I Had the sennheiser momentum Wireless headphones for a while (9 months) and once I came across these on line I had to give them a try. Upon loading a few tracks and playing around with the features I immediately put my Sennheisers wireless on ebay right away. SOLD! love these sony's Now I need a good LDAC player with them.
@derbigpr5008 жыл бұрын
All these active noise cancelling headphones use a simple trick that most people usually refuse to do on hi-fi headphones, partly because of ignorance, partly because they don't know how to do it properly and therefore don't realize the advantages. And that's equalizing, an active DSP circuit. It's a simple equalizing profile that gets enabled when you turn the active power on and that countereffects all the sonic faults a headphone has in the natural form. That way they're able to use far cheaper drivers inside an actually less well designed headphone, and compensate for the flaws with an equalizer. It's much easier to get the right sound balance with an EQ (if you know what you're doing and have precise measurement devices that enable you to see the changes properly) than by very precisely tuning the shape and size of the ear cup cavity, the distance between ear and driver, the volume of the chamber between the ear and the driver, the position of the driver, the airflow between the front and rear chamber (in front and behind driver), as well as the airflow between the rear chamber and the outside world. That all requires a lot of very, very detailed calculations and very precise tuning in order to get a headphone to sound just right, raw, straight out of a source, without any EQ. That's why good sounding headphones are so damn hard to design, far, far harder than speakers (which also use EQ, in the form of crossover circuits). On the other hand, using an EQ you can very easily get rid of nasty peaks or dips in the frequency response, get rid of the boomy mid bass or add sub bass, etc. You can drastically change the sound characteristics if you know what you're doing, and can get a VERY impressive sound from very cheap drivers. I already talked about building a diy headphone on head-fi, where I got a headphone with drivers from a 30 dollar Superlux headphone to sound 95% as good as my Beyerdynamic T1's, and got them to measure virtually identically. You can even control the impulse response with some more advanced algorithms and if you know exactly how the driver you're using behaves in your design, but what you don't get rid off is the distortion, and that is why all these actively powered headphones with active DSP settings have quite high distortion levels, nothing horrible or too noticeable, but that's what keeps them away from properly engineered Hi-fi headphones that sound a certain way raw, without any artificial effects changing the natural and raw sound of headphone. But using high quality drivers, the kind that are found in hi-end headphones, and then combinig that with DSP's....now...THAT is something special. I can't say much, but I'm working on a project currently, might even put it on kickstarter soon, that uses very high end drivers from a very respectable hi-end headphone, combined with a DSP circuit, resulting in a VERY impressive sound. Let me just put it this way, even in current form, in early stages of development, it makes my T1's sound like a toy in comparison. :P On to the Sony and actively powered headphones, what does that mean for a consumer? Nothing, except that he gets a better sound without the need for an amplifier. What does it mean for a manufacturer? Far easier and cheaper design, development and manufacture process, while still retaining good sound quality. For many people it will be hard to admit and accept, but the future of headphones is in actively powered headphones that will be full of DSP's and effects, trying to make the headphone mimic real sounds the way a conventional headphone just can't. Adding active crossfeed algorithms that get rid of the inherent physical faults a headphone has in comparison to speakers and real sound sources, active DPS's that change the sound of a headphone according to what kind of music is playing, etc. That is the future. Apple might be doing something like that already, that's why they're getting rid of their analog 3,5 mm jacks on all their devices and will use digital cables instead, which will allow them to do just what I said.
@Krmelj8 жыл бұрын
I hope more people read what you wrote here, thanks for that! I have a Sony A25 walkman, and without much fanfare expected an average sound with these headphones with content I listen to (mainly poorly produced metal, some alternative like Steven Wilson etc). Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by MDR0100ABN. and chalked it down to pairing them with the A25 Walkman, since they are designed/released in the same time frame. But your explanation also makes sense... Hope your venture goes well, and good luck!
@derbigpr5008 жыл бұрын
I wouldn't be surprised if Sony engineers and programmers did some really fancy subtle tricks where they made their walkmans "realize" which one of Sony headphones they're paired with using BT, and then automatically enable algorithms tuned to work with that specific headphone model. Not that they'd publicly admit it, but might be one of the reasons why their wireless headphones sound much better with Sony wireless sources than they do with others, because technically there shouldn't be much difference between two sound sources if they both connect to a headphone using bluetooth, since the dac and circuirty in the headphone just receives a digital signal, and then processes it and turns it into analog signals and sound. Unless the headphones and the walkman have a two-side communication so to speak, which they probably do in order to improve the sound of the Sony headphones even further. You never know what kind of tricks these huge companies with limitless budgets for research and development might pull off to make their products more satisfying for the user.
