Sony MDR-1000X Review

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I’ve been meaning to make this review video for a while now and i think now is a good a time as any since rumor has it Bose will be dropping an Upgraded QC35 soon. So is the Sony MDR-1000x any good? Well i hope so since its more expensive than my current go to head phones the Sony XB950N1. Dont forget to like comment and subscribe and you can watch some of my other videos here after youre done watching this video. 

Sony MDR-1000X Review

The Sony MDR-1000x is Sony’s higher end consumer noise canceling head phones. They come in 2 color ways, black or beige. And honestly I wish Sony had went more for a gold color instead of Beige. I think it would have looked much better. The Sony MDR-1000x usually retail for $399.99 but now you can get them for as low as $328 on amazon. If you want to pick these head phones up I’ll have a link in the description below and keep it updated so you can get the beast deal possible. 

First, I just want to point out that the unboxing experience from the 1000X is nothing like other sony products. For the most part unboxing Sony products is just heres a box, inside the box is the speaker or head phones surrounded by a whole bunch of styrofoam, heres your charging cable, and manuals… have nice day! With the 1000x you slide off the sturdy sleeve, you then open the black textured box , you'll then see the hard shell plastic carrying case, and to the left theres a compartment that houses the manual, an audio cable, a micro usb cable, and a two prong plan adaptor. Personally I think JBL has a better unboxing experience but I like this type of presentation cause it tells you you just bought something nice. 

But any way, the Sony MDR-1000x is made mostly out of plastic and has faux leather ear cups on the outside but by no means do they feel or look cheap. The padding on the ear cups and headband is comfortable, but there are other headphones that feature more padding. The ear cups themselves swivel and you can either lay them flat or fold up depending on your storage needs. These headphones weigh in at 9.7 ounces or 275 grams, wearing them for extended periods of time is no problem if you're being stationary. Personally I think if you're going to be walking a lot with these headphones you will suffer from over heating like i did and ended up with sweaty ear cups. On the left ear cup you'll find your aux jack, power button, noise canceling control button, and ambient sound control button… and those are all of your physical buttons. 

But now you might be wondering… wait how do I control my music? well you do so by using the touch controls on the right ear cup. And at first it thought it was either going to be a gimmick or flawed. But after using it i don't ever want to go back. Its easy to use, highly accurate and its even good at preventing false positives. you double tap the same spot twice to play or pause your music, you swipe forward to skip a track, swipe back to go back a track and swipe up or down to adjust the volume. and something no one else has really mentioned in their review is that if you press and hold the right ear cup it'll activate siri. I just wish there was multitouch so you can raise or lower the volume faster. And the coolest part is if you cover the right ear cup the headphones lower the music, and pump in the sound around you so if someone is trying to talk to you you don't have to take off your headphones to hear them. 

These earphones also feature a few different ambient sound settings. If you have them set to ambient sound normal they will pump in a lot of your surrounding sounds so you can be aware of whats going on around you while you're playing music. This is good to have if you're walking around in the city. Then theres Ambient sound voice, you'll notice a lot less sound is being pumped in but the head phones will try to exclusively only let in people’s voice in while you're playing music so you can hear what people are saying. And theres you're normal Noise canceling setting where the head phones will block almost everything out. And I’ve got to say the noise canceling on the Sony MDR 1000x is really good. Sure you'll still get a little raspiness here and there if the noise canceling Mics get hit by a gust of air but other than that you are in your own little world. The best part is they don't cause me any kind of head aches like the the Bose QC35 do. but thats just me. And i did notice these head phones have a lot less cabin pressure than the Bose QC35. 

When it comes to battery life these head phones are good for about 20 hours of playback time with noise canceling on and you'll be able to squeeze out 22 hours out of them if you use them with noise canceling off. But just be warned, these head phones don't have quick charging and they take a whole 4 hours to fully charge. These head phones are also using bluetooth 4.1 and they have a range of around 40 feet. and i noticed there was very little latency so watching videos with the Sony MDR 1000x is nice. But even though these head phones are using bluetooth 4.1 they cant be paired to multiple devices at the same time. So you cant just use them with your phone and then switch to your laptop you have to go through the pairing process every single time. I just find it odd that even though these head phones are using bluetooth 4.1 they can only be paired to one device at a time. But if you have an android device pairing can be little easier thanks to the NFC touch point on the left ear cup. 

When it comes to sound quality I was very satisfied by the Sony MDR-1000x. Like I've mentioned in past reviews the Bose QC35 just leave me wanting more, and i was just not happy with the JBL Everest Elite 750 NC’s sound quality. But the Sony MDR 1000x is just an over all great performer and have a good amount of bass to them. The bass on the 1000x isn't going to satisfy a bass head like the XB950N1 do but it dosnt leave you hanging like the Bose QC35 do. The only complaint I have is the highs might get a little too sharp here and there when theres a snare drum. But other than that, these sound great. 

Like i mentioned earlier these head phones also come included with a hard shell carrying case. there isn't much going on, it zips up, theres a pocket on the back and theres a loop so you can attach it to your back pack or luggage. Just like the head phones its subtle. 

But over all, for $328 I think the Sony MDR-1000x is a solid buy. Even though they are very plain looking they sound very good, I think the touch controls are a game changer, they have solid noise cancelation, the ambient noise settings is a good feature, and being able to cover one ear cup to hear your surroundings without having to take off your headphones is genius. Not to mention they have a battery life of 20 hours which is great. I just wish they were able to connect to multiple devices at the same time, i wouldn't mind if they punched up the design a little, added more breathable padding on the ear cups and i really wish they had quick charging.