Oops, ordered the wrong headphones...

I've been thinking about replacing my Bose QC-25: they are great for cutting jet noise, but sound mediocre, and maximum volume is low. (I do like how they use real batteries, but oh well). So I've been looking at the Sony XH-1000XM3 which are supposed to be superior. Amazon sale! $198 instead of $348! Blue color instead of boring black! Great!
...until looking at my Amazon orders, realized I had not paid enough attention (since the sale seemed limited time and I was going into a meeting) and ordered Sony WH-XB900N instead. Which has some good aspects, but since I'm really wanting the noise cancelling I guess I should not compromise. Sigh. I guess I'll return and...get the 1000 with "seller warranty" for like $249? (Sony doesn't seem too good about warranty anyway).

The money matters due to this pain https://www.forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/gotta-buy-a-fridge-i-guess.892029 and I guess the Bose are livable...but I hate the pressurized sensation the Sony's supposedly don't have. Buy cheap, buy with full warranty, what to do?

 

Wait for Black Friday and hope for a deal and a full warranty?

 

CALL them, or use their live online chat, and you may be able to cancel the order before they ship.

 

Maybe it will make you feel a bit better about this supposedly missed opportunity. I owned a Sony XM3 for a short period of time and sold it because I could not find any redeeming quality with them. The sound was mediocre, the app was abysmally bad and the material used in their construction stank and I mean that it literally stank of chemicals. Since the hype is strong with this one I had no problem finding a buyer who could not stop repeating how much he wanted them and how many positive reviews he read about them, which of course led me to realize that this was a wonderful opportunity for me to shut up and take his money.

 

I am actually thinking about buying the XM3 and I have heard great things about them. What else did you find unbearable about them?

J

 

Their mediocrity. Every time I had a complaint about how Meh&Bleh they sounded the response I got was along the lines that one doesn't buy them for their sound quality. Which is pretty much like saying that this is a product that fails in its intended purpose of playing music with any resemblance to audio fidelity, but it's OK because active noise reduction you know...

To be fair, there is nothing especially terrible about them. It's just that everything is so mediocre that the whole experience with them is irritating.

 

Thanks. Have you tried the Bose QC35? Any better feelings if so?

J

 

No I didn't. Since everybody was waxing how much better the Sony were I saw no point engaging in a race to the bottom just to check how worse the BOSE could be.

 

Sony warranty=bad warranty.

 

Actually the order got delayed and more delayed, and I *think* I did just that. Sometimes things work out!

 

I have the XM3 and IMO they have good sound quality compared to other noise- canceling headphones I've heard. Don't expect them to compete with good non-NC headphones at the same price.

 

No. No positive feelings AT ALL, except for how they do cut out the jet noise...at the expense of your head feeling like your ears haven't popped. They only cut lower frequencies of lawn mower, leaf blower, weed whacker. They are pretty comfortable for a long time. It's just so irritating how blah they sound, and at least for me actually sound better without the active amplification (but no noise reduction), and how even with built-in amplifiers you can hardly turn them up at all. I mean, I don't demand rock concert levels out of headphones but I don't want Art Blakey to sound so faint it seems like he's at the other end of a London Tube tunnel.

 

So what ARE you using? I would trade some NR if I could get lovely sound like my classic AKG K240DFs. Actually I really liked the Santa Cruz Audio SC1000 however they are $600, and I also can't imagine having something stuck in my ear all the way to Japan or even Chicago.

Good point...though I dunno, a lot of electronics and DSP don't add much cost if produced at a large scale. Heck, look at the teeny tiny weeny Lightning-to-3.5 mm Apple adaptor-it has a DAC built in! And it's what, $8?!? It is hard to imagine the DSP should be more than $50 retail.

Then again, a lot of companies are NOT visionary internally. Working for a giant car radio manufacturer I repeatedly beat my head against the wall trying to implement time delay in inexpensive radios. Should have been a no brainer since EVERY* car has that problem. Nothing happen until long after my tenure, when competitors started. GRRRRR.

*Yeah, OK, McLaren F1, which I was scared to even get near at BMW's Oxnard facility, afraid I'd drop my camera on it! And...anything else? I think there is a 3-seat McLaren?

 

I had the Bose 35 and have the Sony XM3. The Bose was very good and the Sony is even better.

 

you can always return pretty much anything from amazon for any reason, so not sure what the issues was here.

 

I didn't buy my XM3 to filter out the noise of jet engines, which incidentally doesn't bother me a bit, but to deal with human chatter. The XM3 turned out to be unsuitable for this task and therefore I kept the HD380 Pro at the office because they are more comfortable, isolate better and sounds leagues above anything the XM3 can offer. Unfortunately for you, I have no ready solution to your needs because I'm one of those who have no problems using IEM and the IE800 are my travel companions. For me they have the distinct advantage of offering excellent sound and not making me look like a tool when I'm in public places.