@@Stormkryptonian you mean 1:00 - 1:04 is in sync? Speakers from both my device and my computer say otherwise. The Sony XM3 also report the same, but I don't trust those: it might just be a case of jealousy.
Sit down son. I have an incredible tale to tell you: a tale of adventure, of different countries, different peoples, different cultures, different languages. A tale of wonder and fascination. A tale of lost luggages and incredibly long queues. A tale of exciting last minute bookings and cheap ticket hunting. Sit down son, for it is a long tale and it needs to be told.
This channel has more polish than most channels with thirty or forty times the number of subscribers, both in terms of both audio and visual fidelity. I honestly love it! Every week, I can't wait to see what you release next.
For my personal use I have boosted the mids and highs quite a bit in the EQ of the app and brought back the bass just a touch. Makes a world of difference! I was pretty disappointed with the base sound but after a bit of tinkering I think these sound really satisfying. They still aren't "flat" for sure but it sits in a sweet spot for me right now. 400: 0 1K: +3 2.5K: +4 6.3K: +5 16K: +1 Clear bass: -1 Also if I'm sitting at home and don't need ANC ON I just leave it off and it cuts down on the Sub bass a bit
I have like 20 HP's, and I love my XM3. It's my favorite portable, and one of my top HP's (w/Sundara, m40x, HD560s/650/600, DT1990). It DOES need EQ though. If you know about sound and what you like, you'll know what to do. FIRST, you turn off ANC (the DSP mangles the EQ), and use it with ambient mode on or no NC. - Then, lower down around 125hz a few db (also lower sub-bass
@@Dewabarasunderan - Then get the XM4's. I recently picked them up. They're better than the XM3's. The sound doesn't change drastically with ANC, the stock tuning is more even, and the sound is more open. Awesome HP's!
Its been almost two years since I fell in love with your work, and every time I come across your videos, your cinematography, editing, review strategies and what not, I am always astonished and kinda pissed why haven't you gained a significant number of subscribers, audience or views and other things of the like!!! Truly amazes me....Nevertheless, keep up the great work Joshua Valour!! We all know you kick ass and keep on kicking!! I hope one day your amazing work gets the same traction as the big leagues of You tube and Audio Community!!!!
I'm new into getting into headphones. How would you say the quality of sound on these compares to a wired headphone like the Sennheiser HD6xx with a basic DAC/AMP (like the Schiit Fulla)? Would there be a night and day improvement with the wired set-up over the XM4?
I have these headphones and while I had the same impression about the sound quality at first... idk... it grew better with time. I'm not sure if you can get that used to a sound signature, because it didn't happen with the previous 2 bluetooth headphones, but this really got subjectively better over time. In the first 2 weeks it was meh and now I absolutely love it. Wonder if you can push drugs through music now.
this is so true. I can't quite explain it, but they sure do become better over time. I used Shure 1540 before and the Sony for half a year. After I returned to Shure the sound was very surprising. I found that I liked the Sony . . . closer to Shure that you would have expected. So, yeah, it is very strange experience.
What i love about these is the battery life. The sound quality isnt great but with an EQ i got some good performance out of it, and the noise cancelling is exactly what i need when travelling on planes.
DUDE that intro sequence!! 👌👌👌 I seriously thought that I was watching a movie trailer at first but then was like "wait, where's the 'skip ad' button?"
Dude....for real. Your videos have come so far. You are a stellar reviewer, and your video editing, color correction, just the overall production is so good. Keep it up man!
I tried the bose 700 and I find it odd you prefer it to the XM4. The mids are so weirdly pushed it almost sounds fake. For some reason the Bose QC II sound better to my ears. When I comes to movies the XM3/ XM4 takes the win. Did you expience any more detail with the use of ldac?
Every Person has differen head, different ears and different preferences. Good interview keep his review points same. We as customers have to try a couple of headphones that reviwers has reviewed. And then use your own preferences based on reviewers. If you like same type of headphones like kosh, it is easy to pick up something that he likes. But if you think that Headphones that Josh like has not enough bass, or has too much middle range, you chose or try something that josh say is more bass heavy and have too low middle range. The Main point in here is that not everyone like the same headphones or even speakers! That you have to find on your own. But when you know what you like and a reviewers says that this and that headphone is very similar than those you yourself like. They most likely Are worth of looking for!
Thanks for reviewing these headphones. I was wondering, did you listen to them wired, or just over Bluetooth? I noticed that when they are wired and powered on, they opened up quite a bit compared to listening over Bluetooth. I understand that they are intended to be primarily used wirelessly, but am interested if your opinion of the audio quality changes when they are wired.
