[SilverEars]

I got to say I'm a bit disappointed with the XM3.

The sound performance isn't all that good as compared to wired iems. Sound is not as clear a bit fuzzy sounding. Most of the spectrum has a warm sig to it until the treble, which gets disjointly sparkly, and this treble doesn't sound refined. Bass isn't as tight of a bass you get with well driven wired iems. With ANC on, it sounds like sub-bass is being cancelled.

The level of volume is as low as any TW iems. The amp sections are weak on TW iems and affects SQ.

Another disappointment is the ANC performance. No way it is even close to full-sized XM3's performance. It seems like around lower bass is cancelled by ANC, but the upper ranges comes through. So, not as wide of a spectrum being cancelled. So, don't be fooled by it being labeled XM3 or the same ANC chip inside. It's just marketing.

So far it seems to sound worse with ANC on, and it was the opposite with full-sized XM3.

I don't like how the ear tips holds it in place. The looks of it reminds me of those ear-pieces for calls from back in the days. It's got the duchey look due to it being so large. I don't think the ANC is as sophisticated as the full-sized and they must be putting out simple waves to cancell, but in the process warms up the sound and cancells the subs.


I would say go with full-sized XM3 if looking for ANC. I don't know if it's possible to get iem ANC performance up to par with the full-sized ANC.

 

[Muero]

Another disappointment is the ANC performance. No way it is even close to full-sized XM3's performance. It seems like around lower bass is cancelled by ANC, but the upper ranges comes through. So, not as wide of a spectrum being cancelled. .

As I understand it, active noise cancellation only works on lower frequencies. On over-ear headphones, higher frequencies are blocked by the padding around the ear cups (noise isolation), but the ear cups can't block low frequencies. But with ear cups (noise isolation) and ANC combined, headphones can block all audible frequencies pretty well. If you're using the included silicone tips with the WF-1000XM3, they're not going to block nearly as much of the high frequency sound as foam ear cups. Foam tips can help with this, to make the overall isolation plus cancellation closer to the full-size WH-1000XM3.

 

[joshnor713]

Well, foam tips can potentially block out everything evenly, negating the need for ANC altogether. That's a plus for in-ears compared to over-ears.

The problem is that foam tips wear out, which is why silicone is primarily used. Can't have our cake and eat it too

 

[corgifall]

I think it's safe to say that no "true" wireless in ear is gonna come close to a decent wired Iem. Compared to the other true wireless options I do think its the best if you don't need any water resistance.

 

[WuWei82]

I’ve been waiting for some chatter regarding what these are like with a decent foam tip. It only seems natural to pair these with, for example, the Comply foam tips as I know these isolate very well and have personally not found too much distortion in SQ. Perhaps a little, almost unnoticeable snip off the highs and a little more beast in the bass but nothing drastic.

A well fitted foam tip should attenuate the high mid and high frequencies to a good level and if as reported the ANC does the same with the lower frequencies then this should be the perfect combination in actualising a fully noise cancelled environment (or as close as we can currently achieve).

Has anyone tested these out with the Comply tips? If so, thoughts on how they perform combined with the ANC?

 

[DynamicEars]

I have never buy over $50 true wireless iems before, because of the sound quality that can't match decent wired iem.

I dont expect quality of my wired sony m7 level, but i have semi tws (use with trn BT20) currently, tfz no 3 or kanas pro.
My question is this sony wf 1000xm3 has better Sound quality than tfz no 3 / kanas pro / something equivalent.
Im very familiar with sony in house signature since i have many sony iems too, including ex1000

I want pure tws but all this time but there are no tws that could pass my expectation so far

And anyone have frequency response of this WF 1000xm3?

Thanks guys

 

[nc8000]

Received mine. Fitted my large Spin Fits onto them and first impression out of an iPhone8 is that these are the best true wireless I have heard (Beoplay E8, Havit G1 and Earin M2). Both ear piece and charging case are clearly the largest of the 4 but in ear fit is fine and in pocket fit will not be a problem. ANC seems to work fine. Will try on a plane in 4 weeks time and compare to the full size XM3

 

[ryanmatic]

Just to add to what many folks have posted already: these are delightful truly wireless IEMs. They sound great, the ANC works well enough to muffle lots of distracting ambient noise, and they connect quickly and reliably (over a few days of testing so far). For those familiar with their over-ear big brothers, the frequency response of these guys is a lot more neutral out of the box. I've also found the fit with the stock silicone tips to be fairly snug and comfortable enough.

