ISSUE 88 • ANDROID ADVISOR 91Microphonequalityin calls is subpar,but to be expected.functionthanwhat’spresentin many
musicplayers,allowinglisteningtobe
moreseamlessbetweentracksandwith
anevenexperiencebetweengenres.
I shouldemphasizethattheeffectis
slightandmightnotevenbenoticeable
totheaverageuser– indeed,it didn’t
greatlydiminishmynormallistening
experiences– butI wantedtoputmy
finger on just what this processing
wastryingtoachieveandhighlightit
here.Peoplelikemewhoprefertoerr
onthesideofaccuracyareadvisedto
leaveDSEEExtremeturnedoff,but
that’sjust my opinion.
Without DSEE Extreme processing,
I found the WH-1000XM4 exhibited
a more
accurate signal
compared to the
WH-1000XM3. 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