, so as a 100$ headphone with all the quality of life features built in, it makes some sense.

note that the lack of power from the internal amplifier is not so bad when you use ANC. much like good sealing IEMs like the etymotics you need very little power to drive them to reasonable volumes.

that said, the lack of "head noise" from the ANC has weird side effects. my girlfriend says that when the ANC is on i "breathe very loudly".

conclusion: poor value at 350. reasonable value at 280. not a good audiophile headphone. the utility + passable sound is what you're paying for.

ETA: by the time that battery dies, these will be obsolete. fact of buying beep boop things these days.

ETA2: wavelet doesn't work with amazon music HD. if anyone has a fix for that, please post. i would switch back to tidal but for the cost and horrible recommendation algorithms. i'd switch back to spotify but the compression artifacts are not so good. UAPP also doesn't support amHD. much like the sony connect app, the android version of amHD now has a 5 band eq, but the frequencies are bizarre. have no had good luck with it.

 

[chronoso]

I picked up the previous version (xm3's) for frequent air travel. They're excellent, as has been stated, for casual listening to music, movies, podcasts, etc at the airport, on the bus, and in flight. Noise cancellation even of transients is fantastic.

When work travel ended last year, I started using them at my desk (office removed the doors to the production floor as an effort to reduce touch surfaces, but obviously increased the noise levels) for a while, but the sound quality is indeed not the best when sitting passively and the wireless/battery power is less necessary. Switched over to a pair of iSines and am much happier. Interesting to see the measurements, thanks as always for doing the science.

Excited for a future where I get to wear the xm3's for their intended use case again though.

 

[123456789]

Yes, and consider how much more you can pay for "audiophile" headphones which have crap performance.

And then connect them to the "new benchmark" amplifier, that will fry them...

 

[Dj7675]

I purchased these and had them sent to Amir. I was hoping for a little better. I wanted a headphone for travel on plane/train and also to use at home. I was guessing that the active mode would be ok and that looks to be the case. I was hoping that the passive mode would be ok too and sounds like it is with EQ. I thought Amir made a mistake on the price as I actually purchased them for $348 but a day later there was a price drop. These would probably be fine for their intended use, but going to keep looking. I am now considering the Apple AirPods Max.

 

[GeorgeWalk]

I purchased these and had them sent to Amir. I was hoping for a little better. I wanted a headphone for travel on plane/train and also to use at home. I was guessing that the active mode would be ok and that looks to be the case. I was hoping that the passive mode would be ok too and sounds like it is with EQ. I thought Amir made a mistake on the price as I actually purchased them for $348 but a day later there was a price drop. These would probably be fine for their intended use, but going to keep looking. I am now considering the Apple AirPods Max.

I have a pair of these (Sennheiser PCX-550) that I use for traveling. Very comfortable and they sound fine (The haven't been measured by Amir, but I could be persuaded to sending them in for testing).
https://thesleepcode.com/products/s...MInprPsLu87gIVLfjjBx34cQ5REAAYASAAEgKE2_D_BwE

 

[Feelas]

Yeah I spent about an hour with the QC35 and found them too bass-heavy compared to the QC25, which definitely have boosted bass but in a way I did not find to be obnoxious.

Interestingly, QC35 (at least QC35-II) might come off as bass-heavy merely because the used EQ approximates the equal loudness curves when used - it boosts the bass on lower levels to keep in line, and that's probably why.

 

[ZööZ]

How bad is the ANC and BT hiss nowadays?
Didn't see any mention of how noticeable it is so first kinda just thought that there isn't any but on a second thought want to make sure.