[evak2979]

Thank you all for the help

ANC Is important to me, as I commute a lot and those reviews online can be a bit odd about which headset offers good of that or not - I won't go Boss, since I am on Android and my music quality will suffer.
I am thinking that I might as well go for the 550 or, in the end, for the HD 4.50 - the price on the latter is extremely good, and the early reviews on youtube are very strong. People say its ANC is as good as with the 550, and though the music quality might be a notch down, I doubt a 38 year old with so so ears like myself will notice !
I will give the 1000x a go this week, monitor to see if they grow any words, and act accordingly.
I did go to John Lewis Westfield to try headphones out today, but they did not have the 4.50, and I couldn't pair the rest of them for the life of me

 

[rkw]

I won't go Boss, since I am on Android and my music quality will suffer.

Boss??? Do you mean Bose? Are you saying that Bose music quality suffers on Android (compared to iPhone)? How did you come to that conclusion?

 

[evak2979]

Sorry, my phone auto corrected Bose to Boss. I came to the conclusion after reading about Bose not supporting aptx bluetooth. But I think they support the apple high-fidelity format?

 

[BenKatz]

Sorry, my phone auto corrected Bose to Boss. I came to the conclusion after reading about Bose not supporting aptx bluetooth. But I think they support the apple high-fidelity format?

There is no apple high fidelity format (for bluetooth, they just use regular old A2DP). That's true, the QC35 does not support Aptx, but this means the quality is identical from both headphones. And I was really unimpressed by Bose. I wouldn't be surprised if even the 4.50 HD sounds better.

 

[BenKatz]

Hi All

I'm looking for a spare 3.5mm cable in case I lose the one that came in the box. It says it is supposed to support a standard 3.5mm cable but compared to the spare 3.5mm cables I have already they seem to be very loose fitting and the sound cuts out depending on the cable position. Comparing the boxed 3.5 and another 3.5 the boxed cable seems to be around 1mm longer than a standard cable. Is anyone else finding the same thing?

Get any MDR 1A compatible cable on ebay. Just search Sony MDR 1A cable on ebay (maybe even try MDR 1000X in the seaerch). Do mind however that what you will find are cheaper, lower quality cables. The one that sony provides is balanced, oxygen free copper. You can get one from sony but it's about 70$.

 

[evak2979]

I thought qc35 supports acc or aac or what's Apple's format. Though I could be wrong since J am new to this whole deal.
I would have gone for the 550s but some people say they are not loud enough. I will actually try and go and give them a listen tonight.

 

[BenKatz]

I thought qc35 supports acc or aac or what's Apple's format. Though I could be wrong since J am new to this whole deal.
I would have gone for the 550s but some people say they are not loud enough. I will actually try and go and give them a listen tonight.

You're confusing file format (aac, which is basically an mp3) with BLUETOOTH codec. The bluetooth codec has to do with what the phone is capable to send via bluetooth. Basically if you don't have aptx codec at least, you can't even send proper high quality mp3 files over bluetooth. Whereas LDAC for example can send 16 bit FLAC, which are much higher quality audio files than mp3 (3 times the bitrate).

 

[shadow04]

Well, I actually kinda like the Bose as well, I don't think they are as bad as some people are making them out to be. I don't rate their speakers, but they do make okay sounding ANC headphones. Tyll from innerfidelity recently reviewed the 1000x as well but still prefers the QC35 over the 1000x(and in turn prefers 1000x over PXC 550).

http://www.innerfidelity.com/conten...oise-canceling-headphones#Ha0h2xhkVeSkwgMl.97

AAC is a Bluetooth codec as well, headphones that support AAC apparently sound better playing AAC files:

AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) – unlike SBC and aptX, AAC is a codec popular outside of wireless applications, including Apple’s iTunes platform and YouTube. It was designed to achieve better sound quality than mp3 at similar bit rates. Unlike aptX, it is supported by iOS devices. Apple implements AAC over Bluetooth at about 250 kbps (source – pdf), which should compete in fidelity with the best-quality mp3s or any other lossy codec. However, at this time AAC support in wireless headphones is not very common.

http://theheadphonelist.com/wireless-fidelity-making-sense-bluetooth-headphone-technology/

 

[rkw]

You're confusing file format (aac, which is basically an mp3) with BLUETOOTH codec.

