Long time lurker, I thought I would share my thoughts on these headphones. I've going through quite a few models to find the right pair of over-the-ear Bluetooth headphones for me and I think I finally found them. I have gone through quite a few, I'm sure the people at Best Buy are tired of me. These include the V-Moda Crossfade wireless, Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 wireless, Bose QuietComfort 35, JBL Everest Elite 700, and the Sony MDR-100ABN.
I think I'm finally done and will keep the Sony headphones unless something pops up that is truly amazing (from what I have read, the Sennheiser PXC 500 headphones aren't wowing me, will have to test in-person though). All of my music is sourced from my iPhone 6S Plus via the standard iOS Music app with all files downloaded via Apple Music (so 256kbps C_VBR AAC files) or purchased through the iTunes Store (same quality).
I prefer the sound quality of the Sony headphones over the Bose QC35's. Not that the Bose are bad but I'm not a fan of the scaling EQ. When listening to music at a low volume, the highs and mids seem to be cut back with the bass being too forward. I like a lot of bass but they just sound muddy. Tracks from Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Rammstein, and even mainstream pop Katy Perry were covered by overblown bass (due to the headphones) while vocals would take a backseat. Turning the QC35 headphones up resulted in better sound but I don't need to turn them up, not with their noise cancellation (which is, by far, the best of all the headphones I have tested). The Sony headphones offer the same sound at all volumes and they have a wider sound stage than the Bose. They seem a bit more detailed too with bass that is more prevalent but does not result in muddy sound. I think that these are more in line with the Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 headphones in terms of audio quality. I would actually give the edge to the Sony headphones but that might be due to me using my iPhone while also being mentally aware that the Momentum headphones are working with SBC audio whereas the Sony headphones are receiving AAC audio.
SBC audio aside, I would have kept the Sennheiser's but their noise cancellation is laughable, at best. The JBL Everest Elite 700 headphones cancel out more noise than the Momentum 2.0 headphones though the later sound exponentially better. That's the main reason why I returned the V-Moda Crossfade wireless headphones. I thought I could get away without noise cancellation but I can't, not when traveling or even when I'm in the office I share with three other people. The Sennheiser's would let all sorts of outside noise in. I could hear people talking on the phone, the clicking of their keyboards, etc. even when playing music. It wasn't until I turned the music up (to the same levels as the V-Moda's) when my office noise finally stopped. The Sony's do a much better job at noise cancelling. Not as good as Bose but, in my completely unscientific testing, I would say that the Sony's are about 85-90% of what the Bose QC35's are in terms of noise cancellation. The Sony headphones aren't silent like the Bose. I can hear a small amount of static coming through but it's not as bad as the QC25 headphones or the JBL's. Luckily I couldn't hear a difference in sound quality with the Sony headphones when NC was engaged or turned off. There is a difference when turning the headphones off and using them wired. There isn't any detail in the audio, the sound stage is limited, and the volume levels are poor. They go from sounding like a nice pair of headphones to ones made of paper playing behind a concrete wall.
All-in-all, I am very pleased with these headphones. To me, the best way to describe them would be calling them a wireless, NC pair of Audio Technica ATH M50X headphones. They sound very, very similar to those headphones (one of my office mates has a pair and he let me test the two for a bit of time) but are wireless and capable of shutting out a large portion of noise. I went with the black model but thought about going with the iridium blue versions. My only complaint, really, is that the headphones don't fold flat for travelling. I absolutely hated that the V-Moda's didn't fold up at all. The Sennheiser, JBL, and Sony headphones all fold the same way with one ear cup touching another. I prefer what Bose has done with the QC35 headphones (and what Sennheiser has done with the PXC 550 headphones). Folding flat makes for easier travel as I can just slide the headphones into my backpack and go. Headphones are a lot more cumbersome, and are thicker, when they fold into themselves. It means that the whole outer pocket of my backpack is dedicated to the headphones instead of using the inner compartment meant for textbooks and other things.
Edit: After having spent the majority of the day yesterday listening to these, and some other headphones, I've come to a couple more conclusions. First, there is an audible difference in the Sony's when the NC is turned on and off. The bass drops a bit when the NC is turned on. I didn't really notice it at first but turning the NC on and off while the same song is playing allowed me to hear the results. It's not bad, I still think there's more bass in the Sony's when the NC is on compared to the Bose. The black models attract fingerprints. I've thrown a small microfiber cloth in with my headphones so I can wipe them down every so often. These things are also light, really light. The Bose, V-Moda, and JBL headphones are all heavier than these. The Bose actually feel lighter but I think that's mainly due to their earcups and how there's so much space inside of them. I was shocked to learn that the Sony's are almost a good 30 grams lighter than the Bose. Using the built-in controls on the Sony headphones is easy. Some reviews said that using the controls was not as easy as the Bose QC35's because the volume rocker was harder to find as was the button/slider for music playback. They really aren't anymore difficult to find and use than the controls on the Bose. I had zero difficulty using them without having to take an extra few seconds to feel around.
I would still describe the sound signature of the Sony's as being close to the Audio Technica M50X headphones when the NC is turned on so that's a good thing to me.
