I love these for the NC and comfort. But I kept telling people I felt the sound was kind of flat and muddy. I kept watching reviews and everyone praised the sound, so I felt I was being too nit picky. I'm not an audiophile or anything. After setting the EQ the way you recommended it sounds a lot better! But I don't want to use the low quality connection, so I'll have to look up a third party equalizer for my pixel.
If you think this is bad, they you'd really hate the Bose qc35ii. Those absolutely sonically sucked compared up the xm3. I really don't understand why people would say they sound superior. I'm definitely no audiophile, but now I understand the saying "No highs, no lows, must be Bose."
To my ears these 3rd Gen Air pods are more comfortable compared to the newer Pro version with the soft gel tips. ru-vid.comUgkxgl8SzyQoymMu-S3V55Dskg5QJ8xr1yCR That said, compared to the 3rd Gen, I notice these do not stay planted in the ear as well. One design issue I think, is you squeeze the stem and click it twice to advance your songs. On 3rd gen you tap the large speaker. The difference is by grabbing the stem each time, you tend to loosen the bud fit in your ear. Not always, but the bud falls out a few times while running. The old tap to change never had that problem for me. I would not have changed that tap function. That said, the newer Pro version sticks in the ear, almost airtight if you want that. I do not like that Airtight fit. So that's why I'd stay with this version as the best trade off of comfort, use, and overall feel.
If you have a samsung phone, go to settings /sounds quality and effects/adapt sound/add personalized sound profile..... and also enable Developer options/bluetooth audio codec and properly set to LDac. Now go back and listen to the XM3, youll hear the difference.
doesn't work tho, you have to go to settings for your audio device in the bluetooth section on your phone and turn a switch on. If you do it your way it won't stay in the codec LDAC...
@@alexanderstojanov4342 hmmmm..my samsung s10 plus does, after ive done that, i run the sony app and it shows the can connected via LDac... i use Hiby player cause most my files are DSDs and Flacs... no mp3s...(of course bluetooth toggle has to be on)
This is the best review I’ve seen, finally someone talking about the sound of the headphones. I don’t think there’s enough RU-vidr’s that appeal to people who actually care about the sound and not all the other fancy stuff.
It's easier to be pleased with it if we haven't experienced better. Like 720p vs 1080p vs 2160p. There was no perceived reason to upgrade until exposed to higher resolutions. It sounds good enough for me; for now.
I don't see the point of a BT audio codec. It should support all common in passthrough; users choice of those if source isn't supported. Converting just wastes energy and latency. Imagine how much longer your charge would last or range you might get if it didn't convert a lower bitrate to much higher. That requires more power to the antennas at both ends.
Can you give the EQ settings for the Sony app please? Despite the lower sound quality, a photo of your expert settings in there would have been very helpful!
Well, audiophiles don't really like when it adds too much. The headphones shouldn't change or add anything to the sound of the track you're listening to.
@@alexanderstojanov4342 "audiophiles don't really like..." Wrong. Professional critical listening vs listening for fun is a distinction that anyone who claims to like audio must make.
Panth Mantheon dude honestly, audio quality a lot of times are preference. I’m a music producer myself I used a lot of headphones that are “flat rate” for mixing, but when I’m not producing what I wanted is just a nice pair of headphones I can listen to casually and jam to; and the Sony did just that.
In my experience the out of the box experience has improved with simple firmware updates where that mid bass is not really that present any more. Great channel and edit my friend ;)
I bought these specifically for the ANC performance. However, I don’t feel that they sound bad per se, but they are tuned with a sound signature that I don’t really like. EQing in the app dramatically changes the sound, so I feel that the headphones are capable, but not tuned to our liking. I am on iOS, so I don’t have any of the higher end Bluetooth codecs. Nonetheless, I would compare the sound of these to a $150-200 headphone, but with industry leading ANC. I prefer the sound of these (after EQ) over my modded-Sennheiser HD555, but they don’t come close to my HD650 or HD800. Where these really shine is on an airplane. They cancel out so much outside noise, that I can comfortably listen to music or movies at a low volume and still be able to hear everything. There aren’t many headphones out there that can provide this level of sound quality in that kind of environment. I would say that the sound is 3/5 , but overall it’s a still a home run 5/5.
It's called a review. Where the person in the video, the reviewer, reviews the item he is reviewing. That means that, if he is any good, he is going to explain everything about the item. He might even give some personalized situations to going even deeper in depth.
thank you so much for the eq picture, I had the same feeling about the soundquality and now they sound way better then before when they had mud on the drivers ;)
Honestly, I personally qualify a headphone's sound quality based on what potential they have after EQ. I never really run any headphones "stock out of the box", because for me I want a different sound profile for different types of music to begin with, never mind from headphone to headphone. Some headphones sound pretty great out of the box, but don't have as much range they can be EQd without falling apart. The struggle is, this information can be EXTREMELY hard to find as most people just review SQ when the headphones are flat. All that being said, in my experience with these headphones, this is my "out of 10" scale for these cans. Out of the box (compared to any headphones) 4/10 Out of the box (compared to Bluetooth ANC competitors) 7/10 EQ potential (compared to any headphones) 6/10 EQ potential (compared to Bluetooth ANC competitors) 9/10 In my opinion (and I've tested vmoda cf 2 codex, B&W PX, Bose qc35ii, and nuraphones, as well as airpods pro, and the in ear xm3s), the XM3s while not sounding amazing out of the box, have the 2nd best potential when EQd. The best is the nuraphones, by a long shot. The problem is, for me the nuraphones are not your typical Bluetooth headphone... they are very much a "sit and listen" headphone, which removes much of the use case for a BT headphone. With that in mind, the XM3s currently present the best wireless sound signature when properly EQd in my estimation. They are far from perfect, but I still think you can't do any better if you want a wireless ANC headphone you plan on actually moving around in.
