[dazzerfong]

  Woohoo!  I think I got good news for the minority users with the creaking noise.  And hope this will convince the others that the MDR-1000X is an excellent HP indeed!
 
My initial solution to the creaking noise: Put Johnson's baby powder between the earcups (with "Sony" name) and the headband (look at the picture below).  Be careful not to overdo the powder, just enough to cover the plastics.  Then swivel the earcup to cause friction and make sure it rubs the plastics together.  Then I cleaned the powder from the plastics with my fingers and nails, the nails is to make sure some rough-edged plastics are smoothened.  Never mind the remaining powder as it may help loosen the friction.
 
Tried wearing it for a few minutes, moving my jaw and head, and though I can still hear some noise, they've been reduced significantly!
 
It's been more than two hours after the "fix" and I now truly appreciate the MDR-1000X's excellent Ambient Sound and NC!  I also ate dinner with the HP on Ambient Sound mode and was really pleased with the solution.  (Family didn't really like me eating with them on so I'm not doing it again!)
 
In theory, I think the noise came from the rough-edged plastics of the headband rubbing against the other plastics of the earcups which swivels.  And by putting the baby powder and rubbing them together (including use of fingers and nails) - it smoothened those rough plastics.  So long-term, I think the noise will go away when those rough edges are gone too.  That might explain why some/most have no issue, because their plastics are already "smooth".
 
Here's a picture where I put baby powder to reduce the Sony MDR-1000X creaking noise:
 

 
Disclaimer/s:  I hold no responsibility to whatever happens to your very nice headphones if you do the above steps.  I know the baby powder is not ideal but it's what I have that's practical and I don't have any dry lubricants.  I'm not sure if I used the correct terms for the HP parts but hopefully the picture helps what parts I'm talking about.  What I did is a risk of my own and I give due credit to the suggestion/s here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/581728/hd650-headphones-creaking-seeking-advice

​I applied dry lube to the problematic areas before, and while it solved one creaking source, turns out it's because the middle section plastic covers are being stressed. Hell, it even clicks if I squeeze it a bit harder. Definitely some tolerance issue with mine, thus the return.
 
Funnily enough, a few friends have remarked that they prefer the QC35 much more, mainly because of the 'superior' bass. Or, in their words, 'more' bass. It's funny, because compared to a lot of NC headphones, the 1000x's bass is a lot lighter. Thankfully.
 
And then you have this review:
 
https://medium.com/@Xander51/sony-mdr-1000x-headphone-impressions-oh-no-wheres-the-bass-6e19160bb4c9#.u2cg2lbzb

​God, compared to the 1A, these destroy it. Funny how the reviewer thinks the 1A is better. Guess we all have different ears, right?

 

[dweaver]

Can't speak for anyone else but I've owned the 1a the h.ear over-ear, 1rbt, 1abt, 1r, 1000x, + some older models, and NONE of them had any creaking issues when worn on the head. Sure there's some creaking noise when moving the cups whilst the cans are off the head, but in normal use there's no issue. Haven't heard of ANY reviewers pointing out the issue in any reviews for any Sony headphones I've heard either. Just my 2 cents.

I have seen complaints in every thread from MDR1R/1A, to MDR100AAP/ABN about creaking and out of the MDR1A, MDR1R, MDR100AAP, and current MDR100ABN I have owned, they all have had some form of creaking. But and want this to be more BUT, none of them were severe enough to make me write them off for that reason and all of them only suffered from the issue sporadically. More importantly I never felt like I was being ripped off for that reason and I have heard many headphones that suffer that issue a lot more than the models I mentioned. I still own the 100ABN and enjoy the hell out of them.

To be honest I struggle with wind noise way more than creaking. But to be clear every brand of ANC I have tried have this issue to some degree or other. Looking at the 1000X design I am hopeful the issue is not as bad as the 100ABN as the microphones seems to be better protected and note simply a hole in the cup like the 100ABN.

For those who just can't live with any creaking at all the Sennheiser PXC550 has a different design and so far appears to be immune from that issue. Just be aware it may have more upper midrange/lower treble energy.

Finally to be perfectly clear, the only reason I have not bought the 1000X is I can't afford it right now. I suspect that I would enjoy the heck out of it as I do all the Sony products I own or have owned. Hopefully I will be able to buy a pair some where in the near future.

 

[329161]

I have seen complaints in every thread from MDR1R/1A, to MDR100AAP/ABN about creaking and out of the MDR1A, MDR1R, MDR100AAP, and current MDR100ABN I have owned, they all have had some form of creaking.

I was more referring to professional review sources such as What Hifi, Hifi Choice etc. It seems to me if it was a significant issue they would've pointed it out. Maybe people have different tolerances to the noise, but as I said, I don't notice it at all.

 

[DSlayerZX]

hmm really considering pulling the trigger on either this one or the B&W P7
 
Just curious, for those of you that have listen to both.
 
It seems like that general impression is that the P7 has better sound quality, but 1000X has ANC
 
but which one would have a better vocal presentation?
 
I know P7 has a stronger bass presentation, but surprisingly... a lot of the reviews I read doesn't focus too much on vocals.....
 
So, for those of you with experience, which one has a better vocal presentatino. (which is like... 80% of the music I listen to)

 

[329161]

hmm really considering pulling the trigger on either this one or the B&W P7

Just curious, for those of you that have listen to both.

