Once you’re eager about shopping for a brand new pair of headphones, I’d wager {that a} pair from Sony will undoubtedly come to thoughts. The tech large is thought for making a number of the finest headphones we’ve seen heard up to now decade.
Actually, Sony launched the uber-premium 1000X The Collexion in Might this yr to rejoice that decade of being on the high of its audio sport, whereas additionally giving it an uber-premium price ticket to match. Roughly three months since their launch, they’ve obtained their first low cost, bringing them all the way down to a barely extra manageable AU$849 (down from AU$999) for a restricted time.
Sure, that’s nonetheless a lotta cash to throw at a set of headphones, however when Apple’s AirPods Max 2 — the Sony’s major rival — proceed to show fashionable and price comparable cash, then there’s very a lot a case to be made for a pair from an organization that’s been producing top-rated audio equipment for over 75 years.
If you happen to’re conversant in Sony’s different headphone exploits, such because the WH-1000XM6 that at the moment sit atop my information to the finest headphones in Australia, then I have to stress that the 1000X Collexion are completely not the identical pair in a new-look aesthetic.
Sony has gone to nice lengths to make sure its newest pair justify their price ticket, and that they do greater than sufficient to compete with the AirPods Max 2, with a right away win for being device-agnostic in comparison with Apple’s over-ears.
Elsewhere they sport impeccable contact controls, a 10-band customized equaliser and DSEE Final expertise for upscaling lower-quality track recordsdata as much as 96kHz and 32-bit. This expertise has beforehand solely been present in Sony’s high-end transportable music gamers, so it’s a giant deal that it’s lastly made its manner right into a pair of headphones. Noise cancellation can be glorious, because the Collexion makes use of the identical 12-mic system discovered within the XM6 over-ears.
No product is ideal, thoughts you, and as our tester famous in his Sony 1000X The Collexion evaluate that “there are some downsides, resembling decrease battery life, in addition to the underwhelming 360 Upmix modes”.
On these two latter factors: battery life is rated at 24 hours, which is down from the 30 hours of the XM6, however nonetheless greater than the AirPods Max 2’s 20 hours, whereas the 360 Upmix mode — basically spatial audio — appeared to have a detrimental impact on sound high quality throughout our testing.
Listening expertise is private, nonetheless and, all issues thought-about, the Collexion are nonetheless a unbelievable set of headphones that I personally wouldn’t thoughts spending my very own cash on if I didn’t already use the Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wi-fi. I can’t make certain how lengthy this limited-time low cost will final, so for those who’ve been eager to put money into Sony’s finest, don’t let this chance cross you by.