@@lennyswagmaster6567 Men i ve been trying like 7 Eq including yours, Re Equalizer and my 2 phone equializer but all of them has problem, if I increase 16k or 8k Mh to +10 the volume drops down. The only Eq that works well it's from Sony's app but I lose LDAC .
@@whenwillitbecold how can you compare airpods pro, truly wireless earbuds that frankly don't sound like they cost 250 USD, to over the ear headphones that do sound good enough for 250 USD (how much I got them on sale for)?
I have both the Sony WH-1000xM2 and the Bose QC 35II. I agree that there is muddiness to the Sonys whereas the Bose are brighter. However, I enjoy the Sony sound more because of the extra punchiness of the bass. I think that Bose has better noise cancelling and comfort; they're light and can be worn for hours without getting hot. The Sonys are heavier and get hot. I'll also give the Bluetooth pairing ease to Bose - I can stay connected to 2 devices with no problem and the connection is immediate/remembered. With the Sony bluetooth, I find myself having to turn off and turn on the headphones and device to get a successful pair. Finally, for calls - Sonys sound awful, but calls are crystal clear on the Bose. No doubt you're paying for the wireless bluetooth on both of these.
Finally some talk about how these really sound, not for a NC Bluetooth headphone but just for a pair of cans in general. Well done. All the NC and Bluetooth don't count for anything if the headphones don't sound decent too. Luckily it looks like it can be EQd to reasonable quality sound.
best and honest review of these headphones, because I had the same feeling when I tested these because I was worried maybe I'm being a hater about the sound signature. I'm glad I'm not the only one.
I've just returned these headphones to the store for the exact same reasons you mention in this video. I bought these headphones before a flight...got on the flight and was absolutely blown away by the Noise Cancelling. However, I agree with everything you say, I thought there was way to much mid-bass and the sound was muddy. I checked on a few different genres and even my own music, and still thought the same...they completely changed the mix of my track. Like you, I fixed this using EQ, however after a few hours of use I decided that £250 is too much for a pair of headphones that I need to tweak my EQ on my music app every time I want t o use them. For £250, they should sound excellent straight out of the box.
@@armza9975 see this is where I stumble, I don't know. What I do know is that time after time I reach for my Bose SoundTrue Ultra in-ear earphones. They're not noise cancelling. They're not bluetooth. They don't have any flashy gimmicks. They are however my favourites. Bluetooth is so convenient, but at the cost of sound quality, I take wired every day. That being said I have just signed up to the subscription with Nuraphone - just to see what they're like. Here's a link to the subscription: bit.ly/2tNpxSv
£250 isn't much for a pair of headphones, it's even less for a pair of ANC Bluetooth headphones. My wired Sennheiser headphones cost over £1000 and the headphones I take out doors (Philip's Fidelio x2hr) cost more than these Sony headphones. If you want excellent quality music you don't buy Bluetooth headphones at £250.
A picture of the Sony eq would have been interesting. Is it normal that there is a slight hiss using this headphones with noise canceling on or do I have a bad unit?
The audio quality drops to that of a 128kbps MP3 (trash) every time the mic is in use. Completely useless for calls, meetings, online gaming etc. More info: www.reddit.com/r/sony/comments/g3m22l/dont_wh1000xm3_audio_quality_drops_on_call/
@@johannesjungsounds can confirm this does happen, all you have to do is select a a different mic and you're good to go, have been gaming on these for a decent while
If you use the Sony companion app for the XM3 - you can use the EQ there. And the big difference is that the EQ is stored on the headphone unit itself. I.e. if you connect the XM3 to a different device the EQ is kept. This is why LDAC and EQ wont work together as both require the on device DSP - and I guess there is not enough processing to decode LDAC and shape the sound using the EQ.
Jarl S hmm... 🤔 it has 4 times stronger faster chip vs XM2 but they didn’t improve this... it’s merely 4 processors if multitasking the DSP... Sony is lazy or won’t give you all you need. XM4 is coming in few months though... Also if you use EQ regardless it stay on the phone, unless you use iPhone, it’d fall back to SBC if you check again. On my Pixel I forced it to use AAC but after recheck it won’t stay. Sony is making this really difficult.
@@SpringloftStudio It is pure speculation from my side. I "discovered" that the EQ is kept when my wife used the XM3 for a flight. She does not have the app installed on her phone - but she got the EQ i have setup using the app on my phone. So the EQ stays - and that's when it made "sense" to me that LDAC disables EQ (perhaps decompressing/decoding LDAC takes to much DSP for it to simultaneously do EQ. Anyho - you can get LDAC and EQ using a third party player such as poweramp.
