[Sonic Defender]

I noticed the bass quantity of XM3 being signficant when I switched over to another headphone, which made it sound a bit bass lite. When this happens, it skews your perception of a headphone of lesser bass level. But, I think there are folks that love bass quantity, and these would suit them.

It is true that there are tracks that might be a bit rich in the mids that these brings too rich of mids, but it shouldn't be significant like the Beats.

Pretty comfortable headphone, I like the cushiony pads, and light weight.

I am one of those folks who loves bass despite how it might sound. I agree, now when I use my Pioneer SE Monitor 5 (which I already knew was close to neutral, certainly in the bass) it seems quite a bit less engaging. That is the problem with bass, it is like musical crack and once you get too hooked, once you don't get your fix you are left wanting. I am actually trying to dial back my bass addiction, but man is it hard! I just love bass that hits hard, is meaty and can rumble realistically. Saying that makes me miss my Z1R. Sigh.

 

[dweaver]

I think I sold my pair but I will look around because I might still have them. They sounded good but yes, way to uncomfortable. I did the hole mod on my pair which made them more nasty so might not have been much different from these. Hard to say from memory though. I will look around though in case I still have my pair.

 

[rkw]

You can run these passive, without the headphone powered through the aux port, but it sounds the worst. I thought it was odd that bypassing of the inner electronics (dsp and amp) sounds worse.

This is not surprising at all. It is common for powered headphones to sound worse in passive mode. It is hard to create a driver and housing that produces even response and extended range. Instead, you can build with cheaper components and let it have flaws, and apply compensation and correction with electronics to "fix" the sound. Bose is well known for this approach.

 

[SilverEars]

This is not surprising at all. It is common for powered headphones to sound worse in passive mode. It is hard to create a driver and housing that produces even response and extended range. Instead, you can build with cheaper components and let it have flaws, and apply compensation and correction with electronics to "fix" the sound. Bose is well known for this approach.

Even powered on with ANC active with a wired sound source didn't sound better or worse than in wireless with ANC on. You would think a wired line-in would sound at least a bit different (or perhaps better) than the BT DAC.

When ANC is off, it sounds slightly cooler with bass not as smooth as when on.

So my guess is, when ANC itself is on(wired signal or not), some sort of sound processing is applied (probably an EQ from the ANC/DSP chip).

I think it would measure differently with ANC on and off.

 

[SilverEars]

Now it makes sense that XM3 has the same driver (as somebody pointed out) as the XM2 with a different sound response due to the new Q1 chip (which I think EQs the headphone with a different response than XM2).

You'd have to compare actual ANC side by side between XM2 and 3 to notice any improvements in that department. I think XM3 update from XM2 might just be tweaked hardware EQ, not necessarily better ANC overall.

You'd also have to compare both passively fed signal through wired if sounding identical.

If Sony just EQ'd with a chip, I wonder if they can make their chips software customizable with storable EQ profiles? I would like that as an option.

 

[329161]

Now it makes sense that XM3 has the same driver (as somebody pointed out) as the XM2 with a different sound response due to the new Q1 chip (which I think EQs the headphone with a different response than XM2).

You'd have to compare actual ANC side by side between XM2 and 3 to notice any improvements in that department. I think XM3 update from XM2 might just be tweaked hardware EQ, not necessarily better ANC overall.

You'd also have to compare both passively fed signal through wired if sounding identical.

If Sony just EQ'd with a chip, I wonder if they can make their chips software customizable with storable EQ profiles? I would like that as an option.

I heard on the cnet review it was the same driver as the 1am2 wired.

 

[SilverEars]

I heard on the cnet review it was the same driver as the 1am2 wired.

Yeah, I saw that and somebody pointed out that XM2 has that same driver as well. If this is true, without power, in passive mode through wired, both should sound the same unless cups has changed significant enough.

 

[Leporello]

I love the xM3, with my bass cuts it sounds absolutely superb, articulate and musical with plenty of snap and speed in the bass, but it HAS to have the cuts or it quickly becomes a sonic mess.

How did you manage to tame the bass, with Sony's app? I'd like to buy the XM3, but with default settings at least the bass sounded monstrous.

Edit: today I had the opportunity to listen again and play with the Sony headphone app.

Without the app the xm3 sounds extremely bass heavy.

In the app there is an eq which also includes Sony's Clear Bass adjustment with scale from -10 to +10. My preferred setting: -10 Anything more and the mid bass hump becomes too obvious to my ears (there is some extra bass left even with this extreme setting).

I was quite impressed with the ANC, actually. The xm3s were also very comfortable.

