The headphones thread! [Sorry about your wallet]

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › The headphones thread! [Sorry about your wallet]

1 | ... | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120 | 121 | 122

Mad Scientist
30014 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6217

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3321757 17-Dec-2024 22:00

networkn: Yes Bose hold the crown this generation for ANC, it's clearly better but sound quality is a consideration for me.and the Sony sounds far better to me and the Sony acontrols and App are superior.

ok i've had enough of the Bose, my earlobes hurt after a while (touching the speaker/driver), and the sound is too coloured - some frequencies are very exaggerated and some frequencies are damped. it does make music sound better and the soundstage is wider (the sound is more "airy"), but the Sony is more accurate and more detailed for other tasks, and great for making calls due to the better mic pick up. Sony also easier to touch control with swipe gesture.

Sony wins.

mrgsm021

1538 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 310

ID Verified

Trusted

#3321801 18-Dec-2024 09:38

Main gripe for me with the Sony XM5 is that they don't foldaway for storage and the box is too big, will take up too much space in my work backpack. Can't wait for what the XM6 will offer.

I went with Bose QC Ultra since it folds away and has improved sound profile over the NC700. The only let down is the battery life, hope Bose can improve on this in the next gen release.

Ragnor

8279 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 585

Trusted

#3322123 18-Dec-2024 23:09

Why not Sennheiser Momentum 4?

networkn

Networkn
32864 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 15455

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3326307 30-Dec-2024 17:38

I so managed to pick up the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro at a great place off market place on boxing day.

I am pretty impressed so far. They aren't as good for audio as my technics AZ80 or as good for ANC as the Bose (or Sony), but they have great, easy controls that are reliable, they are stupidly comfortable, and I can lie on my side and listen to them as I fall asleep.

They also charge wirelessly, which is pretty handy. I wouldn't have paid $349 for them, but at $200 I feel they are excellent value for money.

Tinkerisk

4798 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3660

#3326309 30-Dec-2024 17:45

FineWine:

The best headphones I ever owned were Sony Sports Vertical In-Ear design MDR-W10 Headphones for my Sony walkman (those were the days).

Still have and use it for radio and SWL operations. 😉

- NET: FTTH & VDSL, OPNsense, 10G backbone, GWN APs
- SRV: 12 RU HA server cluster, 0.1 PB storage on premise
- IoT: thread, zigbee, tasmota, BidCoS, LoRa, WX suite, IR
- 3D: two 3D printers, 3D scanner, CNC router, laser cutter

networkn

Networkn
32864 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 15455

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3327662 5-Jan-2025 10:23

networkn:

I so managed to pick up the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro at a great place off market place on boxing day.

I am pretty impressed so far. They aren't as good for audio as my technics AZ80 or as good for ANC as the Bose (or Sony), but they have great, easy controls that are reliable, they are stupidly comfortable, and I can lie on my side and listen to them as I fall asleep.

They also charge wirelessly, which is pretty handy. I wouldn't have paid $349 for them, but at $200 I feel they are excellent value for money.

A further update from this. I am absolutely loving these.

The sound signature wasn't to my liking but they have a custom EQ option, which a Harman Kardon Sound Engineer provided a recommendation on, and I am absolutely impressed now.

Not to mention their control system on top of being very good, is further enhanced by the best voice controls I have ever come across on anything.

These are an absolute winner in my opinion. True Wireless Buds of 2024 comfortably.

Apple TV

Stream your favourite shows now on Apple TV (affiliate link).

Technofreak

6657 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3477

Trusted

#3327665 5-Jan-2025 11:04

mrgsm021:

Main gripe for me with the Sony XM5 is that they don't foldaway for storage and the box is too big, will take up too much space in my work backpack. Can't wait for what the XM6 will offer.

I went with Bose QC Ultra since it folds away and has improved sound profile over the NC700. The only let down is the battery life, hope Bose can improve on this in the next gen release.

For this reason if I were to replace my XM3's I'd get the XM4. I think the folding method for the XM5 was a big mistake.

It baffles me why designers implement such retrograde steps. Why would you want to reduce functionality?

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

networkn

Networkn
32864 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 15455

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3327778 5-Jan-2025 12:10

Technofreak:

For this reason if I were to replace my XM3's I'd get the XM4. I think the folding method for the XM5 was a big mistake.

It baffles me why designers implement such retrograde steps. Why would you want to reduce functionality?

