Headphones

[Blasty Blosty]

I was thinking about getting new bluetooth headphones sometime soon (I currently use the Sennheiser HD 350BT)

 

Are the Sony XM4/XM5 still the best on the market? Or are the Sennheiser Momentum 4's better?

I am looking around this kind of price range, XM4 is £199 for me right now and the XM5 is £279, Momentum 4's around £289

 

Any recommendations? I love a good bit of bass and just want a good, rich sound.

[Pawer8]

29 minutes ago, Blasty Blosty said:

I was thinking about getting new bluetooth headphones sometime soon (I currently use the Sennheiser HD 350BT)

 

Are the Sony XM4/XM5 still the best on the market? Or are the Sennheiser Momentum 4's better?

I am looking around this kind of price range, XM4 is £199 for me right now and the XM5 is £279, Momentum 4's around £289

 

Any recommendations? I love a good bit of bass and just want a good, rich sound.

Define best. Do you only care about sound? Do you care about features like anc?

[Blasty Blosty]

Just now, Pawer8 said:

Define best. Do you only care about sound? Do you care about features like anc?

I just want good (rich), punchy headphones with deep bass. After trying the AirPods Max, I can clearly hear the difference between my current ones high-end headphones. Although I am aware these competitors sound just as good at half the price, which is why I am looking at ones like the Sonys and Sennheisers.

 

ANC would definitely be a nice to have, I have heard the XM5 have the best ANC in its class?

A 3.5mm port would also be nice as I could use them on my PC for gaming.  

[Pawer8]

Well the xm3 sound very muddy to me but maybe you like the Sonys if you like bass. Wouldn't call them rich tho. Anything in the mids is lost in the bass.

 

I'm probably not the best person to give you a recommendation because I prefer a flat or u shape sound.

 

That said the 371bt and 361bt have a good reputation. In terms of sound.

 

Yeah the Sony have the best anc

[Blasty Blosty]

9 minutes ago, Pawer8 said:

Well the xm3 sound very muddy to me but maybe you like the Sonys if you like bass. Wouldn't call them rich tho. Anything in the mids is lost in the bass.

 

I'm probably not the best person to give you a recommendation because I prefer a flat or u shape sound.

 

That said the 371bt and 361bt have a good reputation. In terms of sound.

 

Yeah the Sony have the best anc

I will consider them, thanks

 

Is the sound compareable to the Sonys for less than half the price?

[adm0n]

I have the XM4 and am pretty happy with them. If you can EQ them, you can get rid of some of the muddiness. Just be aware, that they are barely usable without having power. Since one of the ear cups has an indent for the proximity sensor (that doesn't really work all that well, at least for me). So even if you want to use them with a cable, you still want to power them on.

 

Otherwise I'm super happy with them. They are decently comfortable and the battery lasts for a long time. I can only compare them to the Bose QC 35 II, which I feel are worse in both sound and comfort. Also the ear pad on those started to disintegrate, while the pads on the XM4 are almost like new in the same time frame. 

 

Compared to my planar magnetic open backed headphones, the sound is less clear. This could probably be fixed by EQing them a bit more. The Soundscape is also quite decent and I'm not really sad when I use the XM4 over the planars.

 

If I understood it correctly, the XM5's are just a small upgrade compared to the XM4s. In sound quality not much happened. Apparently the Noise canceling works better on the XM4s according to RTINGS, but the microphone is better on the XM5s. So in my opinion, the extra price isn't worth it. Also I'm not too big a fan of the changed design.

[Blasty Blosty]

2 minutes ago, adm0n said:

I have the XM4 and am pretty happy with them. If you can EQ them, you can get rid of some of the muddiness. Just be aware, that they are barely usable without having power. Since one of the ear cups has an indent for the proximity sensor (that doesn't really work all that well, at least for me). So even if you want to use them with a cable, you still want to power them on.

 

Otherwise I'm super happy with them. They are decently comfortable and the battery lasts for a long time. I can only compare them to the Bose QC 35 II, which I feel are worse in both sound and comfort. Also the ear pad on those started to disintegrate, while the pads on the XM4 are almost like new in the same time frame. 

 

Compared to my planar magnetic open backed headphones, the sound is less clear. This could probably be fixed by EQing them a bit more. The Soundscape is also quite decent and I'm not really sad when I use the XM4 over the planars.

 

If I understood it correctly, the XM5's are just a small upgrade compared to the XM4s. In sound quality not much happened. Apparently the Noise canceling works better on the XM4s according to RTINGS, but the microphone is better on the XM5s. So in my opinion, the extra price isn't worth it. Also I'm not too big a fan of the changed design.

Very informative, thanks

 

I wish to stick with closed-back for privacy reasons, but would definitely consider open-back if they are substantially better

Unless I see XM5's at a good price, I'll just save money and go with XM4's instead then, thanks

[adm0n]

7 minutes ago, Blasty Blosty said:

I wish to stick with closed-back for privacy reasons, but would definitely consider open-back if they are substantially better

I just meant the comparison to the open backed headphones as more of an sound comparison, as I got them to use when I care about things sounding good. If you are anywhere with just a bit of ambient sound, you want closed backs, 100%.

 

I'd also not say you will get anything substantially better than the XM4s. You might get something you like a lot better, but unless you turn into an audiophile or just convince yourself, that a pair of $1000 open backed headphones sounds better, your experience won't change all that much. Things like soundscape could be important though, depending on what you are listening to.

 

10 minutes ago, Blasty Blosty said:

Unless I see XM5's at a good price, I'll just save money and go with XM4's instead then, thanks

Happy to help! Hope you enjoy them!

