NEWS: Sony announces WH-1000XM4 noise cancelling headphones

Wowzers, they've dropped Bluetooth aptX and aptX HD. That's a complete deal breaker for me upgrading my Sony headphones.

Probably not much or no issue for those listening direct from their phones. But for those using separate Bluetooth transmitters on their hi-fi or TV then you'll be down to SBC bandwidth and quality (and all that entails in that codec's multi-profiles guessing games) because you won't find LDAC on standalone transmitters or non-Sony TVs. Then you'll have SBC audio lag (lip sync) issues to deal with, too.

Sony probably don't care about that area of the market anymore and it will save them a royalty fee.
 
Last edited:
Then you'll have the audio lag (lip sync) issues to deal with, too

That isn't universally true.
I have no lip-sync issues whatsoever using my XM3’s and Bluetooth from my Panasonic TX-49FX750B TV.
 
That isn't universally true.
I have no lip-sync issues whatsoever using my XM3’s and Bluetooth from my Panasonic TX-49FX750B TV.

Lucky you. Will the next person along be OK? It's your guess!
 
Wowzers, they've dropped Bluetooth aptX and aptX HD. That's a complete deal breaker for me upgrading my Sony headphones.

Probably not much or no issue for those listening direct from their phones. But for those using separate Bluetooth transmitters on their hi-fi or TV then you'll be down to SBC bandwidth and quality (and all that entails in that codec's multi-profiles guessing games) because you won't find LDAC on standalone transmitters or non-Sony TVs. Then you'll have SBC audio lag (lip sync) issues to deal with, too.

Sony probably don't care about that area of the market anymore and it will save them a royalty fee.
Most of android phones will have aptx and even aptx hd these days, so it is quite a bad move from Sony but suppose they're trying to push ldac.
 
Potential buyers put too much emphasis on aptx and it's variants IMHO especially if they’re getting on in years.
Most of them wouldn’t be able to tell the difference with aptx on or off doing blind testing as your hearing of high frequencies drop off as you age.
 
Potential buyers put too much emphasis on aptx and it's variants IMHO especially if they’re getting on in years.
Most of them wouldn’t be able to tell the difference with aptx on or off doing blind testing as your hearing of high frequencies drop off as you age.

Sorry to have to say this, but you clearly don't have the faintest idea of how SBC works technically, and more importantly, how the sound you get over SBC is totally at the mercy of the codec's many options for the bandwidth, latency, and bitpool settings that any manufacturer has complete free reign over, whereas the user has zero control over. And that's long before we get to same SBC option settings employed in the Bluetooth stacks of various OS.

Properly implemented SBC can sound good - even with its ancient pyschoacoustic masking algorithms. But poorly implement SBC - particularly prevalent in OS Bluetooth stacks - is a complete lottery and can sound dreadful.

Like I say, what will you get from the transmitter - it's anyone's guess with SBC.
 
Last edited:
Anyhow, I'm going to duck out now with my point having been made about certain usage scenarios with separate Bluetooth transmitters and TVs.

The new headphones look all-round great otherwise.
 
Sorry to have to say this, but you clearly don't have the faintest idea of how SBC works technically

No need to be sorry.
You have no idea of my level of technical knowledge on the subject.
What I stated re post #8 holds true.
 
Potential buyers put too much emphasis on aptx and it's variants IMHO especially if they’re getting on in years.
Most of them wouldn’t be able to tell the difference with aptx on or off doing blind testing as your hearing of high frequencies drop off as you age.
You could apply this to a lot of items people chat about on this site. How often do you see the term “I’m not buying this because it doesn’t have x” or “I’m waiting until x has x“
See it a lot in the tv and soundbar threads
 
LDAC is baked into Android so LDAC and AAC covers Android and iOS users
 
For me the lack of aptX and aptX HD is a day-one deal breaker especially at the RRP of £349. I’ll wait for the dust to settle, read user reviews as they appear and possibly bite at £299.
 
Ordered from Richer Sounds with the £20 off code and they arrive tomorrow so will share impressions. Have a pair of PX7s and AirPods Pro to compare with. Will sell the PX7s if these are as a good as reviews say.
 
Code doesn’t work anymore. Be interest in verdict as swaying between these and xm3’s
 
I have Sennhaiser HD series and i m thinking about upgrading to this model,i use headphones 90% of time for gaming with pc,ps pro and xbox x.
Will this model be good for Sony upcoming 3d sound on PS5?....
 
I heard from another xm3 owner saying these wireless sonys don't really take onboard sonys inhouse music signature and wireless while improving still not going to get as clear or detailed as a good pair of mid range corded headphones.

Any opinions on this from Xm3 owners or Xm4 owners ?
 
I bought XM3's at xmas, previously had bose QC35II, they still work but on wired connection the headphone connector is a bit dodgy

On the XM3, I suffered this fault within a few months, my head size is quite large, i never bashed these headphones, just pulled them gently and at their extent they pop out really easily as per this link
WH-1000XM3 headband strap broken under normal use

I managed to click everything into place, but it doesn't stay there, it snags on your hair and so on, then the other side did same, so with some black electrical tape they are working for now.

But as this XM4 design is the same I won't be going near them, and if you google it plenty of others have had same problem and Sony deny it's a design fault (which I'm quite confident it is)
 
I heard from another xm3 owner saying these wireless sonys don't really take onboard sonys inhouse music signature and wireless while improving still not going to get as clear or detailed as a good pair of mid range corded headphones.

Any opinions on this from Xm3 owners or Xm4 owners ?

Good quality wired headphones are always going to sound better than Bluetooth wireless.
The Sony WH-1000XM's are aimed at a different market.
 
I bought XM3's at xmas, previously had bose QC35II, they still work but on wired connection the headphone connector is a bit dodgy

On the XM3, I suffered this fault within a few months, my head size is quite large, i never bashed these headphones, just pulled them gently

Hmm, QC35II's with a “dodgy” headphone socket, now the XM3’s with a broken headband.
I see a pattern here.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom