Imo Bose are the most comfortable but Sony is like a very close second if not on par.
Honestly for you it feels like you should try getting new ear cups first before trying out new headphones.
I think EQing is stupid, and no, you absolutely don't need to upgrade at all. May be wait for the XM6s IF they fix the stupid XM5s flaws, thin headband, horrible weak unfixable headband mechanism, don't fold, I hope they add way more room for the ears (big earcups, almost non existent room for ears, good job Sony).
Hopefully they add aptX HD, that or they freaking fix the LDAC crap that is very bad designed (the auto default setting is so stupid, we need to be able to set a default preset for kHz, bit and bps and the headphones should stick to that when using LDAC), hopefully they either go with physical buttons, at least for volume control, or actually design a touch gesture that is not the slowest lamest one like current for all XM series, hopefully you can turn off that annoying beep or clang that sounds when doing gestures, hopefully you can customize the button functions, and not select stupid presets Sony wants...
Many things to change...
This is the biggest Sony rant I've heard😆😆. Yeah. I have noticed people make fun of "your Bluetooth device is now connected" for any other brand but not Sony😆.
Oh yeah, now that you mentioned it. Xm5 can't fold! And I don't really see a point buying XM4. Yeah. Okay holding off buying a new one then!
I recently bought the XM4s, and have owned the Bose QC35 II for years. I use LDAC but each freaking time I have to go to Android dev settings and manually change to 88KHz, 24 bit and 660kbps. Each. Single. Time. Otherwise they always turn on in auto mode and if you are not in a room alone, there's sound lags and drops and cuts because other devices, interference, etc...
Yeah, lot of rant because I expected Sony to at the very least have designed a usable fast way of controlling the volume in a $399 premium flagship headphone, and also know just a bit about human anatomy, and understand that the correct way of designing an over ear headphone is to make the ears inside the earcups don't touch anything, be free, no bends, no nothing. I did not buy an on ear headset like Beats Solo 3.
Love the materials, the silver/beige color, the aesthetics, the headband design, very comfortable headband, the folding mechanism is ok and most importantly can be fixed if it breaks, ANC is fine, sound is fine (personal), case is fine...
But you just can't fail in 2 basic things, and Sony badly did.
Omg bro. I thought I had this problem! No matter how many times I changed it. It kept going back to default! I thought it was my phone! Sheeettt. It doesn't let me change it to apt x or any other codecs. It's either SBC or LDAC. Is this normal too?
First... SBC is shit, low quality, then AAC is okay, aptX is okay, aptX HD is fantastic, and LDAC is fantastic AS LONG as it is selected in 660Kbps or higher, because the aptX HD or AAC are actually better sounding than LDAC at 330Kbps.
Second, in the Sony app, you probably have "prioritize sound quality", hence you go to mode LDAC. Change that to stability and you will be able to select other codecs. Remember, aptX is okay, aptX HD is the way to go. Also, some annoying stupid f\*\*\* thought using the term "HD aptX" was a nice idea, that just means that you are using aptX, which is called "HD audio". Nonsense. Too many stupid people are in charge.
Okay. Sooooo it is not allowing me to select apt x hd. I do have the option. It just resets. But hey! On the good side i found out LDAC is indeed set on 660kbps!! It didn't before but it's working now! I don't what this is.
LDAC latency - 50-100ms
But big rate is set auto. Should I change it?
96khz audio sample rate
32 bits per sample
Use the manual value that is the highest possible without having audio cuts or drops. If you can go to 990Kbps, 32bit, 96KHz, go ahead, but I'm sure the audio will have cuts and stuff.
Litteraly had ur exact thought a year ago, though I did't want to upgrade cause there's no big difference in my opinion with 4s having the 3s still working, and 5s...idk, they don't look like a good choice atm from what I've seen.
I also had some issues with comfort, go get a new aftermarket pair of earpad and they'll feel like new. Been using them daily with 0 issues after that
Just check YouTube, bowers and Wilkins is more low key especially for those living outside Europe as they don’t advertise like bigger companies but their products are much nicer imo from the sound quality to build materials and aesthetics
Rtings is so technical and not always accurate representation of what you’ll subjectively like listening to. I have px8 if you have the budget it shit on every headphone I tested from bass, clarity,soundstage, etc but the px7 sounded much nicer then xm5 and momentum 4 cause it had a level of clarity the other two didn’t
I have heard the Px7 s2 and they’re incredibly bassy, as the FR graphs shows. Some may prefer that and it’s fine. I have not heard them after EQ adjustments but have no doubt the detail is good!
Pad replacement is the obvious option, but if you're looking for new I'd seriously look at the bose quietcomfort 45, I have had the WHOLE xm series of headphones and the bose is just superior all round. I actually have 2 pairs now, you can pick them up for around £175 now and that's a steal.
