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Sony WH-1000XM4 Review (noise cancelling headphone)

onslash

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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.
Have you tried the bose 700 ? In my 5 minutes with them , i felt it was a decent upgrade over qc35 ii. But haven't spend enough time for a direct comparison between it and the xm4.
 

DrJayDub

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I haven’t tried the Bose 700. I think most opinions are consistent with yours, those I have read or heard anyway.
 

DrJayDub

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The XM4 do exhibit the ANC “hiss” or “windy” background but it seems much reduced compared to my Bose QC35 II. I don’t tend to use BT very often with them
 

mkawa

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i didn't notice an ANC hiss. possibly a windy-ish background. i figured it was normal for ANC headphones, and goes away when actually playing something
 

Kachda

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I have the 1000XM2s bought 3 years ago and they are still going strong.

Agree with many of the points made already in the thread - their Raison d'être is ANC. I am not saying they shouldn't be tested for sound quality, but they should be compared to other headphones with ANC for sound quality as well as ANC performance. Rtings does this.

1. These are great for commutes/air travel. Pre COVID I have gone on some long flights (12hr+) and the relief of wearing this to cancel out the engine's drone is very welcome..
2. The 1000XM2s are just ok at blocking out human voice but I've heard XM4 has improved in this regard.
3. Using these passively kinds of defeats the purpose. If you do want to use an amplifier, I would still leave it on so that ANC is kept active. The reduction in the noise floor in the room is helpful to hear music at lower volumes.
4. I find them quite comfortable in winter and air-conditioned spaces, but in summer outside they can get very hot on the ear.

Since I only use headphones for listening while traveling/commuting, these serve me perfectly. I had compared them to the Bowers & Wilkins PX when I bought it - I found the B&W ANC to not work as well, and they would get no kind of seal at all when wearing even the thinnest glasses.

Comparing Amir and Rtings tests for FR shows very similar results (though rtings uses a wider vertical scale causing things to look quite similar). One difference is that the peak seen in Amirs chart around 4k and 5k is pushed out to around 8k.

Rtings.
1611774933631.png


Amir
1611774958521.png
 

starfly

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I had the Bose NC700 and the Sony XM4. Between the two, I'd argue the Bose has the better NC, especially on airplanes (it just becomes dead quiet), whereas with the XM4 I could still faintly hear the engines. I ended up gifting the NC700 to my brother and sold the XM4 as I didn't find them that comfortable for extended wearing (e.g. on long flights). The NC700 was very comfortable to wear on an 8 hour flight, the whole flight.

Hoping Bose bring out a successor to the NC700 that also supports AptX HD and LDAC. As it is, the Bose only supports SBC/AAC.
 

ezra_s

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My kids keep screaming and yelling all day long, will these help? Asking for a friend :oops:.., ouch!
 
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amirm

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@amirm Can you please also show the earcup measurements in millimeters (mm)? That's more precise than inches. Thanks!
Yeh, my bad. I will switch to that in the next review.
 

Hidde

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Awesome! I was really hoping for these to be reviewed :)
I had auditioned the XM3's and found them to be very bass heavy (or lack of mids might be a better phrasing). The measurements confirm it.

Sad to see that I haven't found a GOOD noise canceling headphone. The bose 700's check all the boxes (wireless, good ANC and water resistant and >20H battery). Covid doesn't allow listening in store unfortunately. Anyone got suggestions for ANC headphones I should try?
 

Labjr

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I have some WW2 era headphones which may make the recommended list with a little EQ . :D
 

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amirm

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Anyone got suggestions for ANC headphones I should try?
I am getting some other ones sent in soon. So we will have more data to compare.
 

Svet

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I have the XM3. In Bluetooth mode, it accept LDAC (if your phone has it, like the Galaxy S8 and up), but the highest quality (around 990kb) is not functional, as the debit isn't sustainable and I end up with a lot of dropouts if the phone is more than 12 inches away. However the sound quality is better than with the standard (SBC) codec. If I use a Media Player (USB Audio Player Pro, a few $) and a wired connection, things are way better. This app has a parametric EQ ($), and when I use an external DAC (mine is the E1DA) with Oratory EQ presets, I get a very good sound.
 

mkawa

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Abc and aac are noticeably worse than ldac on the xm4s. I found them pretty comfortable and they have a number of personalization options like anc calibration to your ears, activity detection, etc,

also, I was able to walk around my house with ldac via my phone without any dropouts. That is about 40ft linearly with walls etc in the way? Bt5.0 is definitely in use on these. Multipoint is a bit buggy but did work for me in highly controlled situations
 

mugbot

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Awesome! I was really hoping for these to be reviewed :)
I had auditioned the XM3's and found them to be very bass heavy (or lack of mids might be a better phrasing). The measurements confirm it.

Sad to see that I haven't found a GOOD noise canceling headphone. The bose 700's check all the boxes (wireless, good ANC and water resistant and >20H battery). Covid doesn't allow listening in store unfortunately. Anyone got suggestions for ANC headphones I should try?

I have the Shure Aonic 50 and really like it.
 

Feelas

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Awesome! I was really hoping for these to be reviewed :)
I had auditioned the XM3's and found them to be very bass heavy (or lack of mids might be a better phrasing). The measurements confirm it.

Sad to see that I haven't found a GOOD noise canceling headphone. The bose 700's check all the boxes (wireless, good ANC and water resistant and >20H battery). Covid doesn't allow listening in store unfortunately. Anyone got suggestions for ANC headphones I should try?
QC35-II nicely react to being Harman-EQ'd, in fact I like them very much, even without EQ. The THD on active mode was measured by @solderdude and is impressive.
 
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