AAC is both a file format and a Bluetooth codec (supported by both QC35 and 1000X). The idea is that if the source is an AAC music file, it can be streamed directly to the receiver without need for encode/decode. AAC Bluetooth codec is currently optional on Android (some phones have it) and will be one of the codecs in Android O.

 

[BenKatz]

Well, I actually kinda like the Bose as well, I don't think they are as bad as some people are making them out to be. I don't rate their speakers, but they do make okay sounding ANC headphones. Tyll from innerfidelity recently reviewed the 1000x as well but still prefers the QC35 over the 1000x(and in turn prefers 1000x over PXC 550).

http://www.innerfidelity.com/conten...oise-canceling-headphones#Ha0h2xhkVeSkwgMl.97

AAC is a Bluetooth codec as well, headphones that support AAC apparently sound better playing AAC files:

http://theheadphonelist.com/wireless-fidelity-making-sense-bluetooth-headphone-technology/

Oh ok, so I also confused them a bit. Still, it sounds like AAC is inferior to aptx bitrate-wise.

As for QC35, in the end, it's all about personal preference. Indeed, I did find the 1000x much more revealing on certain tracks than the QC35, with better overall sound, and I also read innerfidelity's review. But then again, if you check, you'll see What Hi Fi and CNET stating the complete opposite. In conclusion you should always listen to headphones, then decide.

 

[shadow04]

Oh ok, so I also confused them a bit. Still, it sounds like AAC is inferior to aptx bitrate-wise.

As for QC35, in the end, it's all about personal preference. Indeed, I did find the 1000x much more revealing on certain tracks than the QC35, with better overall sound, and I also read innerfidelity's review. But then again, if you check, you'll see What Hi Fi and CNET stating the complete opposite. In conclusion you should always listen to headphones, then decide.

Absolutely, that is a must for all headphones in general, as much as possible anyway, I understand some countries/areas don't have great selection of headphones available to try. Afterall, it is not a popularity contest, just because some headphones get better reviews doesn't mean that it will be best for your ears. I did not agree with Tyll(or the vast majority of review sites)'s ranking either, I will take the PXC 550 among the 3, but that's just me.

 

[Computer Lounge]

I really need to seek out a pair of MDR-1000Xs to see what all of the fuss is about. I'm personally not a huge fan of the relaxed treble on the QC35, even if it may be preferred for an extended use. The PXC550 is still my pick of the bunch.

// Alex

 

[BenKatz]

I really need to seek out a pair of MDR-1000Xs to see what all of the fuss is about. I'm personally not a huge fan of the relaxed treble on the QC35, even if it may be preferred for an extended use. The PXC550 is still my pick of the bunch.

// Alex

From my experience, 1000x vs PXC550: 550 has a more offensive trebble, 1000x is between QC35 and 550 in that regard (more balanced). As far as bass, 1000x is faster and more precise, 550 is bigger in volume but seems to eat a bit of the low mids.

 

[DC52E55]

Hello,
Please help with a Quick question. Just wondering if there's a way to disable the voice command feature to the iPhone? My phone kept on randomly dialing people.

Thanks

 

[Computer Lounge]

From my experience, 1000x vs PXC550: 550 has a more offensive trebble, 1000x is between QC35 and 550 in that regard (more balanced). As far as bass, 1000x is faster and more precise, 550 is bigger in volume but seems to eat a bit of the low mids.

That's very interesting, could you please clarify on "offensive treble", in my experience the treble on the PXC550s is well balanced and appears a little dull due to (as you said) bass eating up the lower mids.
I've never had the opportunity to try out the 1000x but I'd love to give them a whirl.

// Luke