Sony - WH-1000XM3

I second the XMs. I have 3s that have lasted me years.

Oh def. I still have my XM3 and still working good. Absolute must for plane travels and I usually do 12 hour flights. I just cant with that constant plane engine noise and this is a lifesaver.

My xm3 headband snapped in half after a year of use. Tried to get em repaired with warranty but sony wanted me to use a 3rd party service that wanted like $300. I could just get a new pair for that price so i havent bought the xm4 or xm5. But got a nice deal on the xm6 today.

x2. Tenho uns Xm3 há 4 anos, fortes.

had my xm3s basically since launch and theyre still great. if i was buying today id get the xm4 over the xm5 since the latter doesnt fold up into a travel case

I was running XM3's up until about a week ago when the right ear finally gave out. I've had them for probably over 5 years and regularly did workouts with them on. I knew it was bad for them and would likely be their demise. They got sweaty as all heck during workouts and did eventually just start to stink.... Personally I've now bought a cheap pair of ANC headphones to work out with (Soundcore Q20i). I know these will likely die the same, but don't care too much as they were less than $50. For how much the XM6's are, I wouldn't work out with them even though my XM3's survived for so long. My two cents.

I haven't tried those before. Will keep it in mind to test them. I have read the comments. I agree different hardware can be best for different situations. I have some good old Sony xm3 for airplane travel for example. And I just use the Apple AirPods Pro 2 for on the go due to their convenience to do many things and their size. Will keep an eye to test some IEMs and see where they would fit in all of this. Maybe they are good for good quality sound on the go?

I returned my xm6 it wasnt the upgrade i was looking for. Had the xm3 but the headband broke after a year and sony refused to repair them under warranty. The xm6 i would have kept if the build quality was better. Im shocked we still getting all plastic for $500. Heard hinges have aluminum inside because of the xm5 hinge problem. I kinda wanted better headband durability but its still skinny and weak looking. Tried the EQ setting but most sounded the same. Cinema mode was alrite for movies but not enough to sway me. Gonna wait til they improve some more

While not exactly buy it for life, I've had the Sony XM3's for over 6 years now. They just won't quit. The only issue I've had was the ear cup material started flaking, but it was a quick and cheap replacement. 1. Apart from the ear cups, they have functioned like new for 6 years 2. The ANC is great, though I hear some of the newer versions are even better 3. I'm no expert so take this one with a grain of salt: sound quality is solid, but again I hear more recent versions are even better 4. I wear them for 8+ hours a day several times a week without any discomfort 5. Here's where the XM3's fall a bit short. They have pause, skip forward/back, and volume controls. They only has 1 Bluetooth chip, so swapping audio sources takes a few extra steps. The XM4's and later have multiple chips making this easier 6. I've recently done 12 hour travel days while using ANC nearly the entire time. Hope this helps.

Is it just me, or has every iteration of the WH-1000XM series since the XM4 become the gold standard for noise canceling? The WH-1000XM3 was good, but it feels like starting from the XM4, Sony really began to stand out.

XMs aren't sweat-proof, but I've been using them for that purpose for years and they've been fine lol

well the XM3 battery are even more easily replaceable than XM4...if you still use them

Słuchawki nauszne mają lepszą jakość dźwięku i ANC. Najpopularniejsze jakościowe modele z tej półki cenowej to Sony ULT, Sennheiser Accentum Plus, Sennheiser HD 450 BT, JBL Live 770 NC i wymienione Soundcore Space One. Sony od paru lat dominuje jeśli chodzi o jakość ANC, z dźwiękiem - jak kto lubi, bo np. Sony ULT ma ponoć bardzo uwydatnione basy i konkurencja może mieć bardziej wyważone dźwięki. Korzystam z trochę droższego modelu Sony WH-1000, ANC od Sony działa cuda i ratuje mnie od wrzeszczących dzieciaków na placu zabaw, który mam pod samym oknem mieszkania.

Starting XM4 bass on the Sony XM series started toning down more and more because of more ideal target preference. Def much cleaner sounding now if you look at the XM6 response measurements. So what you're hearing is correct that the XM3 is much more muddier than the XM6. Isolation and features al the XM6's selling points imo. You no longer need ANC on if you want to not ruin the music or if you want to conserve battery life. The other benefits are the hands free chat function where it can just tell when you start talking to people w/o taking the headphones off. Its hard to also metrically compare an IEM like the Airpods Pro 2 to a Headphone as the IEM has diff types of ear gain compared to a headphone which has more natural ear gains. There is a way to make them maybe sound more similar but thats never going to be the case as headphones tend to stage and image a little stronger than IEMs do. I do think for the price Sony does make a strong statement w/ the shear quantity of features. If you want to do the EQ correctly you cant just do it by ear, you need to look at a measurements graph and adjust using some understanding of the ear gain, midrange linearity, and a subjective dose of bass shelf and bass curve. Most of the industry is now some level of harman-like response (both apple & sony technically do this across all their headphones now, Harman publicized back in like 2017 this but companies have known about it for years it just wasn't so standardized until more recent, when audiophiles got ahold of the data & cheap hardware and started measuring everything). More than likely you also are adjusting EQ starting w/ highs and lows when you should be adjusting based on the mids. Almost all consumer audio companies do a thing w/ the mids and lower mids are more recessed by a few db creating a "v shaped" response rather than one w/ a more linear midrange. You should you reset the EQ by flattening out the mid range and adjusting to a more linear target. You can use LTT's measurements to get an idea on how to EQ them more directly (at least to LTT's target). Bring down the upper bass (200-400hz) like 1-2db and bring up the mids 500-1khz up like 2.5db. Start w/ a generally flat mid range 300-1khz, then you can refine how much general treble and bass Q & bass output you want afterwards. I frankly wish companies would just create a tool that establishes a flat or target midrange first and then guides the user on developing a personalized EQ afterwards. Focal does something pretty cool in app where it does create a personalized EQ based on personal hearing response sensitivity. https://preview.redd.it/tkn5nisp9e2f1.png?width=2826&format=png&auto=webp&s=ae3d3f5b7c2756ffb61c18cc3826c34f72355902

I've had my xm3 since 2019. Yes they will last

Yes you can, this is called running them in 'passive' mode (as opposed to 'active' mode with the power on). You'd want an external DAC to replace the one inside the headphones or the sound quality will be poor. I have an old FiiO BTR5 portable DAC that I use with my XM3s and 4s sometimes, using this method I'm able to drive the volume of the headphones much higher than what the internal components can manage in active mode.

Same. Bought some inferior over ears and immediately returned the and took the plunge on the XM3s. They sound amazing and everyone who has heard them agrees. My only complaint is my small head and longer wear. They hurt the top of my head if I am wearing them for more than an hour or so.