Jarl S Then in this case the logic is that the Sony app will purposely disable LDAC and APTX or APTX HD. It’s a matter of the right procedure not speculation, but it should be Sony telling us this sensibly expected capability. What we can prove this is: 1. You probably recognise your EQ sound or can major it weird 2. Change to LDAC in Dev Options 3. Disconnect the headphone or switch it off 4. Change to another phone without an app, or uninstall the app on the original phone 5. Switch on and connect to that clean phone immediately (can’t be the one with the app running in background) 6. Check again in Dev Option what’s the BT codec in use, of it’s LDAC or not 7. If LDAC, play some audio 8. Exit and enter Dev Option again while he audio streaming, if it’s still showing LDAC. 9. Repeat steps 7-8 1-2 more times just to confirm consistency and delay in headphone reporting/reacting BT status to phone I have not done it yet by removing the app but it’s a good suspicion. However you’ll not have adaptive ANC (which I don’t find it accurate or useful anyway) and any other features, eg optimisation which some said reducing cabin pressure. At your side you may want to keep checking the Dev Option again when connected to both your your phones one by one? Anyway this is a Sony problem and we’ve been working way too hard for them for free! Thanks
@@SpringloftStudio I totally get what the experiment is. Unfortunately my wife's phone does not support LDAC. And I'm not sure if i want to unistall the app from my phone. But i may try with a friends phone if i get a chance. The reason i know the EQ is the same on my wife's phone is that i have turned down the bass EQ on the XM3 significantly - making the overall sound much less muddy. BTW - is not the BT protocol used negotiated between devices? I.e. if a phone is "set" to LDAC - but the XM3 handshake says that it is currently only SBC capable - that's' what you get?
Jarl S Understand. I may try that but give me some time. Our target is whether your method allow XM3 staying in anything other than SBC, and yes if the chip cannot handle LDAC + anything else then the connection will be SBC anyway. But from the point you brought up which also make sense, the app can be the culprit. Then there’d be a method. In Android if you change the CODEC in Dev Option, it’s only showing what you set. You may need to exit and enter the Dev Option to check again if somethings change it again, and that’s what happening to me all these years since ... HTC one (M7) till now on Google Pixel 2 XL. It’s a matter which component changes the codec and I’m suspecting the app, can be the headphone too but that’s what we need to verify without the app. And that’s why we need to keep repeating the checking few times.
As someone who listens to a lot of heavy music. I thought the out of the box experience sounded pretty good. But I definitely understand complaints about the muddy bass when listening to other things
While you're listening to music, if someone is talking to you, you can hear them simply by holding your hand on top of your right ear. That will activate the build-in microphone and turn on ambient sound control. When releasing your hand, the music starts playing again. I just thought it was a nice feature.
Yeah, it's smart -- I find it more useful for eaves dropping type listening than for having conversations, since even though you know you can hear someone, I don't think most people know you can hear them when you're covering your ear. Wearing headphones + putting your hands over your ear can send the wrong signal.
By the way backed into the Samsung smartphone setting is a full 16 bands eq that works on a system level and it changes automatically when you blug in a wired device. You can have completely different eq settings for your Bluetooth and wired devices. Under advanced sound settings then press advanced.
@@SuperReview sorry it is a 9 band eq 😅 but you get what I mean. By the way you can also tune the phone speakers through this app. It will also have a different eq than wireless and wired devices. This also applied to Dolby Atmos.
Ahmed Wael That sounds fantastic, I’d kill for that feature on my iPhone. (The same old iPhone I haven’t upgraded because it still has a headphone jack)
@@ahmedwael3019 So of I want the BEST audio without it sounding muddy, I just plug it in wired and it will automatically adjust the audio settings? Or do I have to still go under advanced to set the right settings? I'm using S10+
Well, I guess what sounds good and what doesn't is kinda subjective. Personally I really like the default EQ settings, I guess you can't call it flat since the headphones always apply an EQ internally when they are powered up. When using the headphones over cable, while the headphones are turned off (so without EQ), the sound is a little less bassy, perhaps a little less warm. I prefer the sound with the headphones turned on (but without applying any EQ in the app or whatever). But from what you've said, I figure the sound of the headphones while turned off would be closer to what you prefer. It would have been interesting if you would have added a sound sample once flat and once tuned to the EQ you think sounds best on the headphones. Then people could have compare it for themselves (listening to the video on the WH-1000XM3). You could still add a link to a sample in the description of course. But I figure not so many people would notice if it's not in the video.
Another thing is his hearing could be damaged. You wouldn't believe how many "audiophiles" out there actually have trouble hearing past certain frequencies. Not to mention it also depends on what he is listening to and who. Most small musicians can't afford good mixing and mastering services so they do it themselves and they often end up with a muddy mix. There are times where even professionaly mixed and mastered songs sound awful. I always take these sort of reviews with a large portion of salt. If a vast majority say it's decent then it's probably decent. The term audiophile is for snobs and individuals who have very little to no sound engineering knowledge and just want you to think they know what they are talking about because they are an "audiophile".
hey! I Really enjoyed your video. Thank you! I just have one question. As a person who doesn't really listen to much music, but sits in an office and listens to a lot of "academic" videos, would you recommend this? you rate the quality of the sound a 2/5 which kind of discouraged me, but I just don't know if I myself would find a difference. I use basic 90$ headphones usually, but i wanted to get a better quality headphone and this one is reviewed very well! What do you think? Thanks for any information:)!
for academic videos these will probably punch well above the necessary standard. The low rating is probably because of an emphasis on bass that the cans have, which creates a rather colored sound vs a flat frequency response some people prefer. the tldr is that the sony's emphasis bass because it makes people groove more and the masses like it, if you aren't too concerned about critical listening with uncompressed sound files, I think these would work just fine. ANC is amazing(from personal experience). Also, there is a setting in the app that is for speeches, so I'm sure whatever video lectures you watch will be very clear.
