Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Noise Cancelling

[Rob49]

I’ve never purchased any wireless headphones before & decided to take the plunge.

I have a Apple Music subscription & decided to take up the free trial of Sony 360 Reality Audio, with Amazon Music. ( It stated 4 months trial, but when I proceeded it is just the 30 days, which I wasn’t surprised by. )

I received my XM5’s yesterday & just before bed, I signed up to Amazon Music. ( I’ve been subscribed to Apple Music since the Dolby Atmos launched. )

Today, I’ve mainly used Amazon music, but also compared with Apple. I have to say, I’m really impressed with Sony 360 Reality Audio / Spatial Audio content. It sounds better than Apple, although, I’m not unhappy with that.

I’m just wondering if the Apple Music works better with their own Air Pods Max, than other headphones ?? I don’t own a pair.

I compared Harry Styles new album with both & I’d have to say Amazon’s sounded more holographic, if that’s the term to use. Certainly a feeling of being enveloped with sound, all around, obviously, hence 360.

I didn’t think there were many album titles listed for 360 Reality Audio, but I just clicked Spatial Audio & I’m assuming there’s more titles than I thought, but I haven’t scrolled through. I immediately hit play on Queen’s Greatest Hits & presently listening & very impressed & enjoyable.

Initial 24 hour thoughts, I’m really happy with my first wireless headphones. ( I’m also impressed with the wi-fi range, walked to the top of my 100ft garden & it was quite stable. ) I’ve only been able to pair with my iPad. I’ve been unsuccessful with pairing with any other device I own.

It was a bit strange yesterday, more than once, going to move a cable that wasn’t there !

 

[The1Signature]

I’ve never purchased any wireless headphones before & decided to take the plunge.

I have a Apple Music subscription & decided to take up the free trial of Sony 360 Reality Audio, with Amazon Music. ( It stated 4 months trial, but when I proceeded it is just the 30 days, which I wasn’t surprised by. )

I received my XM5’s yesterday & just before bed, I signed up to Amazon Music. ( I’ve been subscribed to Apple Music since the Dolby Atmos launched. )

Today, I’ve mainly used Amazon music, but also compared with Apple. I have to say, I’m really impressed with Sony 360 Reality Audio / Spatial Audio content. It sounds better than Apple, although, I’m not unhappy with that.

I’m just wondering if the Apple Music works better with their own Air Pods Max, than other headphones ?? I don’t own a pair.

I compared Harry Styles new album with both & I’d have to say Amazon’s sounded more holographic, if that’s the term to use. Certainly a feeling of being enveloped with sound, all around, obviously, hence 360.

I didn’t think there were many album titles listed for 360 Reality Audio, but I just clicked Spatial Audio & I’m assuming there’s more titles than I thought, but I haven’t scrolled through. I immediately hit play on Queen’s Greatest Hits & presently listening & very impressed & enjoyable.

Initial 24 hour thoughts, I’m really happy with my first wireless headphones. ( I’m also impressed with the wi-fi range, walked to the top of my 100ft garden & it was quite stable. ) I’ve only been able to pair with my iPad. I’ve been unsuccessful with pairing with any other device I own.

It was a bit strange yesterday, more than once, going to move a cable that wasn’t there !

nice to hear your impressions. you should definitely download the sony software in the app store for all the adjustments.

plus... people buy these especially because of the anc... working in a starbucks etc. without hearing anybody is a very special feeling

 

[Rob49]

nice to hear your impressions. you should definitely download the sony software in the app store for all the adjustments.

plus... people buy these especially because of the anc... working in a starbucks etc. without hearing anybody is a very special feeling

Yes, that was the first thing I did. I very, very briefly tried the different sound settings, but I didn’t really like them. I’ve never been one for those. I have enabled DSSE Extreme though.

I’m disabled, in doors & it must be over 3 years since I went anywhere, so I don’t think I’m going to be anywhere, anytime, soon, using my headphones, but I was out in the garden yesterday evening & was quite surprised taking the headphones off, to hear a loud party going on, a few doors away. I put them back on & couldn’t hear anything.

I’m extremely noise sensitive, so was pleased with this example. My early impressions are, that I’m very impressed with the sound quality of music & I’m also very impressed with watching something on my iPad. The audio quality is excellent & I feel I can shut myself off, from the outside world.

 

[neil74]

I'm a little mixed on them. Overall, they're great. Super comfortable, great ANC, good enough sound quality for my fairly untrained ears. I can't quite settle on an EQ though, as opposed to my Aonic 50s which sound great for everything flat. I tried the soundguys' wavelet file, but I dunno.

I also find my Aonic 50s to be insanely more versatile thanks to much better codec and multipoint support, but ... I knew what I was in for. Not a surprise, just continued disappointment there.

The Aonic 50s are the best sounding wireless cans I have owned but the ANC just did not cut it which was a shame.

How is the temperature on these things? The reason I no longer have the Sony M3 (or M4s) was they cooked my ears, the design on the M5s looks promising in this regard?

 

[Gamerlingual]

Are these sold out in the US?

 

[jsmiller58]

Are these sold out in the US?

XM5? They are available on Amazon US.

 

[toupee]

The Aonic 50s are the best sounding wireless cans I have owned but the ANC just did not cut it which was a shame.

