[orion23rigel]

  Wasn't the 1ABT supposed to release in MARCH in the USA?

 
I don't think they ever announced an official release date in the US. They announced a May release in Europe, but I don't remember hearing anything definitive about the US.

 

[Soundofmusic]

Lol@the guys scolding me earlier in this thread for not interpreting an Amazon back order listing as a March US release date confirmation ^^.

 

[ravdo]

   
Where did you buy it? They don't list it or the price on Sony.com. 

 
I bought it from amazon.jp for about $350

 

[bladefd]

   
I bought it from amazon.jp for about $350

 
Wow, do they ship internationally?
 
See, warranty still becomes problematic if any issues arise lol. May be difficult to get warranty support if you can't even buy it yet in USA 

 

[ravdo]

   
Wow, do they ship internationally?
 
See, warranty still becomes problematic if any issues arise lol. May be difficult to get warranty support if you can't even buy it yet in USA 

 
I live in Indonesia, and got it ordered from a local store.  Took a month until it got delivered to my home.
Yeah I took a gamble.  Thank god, everything works perfectly. 

 

 

[cehowardNote3]

  I managed to get one

 

 
To my untrained ears, 1ABT sounds better than 1RBT MK2 (tried it on my aptx devices [Xperia Z2 and PC with aptx dongle]).  The bass sounds better while the high and mid are still very clear.
The touch control is cool and easy to use, but it takes a bit of time getting used to it 
 
I love my 1RBT MK2, but I love this can even more.... lol
Too bad I don't have LDAC compatible device to try the new Codec (although the aptx still sounds very good).  But overall, I'm not disappointed and very satisfy with my purchase.

 
This is great news to me..
 
First of all, I am also a Sony MDR 1RBT MK2 fanboy..

  So, when the new 3 came out, (Senn M2,  Def Tech Sym 1, Sony 1ABT) I planned on getting all 3 to see which ones were better than my 1RBT MK2, and that one or two would be keepers. Well, the Senn M2 came out better than the Mk2, and the Def Tech 1, but the Sony 1ABT is NOT AVAILABLE to consumers yet!!  

 
So, I am guessing you are not in the USA...  

 

[RandomHajile]

Anyone tryed it with a LDAC source ??

The Xperia z3, walkman zx2 and a15,a17 for example.

And if so, how does it deal with 176/192khz files (and 2.8/5.2dsd)

Thanks in advance

 

[orion23rigel]

Initial impressions – comparison between MDR-1ABT and MDR-1RBTMK2

I finally got impatient enough to order the MDR-1ABT from a Japanese seller on eBay (plus they were cheaper than the retail price in the US). With the caveat that I don’t have golden ears, and I’m fairly new to describing sound quality, here are some initial thoughts I’ve formed around comparing the 1ABT with the 1RBTMK2. I’ve only had the 1ABT for a day, so I haven’t done extensive A/B comparisons.


Sound

A bit more detail. Less veiled. Not that the 1RBT was really veiled, but there seems to be more detail. The 1RBT always felt a bit smoothed over to me. The 1ABT has less of that.

Bass is slightly punchier, and maybe more present, but not overdone. The bass doesn’t take over, but you can feel it a bit more. These are still neutral headphones though.

Soundstage/positioning seems improved, maybe just because the extra detail, but I think it’s wider. It isn’t quite as wide as my open-back wired headphones, but I think I get a better sense of the location and rough distance of the different sounds than on the 1RBT.


Wireless connection

I use an LG G3 and the AptX-capable Azio USB dongle. I haven’t experienced any connection problems using either source, and AptX is enabled correctly on both.

My 1RBT took a second or two to play the audio after pressing play on the source, which would cause me to miss the beginning of the song/podcast/video. They fixed this with the 1ABT. It starts playing immediately, so no content is missed.


Physical

Comfort is definitely improved for me. Ear pads are slightly thicker, feels like different, firmer material inside. And the rear side appears to be slightly thicker than the front.

They don’t seem to clamp quite as tight as the 1RBT, but they still don’t feel like they’ll fall off.

The ear cups now turn flat the correct way! That is to say, inward. If you’re wearing them around your neck, the drivers point toward you. That wasn’t the case on the 1RBT.

