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Sony MDR-1000X Review: Wireless Hi-Res Headphones Offer Next-Level Noise Canceling

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The wireless headphone market has been shaken up so much recently that it's hard to know where to begin when a new entry appears on the stage and announces itself as the next big thing.

Fortunately this latest Bluetooth offering from Sony is targeting a very specific market segment best referred to as "premium noise cancelation", and the company seems pretty confident that with the MDR-1000X headphones ($400), it has got a hit on its hands.

Sony-1-800x622.jpg

Sony is claiming "industry-leading noise cancelation" with these luxury cans, which use ostensibly the same drivers as last year's highly regarded MDR-1A headset made for listening to Hi-Res Audio, as supported by the company's audiophilic Walkman range, not to mention its line of wireless home speakers and in-car audio systems.

Can it improve upon the finely honed features of Parrot's Zik 3.0, Bose's QuietComfort 35, and Sennheiser's PXC 550 Wireless noise-canceling headphones? Let's take a look.


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Article Link: Sony MDR-1000X Review: Wireless Hi-Res Headphones Offer Next-Level Noise Canceling
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/review/sony-mdr-1000x-headphones/
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These look great, if only they could be paired to multiple devices though. I am constantly switching between iPhone and mac and making that transition seamless is pretty essential. Everything else about these are great (except the price, ouch. But if they perform as well as advertised then its worth it imo).
 
There is a small mistake in the article - the Bose QC35 are actually 235g so they are a bit lighter than the Sonys
 
These definitely look pretty sleek. I'm currently listening to music on my QC35's. The noise cancelling just can't be beat. It definitely makes public transportation, flights, and the office environment so much better. Plus I love the ability to connect more than one device at a time on my QC35's. I can be listening to music on my 7 Plus and quickly take a call from my desk phone seamlessly. It may just be me, but $400 seems like a pretty high price point for these.
 
ayala421 said:
Sticking with Bose, they sound fantastic and very comfortable.
Click to expand...

No they dont sound fantastic. Guys i have the QC35s with an iphone.

It sounds very flat and dull.

NC is good but not great.

OP - can you tell us you would choose these sonys over the Bose? how is it on the plane and voices? For some reason i can still hear people yapping on the plane with the QC35s.
 
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ayala421 said:
Sticking with Bose, they sound fantastic and very comfortable.
Click to expand...

I have the Bose because I want the best. So, I will need to hunt down a Sony store to see just how unrivaled.

I won't be burying my head in the sand, which is warm but not state-of-the-art. (lolz, groaner of a joke)
 
ILuvEggplant said:
No they dont sound fantastic. Guys i have the QC35s with an iphone.

It sounds very flat and dull.

NC is good but not great.

OP - can you tell us you would choose these sonys over the Bose? how is it on the plane and voices? For some reason i can still hear people yapping on the plane with the QC35s.
Click to expand...
I had the qc-25's before and you do realise there hadn't been better noise cancelling anywhere before those came out?

I think this Sony is meant to be a little better but no one has confirmed that yet. I agree Bose sound quality is basic with these and the bass isn't strong etc..

But so much of sound quality (at least when travelling) is fighting with background noise anyway. So I think noise cancelling is becoming kind of essentail even just to protect your ears from excessive volumes etc..
 
threesixty360 said:
I had the qc-25's before and you do realise there hadn't been better noise cancelling anywhere before those came out?

I think this Sony is meant to be a little better but no one has confirmed that yet. I agree Bose sound quality is basic with these and the bass isn't strong etc..

But so much of sound quality (at least when travelling) is fighting with background noise anyway. So I think noise cancelling is becoming kind of essentail even just to protect your ears from excessive volumes etc..
Click to expand...

I suppose i had greater expectations after spending $350 on the QC35s.

I'll most likely audition the Sonys soon.
 
If I wanted to plug these into something, say a port in my phone and my laptop, I wonder, what will it look like in the future?

It has to be about 3.5mm, this is kind of the perfect size.
 
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heyjude011 said:
These look great, if only they could be paired to multiple devices though. I am constantly switching between iPhone and mac and making that transition seamless is pretty essential. Everything else about these are great (except the price, ouch. But if they perform as well as advertised then its worth it imo).
Click to expand...
From this link, translated from Sony Japan's site - https://translate.googleusercontent...1000X/&usg=ALkJrhiNR9mBFO5vC4gUt0lK9lsoKEZ9lQ - I suspected that the local version is multi-point/pairing. It is, according to Sony, noted about halfway down the product page.

I own a Japan-market HW700DS wireless headphones purchased on Amazon US, which is also multi-point/pairing at up to 4 pairs of cans and a pair of cans can be purchased via the Japan import engine on Amazon without the transmitter - but the US/UK version is not, limited to one set of cans. Frustrating, this. Perhaps the Japan-market version of the MDR1000X will show up on Amazon as well...
 
guzzy1950 said:
These definitely look pretty sleek. I'm currently listening to music on my QC35's. The noise cancelling just can't be beat. It definitely makes public transportation, flights, and the office environment so much better. Plus I love the ability to connect more than one device at a time on my QC35's. I can be listening to music on my 7 Plus and quickly take a call from my desk phone seamlessly. It may just be me, but $400 seems like a pretty high price point for these.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I enjoy the two-device pairing more than I thought I would on my QC35s. I switch back and forth between my iPhone and MBP. It's not always seamless, but works well enough. Love these headphones. An extra $50 for the Sonys seems like stupid pricing strategy. They've just singlehandedly made the QC35s seem even more appealing.
 
How do you switch between multiple devices on the Sennheiser PXC 550? I used it for about a month but still didn't figure it out. QC35 however handles mutiple device management perfectly. Keep pressing the Bluetooth switch and it attempts to connect to all previously paired devices (up to 8) sequentially. How does PXC550 do that? Am I missing something here?
 
heyjude011 said:
These look great, if only they could be paired to multiple devices though. I am constantly switching between iPhone and mac and making that transition seamless is pretty essential. Everything else about these are great (except the price, ouch. But if they perform as well as advertised then its worth it imo).
Click to expand...

On this help guide it says it's supports pairing with multiple devices:

http://helpguide.sony.net/mdr/1000x/v1/en/contents/TP0001176138.html

When you pair a 2nd or subsequent device (the headset has pairing information for other devices), press and hold the
i2050.png
button for about 7 seconds.

  • The headset is already paired with 8 devices and another device is to be paired.
    The headset can be paired with up to 8 devices. If a new device is paired after 8 devices are already paired, the paired device with the oldest connection time is replaced by the new one.
Do this function not work? I was planning to buy these headphones next month.
 
Skika said:
Who the hell comes up with these stupid names?
Click to expand...

MDR goes back years (late 70's when the Walkman came out probably), Micro Dynamic Range IIRC. The Sony cat numbers usually actually mean something.

Dene
 
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heyjude011 said:
These look great, if only they could be paired to multiple devices though. I am constantly switching between iPhone and mac and making that transition seamless is pretty essential. Everything else about these are great (except the price, ouch. But if they perform as well as advertised then its worth it imo).
Click to expand...

I'm also looking for smooth switching between previously paired devices, iphone ipad PC and Apple TV for example. So far I've tested QC 35 and PXC 550 AND read extensively about the SONY model, and it seems to me only QC 35 lets you do all the switching from the headphone's side. With the other two, it's the old painful process of unparing your connected device, going into your other devices' bluetooth setting page and selecting the headphone from there manually.
 
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