I Was wondering the same , im sure he didn´t , I plug them in as well and is a different beast , wondering how it would compare to actual headphones cause im wondering if there is a new universe to discover
Man I have to disagree with you on this one. I do feel these are superior in sound quality to the 700s, out of the box and more so with the EQ tuned. The 700 had a narrower soundstage and really subpar imaging. Not to say these are much better, but relative to the Bose, they are better. You can EQ out a lot of the boominess of the lower end and open up the Sony's a bit more as well. The Bose have a fantastic mic though, but from a comfort and listening standpoint, I prefer the Sony. This is what I got out of them from extensive testing over 3 months (bought used and sold fwd). If only the panda or Mobius had NC, they would be perfect! Though the Mobius has a really bad mic lol. I'm going to try the Airpod Max at some point. Really hoping they are great. I have high expectations from them. They won't be a DT1990 but I'm hoping they're something good.
I liked how you gave a glimpse of comparison here. Since you don't have any video reviews on your channel. Do you in any case write reviews anywhere else on forums or reddits?
I am in a situation where I want to get a good quality wireless headphone with ANC which is comfortable as well as provide balanced sound signature or can be EQ-ed to make it good enough. I really liked Airpods Max but i am taken a back because of condensation issue. Any other options besides Sony XM4?
LDAC is a High Resolution Audio format, why didn't you listen with that and if you did, did it make any difference? It's one of the marketing things Sony claims is a benefit for getting their headphones and Xperia 1 phones. And I'm def interested in your opinion on it.
Definitely helped a lot for me too. I also found running it in LDAC made a pretty substantial difference. Not life changing, but I find it's worth not having multiple device switching. Which is a thing that LDAC breaks. Really dumb Sony... Wtf?!!
@@bensignor1476 I was joking, but I literally just saved you a bunch of time tbf. The Sony app is a joke, just find an autoEQ preset for the XM4's and use it in Poweramp. It opens up the soundstage quite a bit.
You HAVE TO eq this headphone! It makes a day and night different, and it is super easy to do in the app. I don’t understand why the standard setup is so “ dull”
Best review I've seen for them yet 👌If you're not an audiophile these will be the best sounding headphones you'll likely ever own. Previous experience colours your perception of sound, so unless you regularly critically listen to high end audio like Josh here the perception of things like not having a rich vocal experience will be different to you, and you may find that these headphones provide with a very intimate vocal experience. Psychoacoustics play a big role. It's also very important to remember that the source quality needs to be good as well. Simply going from Spotify to a master quality recording on Tidal will vastly improve your experience.
You missed the best way of using them for an audiophile: you put a nice pair of IEMs underneath and then you just use the XM for noise cancelling. If you are on properly noisy public transport e.g. London Underground, that is the best way to use them (where noise can sometimes reach 100dB). The ANC is quite superb, they are comfortable, good battery life, etc. Combine a good seal on an IEM and the ANC on these and you can actually enjoy your music. Actually the sound quality gets something of a boost if you are using them with a Sony phone. They definitely sound better with my Xperia 1 Mk II than with other phones. Some Sony special sauce perhaps. I also use them sometimes late at night paired to my TV if I don't want to wake up the rest of the house with the main stereo. They work just fine for that.
I appreciate the balanced, thoughtful review. I'd love to see a comparison to the Bowers and Wilkins PX7s. Those seem largely ignored by a lot of reviewers and I'm wondering why.
Bower and Wilkins are honestly in a odd spot where qc is mediocre, featureset is scarce and sound is the least impressive compared to what is out there
I have the B&W PX7 and I dislike them. They have a weird sound where there is a decent amount of mid-bass, horrible sibilance even at 60-70% volume ( you can’t listen to them at 100% volume) and that’s all. All instruments and vocals sound as if they’ve been introduced as an afterthought, as engineers forgot that headphones need to bring out instruments and vocals as well. They are the second worst after the Bose QC 35.
I got a pair of these a few weeks ago, then one night my dad was talking to me about headphones, so grabbed these and let him listen, 2 hours later he came back with his own pair and absolutely loves them.
I love mine for driving. My work vehicle rattles and groans and a ton of wind noise. These close all that out. The noise cancelling is amazing. I mostly listen to audiobooks and podcasts and they're great for that. As far as the sound profile, I set the equalizer in the app to bright. That helps get rid of a lot of the bass. Unfortunately for some reason on these headphones, if you turn the EQ on, you can only use them with SBC codec which is the worst one. That's the one disappointment I would love to use aptX or AAC or especially LDAC
Another great production! Thank you for mentioning the hiss. I hate the hiss in bluethooth headphones. Hate it so much that I'm still on wired connections even though I absolutely love going wireless. Many reviews on ANC bluetooth headphones simply go on like there's no hiss and they're all completely silent. But I think it is an extremely important fact for an "audiophile" reviewer to mention. Maybe less so for gadget reviewers.
Please include a review after using it with wavelet and it's in built auto EQ. The auto EQ cuts some of that omni directional bass hence boosting imaging, brings out vocals better and removes a few peaks and troughs in the treble range. I think it's a worth while investment of your time to try container headphones with wavelet especially since you cater to audiophiles who are willing to go that extra mile to get better sound from even their traveling headphones.
