Sony WF-1000XM4 noise cancelling ear buds
Discussion
I've had a couple of pairs of XM3s and found the noise cancelling to be poor. I also assumed they were broken but even swapping to the second pair didn't make much difference. There was some noise cancelling but minimal at best.
I then got a pair of Bose Quietcomfort earbuds and they are so much better. Noise cancelling is excellent and subjectively I prefer the sound quality as well.
I then got a pair of Bose Quietcomfort earbuds and they are so much better. Noise cancelling is excellent and subjectively I prefer the sound quality as well.
ulakye said:
I've had a couple of pairs of XM3s and found the noise cancelling to be poor. I also assumed they were broken but even swapping to the second pair didn't make much difference. There was some noise cancelling but minimal at best.
I then got a pair of Bose Quietcomfort earbuds and they are so much better. Noise cancelling is excellent and subjectively I prefer the sound quality as well.
I think my problem is that I have got used to the Bose way of noise cancelling. I guess i will find out when these go back and the Bose Quietcomfort earbuds arrive.I then got a pair of Bose Quietcomfort earbuds and they are so much better. Noise cancelling is excellent and subjectively I prefer the sound quality as well.
craigjm said:
alorotom said:
You might want to check out the new Beats buds released today with full ANC etc… and under $150
Read a couple of reviews and they all have poor noise cancellation as a negative so ill pass for now and try the Bose Quietcomfort earbuds and go from there. I do find it intriguing that its taken Sony 11mths longer to push out the v4 buds vs the overears - I just hope they've solved the intermittent silencing problems that myself and scores of others experiences with the WH-XM4s
craigjm said:
Has anyone got a set of these released this week or indeed a set of the older XM3? I have just bought a pair after having a set of wired Bose QC20 for about 7 years. I dont know if im expecting too much or if they are faulty. The sound quality is great but the noise cancelling appears to be utter s
te. If this is how they are supposed to be I cant see how What Hifi and others are handing out 5 stars everywhere.
So ive tried all the ear buds that come with it and the test in the app says the large buds are positioned correctly and tight. I can still hear people talking and cars passing etc which you just wouldn't with the Bose. The headphones app that controls them is needlessly complicated in my opinion and you cant really tell when noise cancelling is on and when it isn't. Ive turned off the stupid adaptive sound because it was changing things as soon as you stopped walking for like 1 second. What am I doing wrong? At the moment they feel like £250 of junk and I cant believe that
Ditto!te. If this is how they are supposed to be I cant see how What Hifi and others are handing out 5 stars everywhere.So ive tried all the ear buds that come with it and the test in the app says the large buds are positioned correctly and tight. I can still hear people talking and cars passing etc which you just wouldn't with the Bose. The headphones app that controls them is needlessly complicated in my opinion and you cant really tell when noise cancelling is on and when it isn't. Ive turned off the stupid adaptive sound because it was changing things as soon as you stopped walking for like 1 second. What am I doing wrong? At the moment they feel like £250 of junk and I cant believe that
Bought XM3's a couple of months ago after reading great reviews, but noise-cancelling was terrible compared to other earphones I own.
Tried everything including updating bluetooth drivers on laptop etc but other people were complaining that they couldn't hear me on Zoom/Teams calls, and whilst sound quality was fine for music, noise-cancelling was woeful.
Returned them and bought Panasonic which seem much better. Sound quality for music is similar or perhaps slightly inferior to the Sony, but they work on conf calls, the app is better, they conect to more devices more quickly, and were two-thirds of the price.
I eventually got round to buying a set of Bose quiet comfort earbuds, £249 from Amazon. I have to say they are night and day ahead of the Sonys!
Setup was easy.... download the app, create an account and search for the buds. Found instantly and connected and away we go. Initial impressions were good and the adjustable noise reduction worked well. Straight outside onto the roadside to give it the test that the Sonys failed miserably. Stood 30cm from the road I couldnt hear the traffic! brilliant. I then turned the noise cancellation down and it had to go down to 60% before I could hear the traffic moving at 30mph just a foot away from me.
They are very comfortable in the ears with the usual Bose fittings and they dont feel heavy in your ears. OK they dont have as many trick features as the Sony like stopping the music automatically when you talk but who cares when the noise reduction is this good. Sound quality is better than my old Bose QC20 wired with much more depth and a better bass.
Very pleased. Recommended
Setup was easy.... download the app, create an account and search for the buds. Found instantly and connected and away we go. Initial impressions were good and the adjustable noise reduction worked well. Straight outside onto the roadside to give it the test that the Sonys failed miserably. Stood 30cm from the road I couldnt hear the traffic! brilliant. I then turned the noise cancellation down and it had to go down to 60% before I could hear the traffic moving at 30mph just a foot away from me.
They are very comfortable in the ears with the usual Bose fittings and they dont feel heavy in your ears. OK they dont have as many trick features as the Sony like stopping the music automatically when you talk but who cares when the noise reduction is this good. Sound quality is better than my old Bose QC20 wired with much more depth and a better bass.
Very pleased. Recommended
mikef said:
Nothing in aviation comes cheap 
I hope you find them decent. I think, like I said above, that I have got used to the Bose style of noise reduction. I was on the tube yesterday and it’s great to not hear the racket. You could hear some of it with my QC20s so it’s an improvement. Bose QC buds arrived and I've run a quick test against WF-1000XM3
Short verdict - the Bose noise cancelling is amazing, as always. For sound quality, the Sony's beat the Bose hands-down. Sample track used for comparison: Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah in high-def audio
I guess it depends whether NC or sound is top priority
Short verdict - the Bose noise cancelling is amazing, as always. For sound quality, the Sony's beat the Bose hands-down. Sample track used for comparison: Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah in high-def audio
I guess it depends whether NC or sound is top priority
mikef said:
Bose QC buds arrived and I've run a quick test against WF-1000XM3
Short verdict - the Bose noise cancelling is amazing, as always. For sound quality, the Sony's beat the Bose hands-down. Sample track used for comparison: Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah in high-def audio
I guess it depends whether NC or sound is top priority
I would agree with that vs the XM4's that I tried. The absolute sound quality was better on the Sonys. With the Bose I was on a train this weekend and it was totally suppressed. This is top priority for me. If i want absolute clarity I will listen on my home HIFI. I like the way you can alter the NR on the Bose too so you can have it not 100% if you want to be aware of stuff. Happy with my purchaseShort verdict - the Bose noise cancelling is amazing, as always. For sound quality, the Sony's beat the Bose hands-down. Sample track used for comparison: Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah in high-def audio
I guess it depends whether NC or sound is top priority
mikef said:
I guess it depends whether NC or sound is top priority
And if you want both go for the Sony over-ear model - the WH range. I've got the XM3's (and XM2's for that matter) and they are a fantastic set of cans, excelling in both NR and sound quality.Was potentially looking for some of the in-ear ones for golf - do I assume they aren't as good as their big brothers?
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