@deldia8 жыл бұрын
Noise cancelling isn't just equalisation! Don't be ridiculous.
@MaNameizJeff7 жыл бұрын
Great write up..except that it is all rubbish. Have you actually looked at the science of noise canceling? It is actually quite old and rather simple, you simply reproduce a wave form that is inverse of the noise outside of the ear and it cancels the noise out when they are both overlapping near the ear. The technology part today is simply figuring out (with DPSs of course) what is noise you want to cancel out, and to mix it in with the music without destroying the quality level of the music to a point it does not become worth it.
@zzhhcc7 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much! I've been looking for a review video forever!
@Currawong7 жыл бұрын
I'm going to try and do the 1000X as well. They are even better!
@zzhhcc7 жыл бұрын
***** I really like the hand-cover part, hope you can do that again!
@kenacquin18 жыл бұрын
My first time seeing one of your reviews. Very well put together and very informative. I'm looking for a new set of Bluetooth headphones. Active NC is a plus. I just returned a pair of Bose QC35s as I was not impressed with the Bluetooth connectivity. I'm leaning towards getting a pair of these. Most reviews seem positive. Your review filled in a lot of gaps. Thanks.
@davidzomec7 жыл бұрын
Just curious, did you get them in the end? Any opinions?
@henrikschock90307 жыл бұрын
Ive had these for 8 months now. I do agree with almost everything you say. They are really good. I use them while designing film audio The worst thing with these are the mic for speaking. My fellow friends tells me that it sound like I speak from a deep tunnel and it breaks sometimes.
@SamA-ll2dt6 жыл бұрын
Hi mate, just wanted to say that it’s really nice to find a headphone reviewer who actually knows what they are talking about. I’m sick to death of these KZbin reviewers with a million subscribers who spend 2 minutes talking about how the headphone looks, then 30 seconds on the sound and they clearly don’t know what they are talking about at all. Great video and you’ve earned yourself a subscriber :)
@Currawong6 жыл бұрын
Thanks! I had to figure this all out myself, though a few people in the industry took the time to explain things to me, which helped a lot.
@geoffcloutier21606 жыл бұрын
Cool review. I love my pair. Also if they are turned on, pressing the power button for a split second will announce the estimated battery level in low, medium or high. Peace!
@kyleolsen33058 жыл бұрын
I heard these babies at CES. Been wanting a pair ever since.
@spirtkgh8 жыл бұрын
wow! your review is great . your noise cancelling test is really impressive. i've never seen the noise cancelling test like this. however if you can, could you do a review BOSE QC35? this have bluetooth and noise-cancelling like A100ABN.
@Mickice8 жыл бұрын
I adore the basic 100AAP. Have them in Bordeaux Pink and Charcoal Black with matching SONY A25 Walmans.
7 жыл бұрын
I had these for a few months now, and i 100% agree with everything you said. On thing is a bit annoying is that you can only use it in passive mode, if it's charging. Not that big of a problem though, they last me a whole work week in the office. I still think this is the best noise cancelling bluetooth headphone on the market today.
@Currawong7 жыл бұрын
Thanks for mentioning that. That is something I forgot to test, probably because I tend to habitually charge anything I'm not using so I don't run out of battery.
@manishratan91737 жыл бұрын
Currawong how do these compare in terms of sound quality and noise cancellation with Bose qc 25?? Please reply
7 жыл бұрын
manish ratan it's much better then the bose in both qualities. Also, it important to note that on the Sony the noise cancelation is optional, so you can turn it off, but with bose you can not turn it off.
@manishratan91737 жыл бұрын
Máté Magyar thanks 😃
@manishratan91737 жыл бұрын
Máté Magyar actually I am a student and noise cancellation matters to me the most
@esprithk7 жыл бұрын
Great review. With much information
@dinfreitas8 жыл бұрын
Nice review. Keep the good work Amos.
@night_bot_dev8 жыл бұрын
How does the MDR-100 ABN compare to the regular non wireless MDR-100AAP?