How is the temperature on these things? The reason I no longer have the Sony M3 (or M4s) was they cooked my ears, the design on the M5s looks promising in this regard?

Agreed re: ANC - it's not even close, the XM4s are vastly superior in that regard to the Aonic 50s (if you can withstand the cabin pressure thing). And I agree: I still think the Aonic 50 are still, overall, the most pleasing to actually listen to. XM5s included.

To tell you the truth I just recently picked up both the XM4 and XM5. So I haven't spent enough time with both to draw a fair comparison yet. I would say the XM5's are notably more comfortable than the 4's - although the 4's didn't really bother me that much. The 5's are a very, very comfortable unit. The earcups are generously spacious, and they feel really light on the head. I've used them for 3-4 hours at a time with no issue whatsoever - although to be fair I've only used them in pretty mild environments, in the cool evenings outside and in relatively cool indoor spaces.

I do wanna say though that if I were walking more vigorously, or spending time in warm envionrments, or doing any type of exercise - I'm positive I'd be building up some sweat. Enough to be bothersome? Probably not more than any other closed unit, and the sheer high level of comfort factor of these would mitigate a lot.

 

[gregpod9]

Today I returned the Apple AirPods Max due to:
1. After 30 minutes of using it, it started getting uncomfortable due to the weight
2. No power button
3. Hate the bra case
The only good things from the AirPods Max was the great sound quality, built quality, played nicely with my Apple products.

I'm now considering in getting the XM5's even through I'm in the Apple ecosystem (2020 MacBook Air, iPhone 12, and Apple TV 4k). My questions are:
1. I tried out the XM4's last year and they had lip sync issues when watching movies from my Apple TV 4k. Did Sony fixed the lip sync issue on the XM5's with the Apple TV 4k?
2. Do the ear cups make ears sweat?
3. Can they play both Dolby Atmos music from Apple Music and Dolby Atmos tracks from movies in iTunes?
4. Do the touch controls work well with iOS, tvOS, and Mac OS?

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Do the ear cups make ears sweet?

Delicious in fact.

 

[starepiernikowe]

Delicious in fact.

As someone who has a greasy skin and hair, I can suggest using good quality "baby wipes".
Or they will leave tons of fibers.

I put it in a arrow/napkin look thing and start by inserting it between the black material and ear pad.
Don't put fingers or nails, only moist and soft wipe.
Later earpads and the headband.
Everyday day after work, charging and cleaning.
Sometimes it's irritating, but wearing dirty greasy ones is much worse.

 

[The1Signature]

2. Do the ear cups make ears sweat?

to give you an answer on this question: i had the xm4, now xm5 and i can say are more comfortable during a busy day. that means the cups stay longer cool.

 

[macskabeka]

Hey Everyone,

Have any of you tried how well your XM5s work with eyeglasses on?

• Are they comfortable over long durations even while wearing glasses?
• How much does the imperfect seal (due to the arms of the glasses) affect sound quality and ANC performance?

I wear glasses all day long and my frame has wide arms, so I am a bit worried it might compromise the overall 'experience'.

 

[starepiernikowe]

Hey Everyone,

Have any of you tried how well your XM5s work with eyeglasses on?

• Are they comfortable over long durations even while wearing glasses?
• How much does the imperfect seal (due to the arms of the glasses) affect sound quality and ANC performance?

I wear glasses all day long and my frame has wide arms, so I am a bit worried it might compromise the overall 'experience'.

Hello

I wore xm4 and now xm5 for the last year Monday to Friday 10 - 12h a day - all day long.
If it's a sunny day I wear sunglasses and in the beginning I wore my xm4 with sunglasses with arms.
The seal was as good as without the glasses, the ANC worked the same, but the pressure was to big for me and I have decided to remove the arms and replace them with elastic.
So I can't say how it is with XM5 but I would rather worry about the pain from the glasses arms.
I can say also in cold days I wore a hat over the XM4, and they worked the same.

You must find what fits and is comfortable for your use.

 

[neil74]

Good to know that they do not cook youre ears quite as much, the M4s (and M3s) were terrible for that and for me it did not even have to be an especially hot day, if I wore them on my 30 minute train commute my ears would be a sweaty mess by the end of the journey. No such issues with Bose QCs or B&W. I'd take the slightly worse audio quality but superior comfort of the QC35s all day long. Such a shame Bose only offer AAC.

The M5s have me curious now!

 

[starepiernikowe]

Good to know that they do not cook youre ears quite as much, the M4s (and M3s) were terrible for that and for me it did not even have to be an especially hot day, if I wore them on my 30 minute train commute my ears would be a sweaty mess by the end of the journey. No such issues with Bose QCs or B&W. I'd take the slightly worse audio quality but superior comfort of the QC35s all day long. Such a shame Bose only offer AAC.

The M5s have me curious now!

You know with all that is happening in ANC headphones I really wouldn't focus on the audio codec, if implemented right; there won't be any difference.
I can tell you that xm5 are a lot more comfortable than xm4, they feel as "one thing" on your head.
xm4 were hot on hot days, don't know how xm5 will compare yet.
xm4 were tight on a jaw, to a point that talking on the phone, felt strange and irritating.
Never had Bose headphones, can't compare