Comments on: Sony WH-1000XM4C Review: Can a Former ANC King Still Compete at $300?

By: W. Jennings

W. Jennings — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 16:08:14 +0000

In reply to ORT. The XM5 was the one I sent back as I just could not get them to fit comfortably with my glasses and the fatigue set in almost immediately. Thankfully the Collexion seems to have remedied that, but with prices continuing to soar, its hard to justify the spend on a flagship these days.

By: W. Jennings

W. Jennings — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 16:05:19 +0000

In reply to Baltazar. There are an awful lot of good headphones in the $299 space and picking just one as the best value is near impossible without knowing a use case. To me the XM4 probably only wins IF the ANC is far and away the most important feature to you. for my money, the Senn Momentum 4 at $229 is a better value if you don't have to have class leading ANC.

By: Ian White

Ian White — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 09:57:43 +0000

In reply to Roy C Klostermeyer.

Roy,

I’m pretty sure Will (who is brutally tough on all headphone-related products he reviews) would have mentioned that. We definitely endorse the XM6 and Collexion in terms of both ANC and sound quality. And yes, the Bowers wireless headphones offer superior sound quality. I bought the ones you mentioned for my eldest, and the Px8 S2 are my daily driver and with me when I travel.

By: Roy C Klostermeyer

Roy C Klostermeyer — Sun, 11 Oct 2026 22:11:41 +0000

If the 4xmc phones have the similar screaming in your ear, and the head cup stops falling out and the cup separating, I doubt the replaceable battery is going to make a big deal. After having overheating issues with my WF xm4’s, burned my skin in my pocket off the charging cable, I kinda got concerned about their safety and mine. In the last few years otherwise great Sony products failed from cheap plastic parts or a cheap (nonreplaceble) battery.

Good Bye Sony. Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e. Not quite the noise cancelling, but the sound, light years ahead of the Sony’s.

By: Ian White

Ian White — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 15:06:09 +0000

In reply to ORT.

ORT,

Do you want to know the real reason why these came back? I wrote an article (that we couldn’t publish) during the summer that was one of the first leaks about this new version. We had signed an NDA that I wasn’t told about until after I was done, so my first piece was shelved.

Foldable. That one feature matters the most to a lot of people. It was dumb to get rid of that feature and Sony found out that their customers would buy something else if this model didn’t offer it.

By: ORT

ORT — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 14:26:56 +0000

I have Sony XM4, XM5 and XM6 model headphoens. Well, in truth I sent the XM4 version back as I did not care for it at all. The other versions remain in my headphone rotation along with the new Sony 1000X Collexion which is right up there at the top along with…Another brands Flagship. 😉

Being somewhat handicapable (i.e., some days are better for me and some days are worser for me), I really enjoy using the Sony headphones with one of their excellent, fully automatic turntables. I have been waiting for almost 4 months for my Pro-Ject Peanuts 75th Anniversay ‘table to arrive and when it does I shall be using it to happily listen to music with my Sony headphones as well as other BlooToof ‘phones I have.

“If music be the food of love, play on”…Life is a buffet. Choose wisely and don’t over do the dumb stuff.

Superb-A-Mundo!

ORT

By: Baltazar

Baltazar — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 10:23:42 +0000

So in this price range which cans will be better value?