These headphones sound great and are very affordable, but just know what you are getting. If you're looking for some great sounding headphones to listen to around your house using a headphone amp, these would be a great buy. But if you're looking for something to take to the gym, or use at work you'll probably want to look elsewhere. Pros - Excellent sound quality

 I tried listening on my Sony STRDN1080 receiver and I had to crank the volume way up to get them to a decent volume. Open back means they leak a lot of sound, so you probably won't be wearing these out and about. They come with a rather short cord. I'm sure you can buy an extension, but the one that's included is pretty short

 Really nice and balanced sound. Comfortable. The headphones themselves are rather large, but they are still pretty comfortable. Affordable for audiophile headphones

Nice sound, but not for the casual listener

 All-day comfortable with ease (they can get a tiny bit warm with the alcantara pads in a hot room, but not even close to unacceptable) and utterly zero squeaks or creaks (looking at you, Audio Technica AD700's)  The one, ONLY gripe I have with them is the nice cable they have is too short for anything other than a desktop amp or device RIGHT in front of you. BUT, it's replaceable, and lots of companies make cables for them. Side benefit is you can get a balanced cable for them, and if you get a BTR5 as well, that amp has a balanced output option. So they can sound EVEN BETTER

 My wife disagrees, but I think movies sound punchier and more intimate on grado cans. And they have the side benefit of letting two people listen to something and just talk like nothing since they leak like mad. But again, all round? These babies, hands down.

 My Samsung phone + a cheap dongle, no problem. I HIGHLY recommend buying a Fiio BTR5 as well if you don't have any audiophile gear, as it'll turn these into wireless bluetooth headphones, let you run a balanced cable, has a microphone, a DAC with EQ, and works as a wired desktop amp. Little bit of a spend, but cannot recommend enough.  The soundstage isn't the BIGGEST I've heard, but it's still enormous

5mm and 1/4 inch tips) and nice and heavy duty. So this is just a minor gripe, and one solved with a new cable. Seeing as these things have heirloom-quality build, it's an investment worth making, and does serve to keep the price down with something you can buy in the future.  Simply put, these things sound great

 Seeing as these things have heirloom-quality build, it's an investment worth making, and does serve to keep the price down with something you can buy in the future.  Simply put, these things sound great. EVERYTHING sounds great through them. They don't have the sparkly, intimate punch of grado's, but as an all-rounder, I can't think of a better pair of headphones anywhere NEAR this price

Um, yeah. These are just the business and an eyewatering value.

 It's not long enough for comfortable PC/ living room AV receiver use for me, so I ordered a replacement cable when I bought the headphone. The replacement cable is that red one that everybody else is buying. I clipped the "braided" part off, and now they're really cool looking red cables. They click really nicely into the headphones - better click than the stock cable

 Customer service is not amazing. Warranty is nothing special.  Oh, and the stock cable is a cable. It's not great

 Where my AKG K240S's were unable to give me bass where I knew there should be some, the HiFiMan HE-4XX gave me back my missing bass, without "muddying" the trebles, but, at the same time, the treble doesn't have that "sparkle" (another term I now actually understand after reading all those audiophile forums) that my AKG had. Very well could be because I tore all the foam and mesh out of my AKG to make them more open and airy. I hesitate to make any modifications to the HE-4XX, but I've seen some mods floating around regarding taking out the filters, etc. We'll see - I don't really like the idea of hairs/dust getting into these drivers

 I'm willing to do that. They sound good enough that I don't want to not have them, and I really don't want to pay for shipping on..

Great Sound - But, As You've Heard, QC/Build/Customer Service Needs Work

amazon.com

 From the background instruments, it was able to do that separation as well as instrumental separation. Within the background very, very well um, this isn't really a headphone that does forward imaging very well. It does tend to stay in between, like the left and right side, desperately move to the front or to the back me very easily. That being said, there are very few headphones that can really do that so onto the conclusion of this [ Applause ]

 Okay. Now, let's talk about the mid-range so for mid-range. This is actually a really excellent headphone outside of vocals and I'll. Explain what I mean by that in a second

 So if you have a small head, this may not actually fit you, although, if you're medium to large, this should fit. You just fine. Very very comfortable, in my opinion, the headband does a good job of spreading the weight across the entire top of your head, not just on one or two particular places, and I think that's a huge benefit. The ear pads are slightly angled, so there is kind of a forward and a back orientation for the ear pads, they're fake leather on the outside and what feels like, microfiber on the inside part that touches around your ear

 These sound amazing they're, warm. They have great sound Sage, they have very, very rich vocals and they have a great surrounding delivery and I'll kind of explain what I mean by that now I will say that highs are definitely not the focus of the sound here. They'Re not extensively detailed or resolving, but they still have a bit of authority behind them. They'Re, never bright, they're, never sibling, but it just doesn't really seem like that was the focus of the sound

Massdrop HE-4XX Review

theverge.com

pcmag.com

cnet.com

CNET

Marques Brownlee

r/sony

r/bose

Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams&rsquo; The Gospel According to the Other Mary, have an ideal balance between lower-register instrumentation and higher-register brass, strings, and vocals. The deepest lows are delivered with a natural presence&mdash;most of the time, the lows are playing a more subtle anchoring role in the mix, with the higher-register orchestral elements in the spotlight.

