I've had the XM4 for 2 days now, I can tell you I don't like the mic, especially on W10 for voice calls.
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Sony WH-1000XM4 Noise-Canceling Headphones Now Available for $350
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I've had the XM4 for 2 days now, I can tell you I don't like the mic, especially on W10 for voice calls.
Oh. Bugger. What's wrong with it - not enough noise cancelling? Voice not clear? Voice cuts out?
This is surely some sort of joke? If so, ho ho ho, nice one! If not, you would be well advised to do some research before making utterly absurd statements.
I did see them. I think they weren’t quite out yet when I bought the QC35s. Maybe they’d just come out. Either way, they have features I don’t need, like adjustable ANC and touch controls. I only use cans in bed at night or while using gas power tools. In bed, I was also concerned that the ported design might bleed sound and bother the sleeping wife. I’m delighted with my AirPod Pros for any listening otherwise.
People might want to hold off buying these until there are more reviews if your intention is to use them with macOS or iOS. They no longer support aptX! To get high-quality audio the headphones need LDAC, which as far as I can tell is supported on Android but not macOS or iOS.
Still using my Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 headphones. Nothing can match it's durability. Doesn't have the absolute best ANC, but it's good enough for my needs.
Also have the AKG N700NC headphones, which I also love but use mostly for inside use. The only issue is it doesn't work on MacOS (works with iOS though).
I'm curious in trying Sony or Bose, since those seem to be the top contenders. But I'm afraid they will only be slightly better and not worth the money.
Also have the AKG N700NC headphones, which I also love but use mostly for inside use. The only issue is it doesn't work on MacOS (works with iOS though).
I'm curious in trying Sony or Bose, since those seem to be the top contenders. But I'm afraid they will only be slightly better and not worth the money.
I had the M1s and they cracked. I was going to upgrade to the 2 but since they didn’t address the cracking I didn’t bother. Same thing with the 3.
Looks like the 4s have a completely new hinge design. I may check these out. But since I’m no longer traveling due to Covid I’d get more bang for my buck with upgraded AirPod Pros.
Ive used the XM3’s 5 days a week since December 18, no cracking. I’ve heard very little about the XM3’s cracking, unlike the XM2’s.
NFC enabled phone will automatically pair the headphones when they make contact and when paired it can also turn the headphones on and connect without pressing any buttons
So I’m a fan of the Bose 700s. They won me back with their improved sound and way better conference call quality and mic compatibility. If it was just music, XM3 were my favorite in terms of noise canceling headphones that also do calls.
Not happening.
If they launch a product, might it be subtly better? Possibly. Will it be significantly better than this product? Not happening.
Barring that these outperform any and all existing Apple headphones by a significant margin, the main point is that these are probably so good that even Apple reaching parity with them in sound quality, noise cancellation and build quality would be a significant step up for them. At the high end - where Apple hasn't been before - the bar is already so high that any gains are baby steps.
Also, in general Apple doesn't really seem to care about sound quality. They still offer no lossless tier for Apple Music, and their phones don't even support a high quality lossless transmission codec. Apple is more concerned about convenience and ease of use.
Kind of. macOS only seems to use aptX with my XM3s if the XM3s are the only Bluetooth device connected. If you have (eg) a mouse connected before connecting the XM3s, then it will always select SBC.
I do wonder if aptX uses more energy on the XM3s, however, possibly decreasing battery life?
(You can option-click the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar to see Bluetooth diagnostic info, including which codec is in use)
As I understand it, the hinge mechanism was already completely redesigned between the XM2 and XM3. I have not heard any reports of XM3s breaking. I've had mine for about a year and given them plenty of heavy use/abuse.
The only consistent knocks I’ve heard about the XM3’s are;
-lack of multipoint. This annoyed the hell out of me. This was never advertised as a feature so can only grumble so much about it.
-Switching between devices is a faff.
-Touch controls go wonky in cold weather. Touch pad can be disabled to mitigate it. A bodge, but at least they addressed it with a patch.
-Poor mic quality.
I’ve bought the XM4’s, they address all these complaints*, and they’re pretty much my perfect headphones (although I’d have preferred physical buttons).
Working later where it’ll be reasonably noisy, looking forward to trying out the marginally improved ANC.
*Cant attest to touch controls, it’s baking hot here
-lack of multipoint. This annoyed the hell out of me. This was never advertised as a feature so can only grumble so much about it.
-Switching between devices is a faff.
-Touch controls go wonky in cold weather. Touch pad can be disabled to mitigate it. A bodge, but at least they addressed it with a patch.
-Poor mic quality.
I’ve bought the XM4’s, they address all these complaints*, and they’re pretty much my perfect headphones (although I’d have preferred physical buttons).
Working later where it’ll be reasonably noisy, looking forward to trying out the marginally improved ANC.
*Cant attest to touch controls, it’s baking hot here
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The WH-1000XM3 is pretty neat but I don't see how they can be seen as a paragon of sound quality, particularly with their quite exaggerated bass response.