I use this headphone for gym and it’s wonderful. The tight grip allows me to do skipping and tabata without problems. Anti noise cancellation also allows me to concentrate (from other noises) during my exercise.
This is pretty much how I felt about the XM3's when I had them, but you were a lot nicer about how they sounded. I thought the XM3's sounded terrible. INSANELY bassy, very muddy, but if you don't care about sound at all then they're good in every other way.
I have like 20 HP's, and I love my XM3. It's my favorite portable, and one of my top HP's (w/Sundara, m40x, HD560s/650/600, DT1990). It DOES need EQ though. If you know about sound and what you like, you'll know what to do. FIRST, you turn off ANC (the DSP mangles the EQ), and use it with ambient mode on or no NC. - Then, lower down around 125hz a few db (also lower sub-bass
Exactly. When I bought it I wonder why it sound like this. It was not as good as I thought it would be. But about options you have with this, it's really good and you have good feeling when you using it.
I’ve heard them all and would rank in this order: Sundara>HE5XX>HE4XX>WH1000XM4 I personally am not a fan of the HE4XX and would choose the features of the WH1000XM4 over the sound quality of the HE4XX. The choice is yours, though.
@@IsraelCruzJr thanks for answering, The thing is ,i got the wh1000xm 3 and i felt let down by their poor vocals performance. These are too much recessed for my liking so i was wondering if any of those headphones had more vocal presence over the wh 1000xm3/xm4 and if they can sound good out of my phone🤔( i don't specially need to have vocals in my head either 🙃 )
Considering that these have built-in EQ I wonder why they didn't just go with the Harman curve as the default and then offer variations in top of that.
While on the ANC BT headphones , would love to see your review on the B&O H9 3rd Gen. , H95 and B&W PX7. Everyone says they sound noticeably better than Sony XM's , even after EQ-ing the XM's. That is subjective of course , but you said multiple times you like wide soundstage so , yes. However , Sony has it's benefits - best ANC and best software by far. B&O and B&W still doesn't seem to nail it.
Dope review! But I’m bummed that you didn’t try them on Android with Sony’s LDAC codec. Completely different experience. Would love to know what you think. Cheers!
Once you get used to the touch controls, they are very intuitive and don't require thought. Skip track and volume controls are great. The double tap to play or pause confuses me because that function is a single tap on other devices, and it is finicky. The other controls are simply non-intuitive as far as I'm concerned.
hey Joshua what would you recommend for an all around headphone that does gaming and music both very well preferably under 500 usd if you can and I'm loving the content keep it up!
The fact that your channel doesn't have at least 1 million+ subscribers just don't sit right with me. Jesus Joshua calm tf down with these shots lmao. Our eyes can't except this much quality
What is your opinion on DT 770 Pro 80 Ohm with an iFi Zen Dac? I will be using it for music (rap, funk, pop), gaming (mostly games like GTA V, COD, NBA2k, Battlefield & racing games) and watching RUclips.
Wow! Great - great review!! I watch a lot of product reviews on RUclips and I own several headphones including the XM4 and I am so glad to come across your "use case" review which is a really valuable way to evaluate a product. I have subscribed and look forward to looking back at your other reviews and look forward to future ones.
I never found out what you ultimately thought of these vs the Drop Pandas or possibly the K371-BT? I'm thinking of making the switch to those from the XM4s. Trading ANC for better sound quality. Any recommends. The only major complaints I have for the XM4s are a bit harsh/shrill upper mid-highs and basically what you thought about the bass. That it's a little weak on the sub bass part but very boomy and punchy in the mid bass ranges.
Did you test sound quality via Bluetooth? With an iPhone that doesn't support LDAC? Of course even LDAC sounds nothing close to a proper wire from a proper amp, but trying these without LDAC is a waste of time and probably doesn't represent what these headphones can do.
bought a pair the other day, i live in a building with noisy upstairs neighbors who run around all day stomping on the floor, family members being loud, the outside noises, seem to almost disappear with these on.
Hi Joshua great video. Quick question. Did you try hi resolution audio format on the Sony? I know that the ldac in the Sony has 3 times more bandwidth than normal bluetooth so I was curious. Thanks
This headphones should be listen only with LDAC to use their potential, and important is to use source like Tidal and mobile as Galaxy S21 which is capable to play 24/32bits, this is making a huge difference concerning sound quality. Using AAC is just bad for those if someone focusing on sound. Review of this headphones should focus on LDAC aspect when comparing with others.
m.imgur.com/i2VY8qt I use this. I found it on reddit and it really improves the sound. It removes the muddy bass and brings out the mids. You can adjust the clear bass to your liking.
Does your pair have a hissing sound in the noise floor when noise cancellation is enabled? I have returned two pairs as I found it to be distracting during podcasts and in between tracks
It doesn't sound great, really? I brought the nw a105 DAP, what headphones would you recommend for that then if not these? Can't you use the wire so then can use DSEE or LDAC with Sony DAP A105? I think your review is vague, as I think these headphones are are optimized for hardware with LDAC DSEE? or am I mistaken?
In theory would it be possible to make desent open end noise channeling headphones? I Expect that it would be much worse in noise channeling, but could it be reasonable compromise?
Hello Josh! As you reviewed few BT headphones, could you also include PXC II? I'd really like to know your opinion on those. And as always, great review!
I really like the fact that I agree with pretty much everything you said, I think you are m reference reviewer... So between JDS Elements II (that DMS was raving about) and a Modius/magnius stack, what would you recommend for a DT1990?
my XM3s i can't wear around my neck, it always finds a way to pinch me, given enough time. but i can't thumbs up the accessories it comes with enough. like the dual plug airplane adapter, which you don't know you need til you're over the arctic, 5 hrs into a 19 hr flight
I bought these recently and returned them. I’ve been wanting audiophile headphones but knew I couldn’t make use of them daily so went with these. Honestly the noise cancellation was nice but I didn’t think the sound quality was great and that was my main interest. I’d love a pair of the 6xx/660s/58x but I’m out too often to justify the purchase of an open back pair. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to find a nice pair for home and a good pair for being on the move
Maybe take a look at some IEMs. Not too many "great sounding" closed backs in the $200 range. Moondrop blessing has received a lot of praise and is ~300
Now I can stop hearing my parents clapping and cheering every night
👀maybe you could join in...
Bruh
Whuttt 😂
Lmao
Clapping cheeks 😛
The detail of the sound effects - the texture of the case’s zipper, the headphone’s subtle noises as you turn it around... great work Josh!
It's an audio channel, if he didn't have good audio I would've been highly disappointed.
is it just me or was it not synced with the video?
@@michaelr8313 lol, no it wasn’t. So much for the “excellent audio”! Lofl.
@@kencur9690 it is for me, I'm using the bose qc earbuds watching this and at first there was a delay but youtube autocorrected it for me
@@Stormkryptonian you mean 1:00 - 1:04 is in sync? Speakers from both my device and my computer say otherwise. The Sony XM3 also report the same, but I don't trust those: it might just be a case of jealousy.
But the real question is: Travel? What is that?
It’s a Chinese food I think,I was told it’s very good and hits your taste buds right off the bat....
Sit down son. I have an incredible tale to tell you: a tale of adventure, of different countries, different peoples, different cultures, different languages. A tale of wonder and fascination. A tale of lost luggages and incredibly long queues. A tale of exciting last minute bookings and cheap ticket hunting. Sit down son, for it is a long tale and it needs to be told.
Isn’t it the french work for work.
@@EspadaMK no, it's "travail"
@@rakeshraja6549 Lol
This channel has more polish than most channels with thirty or forty times the number of subscribers, both in terms of both audio and visual fidelity. I honestly love it! Every week, I can't wait to see what you release next.
For my personal use I have boosted the mids and highs quite a bit in the EQ of the app and brought back the bass just a touch. Makes a world of difference!
I was pretty disappointed with the base sound but after a bit of tinkering I think these sound really satisfying. They still aren't "flat" for sure but it sits in a sweet spot for me right now.
400: 0
1K: +3
2.5K: +4
6.3K: +5
16K: +1
Clear bass: -1
Also if I'm sitting at home and don't need ANC ON I just leave it off and it cuts down on the Sub bass a bit
I have like 20 HP's, and I love my XM3. It's my favorite portable, and one of my top HP's (w/Sundara, m40x, HD560s/650/600, DT1990). It DOES need EQ though. If you know about sound and what you like, you'll know what to do. FIRST, you turn off ANC (the DSP mangles the EQ), and use it with ambient mode on or no NC. - Then, lower down around 125hz a few db (also lower sub-bass
Totally on point!
Yes, but no. If I buy them, I want to use ANC xD
@@Dewabarasunderan - Then get the XM4's. I recently picked them up. They're better than the XM3's. The sound doesn't change drastically with ANC, the stock tuning is more even, and the sound is more open. Awesome HP's!
Intro gave me Christopher Nolan vibes. Nice
almost hoping it was reversed
@@fist003 almost feels like a dream
That intro
🔥
YESSSS
Love it when you actually mention the appropriate choice of material not just "quality"
Its been almost two years since I fell in love with your work, and every time I come across your videos, your cinematography, editing, review strategies and what not, I am always astonished and kinda pissed why haven't you gained a significant number of subscribers, audience or views and other things of the like!!! Truly amazes me....Nevertheless, keep up the great work Joshua Valour!! We all know you kick ass and keep on kicking!! I hope one day your amazing work gets the same traction as the big leagues of You tube and Audio Community!!!!
10/10 intro. Excellent work, Josh!
Oh and the headphone review is top tier as always.
I'm new into getting into headphones. How would you say the quality of sound on these compares to a wired headphone like the Sennheiser HD6xx with a basic DAC/AMP (like the Schiit Fulla)? Would there be a night and day improvement with the wired set-up over the XM4?
