[Derek411]

I waited forever for these. Tried in store but never got them. Till now. Guess i read all the reviews saying the 3's and 4's were similar sounding. They are not. Its not till you have both in house you really know.

I'm unsure if i want to keep or return them. I got them from Amazon. On paper its a list of what we may have been looking for. Multipoint connection. More detail, less bass and possibly more comfort?

I think tho the upgrades are nice. The sound is where i like the upgrade to be. I find them lacking that fat bass and a bit hollow. Maybe the recipe was too good with the 3's. Maybe thats why the 5's exist. Try and try again. I have the Airpods Max (and many others) they have cracking detail and a tight bass. Bit spoiled maybe.

I'll keep trying, maybe run them in. I have till the 31st to decide on a return. Cheers!

I take it back.

 

[agisthos]

I come from the stereo audiophile world, so maybe I am naive and don’t know what to expect, but I cannot understand how any of you can think the 1000XM4 has decent sound.

My little experience with cans is my friends HD600 and HD650. And recently I tried the Apple Airmax whatever’s, and thought they sounded clear and very good streaming from the iPhone.

So for my 1st pair of anc phones I got the XM4 and they have a fairly terrible sound quality. Everything sounds veiled, distant and congested. There is a fat tubby bass right into the midrange that obscures almost all detail.

Maybe like with speakers you need to break the headphones drivers in with 30-50 hours of music? Do they improve with break in?

I am already trying out different EQ settings found online and a few of them have really opened up the sound and improved things, but it’s been a disappointing experience to say the least.

The noise cancelling works great, but it’s not dead silent, there is a low level sound, like a distant waterfall, that never goes away and can even be heard in the quiet passages of music.

 

[deadspider187]

I come from the stereo audiophile world, so maybe I am naive and don’t know what to expect, but I cannot understand how any of you can think the 1000XM4 has decent sound.

My little experience with cans is my friends HD600 and HD650. And recently I tried the Apple Airmax whatever’s, and thought they sounded clear and very good streaming from the iPhone.

So for my 1st pair of anc phones I got the XM4 and they have a fairly terrible sound quality. Everything sounds veiled, distant and congested. There is a fat tubby bass right into the midrange that obscures almost all detail.

Maybe like with speakers you need to break the headphones drivers in with 30-50 hours of music? Do they improve with break in?

I am already trying out different EQ settings found online and a few of them have really opened up the sound and improved things, but it’s been a disappointing experience to say the least.

The noise cancelling works great, but it’s not dead silent, there is a low level sound, like a distant waterfall, that never goes away and can even be heard in the quiet passages of music.

I've tried a couple different Sony headphones, and own the XM3's. They sound...okay. You might just not like their sound signature.

 

[TooFrank]

I come from the stereo audiophile world, so maybe I am naive and don’t know what to expect, but I cannot understand how any of you can think the 1000XM4 has decent sound.

My little experience with cans is my friends HD600 and HD650. And recently I tried the Apple Airmax whatever’s, and thought they sounded clear and very good streaming from the iPhone.

So for my 1st pair of anc phones I got the XM4 and they have a fairly terrible sound quality. Everything sounds veiled, distant and congested. There is a fat tubby bass right into the midrange that obscures almost all detail.

Maybe like with speakers you need to break the headphones drivers in with 30-50 hours of music? Do they improve with break in?

I am already trying out different EQ settings found online and a few of them have really opened up the sound and improved things, but it’s been a disappointing experience to say the least.

The noise cancelling works great, but it’s not dead silent, there is a low level sound, like a distant waterfall, that never goes away and can even be heard in the quiet passages of music.

Have you also tried different ear tips? Whereas the comply foams to my ears muffle the sound somewhat, some of the silicons, for example Spinfit 360, opens the sound pretty much, on the cost of the ANC efficiency...

 

[jb2unique]

Have you also tried different ear tips? Whereas the comply foams to my ears muffle the sound somewhat, some of the silicons, for example Spinfit 360, opens the sound pretty much, on the cost of the ANC efficiency...

Um this is the WH M4 thread not WF M4.

 

[TooFrank]

Um this is the WH M4 thread not WF M4.

So sorry - my bad ....FWIW I didn't like the sound of the WH XM4 either....

 

[MrWalkman]

This is a driver that adds LDAC for Windows: https://www.bluetoothgoodies.com/a2dp/

It's not free, but I really think it's worth it! I've been looking for something like this for Windows.

You can also choose between 330/660/990 kbps, and between Stereo or Dual Channel, as well as the sample rate.

Tidal sounds awesome with this, you can set "Exclusive" mode after choosing your headphones as the output device.

