Sony WH-1000XM4 - KING OF HEADPHONES
Sony WH-1000XM4 - KING OF HEADPHONE
Are you looking to buy Sony's latest-1000XM4s? Whether you're just upgrading from theXM3s or you want the best active noise-canceling headphones, this real conversation is for you. DHRME made up the acronym, real conversations.
There are so many active noise-canceling headphones out there you have the old guard the Sennheiser and the Shure the old audio brands you have the pioneer of noise-canceling the Bose with its two models you have the Danish contenders the Jabra and the Bang & Olufsen's not to mention a host of Chinese low-cost competitors nipping at Sony's heels.
So it surprises us when another call the XM4s the king of noise-canceling especially because it seems like they haven't reviewed these other headphones or they haven't spent more than two days with the XM4s, all right rent over.
Okay, so spoiler alert we've put this thing through its paces and while we think these are really good headphones we're not gonna say that these are the best ANC headphones for everyone you think that the newest always means the best right and in many ways that is true with the XM4s even though the headphones look identical to the XM3s.
Barring some cosmetic differences the feel in the hand is very different yeah there's noticeably less creak and the weight is about the same despite having new components in it the foamed urethane pads are ever so lightly better cushioned.
Sony isn't pandering to me as a 'vakman' since it doesn't come with some basic features like a dedicated button for muting calls Sony is advertising clear voice calls with something they call precise voice pick up its not really false advertising,
Since the XM4s do sound louder than the XM3s but in our tests, they really weren't very clear check out the detailed tests and comparisons we've done with other active noise-cancelling headphones.
But compared to the XM3 the XM4 are bordering on usable especially if Adrian Morrish is to be believed you believe it the XM4s aren't exactly a look there are plenty of competitors that make a bigger fashion statement but it will get you through the day with its safe and understated design, yeah and it has the touch control on the right-hand side along with a few buttons on the left the touch control works quite well there is about the same latency as the XM3.
When you touch it and it responds so the XM3s did have some problems with the touch controls in colder weather maybe we should test that Kevin should we maybe put the XM3s and the XM4s in the freezer that's a cool idea all right let's go wait till the end of the BLOG to see if that worked the clamping force isn't very strong on the XM4s and there's less pressure around the jaw.
I also felt that there was more space in the ear cups and overall less heat generation i felt nothing but again there are plenty of other more comfortable premium ANC headphones out there the XM4 is more than just its extras,
But if you watch Sony's marketing it seems like it's an extravaganza here are some of the highlights Number 1. speak to chat yeah so when you start talking it will pause the music and you'll be able to hear your surroundings you can turn it off by tapping a button or setting a timeout in the app and Sony's built-in enough smarts that it doesn't get activated by other people's voices however if you're a laugher or a sing-a longer you may not like it that much if you don't like speak to chat you can turn it off in the app or by pressing two fingers down on the right ear cup yeah,
Number 2. quick attention does the same thing as speak-to-chat but more of a cover-your-ear-to-chat yes Sony we're giving you free marketing tips here on spokesman-review 2020 subscribe if you haven't already and it does this only as long as you keep your hand on your right ear cup and if you didn't have enough ways to automatically stop your music.
Sony now has a proximity sensor inside the ear cup which pauses your music once you take them off the same sensor also switches off your headphones if they're not being used for a while and out of all the gimmicks somehow this simple thing was one of the handiest features that we experienced and in terms of Bluetooth range.
We did a test here's the result all right guys we're getting out of here so here is the iPad I have theXM4 on me that's a good stable connection over here and that's my iPad in the distance and the biggest experience improvement of them all is multi-point connection yeah that marketing speaks it's more like a two-point connection so it can simultaneously connect to two devices and you can switch on and in our test, this worked fine.
Just like other headphones that have this feature, it's not perfect but Sony has finally reached parity with its competition you will, however, lose the ability to listen in the highest sound quality if you use this feature but more on that in the audio section,
Hey we're in the audio section we have arrived so let's start with the minor thing Sony has done away with a couple of features in the app the sound position control and the surround VPTum I like these features but I don't think too many people are going to miss them they've also introduced a newer version of their ups calling feature called DSEE.
So what this does is if you have lower quality music files like mp3 files it'll automatically try to fill in the gaps and try to make it sound nicer okay let's talk codecs, what's a codec? just think of it as the invisible wire that connects your headphones to your audio device it is how audio is transmitted wirelessly and there are many different types of codecs and here's a list of codecs ranked from the best possible sound quality to the not so great sound quality and if you notice the sony WH1000XM4 has l DAC onboard.