@esprithk7 жыл бұрын
MDR-100ABN can be used in wired mode with NC, too. Recently, PARROT Zik 2.0 has big price discount(stock clearance). Price wise. Zik 2 is worth to take a look and cheaper than MDR-100ABN. Sound quality I like both
@esprithk7 жыл бұрын
Also, MDR-100ABN has bulit in headphone amplifier in its NC circuit. So with NC turned on, MDR-100ABN sounds better than MDR-100AAP. But just talk about MDR-100AAP, many other brand sounds better than it
@JasonRendall16 жыл бұрын
Great video , I have had these headphones for a while now and I'm impressed with them but, Is there a reason why the mic would not work when the headphones are plugged in to an Xbox One controller ?
@Currawong6 жыл бұрын
The mic only works over Bluetooth as far as I know. Once you plug them in via a cable, they become regular, passive headphones.
@EmapMe7 жыл бұрын
I have a problem where they keep disconnecting from my PC. Also, they're sort of uncomfortable to wear with glasses.
@The2pacRemixChannel7 жыл бұрын
Hi does the cheaper wired version come with the same sound quality????
@Currawong7 жыл бұрын
A few people have asked me that. It's on my list to review a pair of the wired version.
@The2pacRemixChannel7 жыл бұрын
Currawong great thanks for your reply I can't decide whether to purchase the wired version currently on sale at half price or pay a little extra and go for a pair of sennheiser momentum 2.0 wired also on sale for £199
@asdashuascar8 жыл бұрын
thanks for ur review! awesome ANC test .. please in your experience how the punchy bass and the dynamic bass are compared with the sennheiser wireless momentum or any extra bass headphone from Sony? . it is really important for me that at least these heaphones can handle a decent punchy bass compensating with eq if it were necessary ( i listen to electronic music and classical music) greetings from Bolivia!
@asdashuascar8 жыл бұрын
thanks! but in ur own experience how could you qualify the bass and the dynamics in a scale of 1 to 10?
@GoldenShip247 жыл бұрын
Hey. What was the song playing during the NC demo?
@yrocco8 жыл бұрын
Nice video. Do you think that they are worth 220€ / 250$?
@Currawong8 жыл бұрын
Absolutely. I reckon they have the sound quality of more expensive wired headphones + a good DAC/amp.
@RogueLinkz7 жыл бұрын
Great review! Do you think I should buy a pair of these over the ATH-M50x?
@Currawong7 жыл бұрын
Depends. They are a bit light on the bass, so you may not like the change. However, the greater clarity should be noticeable if you're listening to high-quality recordings.
@RogueLinkz7 жыл бұрын
Currawong oh what I meant is I'm going to buy my first decent pair of headphones now and I'm not sure if I should get these or the m50x. I like the portability on these but I'm afraid from what I've read the m50x have a better sound quality. Also does the noise canceling on these produce a noticeable noise? And is the sound quality still good while listening in a relatively quite environment with the NC off? Sorry for the spam :)
@Currawong7 жыл бұрын
There is no noise from the noise cancelling at all. It's more so a change in what outside noise can get in. What I feel is great about them is that the NC doesn't lower the sound quality at all, at least as far as I could make out.
@mehdi67977 жыл бұрын
Hello,, between Sennhiser 4.50Bt or this sony mdr100 ,, which choice? thx
@ashmeetsingh10046 жыл бұрын
Meh Ben Sony MDR 100
@donatello9564 жыл бұрын
i use both for the gym. sony sounds louder. but i guess it depends on how you feel that day
@zulesyak30288 жыл бұрын
Have you heard the ATH-MSR7? Which would be better if you compare it the A100ABN
@SundarV20017 жыл бұрын
Hello Currawong! i own the same pair and I found that the audio output via the aux cable distorts when there is some bass or even higher volumes...I had tested these with my ipad, smartphone and even my computer! the output is so nasty when i connect through the provided cable with HI-res audio and Noise cancellation turned on! is there a defect in mine?
@Currawong7 жыл бұрын
It could be overloading the input of the headphones if you set it at maximum volume. However they were primarily designed to be used wireless, including having sufficient battery life, so I consider the wired mode an afterthought.
@SundarV20017 жыл бұрын
Currawong OK, so basically I can't experience hi-res audio, right? because the Sony's website states that you'll get hi-res audio only by using aux input not wireless as it uses LDAC!
@MaNameizJeff7 жыл бұрын
Sonys term for Ldac and High res audio are actually alternating. You can either get high res audio mode (that is.. full quality analog which then gets digitized at the headphone level) or if you have a device that has Ldac, you can use Ldac wirelessly. Ldac does not actually work at 96khz and is simply using alot of tricks to get the sound transmitting as best as possible over a compressed bluetooth connection. Keep in mind though ldac support only exist in some sony phones and their walkmans, you won't see it on any iphones and currently no non-sony smartphones. It will be included in android 0.