They're not high-end by any stretch of the imagination. They're good BT headphones, certainly a lot better than most, but I don't see why any BT headphones right now would qualify as "high-end" and there are others which are at least just as good in technical terms as far as SQ is concerned (there are plenty of measurements around the web to demonstrate that). I don't see any challenge here for Apple to match any ANC BT headphones on the market right now as far as technical capabilities are concerned, particularly given their track record with the APP or the Homepod. The big question is how they'll tune it. So far the APP or HomePod suggest that Apple won't go for extreme biases as far as FR goes but the end result may still not be to everyone's liking (personally I don't love either one of them but I don't actively dislike them which is a progress vs. most other BT headphones or entry-level wireless speakers).
Their ANC works well but is limited in frequency, where they truly shine is in combining it with excellent passive ANC. There is some evidence that the APP's ANC system is already working harder than the WH-1000XM3 at higher frequencies in a tiny package (and it has to given the APP's much worse passive isolation). I think the end result will depend a lot on what Apple wants to do in regards to passive isolation / vents design and allocation of computing resources / power.
The Who's Who's Next version on Apple Music begs to differ. I'd rather listen to this master than other commercially available ones in lossless audio. Heck, even Uptown Funk's master on Apple Music is a lot better than on other commercially available platforms.
AAC can be a good enough BT codec for A/B comparisons... provided it's designed and used well (which it rather is in Apple products but not elsewhere - implementation quality varies widely unlike other codecs and goes from total crap to CD SNR). Given the current state of BT headphones you'd probably be at a loss to A/B blind Apple's AAC implementation with APTX-HD or others. AAC is very different computationally wise anyway than most other BT codecs.
It would be nice if Apple provided a lossless option on Apple Music but let's face it... these days lossless files are listened to on systems that are nowhere near precise enough to begin with (I've yet to see a pair of headphones that can reach a FR target within 1-2db across the whole range in narrow bands).
There's plenty of evidence that Apple does care a tremendous lot about sound quality in general, as their laptops easily demonstrate for example (this is something that's never really going to embellish a spec sheet and yet they spend resources on that without flinching).
But it's quite likely that in specific terms, in some areas, they're ready to make compromises to the advantage of other variables. I'm pretty certain, for example, that comfort, size and weight were given priory n°1 for the AirPods Pro and that the SQ team had to work around these constraints (and IMO they did a pretty decent job at it).
Personally I'd have a much more nuanced opinion on Apple's dedication to SQ. It's just that they're, mostly, a general consumers company and will allocate resources holistically to make an overall attractive product instead of putting it all into SQ alone. With exceptions they don't do niche products, such as $15000 speakers or $3000 headphones. But if they did I see no reason whatsoever why they wouldn't be able to provide competitive products.
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You’re kidding, right?
WH-1000XM3 headband strap broken under normal use
Bought the WH-1000XM3 headphones in July this year, very happy with them. Using them today as normal and adjusted the straps as you do - then the left strap broke off under completely normal use. This has me worried after reading a few other posts for the same issue on this forum as Sony will...
You’re kidding, right?
WH-1000XM3 headband strap broken under normal use
Bought the WH-1000XM3 headphones in July this year, very happy with them. Using them today as normal and adjusted the straps as you do - then the left strap broke off under completely normal use. This has me worried after reading a few other posts for the same issue on this forum as Sony will...community.sony.co.uk
Not kidding.
I don’t doubt some people have had problems, same goes for absolutely every product in existence. You can find a thread of complaints, justifiable or not, on absolutely anything. Doesn’t mean it’s a wide spread problem.
Yes, fair point. But the fact they didn’t help the people that did have the issue makes me all the less inclined to buy anything else they make.
Not that Sony are unique here though.
I agree, that stinks.
Also, I’ve admittedly only got anecdotal evidence. It’s just that I remember lots and lots of complaints about the XM2 band cracking, in every XM2 thread I came across. Whereas I don’t recall many people complaining about the physical durability of the XM3’s.
It's not a bug. It's the way Bluetooth works. Yes, in 2020 we still don't have a technology with enough bandwidth to handle full duplex wireless HD audio
LDAC
I didn't like these. I eventually bought B&W PX7 after listening to all popular NC headphones. But I'm selling the B&W as well because I stopped using them due to "new normal". I'm not in noisy environments anymore.
theee have not been available before so how could you “not like these” ? You mean the XM3’s?
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over 10 awards goto the M3’s as THE best in class across the globe. Go figure.
Ah yes sorry I meant the XM3. But as far as I know, the audio quality is not changed. They were quite dull to my ears. But then I read that you really need to play with the EQ settings in the app to make them actually sing. Sennheisers and PX7 were better to my ears than the Sony's. But I'm talking only about the audio, not the NC. I'm sure the Sony's have the best NC since all reviews praise the NC.theee have not been available before so how could you “not like these” ? You mean the XM3’s?
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over 10 awards goto the M3’s as THE best in class across the globe. Go figure.