I love the swipe pad on mine. Works 100 percent for me so far, even today when it's - 3c
I have these headphones and while I had the same impression about the sound quality at first... idk... it grew better with time. I'm not sure if you can get that used to a sound signature, because it didn't happen with the previous 2 bluetooth headphones, but this really got subjectively better over time. In the first 2 weeks it was meh and now I absolutely love it. Wonder if you can push drugs through music now.
this is so true. I can't quite explain it, but they sure do become better over time. I used Shure 1540 before and the Sony for half a year. After I returned to Shure the sound was very surprising. I found that I liked the Sony . . . closer to Shure that you would have expected. So, yeah, it is very strange experience.
This is one of the best-produced, if not _the_ best-produced, review I've seen on YT. Great work, Joshua!
Love your reviews. The level of insight you give beyond the actual product your reviewing is just something else.
What i love about these is the battery life. The sound quality isnt great but with an EQ i got some good performance out of it, and the noise cancelling is exactly what i need when travelling on planes.
yeah I didn't like it out of the box luckily there's an equalize I found an old subreddit post with some good settings.
@@avx10tech would you be able to share some link where to find it or at least share some best settings of EQ ?
@@DamianNocun yeah sure it might take a bit of time but sure
@@avx10tech where you get the EQ? Do you put the EQ on audio device?
Josh's Cinematography is seriously artistic .Wow !
Did you use the LDAC codec? Andorid phones have LDAC and it will make the sound better.🙂
DUDE that intro sequence!! 👌👌👌 I seriously thought that I was watching a movie trailer at first but then was like "wait, where's the 'skip ad' button?"
Dude....for real. Your videos have come so far. You are a stellar reviewer, and your video editing, color correction, just the overall production is so good. Keep it up man!
I tried the bose 700 and I find it odd you prefer it to the XM4. The mids are so weirdly pushed it almost sounds fake. For some reason the Bose QC II sound better to my ears. When I comes to movies the XM3/ XM4 takes the win. Did you expience any more detail with the use of ldac?
Every Person has differen head, different ears and different preferences.
Good interview keep his review points same. We as customers have to try a couple of headphones that reviwers has reviewed. And then use your own preferences based on reviewers. If you like same type of headphones like kosh, it is easy to pick up something that he likes. But if you think that Headphones that Josh like has not enough bass, or has too much middle range, you chose or try something that josh say is more bass heavy and have too low middle range.
The Main point in here is that not everyone like the same headphones or even speakers! That you have to find on your own. But when you know what you like and a reviewers says that this and that headphone is very similar than those you yourself like. They most likely Are worth of looking for!
Thanks for reviewing these headphones. I was wondering, did you listen to them wired, or just over Bluetooth? I noticed that when they are wired and powered on, they opened up quite a bit compared to listening over Bluetooth. I understand that they are intended to be primarily used wirelessly, but am interested if your opinion of the audio quality changes when they are wired.
I Was wondering the same , im sure he didn´t , I plug them in as well and is a different beast , wondering how it would compare to actual headphones cause im wondering if there is a new universe to discover
When I wired them to dac+amp they were overbassed a lot. It sounded terrible without eq
Man I have to disagree with you on this one. I do feel these are superior in sound quality to the 700s, out of the box and more so with the EQ tuned. The 700 had a narrower soundstage and really subpar imaging. Not to say these are much better, but relative to the Bose, they are better. You can EQ out a lot of the boominess of the lower end and open up the Sony's a bit more as well. The Bose have a fantastic mic though, but from a comfort and listening standpoint, I prefer the Sony. This is what I got out of them from extensive testing over 3 months (bought used and sold fwd).
If only the panda or Mobius had NC, they would be perfect! Though the Mobius has a really bad mic lol. I'm going to try the Airpod Max at some point. Really hoping they are great. I have high expectations from them. They won't be a DT1990 but I'm hoping they're something good.
I liked how you gave a glimpse of comparison here. Since you don't have any video reviews on your channel. Do you in any case write reviews anywhere else on forums or reddits?
I am in a situation where I want to get a good quality wireless headphone with ANC which is comfortable as well as provide balanced sound signature or can be EQ-ed to make it good enough. I really liked Airpods Max but i am taken a back because of condensation issue. Any other options besides Sony XM4?
I had Bose QC 35 II which i just gave to my wife. So i am looking for something better which checks all the boxes.
LDAC is a High Resolution Audio format, why didn't you listen with that and if you did, did it make any difference? It's one of the marketing things Sony claims is a benefit for getting their headphones and Xperia 1 phones. And I'm def interested in your opinion on it.
In what aspect does the XM4 sounds better than the Sennhieser Momentum 3? I am really not sure which I should get focusing on the sound quality only?
Did you play with the EQ in the app? I found that the sound quality improved immensely when I pushed up the mids and treble.
