[expat75]

Had an opportunity last weekend to test my PX vs 1000xM1 owned by a friend. Here are the conclusions that we both agreed with:
- Comfort, Sony wins ( slightly )
- ANC, Sony wins ( by far )
- Features, draw. Mainly due to a lack of quick switching between BT devices in 1000x
- SQ, B&W wins ( by far )

Im not quite sure if Sony improved SQ in 1000xM2. If not, i would get PX if SQ is your main concern.

 

[davidmthekidd]

Is that still the case or do the new B&W PX have the better sound? Can't decide between PX and 1000xM2. Mostly interested in best sound via AptxHD/LDAC rather than NC.

1000XM2 is as good as you can get now.

 

[RamGuy]

I'm in a hurry, we are going to order 10x bluetooth headphones at work for our new phone system that will rely on a business app on our phones so we will be moving from a local SIP server over to using bluetooth from our phones. Therefore we are looking at some nice headphones to be used for a lot of calling in a open environment. Our B2B partner recommends some Plantronics Voyager 8200 or Plantronics Voyager B825 and they are rather expensive, the 8200 is the same price as the WH-1000XM2 and the B825 is the same price as the MDR1000X. We got previews of both and the audio is decent, but not great and especially the 8200 has abysmal ANC and the B825 doesn't have ANC at all. Both seems to have rather limited bluetooth range. We are not all that impressed considering their price.

So we consider to simply drop these and go with some high quality bluetooth headphones instead, and we are considering Bose QC35 and Sony MDR1000X and Sony WH-1000XM2. We already know that the ANC and sound quality are stellar on both, we also know that the Bose QC35 rocks some really solid bluetooth range but what we don't really know is how good the microphones are on these? Its important that call quality is going to be good, and its especially important that in a open office arrangement that the microphone with having issues with picking up a lot of noise from the surrounding people.

Sadly most reviews seems to completely ignore the microphone. How are the microphones on the MDR1000X and the WH-1000XM2?

 

[davidmthekidd]

My Headphone Connect app for Android got a very nice update today. It seems like the Noise Cancelling Algorithm was changed because the Auto Noise Cancelling feature is a lot more accurate than before, I also notice better NC when inside the Train in Manhattan. They've added another section too, now you can raise volume and skip or repeat a track withtin the headphone app. Getting better by the minute.

 

[davidmthekidd]

I'm in a hurry, we are going to order 10x bluetooth headphones at work for our new phone system that will rely on a business app on our phones so we will be moving from a local SIP server over to using bluetooth from our phones. Therefore we are looking at some nice headphones to be used for a lot of calling in a open environment. Our B2B partner recommends some Plantronics Voyager 8200 or Plantronics Voyager B825 and they are rather expensive, the 8200 is the same price as the WH-1000XM2 and the B825 is the same price as the MDR1000X. We got previews of both and the audio is decent, but not great and especially the 8200 has abysmal ANC and the B825 doesn't have ANC at all. Both seems to have rather limited bluetooth range. We are not all that impressed considering their price.

So we consider to simply drop these and go with some high quality bluetooth headphones instead, and we are considering Bose QC35 and Sony MDR1000X and Sony WH-1000XM2. We already know that the ANC and sound quality are stellar on both, we also know that the Bose QC35 rocks some really solid bluetooth range but what we don't really know is how good the microphones are on these? Its important that call quality is going to be good, and its especially important that in a open office arrangement that the microphone with having issues with picking up a lot of noise from the surrounding people.

Sadly most reviews seems to completely ignore the microphone. How are the microphones on the MDR1000X and the WH-1000XM2?

for strict phone calls I would look elsewhere, A microphone for calls is a added feature of the 1000Xm2's but NOT a exhilarating part of the headphone, the Plantronics are better at that task.

 

[rkw]

I'm in a hurry, we are going to order 10x bluetooth headphones at work for our new phone system ... Therefore we are looking at some nice headphones to be used for a lot of calling in a open environment.

If you're going to purchase 10, you should really try each candidate before you choose. For 10 people talking at the same time in an open environment, I think many bluetooth headphones will pick up voices from other conversations because the microphone is located in the earpiece, not closer to the mouth.