After couple of days with these I can say in simple words sound wise: for listening to deep subbass music like trap, dnb/dubstep I believe you can go better. For listening as mentioned in review mid bass tracks it goes very nice. I’m listening quiet lot of roots reggae music, mostly recorded with “live” instruments and I can say that these headphones suits me very well for such. Punchy clear bass, ambient mids and trebles especially whit a bit of eq correction. I can say that these are quiet “honest” sounding for original tracks with no “own sound signature” Regarding noice cancellation they are great 👍 Power blue light is pissing me off as well at darkness Cheers
I own these along with way too many other headphones. Thankfully my wife hasn’t divorced me yet from buying thousands of dollars worth of gear but I actually really like them. If you want clean neutral detail these aren’t necessarily it but they are really nice for movies and gaming. I have no problem with the soundstage and imaging. The noise canceling puts me in my own world playing games or watching movies. The mid bass is very prominent however I do not find the bass in these to be muddy. The drivers do have the capability to deliver some pretty good detail if you EQ the bass down a bit. I do notice if you use them wired the headphones need to be turned on. The drivers by themselves sound kind of weird but when you turn them on DSP correction kicks in and they sound great. That’s probably their biggest weakness. Digital signal processing allows for tuning. It would be great if the raw drivers were spot on but the only way you can really enjoy them is when they are turned on. All said and done I think these are the best noise canceling Bluetooth headphones on the market if you want to drown out the world and enjoy movies and gaming. Music is certainly great too but if you’re picky you can use EQ settings
Men i ve been trying like 7 Eq including Re Equalizer and my 2 phone equializer but all of them if I increase 16k or 8k Mh the volume drops down. The only Eq that works well it's from Sony's app but I lose LDAC .
THANK YOU. This was EXACTLY my reaction listening to these cans. Bass, mud, congestion, lack of detail. Everyone was raving about the sound and I was shaking my head. But, like you, I found that EQ really helped. But they aren't what I want to listen to unless I need that noise cancellation.
Well , that's what you would hear from average joe - he'd praise it. And due to hype , everyone else would try to justify his dumbness to overpay , so they'd call it "best ever". Same with all other peripherals - keyboards , mousepads , mice. Avg. Joe would say g pro , g502 , qck? All 3 far from true.
What a great review, I really love it. Question: I prefer using the EQ settings in the Sony app, because it will be stored in the headphones. In this way the sound will more or less be the same with different devices. Your eq settings in your video, was not from The Sony app, but you told us that you could make the sound allmost as good with the Sony headphone app eq settings. (except the bluetooth protocoll..) Can you tell me the EQ settings, you recommend for the Sony headphone app? Ik was searching for it, but I can only find your own settings (outside of the sony app). Thank you for your good work.
Thanks Taco. I don’t have the headphones connected to my phone anymore (my wife took them over), but the Sony-app EQ should work the same as the settings I showed. Maybe only difference is I would also turn off the “Clear Bass” option.
Your are so right about the sound quality of these headphones. My first impression after listening 5 seconds to a random song was "uh oh... I hope there is a good equalizer available or we will never be true friends." As much as I like everything else about them, this really sucks ass, plus the fact that you can only use the lowest transmission standard when using the Sony app's equalizer. This is a shame. But after finding a really good equalizer and being in the lucky position of only using it with Spotify on my phone, it is great. Otherwise I would have had to return it.
@@gyro6181 Eqfy works fine for me. No useless gimicks and it works perfect with spotify for example. But I had to return the WH1000XM3 anyway. No matter what I tried they sound way too narrow for my taste. They seem to be incapable of creating the wide sound bubble I like to float in. With these headphones its more like a sound fish glas. QC35II is what I replaced them with. Sorry Sony, I really tried.
Hi. Spotify has pretty bad quality of music. Try switching to Tidal. They have mostly .flac-Files available. You should maybe also consider to change the phone to a newer LG since those have a QuadDAC with ALL necessary options to tweak the sound (digital filters, virtual surround, balancer, EQ) and its plays most of the headphones louder than other phone because of the 75 seperate volume settings. I use this setup and cant even complain a bit. Set the digital filter to short (more kickbass) and thats all i had to tweak for a crisp sound. Hope it helps.
@@Capo2209 thank you for the tip. It's just that I am well aware of which stream provides which quality and no matter which one I try, in direct comparison the Sony always sounds way too narrow and just not how I like it. Again, I really want to like it but Bose seems to get it just right for my taste and Sony doesn't
Try the app "Precise Volume (+ EQ/Booster)" if you have an Android phone. It supports system-wide EQ and, unlike Sony's app, won't lower from better codecs down to SBC.
i like how you are still answering to youtube comments on a 2 year old video. Now thats some serious dedication towards providing accurate information. keep up the grind man i hope your channel grows quick!
