Wireless headphones advice

Discussion in 'Bulletin Board' started by Thrappo Tyke, Nov 15, 2020.

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  1. Thrappo Tyke

    Thrappo Tyke Well-Known Member

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    Looking for some advice on a pair of wireless headphones. Thinking of going for over-ear but could be persuaded otherwise

    Looking at the market leading Sony WH-1000XM3s (I know the XM4s are out, but £100 more)

    Anyone own these? Pros and cons?

    Anyone advise any alternatives?
     
    Thrappo Tyke, Nov 15, 2020
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  2. Frans

    Frans Well-Known Member

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    Frans, Nov 15, 2020
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  3. Kex

    KexbroughRed Well-Known Member

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    KexbroughRed, Nov 15, 2020
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  4. noksucow

    noksucow Well-Known Member

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    Xm4s best on market
     
    noksucow, Nov 15, 2020
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  5. Thrappo Tyke

    Thrappo Tyke Well-Known Member

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    They are, but I don't fancy spending £340

    The XM3s still look absolutely top drawer for around £230
     
    Thrappo Tyke, Nov 15, 2020
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  6. Farnham_Red

    Farnham_Red Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    Ive got a pair on the Sony WH-1000XM3s - I think they are great, good sound and the noise cancelling is really good.
    Music quality in a normal quiet environment I think is excellent, but I find they are brilliant when outside doing things like cutting the grass or hedges you can listen on a normal volume. Battery life is pretty good, and there is plenty you can play with using the app to set the sound you want etc
    The 2 main cons - they arent the lightest headphones you can get
    an annoying feature is it auto selects mode and sometimes turns off the noise cancelling for me - need to look at the app and figure out how to turn that off but never remember
    A third con is the price - they are not cheap but they are a lot better than my previous pair which were less than half the price
    No regrets about buying them though. Id be surprised if the XM4s are sufficinetly better to justify another £100 but as I dont have a pair I cant say with any confidence that they arent worth the extra - but I am happy with the M3's
     
    Farnham_Red, Nov 15, 2020
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  7. Marc

    Marc Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    I've got the XM3s. They're outstanding. I tested the Bose 35s and IMO the XMs blow them away. Both sonically and technically from a NC point of view. I looked at the XM4s when they came out, but couldn't justify it. If I was buying for first time, I might consider it. The NC chip is the same as the XM3s as I understand. They have some extra smarts, including high-res compression and probably most notably the ability to pair to 2 devices.

    If you've got the budget, there's enough of an improvement in the 4s...but £240 for the 3s is still a lot of money for headphones. The 3s are still stunning and the 4s are the only thing out there that beats them. You won't be disappointed.

    Here's the comparison from what hifi

    https://www.whathifi.com/advice/sony-wh-1000xm3-vs-sony-wh-1000xm4-headphones-which-is-better
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2020
    Marc, Nov 15, 2020
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  8. Thrappo Tyke

    Thrappo Tyke Well-Known Member

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    Appreciate that, and your post @Farnham_Red

    I had been looking on whathifi and reading up on the comparisons

    In an ideal world I would go for the XM4s, just not sure I can justify the price, awful lot of money for something I'll tend to use at home more than on the go
     
    Thrappo Tyke, Nov 15, 2020
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  9. Marc

    Marc Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    I got mine because I was commuting a lot to London, and the noise on the train was starting to drive me insane. Obviously that's not a thing anymore, but I wouldn't be without them now. I use them quite a lot when I'm out walking and want to shut out the outside noise, or even in the house if I just need to shut everything out. If you've never had NC cans before, it's a bit weird to begin with. Literally like someone has just turned all the sound off! Also makes you realise just how terrible the earbuds are that you get with smartphones.
     
    Marc, Nov 15, 2020
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  10. Thrappo Tyke

    Thrappo Tyke Well-Known Member

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    I think that last point is what I'll really notice. I have a great record player set up with a great pair of speakers, but in the evening and at night I only use headphones which really do not do the music any justice whatsoever
     
    Thrappo Tyke, Nov 15, 2020
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  11. thetykester

    thetykester Well-Known Member

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    Got some AKG y500s with my Samsung phone, fantastic sound quality. Around £100.
     
    thetykester, Nov 15, 2020
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  12. Marc

    Marc Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    If you have a jack on your amp, you just need a 3.5mm aux lead and 6.35mm plug. I have a Rega amp and the headphones sound incredible.
     
    Marc, Nov 15, 2020
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  13. Marc

    Marc Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    That's a great shout actually. Currently £90 on Amazon. The Sony's are another level, but so is the price.
     
    Marc, Nov 15, 2020
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  14. Dod

    Dodgy Back Tyke Well-Known Member

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    I got a pair of Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 (Wireless, Over-ear) from Amazon fairly recently. Best pair of cans I've had. Paid about £180 for them which was a great price (were on at around £300 until recently).Would definitely recommend these if you can find a pair at that price.

    The 3's are currently around £330 - well out of my price range.
     
    Dodgy Back Tyke, Nov 16, 2020
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  15. ark

    ark104 (v2) Well-Known Member

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    After a load of research last year, and not wanting to go big on budget on the pretty safe assumption I'd lose them at some point, I went for the Samsung Galaxy buds. First issue is that they don't really fit very well, but I can hardly blame the shape of my ears on them.

    My main problem though is I don't think the sound quality is anywhere near as good as my previous senheisser wired headphones. Added to which on a recent long train journey they decided not to pair with my phone.

    The problem is most phones don't have headphone jacks now, and the charging point converters don't transfer the quality of sound as well and don't last two minutes before they break.

    At the moment with Corona forced homeworking it's not a massive issue but I'm definitely going to have to reassess in the future.
     
    ark104 (v2), Nov 16, 2020
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  16. John Peachy

    John Peachy Well-Known Member

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    John Peachy, Nov 16, 2020
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  17. Thrappo Tyke

    Thrappo Tyke Well-Known Member

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    Got both already, though
    Was recommended these by someone I spoke to in Richer sounds, do look pretty good
     
    Thrappo Tyke, Nov 16, 2020
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  18. Brush

    Brush Well-Known Member

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    Bane of my life them damn things when used on shared cycle/foot paths. No amount of bell ringing gets through and the wearers seem to wander about the path randomly, yet it's my fault cos I'm riding a bike....
     
    Brush, Nov 16, 2020
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  19. Wat

    Watcher_Of_The_Skies Well-Known Member

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    I had a pair of AKG's bought as a gift (£50) which I'd had for years until they broke quite recently.

    So I needed a new pair, but didn't want to spend over £100, which I consider a lot of money for headphones as although I appreciate good sound quality I'm unconvinced anything at £350 is *that much* better for the price difference.

    I ended up getting a pair of Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT's which were £120 on Amazon. I found a pair on eBay for £90.

    Sound quality is very good, noise cancelling is good and they come with a cable should your battery run out. Only issue was I needed to spend £20 on a hard case (which is excellent) as the one they supply was a crap soft one.
     
    Watcher_Of_The_Skies, Nov 17, 2020
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  20. Wilmersdorfer Winky

    Wilmersdorfer Winky Well-Known Member

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    Wilmersdorfer Winky, Nov 17, 2020
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