Headphones

smith71

My previous headphones not working well. So I want to change it. Someone suggest me some headphones Sony WH-1000XM3, Bose Quiet Comfort 35 II, Sony WH-1000XM4. Can anyone suggest me which one should i buy?

JesterMgee

Whatever fits your budget and preference really. Audio is subjective so what one finds good another may not.

FWIW I like both my old AKG240 and my Audio Technica ATH-M50x

I absolutely dislike my newer AKG 720 which are horrible quality (I am thinking they are actually fakes and not the real thing because they are terrible in every way). I have 5 odd other sets of cans I switch between and for other various things but these are my main ones I like at the moment.

Kaiwan_NI

Maybe worth checking this thread out as well: New compact/foldable headphone: recommendations?

I used to have AIAIAI'S TMA-2 Studio XE and I love it

Mavros

Also be sure what you want to do with your new headphones, listen to music with in general closed headphones sometimes with noise reduction (as the Sony models you quoted), mix or produce music in a DAW often using open type headphones or record voice or instruments using a microphone to a DAW while listening to the rest of the instruments playing which are also closed but without noise reduction.

For all these purposes there are specific headphones. For mixing and production headphones you can even get software software correcting imperfections to ideal balanced characteristics or simulating super high end monitors in real studios sometimes including adaptation to your ear shape and adding realistic cross feed between left and right ear like you have in a room.

Best search on Youtube as there are a lot of test and reviews from mostly independent (sometimes less) specialists.

F1308

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/7358/headphones

Switch to IEMs.

The reviewer said...

"What on earth are you doing reading the rest of this review? Go and buy one of these! I don't care if you don't listen to IEMs normally. You want this IEM so you know what correct tonality is, when you listen with other transducers such as headphones and speakers. Think of it as the tuning fork that a musician uses! This IEM needs to be in your arsenal."

So have a try...

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/truthear-x-crinacle-zero-iem-review.37380/

Hard to believe such an astounding performance for around US$ 50.

They appeared in front of me when planning to click on one those top notch Dan Clark's US $3999, either Stealth or Expanse and I finally choosed the Truthear Crinacle Zero IEM.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/dan-clark-stealth-review-state-of-the-art-headphone.25920/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/dan-clark-expanse-headphone-review.37332/

I am enjoying them immensely and have ordered another one as a backup.

😀😀😀😀

Paule

I prefer Sennheiser linear with no boost in the bass freqs: HD 65 TV clear stereo sound.

https://www.sennheiser-hearing.com/de-DE/p/hd-65-tv/

benMaj7

I can definitely recommend Sony WH-1000XM4. They may not have linear sound characteristics, but they have an incredible range of 4! to 40kHz. I use them for playing digital piano, DAW and Maschine+. Additionally you can switch to bluetooth mode, activate noise cancelling, turn on music and the world around is gone. I really love them!

zenluiz

All of the ones you described as examples are Noise Cancelling headphones. Is that a requirement, to have ANC functionality? I ask because usually these types of headphones are just for listening, working, traveling, basic consumer oriented, not really created with a studio/reference objective.

So what do you want your new headphone for? Basic listening or critical listening?

That being said, I just recently bought the Sony WH-1000XM4 ones and this is my very short review:

• Active Noise Canceling: amazing! The reviews even say that they are currently better than the Bose ones. 10/10
• Sound quality / flatness **: for a critical listener, not so good. The frequency response is not well balanced, a bit muffled, a bit too much bass, etc. For a occasional, consumer listener, though, I'd say it's pretty OK.
• Build quality: great! Looks and feels premium and sturdy. 9/10
• Comfort: 8/10. For my (big) head, it starts to feel a bit uncomfortable after maybe one hour of using it. I believe the Bose Quiet Comfort ones are the best for that.

**Although I say that the headphones are not well balanced (frequency response wise), I must point that if you use Sonarworks/SoundID for headphones, they do have a calibration profile for the Sony WH-1000XM4. After applying the calibration, it gets MUCH better and well balanced :)