Sony WH-1000XM5 review
- R
- Rkm
- ypc
- 24 Oct 2022
AnonD-1070124, 24 Oct 2022I’m not a fan of Sony headphones but have to ask - did you ... moreBluetooth earphones/ headphones has DAC built into them. The digital to analog conversation happens at the headphone. Only the codec you use would make some difference.
That is, unless you have forgotten to turn off some system wide EQ and use it for Bluetooth too.
- R
- Rkm
- ypc
- 24 Oct 2022
Kev, 24 Oct 2022I feel like this is the best and most realistic review of t... moreYup, have er2xr myself and sound quality is several leagues above.
If you pair it with something like fiio btr5/ qudelix 5k you get way better SQ, excellent noise isolation and all the codec support for lower price. But you have to use deep insertion, which actually isn't as bad as it looks.
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- hmm
- m2J
- 24 Oct 2022
Is there even a volume scroll or buttons for it on the headphones ? If that is missing then it's pretty useless for me. I dont ever hold my headphones at max vol level and it be really a pain to change volume only trough the devices it's connected to.
Also would be nice if this thing will come with 3.5mm to type-c cable just to use the headphones when there battery is done for and then be wired version. As we now have phone without 3.5mm jack then that cable is needed. Dongle just sux as it's more parts or cables
- vrvly
- p@c
- 24 Oct 2022
Considering different performance at different conditions, you may not always get the best ANC, or as I tried, I definitely did not. For ANC its xm3>xm4>xm5 then or if you are lucky, xm5>xm3>xm4. What is great tho is almost no cabin pressure, so your ears are protected.
From reviews I can confirm tho that audio clarity is better than old bose and xm4, its open field performance, small field tho, xm3/apple got bigger stage. There are certainly limits to the speaker used.
Its definitely PNC and ANC centric, but it got good fr, not too boomy or vocalish, its suited for all tastes. Combined with dseehx, ldac and 360 sound, it should perform better than any other headphones.
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- DazedandGrumpy
- nIx
- 24 Oct 2022
AnonD-1070124, 24 Oct 2022I’m not a fan of Sony headphones but have to ask - did you ... moreDude. The LG V50/V60 have high quality audio because of the ESS Sabre DAC. DACs have nothing to do with Bluetooth audio processing. Bluetooth codecs are managed by the Qualcomm chip.
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- DazedandGrumpy
- nIx
- 24 Oct 2022
Natural Selection, 24 Oct 2022i had similar poor sound quality with xm4s ,and yes you can... moreI agree with this. Those sites are just affiliate marketing platforms these days. The gsmarena review was the only one which matched up with my experience of Sony's XM series.
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- Anonymous
- SHp
- 24 Oct 2022
Funny, i have a $15 wired Sony's and they are far better in terms of audio quality, offering much more balanced sound. You can listen to them for hours without getting a headache, but also without noticing any serious lacking across the frequency spectrum.
I have tested a relative's high-end bluetooth Sony's (One of the earlier version) and sure enough, the offered mediocre vocals, mediocre highs and you can only mostly hear heavy, headache-causing bass. BTW, their stereo systems suffer the same problem (Well, the big ones, at least).
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- Anonymous
- SHp
- 24 Oct 2022
Funny, i have a $15 wired Sony's and they are far better in terms of audio quality, offering much more balanced sound. You can listen to them for hours without getting a headache, but also without noticing any serious lacking across the frequency spectrum.
I have tested a relative's high-end bluetooth Sony's (One of the earlier version) and sure enough, the offered mediocre vocals, mediocre highs and you can only mostly hear heavy, headache-causing bass. BTW, their stereo systems suffer the same problem (Well, the big ones, at least).
- K
- Kev
- CcS
- 24 Oct 2022
Anonymous, 24 Oct 2022Does this have cheaper alternative? So can dunk at the same... moreCrinacle did an unbagging of wired IEMs. Out of the 20 he tried, there were two incredibly bassy ones he gave a 5/5. (5/5 in an impression listen means "has potential.")
One was the Audiosense AQ4, which costs 180 dollars, and the other was the Fatfreq Maestro Mini, which costs 600 dollars.
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- Kev
- CcS
- 24 Oct 2022
AnonD-1070124, 24 Oct 2022I’m not a fan of Sony headphones but have to ask - did you ... moreThat's when LG's superior DAC inside their phones will do wonders if you use these headphones wired. This doesn't apply when you use them wirelessly. The phone only supplies digital audio to the headphones, which use its own onboard DAC.