Thanks for mentioning the problems when using EQ. I'll give these a pass. The noise cancelling is amazing, but in the shop the sound signature was atrocious.
I consider myself an Audiophile and i absolutely love them. I didnt leave them flat i used the eq settings to my liking. I have a LG V40 and i was able to fine tune them to the sound profile i like.
First review I've seen which included the Bluetooth / EQ downgrade and sound quality. Great job! Makes me think further before buying these headphones.
I purchased these today which will get here on Tuesday. The only real reason I made the purchase was my stubborn government's ground works. They stopped for several weeks because of the coronavirus but the drills and other machinery very close to my home was driving me completely nuts. I couldn't do a thing or focus on any sort of work with that noise (and playing very loud music to drown it out doesn't work for me) and because I had to stay home with the noise six days a week, I ended up inverting my sleep pattern and sleeping in the day instead. (Bizarrely I can sleep like a rock around loud sound that isn't in very close proximity.) So yeah, no way in hell I'm going through that again. Really messed up my circadian rhythm so I bought what seems to be the best consumer noise cancellation on the market. So to me, music is secondary. I like good-quality music but in this case it would be a bonus. I have a pair of Skullcandy Crushers. They have noise cancellation but it's exactly as you described: an underwater-like sound that was a little problematic.
Everyone who considers buying these headphones should watch this video first! I bought both the WH-1000XM3 and the Bose NC 700 and after extensive testing, I returned the Sony's with pain in my heart. In theory, I think the Sony CAN be a much better sounding device than the Bose. After tweaking the Sony to my liking with the equalizer, it sounded absolutely incredible in many songs and created a much richer sound than the Bose could ever deliver. HOWEVER, on the default settings the Sony sounds absolutely horrible. The default settings sound so muddy it is almost like you are listening to music under water, or like your upstairs neighbours are listening to music and you can only hear the base. I would nonetheless have kept the Sony's if it would have offered the opportunity to permanently change the EQ settings in the app and store them so the new settings apply on any app and device. Unlike the Bose (after the firmware update), the Sony's however don't offer this possibility, with means that you are stuck to the default settings whenever you are using these headphones on another device than your phone or tablet (like a laptop of TV). Long story short: I would recommend the Sony's over the Bose if you only use them with your phone and you are willing to change the EQ-settings. But I would recommend the Bose to anyone else. They never sound as amazing as the Sony's can sound with the right settings, but at least they always sound descent.
Loved the review and the personal input of your minor gripes with the headphones. Just wanted to know what kind of music files were you listening to (FLAC/DSD) as well as if you forced LDAC to be in 990kbps on your s10 in developers options? Sony is notorious for having some extended bass and mid bass tuning wise but can you say you truly experienced the headphones to the fullest extent? I am in the market for these headphones and just truly just interested in how technical you were during your critical listening sessions. Thanks again for the review and I loved your shirt!
99% of my music is 16-bit FLAC. I forget exactly which LDAC settings I found, but I was able to maximize it. FWIW, I found these sound basically the same on LDAC versus lower codecs -- just not a very (lowercase hr) high-res sound.
I also feel these do not change much when using aptx, sbc, ldac listening to flac or tidal high quality. I have sonys mdr 1 abt and those sounded better in wireless mode using ldac in a quiet environment. Of course in noisy environment these are great. Sennheiser momentum 2 wireless / HD1 is also an option and is cheaper. It has noice cancelling that is OK but not Sony level but has better sound quality even if it only supports aptx.
One question... do you recommend these if you have an iPhone or should I get the Bose? Btw love your vids I just found your channel and for once someone gives an honest opinion Thanks 👍😀
You can try it for yourself, listen to a nice recording, something mainstream like Michael Jackson, and compare these Sonys to a good-sounding $300 headphone like Sennheiser HD600.
Thanks for the review and the EQ settings I am sure they were apreciated by many. I have had the Sony's for over a year and agree with you about the sound. I don't consider myself a audiophile but after a year of experimentation I use a similar EQ. I get most my music from Qobuz so I don't usually use an app with a seperate EQ ( I do have Neutron for the few FLAC files on my S10+) so I use the built in Android EQ. I Pulled 125 and 250 down to -10 and 63 to -7. The Adapt Sound feature on the Plus seems to work only on frequencies above 1K so after creating a profile for myself and applying it I left the EQ from 1K to 16K at 0. It sounds great but it sucks if I have to use the phones on some other device.
Men i ve been trying like 7 Eq including Re Equalizer and my 2 phone equializer but all of them if I increase 16k or 8k hz the volume drops down. The only Eq that works well it's from Sony's app but I lose LDAC .
100% agreed. I compared my XM3s to the Sennheiser HD 6XX and the DT 1990 Pro and yeah; the XM3 were very lacking in the sound quality area. Even Crinacle pointed out how XM3/XM4 are like the “beats” of the current times: bass canons. With EQ, I found them to be quite decent, but again, still a bit bassy and muddy. I still think they’re a good product if you value convenience the most. 30 hrs of battery life, excellent noise cancelling and fast charging are all great features. But headphones like DT 1990 Pro definitely have them beat in a lot of aspects in terms of sound: most notably soundstage, imaging and instrument separation.
Thank for the the EQ setting already a great headphone to an AWESOME headphone. You said you thought you "fixed it", well you did! WOW love my Sony headphones! best purchase in years yes!