Playing a 44.1 kHz FLAC.

Tidal playing in Exclusive mode - as the MQA file unfolds to 88.2 kHz, it's using this sample rate too when sending the data to the headphones, and it switches to 44.1/48/96 kHz too depending on the file.

 

[Sonic Defender]

The stock signatures of the last few Sony XM's are bass bloated which you should understand is behind the unimpressive sound quality. It has nothing to do with breaking in, or the Codec or anything like that. The overblown bass is masking the other frequencies. I own the XM3 and it was horrible sounding at stock. However, with a few minutes of playing around with the FIR equalizer in Onkyo HF Player Pro, I was able to liberate the sound and it sounds quite good IMO.

One simply needs to trim the bass back and you will by way of "unmasking" hear what was previously obscured. The drivers are capable of very good fidelity. Why Sony releases these clearly unimpressive stock sound signatures is beyond me, and I have owned many Sony headphones over the years. Anyway, I have no doubt that the XM4 is not much different from the XM3 in that you simply cut the bass back and will experience a much better balanced sound signature.

I am surprised that anybody who buys this series of headphones ever posts that they were surprised and disappointed by the stock sound signature. There have been thousands and thousands of posts, user impressions and reviews talking about this very thing for years now. I am unsure how anybody could buy these headphones without knowing about the bass bloat well in advance.

 

[Mikstick]

I waited forever for these. Tried in store but never got them. Till now. Guess i read all the reviews saying the 3's and 4's were similar sounding. They are not. Its not till you have both in house you really know.

I'm unsure if i want to keep or return them. I got them from Amazon. On paper its a list of what we may have been looking for. Multipoint connection. More detail, less bass and possibly more comfort?

I think tho the upgrades are nice. The sound is where i like the upgrade to be. I find them lacking that fat bass and a bit hollow. Maybe the recipe was too good with the 3's. Maybe thats why the 5's exist. Try and try again. I have the Airpods Max (and many others) they have cracking detail and a tight bass. Bit spoiled maybe.

I'll keep trying, maybe run them in. I have till the 31st to decide on a return. Cheers!

So just to clarify you prefer the Airpods Max to the XM5 I'm trying to decide whether to make the swap.

 

[Derek411]

So just to clarify you prefer the Airpods Max to the XM5 I'm trying to decide whether to make the swap.

I do. They are much clearer and engaging. I’m keeping both as they have their uses. But the AirPods Max are outstanding.

 

[Livestock110]

Honestly XM5 has some complaints, but it's miles ahead of XM4. Both in detail/resolution, imaging, staging... But the noise cancelling also beats it. I know XM5 has the annoying "Auto ANC", which I hate. But in loud places (trains, office etc), it kicks into Full ANC which beats XM4 by a long shot.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

In addition to the sound quality flaws that I mentioned in other threads, such as a bass boost shelf that runs too far up into the lower mids, I also heard a very audible hiss with my particular WH-1000XM4 when ANC is turned on. It might be a firmware issue - but the latest firmware that's available on Sony's North America site has not been updated at all since May 2021. My pair is on that firmware version - and I cannot easily retro-date (or downgrade) it.

 

[Nicsten]

This may be a controversial opinion, but I listen to music on the subway etc. much less consciously. The XM4 definitely have the described sound problems, but through the more unconscious listening this is less important for me. The ANC, cable freedom, etc. makes it simply more convenient.

The hiss I also hear, but that seems to vary massively between the units.

 

[westsenkovec]

My ears are sweating with the stock pads. Are there cheaper pads that don't heat up as much without loosing ANC?
Amazon has gel field pads for ~€25
Did anyone try them?

 

[pecotunkA]

This is a driver that adds LDAC for Windows: https://www.bluetoothgoodies.com/a2dp/

It's not free, but I really think it's worth it! I've been looking for something like this for Windows.

You can also choose between 330/660/990 kbps, and between Stereo or Dual Channel, as well as the sample rate.

Tidal sounds awesome with this, you can set "Exclusive" mode after choosing your headphones as the output device.

Playing a 44.1 kHz FLAC.

Tidal playing in Exclusive mode - as the MQA file unfolds to 88.2 kHz, it's using this sample rate too when sending the data to the headphones, and it switches to 44.1/48/96 kHz too depending on the file.

Hi MrWalkman,
Thank you for sharing this. I actually am already using a bluetoothgoodies license for the Magic Trackpad battery % display on windows and was not aware they had this product as well. I don't think I have any bluetooth headphones which support LDAC yet but it's definitely handy to know this exists if I do get a pair.

Edit Yes it was you. Found the thread.