That said, in my experience the ANC is not on the level of the over-ear XM3s, which is understandable. It's still great for listening to music and podcasts during a busy commute, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say about my AirPods (seriously, how do people listen to these when out and about?) or my Xelentos. I'm very pleased with the sound quality out of these, too. It's fun and engaging without being muddy or bass heavy, and when combined with ANC, it lets me escape into my music no matter how busy and noisy the world gets. Folks wanting to compare only to the sound quality of these to other mid-range wired IEMs may end up disappointed, but for me, the magic of these is that they're effectively super-small over-ear XM3s.

The only real complaints I have that I haven't seen mentioned yet are that the voice prompts are too loud (I know I can turn them off, but still), and that these create a slight 'thumping' sound in my ear when I walk quickly. I'm going to experiment with other tips this weekend to see if I can attenuate the second point.

 

[creaturekyle]

I own (and love) the WH-1000XM3's. Is there anyway to try these before buying them? I understand very well the hygienic concerns of letting multiple people try on / demo "in ears", but dont feel like shelling out the cash unless I know I'll like them.

If it helps at all, these are much "cleaner" sounding out of the box than the WH-1000XM3's. Much brighter and crisper. I preferred the sound of the WH's over the WF's. The EQ/SQ options in the app can quickly and easily tune it to more of a warm/bassy sound, though. And they don't distort after doing so.

 

[nc8000]

I thought these were supposed to have NFC pairing, but they will not pair with neither my 1Z nor my A45 and they are also not detectable from either through normal BT pairing. Is it really true as some have written that these only work with iOS devices ?

On the full size XM3 just putting the player near the left cup disconnets from what other device the phones were connected to and connects to either dap

 

[buzzlulu]

If anyone has a chance to compare the ANC of these new Sonys to the ANC of the second generation B&O H9i over ears it would be appreciated (for airline flights). I am getting tired of lugging my B&O's on the plane.

Thanks NC8000 for the comparison with the B&O E8's which I also own.

 

[Thesonofkrypton]

That's odd. Definitely got the NFC logo on them, so one would think that would work as advertised.

Anyone know how to connect the Sonys to a macbook air? On the WH headphones there is a button specifically for bluetooth pairing, which is missing on the WF.

 

[nc8000]

If anyone has a chance to compare the ANC of these new Sonys to the ANC of the second generation B&O H9i over ears it would be appreciated (for airline flights). I am getting tired of lugging my B&O's on the plane.

Thanks NC8000 for the comparison with the B&O E8's which I also own.

Bare in mind that I have not listened to the E8 for over 6 moths so the comment is based on memory. The E8 had slightly better sound than the M2 I’ve been using the last 6 months but the XM3 is deffinately better than M2

 

[ryanmatic]

I thought these were supposed to have NFC pairing, but they will not pair with neither my 1Z nor my A45 and they are also not detectable from either through normal BT pairing. Is it really true as some have written that these only work with iOS devices ?

Have you tried making sure they're un-paired, then opening the lid (with the earbuds in), and holding the case close to the device you want to pair with?

That's odd. Definitely got the NFC logo on them, so one would think that would work as advertised. Anyone know how to connect the Sonys to a macbook air? On the WH headphones there is a button specifically for bluetooth pairing, which is missing on the WF.

You need to hold your fingers on the touch pad for both the left and the right earbud until you hear the "Bluetooth pairing" clip. Then you should be able to choose it from the list of Bluetooth devices as normal.

 

[nc8000]

Have you tried making sure they're un-paired, then opening the lid (with the earbuds in), and holding the case close to the device you want to pair with?

You need to hold your fingers on the touch pad for both the left and the right earbud until you hear the "Bluetooth pairing" clip. Then you should be able to choose it from the list of Bluetooth devices as normal.

Thanks, that worked. Never thought that it was the case and not the buds themself that did the nfc pairing and never read the instructions