It seems like that general impression is that the P7 has better sound quality, but 1000X has ANC

but which one would have a better vocal presentation?

I know P7 has a stronger bass presentation, but surprisingly... a lot of the reviews I read doesn't focus too much on vocals.....

So, for those of you with experience, which one has a better vocal presentatino. (which is like... 80% of the music I listen to)

I have both and overall the p7 is better. Im not sure how your ttaste in vocal presentation leans, but imo if nc isn't important, I'd go for the p7. If you have an ldac capable player, then the Sony is a bit more of an attractive proposition.
The p7 is the best wireless hp I've heard to this point. Check out that thread for opinions.

 

[dweaver]

I was more referring to professional review sources such as What Hifi, Hifi Choice etc. It seems to me if it was a significant issue they would've pointed it out. Maybe people have different tolerances to the noise, but as I said, I don't notice it at all.

The only issue with professional reviews is they often don't use the headphone in question like a regular customer would so some things that only happen or can be truly experienced over time don't make their review. This can be good and bad points. For example I have seen reviewers complain about something like clamping that users report eases off over time and that sort of thing as well as negative issues like creaking. Unfortunately I don't see any member reviews in the Head Gear section for the 1000X yet so we don't have any Head-fi based customer reviews yet.

 

[DSlayerZX]

Well, the reason why i am considering getting the headphone is due to noisy work environment, some (very few) business trips per year,
 
and most importantly, at a park.
 
How ever, I did read that ANC doesn't do too good of a job canceling out vocal and higher frequency that well...
 
Which will be majority of the noise at a park... especially kids screaming and tiny dog barking consistently...

 

[Buddhahacker]

  Well, the reason why i am considering getting the headphone is due to noisy work environment, some (very few) business trips per year,
 
and most importantly, at a park.
 
How ever, I did read that ANC doesn't do too good of a job canceling out vocal and higher frequency that well...
 
Which will be majority of the noise at a park... especially kids screaming and tiny dog barking consistently...

I'm not certain any noise canceling solution will do a great job of cancel out vocals, screaming kids or barking dogs.  Noise canceling technology reacts to noise.  They are creating a "counter" noise to what it heard moments before.  That is why it works best on sounds that are consistent i.e. jet engines.  Isolation works best for these more immediate sounds like speech or dogs barking.  If you really want to eliminate outside sound buy a pair of Etymotic ER4s and cram those puppies down your ear canal.  I can tell you from 15 years of experience that you are not going to hear much once you have these properly inserted. 

 

[DSlayerZX]

oh,, I do own a few IEMs, but man... they get itchy (became unbearable to me) after a while, especially when I am out door walking around....
 
or maybe I need to get a custom one.... I heard they are better than foam or rubber for the long term ....

 

[davidmthekidd]

Ldac increases the clarity a lot. . Good stuff. It pairs perfectly with my Sony xperia x performance.....

Anyone here tried using Sony Walkman NW-A26HN with MDR-1000X? I wonder how it sounds? Im already impressed by my iPhone 7 plus paired with my MDR-1000X, I'm curious how it will sound on a player with built in LDAC and all that good stuff? Any thoughts?

 

[Buddhahacker]

Ldac increases the clarity a lot. . Good stuff. It pairs perfectly with my Sony xperia x performance.....

Agreed.  Just tried on the flight home and LDAC off my ZX2 was markedly clearer and more full sounding.  

 

[tcchuin]

had my unit for about 1 week, so far only 1 occurrence of creaking.
 
I noticed that the creaking only happens when the headband is not supporting the weight of the headphone, maybe try adjusting the length of headband and see if the creaking disappears.

 

[dazzerfong]

So, I got a new pair. And the creaking's gone. Yay! Noted that the headband tolerances were much better this time around: no wiggling of the two pieces, and when I twist it a bit, there was no give between the two pieces.
 
Bad news: I need to break them in again. Jeez, where they always this tight?

 

[Chris Aubeck]

So, I got a new pair. And the creaking's gone. Yay! Noted that the headband tolerances were much better this time around: no wiggling of the two pieces, and when I twist it a bit, there was no give between the two pieces.

Bad news: I need to break them in again. Jeez, where they always this tight?

Mine aren't tight, and don't creak. I suppose it all depends on one's head size but my head is not narrow or small.

 

[Mathieulh]

I have a question as I'm seeking a solution for a headphone for my Sony ZX-2

How many utilises the LDAC capabilities of the 1000x for enhances sound quality over nor BT connection

I did that when I owned the headphones for a couple of days (returned it because of the plastic creaking issue)
Overall it's the best sound quality I've heard over bluetooth (although not as good as wired from my NW-ZX2 but close, it is definitely better than apt-x), that said LDAC isn't that good in the long run because it's an awful battery hog, not to the headphones but the DAP itself. To give you an idea, after about an hour playback the ZX2 battery (which lasts about 20hrs playing FLAC or DSD wired) dropped to half its charge, in less than 2 hours my battery went from 100% to 5%, it's that bad. This doesn't make it very portable except for short trips, commuter uses or whatnot, you definitely want to keep your cable around for longer listening sessions.
 
I have a very hard time imagining people using LDAC with their Xperia cell phones as listening sources considering those even have less battery capacity than the NW-ZX2 DAP (or most other LDAC compatible high end walkman), their batteries would be flat in a matter of minutes.
I am guessing Sony engineers looked at sound quality over everything else including battery consumption when designing the LDAC protocol/specifications.