[ongsta]

Yes it can. I have seen little difference running this plugged through and Grace design SDAC and my Darkvoice 336se. Maybe sloghtly warmer signature through the Darkvoice.

That's pretty amazing considering its wireless technology, wow.

 

[bhazard]

LDAC is a big leap in wireless tech, but very few manufacturers and people are getting into it since it is Sony proprietary.

You mostly can't tell the difference between wired with a good dac and wireless with it.

 

[ongsta]

LDAC is a big leap in wireless tech, but very few manufacturers and people are getting into it since it is Sony proprietary.

You mostly can't tell the difference between wired with a good dac and wireless with it.

I think I've read that Sony sold the technology to Android and LDAC now ships with Oreo 8 software as standard.

Not 100% sure about headphones that actually support it though. Do you know if Sony are the only make that manufacturers BT headphones with LDAC?

 

[betula]

I used to have IEMs for my plane trips from the £150-300 price range. Even though I had custom sleeves which fit more than one type of universal IEMs (IE80, Cardas A8, Flare R2Pro) the comfort was just ok compared to my full sized headphones. Wires and an external DAC (Chord Mojo) made audio on plane trips a bit of a hassle. Since I upgraded my home system I realised that my portable rig will never match that sound quality. Hence I started to look for a more comfortable option for my travelings. (40-50hrs on plane, 40-50 hrs on train in a year.) The most simple and best wireless sound according to my experience is from android 8.0 (LDAC) to the Sony 1000XM2. The sound is fairly balanced, good/listenable enough even after coming from much better desktop rigs. It is a compromise, but 6-8 times in a year I am happy to make this compromise. No wires, no amp/DAC stack with my phone just acceptable and good enough sound for the flight. I prefer the 1000XM2 to similarly priced IEMs. Sound is equal or better. Even though the earcups get sweaty and warm after half an hour they are still more comfy than something stuck in your ear-holes. Sound is equally good than similarly priced IEMs, but being a headphone it is more comfy and pleasant.
If you are an absolute sound quality nerd, and you are happy to stack your phone with an external portable amp and don't mind IEM wires, than you can probably find slightly better sound for £2-300. (Plus the amp/DAC you use). If you want to keep things simple on the go and value comfort as much as sound quality, than the 1000XM2 might be the sweet spot of compromise for you too.
They are good enough for flights or traveling. The touch controls and LDAC makes them the best wireless NC headphones to date. For £230 what I paid for them they are a good pair of headphones for flights when I am away from my beloved home rig and very comfy not using wires and external audio equipment beside my phone. [Just make sure you tick 'optimised for audio quality' instead of 'best effort' (adaptive bitrate) in android developer mode.]

 

[davidcotton]

I used to have IEMs for my plane trips from the £150-300 price range. Even though I had custom sleeves which fit more than one type of universal IEMs (IE80, Cardas A8, Flare R2Pro) the comfort was just ok compared to my full sized headphones. Wires and an external DAC (Chord Mojo) made audio on plane trips a bit of a hassle. Since I upgraded my home system I realised that my portable rig will never match that sound quality. Hence I started to look for a more comfortable option for my travelings. (40-50hrs on plane, 40-50 hrs on train in a year.) The most simple and best wireless sound according to my experience is from android 8.0 (LDAC) to the Sony 1000XM2. The sound is fairly balanced, good/listenable enough even after coming from much better desktop rigs. It is a compromise, but 6-8 times in a year I am happy to make this compromise. No wires, no amp/DAC stack with my phone just acceptable and good enough sound for the flight. I prefer the 1000XM2 to similarly priced IEMs. Sound is equal or better. Even though the earcups get sweaty and warm after half an hour they are still more comfy than something stuck in your ear-holes. Sound is equally good than similarly priced IEMs, but being a headphone it is more comfy and pleasant.
If you are an absolute sound quality nerd, and you are happy to stack your phone with an external portable amp and don't mind IEM wires, than you can probably find slightly better sound for £2-300. (Plus the amp/DAC you use). If you want to keep things simple on the go and value comfort as much as sound quality, than the 1000XM2 might be the sweet spot of compromise for you too.
They are good enough for flights or traveling. The touch controls and LDAC makes them the best wireless NC headphones to date. For £230 what I paid for them they are a good pair of headphones for flights when I am away from my beloved home rig and very comfy not using wires and external audio equipment beside my phone. [Just make sure you tick 'optimised for audio quality' instead of 'best effort' (adaptive bitrate) in android developer mode.]

I would prefer to stick to headphones just because they are easier to put on and take off in a hurry. However I've always found glasses and headphones don't really mix and have to revert back to iems. Anyone got the sony's and wear glasses? Really tempted to pick up a pair whilst they are cheap on amazon uk. As I intend to use them in a noisy office area (12 large machines going all day, plus 4 smaller ones and people talking) I'm not really concerned with outright fidelity here!