A re-review should be done on these headphones because when you fixed them with the EQ settings, they were brand new for me. Now that the headphones have Brocken-in/Burn-in OMG. These are hands down amazing. Really would like a follow up on these headphones. And ready for that Sony Real 360 audio this fall, as you can tell, I’m HYPED! I k ow I sound like a commercial but I don’t care, that’s how much I like these cans!
@@simonbd5373 Deezer 360. So it was ok... I was like yea audio 360 is good... but the coolness wore off. I cancelled my service, BUT then I saw an update to the Sony app where it “takes” pictures of your ear. And I was like ok lets try the Deezer 360 app not that it downloaded the picture of my ears, supposedly to make the 360 music better... Ok I’m a believer in the 360 audio now, becasue it makes the sound stage so much larger... really like it. I really wish @Super* Review would also re-review because now its really just a difference experience. I anc’t even say the sound separation, because all the sound is separated... by the 360 audio... is really good, but dont over hype it. But i think this is how I want to listen to music now in the future.
Hi there! I'm a little confused. May I know if the EQ settings on the Sony app would still apply when playing on Spotify? And will the quality drop to SBC or a lower quality? Also just to confirm, if I were to use wire instead of Bluetooth, the problems mentioned in 15:16 won't occur right? Thanks!!
If you set EQ in the Sony Headphones app, yes, it will apply when playing Spotify. Yes, it will force Bluetooth into SBC mode. When using a wire, there's no Bluetooth involved. I'm not sure if the EQ works over the wire, though.
@@SuperReview Hey man, thanks for the reply! Ahh what a bummer... I was about to get myself this pair of headphones, but now I'm starting to reconsider a little. I hope this problem gets fixed for the upcoming XM4 hahaha
Loved the last 10 minutes of te review do you think the xm4 sound better than the wired version of the audio technica m50s? I'm willing to sacrifice ANC if the audio quality is better on the audio technica
Haven't heard XM4s, I'm kinda curious but afraid to spend $350 and sound the same. I don't think M50x is really an improvement, TBH not a big fan of either.
Well I'm happy I can customize my dolby Atmos settings for music and not lose ldac. Your sliders helped bring out my headphones sound alot. Thanks for those
Great video and a lot of helpful information! One question though: If you change settings on the Sony Connect App, are those settings "transferred" to the headset and still apply when the headset is used with other devices or with the cable, or do those settings only apply to the headset when connected to the device the settings was set on?
My understanding is that yes, that's what happens -- the settings are written to the internal processor of the headphones. But TBH I only ever used them on one device at a time.
Hey man, I feel the same way as you and I really felt let down upon the purchase of the XM3, especially after receiving so much praise online for it's sound quality. (even theSoundGuys rates it a 9/10 for sound quality) What equaliser settings did you use for the default sony app to at least produce a decent sound? I gave out trying after my ears fatigued out
I sold mine. To me they are way, way overpriced. My Grado MS-1's definitely sound better, and they were hundreds of dollars cheaper. What I will give the Sony's credit for is the noise cancellation, which is superb. It really is fantastic. Otherwise the sound just wasn't good enough for me, it simply did not match the Grado's, and I found myself not ever picking up the Sony's to use. No, the Grado's arent wireless but at the price for the Sony's I would expect a better sound than what they deliver, without having to mess around with EQ or anything.
upper bass for me made them boomy, but lowered 400Hz 2 notches and added more oomph to mids and upper mids and some slight lower treble. Now these sound quite similar to my Beyerdynamic DT-250 which are considered Studio reference. Quite satifsfied I have to say.
M Donovan alright, but is there anyway to change EQ for music not on the music app? Like I listen to music on RU-vid is there no way to change sound settings for that?
I bought a Sony WH-1000XM3 (200 EUR) and I have it since over a year now and I love it. Last week wanted to invest in a high quality studio headphone setup too so I bought a Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 250 ohm Headphone (129 EUR) with a Creative Sound BlasterX G6 DAC driver (159 EUR). I was listening to flac lossless music files and I can't hear the difference. I'm sending back these and keeping the 1000XM3. Well done Sony!
I just bought these headphones and haven’t got them yet. The only thing I have to compare them to is my AirPod pros and a 50 dollar pair of Sony extra bass headphones. I’m assuming these would at lease have better quality than the AirPod pros? Everyone also says that the Sony’s sound amazing except audiophiles. So what would you say are the best Bluetooth noise canceling headphone in terms of only noise quality and lastly the best sound quality headphone under 500? Thanks!
As you can tell, audiophiles aren't like regular people. High bass is actually something most people enjoy, and the highs come through very well. Also best in class noise cancelling... Buy the XM4s if you can, you won't regret it.
Can you please re-test Bose quite comfort 35ii after the new firmware 4.5.2? ANC high mode is barely the same as low mode! RTINGS has confirmed that ANC performance has decreased by 4 dB! Bose is denying this!! It's really disappointing from Bose that attitude to ruin a good product for the favour of it's new model..
