elektron
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2014
- Posts
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- 33
Because sound quality is not dependent on the year it was made. There's always the possibility of older headphones sounding much better than the newer updated model. In any case the 1ABT isn't out yet and the poster had tried both the MKII and Symphony.
Nothing to do with the year and everything to do with the Japanese philosophy of incremental improvement or kaizen. In terms how this applies to recent and relevant Sony models, the MK2s are better than the 1RBTs and the 1As (using the same drivers as 1ABTs) are better than the 1Rs, and now we also have the first review of the 1ABT, so we don't have to completely guess about the possibilities.
While the reviewer didn't directly compare them against the MK2s, which would be of limited benefit anyway since few people would be choosing between these two, he did compare them against the new Sennheisers - a product the 1ABTs are likely to be in direct competition with when they come out in May.
In terms of them not being out yet, how long have you been searching for your 'ultimate' pair of bluetooth headphones? Are you really suggesting that a few weeks is too long to wait when making a decision to spend $400 - $500?
That reviewer sounded like he was working for Sony with his constant repeating of Sony's marketing regarding LDAC and audio upscaling. Will be interesting to see if LDAC actually makes any real difference or not and if it does, wlll LDAC be supported by other brands in the future or will it remain a Sony exclusive.
Forget LDAC, the verdict is still out on this codec. I'm only interested in it because I'm planning to buy an LDAC-compatible Sony phone this year. It's kind of irrelevant anyway since Sony also supports both AptX and AAC (take notice Parrot).
The reviewer did qualify that these were the claims Sony was making about LDAC but was upfront about the fact that he was not able to test them with an LDAC compatible source.
What matters is that he compared the 1ABT and the Momentum Wireless with two different sources (at least one of them being non-AptX compatible) and found that the Sony sounded better on both occasions (even without LDAC).
When reviewing Symphony 1, the Bloomberg reviewer and even you both also sounded like Definitive Tech employees when talking about the sound stage. However, that doesn't detract from the fact that these were valid opinions based of personal experience. In fact, they made me want to try these headphones.