[bronco1015]

I got the Sony WH-H910N h.ear on 3 from Costco, for $170 after $30 discount. I’m not audiophile. Just 1 person’s feedback on this headphone.

Summary: After 5 days playing with it, I’m return it. If you want Bluetooth ANC headphone on budget, this can be an option due to it's low cost. Sound quality is good for certain music that is artificial, maybe EDM, Electronic, Pop. It is passable for rock and alternative rock. But it is not good if you want wide sound stage. It’s not good for watching movie/tv. I’m willing to pay more to get a better headphone. Question is which “better” headphone…

My current headphones/earphones:

• Audio Technica ATH-A700 (10+ years old). I’m not really promoting this headphone below. It’s the only headphones I have and I’m just using it as comparison.
• Shure E4C (around 12 years old)
• Shure E3C (my wife’s, also around 12 years old)
• Apple AirPods Pro
• Apple AirPods
• Beats urBeats3

Sources I used:

• 2 different MacBook Pros
• iPhone 11 Max
• iPhone XR
• iPad Pro
• iPad Air

My Usage: 50% for streaming movies/tv on MacBook Pro, 25% music on MBP/iPhone/iPad, 25% YouTube on MBP. I wanted a new headphone because my current Audio Technica ATH-A700 has weak mid; vocals in music and voices in movies sound thin. I thought I wanted wireless because it is convenient. I don’t care for ANC; it’s nice to have, but I rarely use it on my AirPods Pro. I do travel handful of times each year; I have Shure E4C for that; so I’m not looking for ANC headphone for airplane travel.

Sound Quality:

Pro: Flat and balanced. Sounds better than Apple AirPods and AirPods Pro, better than Shure E4C. But this is comparing headphones with earphones.

• High: Not as good as A700. But Sony sounds flat, which is what I want.
• Mid: Sony vocals in music sound better and fuller than A700. This is what I was looking for in the replacement headphone.
• Bass: Nice and punchy, but lacks quality. Sony has more punch in the mid bass. At first listen, it seemed great. But after the 1st past, I paid attention to the details. Although A700 is not as strong as Sony’s, it is more enjoyable. A700 has a nice reverb to the bass sounds. For example, Anna Kendrick's Cups ("When I'm Gone" from Pitch Perfect) at 15 second mark and thru out the song; Ingrid Michaelson's You and I at 2 minute mark. I picked these 2 because these songs are quite clean without a lot of background music. I don't even know what instruments are used. A700 sounds more realistic and more enjoyable with the reverb.

Sound Stage: Sony’s sound stage is lacking for movies and certain music genres. I hear the sound coming from my ears. In comparison, A700 sound is coming from around me, though not necessarily directional. For example, American Sniper - Official Trailer at around 10-15 second mark, you can hear the convoy/tanks. On A700, I hear the tanks around me; it’s more immersive. On Sony, I heard the tank sound coming from my ears; it sounds artificial and not realistic.

On Sony, the vocals and instruments are on top of each other, and there is a narrow range from lows to highs. It's feels like music is in my face (in my head) and feels crowded. On A700, I can hear the different instruments more clearly, like more separation. And there seems to be a wider range from lows to highs. It just feels more relaxing and realistic, like I’m in the room listening to the musicians.

Wired with Power Off: One of my biggest concern with Sony h.ear on 3 is the sound quality using wired mode with power off. It is just horrible without power; worse than free Apple earphones that come with iPhone. My take is that headphone’s battery will last only couple years. So I rather have a headphone that can continue to work without power. I didn't do any research on this. I was shocked after hearing this Sony with power off. It seems most bluetooth wireless headphones have SQ difference between power on and off. I guess that is the trade off between bluetooth vs wired.

Comfort: Not so good. My ears got quite hot and sweaty easily. Ear cups are a bit small. I have small ears, so ear cups do fit around my ears, but the tips of my ears are touching the inside of ear cups. Another issue is that the driver has a plastic cover that sticks out at the very center. You can see it thru the cloth cover. So this cloth covering the driver touches my ears. At first, it is very unusual and uncomfortable feeling. But I got used to that in 1 day. Still with the cloth touching my ears, I just feel cramped and sweaty when hot.