They changed the side for NFC pairing. It’s now on the left side, because the touch controls are on the right side.


Issues

Microphonics are still there. I got used to them, but this becomes a bit of a problem with the new touch interface. When you have to double-tap the outside of the ear cup to pause, it is louder than I’d like it to be. And the sound of my finger sliding to adjust the volume/track is unpleasant.

Why on earth did they recess the 3.5 mm jack? It is recessed into the ear cup by a few millimeters, which turns out to be just enough to prevent all of my existing 3.5 mm cables from working with it. This is probably to prevent stress on the jack itself and to better secure the connection, but it is annoying to have to use a special cable for a standard connection. This is obviously less of a problem than if these were wired headphones, but it’s still pretty annoying.

No multipoint Bluetooth (or at least I haven’t figured out how to do it if it’s supported).



*Update*

The 1ABT has multipoint, but its multipoint Bluetooth implementation is inferior to other implementations like the BackBeat Pro. You have to manually uncheck the "Media audio" box in the Android settings to connect to another device for media audio. This means you can't easily switch between watching videos on a tablet and listening to music on a phone, which is a common use case for me.

 

[ravdo]

I agree with your Impression

Never had connection problem with my 1RBT MK2 though ^^;
 
About the multipoint Bluetooth, it's supported according to this
http://helpguide.sony.net/mdr/1abt/v1/en/contents/contentslist01.html

 

[orion23rigel]

I agree with your Impression
Never had connection problem with my 1RBT MK2 though ^^;

About the multipoint Bluetooth, it's supported according to this
http://helpguide.sony.net/mdr/1abt/v1/en/contents/contentslist01.html

Thanks for the link to the manual! 

My connection issues with the 1RBTMK2 weren't really that annoying, but I am glad they're gone on the 1ABT.

I tried to get multipoint to work using the instructions provided at your link, but it's not working for me with an Android phone and a Windows tablet. And even if/when I do get it working, it looks like it will be inferior to other implementations like the BackBeat Pro. If you have to manually uncheck the "Media audio" box in the Android settings to connect to another device for media audio, this means you can't easily switch between watching videos on a tablet and listening to music on a phone, which is a common use case for me.



*Update*

I got multipoint working. Had to disable the "hands-free" connection in Windows.

 

[Yappadappadu]

Thanks for your impressions. So they now fold the same way as the Plantronics Backbeat Pro do? That's good news.
Can you also compare the sound to the Plantronics?

 

[orion23rigel]

  Thanks for your impressions. So they now fold the same way as the Plantronics Backbeat Pro do? That's good news.
Can you also compare the sound to the Plantronics?

 
Yes, they fold the same as the BackBeat Pros. It's been too long since I used the BBPro for me to give a fair comparison. I'm pretty sure the mids are more present in the 1ABTs. I remember the BBPro being slightly V shaped. The 1RBT's bass had less punch than the BBPro, and the 1ABT has more punch than the 1RBT, but I don't think it's quite as punchy as the BBPro.

 

[bladefd]

   
Yes, they fold the same as the BackBeat Pros. It's been too long since I used the BBPro for me to give a fair comparison. I'm pretty sure the mids are more present in the 1ABTs. I remember the BBPro being slightly V shaped. The 1RBT's bass had less punch than the BBPro, and the 1ABT has more punch than the 1RBT, but I don't think it's quite as punchy as the BBPro.

 
What about comfort? How does BBPro and 1ABT compare in that category? I know you just got the 1ABT so you didn't yet have the time to try them on for long periods but in the amount you tried them..

 

[orion23rigel]

   
What about comfort? How does BBPro and 1ABT compare in that category? I know you just got the 1ABT so you didn't yet have the time to try them on for long periods but in the amount you tried them..

 
The longest I've worn it straight is a stretch of a few hours, but so far the 1ABT seems slightly more comfortable on my head than the 1RBTMK2, which was much more comfortable than the BBPro.

 

[bladefd]

   
The longest I've worn it straight is a stretch of a few hours, but so far the 1ABT seems slightly more comfortable on my head than the 1RBTMK2, which was much more comfortable than the BBPro.

 
Thanks.
 
If you ever get a chance, do check out the microphone for it too! That was big for me in choosing the BBPro over the 1RBT.