Agreed. I am hoping the XM6's are foldaway.

Batman

Mad Scientist
30014 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6217

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3339348 4-Feb-2025 21:16

well i didn't return the QC Ultras, instead I bought a Creative BT-W6 to supply lossless BT just in case it was the BT codec that was giving the noticably lower sound definition.

BT-W6 arrived. App does not detect dongle on Android. can't do anything with it (need app to connect to headphones). Plugged into the Macbook - App doesn't detect device.

Plugged into Windows PC - finally app will detect device, took a few goes to get the QCs paired, then had to disconnect and reconnect to enable APTX-Lossless.

once this was done, i can plug the dongle into anything and the QCs so far have connected with it first time every time.

to my horror, the sound quality is exactly the same. poorer sound definition vs XM5s. and YET tracks with people singing always sound better on the Bose. Subjectivity more forward and lusher midrange. just don't try to pick up the instruments.

so there you go. no need to test yourself. (PS i tested FLAC, MP3 and Youtube music for the XM5 vs QC-U)

JPNZ

1715 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 840

#3339400 5-Feb-2025 08:26

networkn:

A further update from this. I am absolutely loving these.

The sound signature wasn't to my liking but they have a custom EQ option, which a Harman Kardon Sound Engineer provided a recommendation on, and I am absolutely impressed now.

Not to mention their control system on top of being very good, is further enhanced by the best voice controls I have ever come across on anything.

These are an absolute winner in my opinion. True Wireless Buds of 2024 comfortably.

Do they have a wind noise reduction like the Sony WF-XM4's?

Panasonic 65GZ1000, Onkyo RZ730, Atmos 5.1.2, AppleTV 4K, Nest Mini's, PS5, PS3, MacbookPro, iPad Pro, Apple watch SE2, iPhone 15+

mrgsm021

1538 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 310

ID Verified

Trusted

#3339407 5-Feb-2025 08:42

networkn:

A further update from this. I am absolutely loving these.

The sound signature wasn't to my liking but they have a custom EQ option, which a Harman Kardon Sound Engineer provided a recommendation on, and I am absolutely impressed now.

Not to mention their control system on top of being very good, is further enhanced by the best voice controls I have ever come across on anything.

These are an absolute winner in my opinion. True Wireless Buds of 2024 comfortably.

Agreed on the sound quality of these buds and also mic pick up is great too on Teams.

Only thing is these don't support true multi device pairing in that they can't switch seamlessly between say my S24 Ultra and a Lenovo work laptop, I'd have to manually disconnect from one and connect to the other.

Lego

Shop now for Lego sets and other gifts (affiliate link).

Jaxson

8172 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1332

Trusted

#3424133 11-Oct-2025 16:24

Sennheiser HDB 630 with BTD 700 Bluetooth USB C Dongle included has just been released.

Looks good. I’ve been waiting for a momentum 5 with better ANC. Maybe these are that, maybe?

I tried the new Bose ultras and really wanted to like those but sounded very buddy coming from the momentum’s.

Jaxson

8172 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1332

Trusted

#3424338 12-Oct-2025 14:09

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones $499 etc on sale at Bose direct today.
https://www.bose.co.nz/en_nz/special_offers.html

networkn

Networkn
32864 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 15455

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3427572 23-Oct-2025 19:36

Jaxson:

Sennheiser HDB 630 with BTD 700 Bluetooth USB C Dongle included has just been released.

Looks good. I’ve been waiting for a momentum 5 with better ANC. Maybe these are that, maybe?

I tried the new Bose ultras and really wanted to like those but sounded very buddy coming from the momentum’s.

Yeah, it's why despite them having the best ANC, I went with other options. Other headphones are 90-95% the ANC, but far surpass the sound quality of the Bose.

networkn

Networkn
32864 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 15455

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3459773 8-Feb-2026 16:52

It was expensive, but I ended up buying the HDB 630's which are pretty much universally acclaimed and to be honest, they are end game wireless headphones for 99% of the population. I'd imagine these are everything the casual listener would need/want, are transportable, comfortable, customisable, and have pretty decent ANC. They are really quite something.

I have headphones which sound better, and I have headphones which are more comfortable, I have headphones with slightly better ANC, but nothing in a package that touches this price range.

I'm looking forward to trying them on a place in a few weeks time, and I'll report back after I have compared them with a couple of other sets.

1 | ... | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120 | 121 | 122