[Daank]

Thanks everyone for the responses, really appreciate it!
I returned the 1abt's but the price had increased so got the 100abn's instead.
Quite happy with these as a replacement!

 

[elektron]

Thanks everyone for the responses, really appreciate it!
I returned the 1abt's but the price had increased so got the 100abn's instead.
Quite happy with these as a replacement!

 
Glad it worked out for you.
 
Once you've had a bit of time with them, would you mind posting some thoughts comparing the 100abn with the 1abt?
 
 As a current 1abt owner I'm am interested in a potential upgrade at some point in the future.  Leaving creaking aside, how do the sound signatures compare, as I'm aware they're quite different.  Is 100abn really an upgrade, or more of a 'sidegrade', especially given that it's in the same price range (slightly cheaper even)?

 

[dbdynsty25]

Glad it worked out for you.

Once you've had a bit of time with them, would you mind posting some thoughts comparing the 100abn with the 1abt?

 As a current 1abt owner I'm am interested in a potential upgrade at some point in the future.  Leaving creaking aside, how do the sound signatures compare, as I'm aware they're quite different.  Is 100abn really an upgrade, or more of a 'sidegrade', especially given that it's in the same price range (slightly cheaper even)?

If a noise cancelling hiss bothers you stay far away. Tried them and hated them compared to the 1abt. The 1abt is silent and I definitely prefer that to having a poorly implemented NC circuit.

 

[elektron]

If a noise cancelling hiss bothers you stay far away. Tried them and hated them compared to the 1abt. The 1abt is silent and I definitely prefer that to having a poorly implemented NC circuit.

 
Unless I'm missing something, the 100abn NC can be turned off if it becomes an issue, unlike with some of the competition.  And it's not like you're paying extra for NC over the 1ABT, which don't have it.
 
Also, most of the reviews I've read are saying that while the NC hiss is noticeable during the quiet parts the 100ABN NC has less impact on SQ than say Bose QC25.  And by all accounts 100ABN kills the Bose in pure SQ.  What I'd like to know is how it compares against 1ABT.

 

[Neutrino3561]

I've played around with my MDR-1abt for few weeks with different bluetooth master devices, Mi4i that does not support aptX and Samsung S4 that with aptX. Below are my observation when tested with FLAC sound track, but not sure is it true,
1. 1abt with SBC codec is too bassy, I have to cover part of the bass port by using mesh/cloth with adhesive to reduce the bass amplitude. Lack of high frequency content, but it is very comfortable after I block half of the bass port. i can listen to it for more than 2 hours.
2. 1abt with aptX has significantly more high frequency content and less bass compare to SBC codec, it sounds closer to wired connection. However, I can hear a lot of distortion at high frequency that does not appear in wired and SBC. To me, the high frequency distortion is very irritating! And I will feel a bit tire after listen to few songs (probably 4-5 songs). End up I switch back to SBC codec now.

My question, how is the performance of 1abt with LDAC compare to direct wire? I believe the DSEE is disabled in direct wire condition, so the bass will be less dynamic. Is it worth to buy a master device with LDAC codec?

 

[329161]

I've played around with my MDR-1abt for few weeks with different bluetooth master devices, Mi4i that does not support aptX and Samsung S4 that with aptX. Below are my observation when tested with FLAC sound track, but not sure is it true,
1. 1abt with SBC codec is too bassy, I have to cover part of the bass port by using mesh/cloth with adhesive to reduce the bass amplitude. Lack of high frequency content, but it is very comfortable after I block half of the bass port. i can listen to it for more than 2 hours.
2. 1abt with aptX has significantly more high frequency content and less bass compare to SBC codec, it sounds closer to wired connection. However, I can hear a lot of distortion at high frequency that does not appear in wired and SBC. To me, the high frequency distortion is very irritating! And I will feel a bit tire after listen to few songs (probably 4-5 songs). End up I switch back to SBC codec now.

