[alsorkin]

Welcome Head-Fiers!

So, Sony dropped its new flagship Active Noise Cancelling True Wireless IEM yesterday, the WF-1000XM4, and since it's also going to be my very first TWS IEM, I figured I'd kick off the official impressions thread on Head-Fi. You can get all the details about the WF-1000XM4 from Sony's official website here, and in case you missed it, the 'leaked-but-now-official' launch video is a great way to quickly get familiar with all the new features of the 4th generation 1000X series IEM.

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I should be getting my pair sometime next week, but in the meanwhile, feel free to drop in and leave your own impressions. It would be great to read comparisons between the WF-1000XM4 and the previous generation 1000XM3, and also with popular models from Sennheiser, Samsung, Apple, Jabra, B&W and Bose, among others. This will hopefully turn out to be a safe space to share your expectations, pleasant surprises, and not-so-pleasant issues with the XM4, so please be respectful of the Head-Fi Posting Guidelines and always err on the side of kindness.

Let's get this party started!

Just received the XM4 today.
After 1 hr I feel that the sound quality is greatly inferior to my B&W PI7. Will be returning.

 

[xSDMx]

Does anyone else notice an odd pinging/chiming metallic sound with spoken word material (e.g., podcasts)? Music sounds perfect to me, but with a podcast, the right earbud has this odd audio artifact when speech peaks. I've tried fiddling with every setting and have tried different sources. Very odd.

 

[nc8000]

Just received the XM4 today.
After 1 hr I feel that the sound quality is greatly inferior to my B&W PI7. Will be returning.

But then you would also hope the P17 would sound better at about 40% higher price with poorer ANC and battery life. It's all about which features one prioritizes

 

[SilverEars]

But then you would also hope the P17 would sound better at about 40% higher price with poorer ANC and battery life. It's all about which features one prioritizes

Yup, which is why I luv my APP.

 

[PixelSquish]

The ANC on these is really really nice. Blows the MTW2 out of the water. I recently got a little table and chairs for my tiny shared backyard. In the backyard right by where I sit are three large AC units that cool each of the three units in my building. It can get real loud back there so I wanted to get the XM4 to counter that. Whether listening to the radio, a podcast or music or even just nothing. Just to quiet out the noise of three large central air units running intermittently. t's fantastic. It's peaceful to sit out there now.

 

[tinyman392]

But then you would also hope the P17 would sound better at about 40% higher price with poorer ANC and battery life. It's all about which features one prioritizes

I think his statement was more about the fact that there were some reviews that said the Sony was hands down better sounding than the B&W. Regarding battery life, I’m curious about the size differences between the PI7 and XM4; I’d argue that it’s very likely that the XM4‘s housing is substantially larger than the PI7 (in volume) and thus can house a larger battery. I know there were some people in the TWS thread saying that they really hoped the XM4 didn’t stick out of your ears as much as the photos they’ve seen seem to make it look.

There are lots of metrics to hold up a TWS by: size, case size, SQ, ANC, battery life, comfort, 3.5mm support, auto play/pause, etc. In this case, this particular individual prioritized the SQ as they felt the XM4 should sound better than the PI7 for some reason (whether it be a review or two that stated it or something else).

 

[howdy]

Any of you who have the MTW2 and XM4 please tell what you like better and which is better overall.

 

[PixelSquish]

Any of you who have the MTW2 and XM4 please tell what you like better and which is better overall.

I own both and plan to keep both. I've had the MTW2 since their release date. I'll post some thoughts. It's going to be close in SQ though I think the MTW2 might win by a smidge but I haven't really done A/B'ing yet just going off overall impressions but it's so close to me I can't definitively say one or the other. Other features such as better ANC and battery life give the Sony's a big edge on that front.

 

[miserybeforethemusic]

Does anyone else notice an odd pinging/chiming metallic sound with spoken word material (e.g., podcasts)? Music sounds perfect to me, but with a podcast, the right earbud has this odd audio artifact when speech peaks. I've tried fiddling with every setting and have tried different sources. Very odd.

That sounds like a little bit of either ringing or artifacting. Can you try switching codecs and playing the same track?

I have very similar issues with my Noble Falcon Pro when running stuff that's already close to clipping over aptX Adaptive. Something about the way the codec transmits must be adding extra amplification, which drives the signal to clipping. Switching to aptX instead of aptX Adaptive eliminates it.

 

[Joseph Lin]

If anyone has the FiiO BTA30 and XM4, please can you test LDAC transmission to the XM4 (from a hifi or TV source).

I have it but you must use Line in or SPDIF then it will use LDAC. USB will fall back to SBC.

 

[KPzypher]

I guess Hiby can no longer tout "world's first TWS LDAC" with their soon to be released WH2. lol. Sony beat em to it!

 

[aspirina750]

Amazon Spain, released tomorrow, delvired on 18th

If you are interested I have mine set to be delivered tomorrow from El Corte Ingles...

 

[Joseph Lin]

I was curious about the bit rate of LDAC used and after some digging, Sony Website says:

Unlike other Bluetooth-compatible coding technologies such as SBC, it operates without any down-conversion of the High-Resolution Audio content (*), and allows approximately 3 times more data (**) than those other technologies to be transmitted over a Bluetooth wireless network with unprecedented sound quality, employing efficient coding and optimized packetization.
*excluding DSD format contents.
**in comparison with SBC when the bitrate of 990 kbps (96/48 kHz) or 909 kbps (88.2/44.1 kHz) is selected.

No wonder I cannot choose higher bit rate but it sounds very good.

 

[M3NTAL]

Just received the XM4 today.
After 1 hr I feel that the sound quality is greatly inferior to my B&W PI7. Will be returning.

Can you expand on anything at all? Where are you returning them too? I'd like to buy your open box once it gets back to the retailer.

 

[alsorkin]

Just received the XM4 today.
After 1 hr I feel that the sound quality is greatly inferior to my B&W PI7. Will be returning.

Interesting update: I decided to try some Comply TSX-500 tips I had available to put on the XM4......WOW what a difference! Decided that these are now keepers. SQ is now quite good and to my liking.