Sony - 1000X THE COLLEXION Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones - Platinum

I have had the Apple AirPod Max headphones since their original release. They have been great headphones for me, but I always hated the horrible case and weight as it made it challenging to travel with. I was drawn to the XM6 for travel purposes, but really hated the plastic build and the fact that my ears touched the inside of the ear cups while wearing them. When I saw these were released, I immediately purchased a pair and those concerns were addressed. The jump in build quality is huge! I find them to be more comfortable, the sound stage is wider and the overall sound seems a bit "cleaner." The case is a great design and something Apple should take note of. I have found them to be a great fit between the AirPods Max and the Sony XM6. Like pretty much all products, they are not perfect. My cons would be the reduced battery life, added weight from the XM6, lack of folding so they do take up more space when traveling, and while I prefer the look of the lighter color, I feel I may need to exchange them for the black to avoid them getting dirty from use based on the light color of the headphones and the case.

Got my Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION Noise Cancelling Headphones at Best Buy. Been using them for a bit now. Don't get the low ratings by some. I own Sony XM4, XM5, XM6 and now these. First, I think they fit great. Sound is fantastic (makes you feel like you sit in the middle of everything). No, I would not wear them to the gym (I would use Ear Buds). Yes, they are pricey compared to the other Sony Headphones (I figured I was worth it). I recommend the XM6 if you want to save the extra $250 or the XM5 to save $400. Both are good choices. Good quality Headphones (still have those two). My humble opinion, the Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION is the best so far. Like the premium build. I work from home, so these are great to listen to music and shut everything else off to concentrate. The only question you have to ask yourself, are you worth the extra money for a premium set of headphones. I would highly recommend these.

The Sony 1000X Collexion in Platinum are Sony’s flagship premium headphones, released to celebrate their 10th anniversary of 1000X series headphones, are premium in every sense. The luxury focused headphones showcase thoughtful design and premium materials with renowned engineering to deliver an enhanced experience. In the box you receive the Collexion Headphones, the carrying case, and a short headphone cable. The matching case is nice and compact, form-fitted to the headphones with a magnetic enclosure, but for the price point, Sony should include a unique charger or at least a woven charging cable to match the premium vibe. Fortunately, the Collexion headphones both sounds incredible and looks the part, thanks to a V3 processor paired with bespoke drivers and premium materials such as polished stainless steel and vegan leather. The platinum finish looks fantastic, fully wrapped in vegan leather with stainless steel banding and hinge design, a welcome change for previous generations. The all metal frame and hinge not only will hold up to years of use, it elevates the look of the headphones and provides a solid feel when adjusting the band or folding the earcups. The Collexion are extremely comfortable thanks to the deep and plush, oversized earcups and generous soft padding on the headband. I found they sit snug without any pressure points, making it easy to wear for extended amount of time though they did make my ears a bit toasty after a few hours. With up to 24 hours of battery life, the Collexion is up to the challenge and the documentation indicates you can even gain 1.5 hours of usage with just 5 minutes of charging. Though not included, the Collexion features a USB C port for charging and 3.5mm for wired listening. The V3 processor does a great job at up mixing, with the 360 Music setting somehow widening the sound stage and experience of the composition. For a purist, you can disable DSEE and manually adjust levels as well. Overall, the audio quality is close to exceptional, providing incredible depth and clarity that is exceptional considering these are not large studio cans. The ANC is also impressive, performing exceptionally well at filtering your environment thanks to the QN3 processor and 12 microphone array. The Collexion can even adapt to your movement and adapt the ANC settings on the fly, learning your preferences. You can also specify ANC modes based on whether you are active, walking or seated to tailor the experience to your liking. The on device controls include dedicated buttons for ANC mode, audio mixing, and power. Volume and music controls are handled via gesture on the side of the earcup and worked well enough, though it took some practice. The Sony Collexion are by far the most comfortable, quiet, and luxurious headphones I have owned, setting the bar for what a quality product should be. These are a perfect gift for those who appreciate design and are my go to headphones for music listening, cinema, or even peace and quiet thanks to Sony audio engineering combined with beautiful craftsmanship, all while achieving incredible comfort.