Compared with the Bose QuietComfort 45, Sony delivers comparable ANC performance, though they differ in their approaches. The Bose headphones dial back intense low-frequency rumble quite well, as do the WH-1000XM5&mdash;but the WH-1000XM5 seems to allow a thin band of high-mids through that the Bose model blocks out. That said, the WH-1000XM5 headphones seem like they actually eliminate more of the lows on the same recording, so there&rsquo;s a trade-off here, and it&rsquo;s hard to say one is absolutely better. The restaurant recording, however, clearly favors the Bose headphones, which dial back more of the entire frequency range

&nbsp;Intense low-frequency rumble (like you&rsquo;d hear on an airplane) is dialed back substantially&mdash;at medium-loud levels, the headphones eliminate it completely. At extremely loud levels, the lows are minimized to a faint noise. A recording of a busy restaurant with dishes clanging and boisterous conversation was dialed back dramatically in testing, as well. The high-mids and highs still made it past the ANC circuitry, especially at extreme volume levels, but the overall noise was reduced notably

 Callahan&rsquo;s baritone vocals have a solid balance of low-mid richness and crisp high-mid definition, and the higher-register percussive hits and acoustic strums are delivered with ideal high-mid and high-frequency clarity. This is a sculpted sound signature, but one that will appeal to those who love deep bass and still want clarity and definition in the mix. That you can dial the bass back in the app (or up, if you need it) with EQ is a huge plus.

Sony WH-1000XM5 Review

                                                The added clarity and detail is particularly beneficial on tracks where you have several instruments playing at the same time (rock music, for instance). You can hear each instrument more distinctly compared to the XM4. The soundstages of the two headphones are similar -- they're both pretty spacious -- but you may have to take up the volume on the XM5  to get more of a visceral listening experience. That said, there's nothing wrong with the XM5's volume: These headphones play plenty loud and don't distort at higher volumes

That's disappointing, but the good news is the XM5 weighs 4 grams less than the XM4, tipping the scales at a relatively svelte 250 grams. They're also more comfortable to wear. They fit my head snugly but don't have that overly clamped feeling.The new model has a single hinge and the headband has been redesigned

 According to Sony, that helps with noise canceling and noise reduction during calls. And these have double the number of microphones for noise cancellation, as well as what appears to be additional microphones dedicated to voice calling. Sony won't say how many beam-forming microphones the XM4 has, but it says the XM5 has four of them. So one of the biggest upgrades is to the microphone configuration

 It's not exactly a quantity over quality situation, but the bass of the XM5 is more reserved but has better definition, which is what I like. And overall I preferred the more refined sound of the XM5 -- I do think it's an excellent sounding headphone -- but I suspect some reviewers may feel the headphones should offer a bigger perceived jump in sound quality based on their $400 price tag. That's $50 more than what the XM4 started out at. But you can frequently find that model for around $280 or less and I do expect to see some discounts on this new model in the not-so-distant future

Sony WH-1000XM5 Headphones Review: The One to Beat

2. An openback Bluetooth WH-1000XM5 v.O (version Open) with EQ, LDAC etc. just without ANC  

With respect to XM5, I'm referring to both the in-ear WF's and over-ear WH's.

As a nice to have for myself personally:

1. even longer battery life (the battery life on the WF's is already great, and the recharge rate is already fantastic)
2. 20-30% improved noise cancelation. I'm sure by now, sony can use AI tech to improve the noise cancelation. Compared to XM3's the XM4 is already great, but there is still room for improvement to get to absolute ANC.
3. The ability to have calls WITH Active noise cancelation. This is a minor frustration, but obviously a technical challenge at the same time
4. Use AI to mimic (is that the term?) the voice in noisy environments, to sound as if you are in a noise-free environment. I don't mean 'noise-cancelation', I mean having the sony device interpret what you are saying, and actively generate the audio of your voice as if everything is normal on the other end (something that the new google pixel phones are doing quite well).

Food for thought

<div class="md">With respect to XM5, I&#39;m referring to both the in-ear WF&#39;s and over-ear WH&#39;s.