Definitely helped a lot for me too. I also found running it in LDAC made a pretty substantial difference. Not life changing, but I find it's worth not having multiple device switching. Which is a thing that LDAC breaks. Really dumb Sony... Wtf?!!
I have with mine and it makes a lot of difference for me - positively .
Use an autoEQ preset in poweramp, scrub
@@niccerkadoabuckado8256 wow, compensating with EQ superiority, cute...
@@bensignor1476 I was joking, but I literally just saved you a bunch of time tbf. The Sony app is a joke, just find an autoEQ preset for the XM4's and use it in Poweramp. It opens up the soundstage quite a bit.
When are you going to review the Bowers and Wilkins px7? 🙂
You HAVE TO eq this headphone! It makes a day and night different, and it is super easy to do in the app. I don’t understand why the standard setup is so “ dull”
To make it so that it does not cause listening fatique to most users!
Best review I've seen for them yet 👌If you're not an audiophile these will be the best sounding headphones you'll likely ever own. Previous experience colours your perception of sound, so unless you regularly critically listen to high end audio like Josh here the perception of things like not having a rich vocal experience will be different to you, and you may find that these headphones provide with a very intimate vocal experience. Psychoacoustics play a big role. It's also very important to remember that the source quality needs to be good as well. Simply going from Spotify to a master quality recording on Tidal will vastly improve your experience.
You missed the best way of using them for an audiophile: you put a nice pair of IEMs underneath and then you just use the XM for noise cancelling. If you are on properly noisy public transport e.g. London Underground, that is the best way to use them (where noise can sometimes reach 100dB). The ANC is quite superb, they are comfortable, good battery life, etc. Combine a good seal on an IEM and the ANC on these and you can actually enjoy your music.
Actually the sound quality gets something of a boost if you are using them with a Sony phone. They definitely sound better with my Xperia 1 Mk II than with other phones. Some Sony special sauce perhaps.
I also use them sometimes late at night paired to my TV if I don't want to wake up the rest of the house with the main stereo. They work just fine for that.
I appreciate the balanced, thoughtful review. I'd love to see a comparison to the Bowers and Wilkins PX7s. Those seem largely ignored by a lot of reviewers and I'm wondering why.
Rightfully so, because they're kinda bad. I had to return mine after a few weeks.
Over expensive, they're known to break, and overall sound and noise cancelling was bad
Bower and Wilkins are honestly in a odd spot where qc is mediocre, featureset is scarce and sound is the least impressive compared to what is out there
I have the B&W PX7 and I dislike them. They have a weird sound where there is a decent amount of mid-bass, horrible sibilance even at 60-70% volume ( you can’t listen to them at 100% volume) and that’s all. All instruments and vocals sound as if they’ve been introduced as an afterthought, as engineers forgot that headphones need to bring out instruments and vocals as well. They are the second worst after the Bose QC 35.
I got a pair of these a few weeks ago, then one night my dad was talking to me about headphones, so grabbed these and let him listen, 2 hours later he came back with his own pair and absolutely loves them.
I love mine for driving. My work vehicle rattles and groans and a ton of wind noise. These close all that out. The noise cancelling is amazing. I mostly listen to audiobooks and podcasts and they're great for that.
As far as the sound profile, I set the equalizer in the app to bright. That helps get rid of a lot of the bass. Unfortunately for some reason on these headphones, if you turn the EQ on, you can only use them with SBC codec which is the worst one. That's the one disappointment I would love to use aptX or AAC or especially LDAC
That pressure on the neck when lying down the headphones never went away on my XM3s, just thought I'd mention that
It went away just fine on my XM2, had them for over 2 years now
Hats off to Sony and they deserve a round of applause for these headphones.Sadly,they won't hear it.
Another great production! Thank you for mentioning the hiss. I hate the hiss in bluethooth headphones. Hate it so much that I'm still on wired connections even though I absolutely love going wireless. Many reviews on ANC bluetooth headphones simply go on like there's no hiss and they're all completely silent. But I think it is an extremely important fact for an "audiophile" reviewer to mention. Maybe less so for gadget reviewers.
Please include a review after using it with wavelet and it's in built auto EQ. The auto EQ cuts some of that omni directional bass hence boosting imaging, brings out vocals better and removes a few peaks and troughs in the treble range. I think it's a worth while investment of your time to try container headphones with wavelet especially since you cater to audiophiles who are willing to go that extra mile to get better sound from even their traveling headphones.
I use this headphone for gym and it’s wonderful. The tight grip allows me to do skipping and tabata without problems. Anti noise cancellation also allows me to concentrate (from other noises) during my exercise.
Better of with some ANC earbuds for that. These headphones sound terrible.
@@chamade166 earbuds will drop off too easily
What did you use to stream? Were you listening to HiFi or just standard streaming. Tidal HD, Amazon Music HD? Which service?
Damn that blue looks sick, would have been nice to have that colour way out when I got mine.
These work really well for drowning out exhaust fan noise while pooping
Johs I just like your cinematics...
