ANC Champ!
When the first Sony WH-1000 X series came to the market, the inter web was fired up. Three generations later, I could confidently say that these are easily more feature rich, comfortable, with killer noice canceling without; compromises in the sound quality. I am an audio file and have had experiences testing various styles of headphones, and here's my breakdown. Starting with unboxing, these definitely felt like the $350 headphones that it is. The headphone was inside the case nicely folded along with the airplane adapter, standard 3.5mm audio cable, and a disappointingly short cable but never the less a welcomed addition USB-C for charging. I felt very pleased with the way these felt in my head, from the leather wrapped headband to the plushy ear cup. It's mostly made up of plastic but felt far from feeling cheep thanks to the mat coating. The copper accent added a premium look. One downside is that it does tend to get a little sweaty within the ear cups, which is to be expected with over the ear cans as these, but Bose seems to know how to make their cans more breathable! Feature wise these support all the major bluetooth codec, including LDAC. There is a noticeable yet slight improvement in sound quality is hard to discern when streaming via Apple Music and Spotify. The sound is definitely more geared towards average listeners, with more emphasis in base but its flat frequency response and dynamic frequency response from these drivers are definitely above average, and its original sound signature is better than Beats studios. In conclusion, these have characteristically fun sound profile that even some audio files may find pleasing. These work both actively or passively, meaning by plugging the headphones directly into the audio jack. Noise canceling here raises the bar however. QN1 processor not only insures that they sound great, but noise cancelation performances on these are incredible. I generally experience a feeling of pressure sensation when using a pair with ANC, but Sony just seems to know how to do it right, combined with adaptive ANC adjustments as well as the touchpad trick of pumping in the external sounds instantly, these are the champ! Overall, I highly recommend these cans and are well justified for its price range!
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