As a nice to have for myself personally:

<ol>
<li>even longer battery life (the battery life on the WF&#39;s is already great, and the recharge rate is already fantastic)</li>
<li>20-30% improved noise cancelation. I&#39;m sure by now, sony can use AI tech to improve the noise cancelation. Compared to XM3&#39;s the XM4 is already great, but there is still room for improvement to get to absolute ANC.</li>
<li>The ability to have calls WITH Active noise cancelation. This is a minor frustration, but obviously a technical challenge at the same time</li>
<li>Use AI to mimic (is that the term?) the voice in noisy environments, to sound as if you are in a noise-free environment. I don&#39;t mean &#39;noise-cancelation&#39;, I mean having the sony device interpret what you are saying, and actively generate the audio of your voice as if everything is normal on the other end (something that the new google pixel phones are doing quite well).</li>
</ol>

Food for thought
</div>

What do you want to see in the XM5 series?

Loving my xm3s , I will always buy sony from now on , sony headphones forever , you're amazing 👏 , what is your opinion on sony wh-1000xm3 in 2021 also compared to the sony wh-1000xm4? You should try the sound id app , I really wish to see your opinion on this amazing audio app for audiophiles  , I am really excited for sony wh-1000xm5 , I got the xm3 lately and I can finally wear headphones without ear pressure and pain , the most comfortable headphones I ever worned , even more comfortable than the bose qc35ii ( for me at least )

Better build, make it out of magnesium and aluminum, like my MDR-Z7 those feel great.

IP rating, more natural passthrough, boost ANC even more. Incorporate voice-activated assistant.

<div class="md">Better build, make it out of magnesium and aluminum, like my MDR-Z7 those feel great.

IP rating, more natural passthrough, boost ANC even more. Incorporate voice-activated assistant.
</div>

I'm a strong supporter of Sony's Noise-Cancelling efforts (Had all the XM models and even had the old  [Sony MDR1RNC](https://www.whathifi.com/sony/mdr-1rnc/review) for two years, long before the famous XM series came around).

I am obviously proud of their noise-cancelling work, but am really concerned about their common-sense issues left ignored. I really want them to earn the crown for the hefty price they offer.

Let's start with pros:

* Great Noise-Cancelling
* Great Battery Life (Enough for long hauls and can do better in the future, I hope)
* Great Sound (suited to all genres across the board, from EDM to Classical, unlike it's competitors)
* Visual Design

Cons:

* *Bare Call Mic Quality* (Still not as good as $15-20 earphones you can buy at the airport)
* *No BT Sync with Sony devices*  i.e. PS4, since XM4 has not been bluetooth compatible, PS5 works without the XM5 mic, but via cable only.
* *Nail down manufacturing*: Price should not be so high, once you nail the basics, all you need to do is work on reducing weight and AI noise-related software updates (which will eventually demand neural processors). Drop manufacturing costs naturally year by year and once they are more affordable, beat the competition. I really hope you get to the old Sony manufacturing ability of building your products to last. For the sake of reuse and zero-waste. **Please aim for lifetime warranties!** 
* *Strengthen and elasticize the head braces* please, headphone torque pressure.
* Not waterproof yet.
* No Wireless Charging option (Low priority as we don't want any heated headphones).

&amp;#x200B;

What issues bother you the most on your XM4/XM3?

Please nail down the basics Sony.

<div class="md">I&#39;m a strong supporter of Sony&#39;s Noise-Cancelling efforts (Had all the XM models and even had the old <a href="https://www.whathifi.com/sony/mdr-1rnc/review">Sony MDR1RNC</a> for two years, long before the famous XM series came around).

I am obviously proud of their noise-cancelling work, but am really concerned about their common-sense issues left ignored. I really want them to earn the crown for the hefty price they offer.

Let&#39;s start with pros:

<ul>
<li>Great Noise-Cancelling</li>
<li>Great Battery Life (Enough for long hauls and can do better in the future, I hope)</li>
<li>Great Sound Versatility (suited to all genres across the board, from EDM to Classical, unlike it&#39;s competitors)</li>
<li>Visual Design</li>
</ul>

Cons:

<ul>
<li>Bare Call Mic Quality (Still not as good as $15-20 earphones you can buy at the airport)</li>
<li>No BT Sync with Sony devices i.e. PS4, since XM4 has not been bluetooth compatible, PS5 works without the XM5 mic, headphones work via cable only, in-controller PS5 mic instead.</li>
<li>No multiple Bluetooth pairing/Source switching without sacrificing audio loss (no LDAC). It&#39;s frustrating when the wrong device pairs, I have to unpair my phone which apparently has a higher priority than everything else. Frustrating every single time!!! This should be a feature, not a problem! Accomodate a stack of channels based on what&#39;s playing. BOSE is a little better in this arena, and besides, It&#39;s 2021. Pair with up to four devices with a priority mode (not dual audio in case of two devices) so have the full quality while paired but easily be able to switch to the other device on the headset when a call comes in. Observation from comments: There is a known long lasting bug in Android that makes SBC codec unusable when you are connected to device, that uses BT LE (for example smartwatch/smartband). Device automaticly starts to force BT LE setting to all other connected devices, which turns SBC from 328 kbps to about 96 kbps. Hence audio is completely ruined by SBC low bandwith and algorithm, that tries to &quot;cut&quot; your 320 kbps mp3 of 996 kbps flac to just that 96 kbps radius.</li>
<li>Remove Data-Mining features: Location aware feature really should be based on noise surrounding classifiers (traffic, restaurant, library, etc... not areas you visited.</li>
<li>Natural Passthrough: Reduce noise isolation. Increase Ambience. I think this will help increase ear health overall. Some may have moisture issues. The more natural they feel the better!</li>
<li>Nail down manufacturing: Price should not be so high, once you nail the basics, all you need to do is work on reducing weight and AI noise-related software updates (which will eventually demand neural processors). Drop manufacturing costs naturally year by year and once they are more affordable, beat the competition. I really hope you get to the old Sony manufacturing ability of building your products to last. For the sake of reuse and zero-waste. Please aim for lifetime warranties! </li>
<li>Build Quality: Strengthen and elasticize the head braces please, headphone torque pressure. Aluminium or Magnesium over plastic, at least on joints! See your Sony MDR-Z7 and other aluminium 🎧. Wider head bridge for more comfort over longer period of time. This current narrow bridge puts too much pressure on small portion of your head and it can get uncomfortable. Wider base spreads this pressure over bigger area and thus makes it more comfortable.</li>
<li>IP Rating: Not waterproof yet. Many people live in rainy/snowy areas. Moisture buildup and damage to QN1 processor.</li>
<li>Support replacements: Allow the earpads to be swappable and make them available in-store.</li>
<li>ANC control: Allow ANC strength to be reduced or increased on user preference.</li>
<li>Just get Bluetooth 5 already!</li>
<li>Improve voice assistant allow to be turned off.</li>
<li>Privacy features app: An optional desktop app (OS X and windows support) in order to support all the call conferences.. touch to mute / unmute mic, hopefully gesture-based. Add integration to google home.</li>
<li>Sound Quality: Improve upon micro-details observed on Cello sound textures, and other string instruments. A suggestion is make a 200 Mhz EQ slider! These headphones sound quite good after EQ tweaks in app, but that 200 Mhz range is over the top from the Harman target curve that it destroys those mid to high base range. I wonder what is sacrificed in doing so though. Making it optional doesn&#39;t hurt.</li>
<li>No Wireless Charging option (Low priority as we don&#39;t want any heated headphones). If you have to, replace the lovely headphone travel case in cost, maybe sell as separate accessory, the wireless charger should be small and charges at the bottom of the middle brace, a toilet-paper hook style charging hanger charger, or a rollable mat.</li>
</ul>

What issues bother you the most on your XM4/XM3?

Please nail down the basics Sony.

Here are tidbits on the history:

X (MDR-1000X):
Sound profile/ANC was much worse than the old wired MDR NC.
AptX and Bluetooth to ANC headphones range.
NFC pairing.
Low battery life.
Heavy.
Cool, at the time, other wireless headphones heated up a lot more with use, Sony was cooler.

XM2:
Metallic finish.
Noise cancelling game improved, was underrated at the time.
Basic touch and gesture controls released.
Manual hand over ear gesture to hear others speak.
I think this was when the Sound app was released.
Ambient noise feature.
Terrible surround sound but was released anyway.
Came out with Micro-USB while everything was going USB-C.
Bose QC was more comfortable to wear.

XM3:
Call quality was a solid 2/10 on calls with mic.
USB-C finally!!!
Faster processor, reduced delay on hand over ear gesture to hear others, more practical.
Market: Got recognition it deserved on Noise cancelling since XM2.

XM4:
Call quality upgraded to 3.5/10.
More comfortable, because it got lighter.
Longer lasting battery.
Automated speak to chat feature.
Better sensitivity to pause when headphones are off.

Alternatives: Budget Noise cancelling market is creeping up e.g. Anker Life Q30.

Know what you want, and vote with your wallet. Hardware reviewers, please engage in harsher criticism of devices so the status quo rises!
</div>

Drop + HIFIMAN HE4XX vs Sony WH-1000XM5

Reviews by Topic

Sound Quality

Drop + HIFIMAN HE4XX

Sony WH-1000XM5

Comfort

Drop + HIFIMAN HE4XX

Sony WH-1000XM5

Fit

Drop + HIFIMAN HE4XX

Sony WH-1000XM5

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