This is pretty much how I felt about the XM3's when I had them, but you were a lot nicer about how they sounded. I thought the XM3's sounded terrible. INSANELY bassy, very muddy, but if you don't care about sound at all then they're good in every other way.
they don't sound that bad if you tone tone the base through eq
Most people doesn’t want to mess with EQ. A simplistic setting is better
@@Chiranjib_db if that’s the case, likely they wouldn’t care/wouldn’t be able to tell about the sound quality
I have like 20 HP's, and I love my XM3. It's my favorite portable, and one of my top HP's (w/Sundara, m40x, HD560s/650/600, DT1990). It DOES need EQ though. If you know about sound and what you like, you'll know what to do. FIRST, you turn off ANC (the DSP mangles the EQ), and use it with ambient mode on or no NC. - Then, lower down around 125hz a few db (also lower sub-bass
No aptx, but has LDAC, which is much better, why didn't mention that? And iphone only support AAC btw.
Insane shots dude, editing was super on point this vid. And that intro was liquid gold.
[Question] Not really related to the headphones, but what type of Hi-res Audio files do you download or prefer? AIFF, FLAC etc..
Exactly. When I bought it I wonder why it sound like this. It was not as good as I thought it would be. But about options you have with this, it's really good and you have good feeling when you using it.
is there a closed back passive isolation headphone that comes close? I want a wired headphone...
The production quality of this video.... is legit amazing. Also, thanks for the review, i always like the xm4
best headphones for the metal and classic rock genre? under 500$! please tell
Between the hifiman he 4xx, the hifiman he5xx and the hifiman sundara and the wh 1000xm4 , which sounds better ?
I’ve heard them all and would rank in this order: Sundara>HE5XX>HE4XX>WH1000XM4
I personally am not a fan of the HE4XX and would choose the features of the WH1000XM4 over the sound quality of the HE4XX. The choice is yours, though.
@@IsraelCruzJr thanks for answering,
The thing is ,i got the wh1000xm 3 and i felt let down by their poor vocals performance. These are too much recessed for my liking so i was wondering if any of those headphones had more vocal presence over the wh 1000xm3/xm4 and if they can sound good out of my phone🤔( i don't specially need to have vocals in my head either 🙃 )
@@jeofthevirtuoussand to put what he said in perspective sundaras arent only the best but they are WAY better than any of those. Like way way better.
@@soraflame66 looks promising 🤤🤤🤤 porn for ears😂
Considering that these have built-in EQ I wonder why they didn't just go with the Harman curve as the default and then offer variations in top of that.
Is that a blue version? When did they release one?
How are yours blue?
Hello, I'm thinking of buying Sony wh1000xm3. If I buy xm4, which xm3 would you recommend? is there any difference between them?
100% agree, have them, perfect for office environments
I don’t think you spoke about the eq too much, I have the xm3s and I think you could get pretty decent sounds after some eq
Broke my precious jbl synchros 700 last night. Just ordered these today.
While on the ANC BT headphones , would love to see your review on the B&O H9 3rd Gen. , H95 and B&W PX7. Everyone says they sound noticeably better than Sony XM's , even after EQ-ing the XM's. That is subjective of course , but you said multiple times you like wide soundstage so , yes. However , Sony has it's benefits - best ANC and best software by far. B&O and B&W still doesn't seem to nail it.
No thanks. I'll stick to the sennheiser momentum wireless 3
Dope review! But I’m bummed that you didn’t try them on Android with Sony’s LDAC codec. Completely different experience. Would love to know what you think. Cheers!
I've been waiting on this one for a hot minute!
im curious as to which camera are you using .... btw excellent production quality!!!
Once you get used to the touch controls, they are very intuitive and don't require thought.
Skip track and volume controls are great. The double tap to play or pause confuses me because that function is a single tap on other devices, and it is finicky. The other controls are simply non-intuitive as far as I'm concerned.
Truly impressive video, especially the intro, keep up the great work man!
They do have aptX and even have LDAC, which is a better BT Codec than aptX. So it should be able to give better sound (supposedly) via BT than others.
hey Joshua what would you recommend for an all around headphone that does gaming and music both very well preferably under 500 usd if you can and I'm loving the content keep it up!
What would you say for the Bang&Olufsen Beoplay H95? Have you listened to them?
The fact that your channel doesn't have at least 1 million+ subscribers just don't sit right with me. Jesus Joshua calm tf down with these shots lmao. Our eyes can't except this much quality
What is your opinion on DT 770 Pro 80 Ohm with an iFi Zen Dac? I will be using it for music (rap, funk, pop), gaming (mostly games like GTA V, COD, NBA2k, Battlefield & racing games) and watching RUclips.
No one talks about the Shure Aonic 50s. It would be great if you could do a review on the Shure headphones
If I'm not mistaken, the bulge-thingie in the ear cups is for noice cancelling.
