Sony MDR-1000X is the flagship wireless noise reduction headset launched by Sony in October last year. It supports digital noise reduction and ambient sound mode. Like the predecessor MDR-100, it uses Bluetooth LDAC transmission to reduce the loss of sound quality during wireless Bluetooth transmission. It can also listen to Hi Res Audio in wireless situations. It can be said that Sony MDR-1000X inherits all the advantages of MDR-100: comfortable wearing, Bluetooth LDAC transmission, and intelligent noise reduction. On this basis, MDR-1000X adds an ambient sound mode, which is more high-quality in shape. It replaces the plastic of MDR-100 with a leather shell. If the MDR-100 is an attempt by Sony in the field of wireless noise reduction, we can understand the MDR-1000X as an improvement and upgrade made by Sony after the attempt. Compared with the MDR-100, it is more mature and more like Sony as we know it.

Appearance&Wearing

MDR-1000X has two colors: grey rice and black. This time we got grey rice. The MDR-1000X does not have many accessories, but the basic headset accessories are also complete, including a headset storage box, a 1.5m headset connection cable, a Micro USB data cable for charging, and an aircraft plug converter.

The headset storage box makes good use of the MDR-1000X rotary folding design. Although the storage box is small, it is still more than enough to put down an MDR-1000X. I don't know whether Sony intended it. Even the surface of the storage box is made of artificial leather.

At a glance, you may find that the MDR-1000X only has more ambient sound functions than the MDR-100. The MDR-100 also has intelligent noise reduction, NFC touch control, and Bluetooth LDAC transmission. However, the design performance of the MDR-100 is worse than that of the MDR-1000X. The small details of the MDR-1000X can make us recognize it as Sony at a glance, but the MDR-100 cannot.

MDR-1000X ingeniously uses metal, leather, and plastic. What's more, Sony has chosen these three materials with similar colors. Metal materials are used from the outside of the head beam to the earphone shaft. The sliding shaft is stable and free. Soft leather and plastic alternate on the inside of the head beam, and soft leather on the inside of the top beam. In addition, we can see that there is a microphone on the outside of the headphone cavity to receive the voice receiver, which eliminates the noise outside the voice, so that users can still maintain the voice reception when using the headphone. This is also the MDR-1000X ambient sound mode.

At the bottom of the cavity of the MDR-1000X, there are three buttons, two interfaces, the 3.5mm headphone interface for wired connection, the Micro USB interface for charging, and the remaining three buttons are the power key, the intelligent noise reduction key, and the ambient sound mode key.

Unlike the MDR-100, the MDR-1000X uses leather on its right touch panel, and its outer ring is gray beige metal, which makes the MDR-1000X very textured. The leather material also allows users to have a more comfortable touch when they touch and slide, rather than slipping as easily as the MDR-100.

Bose QC35

The metal head beam and leather material of MDR-1000X make it more high-quality in overall design and materials. Here, especially after comparing the MDR-1000X with the Bose QC35, you will find that although the prices of the two are similar, the MDR-1000X is obviously better in design and materials.

In terms of wearing, the metal head beam of the MDR-1000X will increase the weight of the headset itself, while the plastic used by the Bose QC35 will make the headset lighter. However, the Bose QC35 also has its own plastic design, which makes the overall structure of the earphone a little saggy, while the MDR-1000X is more compact. The MDR-1000X uses thicker and larger leather ear pads, which are more suitable for ears. Therefore, when you compare the two earmuffs, you will find that the earmuffs of the MDR-1000X seem to be larger. In fact, they are not. On this point, the earmuffs of the MDR-1000X are the same size, but the ear pads of the MDR-1000X are larger, and the internal space will be smaller, while the Bose QC35 is the opposite.

tone quality

You may not believe that the ambient voice mode was originally an audio mode used by Sony to intelligently filter noise and retain the surrounding voice. But users who have used the MDR-1000X should know that after you turn on the ambient voice mode, it will make the MDR-1000X show a fuller low-frequency and highlight the overall sound atmosphere. Therefore, we strongly recommend that users should enable the ambient voice mode under any circumstances Because for MDR-1000X, opening and not opening are completely different.