Bluetooth: Switching between devices takes around 10-15 seconds. Even when 2nd device has being paired before, you cannot just go straight from 1st device to 2nd device. I either have to:

1. I turn headphones off; turn headphone back on, while holding the power button for 7-10 seconds; then can connect to 2nd device.
2. Disconnect the headphone from 1st connected device at source, then I can connect bluetooth on second device.

It’s kind of a hassle, especially since I got a lot of products I want to use the headphones with. I don’t have much experience with bluetooth on non-Apple product, so not sure if Sony is same or worse than others. Apple AirPods just connects fast and easily. I don’t have to think about which device it was connected to previously. I can just immediately connect to the one I want.

I do have some issues with signal strength. Even if I’m next to the source, there is periodic static. I got this around 10-15 times in 5 days (maybe 30 hours) of usage. Once the static occurs, I heard this static periodically like 10-20 seconds apart. Sometimes, the static caused the sound to be jumbled; like sound from different time is getting mixed together. At first I didn’t know what this is. Then I realized it is Bluetooth connectivity. Because if I go out of range, I get this similar effect. Fix is easy. Just have to pause the audio, wait 2-5 seconds, and restart audio. It is concerning how frequently this happens. On my last day, I did see that in Sony Headphone Connection app, there is a setting for sound quality vs stable connection priority. Even with stable connection priority, I still got this static couple times. So for sure this did not fix the issue. Not sure if it will reduce the occurrence, but by this time I don't care anymore since the SQ is not for me.

Bluetooth range is OK. I didn't do detailed test. It seems to be similar as Apple AirPods and AirPods Pro.

ANC: Not something I care about, so I didn’t test this extensively. My house is pretty quiet, so I won't go out of my way to test this. I just play YouTube audio on computer speakers and test the ANC. Sony ANC is better than AirPods Pro. It is almost as good as Shure E4C passive noise cancellation. This is a plus, I didn’t think ANC can be as good as passive NC of IEM, but they were very close. Another positive with the Sony is that I don’t feel any pressure from the ANC. Whereas on AirPods Pro, I do feel the pressure.

I don't use ANC nor ambient sound. Apple AirPods Pro remember my settings; and I can change the function of the quick key/press. On Sony, whenever the unit is powered on, it will have ANC on. I have to go thru the hassle of turning that off every time.

Sony Headphones Connect app: Extremely unstable on iPhone. It takes 5-10 tries to connect the headphone to the app. Even after initial connection, the app will get disconnected from headphone subsequently, so have to restart the pairing process again again. The app basically just froze with spinning wheel. Over and over. It's ridiculous.

Maybe I'm used to Apple products; they are not perfect, but they just work 99% of time. This Sony headphone has periodic bluetooth signal and static issue. And the Sony Headphones Connect app is just crap and just wasted my time. The lack of ease to switch devices is not deal breaker. Just allow me to appreciate Apple's integration.

One good thing that came out of this experience is how I much enjoyed the Audio Technica ATH-A700. I used equalizer to boost the mid slightly for vocals. And it is a lot more enjoyable now. Also, I realized I need to consider sound stage for my usage.

Anyways, I need to decide what I want. I thought about Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro, but I'm undecided as this is kind of redundant. I will definitely look for next round of bluetooth ANC headphones: maybe more reviews on Shure AONIC 50, Sony 1000XM4, Apple Wireless Over Ear “Pro” model. However, my desire to have good SQ for wired powered off mode will likely exclude Sony. Not sure if Apple will offer wired mode, because Beats Solo Pro (on-ear) doesn't have wired mode; and Beats traditional do not have good sound stage.

This is a case where you hate to see codecs not included in every device possible. If you'd had access to LDAC with any of your sources, i think theres a good chance you might feel differently about how they sound. aT this point whatever headphone you choose will need to have AAC for the best possible sound quality. Any of the beats headphones, the NAD HP70, PSB M4U 8, Shure Aonic 50, Sennheiser Momentum3, Sony WH1000XM3, Bose ANC700 to name a few.