So you are sorted right? not quite LDAC also isn't just one thing LDAC swaps between fixed bit rates of 330660 and 990 kbps depending on available signal strength you can make the most of LDAC only if you're not an Apple fanboy sorry but your iPhones only go up to AAC.
So this features for you android users you keep the device close to you so the connection doesn't drop to lower transmission speed and you will need to force the best in developer settings so you don't get the worst LDAC like Google Pixel device sand.
You can't use the dual device connection when using LDAC it's a toss-up between convenience and sound quality yeah and what is really missing from the XM4s compared to the XM3sare the APTX and APTX HD codecs many devices support APTX and APTX HD and usually that's a better choice if you want a more stable and reliable connection.
APTX HD might be a better choice and can sound better than AAC and the XM4support and EQ now the XM3 has that as well but this time if you adjust the EQ it will not bump you down to a lower codec which is a huge deal if you're buying these headphones for LDAC specifically.
I know people who think that this feature alone makes the $100 difference worth it. When they don't the XM4s are tuned slightly different than the XM3s probably the only complaint is that the sound stage is still not very wide but the base is tighter making them less dark than the XM3 while still retaining the grid instrument separation.
This is most apparent in a track like Marion Hill's breathe into me with big bass hits and low vocals they're also one of the loudest so they check a lot of boxes across the board and for my kind of heavy metal music ain't complaining on all counts.
The XM4 is a top tier choice for active noise-cancelling headphones but the XM3s are just as good another thing the XM4 take over from the XM3s is the beautiful app that just works all the time and you can adjust noise cancelling at a very fine granularity in the app.
I'm not sure too many people do that but you have a 20 point scale for the noise canceling you can focus only on voices and not on any other kinds of sounds additionally you also have wind noise reduction which is my favorite feature because I bike a lot we are in the Netherlands.
So we have to bike and there's a button called custom now it was called NC ambient in the XM3 and that lets you cycle between different noise-canceling modes and the middle mode can be your custom mode.
So for example, if I like wind noise reduction the middle mode is mapped to that so every time i go from full noise canceling to wind noise to noise-canceling off and if you want to hear for yourself how the noise-canceling performs check out our tests the XM4s overall performed really well in canceling out low pitched predictable sounds like flight cabin noise but also at more unpredictable noises like human voices clanging and coffee machines in a typical cafe setting and here's something you wouldn't think of using noise-canceling is actually really important to protect your ears the volume levels when using ANC is generally lower which means you reduce the overall stress we did on the dangers of noise-canceling or the benefits five out of six qualified medical doctors recommend the Sony WH-1000XM4s they do not get one using the links in the description below doesn't cost you anything extra but helps out oUR BLOG a little bit Sony's marketing department hit gold with this BLOG!
Sony WH-1000XM4 Industry-Leading Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones, Bluetooth Headset with Mic for Phone Calls, 30 Hours Battery Life, Quick Charge, Touch Control & Alexa Voice Control – (Black)
- Digital noise canceling: Industry-leading Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) lends a personalized, virtually soundproof experience at any situation
- Voice assistant: Alexa, Google Assistant & Siri enabled (In-built) for voice access to music, information and more. Activate with a simple touch
- Speak-to-chat: Headphones use an array of smart technologies to create a seamless, hands-free listening experience. For eg, simply start speaking to automatically pause your music in Speak-to-Chat
- Wearing Detection: A proximity sensor and two acceleration sensors in your headphones can detect whether you're wearing them or not, then adapt playback accordingly to help save battery power
- Quick attention mode: Cover the right ear cup with your palm to turn down music for instant, easy conversation
- Smart listening: WH-1000XM4 adjusts the ambient sound to your activity to give you the best noise cancellation
- Long battery life: A single charge provides up to 30 hrs of playtime for reliable all day listening
LINK FOR AMAZON FOR HEADPHONES IF YOU GUYS WANNA BUY.
CLICK ON BUY NOW BUTTON AND YOU WILL REDIRECTED TO AMAZON
CONCLUSION
The Sony WH-1000XM4s is for you if you like the understated design of the XM3s but miss the multi-point connection and the struggle of being heard on phone calls if you need five ways to adjust noise canceling by using for example quick attention speak to chat the button the app or where detection and if you're an Android user and have a device and the know-how to get the best out of LDAC if you do not need the APTX HD codec if you're a frequent traveler wear a mask and need best-in-class noise-canceling if you're an audiophile and adjusting the EQ while being still on LDAC is crucial to your listening experience and last but not least if you need to use these headphones in colder conditions within a minute are they still in the freezer?
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