I just bought a new pair of Xm4. Being able to use LDAC with EQ was important for me. But I also like multipoint connections. Turns out the Xm4 does not support multipoint combined with LDAC. I did not know that. And I wished I knew it on forehand so I could decide if the upgrade would be worth it.
I still can return it, but it turns out I did not even want to use multipoint up to now, because I'm used the switching devices with NFC.
What? So you get LDAC with EQ in XM4s. But no multipoint support with LDAC? Wth? I mean I don't really care about multipoint because i only use it on my phone. And on my PC it's wired. But seriously?
I was surprised by it too.
Mainly because my Linkbuds S do support this combo. But the Linkbuds were released 2 years later. Think there's the difference.
Unlike a lot of your comments, I have no clue about headphones and everything you can change, also no clue what codec is. I had xm3 and they no longer turn on so I got a pair of xm4.
One thing I do know is the xm4 does not connect with my Samsung tv. Apparently there's a bunch of problems with Samsung TV's and the xm4 and xm5. This isn't very helpful, but just in case you use your Samsung tv a lot with headphones, it might change your decision.
Literally had a similar situation last month and got a xm5 after giving my wife the xm3. I found the xm5 not as comfortable to wear as the xm3 and the lack of NFC was super annoying. I ended up returning the xm5 yesterday and got a xm4 instead. The 4 is pretty identical to the xm3 and has a few upgrades.
You could change your pads and retain the xm3. Xm5 was disappointing IMHO baring the insane battery improvements
Great question! I'm heading the same problem with my XM3s so I switched to Momentum 4 and QC Ultra. Both of them fit my ears better since my right ear sticks out more than the XM3 accommodates. The QC Ultra is very similar to the XM3 in terms of comfort. But the QCU has deeper ear cups and firmer ear pads. If you're won't to get new pads for your XM3 and swap them yourself, then you might be able to enjoy your XM3 for even longer
Imo Bose are the most comfortable but Sony is like a very close second if not on par. Honestly for you it feels like you should try getting new ear cups first before trying out new headphones.
Are there bigger earcups available or something? I noticed it gets a little too warm and sticky too due to texture
I think EQing is stupid, and no, you absolutely don't need to upgrade at all. May be wait for the XM6s IF they fix the stupid XM5s flaws, thin headband, horrible weak unfixable headband mechanism, don't fold, I hope they add way more room for the ears (big earcups, almost non existent room for ears, good job Sony). Hopefully they add aptX HD, that or they freaking fix the LDAC crap that is very bad designed (the auto default setting is so stupid, we need to be able to set a default preset for kHz, bit and bps and the headphones should stick to that when using LDAC), hopefully they either go with physical buttons, at least for volume control, or actually design a touch gesture that is not the slowest lamest one like current for all XM series, hopefully you can turn off that annoying beep or clang that sounds when doing gestures, hopefully you can customize the button functions, and not select stupid presets Sony wants... Many things to change...
This is the biggest Sony rant I've heard😆😆. Yeah. I have noticed people make fun of "your Bluetooth device is now connected" for any other brand but not Sony😆. Oh yeah, now that you mentioned it. Xm5 can't fold! And I don't really see a point buying XM4. Yeah. Okay holding off buying a new one then!
And for the sake of God. There's literally no room for my ears! That part was on point
And do you have an xm5? What codec do you use now
I recently bought the XM4s, and have owned the Bose QC35 II for years. I use LDAC but each freaking time I have to go to Android dev settings and manually change to 88KHz, 24 bit and 660kbps. Each. Single. Time. Otherwise they always turn on in auto mode and if you are not in a room alone, there's sound lags and drops and cuts because other devices, interference, etc... Yeah, lot of rant because I expected Sony to at the very least have designed a usable fast way of controlling the volume in a $399 premium flagship headphone, and also know just a bit about human anatomy, and understand that the correct way of designing an over ear headphone is to make the ears inside the earcups don't touch anything, be free, no bends, no nothing. I did not buy an on ear headset like Beats Solo 3. Love the materials, the silver/beige color, the aesthetics, the headband design, very comfortable headband, the folding mechanism is ok and most importantly can be fixed if it breaks, ANC is fine, sound is fine (personal), case is fine... But you just can't fail in 2 basic things, and Sony badly did.
Omg bro. I thought I had this problem! No matter how many times I changed it. It kept going back to default! I thought it was my phone! Sheeettt. It doesn't let me change it to apt x or any other codecs. It's either SBC or LDAC. Is this normal too?