[Blasty Blosty]

6 minutes ago, adm0n said:

I'd also not say you will get anything substantially better than the XM4s. You might get something you like a lot better, but unless you turn into an audiophile or just convince yourself, that a pair of $1000 open backed headphones sounds better, your experience won't change all that much. Things like soundscape could be important though, depending on what you are listening to.

Yeah true, I'm just in the mindset that I will get the XM4 and regret not going for the XM5

 

I was also thinking of waiting to see what the Airpods Max 2's are like in terms of pricing, but I doubt they will even be close to the ones we have just discussed. 

[Pawer8]

1 hour ago, Blasty Blosty said:

I will consider them, thanks

 

Is the sound compareable to the Sonys for less than half the price?

They are much cheaper and sound better from an audiophile point of view. But again you may prefer the sound of the Sony. It's not like they just chose that sound signature. They chose it because people like it.

 

Tbh the best advice I can give is find a place you can test them

[Blasty Blosty]

1 minute ago, Pawer8 said:

They are much cheaper and sound better from an audiophile point of view. But again you may prefer the sound of the Sony. It's not like they just chose that sound signature. They chose it because people like it.

 

Tbh the best advice I can give is find a place you can test them

Not sure if you have HMV where you are, but they often have a range of headphones on display. Or a Currys

[adm0n]

1 minute ago, Blasty Blosty said:

Yeah true, I'm just in the mindset that I will get the XM4 and regret not going for the XM5

In this case I really doubt, that there is anything to regret. Headphone technology moves really slowly, to a point, where you can good 20 year old headphones, that still perform very well. So in case of the Sonys, just look at the features it offers you. If you need something from xm5, get them. The thing that produces the sound is essentially the same between both of the headphones.

 

If they don't sound as good to you, that will likely not be a quality problem, but just a preference things. And you can adjust the sound profile of the headphones with an EQ. At least on Android, Windows and Linux, applying your EQ is really simple, you just need to figure out what you like.

[Blasty Blosty]

3 minutes ago, adm0n said:

In this case I really doubt, that there is anything to regret. Headphone technology moves really slowly, to a point, where you can good 20 year old headphones, that still perform very well. So in case of the Sonys, just look at the features it offers you. If you need something from xm5, get them. The thing that produces the sound is essentially the same between both of the headphones.

 

If they don't sound as good to you, that will likely not be a quality problem, but just a preference things. And you can adjust the sound profile of the headphones with an EQ. At least on Android, Windows and Linux, applying your EQ is really simple, you just need to figure out what you like.

Yeah true

 

I love the gesture control on the XM5, but I found I don't really use the on-ear controls on my current headphones, so XM4 might just be the way to go

[Cocococo]

Hi there, just before you pull the trigger on XM4's you should probably know that the hinges on the XM4 are very fragile, they aren't built all that well to be honest. The XM5 are no better (I think the XM5 are worse due to the poor isolation and headband comfort) 

 

I do very much think the Momentum 4 over-ears are the best sounding of the "premium" ANC headphones but the ANC is not as good when compared to Sony, Bose and Apple.

 

The XM4's can be bought with a USB dongle which is awesome for PC use, but if you want amazing sound from a wireless closed back headphone on both PC and mobile the Audeze Maxwell stands far above anything out there, the Maxwells have no ANC which is a bit of a bummer, however the passive isolation is quite a lot better than any of the ANC headphones out there (I have theories but nothing concrete as to why) and for blocking out the sound of crowds, tiktokers and other people ANC does a very poor job. 

 

If you really feel like you need ANC (or just find the Maxwell uncomfortable) then the Sennheiser Accentum is a headphone I'm very happy to recommend, sound wise I prefer them over virtually any other ANC headphone out there, the noise cancelling is pretty good and they're cheaper than the Sony XM4's.

For gaming and general PC use I'd just go for a separate set of wired headphones (ANC headphones tend to insulate a lot of heat, this is horrible during summer) there's a lot of good options but that's super budget dependent.

[Blasty Blosty]

3 minutes ago, Cocococo said:

 

Good to know, thanks for giving me some more recommendations

If the price is similar, I wil just pull the trigger on whatever seems to be the best bang for my buck

[adm0n]

2 hours ago, Cocococo said:

Hi there, just before you pull the trigger on XM4's you should probably know that the hinges on the XM4 are very fragile, they aren't built all that well to be honest. The XM5 are no better (I think the XM5 are worse due to the poor isolation and headband comfort) 

I haven't heard about this. Mine are still fine and I had them since 2020, but if this is a thing, then maybe buying them isn't that good of an idea, especially if you are clumsy.

[Blasty Blosty]

1 hour ago, adm0n said:

I haven't heard about this. Mine are still fine and I had them since 2020, but if this is a thing, then maybe buying them isn't that good of an idea, especially if you are clumsy.

I treat my things like babies, I have had my 350BTs for around 3 years now and there is not a single mark on them, so durability is not really a concern for me

[Cocococo]

14 minutes ago, Blasty Blosty said:

I treat my things like babies, I have had my 350BTs for around 3 years now and there is not a single mark on them, so durability is not really a concern for me

I treat my things really well too, but because sony really cheaped out on the hinges one bad drop could completely snap said hinges, i can guarantee there's at least one pair of XM4's on ebay with a snapped hinge right now, there may have been a quiet revision that solved the problem, but i wouldn't feel comfortable taking the gamble (especially when competition is as good as it is) 

[Blasty Blosty]

1 hour ago, Cocococo said:

I treat my things really well too, but because sony really cheaped out on the hinges one bad drop could completely snap said hinges, i can guarantee there's at least one pair of XM4's on ebay with a snapped hinge right now, there may have been a quiet revision that solved the problem, but i wouldn't feel comfortable taking the gamble (especially when competition is as good as it is) 

So would you suggest going with something like the Momentum 4's?