Is anyone else not all that impressed with the sound quality on the WH-1000xm2 headphones?
I think the problem I'm having is that I'm coming from a lifetime of IEM/ In-ear buds and this is the first pair of 'proper' over-ear style headphones I've tried. Don't get me wrong, they sound great, better than almost all over-ears I've tried before but I think switching from the experience of having music shooting directly into my brain at high volume it feels a bit like I've lost something in terms of power and impact.
The details are great, the soundstage is impressive paired either with NW-A45 via LDAC, Phone via LDAC or NW-A45 via cable it is all good but I do feel like I paid an awful lot of money for an experience similar to or lesser than that which can be gained with a $40 pair of Xaoimi triple driver HD earbuds or even KZ-ATE for $15(!!) save for the wires being optional.
Functionally they are great headphones and the battery life is incredible but they don't rock my world like I thought they would. Further to that, the noise cancelling is only worth a damn if you listen to your music quiet as ****. As soon as you turn it up to high volume, you aren't hearing your surroundings anyway.
Same deal with the ambient noise function; works a treat if you are one to listen to your music at a low volume but once you crank it up, there is not a cats chance in hell of you hearing someone talking to you, or even an oncoming vehicle.
Then again, if these have a burn-in time I wouldn't have gotten there yet. I will keep an open mind, I've got some travel coming up so I will evaluate further before I do anything rash.