Wow! Great - great review!! I watch a lot of product reviews on RUclips and I own several headphones including the XM4 and I am so glad to come across your "use case" review which is a really valuable way to evaluate a product. I have subscribed and look forward to looking back at your other reviews and look forward to future ones.
I never found out what you ultimately thought of these vs the Drop Pandas or possibly the K371-BT? I'm thinking of making the switch to those from the XM4s. Trading ANC for better sound quality. Any recommends. The only major complaints I have for the XM4s are a bit harsh/shrill upper mid-highs and basically what you thought about the bass. That it's a little weak on the sub bass part but very boomy and punchy in the mid bass ranges.
WH --> Wireless Headphone
1000X --> High End Series
M4 --> Mark 4 (fourth Generation)
WH-1000XM4
XM4 is a car from BMW :P
Did you test sound quality via Bluetooth? With an iPhone that doesn't support LDAC? Of course even LDAC sounds nothing close to a proper wire from a proper amp, but trying these without LDAC is a waste of time and probably doesn't represent what these headphones can do.
I'm still rocking the OG Quiet Comfort's. Replaced the pads and until they stop working I'll keep them. I just don't fly/train enough to upgrade.
bought a pair the other day, i live in a building with noisy upstairs neighbors who run around all day stomping on the floor, family members being loud, the outside noises, seem to almost disappear with these on.
Are the ear pads more/less breathable than the AirPods Max?
I have both, definitely less breathable. A lot of people complain after 2 hours the pads r rlly sweaty
Hi Joshua great video. Quick question. Did you try hi resolution audio format on the Sony? I know that the ldac in the Sony has 3 times more bandwidth than normal bluetooth so I was curious. Thanks
This headphones should be listen only with LDAC to use their potential, and important is to use source like Tidal and mobile as Galaxy S21 which is capable to play 24/32bits, this is making a huge difference concerning sound quality. Using AAC is just bad for those if someone focusing on sound. Review of this headphones should focus on LDAC aspect when comparing with others.
Nice video. Do you have a recommendation for what EQ settings should be used?
What could you recommend in terms of EQ settings? Did you notice any significant differences between SBC codect and LDAC?
m.imgur.com/i2VY8qt
I use this. I found it on reddit and it really improves the sound. It removes the muddy bass and brings out the mids. You can adjust the clear bass to your liking.
@@Muh_Dragon sound better, thnx for the link
Josh any chance you could review the new iris listen well Bluetooth headphones please ?
Would you consider doing a review of the Shure Aonic 50?
Does your pair have a hissing sound in the noise floor when noise cancellation is enabled? I have returned two pairs as I found it to be distracting during podcasts and in between tracks
Thats part of the design.... Try bose anc headphones it has a bit less white noise
It doesn't sound great, really? I brought the nw a105 DAP, what headphones would you recommend for that then if not these?
Can't you use the wire so then can use DSEE or LDAC with Sony DAP A105? I think your review is vague, as I think these headphones are are optimized for hardware with LDAC DSEE? or am I mistaken?
The color is off or the headphones are really blue?
@Joshua Bose 700 vs XM4?
In theory would it be possible to make desent open end noise channeling headphones? I Expect that it would be much worse in noise channeling, but could it be reasonable compromise?
I don't think it'd be possible
I assume it has LDAC. Would that be comparable to aptX or aptX-HD?
LDAC is better than both apt X so yes :) higher bitrates and khz
Hello Josh! As you reviewed few BT headphones, could you also include PXC II? I'd really like to know your opinion on those.
And as always, great review!
I really like the fact that I agree with pretty much everything you said, I think you are m reference reviewer... So between JDS Elements II (that DMS was raving about) and a Modius/magnius stack, what would you recommend for a DT1990?
Have you heard/looked into the Wyze headphones? I got a pair on a whim and I'm extremely impressed with them, especially for the price.
Very nice intro (as per usual)
Is there any noticeable difference between xm3 and xm4 in the sound?
Slightly better bass (less muddy) and better mids is what I heard from other reviewers off the top of my head
my XM3s i can't wear around my neck, it always finds a way to pinch me, given enough time. but i can't thumbs up the accessories it comes with enough. like the dual plug airplane adapter, which you don't know you need til you're over the arctic, 5 hrs into a 19 hr flight
Bro, you can swipe and hold to manipulate the volume by more than one unit. Learn how to use the touch controls, they're great.
Holy shit, first time I think it’s a movie trailer. Love your stuff man ❤️
I bought these recently and returned them. I’ve been wanting audiophile headphones but knew I couldn’t make use of them daily so went with these. Honestly the noise cancellation was nice but I didn’t think the sound quality was great and that was my main interest.
I’d love a pair of the 6xx/660s/58x but I’m out too often to justify the purchase of an open back pair. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to find a nice pair for home and a good pair for being on the move
Maybe take a look at some IEMs. Not too many "great sounding" closed backs in the $200 range. Moondrop blessing has received a lot of praise and is ~300