[Hubert481]

I couldn't stand xm4 for the same reason. But xm5 is much better due to lighter clamping force.
My friend ditched his xm4 the moment he tried my xm5. I did the same to my Px7.
The headphone comfort is such a personal experience which i dont think reading reviews helps much. You just have to try it urself and decide.

You can customize the clamping forece by bending it a little bit
worked great for me

 

[Hubert481]

Difference in Firmwareupdate from 1.1.1 to 1.1.3 for Sony Wh-1000XM5

 

[freeza2001]

Well, I think the PX7 is miles more comfortable than the XM4 I tried on the XM5 at best buy and I wasn't immediately wowed by the comfort.

If you found px7 comfortable and the anc are serviceable...there is not point to change to xm5. Px7 has much better sound quality.

 

[starfly]

If you found px7 comfortable and the anc are serviceable...there is not point to change to xm5. Px7 has much better sound quality.

I will know for sure about comfort after I've worn them on an 8 hour flight, coming up this weekend.

 

[Kanarie]

Speak to chat has re-activated itself twice since updating to 1.1.3 firmware. So doesn't seem they managed to fix that yet.

 

[orion1973]

I just bought a pair local today. Have 14 days to return it. I choose it because it was the most comfortable in the store. Sounds decent enough , I not going to nitpick that until it has time to burn in. I have a pair of mark 2’s I never wear because I can’t tolerate the comfort. I’m very sensitive to ear cup size, and clamp force. The only headphones I can really wear for long periods are Koss phones like the porta pro and KPH40’s. I can fall asleep with those on. I’m still finding the mark5’s a bit uncomfortable, they start to give me a headache after an hour or so, over ear headphones are downright painful with the glasses I have. I’m on the fence about them, because of that. I just found some new pads on Amazon for the M2’s. They are thicker and have a bigger opening, which the M5’s have. Right now I think the M2’s sound better, by just a bit. Haven’t tested the ANC on the M5’s yet, but the M2’s were always adequate I felt. I want to like these… if they were half the price, I would just keep them for sure and try to break them in.

EDIT: As weird as it is, I just can’t tolerate over ear headphones. I have been in several car wrecks and my neck and back are just completely jacked up now. Any pressure anywhere along the base of my skull for a period of time, and I get massive headaches. I wanted to like these, and I do, but I can’t use them for more than an hour or so. I guess I will be researching in ear monitors which I know nothing about….. lots of reading ahead for me I guess.

 

[Killedkella]

I just bought a pair local today. Have 14 days to return it. I choose it because it was the most comfortable in the store. Sounds decent enough , I not going to nitpick that until it has time to burn in. I have a pair of mark 2’s I never wear because I can’t tolerate the comfort. I’m very sensitive to ear cup size, and clamp force. The only headphones I can really wear for long periods are Koss phones like the porta pro and KPH40’s. I can fall asleep with those on. I’m still finding the mark5’s a bit uncomfortable, they start to give me a headache after an hour or so, over ear headphones are downright painful with the glasses I have. I’m on the fence about them, because of that. I just found some new pads on Amazon for the M2’s. They are thicker and have a bigger opening, which the M5’s have. Right now I think the M2’s sound better, by just a bit. Haven’t tested the ANC on the M5’s yet, but the M2’s were always adequate I felt. I want to like these… if they were half the price, I would just keep them for sure and try to break them in.

I would recommend trying the bright EQ preset with +2 clear bass. For me this setup makes the headphones much more open and revealing than the stock EQ.

 

[orion1973]

I would recommend trying the bright EQ preset with +2 clear bass. For me this setup makes the headphones much more open and revealing than the stock EQ.

Funny, that’s exactly how I ended up setting them! They do sound pretty good like that. Unfortunately though, I can’t wear them without getting a massive headache. Thought these could be different for me, and was hoping I could tolerate them because they were certainly the most comfortable in the store with the least amount of clamp force. Neck and spinal injuries are a weird thing though, and mess with you in weird ways you wouldn’t expect. I can say though that these things are great, wish I could use them, they would be my go to if I could.

 

[Hubert481]

Try to move headband on top of the head 2 cm forwards or backwards
this might help

 

[orion1973]

Try to move headband on top of the head 2 cm forwards or backwards
this might help

Thanks, I’ve tried wearing them all kinds of ways. I just can’t tolerate the majority of over the ear headphones. I’m fine with things like my Grado’s and Koss headphones, and the super cheap $10.00 Sony MDR-ZX series, but once they have a certain clamp force and go over a certain weight, I’m going to get major headaches. I didn’t used to have this problem, but after 7 car wrecks it is what it is I guess. My airpod pros work fine enough for noise cancellation, just not the best sounding things and I hate that one day when the batteries die, I’m going to have to throw them out, because there is no possibility of replacing the batteries. It’s why I’m thinking IEMs now. Those block out a lot of noise just by their nature. I find in ear buds annoying after a few hours, but they don’t trigger headaches that make me nauseous.

 

[starfly]

I decided to give these a try and got to wear them on a plane. Honestly, for me, I'd say the comfort is an improvement over the XM4. They're very light with minimal clamping force. The ANC is excellent when it works, but like 25% of the time it randomly drops out of its strongest mode because I accidentally brush the side of the headphones, or because it just decides all on its own it needs to adapt to something else. Very annoying and a deal breaker. XM4 is more reliable in that sense.

 

[evhvis]

I decided to give these a try and got to wear them on a plane. Honestly, for me, I'd say the comfort is an improvement over the XM4. They're very light with minimal clamping force. The ANC is excellent when it works, but like 25% of the time it randomly drops out of its strongest mode because I accidentally brush the side of the headphones, or because it just decides all on its own it needs to adapt to something else. Very annoying and a deal breaker. XM4 is more reliable in that sense.

Did you turn off the "speak" detection feature in the app? Had some issues with that on, but not after I turned it off.

 

[starfly]

Did you turn off the "speak" detection feature in the app? Had some issues with that on, but not after I turned it off.

I think it was turned off yes. Usually disable such features as I never find them to be that reliable anyway.

And it wouldn't completely turn off ANC, but it would go from perfect ANC where I couldn't hear a thing to a bit less than perfect, like medium strength. And I had the latest firmware installed.

As it is though, neither the XM4 or XM5 are that comfortable compared to some of the other ANC headphones out there which typically have significantly deeper ear cups. Just that Sony really does have the absolute best ANC tech.

 

[The1Signature]

The ANC is excellent when it works, but like 25% of the time it randomly drops out of its strongest mode because I accidentally brush the side of the headphones

during flights, i turn off any touch sensor.

 

[emusic13]

Just got these. Theyre not bad, still trying different EQ but so far I’ve settled on this. Gonna try finding some more in the thread