Sony’s 1000X The Collexion: A Decade of Innovation with an Ultra-Premium Twist
dek: Sony is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its 1000X headset with a new ultra-premium model.
Billy Steele for Engadget
RATING: 8.4/10
Benefits
- Luxurious design
- DSEE Ultimate Scaling
- New audio features
- Very comfortable
Disadvantages
- Less impressive sound
- Less effective ANC
- Dear
There’s no denying the durability of Sony’s 1000X headphones. Since their debut 10 years ago, each successive model has claimed the top spot on our best headphones list upon arrival. To celebrate the anniversary of the company’s legendary over-ear headphones, Sony has launched its 1000X The Collexion Edition (WH-1000XX). There are some obvious improvements in design and materials, but the company has also revamped the interior, hoping to create the ideal shape for its flagship headphones. However, I found during testing that the 1000XX is far from perfect and may not even be the best choice in Sony’s lineup right now, depending on your listening priorities. Plus, at $650, this ultra-premium model is considerably more expensive than the WH-1000XM6.
What’s new on the 1000X The Collexion?
Billy Steele for Engadget
The 10th Anniversary Edition of the 1000X earphones features by far the most luxurious design in the line to date. Sony has completely ditched plastic for a new all-leather and metal look. The company also revised the size adjustment sliders and headband, but the earcups on this new model only rotate flat. They don’t fold towards the headband like the WH-1000XM6.
In addition to the materials and mechanisms, Sony has refined the overall profile of the earbuds for a less bulky look. The company says it also increased the interior volume of the earcups and widened the headband, which helped improve comfort. The headband padding is 40% thicker and the overall clamping force on your head is less heavy during long listening sessions.
Inside, Sony has developed new unidirectional carbon drivers that it says improve high-frequency detail and widen the overall soundstage. The company says it has also optimized the circuitry for a better signal-to-noise ratio and clearer sound. More on my observations in a moment, but I should also note that the next-gen version of Sony’s powerful upscaling technology is available for the first time on the 1000XX. DSEE Ultimate builds on DSEE Extreme by restoring even more details and textures that are typically lost to compression, thanks to AI sound enhancement.
When you don’t want to use DSEE Ultimate, the 1000X The Collexion comes with two new spatial audio mixing modes: Music and Game. Sony launched a dedicated Cinema spatial mode on the 1000XM6, but it had to be activated in the company’s Sound Connect app. On this new model, Sony has added a dedicated button for these audio modes on the left earcup near the top edge, above the noise control button I’m used to on the 1000X earbuds.
What’s good about the 1000X The Collexion?
Billy Steele for Engadget
Sony has absolutely nailed the design and comfort of this new 1000X model. The company set out to create “a new premium addition” to its highly touted line of headphones, and it certainly succeeded in terms of aesthetics. The move away from plastic has improved the overall appearance and the extra padding and less intense clamping pressure lead to increased comfort. Not that the 1000XM6 is a slouch in terms of portability, but I prefer the feel of the 1000XX. And even with the extra 67 grams, the Collexion Edition never becomes a burden to carry during long listening sessions.
I’ll get to my review of the overall sound profile in a moment, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the excellent clarity of detail that I loved in the 10000X line. In softer genres especially, acoustic instruments sound like they’re right next to you. On Punch Brother’s “New Bike,” for example, I might as well have been sitting right in the middle of the room where the band was recording. There are nuances to every plucked string and instrumental melody that many headphones can’t muster. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention DSEE Ultimate scaling here. Like previous versions, it does an exceptional job of improving the sound over the original setting by regaining some of the subtle elements of a recording.
Sony’s long list of handy features is one area where the company continues to outperform the competition. Ten years after the debut of the 1000X line, the company still has the most robust toolset you’ll find on a headset. These include Adaptive Sound Control which automatically changes settings based on activity or location and Speak-to-Chat which turns on ambient sound when the earbuds detect you are speaking. There’s also a quick access button for quickly opening a music service app and the ability to use head gestures to accept/reject calls, among other things.
What’s not so good about the 1000X The Collexion?
Billy Steele for Engadget
Unfortunately, there are a few areas where the 1000XX headphones don’t perform as well as the 1000XM6. The overall sound quality is one of them. Although DSEE Ultimate scaling noticeably improves the stock setting, there is too much reliance on punchy bass, so detail in the midrange tends to get lost for more intense genres like metal, rock, and synth-heavy electronic styles. The overly prominent bassline even impacts the otherwise cold vibe of Kacey Musgraves’ “Middle of Nowhere.” I also don’t like the new Music spatial audio preset, because it makes the sound too tinny and the vocals too prominent.
Sony makes it clear that the Collexion’s ANC performance is not as robust as that of the WH-1000XM6. This is even though the new model has the exact same QN3 processor, same 12-microphone array, and same noise-cancelling optimizer as last year’s earbuds. The difference is the passive noise isolation in the ear cushions, as Sony says it has prioritized comfort over chasing the pinnacle of ANC effectiveness. I can confirm that the company accurately describes the difference between the two models, and you’ll sometimes notice moderately loud noise – things like fans and white noise machines that operate with a constant roar.
In terms of performance, the last major area where the 1000XX falls short of its predecessor is battery life. The 1000XM6 lasts up to 30 hours on a charge, but Sony says this model will deliver songs up to 24. Both of those numbers are with ANC enabled, but the difference is nonetheless disappointing, especially in a $650 headset. The Collexion’s quick charge feature also isn’t as effective, so you’ll have to wait an extra two minutes to get half the playtime the tool provides on the 1000XM6.
Conclude
Billy Steele for Engadget
Sony has obviously spent a lot of time refining the design of its 1000X range for this 10th anniversary model. The 1000XX has a more premium look thanks to an abundance of leather and metal, as opposed to the usual matte plastic and leather formula. Some of these changes also lead to a more comfortable fit, which is always a welcome upgrade for a device you’ll likely wear for hours. I’m also celebrating the arrival of more robust DSEE upscaling, as it’s one of Sony’s long-standing features that I really can’t live without.
Alas, a more perfect 1000X package wasn’t supposed to exist this time around. Despite the improvements here, I prefer the overall tuning and more efficient ANC performance of the WH-1000XM6. For a headset that costs $650, almost $200 more than the “normal” version, I have pretty high expectations. For the first time in the history of the 1000X range, Sony failed to satisfy them.
For more detailed information, visit the original review here.
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