Hello again guys,
I received my Sony 1000XM3 yesterday and I decided to share my initial thoughts here. First of all, I'll write some background:
In the past, I had Sony
1000X for one month and then sold it. Because its bass was very bad and any bass increase with EQ was always resulted with distortion. Never liked its sound. Though it had very good ANC and I was missing its ANC all the time during my P7W usage.
Then I bought
B&W P7 Wireless. It has the best sound quality and signature I've ever experienced with a wireless headset. Its sound is very lively and energetic. It make you want to dance
Bass is plenty and clean, highs are clean and not disturbing. Unlike 1000X, you can do whatever you want with EQ and it never distorts the sound.
After using P7W for one year, I bought
B&W PX,whenever it is released. I thought it would be a P7W with ANC and AptX HD. But PX was nothing close to that. Its sound was like coming inside a tunnel, it was boxed-like without liveliness that I found in P7W. ANC was so so and not as good as 1000X. I didn't find what I was looking for, so I returned PX.
I spent one more year with my lovely P7 Wireless. I've always enjoying listening it, while still missing ANC. Now Sony 1000XM3 is on my hands. I had a chance to compare them with P7 Wireless yesterday night. I used AptX for P7W and LDAC for 1000X3.
- Lows: With the same song (Flac file, 50 Cent - In Da Club) and the highest volume level (just for testing, I never use like that) I found P7W's bass punchier and tighter. Some instruments in the lows sounds more clean and energetic with P7W than 1000XM3. But 1000XM3 is still very good, much better than both 1000X and PX I've owned. Here are my bass response points: P7W: 10 / 1000XM3: 8.5 / PX: 6.5 / 1000X: 3
Please note that these numbers are in the wireless headphones domain and not applicable for wired headphones
Can't even compare them with my wired headphones.
P7W > 1000XM3 > PX > 1000X
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Mids and Highs: I mainly focused on low frequencies yesterday night. So can't write too much about mids and highs. But my initial observations for 1000XM3 is really good. Nothing less or worse then P7W. 1000XM3 gives me the best result with a wireless headphone I've owned in this area.
1000XM3 = P7W > PX > 1000X
- Maximum volume: P7W > 1000XM3 = PX > 1000X
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ANC is perfect. Better than 1000X and much much better than PX. For noisy environment, I really can't say P7W can give better sound than 1000XM3 since noise destroys the sound for me. 1000XM3 with ANC enabled gives the best sound experience while commuting or in the traffic or even in the office.
1000XM3 > 1000X > PX > P7W (No ANC)
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Comfort is great with 1000XM3. Clamping force is lower than BW's and even 1000X. I can wear and forget 1000XM3 easily for long usage periods.
1000XM3 > 1000X > P7W > PX
My Conclusion: I think I'll keep both 1000XM3 and P7W and use 1000XM3 in noisy environments and P7W at my home. I can't always use wired headphones at home while moving around. So P7W will still have its own place.