I have recently briefly tested the 1000x at John Lewis, PXC 550 and also the new KEF Porsche Design Space One (ANC, wired) at Headroom show (London, John Lewis had that too but staff didnt know how to turn on) and also the B&W P7 and these are my intial impressions. (I also have auditioned the QC35 several time, will grade but no comments as everyone seems to know it very well)
- Build quality/comfort
+ 1000x: plastic but does not feel cheap, better than I expected but nothing impressive, very mass market-oriented, very comfortable to wear on 8/10
+ PXC 550: disappointing unfortunately, plastic, too light and I feel like I can break it any time, though it can bring comfort due to its lightness but that quality is no acceptable to 300 quid Sennheiser 6/10
+ KEF Space One: simply brilliant by Porsche Design, contemporary beauty, solid, premium design and material with metal yet still comfortably sit on your head without making your neck hurt. 9.5/10.
+ P7: awkwardly eye catching just like any other B&W products, solid metal covered by leather, not very up to my taste but undeniably good. 9/10
+ QC 35: 8/10
- Noise cancelling/isolating:
+ MDR 1000x is at least on par with the QC35 with most of the noise at John Lewis (quite noisy at yesterday was Sat) was blocked including the voice of the staff just 1 feet away who was trying to talk to me. There was some tiny hiss actually. 9/10
+ PXC 550: a bit behind but still very effective with two levels of NC that can be controlled. It blocks enough to hear all the sounds from the track. 8/10
+ Space One: the environment was not noisy enough as KEF has a separate area but it seemed to work quite well, but the ANC on this limit a lot of its sound capability (runs on AAA btw, up to 50 Hours). 7/10.
+ P7: not so relevant but the pads did quite a good job enough to help me enjoy the high quality sound at noisy John Lewis. 7/10
+ QC 35: 9/10
- Sound quality:
+ 1000x very much like the 1ABT which I really rate (both wired) but warmer and thinner bass (losing this to QC35 definitely) which make some tracks much less convincing, sound stage is enough but nothing memorable 7.5/10
+ PXC 550: Sennheiser signature, reminded me of the 598, bright and forward, the mid is some times overwhelming to my ears but overall very enjoyable, suitable for those who enjoy vocal/mids, quite large soundstage for a wireless closed back. 8/10
+ Space One: at first with ANC on it was just OK, balanced, neutral but really lacks something. Turned it off and those were like another pair of headphones, every sound is just vivid, brilliant layering and nothing was hiddened or out of control, just right. Not fun, but will help me to listen for hours. 8.5/10 (minus 0.5 due to differences in ANC on and off)
+ P7: impressive, high quality sound right out of my iphone (its new flagship P9 sounds just fabulous directly from 3.5mm output of my iphone 6s, just unbelievable how B&W managed to do that), rich bass, clear mid/vocal and crisp/bright high but still a bit forward to my taste. 8.5/10
+ QC 35: 7/10 (the only good thing about this is the boomy bass and very loud)
Something about the Momentum Wireless, I cannot go with this one, the sound in wireless mode is just not audible to me, barely hear anything at max volume to enjoy the sound. ANC sucks and the price is unacceptable.
Conclusion: if the KEF Space One can go wireless, I am surely ready to spend 400 pounds for that but unfortunately that is not yet the case, the PXC 550 is a very good deal if you can grab the good deal at Dixons Travels (270) and ignore the look and build, with very solid sound quality. The P7 wireless will be a very hipster choice for those who adore something a bit classy and vintage. The total package and ultimate choice for those who want an all-in-one headphones for flight and commuting should really be the Sony 1000x, a total package, an all rounder.
These are just subjective and definitely not a thorough comparison/auditions due to limit in time of listening and many other factors may affect my ears and my taste. Thanks for reading hope you guys can take it as a grain of salt.