My question, how is the performance of 1abt with LDAC compare to direct wire? I believe the DSEE is disabled in direct wire condition, so the bass will be less dynamic. Is it worth to buy a master device with LDAC codec?

Any listening tests not done blindly with abx, I will be sceptical of.

 

[Neutrino3561]

Any listening tests not done blindly with abx, I will be sceptical of.

Do you have a MDR-1abt? Do you ever compare SBC vs aptX?

 

[329161]

Yep.

Do you have a MDR-1abt? Do you ever compare SBC vs aptX?

Yep. Can't notice any difference....also compared to ldac as well....same.

 

[Neutrino3561]

Yep.
Yep. Can't notice any difference....also compared to ldac as well....same.

:blink::confused_face(1):

 

[Neutrino3561]

http://www.sereneaudio.com/blog/how-good-is-bluetooth-audio-at-its-best
Comparison between SBC vs aptX. I noticed there are some noises at aptx 10kHz plot, which correlate to my observation.

 

[329161]

http://www.sereneaudio.com/blog/how-good-is-bluetooth-audio-at-its-best
Comparison between SBC vs aptX. I noticed there are some noises at aptx 10kHz plot, which correlate to my observation.

if tests like these aren't carried out blindly (and preferably with abx), then they are subject to expectation bias. It doesn't state in the article that this was a blind abx test.

 

[Ahoihoi]

There seems to be some truth towhat he says though. I noticed the same characteristics on mine also.

Generally when playing low bit rate (eg. 128kbps mp3 or SBC) it sounds mellowed out with more bass oomph. If high bit rate (320kbps+) on APT-X it sounds a bit more bright.

But again, I didn't do this on a blind test.

 

[329161]

There seems to be some truth towhat he says though. I noticed the same characteristics on mine also.

Generally when playing low bit rate (eg. 128kbps mp3 or SBC) it sounds mellowed out with more bass oomph. If high bit rate (320kbps+) on APT-X it sounds a bit more bright.

But again, I didn't do this on a blind test.

Hey I've succumbed to this phenomenon as well, I've tried the 1abt with ldac using hi bit lossy , and I BELIEVE it sounds better...but cant really make a definite opinion without being scientific about it. Audiophiles really are like religious people eh. We see/hear things that aren't necessarily there

 

[Neutrino3561]

This is what I do to reduce bass. Probably this may help when use in SBC Bluetooth. 

 

[djash1983]

I just bought a pair, and it definitely sounds awesome whether wired or wireless. But I find the headset almost sounded flat on wired with a little bit of bass (which is great), while there's more bass present in wireless than wired and kinda less mids that made it like v-shaped. Too bad my smartphone doesn't have NFC support, but pairing on bluetooth is very easy anyway. Touch controls takes time for me to get used to (especially when turning up/down the volume) and can sometimes get annoying, but at least play/pause can be tapped just fine.

I do have a question though. Since MDR-1ABT has a built-in mic (since this can be also used to make/recieve phone calls), can this be used as a dekstop PC headset (through Bluetooth using a dongle or through USB cable)? I already had a desktop microphone so no worries there, but it would be convenient if this can be used a PC headset as well.

UPDATE: I tried it on my PC, setup was relatively easy on Windows 8.1 on bluetooth connection thru a USB bluetooth dongle (Buffalo Bluetooth 4.0+EDR/LE USB dongle, model# BSBT4D09BK) which both the headset speakers (playback) and mic (recording) are detected as separate components. I don't know if it's my smartphone (or google play music app) that makes the sound a bit different in wireless, but when I play the very same song in Foobar2000, Media Player Classic Home Cinema, or any media player in Windows, the overall sound feels very much the same as wired, almost flat sounding. Of course, all are in default settings, and have not touched anything whatsoever.

As for the mic, I was disappointed that after test recording my voice using Adobe Audition it was not that good. Then I found out that the built-in mic only supports 8000hz 16-bit on the mic properties. It may not sound good when compared to an ordinary desktop microphone, but it's sufficient enough for phone calls.