this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2024
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So, just to ignore your budget, I have the Sony XM4 headphones (over ear), and... they are okay. In the heat, they get very sweaty, and there are annoying sounds you can't turn off (on/off beep, and a voice which tells you when it has connected). The noise cancellation is good for constant noises but not sudden ones. Overall, I wouldn't recommend/buy them again, as they are just fine.
I have tried some in ear ones from Xiaomi (not sure which exactly) which I bought for my partner, and they are, in my limited experience, just fine too, especially for the price (<$50). I don't know about any long-term idiosyncrasies though, so take that with a pinch of salt. These ones look a bit better: Redmi Buds 5 Pro. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Xiaomi-Redmi-Buds-Black-BHR7660GL/dp/B0CQKHK626/
This is kinda the nature of active noise cancellation, unfortunately. Blocking out sudden noise is just technically very challenging. Works great for airplane noise, not so much for crying babies.
Sony's XM line is in my opinion just about the best ANC headphones money can buy, in terms of noise cancelling and sound quality combo. I can understand your point about them getting sweaty. Part one of blocking noise is good sound insulation, which tends to hold in heat as well. I live in a colder climate so that works out well for me. You could get in-ear ones, although obviously they don't block out noise as well.
Active hearing protection is better for sudden noises and some of them have connections for aux cables but the speakers are low quality and they're designed only to understand someone talking and that's it.
Edit: See sushibowl's explanation below why this is incorrect
What do you mean that blocking sudden noise in technically very challenging? I might be wrong, but from what I have gathered is that ANC is based on playing a "negative" of a pressure wave picked by the microphones in phase with the original wave. Thus it has to react to all sounds in the time that the pressure wave travels from the microphone to the ear, so it shouldn't matter whether the noise is constant (airplane) or sudden (gunshot).
Of course if the headphones have some kind of pass-through active, then it might take a while until software decides to activate ANC, but that is not a limitation of ANC itself
That's the theory, but it's almost impossible to do in practice. Your microphone and speaker are imperfect at capturing and reproducing sounds. The phase timing is incredibly sensitive. You only have milliseconds to do the processing and generation.
That's why practical noise cancelling relies on feedback loops. A second microphone inside captures the result of the cancellation, and based on that adjustments can be made to the negative signal. This allows you to correct for lots of sources of error and achieve quite a good result. Of course, for a sudden noise like a gunshot, by the time the feedback loop can really kick in, the noise is already over.
Oooooh that makes so much sense, I had been wondering why lifting the earcup slightly doesn't amplify the sound, but that explains it. Thank you for the clarification!
Have you tried the Bose ones mentioned in this thread, or Apple's crazy expensive ones?
Yeah, if I lived somewhere where it went under 20 degrees celsius I can see the appeal. It has been 40+ lately which has made using them pretty horrid, so I've stuck to earplugs when cycling instead.
Bose also makes really nice ones. It's been a while since I tried a Bose but the QuietComfort 35 II were really solid headphones. Little bit less bassy than the Sony (which is a question of taste), very comfortable, and the noise cancelling is quite good.
I haven't tried the apple ones. Knowing apple products, it's probably really good but way overpriced.
Have a pair of MX4s too. I haven't experienced any other kind of NC headphones so nothing to compare to, but the voice is seriously annoying. What I often do is interrupt it by tapping the side to play/pause media twice.
While they work OotB without the app, there is a bunch of functionality and tweaks locked behind the official app, such as EQ, wind-reduction, and voice-passthru.
I told them as much, and they just said tough shit, essentially. The quality of the voice is also piss poor; why have 'premium' headphones yet you have such low quality (and pointless) sounds? The beeping is also harsh on my ears.
I turned off the touch features as I kept pressing them unintentionally. I won't get the XM5s (or 6, whatever comes next), least of all as they stopped them from being folded up, strangely.
I also turned off the talk-to-speak thing as I just don't need it. If I want to talk, I'll pause my music or take them off. The 'smart' features are really not that clever nor useful. I don't want my music to pause just because I'm wiping sweating off one of the ears.
I have these and AirPod pros. The Pros are much better. The only reason I use the XM4s is to plug in with AUX.
Do you need an Apple phone to appreciate them?
No they act like any other Bluetooth headphones without Apple devices. You get easier automatic switching if you have Apple devices. I believe Linus from LTT uses them and he pretty much hates Apple.
Check out wicked cushions to replace your ear cups. Super easy and only like 30 bucks instead of double that sony will charge.
Ive found them to be better for long listens (not perfect but more comfortable for longer ive found.. and its fun to customize.)
Green bit is 3d printed replacement hinge. Ive slept with these on many nights in my hammock