 

[phower]

This is a case where you hate to see codecs not included in every device possible. If you'd had access to LDAC with any of your sources, i think theres a good chance you might feel differently about how they sound. aT this point whatever headphone you choose will need to have AAC for the best possible sound quality. Any of the beats headphones, the NAD HP70, PSB M4U 8, Shure Aonic 50, Sennheiser Momentum3, Sony WH1000XM3, Bose ANC700 to name a few.

wh-h910n support SBC, AAC, and LDAC. I am not sure whether his iPhone was using SBC or AAC.

 

[bronco1015]

wh-h910n support SBC, AAC, and LDAC. I am not sure whether his iPhone was using SBC or AAC.

It would make sense that they did to account for ios devices, i was thinking it was just SBC and LDAC for some reason.

 

[dweaver]

AAC loses some of the detail but has the same essential signature so he just might not like the Sony sound. Given the fact he has used the A700 for 10 years would probably play in to that fact.

He also had lots of connectivity issues something that would drive me crazy. Fortunately I have almost zero issues of this nature with my Samsung S9 and computer.

 

[bronco1015]

AAC loses some of the detail but has the same essential signature so he just might not like the Sony sound. Given the fact he has used the A700 for 10 years would probably play in to that fact.

He also had lots of connectivity issues something that would drive me crazy. Fortunately I have almost zero issues of this nature with my Samsung S9 and computer.

For sure on all accounts. i missed the connectivity issues mentioned in his post. That alone would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[D00M]

Sony h.ear on 3 has AAC support. On my Mac, I can see it is connected thru AAC. Can check by pressing Option key + click on Bluetooth icon on menu bar and select the Bluetooth device.

On iPhone, I don't know how to check, but I assume it is connected thru AAC.

In any case, the data rate is not a factor here. The difference in sound profile and sound stage is much more than just data rate difference.

• Sony has flatter profile: good bass, good mid. Audio Technica has weak mid; more like V-shape. Very significant difference. This is what I expected.
• The sound stage difference is also night and day. Because I will use the headphone for streaming movie/tv more than 50% of time, this sound stage is important to me. This is something I didn't know until I got the unit and compared in person.

For sure on all accounts. i missed the connectivity issues mentioned in his post. That alone would be a deal breaker for me.

On the connectivity issue, not sure if it is only my unit, my source, my environment, or general issue on Sony. The issue sometimes is like a split second static; other times it is like headphone cannot catch up with audio, so I can hear audio from 1 sec ago mixed with current audio. If it occurred with single device, it can be issue with the source. If it occurred on multiple devices, then it is headphone issues. Unfortunately, I don't recall. I know it mostly occurred on my MacBook Pro, because I was mainly watching movie on my Mac with Sony headset. I don't remember if this happened with another source (iPhone or iPad).

 

[phower]

On the connectivity issue, not sure if it is only my unit, my source, my environment, or general issue on Sony. The issue sometimes is like a split second static; other times it is like headphone cannot catch up with audio, so I can hear audio from 1 sec ago mixed with current audio. If it occurred with single device, it can be issue with the source. If it occurred on multiple devices, then it is headphone issues. Unfortunately, I don't recall. I know it mostly occurred on my MacBook Pro, because I was mainly watching movie on my Mac with Sony headset. I don't remember if this happened with another source (iPhone or iPad).

Looks like the common factor is Apple? I can connect to Android, PC. No issues and no dropped audio or static. In fact, the 910N uses a chip antenna for Bluetooth which has excellent reception when compared to PCB traces used on other cheaper models.

 

[dweaver]

Having owned the AD700 I know roughly how big the sound stage will be and so far I have not found an ANC headohome that can match that. Similarly the difference in V signature versus a flatter signature also impacts sound stage. Combine that with 10 years of using the A700 consistently and your brain is going to find most other signatures to be "off". The only way to retrain the old noggin is to use a different headphone for at least a week by itself and your brain will stop expecting that familiar signature.

Best analogy is drinking the same brand of beer for 10 years and then just switch to a new brand. Better yet 10 years of drinking a sweet beer and then switching to a bitter beer LOL.

 

[phower]

Having owned the AD700 I know roughly how big the sound stage will be and so far I have not found an ANC headohome that can match that. Similarly the difference in V signature versus a flatter signature also impacts sound stage. Combine that with 10 years of using the A700 consistently and your brain is going to find most other signatures to be "off". The only way to retrain the old noggin is to use a different headphone for at least a week by itself and your brain will stop expecting that familiar signature.

Best analogy is drinking the same brand of beer for 10 years and then just switch to a new brand. Better yet 10 years of drinking a sweet beer and then switching to a bitter beer LOL.

Easy option is to use the equalizer provided with the Sony headphone app.

 

[hifi80sman]

I recently tried the Sony WH-CH710N which was on sale for $128 because I wanted to see if it was any competition for the 910N at $169 (Costco); it wasn't. While ANC was good, there is significant driver flex, no App support (weird, because the prior model had it), and the materials used was a definite step down. It was put together well and sounded fairly good, but it's an entry level headphone that I'd pay $99 for as a gift to a teen or young adult (early 20s).

 

[dweaver]

I tried the older CH700N and was not impressed with it at the time so wasn't willing to chance the newer model. Sounds like I was right in that decision.

I actually liked h.ear models I have owned in the past albeit with issues which is why the 910N was something I hoped I would be able to try at some point. So glad Costco picked this model up.

I have been using this headphone more than any BT headphone I have owned. The wind reduction setting actually takes my one issue with almost every Sony headphone I have owned and almost eliminates the problem. I still wish they would implement a membrane on the port holes and microphones but at least they have nailed down that function on the 910N.

The other thing I love about the 910N is its dynamics and tone. The older models were similarly balanced signature wise but they all lacked the ability to portray emotion and vitality that comes from the dynamics of the headphone and tonally this headphone is close to perfect ensuring singers don't sound bright or husky and instruments sound correct.

I appreciate the one poster who returned theirs because they sounded off to their ears after 10 years of using the A700. For anyone with that much listening time with the ATH house sound this headphone would be quite a shock to their system. Combine that with BT issues on their MAC devices and I would be in the same position as them. But on my Samsung S9 and my Window 10 laptops the 910N has had almost zero issues with connectivity and I have so many other brands of headphones my ears and brain are used to different signatures. I also have to admit I have not owned any ATH products other than the M50BT for a long time so am not as enamoured with A700/AD700 signature as I used to be. I appreciate it but don't find it as natural as sounding as the poster does.

 

[bizkid]

I'm interested in the WH910n, how does it compare to the Sennheiser Momentum 3 in overall fidelity and technicalities (imaging etc)?
It's still a bit expensive here in germany (250€) but that would be ok for me.

 

[dweaver]

Sorry I have not heard the latest Momentum products so I cant say myself. I know I have owned past Momentum models such the on ear version and have listened to various Momentum models in stores. I would say based on what I have heard the Momentum signature is maybe a bit more V shaped with more mid-bass. The Sennheiser treble is also different than Sony usually more thin for cymbals but the 910 is much brighter than say the the 1000XM3 so while cymbals will sound different I think the 910 will offer a somewhat similar treble presence. But again I am only offering conjecture based on past experience with other models.

 

[bizkid]

Do these change much going cabled? I heard them yesterday in a Store but they weren't charged so I could only listen via cable. I was extremely underwhelmed by them. Muddy mids, not much clarity overall, boring bass. The Sennheiser M3 is a whole class above it, not only in sound but also in build quality. Not sure how my audition would have turned out by using Bluetooth.

 

[dweaver]

These don't sound good without power. They will work but that's about it. Muddy is a great description of their sound without power. But they are not really meant to be used without power so this is only a last resort.

See if you can hear them again but with power and the cable, or just via bluetooth.

I just spent a few minutes going back and forth from cable to bluetooth but with power on and the sound is very similar in both modes with a slight edge to the cable as treble and mids gain a bit of definition and detail. Bass also goes deeper using the cable. So for best sound quality use the cable.

On the go I will always use these in BT mode. But when I am stationary and just listening to music I might just start using the cable as it was noticeably better.