Comfort counts and for long term listening of several hours a day, comfort is indeed king. As a longtime member of the HeadFi community I freely admit to being a headphone enthusiast, albeit within personal reasons and a big reason for me to like this newest Sony 1000X COLLEXION set of 'phones is the superb comfort afforded by them. I own a variety of wired and wireless headphones purchased over the years including Sennheiser Momentum 3 and 4 models and Sony WH1000XM4 and WH1000XM6 versions as well as wired models such as my Focal Elegia, which are my favorite wired 'phones. But while I don't mind at all being hard-wired to quality there are plenty of times when I want my music to not only move me, but move with me. This new Sony 1000X COLLEXION wireless Blue Tooth headphones with ANC (Adaptive Noise Cancelling) are even better than their excellent WH1000XM6 and far, far ahead of my WH1000XM4 'phones. Setup and connection is fast and easy. I already have Sony's Sound Connect application on my iPhone 16 Pro Max which makes it relatively fast and easy to not only connect but to make changes to the listening modes and equalizer settings if you so desire. Within the app there is "Safe Listening" information based upon data from the WHO "World Health Organization". As I never listen to any music that is LOUD, I had no need to look into that information other than to report it is there for others to consider. There is also another feature of the app that allows you to backup and restore your settings and data. Within the app you can select Noise Cancelling, Ambient Sound or Off. The Ambient Sound setting is designed to let outside noises to be filtered in while you listen to your music. This feature utilizes the headphone's built-in microphones to pass environmental/background sounds such as traffic and conversations directly to your ears to help keep you more aware of your surroundings. There are also 5 listening modes: Standard. Music. Cinema. Game. Background Music. The Music mode was just fine as was the Standard and the Background Music mode was to me, annoying. I did not try the Game mode but the surprise for me came when I selected the Cinema mode. It was wonderful, especially so with tradtional Jazz/Pop Vocals such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sinatra, Nancy Wilson and Classical Music. Simply outstanding. I realize that many folks want to "hear the music as the artist intended" but I also know that if I enjoy a piece of music eq'd to my taste, then that is how I intend to hear it and I found the Cinema mode to be quite delightful without being tiresome. If you disable ANC and Ambient settings the battery is good for up to 32 hours of use. I have listened for periods of 3 to 4 hours straight and have no doubts I could probably easily make a flight to Australia without having a battery drain problem! Now for my favorite aspect of the new Sony 1000X COLLEXION: It pairs instantly (after the initial pairing process) with my Sony PS-LX3BT Blue Tooth automatic Turntable!! I am listening to a pristine copy of the Beatles album, "Something New - The Beatles" and it sounds FANTASTIC through these super headphones! Over the last few days I have spent time with my records via that 'table and these wonderfully comfortable 'phones. Normally I play the turntable through my Denon Home Amp (bought by myself at Best Buy!) and I truly do think I prefer listening "privately" via these headphones as not only is the sound excellent but so too are the memories of over 60 years ago listening to records. Dean Martin. Etta James. The Beach Boys. Sinatra. And so many more. It's as if Mr. Peabody and Sherman from the '60s cartoon "Peabody's Improbable History" had condensed their "WABAC" (pronounced "wayback") machine into a headphone that transported me to a very happy time in my life. As such I will say that the Sony 1000X COLLEXION headphones are beyond highly recommended! And when paired with the Sony PS-LX3BT turntable that's all you need to take your music back in time. No other amp or speakers are needed. Just power up the 'table, turn on your Sony 1000X COLLEXION headphones and hit the "Bluetooth" button on the turntable and listen to the soundtrack of your life!

These headphones have become my new favorite of all time so far. I have the WH-1000XM6 and will be comparing some main differences and why I think it's worth the extra cost to get these new ones. I wanted to also mention that the only thing it doesn't come with is the USB-C charging cable which I thought was weird but it does come with a 3.5mm audio cable. The build quality is my main reason for these being worth the extra money I absolutely love the feeling of the scuff resistant vegan faux leather the metal buttons and brushed metal accents. It feels so nice to the touch to change the volume and use all the controls compared to the XM6 which is slippery plastic and not as fingerprint resistant. The carrying case is so much better also they both are about the same size case but the carrying handle is a very nice touch and it's so thin still and I prefer the ease of putting the headphones away and not folding them up I just have to pick them up rotate the cups and put them on and it's way faster and easier than the XM6 that fold and I have to spend a minute trying to figure out which direction does it go again and this new design saves me a lot of time. I also really love that they put L and R inside the ear cups instead of on the inside of the headband so I can even easier identify which side is correct. These new headphones are thinner when placed on my head the ear cups do not stick out as much as the XM6 and has a much better profile for my head. The fit is more relaxed on these new ones and not as tight against my head as the XM6. I could shake my head and these will probably fall off if I tried hard enough while the XM6 would most likely not fall off in the same circumstances. The headband is wider on these and is way more comfortable for longer periods of use but they do get my ears hot and sweaty after about 30 mins to an hour which was the same for me when using the XM6. Sound is similar on both to me I don't notice much of a difference but if I had to pick the 1000X are slightly better due to the upgraded V3 chip that powers the DSEE Ultimate vs the XM6 that has DSEE Extreme. The new version has a dedicated button that can switch between different Spatial Audio upmixing and adds music gaming and cinema compared to XM6 that is limited to Cinema from the app only. I tried to like the spatial upmixing but to me I wasn't impressed as much as I preferred just listening on standard mode but also not sure how it affected my Apple Music Spatial Audio when listening to my music it would override that and to me did not sound as good as native Dolby Atmos Apple Audio. Bluetooth 6 is slightly better than the XM6 that is 5.3. Battery life is good for me but the XM6 is supposed to last 30 hours compared to these that offer 24 hours of life. The one negative thing that happened to me is my right ear cup started to make a static sound after a few minutes of listening and will not go away even after hard resetting and repairing to my device. The only way to get it to stop is to turn off all noise cancellation features which defeats the purpose of having these as the noise cancelling is excellent. I was able to contact Sony for a replacement and hopefully it doesn't happen again but has happened to other people with older headphones so not sure what the issue is with that and customer service has been very helpful so hopefully that doesn't happen to you and you get a good extra warranty on these just in case.