 

[C_Lindbergh]

Hmm the Headphone app seems to drain pretty much battery when I got the Automatic ANC setting on,or is it just me? Will prob just leave it off from now on.

I also do wonder if there will be an audible difference when going from APTX HD to LDAC once my phone gets the Oreo update, any ideas?

 

[karmacoma7]

The difference is tremendous. I don't want to go back to aptX ever
I am referring to regular AptX since mdr1000x doesn't support HD.
About HD vs LDAC, I have no idea

 

[RamGuy]

for strict phone calls I would look elsewhere, A microphone for calls is a added feature of the 1000Xm2's but NOT a exhilarating part of the headphone, the Plantronics are better at that task.

We did a comparison today, we compared the two Plantronics, Bose QC35, BeoPlay H9, Apple AirPods, Beats Studio3 and Sony WH1000X2M.

Surprisingly both of the Plantronics was the worst in both microphone and audio quality. They just sounded like you were talking using bluetooth 1.0 or something, it was really bad. The only one that did worse in terms of microphone was the BeoPlay H9. The Apple AirPods was the best by a fair margin in terms of microphone, followed by the Beats Studio3. The Sony ones did okay, not great in terms of microphone but it did okay and it was great in terms of ANC, comfort and audio quality. On range it was only bested by the Apple AirPods and the Beats Studio3, these two obliterated everything in terms of range having about twice the range of the Plantronics, Bose and BeoPlay and about 25-30% better than the Sony.

So we ended up with a mix of Apple AirPods, Beats Studio3 and Sony WH-1000X2M.

 

[rotor2k]

So we ended up with a mix of Apple AirPods, Beats Studio3 and Sony WH-1000X2M.

Was this connecting to a Cisco phone by any chance? I'm hoping I can buy some Airpods to use with my work's Cisco CP-9971 phone.

 

[RamGuy]

We are connecting them directly to our smartphones, so mostly iPhones (6, 6S and 7) and one person with Galaxy S8 Plus and one with a Sony Xperia Z5 Compact.

 

[davidmthekidd]

Hmm the Headphone app seems to drain pretty much battery when I got the Automatic ANC setting on,or is it just me? Will prob just leave it off from now on.

I also do wonder if there will be an audible difference when going from APTX HD to LDAC once my phone gets the Oreo update, any ideas?

trust me, there is a difference in Audio Characteristics between APT-XHD and LDAC. I preffer APTX-HD.

 

[gr8soundz]

trust me, there is a difference in Audio Characteristics between APT-XHD and LDAC. I preffer APTX-HD.

Can you elaborate on this?

 

[davidmthekidd]

Can you elaborate on this?

For example, I had the Sony Xperia XZ for almost a year, and After listening to my MDR-1000x via LDAC for almost a year, I got completely accustomed to the sound. The sound via LDAC is un-distinguishable from cable, but the sound texture is more Audiophile like or less tainted, a lot more balanced should I say. After switching to a LG G6, I now use APTX-HD, the sound is a lot more exciting and alive when compared to LDAC. Same headphone, to different codecs and phone. Better Bass, and overall a more fun to listen to, whereas LDAC is more balanced and neutral to my ears.

 

[gr8soundz]

For example, I had the Sony Xperia XZ for almost a year, and After listening to my MDR-1000x via LDAC for almost a year, I got completely accustomed to the sound. The sound via LDAC is un-distinguishable from cable, but the sound texture is more Audiophile like or less tainted, a lot more balanced should I say. After switching to a LG G6, I now use APTX-HD, the sound is a lot more exciting and alive when compared to LDAC. Same headphone, to different codecs and phone. Better Bass, and overall a more fun to listen to, whereas LDAC is more balanced and neutral to my ears.

Thanks. From what you wrote, it appears similar to the difference between hearing Dolby or DTS which sounds more dynamic than regular LPCM.

However, AFAIK the XZ only supports regular aptx (not HD) and same for the 1000X; only the XZ1 series and 1000XM2 support aptx HD (hopefully that will change if / once Sony rolls out Android 8.0 updates):
https://talk.sonymobile.com/t5/Xperia-XZ/Supporting-AptX-HD/td-p/1254253

I'm looking forward to getting the 1000XM2 and an aptx HD / LDAC capable device so I can hear them for myself but I imagine using the same codec on different devices may not sound identical.