In terms of song selection, we still have four classic tracks: Days, aLIEz, LEVEL5 bridgelight and Onion.

Days (symphonic poem)

The first is Days, which is a light and lively song, accompanied by many low-frequency accompaniments, However, its style is quite different from that of LEVEL5 bridgelight and aLIEz. When the ambient voice mode is turned on, MDR-1000X It shows very obvious instantaneous dynamic details. The accompanying atmosphere of environmental instruments is strong, but not mixed. This is not only related to the opening of environmental sound mode, but also to Sony's own LDAC transmission technology, because the Bose QC35, also the flagship of wireless noise reduction, is obviously lacking in the sense of low frequency, and the parts of instruments are somewhat messy.

The song itself has more details MDR-1000X Release it, it is not open Ambient voice mode There is a clear gap in the situation. The song Days is characterized by strong low-frequency background accompaniment, but the voice is still forward, so the voice performance is also an important part. open Ambient voice mode Of The MDR-1000X makes the voice part more close to the ear, and the male voice is somewhat delicate, tensive and not thin. The low frequency sense is sufficient, but the voice part is not covered. Its voice still retains the strong flavor of the original track.

ALIEz (ALDNOAH ZERO Animation)

ALIEz is actually a very powerful bass track. stay MDR-1000X open Ambient voice mode Since then, its sense of low frequency has been much stronger than Bose QC35, and it is very flexible. Especially in its climax, the overall sense of atmosphere is very hard, with a sense of excitement, which is also the characteristic of aLIEz itself. Because of the particularity of aLIEz, the atmosphere and low-frequency performance of MDR-1000X show the original "burning" feeling of the track. The fast transient response, solid cohesion and high frequency extension make the performance of MDR-1000X much better than that of Bose QC35.

LEVEL5 bridgelight (a scientific super electromagnetic gun)

The music "LEVEL 5 - bridgelight", the king of electronic sound in ACG world and the magic song of Sister Pao, is a song that pays great attention to the quality of earphones. Among them, the mixed electric sound, low frequency, and female voice that is almost broken are difficult problems that many wireless headphones cannot overcome. In this track, it can be said that the performance of MDR-1000X and Bose QC35 is not so good. The problem with Bose QC35 is that the female voice is too sharp and easy to break, while the MDR-1000X is too thick at low frequencies, which makes the background sound cover the female voice. However, this advantage is that at least the MDR-1000X will not make you think that the female voice is broken. As far as performance is concerned, this track varies from person to person. MDR-1000X still pays attention to atmosphere and low frequency as always, while Bose QC35 is more balanced. As far as the author's personal taste is concerned, I will prefer the sound of MDR-1000X. After all, "LEVEL5-judeglight" is a hit song, which is a good thing to listen to.

Onion (Yang Zongwei)

The above three capitals are more classic ACG hybrid style tracks. Let's use Onion to test their performance in popular vocals. Onions can be said to be a relatively conventional pop song, which is dominated by vocals and has an obvious paragraph climax. The MDR-1000X with the ambient voice mode on increases the vicissitudes of the male voice, The medium frequency density is high, and the low frequency attenuation is steep. In this onion, the effect of turning on the ambient voice mode is not as obvious as that of the above three ACGs. When playing a popular onion, the MDR-1000X can have a bright high frequency response, simple timbre, but not many overtones, which shows that it is standard.

summary

In fact, wireless noise reduction earphones at the price of 2000~3000 are not common. Bose QC35 and MDR-1000X are two popular earphones. We have to admit that Sony does have its own set of rules in terms of design, including the MDR-1000X. Even if this product is covered with the logo, people familiar with Sony can recognize this from its appearance. In fact, the noise reduction effect of MDR-1000X is similar to that of Bose QC35, but what matters is not the noise reduction, but the ambient voice mode of MDR-1000X. This function, which has little connection with the sound quality in terms of name, is an icing on the cake for MDR-1000X's hearing. Bose QC35 and MDR-1000X are two different styles, so we will not judge whether they win or lose, but in terms of appearance, the author prefers Sony Design.

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