 

[Tassie Devil]

Yes I wear glasses but prefer headphones and that includes the Sonys for travelling.

They sound good but are put into shame (as they should be) by Sennie HD800S (the most comfortable cans here) or Focal Utopias (by far the best sounding but not as practical as the Sonys).

Go buy them from Amazon!

 

[Peddler]

One thing I have noticed with these headphones is that when I've connected them to my LG V20 it doesn't appear to make any difference whether the Hifi DAC is switched on our off to the sound quality.

I haven't yet bothered connecting the headphones up to another player but I suspect that the headphones perform analogue to digital conversion, then runs the digital signal through its special DSP sound processing algorithm and then converted back to analogue and sent to the built in amplifier and to the speakers.

With this in mind they have a distinctive Sony sound which I really like.

It's fair to say that they are my favourite full sized headphones at the moment.

I was actually talking about when connecting the headphones to the V20 directly with the cable. Even wired the Sony's are performing both analogue to digital conversion, processing the signal for noise cancelling and sound shaping and then converting back to analogue for final amplification and playback.

I think this is the reason why they have that consistent sound character

 

[ohsigmachi]

I was actually talking about when connecting the headphones to the V20 directly with the cable. Even wired the Sony's are performing both analogue to digital conversion, processing the signal for noise cancelling and sound shaping and then converting back to analogue for final amplification and playback.

I think this is the reason why they have that consistent sound character

You can turn all those functions off with the Sony app.

I wonder if you do turn all those functions off with a wired connection if you're listening to a straight analog signal coming off of your source, things that make you go hmmmm.

 

[TheoS53]

 

[Tassie Devil]

A visiting friend summed up the Sony nicely when he proclaimed "Wow, that sound is good!" . That was until he used the same source to listen to the music on a pair of Sennheiser 800S cans - "Chalk and cheese difference".

That just about sums it up. Very good, very convenient etc headphones for the price BUT not for the audiophile obsessed. OK, I might be obsessive about listening in the home but am more than happy to have the convenience etc of the Sonys while travelling. It would be absurd to expect pristine sound with plane, train or whatever noise in the background. The Sonys effective dampen that background noise down to allow enjoyment of the music and that makes them excellent for purpose as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Peddler]

You can turn all those functions off with the Sony app.

I wonder if you do turn all those functions off with a wired connection if you're listening to a straight analog signal coming off of your source, things that make you go hmmmm.

I think that even with all the features switched off with the app there's still a lot of digital sound processing taking place. You only have to hear the differences when they're powered off completely and connected passively - they have a completely different character. It's this processing (which I truly believe takes place when wired or wireless) is the reason why these headphones sound so consistent - the character of the playback electronics is being effectively 'masked' by the digital sound processing.

I agree with Betula - they are certainly not the best headphones in the world - but they are amongst the very best wireless headphones, have an excellent set of genuinely useful features, have what is arguably the best active noise cancelling out there and are reasonably comfortable. I absolutely love mine. I paid full retail (after already having several pretty good bluetooth headphones) and don't regret it for one minute.

 

[ohsigmachi]

I think that even with all the features switched off with the app there's still a lot of digital sound processing taking place. You only have to hear the differences when they're powered off completely and connected passively - they have a completely different character. It's this processing (which I truly believe takes place when wired or wireless) is the reason why these headphones sound so consistent - the character of the playback electronics is being effectively 'masked' by the digital sound processing.

I agree with Betula - they are certainly not the best headphones in the world - but they are amongst the very best wireless headphones, have an excellent set of genuinely useful features, have what is arguably the best active noise cancelling out there and are reasonably comfortable. I absolutely love mine. I paid full retail (after already having several pretty good bluetooth headphones) and don't regret it for one minute.

How have I never tried these wired and being totally turned off?!?!?! Good lord I'm special.

 

[SolaVirtus]

I just picked up a pair of the 1000XM2 used for a good price, but without the 3.5mm cable. Is it a standard type or proprietary, weird fit on the headphone? I'm wondering if a V-Moda can leave will fit.

UPDATE:
I received mine, and they ended up coming with a non-stock 3.5mm cable, straight on both ends. I can verify it works. And if the V-moda cable is narrow enough, it would fit.

 

[Womaz]

I have just bought the WH100XM2 and I am pleasantly surprised at how good they sound. I have a decent set of in ears and excellent cans for home use so I was sort of dreading the drop in sound quality from the Sonys , but they are good and the sound is so much better than i was expecting. I bought them as wireless appeals. A couple of things has me less convinced. ie they do leak some sound and I did not expect this from a NC headphone. More of a concern is they cut out too easy. When i walk into my bathroom which is about 6m away they cut out. I have them set to stable connection too. Is this normal? I ask as I use my daughters beats and they never cut out around the house.
Overall though I am pleased with them , they sound surprisingly good and I think they are great value for money.

 

[mwhals]

I wonder if the WH1000XM3 is worth it to upgrade the XM2. My thoughts are no.