Best headphones
Whether you’re looking for an over-the-ear, on-ear, or in-ear model, we’ll help you find the perfect pair. Theo Nicolakis reports
The best headphones are the ultimate tool for intimate listening experiences. Whether you’re listening on your phone, a digital audio player, a disc player, or even a PC or gaming console, when you’re ready to shut out the world and be one with your music, there is nothing better than a great set of cans.
And you probably have multiples of them, since most every smart device and digital audio player comes with a pair; but it’s a safe bet that you’re really not satisfied with any of them. Comfortable high-quality headphones can transform your audio experiences ranging from listening to music and podcasts to watching TV programmes and films.
Whether you prefer the isolation of in-ear headphones, the comfort of an over-the-ear model, the convenience
of wireless, or you’re not sure which type is best for you, we’ll help you find the right ones at the right budget. But before we get started, we take a look at the different types of headphone.
OVER-THE-EAR HEADPHONES
Over-the-ear (aka circumaural) headphones are the audiophile gold standard for high-fidelity, critical listening. And for good reason: this type of headphone fully covers your ear, creating a stable arena of sound.
They come in two designs: closed and open back. Closed-back models help seal out ambient noise and prevent sound from leaking into the environment (and nearby microphones, if you’re in a recording studio). As a general rule, because of their design, closed-back headphones tend to have better, more visceral bass response than open-back designs. Some closedback headphones from Bose, Sony, JBL and others also feature active noise cancellation (ANC) technologies to greatly reduce ambient noise during air travel or noisy commutes (not if you’re the driver, obviously).
Open-back designs typically have a perforated screen that allows air to pass between the ear cups and the outside world. With an open-back design, you can hear your surroundings and anyone near you can easily hear the music you’re playing. The best place for open-back headphones is in a quite place at home, as opposed to a noisy environment or in library where you’ll disturb others.
Choose an open-back design for a deeper soundstage and a sense of space with musical recordings. These types of headphones liberate your music in a fashion
that’s similar way to listening to free-standing loudspeakers.
The biggest drawback of overthe-ear headphones is their size and bulk. Models that can fold up are still bulkier than on-ear models. Some models don’t fold at all.
We should also note that over-the-ear headphones tend to feature three different technologies: dynamic driver, planar magnetic and electrostatic. We explain these technologies later on.
ON-EAR HEADPHONES
The smaller cups that on-ear (aka supra-aural) headphones use are designed to sit on top of your outer ears. This enables them to approach the sound quality of over-the-ear headphones, but in a more compact form factor. Many models, including the AKG N60NC wireless shown below, fold up for travel.
You’ll do well to test how on-ear models fit. Some models are too tight and others far too loose. While tightfitting models can help reduce external noise, they can become fatiguing and painful to wear for extended periods.
IN-EAR HEADPHONES
In-ear headphones (aka in-ear monitors or IEMs), fit into your ear canal and create a seal with either a silicone or memory-foam tip. Because they’re delivering audio almost directly to your ear drums, IEMs tend to deliver a smaller sound stage than either in-ear or on-ear headphones.
Their compact size make IEMs perfect for travel and exercising, and models that include microphones (either wireless or in the cord of wired models) can be used with your smartphone. Some active-lifestyle models even feature
IPX ratings certifying their water (and sweat) resistance.
Getting a good fit and tight seal with IEMs critical to achieving the best audio performance. An in-ear headphone’s bass response is dependent on the quality of the seal. If the seal is too loose, bass will sound anaemic.
Because of their superior ability to seal, memory-foam tips that expand to the unique shape of your ear canal will not only fit better, they’ll also block ambient noise – in some cases, by 25dB or more – and they’ll increase an inear monitors’ perceived bass response (delivering too much of a good thing in some cases).
Memory-foam tips create a superior seal. Some third-party companies, including Comply, sell high-quality memory-foam tips for various brands of in-ear monitors.
Higher-quality over-the-ear and on-ear headphones come with detachable
cables, so you can replace them if they’re ever damaged or simply wear out. That’s not always the case with inear headphones; however, some recent IEMs now come with detachable cables that conform to the MMCX (Micro Miniature Coax Connector) standard, so you can use any compatible MMCX cable with them. Replacing a cable is a much better alternative to throwing away an otherwise perfectly serviceable set of headphones.
EARBUD HEADPHONES
Earbuds are similar to in-ear headphones, but they are designed differently. Earbuds sit in the outer part of your ear (the concha, specifically) as opposed to fitting inside your ear canal.
Earbuds don’t block ambient noise, and you might find you need to increase the volume on your source device to overcome the noise floor of your surroundings. This could result in the people around your hearing whatever you’re listening to.
A major benefit of earbuds is that one size fits all. You don’t need to find the just the right silicone or memory-foam tip to fit the unique shape of your ear. The most common complaint about earbuds is that they fall out of your ears too easily, especially while you’re running or exercising.
WIRELESS HEADPHONES
Wireless headphones are super convenient, and the best will deliver audio performances rivalling wired phones. They’re particularly useful when you’re exercising. If this is the type of headphone you’re shopping for, these are the most important features you’ll want to consider:
Battery life
Wireless headphones use Bluetooth to connect to a source device (smartphone,
digital audio player, laptop, or even a soundbar). They typically rely on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that can last anywhere from four to more than 20 hours. If the battery runs dry on in-ear and earbud headphones, you won’t be able to use them they’ve been recharged. Most on-ear and over-the-ear models come with a 3.5mm audio cable, so you can plug them into your source device and use them in wired mode.
Wireless audio support
The audio quality relies significantly on the audio codecs it supports. Codec stands for compression/decompression: digital audio is compressed at the source, so the information can be transmitted to the headphone without wires, and decompressed at the destination, so you can hear it. Some codecs deliver higher fidelity than others, but the codec must be supported at both ends: by the source device and by the headphones. These codecs are among the most common in wireless headphones.
SBC: All Bluetooth devices support the SBC codec, which offers maximum bandwidth of 328Kb/s. While functional, the SBC codec doesn’t support high-resolution audio, and it tends to exhibit high latency. This could result in soundtracks falling out of sync with video.
aptX: A high-quality, low-latency audio codec from Qualcomm that promises to deliver near CD-quality audio over Bluetooth. Qualcomm has more recently developed a newer version of this codec, called aptX HD, that enables audio encoded in up to 24-bit resolution with sampling rates as high as 48kHz to stream over a Bluetooth connection.
AAC: If you use Apple products and services, such as Apple Music, you’ll need support for this codec. You’ll also encounter it in some gaming consoles, high-resolution digital audio players, and in automotive entertainment systems. AAC delivers higher-fidelity audio than the more common MP3 codec at the same bit rate.
LDAC: Developed by Sony, LDAC offers bandwidth of as much as 990Kb/s to wirelessly deliver audio encoded in up to 24-bit resolution with sampling rates as high as 96kHz.
Wireless remote control
Many wireless headphones provide wireless controls. In-ear headphones
typically come with some type of inline remote control, like their wired counterparts, while on-ear and overthe-ear headphones usually have remote functions on the ear cup.
Make sure the control navigation fits your style: some manufacturers outfit their headphones with physical buttons on the right or left ear cup, in locations that feel natural to your fingertips. Some go further and provide tactile cues, so you can be confident you’re pressing the right button.
Other manufactures provide what’s called a gesture pad, a touch-sensitive surface on one ear cup that responds to taps and directional swipes. Swiping your finger from the back to the front might move to the next track in your playlist, for example, while swiping up or down adjusts the volume. As you might expect, some gesture pads work better than others.
HEADPHONE TECHNOLOGIES
You will encounter lots of other jargon – and no shortage of marketing hype – when you shop for headphones. Here are explanations of some of the most common terms:
Dynamic driver: Most headphones on the market today use dynamic drivers, which are similar to the round cones or tweeters you see in loudspeakers.
Balanced armature: You’ll find balanced armature designs in in-ear monitors. First developed for hearing aids, a balanced-armature architecture relies on an electrical signal to vibrate a small reed or paddle thousands of times per second.
The reed is ‘balanced’ between two magnets, hence the name ‘balanced armature’. Some headphones have multiple armatures, each functioning
within a certain frequency range for better performance. Balanced armature drivers don’t reproduce bass frequencies well. You’ll typically see balanced armature designs using a dynamic driver for the bass frequencies.
Planar magnetic drivers: A planar magnetic design uses an extremely thin and light diaphragm to reproduce sound. A magnetic system drives the entire surface of the diaphragm evenly in a pull-push manner.
Planar magnetic designs are typically found in over-the-ear headphones and have the reputation for being able to resolve fine musical details and creating a sense of space and depth in the music. The drawback to some planar magnetic models is that they present high impedance to the source device and are thus too difficult for some mobile devices to drive. Check the capabilities of your source device before you buy this type of headphone. You can also use them with a headphone amplifier.
Electrostatic drivers: Electrostatic drivers consist of a thin electrically charged diaphragm. The diaphragm is normally suspended between two perforated plates, and an electrical signal is then passed through the plates to move the diaphragm in a push-pull manner towards one of them. Like planar magnetic designs, some electrostatic headphones present high impedance levels to the source and are therefore hard to drive. Here again, check the capabilities
of your source device before you buy this type of headphone or use a headphone amplifier.
NOISE-CANCELLING TECHNOLOGIES
If you travel or find yourself in noisy environments frequently, you might be interested in a headphone that offers noise cancellation. Here are explanations of the three primary means by which this is accomplished:
Passive noise cancellation: This isn’t a technology per se; rather, It refers to how much ambient noise a headphone will block out. In-ear headphones with memory-foam tips and closed-back over-the-ear headphones offer the best passive noise cancellation. They’re also the least likely to colour the music you’re listening to.
Active noise cancellation: A sound wave is similar to the ripples in a pond. Toss a pebble in the pond and then introduce inverse ripples and you’ll effectively smooth out the pond’s surface. Active noise cancellation (ANC) works in a similar manner. Microphones mounted on the headphones analyse ambient sound waves and then produce inverse sound waves that will cancel them out.
As you might expect, the ANC technologies from some are incredibly effective; others, less so. We’ve tested models from AKG, Bose, JBL, Libratone
and Sony and found them to be very good. Some individuals find that ANCenabled headphones exert pressure on their ears, creating a similar sensation to being under water. If you find ANC headphones to be uncomfortable, you’ll prefer a model with good passive noise cancellation.
Adaptive noise cancellation: You might think of this as a smarter form of active noise cancellation. It operates on the same principles, but adapts to your surroundings to apply more or less of the effect and to even bring in sounds from the outside world.
Some adaptive noise-cancelling solutions even take into account how fast you’re moving, the air pressure around you, and whether you’re likely in a plane, taking a walk, or holding a conversation. Many operate in conjunction with a mobile app on your smartphone.
BEST OVER-THE-EAR HEADPHONES Beyerdynamic Amiron Home
Price: £449 from fave.co/3jSlThy
It seems Beyerdynamic didn’t get the memo that analogue jacks are out and wireless streaming and Lightning ports are in. The company’s £449 Amiron Home headphones tether you to your choice of musical source and practically insist that you stay put and take your music seriously.
And thank goodness for that. Instead of producing a mediocre pair of headphones following the latest trend, Beyerdynamic has delivered an astoundingly great-sounding headphone that’s sure to please anyone who cares about playing their
music with the energy and dynamics of the original performance.
Steeped in tradition
In 1924 in Germany, Beyerdynamic’s founder Eugene Beyer started making loudspeakers for movie palaces (aka cinemas) during the transition from silent to talking films. In 1937, the company began production of the first dynamic headphones, the DT 48 (which remained in production until 2012) and hasn’t looked back since. The Amiron Home follows in that tradition and is the successor to the company’s model T90.
The Amiron Home are an open-back, circumaural design with an impedance of 250 ohms, making them easy to drive with today’s mobile devices.
The claimed frequency response for these dynamic driver headphones is an astounding 5Hz to 40kHz. Those aren’t just some numbers on a spec sheet, these headphones delivered some of the best and authoritatively clean bass I’ve heard out of a headphone priced less than £1,000.
Don’t look for Bluetooth. These are strictly wired headphones. And what a wire it is. The included 3m, rubber-coated cable is perfect for plugging into a home headphone amp or computer and reclining in your favourite chair. But its thickness and length render it awkward to walk with or to bring with you on the road. I had to curl it around my neck like a shawl if I wanted to walk around the house with the headphones. You can order a shorter, 1.4m cable directly from Beyerdynamic, but that will set you back around £88.
The Amiron Home are headphone amp friendly too. The included cable has a threaded collar that will accommodate the included
1/4-inch adapter, which has a threaded female receptacle so that you get a good, tight fit.
The headband and ear cups are plush even though there’s no leather. They are made of soft Alcantara microfibre and microvelour. I cringed a bit when I saw this. Many velour-style ear pads make my ears hot and sweaty.
Beyerdynamic says that the ear pad materials have temperature-balancing and moisture-regulating effects. Whatever tech Beyerdynamic used worked surprisingly well throughout my review period. Even after hours of listening, my ears weren’t sweating a bit; and since the cans weigh in at just 340g and apply minimal compression, I hardly noticed I was wearing headphones at all.
The Amiron Home are unapologetically audiophile headphones. The ear cups are so large that dance along the borders of your cheeks. That cavernous expanse pays off in spades with a deep and
spacious soundstage that more closely resembles the sensation of freestanding speakers.
Just be aware that those big ear cups don’t fold, so the carrying case is huge. If you want to take these cans outside your house, assume you’ll be slipping them into a backpack.
The Tesla tech driving the Amiron Home’s sound
Beyerdyanmic’s Tesla technology lies at the heart of the Amiron Home. Named after the famous engineer and physicist, Nikola Tesla, Beyerdynamic says the eponymous tech brings a powerful magnetic drive, clean reproduction, and low total harmonic distortion that enhance the performance of the headphones.
Previously, neodymium magnets lay at the heart of the company’s dynamic headphone system. Now the magnet is mounted as a ring that encircles the coil. Beyerdynamic says this allows the headphone to provide more energy to the membrane. The sonic benefit? Rich detail and greater dynamics. I don’t quite know how Beyerdynamic has done it, but after many weeks of listening I couldn’t agree more.
A revelatory listening experience
I used the Amiron Home headphones for more than a month with a variety of source devices, including Astell&Kern’s AK70 and Pioneer’s XDP100R hi-res music players; an iPhone 7 and a MacBook Pro; and an Anthem AVM 60 using the pre-processor’s headphone amplifier. I played mostly highres FLAC, ALAC, and DSD files as well as some lossy AAC files downloaded from the Music app or from Apple Music.
Make no mistake, these are incredibly musical headphones in just about every sense of the word. I was smitten from the first notes that emanated through the Amiron Home, and I think you will be too.
The Amiron Home have a few distinct sonic characteristics.
First, these have a bit of a relaxed presentation, while other headphones tend to be more intimate and forward. If you don’t like a relaxed presentation, then the Amiron Home’s sonic signature might not appeal to you.
Second, the soundstage explodes deep and wide as soon as you put them on. The 24-bit/96kHz FLAC version the Chesky recording of Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker is a good example. The harp is beautifully recessed with the varied horns and strings layered into the soundstage. The 24-bit/176.4kHz version of Spanish Harlem, by Rebecca Pidgeon, was magnificently layered with Rebecca’s vocals forward and the piano and other accompanying instruments situated farther in the background.
Third, the ability for the Beyerdynamic to bring out details and resolve complex musical layers was a marvel. You don’t typically get this kind of detail in a dynamic headphone at this price-point. While listening to Adele’s Rolling in the Deep I could clearly and distinctly make out every backup vocalist and hear exactly what they were saying – down to the last syllable – every time. All the while, Adele’s vocals were placed at front with pitch-perfect clarity. Slow it down to the 24-bit FLAC version of the Beatles Abbey Road and you’ll be amazed by the Beyerdynamic’s ability to bring the legendary album to life. The Amiron Home played Here Comes the Sun with timbral accuracy, airy highs, and an open mid range.
Fourth, the bass is beautiful and its extension and control are just downright uncanny from an open-back
design. At times – if not every time – it was like the bass was coming from a high-end sub. You’ll hear and feel newfound sounds you never knew existed in tracks you’ve listened to dozens of times. The heartbeat on the opening of Pink Floyd’s Speak to Me from Dark Side of the Moon pulsated with clarity and dynamism with the attack of each beat starting and stopping on a dime. The deep, synthesizer bass lines on Sarah McLachlan’s Perfect Girl from Afterglow Live, Bonnie McKee’s Trouble, and Lorde’s Royals were remarkable test tracks.
The Amiron Home’s one-two-punch of deep bass and lightning-fast transient response made percussion instruments pop and snap with the kind of realism you get from live music instead of those polite thuds that are all too common. In fact, the Amiron Home rendered Sade’s Soldier of Love with the best musical energy and clarity I’ve ever heard from a pair of headphones.
Beyerdynamic wanted a headphone that can bring audiophile sound to today’s mobile devices, and they succeeded. The Amiron Home sounded superb with every source I used – including the iPhone 7 and MacBook Pro. But, if you really want to see these headphones shine to their full potential, plug them into a dedicated headphone amp and then sit back, relax, and enjoy the music. There was an odd anomaly when I paired the Amiron Home with the Anthem AVM 60, however; bass energy became too intense to the point where it produced resonances within the ear cup. I never experienced this with any other device – only the Anthem.
Verdict
Beyerdynamic’s Amiron Home dynamic headphones don’t have Bluetooth, active noise cancellation, a gesture pad or even an inline microphone. And you know what? I couldn’t care less. What the Amiron Home lacks in high tech it makes up with stunningly beautiful and dynamic music reproduction from the deepest bass notes to airy highs without ever becoming fatiguing. If you care about getting lost in the music again and again, night after night, you need to check out these cans. Highly recommended. Theo Nicolakis
BEST NOISE-CANCELLING HEADPHONES Sony WH-1000XM4
Price: £349 from fave.co/34P4TV7
Two years ago, when I reviewed Sony’s WH-1000XM3 active noisecancelling headphones, I said that Sony had finally eclipsed Bose in this category. And I wasn’t the only one to say it. Now, the company is back with the all-new WH-1000XM4. While these new cans don’t advance the ball by a lot, they nonetheless are my new top recommendation for music lovers looking for great-sounding headphones that also deliver terrific noise cancellation.
Key improvements include a proximity sensor that automatically toggles play/pause when you put the headphones on and take them off, support for Sony’s LDAC high-res audio codec (a common feature on high-end digital audio players), and multipoint connection via Bluetooth 5.0 (so you can connect to two sources at once). Sony made other very small improvements to the hardware and software, too; but for the most part, those are just tweaks to a winning foundation.
Let’s dive into the specifics that make Sony’s WH-1000XM4 so great, and why the older WH-1000XM3 – which are still available and can be found for about £90 less if you shop around – remain a great value.
The Same great hardware, refined
The Sony WH-1000XM4 maintains the signature look this line is known for, with subtle gold accents and minimal buttons. Most of the controls are still handled by taps and swipes on the right ear cup. I’ve grown accustomed to this but it’s never been my favourite means of navigation. The easy-to-find Power button sits on the bottom of the left ear cup, along with a Custom button that can be programmed to either select Ambient Sound Control options or activate voice assistants. It’s a minimal and classy design that still holds up years later, but the touch controls still present a learning curve.
The slim headband introduced in the previous model is very comfortable along the top of the head. Sony claims the newer model features slightly upgraded ear pads, which should help during long listening sessions, but I could barely tell a difference. The new set is more comfortable compared to the old model, but that could also be attributed to the wear I’ve placed on the older pair. I’ve worn the WH-1000XM3 on plenty of long flights and encountered some pressure fatigue after many hours, so any upgrade in that area is welcome. Overall, it’s a comfortable design that sits snug on my head and melts away while I’m working. The swivelling cups and folding design are also retained, so the new model is easy to stuff in a backpack. I’m happy they didn’t mess with a winning formula.
For more protection in transit, the included carrying
case got a slight upgrade, too, with improved stitching and a stiffer shell that should last even longer. Other tiny upgrades to the case include cloth pockets for the zipper to recede into, and extra flap length on the divider. Apart from the stiffer case, none of these changes make a huge difference, but I appreciate the attention to detail Sony paid to things as minor as the carrying case. As before, provided accessories include a 3.5mm cable, a very short USB-C charging cable, and an airline adapter.
Sony claims the same 30 hours of battery life with noise cancelling enabled, and with my heavy mixed usage over the course of my review, I found the battery to last almost as long as the previous pair. Here again, Sony promises its optional power adapter will deliver the same quick-charge feature that provides five hours of listening time after just 10 minutes of charging, but Sony didn’t send that component, so I wasn’t able to test that claim. The stock USB-C cable charged the cans within a couple hours.
My favourite new feature on the WH1000XM4 is a proximity
sensor that detects when you take the cans off, so as to automatically pause playback. The music resumes instantly when you put them back over your ears. This worked like a charm. I tried to trick the sensor by placing the headphones on my thigh, tightly around my neck, and even wore them like a crown and I never triggered a false positive. When I returned the headphones to my ears, the music quickly resumed with no problem. This feature alone would make me consider upgrading from the previous version, and not just because it should extend battery life.
Top-notch noise cancellation
As I’ve already mentioned, Sony holds the active noise-cancellation crown with its WH-1000XM3. The WH-1000XM4 feature the same HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN1 as the previous generation, but with a new algorithm. This chip processes ambient noise samples captured by a pair of sensors on each ear cup at a rate of 700 times each second. Be that as it may, my ears could barely discern any difference between the noise-cancellation performance of the WH-1000XM4 compared to its predecessor.
Any noisecancellation strategy starts passively, with large ear cups that form a tight but comfortable seal around your ears to blunt the sharp edges of loud sounds and quiet
the high-pitch hum of appliances. This is an underappreciated aspect of the experience, and it’s where cheaper headphones typically falter.
Active noise cancellation filters out low and mid-range frequency noise to a great degree, but filtering low-frequency noise is where active noise-cancelling headphones really shine – even if it can be disorienting for people experiencing it for the first time. Transient (high-amplitude, short-duration) sounds can still penetrate this system, and these headphones do their best to clamp down on the signal, but it can be jarring if the transient is very loud.
I am at least as pleased with the WH-1000XM4’s active noise cancellation as I was with the previous generation. My daily life has been very different than what it was at the beginning of the year. I work out of my home instead of going to the office, and I travel infrequently, but I still appreciate how these headphones allow me to focus when I need to get work done.
My testing included things like spinning up the fans on my gaming PC, hanging outside in a park, and using a fantastic white noise machine to name a few. The previous model served me well during many hours of air travel and on public transit, and I have no reason to believe that the new model won’t deliver the same results.
I appreciate the Ambient Sound Control feature in Sony’s companion app that lets you tailor noise cancellation to your situation. These headphones sense where you’re wearing them and what you’re doing, and they tailor their noise cancellation accordingly. If you’re at home and relatively stationary, you’ll get full cancellation so you can concentrate on your music. If you’re walking, the
headphones will pipe in some ambient sound to improve your situational awareness (so you don’t get run over by a bus, for example). It’s a great system and the app lets you fine-tune these settings to your heart’s content; nonetheless, I quickly discovered that I preferred manually triggering my ANC settings using the Custom button.
Sony also provides ways to quickly override noise cancellation, pause or lower the volume of your music, and pipe in ambient sound if you need to stop and speak to someone without removing the headphones. This is also useful when you’re at an airport and need to listen for a boarding call. This Quick Attention mode was present in the previous model and is activated when you place your hand over the right ear cup. I didn’t use this feature much, preferring instead to take the headphones off. Unfortunately, Quick Attention mode cannot be defeated, and there were a few times when I accidentally triggered it while adjusting the fit.
A new automatic override feature – Speak-to-Chat – can be enabled/ disabled in the app. When enabled, it recognizes when you begin to speak and pauses the music while pumping in ambient sound, so you can hold a conversation without any other intervention. In theory, it provides a better way to chat with someone than holding your hand over the earcup, but I found that it was prone to being triggered by a cough or someone else speaking while close to me. It will stay in this mode for 30 seconds by default, but you can tweak its sensitivity and duration in the app. I just never found myself in a situation where I preferred Speak-to-Chat to just taking the damn headphones off.
Audio quality and AI upscaling
Sony touts three other features that it says enable the WH-1000XM4 to deliver a high-end audio performance: the aforementioned new algorithm running on Sony’s QN1 processor, support for Bluetooth 5.0 and Sony’s own LDAC codec and Sony’s DSEE Extreme audio technology, which uses artificial intelligence – Sony’s Edge
AI – to restore in real time information that’s been lost when you’re listening to tracks that were compressed using lossy codecs such as MP3.
Like its older sibling, the WH-1000XM4 supports the SBC and AAC Bluetooth codecs in addition to LDAC, but there is no support for any of Qualcomm’s aptX codecs. I found LDAC to be superior to the other two, so I
used that primarily for this review. The device you use for playback will also need to support your codec of choice, of course, so I relied mostly on a OnePlus 8 Pro smartphone for the task, as it’s one of few that do. LDAC support is more commonly found on high-res digital audio players.
I streamed tracks mostly from YouTube Music, conducting multiple critical listening sessions in a variety of playback situations with a long list of songs that I’m very familiar with to compare the WH-1000XM4 to the WH-1000XM3 I reviewed in late 2018.
Both sets of noise cancelling headphones sound great for the price.
If you’re looking for studio-grade equipment with minimal signal colouration, you shouldn’t be looking at ANC headphones anyway. But that doesn’t mean listening to music with ANC is a diminished experience. From a sonic standpoint, I discovered very few differences between the two new and older cans; in other words, there’s not much of a reason to upgrade if you already own the XM3. That said, I do enjoy really pushing my listening abilities, so here are some examples of differences I found.
I’ve already mentioned Sony’s DSEE Extreme audio technology, which is an upgrade over the DSEE HX tech present in the older WH-1000XM3. Sony hypes this hard, so I was surprised to discover that for me, enabling it had the opposite of the promised effect: subtle details in the music – particularly at higher frequencies played at lower volume
– were lost. In Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven, the processing muted details in the fantastic acoustic guitar track – characteristics such as fingers sliding on the guitar neck, and the reverb that hangs overhead were diminished in the mix, lessening the beautiful depth of the soundscape.
In classic jazz tracks like So What, from Miles Davis, I noticed small details around the finger work on the upright bass were less present, and the high transients from the horns and drummer’s hi-hat brushes were slightly compressed. On the flip side, vocal tracks were far more present in the mix, not so much as to enable a depth separation from the instrumentation, but more like a mix of EQ boosting and stronger compression. Disabling DSEE Extreme brought back most of the fine details in instrumentation, as well some of the dynamic range, but it sat the vocals back down into the mix. Compared to DSEE HX on the XM3, DSEE Extreme on the XM4 felt like the signal was being normalized for more even instrumentation, while simultaneously emphasizing the vocal tracks.
This heavy-handed processing was revealed even more with heavily compressed tracks from albums like Metallica’s infamous Death Magnetic.
In these scenarios, the vocals again took centre stage, while the mid- to low-end was pulled back along with clean high signals. The full mix was more compressed and normalized than with DSEE Extreme disabled, and it didn’t do any favours to aggressive music like metal.
Sony’s documentation states that DSEE Extreme “upscales compressed digital music files” and “dynamically recognizes instrumentation, musical genres” with the goal of trying to “resort the high-range sound lost in compression”. So, my next thought was to listen to tracks that were poorly recorded and mixed to see if that’s where the processing truly shines. I loaded up some older punk recordings, such as In My Eyes, by Minor Threat, and set YouTube Music to its lowest bandwidth consumption/lowest audio quality setting.
I immediately detected most of the same compression tendencies. While I did notice a bit of smoothing of the lower bit depth with DSEE Extreme enabled in these instances, which provided a cleaner mix with less noise, it wasn’t enough for me to overlook the rest of the processing taking place.
After all my critical listening tests, my assumption is that DSEE Extreme acts as a more subtle and
accurate normalize function than what’s present in many music players, allowing listening to be more seamless between tracks and with an even experience between genres. I should emphasize that the effect is slight and might not even be noticeable to the average user – indeed, it didn’t greatly diminish my normal listening experiences – but I wanted to put my finger on just what this processing was trying to achieve and highlight it here. People like me who prefer to err on the side of accuracy are advised to leave DSEE Extreme turned off, but that’s just my opinion.
Without DSEE Extreme processing, I found the WH-1000XM4 exhibited a more accurate signal compared to the WH1000XM3. The older headphones are fully burned in now, and they continue to provide a great listening experience, but the colouration – particularly in the low-end thumps and sharp highs – is noticeable when listening to the pair back to back. The newer model sounds a bit more muted in the mids and is slightly lacking in dynamic range – which indicates they are more accurate – but this is exposed only in extreme A/B testing. Without that direct comparison, these headphones provide a fantastic listening experience in many different genres. Sony has set a high bar for other ANC headphone manufacturers to clear.
The rest of the experience
There are just a few more details to cover when it comes to my day-to-day experience with the WH-1000XM4. Sony’s companion app, Headphones Connect has been consistently
updated throughout the years, and it remains a rock-solid experience for me. There are plenty of settings to tweak to your liking, and changes made to things like noise cancellation take effect immediately. Firmware updates for the headphones are handled automatically with little disruption, and I haven’t encountered any bugs, performance glitches or unwanted battery drain on my mobile devices. I’ve been burned far too many times by great hardware saddled with a horrible app, so it’s refreshing that it’s not the case here.
The Sony WH-1000XM4 includes a much-requested feature: Bluetooth multipoint pairing, which allows you to pair the headphones with multiple devices at once. This is handy because it allows you to use a laptop or a digital audio player for music playback, and still get audible audio alerts and phone calls from your smartphone. Multipoint was easy to set up and easy to use, and I didn’t have any problems switching back and forth between devices. Sony’s implementation does, however, suffer from one very unfortunate drawback: Bluetooth multipoint pairing is only available if you’re using the AAC codec. So, you’ll need to decide which is more important: high-resolution audio for music listening via LDAC, or the convenience of Bluetooth multipoint. I opted for LDAC; iPhone users, meanwhile, don’t have a choice – they can only use AAC with the WH1000XM4.
The WH-1000XM4’s microphone is the last aspect I’d like to discuss. While it never happened to me, many WH-1000XM3 users reported encountering technical problems with that headphone’s mic. That said, neither of these cans is a headset, so don’t expect great phone-call experiences from them. They’re adequate for a short call to a friend or loved one, but don’t rely on either for an important business meeting. The WH-1000XM4’s mic quality specifically is faint and cannot capture the vocal clarity needed for serious use. I can live with that trade-off.
Verdict
If you have £350 to spend on active noise-cancelling headphones, the Sony WH-1000XM4 get my highest recommendation. They deliver top-shelf noise cancellation, they’re comfortable to wear, they’re packed with features, and – most importantly – they sound fantastic.
There’s not a lot here to warrant an upgrade recommendation if you already own the WH-1000XM3 – and
if your budget is tighter and you find a great deal on those cans – you should definitely pick them up while they’re still around. But if you want the absolute best of the best, look no further than the Sony WH-1000XM4. Adam Patrick Murray
BEST ON-EAR HEADPHONES Marshall Major IV
Price: £129 from fave.co/3kTwY3q
At first glance, I thought Zound Industries – the company that builds speakers and headphones under license from Marshall Amplification – had to be pulling my leg. The cups on the Marshall Major IV aren’t big enough to fit around a five-year old’s ears, let alone an adult’s. Then I put them on. I’ll be darned. There’s a method to this ‘on-ear’ versus traditional ‘over-ear’ madness.
In your cups
I’d love to have been in the meeting where the idea for the first ‘on-ear’ headphone was presented. Raised eyebrows aplenty I’m sure. I’m also sure doubts disappeared once the executives being pitched actually tried them. They can be pretty comfortable, and if the first batch sounded anything like the Marshall Major IV, those eyebrows raised once more for entirely different reasons.
So why does on-ear work? The fact is, headphones must make contact with your head at some point, and if they don’t put undue pressure on your outer ears, that can be as good a place as any. That said, it does take a bit of getting used to. At least it did for me – that the Marshall Major IV are on-ear headphones didn’t even register with one tester who commented only on the good sound. Additionally, there are tons of headphones out there,
and only the very best have ear cup cushions that keep your ears from uncomfortably contacting the rigid inner speaker grills. The manner in which the small cushions on the cups of the Marshall Major IV rest on your ears means you’ll never feel a hard, grating surface.
While the driver cavity centres nicely over your ear canals, the on-ear design does allow a bit more ambient noise into your ears than over-ear designs. Not a lot, but some. I like this, but you might not.
Inside the tiny cups are highquality 40mm drivers. How do I know they’re high quality? Because these headphones sound excellent. But you knew that because you saw the Editors’ Choice logo up top. The Marshall Major IV utilize Bluetooth 5.0, and there’s a USB-C port for charging the battery (wireless charging is also supported, although only a USB cable comes in the box). The headphone also has a 3.5mm jack for hardwired use and the accompanying cable is a very nice wound, stretch type – the best I’ve seen with a headset.
A tiny multi-function joystick is used to power-up and Bluetooth-pair these cans, adjust the volume, select the next/previous track and invoke your phone’s digital assistant. It also controls your calls.
There’s a small learning curve associated with the joystick, which is coloured Marshall gold, but it’s certainly easier than feeling around for multiple buttons once you’re accustomed to it.
Sonic goodness, long battery life
The Marshall Major IV sound great, and for my personal tastes, they’re nearly perfectly EQ’d. The first word that crossed my mind when I played the first track was ‘tight’. The Marshall Major IV aren’t bottom-laden in the subwoofer sense, but there’s
quite a bit of extremely focused bass, meaning the bass skews ever so slightly toward the lower mid-range. You might also interpret ‘tight’ as ‘punchy’, as in what I look for when I’m mixing the bass in my own music. I like it. Opinions, again, will vary.
Beyond that, the overall mid-range definition is excellent. I was easily able to pick out individual instruments, without their location in the sound stage being overly accented. The highend is bright without being overly so.
Bottom line, the Marshall Major IV are some of my favourite headphones, and I’ll be putting them into my mixing collection. Hardwired of course. Though not listed as top dog by the other listeners I consulted, their opinions were universally positive.
I’d love to say that the headphones ran for the claimed 80 hours, but they lasted me a good week with a couple hours of use each night, and my review had a deadline attached to it. I intend to continue using these cans for a good long while.
Verdict
I have a late 1960s Marshall 1960A 4x12 speaker sitting in my office, and a 50-watt CODE amplifier in my music room. To me, Marshall is studio and stage gear, not consumer electronics.
So, I’m glad the storied company has selected a quality manufacturer to licence its brand.
The Marshall Major IV might be a little pricier than they could be, but the nostalgia surcharge isn’t excessive for a headphone that sounds this good. Jon L. Jacobi
BEST IN-EAR HEADPHONES
1More Wired In-Ear Headphones
Price: Dual Driver, £45 from fave.co/2TMGTvw; Triple Driver, £79 from fave.co/2JwS5L7; Quad Driver, £126 from fave.co/32aLHj3
I’ve been a big fan of 1More inear headphones (IEH) ever since I reviewed the company’s Stylish True Wireless model. In addition, I wrote about the 1More Triple Driver wired IEH that is given to VIP attendees at Aerosmith’s Las Vegas residency in my coverage of that event.
1More offers other models of wired in-ear headphones, including the Dual Driver and Quad Driver, which led me to wonder if more drivers equal better performance. I asked 1More to send me a Dual Driver and a Quad Driver, so I could compare them with the Triple Driver I had from the Aerosmith concert. The sound quality of all three is quite good, but in a direct side-by-side comparison, the
Triple and Quad Driver models edge out the Dual Driver.
Features
The first thing you might wonder is, why bother with wired in-ear headphones? True Wireless models, such as the 1More Stylish, have no wires to get tangled, and they are quickly gaining popularity, especially since many modern mobile devices have ditched their headphone jack in favour of Bluetooth. Well, for one thing, it’s entirely too easy to lose a true wireless headphone unless you’re very careful. Then there’s the need to charge their batteries – I hate it when they pop out just as I’m getting on the treadmill. But most importantly, a wired connection is still superior to Bluetooth, which is important for audiophiles who want the best possible sound quality. But if true wireless headphones are what you’re looking for, Macworld offers excellent coverage of that space.
As you can undoubtedly surmise from the product names, each model has a corresponding number of drivers in each earpiece. The Dual Driver has a graphene dynamic driver for the low and mid frequencies, and one balanced armature for the high frequencies. The Triple Driver uses a beryllium-composite dynamic driver for the lows and mids, with two
balanced-armature drivers for the highs. And the Quad Driver includes a PET (polyethylene terephthalate, aka Mylar) diaphragm with a ‘diamond-like’ carbon coating for the lows and mids, with two balanced armatures for the highs, and a third balanced armature for ultra-high frequencies.
All three models were tuned by Grammy-winning sound engineer Luca Bignardi, and all have a frequency response from 20Hz to
40kHz, making them completely amenable to high-resolution audio. Most of the other specs are essentially identical as well: 32-ohm impedance, 98-99dB sensitivity, 5mW power handling, 1.25m cable length, and an L-shaped, goldplated 3.5mm plug. The Dual Driver weighs a total of 15g, while the Triple Driver tips the scale at 18g, and the Quad Driver weighs in at 18.5g.
The drivers and associated structures for all three models are housed in aluminium-alloy bodies with ergonomically angled eartips. The shape of the earpieces and the angle of the eartips help achieve a good seal to isolate you from ambient noise, which is critical for good sound quality. Another crucial element in this regard is selecting the best eartips for your ears. The Dual Driver comes with
four pairs of silicone tips of various sizes, while the Triple Driver and Quad Driver include nine pairs of tips (six silicone, three memory foam). The largest 14.5mm silicone tips that come with the Triple and Quad Driver work the best in my ears – in fact, I use them on almost all IEHs I listen to.
In addition, all three have an inline control pod on the right-earpiece wire that lets you control the volume, skip tracks, and take phone calls. The pod also includes a microphone to pick up your side of a phone conversation. I like the Quad Driver’s pod the best; it has raised physical buttons that are easy to find by feel. The Dual and Triple Driver pods have non-raised buttons separated by tiny ridges.
The wires are Kevlar-sheathed for increased durability, and the wires from the two earpieces join into a single wire braided with nylon for tangle resistance. The Dual and Triple Drivers use ‘enamelled copper’ conductors, while the Quad Driver uses oxygen-free copper, a conductor that is well-regarded in the audiophile community. Interestingly, the Triple Driver cable is the thickest of the three.
The Dual Driver comes with a soft-pouch carrying case with a springloaded mouth that’s difficult to open, while the Triple and Quad Drivers come with a hard-sided carrying case with a magnetic clasp.
Perhaps most importantly, 1More claims that the Triple Driver is the world’s first THX-certified headphone, which means it has passed a rigorous set of tests conducted by THX.
Performance
To compare the performance of the 1More Dual, Triple, and Quad Driver, I listened to several tracks on each model played from an Apple iPad with a headphone output. I also listened to each track on the RevoNext QT5 wired IEH, as well as the 1More Stylish True Wireless IEH to see how it compared with the wired models. I adjusted the iPad output level as close to the same setting as I could.
On a technical note, the RevoNext QT5 is a dual-driver model with a dynamic driver for the low and mid range and a balanced armature for the highs, just like the Dual Driver. The 1More Stylish uses a single titanium-composite dynamic driver to cover the entire frequency range.
As I mentioned earlier, 1More’s 14.5mm silicone eartips – the largest that come with the Triple and Quad Driver models – work very well for me, so that’s what I used on those IEHs. I tried the largest tips that come with the
Dual Driver, which worked fairly well for me, but the 14.5mm tips work better. So, I used the 14.5mm tips on the Dual Driver as well as the Stylish. I use the largest silicone tips that came with a JBL IEH on RevoNext QT5, which works very well for my ears.
Keep in mind that finding the right eartips for your ears is critical for getting the best possible sound from any IEH. If the tips do not create a good seal in your ear canal, the bass will be very thin and the overall sound will be tinny. It’s crucial to find the best tips for your ears, which might well be different than the ones that are best for my ears. Also, you might find that foam tips are better for you than silicone. Spend some time trying the tips that come with any IEH to find the best ones for you. If none of them work well, you might try a third-party vendor like Comply, which makes lots of different foam eartips.
I began my marathon listening session with Whirl-Y-Reel1 from Afro Celt Sound System’s album Sound Magic, Vol.1. This world-music ensemble uses lots of synthesizers along with Celtic flute, bagpipes, and lots of percussion. The Dual Driver sounded nice and clean with good delineation of instruments, fairly deep bass, crisp highs, and clear mid range. The Triple Driver was a bit louder and richer, and the bass was slightly more pronounced, while the Quad Driver was even richer with more bass, and I could hear deeper into the mix. The QT5 was somewhat leaner sounding, and the bass was slightly bloated, while the Stylish was clean overall, though the bass was a bit indistinct and the highs were ever-so-slightly brittle.
Moving on to more mainstream popular music, I listened to Landslide
as performed by The Chicks on their album Home. On the Dual Driver, the vocals were very forward, the lead vocal was a bit harsh, and the bass was slightly recessed, though there was good delineation of instruments, and the guitars and mandolin sounded quite nice. The Triple Driver sounded a bit louder, smoother, and more pleasing overall, and the bass was more present. I heard very little difference between the Triple and Quad Driver, which also sounded very smooth and clean. The QT5 sounded smooth, though the bass was slightly recessed and the vocals were just a tad brittle. Finally, the Stylish also sounded smooth with very nice vocals, and the bass was well-balanced though a bit indistinct.
I love all of Joni Mitchell’s oeuvre, so I listened to Hejira from her album of the same name. The Dual Driver sounded very good with full guitars and natural vocals, though Jaco Pastorious’ fretless bass was a bit restrained. The Triple Driver sounded richer and fuller with more pronounced bass and more present vocals, while the Quad Driver sounded much the same with a bit more airiness. Joni’s voice sounded slightly brittle on the QT5, and the Stylish was a bit lower in volume and slightly veiled overall.
For some good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll, I listened to Sweet Home Alabama from The Best of Lynyrd Skynyrd. The vocals and guitars sounded very good on the Dual Driver, though the bass was a bit indistinct and the cymbals were slightly harsh. The bass was better defined and more balanced on the Triple Driver, and the overall sound was smoother and more coherent. On the Quad Driver, the bass was even more pronounced – maybe a tad too much – but otherwise, the sound was much the same as with the Triple Driver. The QT5 had a slightly harsher sound, and the
bass was a bit recessed. The Stylish sounded smoother, but the overall sound was a bit veiled, and the bass was slightly indistinct.
One of the genres that is nearest and dearest to my heart is jazz, so I listened to My Funny Valentine as performed by trombonist Steve Turre with piano, acoustic bass, and drums on his album Keep Searchin’. I play trombone, so I know what it should sound like. The Dual Driver sounded just a tad lean with laid-back bass, and the piano and cymbals were everso-slightly harsh, but the trombone sounded quite natural. The Triple Driver sounded fuller and richer; the bass was more pronounced, and all the instruments were more present. I heard much the same sound on the Quad Driver with very airy cymbals, though the bass might have been a bit overblown. On the QT5, the bass and drums were slightly more present than on the Dual Driver, but the cymbals were back to being just a bit harsh. The sound of the Stylish was slightly veiled overall, the bass and drums were a bit restrained, but the cymbals were not harsh at all.
Finally, I listened to a couple of classical tracks. First up was Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, IV. Chor Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen, as performed by the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique under the direction of John Eliot Gardiner. The Dual Driver sounded slightly thin, and the choir was slightly recessed, though the orchestra was well balanced, and the dynamic range was excellent. The Triple Driver sounded richer, smoother, and more present, and the Quad Driver sounded much the same. By contrast, the QT5 had a slightly thin, brittle sound, and the Stylish sounded a bit veiled.
For a purely orchestral track, I listened to Prokofiev’s Romeo and
Juliet, Act II Scene 2: No.28 Romeo with Friar Laurence, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under André Previn. The Dual Driver had a good sound with nice delineation of sections and solo instruments, though the bass was slightly recessed. As expected by now, the Triple Driver had a richer sound, and the bass was more pronounced, while the Quad Driver had a very similar sound that was a bit more airy on the top end. The QT5 was slightly thinner, but the bass was a bit better than the Dual Driver, and the Stylish also sounded a bit thinner with slightly recessed bass.
Verdict
I must emphasize that the differences I heard between the five IEH models were very minor; the only way to hear those differences was in a direct side-by-side comparison. I would be very happy to listen to any of them in isolation.
Having said that, here are my overall opinions after conducting just such a comparison. The Dual Driver sounds a bit lean with slightly recessed bass and occasionally just a hint of harshness in the high end, much like the RevoNext QT5, though these are very minor shortcomings. The Triple and Quad Driver models sound fuller and richer with more pronounced bass – in fact, the Quad Driver’s bass was just a tad overemphasized on some tracks, though it’s sound was slightly airier in the high end. The Stylish sounds a tad veiled overall with slightly recessed bass, but again, this is some serious nitpicking based on direct comparisons.
In the end, I give the nod to the Triple Driver for its combination of outstanding sound quality and value.