Sony Xb950n1 Extra Bass Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones Review

As the field of wireless dissonance-canceling headphones finally seems to be opening upwards, products like the Sony MDR-XB950N1 are entering the ring. At $249.99, these headphones are a full $100 less than our current top selection, Bose's QuietComfort 35 ($154.99 at Amazon) . They deliver some truly head-rattling bass that can be tuned to your liking with an app. And noise counterfoil is above boilerplate, but non quite up to par with more expensive competitors.

Pattern

Available in black or green models with a semi-matte finish and a subtle gritty sparkle, the circumaural (over-the-ear) MDR-XB950N1 headphones ($154.99 at Amazon) features round earcups with huge, well-cushioned memory foam-style earpads. The underside of the headband is also comfortably cushioned and covered in blackness leather. The cloth grilles covering the drivers are well recessed (by more than half an inch) inside the earpads. Overall, the design has a sharp, minimalist feel despite the rather bulky build.

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Forth the outer panel of the left earcup, there'due south a power button, a Bass Outcome button, and a Dissonance Counterfoil button. Each of these has a status LED next to it and so it's easy to tell when i feature is enabled or non at a quick glance. The right earcup houses the dedicated volume command (which works in conjunction with your mobile device's principal volume levels), as well every bit a multifunction rocker-style button that controls playback, call direction, and track navigation. It's a elementary, uncluttered pattern that's thoughtfully laid out to minimize the need for memorizing multiple taps for sure functions, and the chances of accidentally skipping a track when you lot hateful to adjust the volume are minimized.

Sony includes a detachable audio cable for wired listening—the headphones immediately un-pair when the cable is connected, but they don't power downwardly, as y'all demand the battery to use the bass and noise counterfoil effects. Surprisingly, the cable doesn't include an inline remote control. There's also a long micro USB charging cable, and a black drawstring conveying tote. Both cables connect to ports on the left earcup.

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A free app called Sony Headphones Connect is available, and it allows you to switch the Dissonance Cancellation on or off without touching the headphones, as well as utilize various (ill-brash) filters to the sound—presets like Arena and Outdoor Phase that employ EQ and reverb to approximate various settings. You tin also adapt the levels for the bass issue, which is almost essential (more on this in the next section). Pressing the Bass Issue button on the headphones pushes it to the levels you set in the app.

The mic offers reasonably good intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 6s, we could sympathise every discussion we recorded, however, we occasionally heard artifacts that are pretty common when using wireless mics (as opposed to inline mics on audio cables). But equally mentioned earlier, the included sound cable doesn't accept an inline mic or remote, which is disappointing.

Sony estimates the battery life to exist roughly 22 hours, but your results will vary with your volume levels, as well as your usage of the Bass Effect button and the racket-canceling circuitry.

Operation

The dissonance cancellation hither is quite good, simply adds a piddling likewise much high frequency hiss to the equation (not unpleasant, more like a subtle tape hiss) to unseat Bose. The circuitry did a solid job tamping downwards ambience room noise in testing, like the hum from a loud AC unit, and so information technology should practice well on planes and trains. But there'south no way to adjust the level of dissonance cancellation, and there'south no sound-through mode that allows yous to hear the outside globe through the noise-canceling mics. These are features that the Bose lineup, also as other competitors, take started to add. Still, these headphones get the job done reasonably well for a more affordable cost.

The "XB" in MDR-XB950N1 stands for extra bass, and on tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the drivers sound powerful plenty with the Bass Issue off—the sound is already rich and robust. Pushing the bass to its maximum level sounds absolutely awful on this rails, but that's because it already offers sub-bass in massive amounts. Dialing information technology down by half is a way for booming bass lovers to get a little bit more low-end out of the headphone's already strong response without going overboard.

Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with very piffling deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the audio signature. Even with the bass effect off, the lows are pumped up on this track—Callahan's baritone vocals audio richer than mayhap necessary, and the drums already audio fairly thunderous. Pushing the bass to summit levels again sounds bad—the drums overtake the entire mix like construction dissonance, blocking out the guitars and vocals. Dialing the bass dorsum halfway, things still sound far too bass-heavy for my tastes, but this is where serious bass fiends will probable be pleased. Only retrieve: You tin can dial the bass dorsum further. When this is washed, it'due south possible to get a balanced mix that notwithstanding offers robust lows without going overboard.

On Jay-Z and Kanye Westward'due south "No Church building in the Wild," the kick drum loop gets just enough high-mid presence to accentuate its sharp assault—provided you take the Bass Event turned off. At full levels, the track, similar the others, doesn't sound skillful. At about halfway, yet, the drum loop is given more low frequency muscle and the sub-bass synth hits are delivered with even more gusto. Thankfully, the vocals are nonetheless relatively well-baked and clear and don't seem to do as well much battle with the lows for your attention.

Orchestral tracks, similar the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, sound pleasantly bass-forrard when the Bass Outcome is off, and a piddling ridiculously additional in the lows when the issue is on and non fifty-fifty raised to the halfway signal. At maximum levels, the effect turns this track into a sonic experiment that is no longer classical music or even pleasant, with the lower register instrumentation overpowering every other component in the mix when it comes into play.

Conclusions

Sony'due south MDR-XB950N1 headphones deliver a sound signature that's less crisp and bright than many we test, just avoid sounding muddy when the bass is tamped downwardly. When the upshot is engaged, all bets are off. The noise counterfoil is quite good for this cost range, particularly given that the headphones are too wireless. And then, bass lovers looking for noise cancelling wireless headphones, look no farther.

But if the booming lows sound similar a bit much for you, consider the aforementioned (only more expensive) Bose QuietComfort 35, or the slightly less expensive Libratone Q Suit On-Ear. If noise cancellation—and not Bluetooth—is your priority, the Libratone Q Adapt Lightning is a solid wired pair for iPhone users.

Sony MDR-XB950N1

Cons

The Lesser Line

For the cost, Sony's wireless MDR-XB950N1 headphones deliver laudable noise cancellation and strong wireless sound with adjustable bass response.

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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/sony-mdr-xb950n1

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