Then I went to another store (the first one did not have xm2s anymore). Tried xm2, but could not play my own music, so it is impossible to say much about the sound quality. The demo tracks did not sound bloated in any way, however. But the big issue (to me) could be comfort. I was surprised to find out that the xm2 ear cup openings are actually smaller than in my MDR100ABN. Also, I was not as impressed with the ANC as I had been when demoing xm3. But this was a different environment, after all.

So, give me a NC headphone with MDR100ABN sound, xm2 price, xm3 comfort and xm3 NC.

Oh, tried QC35, too, but did not like it much. The mids sound boxy and nasal, immediately obvious with classical music (or with anything acoustical).

 

[dudeman135]

Question: Can you utilize ANC by itself, without being connected to a Bluetooth source?

I picked up the Bose QC25s during Prime day and added a cheap bluetooth receiver. Love the comfort, ANC and the fact that I can turn on ANC without being connected to my phone or any audio source. I like to just use the ANC by itself quite often. I don't like the sound quality and lack of bass. I preferred the XM2s for sound quality in the store, but didn't like the comfort level.

I'm strongly considering purchasing the XM3s based on the reviews for the added comfort and even better overall sound and ANC than the XM2s. What I'm wondering is can I utilize the XM3s like the QC25s? As in, can I just turn on ANC without being connected to my iPhone, as the battery sucks on my iPhone and I don't want to constantly be charging/draining my phone battery when I just want to utilize ANC.

I believe you could do so on the XM2s if I read things right, but that it would kick off after X number of minutes, like maybe 5. I think they added the ability to change the duration of that on the XM3s, but not sure how long you can set that for and wanted to know if/how that works.

Along those same lines, if you adjust the ANC through the app to fit your needs, would you lose those tweaks when not connected via bluetooth to your phone?

 

[iamkornholio]

Question: Can you utilize ANC by itself, without being connected to a Bluetooth source?

I picked up the Bose QC25s during Prime day and added a cheap bluetooth receiver. Love the comfort, ANC and the fact that I can turn on ANC without being connected to my phone or any audio source. I like to just use the ANC by itself quite often. I don't like the sound quality and lack of bass. I preferred the XM2s for sound quality in the store, but didn't like the comfort level.

I'm strongly considering purchasing the XM3s based on the reviews for the added comfort and even better overall sound and ANC than the XM2s. What I'm wondering is can I utilize the XM3s like the QC25s? As in, can I just turn on ANC without being connected to my iPhone, as the battery sucks on my iPhone and I don't want to constantly be charging/draining my phone battery when I just want to utilize ANC.

Along those same lines, if you adjust the ANC through the app to fit your needs, would you lose those tweaks when not connected via bluetooth to your phone?

It is my understanding that in the XM2s, the headphones would shut off after 5 minutes without a source. With the XM3s, the DEFAULT is shutdown after 5 minutes, but you can disable this (within the app). So to answer the question, yes you can use ANC without a source.

 

[rkw]

Yeah, I saw that and somebody pointed out that XM2 has that same driver as well. If this is true, without power, in passive mode through wired, both should sound the same unless cups has changed significant enough.

Not necessarily. The electronics is inline between the source and the driver. When the electronics is off, it is unlikely to be the electrically same as a straight pass-through path. The signal will be pushed through unpowered electronics to the driver.

 

[Joseph Lin]

Then I went to another store (the first one did not have xm2s anymore). Tried xm2, but could not play my own music, so it is impossible to say much about the sound quality. The demo tracks did not sound bloated in any way, however. But the big issue (to me) could be comfort. I was surprised to find out that the xm2 ear cup openings are actually smaller than in my MDR100ABN. Also, I was not as impressed with the ANC as I had been when demoing xm3. But this was a different environment, after all.

I would be surprised to hear anyone saying ANC on other headphone works better than xm3, at least not until Bose's next generation QC is released. Once you heard the ANC on xm3, you will not satisfy with other lesser ANCs.

 

[davidmthekidd]

I would be surprised to hear anyone saying ANC on other headphone works better than xm3, at least not until Bose's next generation QC is released. Once you heard the ANC on xm3, you will not satisfy with other lesser ANCs.

Unless you've tried the XM2's awesome Passive NC.

 

[dudeman135]

It is my understanding that in the XM2s, the headphones would shut off after 5 minutes without a source. With the XM3s, the DEFAULT is shutdown after 5 minutes, but you can disable this (within the app). So to answer the question, yes you can use ANC without a source.

Thanks, that is what I thought I read as well. Will find out soon enough, as I got lucky and got a new pair of the XM3s off eBay with the 15% off code (PICKSOON) going on today. Seller was very responsive and has 100% feedback, so I'm hoping for the best! Should be shipping tomorrow.

 

[openbaffle9978]

Yes, this seems like a good that to get the XM3 for 15% off, or a used pair of XM2s for a really good price on eBay.