13:48 Thank you very much! The other day I spent almost 3 hours comparing the QC35, 700 and the 1000XM3 at my local electronic store and ultimately decided to buy the XM3 because of batterylife, comfort, less noise canceling pressure, the fact that they had the most balanced sound and most importantly the app. It took me so long because I wasnt really 100% happy with either of them. I loved the high notes of the QC35 but the sound was to unbalanced and kind of harsh. The XM3 sacrifized the high notes and the clear sound for an overall fuller sound. The voices did sound better with the XM3s though. In the end I made my decision hoping the app would give me the possibility to save some of those high notes that get lost in the default settings. So thx very much for the screenshot of your settings!
Wouldn't call them balanced at all. In fact the Bose QC35 are much better balanced but they sound so rough and lack definition, they sound really harsh indeed. And the Sonys can be tweaked and have plenty of resolution (much smoother and more detail) to start with. ;) Also agree about comfort. The new 700 are less comfortable to me than the XM3 and still sound as harsh as the QC35.
K0E hi bro. Me too, i just got my xm3 today. Could you please give me proper settings of your EQ because the one on the video was different on the sony app.
Its better to have a boomy bass default sound that you can tune down to your own preferrence via eq rather than having a weak bass that you will need to increase via eq coz its not gonna sound good after that. Not everyone has the same ears or sound preferrence like you and sony knows that. They will create a sound signature that is pleasing to more people than the one that is pleasing to some like you.
@@DanLyndon sound quality is subjective for most. If most of people buying this enjoys the bass and the sound of it, it means its good quality sound for those people. You cannot force your ideology to most people just because you claim yourself as an audiophile and what not and tell people that this has bad sound. Thats your opinion. And Sony doesnt actually care about specific people's opinion like you. Their goal at the end of the day is to do business and to provide good quality products to most consumers, and not some nit picking critic few like you. Also, saying "for people who don't really know what they like in music" is the most stupid thing I've read in comments so far. People know exactly what they want to hear because its their ears and not yours. If they like the sound a headphone produced that means that what they like. They appreciate the sound quality of that. Saying that people dont know what they like in music is the most dumb line ever.
@@DanLyndon no. Its just being pathetic. Maybe your ears is really that bad and can only hear and discern sounds via audiophine grade super expensive headphones. Thats not a pro, thats more of a disability. Coz you're probably missing out hearing a lot of good sounds in life.
@@DanLyndon people know what they like is sound. Saying people don't know what they like in music is just so dumb trying to be douche as you can, resulting to a stupid ideology. Sound quality is subjective. Specially bass people might prefer the bass of this than a weak one. And vice versa. People might prefer a more balance one and other might not like high mids and trebles coz it hurts their ears and they might have super sensitive and great hearing compared to probably a weak one that needs an audiophile headset just to discern good sound quality. Sound is subjective. You cannot tell me that it is not. You're just being a typical human as it is, that always finds something to complain about. Coz thats what humans do. If you think the bass of this is muddy, then you probably need to rethink if its the headphones fault or your hearing ability is impaired that even in a great headphones like this, bass appears to be muddy to you and claiming it that this has bad sound quality. Maybe you just have a bad hearing.
@@DanLyndon no. I do not have this headset. I'm just baffled how many stupid douche bags are in the world saying people do not know what they like in music. Its like you are one of those 'know it all' type of person. Poor thing
@@SuperReview I ordered the M3 earlier today, passed on the M4 due to lack of anything but LDAC codec and there being issues with getting it to work at high bitrates with a lot of android devices. For the money ($200 new ebay) there really isn't much competition right now that I can see. At original retail price sure but not for two hundred bucks. I'm replacing a set of Sennheiser HD 4.40's that I enjoy a lot despite being my lameist headpones lol..
Good points you mentioned about the sound which is the main thing about headphones rather than features and techs that so many other reviewers talk about mostly. Personally I want a pair of headphones with great sound to enjoy the music. Thank you 🌻👍🙋♂️
In a quiet environment, I find many headphones will beat the xm3. The bass isn't that smooth, the highs are a little sibilant. Really just not that impressive. In any noisy environment, they crush anything that doesn't have as good NC.
I have not heard the Focals. Between the XM3s and the AKGs, uh... I'd probably buy the XM3s and EQ them and just deal with the fact that none of these are phenomenal.
Unlikely an external DAC/amplification will be better. When they operate over Bluetooth, there's some internal digital correction. If you use an external setup and connect with a wire, you won't get that correction.
@@SuperReview Yes i meant connected to with the wire not for bluetooth use. wouldn't have to buy another headphone then cause i already use this wired too.
TLDR: Muddy Bass.. But as expected for a wireless headphone, probably only 1/3 of the price you paid goes towards the sound quality, equivalent to the quality of a budget headphone .
The boomy base was the same reason why I didn't get these and started researching if others had noticed the same. They had and the sony app eq was not that great anyway, and forced to downgrade from LDAC... I dug a little deeper and found this: github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq Rooting my OnePlus and then viper4 convolver eq for the model of Senn's I have produces a really nice flat frequency response. I want to go and test a convolver equalisation on the XM3's now :) I'm a bit of an audio nerd myself, my main setup is made from active studio monitors (Genelec 8030B's) all around :P
This is such a great find!! Thank you for sharing. I've been hesitant about getting these because of the sound quality reviews but the ANC is why I'm still so attached to the Sony.
@@akhilsettypalli8862, In the end, I didn't go test the XM3's, but it did a good job with the Sennheisers. So I would say there's a high chance that it will enhance the sound if you do like more neutral tone.