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- Kev
- CcS
- 24 Oct 2022
I feel like this is the best and most realistic review of the WH-1000XM5s for what they are. They simply don't sound good, but that's not an issue when they're mostly in a league of their own, in terms of "Okay sound with great noise canceling."
An interesting alternative is the Etymotic ER2XR. I haven't tried them, but many reputable reviewers like Crinacle recommend them for their great sound. And due to the incredibly deep insertion depth, they achieve great isolation as well, just as good as the Sonys in the lower frequencies and much better in the higher frequencies. (RTINGS measurements put the lower frequency attenuation at 20 decibels, and the higher frequencies at nearly 60 decibels.) Beware, however. Such a deep insertion will raise serious question marks for comfort.
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- Anonymous
- 6wN
- 24 Oct 2022
Uglier than the previous version. Other than that good overall. Bass isn't a problem for me. I just avoid too much treble because of the horrible sibilance. I use equalizer to boost bass anyway. Even on bass heavy headphones/earbuds. I have 10 of them. But only one over ear. Mine is Skullcandy Crusher Evo. The materials the looks the bass are great. But sound is a little sibilant on some songs. And for comfort it isn't that comfortable as it is very tight fitting. And for noise isolation it isn't good too but the bass kills noice anyway. And app is very limited. But nothing can beat it when it comes to bass which is very very powerful here. Planning to buy Sony or Bose over ear soon.
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- Anonymous
- LHe
- 24 Oct 2022
Eric20, 24 Oct 2022There is very little audible difference between SBC(at ~ 32... moreThis is the first time I've heard 600kbps on LDAC is hard to maintain.
- Kangal
- vJt
- 24 Oct 2022
This is such a weird review, it's like it was done over a weekend.
Certainly not thoroughly tested like many other reviewers out there, and the conclusions reached are a bit weird. For context, I have the XM4 and from my own comparison the cups are good quality and slightly larger on the XM5. Perhaps Prasad has much larger ears than most people? Quality wise it is great but not perfect.
My biggest issues with the XM4 is the very low-quality microphone performance, AND the very annoying bug (that cannot be fixed) where the headset constantly pauses/dims the music every once in a while. I disabled Siri/Google Assistant but it still does that thing, and the forums are filled with the same complaints by other users. Hopefully XM5 doesn't have that same bug.
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- RazrFlip
- Cy%
- 24 Oct 2022
I bought Bose ANC headphones and sent them back because noise was not cancelled; barely diminished. I then bought Sony WH1000 - XM3 for the same price and wow. They worked. I can walk along busy roads listening to podcasts. They're comfy for long periods. Phone calls are great from both ends. I don't listen to music while walking so it is down to being fit for use, "horses for courses". Thankfully they do everything I need so I don't need to upgrade.
If only ANC would work properly on ear buds.
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- AnonD-1070124
- n%j
- 24 Oct 2022
I’m not a fan of Sony headphones but have to ask - did you test it with some sort of mediocre Samsung device? I’m sure if you test it with more or less “reference” audio device like LG V60 or LG V50 you probably would get a completely different results! Bluetooth audio quality strongly depends on processing power which is reserved for that by the system, also codecs and physical hardware used - Samsung phones a very bad with all of that…
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- Natural Selection
- PAZ
- 24 Oct 2022
i had similar poor sound quality with xm4s ,and yes you can EQ it to some extent but it will never fix weak technical abilities of driver.only mainstream website that mentioned this problem was gsmarena.but i was a fool and do not listened to them.please don't listen to what hifi,soundguys,linus if you care about sound.
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- Noob
- 7tN
- 24 Oct 2022
Does it have a dedicated mute control?
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- Akinaro
- a0J
- 24 Oct 2022
Eric20, 24 Oct 2022There is very little audible difference between SBC(at ~ 32... moreAudio codec is not only about amount of kbps you can push to headphones... its about latency, stability battery optimization and quality. Try to play non-youtube video or play a game and not getting annoyed by latency when using SBC or AAC...
You need to have ears made from bricks if you dont hear difference between SBC and Aptx or LDAC or you actually didnt set them in your phone(yes you actually need to select what codec you want to use). Not to mention that some people try to hear difference playing spotify or youtube video.... no wonder that those people cant hear difference...
I hate audiophiles gibberish but when you switch to Aptx you get the difference. maybe not so much in terms of quality, as ITS NOT MAGIC that make sound everything amazing, but all those small improvements smooth experience a lot.