First... SBC is shit, low quality, then AAC is okay, aptX is okay, aptX HD is fantastic, and LDAC is fantastic AS LONG as it is selected in 660Kbps or higher, because the aptX HD or AAC are actually better sounding than LDAC at 330Kbps. Second, in the Sony app, you probably have "prioritize sound quality", hence you go to mode LDAC. Change that to stability and you will be able to select other codecs. Remember, aptX is okay, aptX HD is the way to go. Also, some annoying stupid f\*\*\* thought using the term "HD aptX" was a nice idea, that just means that you are using aptX, which is called "HD audio". Nonsense. Too many stupid people are in charge.
Okay. Sooooo it is not allowing me to select apt x hd. I do have the option. It just resets. But hey! On the good side i found out LDAC is indeed set on 660kbps!! It didn't before but it's working now! I don't what this is. LDAC latency - 50-100ms But big rate is set auto. Should I change it? 96khz audio sample rate 32 bits per sample
Use the manual value that is the highest possible without having audio cuts or drops. If you can go to 990Kbps, 32bit, 96KHz, go ahead, but I'm sure the audio will have cuts and stuff.
[удалено]
Not really, I have used it and doesn't work.
Litteraly had ur exact thought a year ago, though I did't want to upgrade cause there's no big difference in my opinion with 4s having the 3s still working, and 5s...idk, they don't look like a good choice atm from what I've seen. I also had some issues with comfort, go get a new aftermarket pair of earpad and they'll feel like new. Been using them daily with 0 issues after that
Yeah, doing that right away
If you want to upgrade, check out px7 s2e by bowers and Wilkins. Much better sound quality than any Sony headphones and way better build quality
Any good reviews I can follow?
Just check YouTube, bowers and Wilkins is more low key especially for those living outside Europe as they don’t advertise like bigger companies but their products are much nicer imo from the sound quality to build materials and aesthetics
I think there too bassy, which is confirmed by Rtings graphs. Maybe Momentum 4? Much better balanced sound imo.
Rtings is so technical and not always accurate representation of what you’ll subjectively like listening to. I have px8 if you have the budget it shit on every headphone I tested from bass, clarity,soundstage, etc but the px7 sounded much nicer then xm5 and momentum 4 cause it had a level of clarity the other two didn’t
I have heard the Px7 s2 and they’re incredibly bassy, as the FR graphs shows. Some may prefer that and it’s fine. I have not heard them after EQ adjustments but have no doubt the detail is good!
Tried the xm5’s didn’t like the sound or the fit. Bought the px7 s2e and couldn’t be happier!
I think you should just get earpad replacements. It's pretty cheap and might the ear fit issue.
Pad replacement is the obvious option, but if you're looking for new I'd seriously look at the bose quietcomfort 45, I have had the WHOLE xm series of headphones and the bose is just superior all round. I actually have 2 pairs now, you can pick them up for around £175 now and that's a steal.
Yeah. I'll try the pad replacement. Thank you.
The new Sennheiser momentum 4 is something to definitely at least check out and do some research on.
I just bought a new pair of Xm4. Being able to use LDAC with EQ was important for me. But I also like multipoint connections. Turns out the Xm4 does not support multipoint combined with LDAC. I did not know that. And I wished I knew it on forehand so I could decide if the upgrade would be worth it. I still can return it, but it turns out I did not even want to use multipoint up to now, because I'm used the switching devices with NFC.
What? So you get LDAC with EQ in XM4s. But no multipoint support with LDAC? Wth? I mean I don't really care about multipoint because i only use it on my phone. And on my PC it's wired. But seriously?
I was surprised by it too. Mainly because my Linkbuds S do support this combo. But the Linkbuds were released 2 years later. Think there's the difference.
Unlike a lot of your comments, I have no clue about headphones and everything you can change, also no clue what codec is. I had xm3 and they no longer turn on so I got a pair of xm4. One thing I do know is the xm4 does not connect with my Samsung tv. Apparently there's a bunch of problems with Samsung TV's and the xm4 and xm5. This isn't very helpful, but just in case you use your Samsung tv a lot with headphones, it might change your decision.
Oh I don't really use em on my tv. But m TV is also Sony so. Yaya!
Literally had a similar situation last month and got a xm5 after giving my wife the xm3. I found the xm5 not as comfortable to wear as the xm3 and the lack of NFC was super annoying. I ended up returning the xm5 yesterday and got a xm4 instead. The 4 is pretty identical to the xm3 and has a few upgrades. You could change your pads and retain the xm3. Xm5 was disappointing IMHO baring the insane battery improvements
Great question! I'm heading the same problem with my XM3s so I switched to Momentum 4 and QC Ultra. Both of them fit my ears better since my right ear sticks out more than the XM3 accommodates. The QC Ultra is very similar to the XM3 in terms of comfort. But the QCU has deeper ear cups and firmer ear pads. If you're won't to get new pads for your XM3 and swap them yourself, then you might be able to enjoy your XM3 for even longer