I subscribed because your presentation is very clean and subtle...the blue the yellow, the clean organised layout... Trust me it works! Very soothing...
Very good review and mirrors exactly my impressions as a proud owner. Use it mostly for the ANC though so the mediocre sound can be tolerated. But compared to my one more Triple driver in-Ears for 70 Euros they do not stand a chance. EQ repairs the frequency balance, but soundstage and resolution are still not great.
That's weird.... I bought both the triple and quad driver versions and found them both horrible in the midbass range. I ordered the Sony's today but if these are even worse than the OneMore's they will be returned.
@@marcelbruinsma Well take that as a comparison to a random pair of Over or In Ears that are targeted to deliver audiophile sound. The sony are not made for a demographic that expects this. They rather stand in the proud tradition of 80's Hifi devices that produce a punchy bass and a pleasant overall sound with no special regard to soundstage, resolution and stuff.
@@omtom68 I just received them and set them up. I tinkered a bit with the settings but even out of the box I'm pleased with the sound. Glad I bought them. The ANC is fantastic.
Feeding from a good source with a good format(flac) this is one of the best headphones, i cannot find any better, especially in nc but i love its sound too
From my experience, the strong base is not an issue after like 10 minutes after listening. Ears adapt and the sound becomes perfect (for ANC headset). For me, it feels like this kind of pressure "opens" ears, but in the beginning it hits directly in your brain, so putting off and on different headphones does not work well for this pair, you need to spend some time with them. Also LDAC itself (at least in my Huaiwei 30 PRO) have settings, and by default it prioritizes stability. I think I can hear the difference when I set quality to max everywhere in phone settigs.
Thanks for the review. I own both of your recommended "this sounds better" options, but neither have noise cancelling. Also, open back cans in an office aint gonna fly. What is your pick of decent audio with noise cancelling?
@@SuperReview yeah, in the ANC space the options are basically Beats, Bose and Sony. I didn't get a chance to try the Beats side by side with the Sony, but I did take both the sony and bose home to compare and found the Sony much superior. I didn't snag the Beats because I just assumed it would be bad xD
@@SuperReview Just saw there is a new contender from Marshall - monitor-ii-anc. I'm not confident they will have flat sound, the other Marshall stuff seems to be leaning on the brand name and not developing audio quality product. However, every reviewer out there isn't thinking about the built in EQ stuff, and if you get a chance to review the Marshall I'd love to hear it, as you seem to not like extra EQ tricks .. an audio engineer myself that is what I want but not many reviewers have this approach. Thanks again.
I think the sound isn't that bad at all, because I'm a bass lover. For me it's the most important part in a song. However as for vocal clearance, I would rather pick another headphone.
Nice video. To be honest I skipped through the "unboxing" as I find "unboxing" a bit weird and uncomfortable...perhaps we can come up with a fetish term for unboxing like unboxophile. Thanks for the honest review. I think you are right. I have the xm2 and am going to upgrade to the xm3 (which I spent a while comparing in a local shop). At this price point, you are asking a lot for all that build quality, anc and other tech plus a headphone worthy of an audiophile. Is it worth it for sony to make a super audiophile version too????? probably not and the cost would be around $1k at a guess.
TBH, I find most consumer brand headphones to be either an overly warm bass cannon or a v shaped freak, and its fitting considering general consumer thought more bass=better headphones. Did try 1000xm3 alongside v moda crossfade 2 and I still think the crossfade 2 is a better sounding headphone even if it is bassier.
So what are non consumer based headphones you would recommend.. I’m in the market for a nice pair of cans and been considering these.. but if there’s anything better I’d love to hear about em
@@DavidDeLeon Depend on your priority, if you want the best noise cancelling hands down these. If you don't care about noise cancelling vmoda crossfade 2 is the best sounding big brand bluetooth headphone. I find the sound quality of hear.on 2 wireless to be better than 1000xm3 with better balance. Audio technica line of bluetooth headphone is pretty decent, I like ath sr50bt when I auditioned them at local hifi store.
Encinaar Encinaar i have those as well. This ones are really good but the base on the N1 is better depends on ur taste. Also i wear them for work so the 1000x look a bit better while u wear them around more comfortable
@@spyrous1997 I bought N1 for the bass since I like listening EDM and similar genres of music. However, the bass is too much, killing the vocals. Also, I believe that the noise cancelling is optimized for some predefined frequencies, making the headphones suitable for some specific purposes only. What I am looking for is a decent pair of headphones in noise cancelling which also preserves sound quality unlike Bose QC series. Their sound quality sucks although the intention was not aiming sound quality
So what would you recommend in terms of best sound quality in this price range? Or, what headphones could match the sound quality on these for less money? You also mentioned you primarily use earphones. Any reason other than preference? Thanks
I generally prefer wired headphones vs. Bluetooth. I tend to use Bluetooth just for podcasts -- for music where I care about sound quality, I use a wire. In-ears are small and convenient, and I generally prefer them to closed-back headphones for sound quality. Open-back headphones are my favorite but not as practical.
I could also add that, with a lot of music material, with all the settings intact (no eq), and the noise cancelling on - the bass was heavily distorted. The headphones could not handle themselves until the noise cancelling is turned off, then the bass is not distorted any more. I tried speaking to the store, I took a listen to the m4 - no issues there, but they dont consider this as a defect so they would not offer an exchange.