@valikmikze7 жыл бұрын
also have them never used passive or powered on and analog signal wait a bit, android 8 will support LDAC on any phone as for the 96khz, it will stream up to 990kbps so compression will occur you will get a maximum of LPCM but who knows bluetooth 5.0 and some software updates may boost it up to a 24bit quality the issue is connection quality and availability which leads to these limitations
@wenhaosun948 жыл бұрын
Is this an on ear or over ear headphone? Is it a open back or closed back design?
@ashalaby86md8 жыл бұрын
How do they compare to the QC35 in terms of ANC?
@lorenzobecks82tube8 жыл бұрын
what you think about "standard" sony 100aap (the wired version) that is in sale about 80 euros? i have a akg y50 and a momentum 2 on ear and i am thinking to return the akg to buy this sony (but no bluetooth version...too much expensive)
@yougiely8 жыл бұрын
+Currawong M considering between 100aap vs 100abn for long term usage because I don't feel like built-in battery can healthy forever, sometimes I might use it with cable as 100aap. Any idea for this please?
@ErykDante7 жыл бұрын
There is also a wired version of these without wireless and ANC. Do you think that the wired version will sound as good through the cable as the ANC pair when using it wirelessly?
@Currawong7 жыл бұрын
That's what I'm hoping to find out at some stage. A lot of people have been asking me about the wired version.
@ErykDante7 жыл бұрын
***** Ah ok. Thanks for the reply :)
@sriramlal1287 жыл бұрын
Currawong are you gonna try the MDR-1000x as well?
@Currawong7 жыл бұрын
I hope so.
@sriramlal1287 жыл бұрын
I'll make sure to expect that then.. Because I'm not able to decide between these, the MDR1000x and Bose QC 35.
@suchetanchavan12395 жыл бұрын
sir can u give me a suggest if i had to choose between Sony h.ear on MDR-100ABN and parrot zik 2.0
@Currawong5 жыл бұрын
Never tried the Parrot Zik, sorry.
@bartusivaci69328 жыл бұрын
Do i have to charge this from my pc or can i use any samsung adaptor to charge this? i mean i don't want to make damage to the headphones. pls answer
@Currawong8 жыл бұрын
You should be able to charge it from your PC or a phone charger without any problems. The circuit will draw only the amount of energy required.
@bartusivaci69328 жыл бұрын
+Currawong thanks for information. you're awesome :)
@esprithk7 жыл бұрын
For charging it other than using a PC, I use 5V/1A (do not go over 1A)
@bartusivaci69327 жыл бұрын
my charger is 2A. it's been 6 months and still no problem. but thanks :)
@TroyArn4 жыл бұрын
so basically given that they will only sound good if the battery is charged, and since all batteries die, and this one cannot be replaced, these are disposable. correct?
@Currawong4 жыл бұрын
I don't know if it is replaceable or not. You'd have to ask Sony.
@DTSeventies-cv6tu5 ай бұрын
@@CurrawongThe battery can be replaced, for all it's worth now. The symbol is Sony SP70. I've been using mine for six years now however and it still holds up for around 20h.
@asrulhafiz2957 жыл бұрын
woww u have a lot of headphones behind u..can i have one sir? 😊
@merdogmus3356 жыл бұрын
hi please help sony mdr 100abn or beats solo3 wireless which one should i buy ???
@Currawong6 жыл бұрын
Never tried the Beats.
@Drummaboie28 жыл бұрын
Is this a special color you got to review? I've never seen this blue shade before or on tje market or the more teal blue.
@Currawong8 жыл бұрын
It might be your computer monitor displaying the colours wrong or reflections from coloured objects around my room as it was the standard black.
@Drummaboie28 жыл бұрын
+Currawong at 3:00?
@321avatar18 жыл бұрын
+Philip Lopez (Drummaboie) it's still black bro maybe it's ur monitor or the light hitting the headphones
@christianbrossette8 жыл бұрын
Is it just me or do you here Amos voice better with NC?
@cutsomeone7 жыл бұрын
don't these have a device that allows vocals when you touch the ear cup?
@Mordal12226 жыл бұрын
No, but the MDR-1000x have that feature.
@ktrigg26 жыл бұрын
How are noise canceling headphones for audiobooks?
@Currawong6 жыл бұрын
They should be fine. You might notice the remainder of the outside noise a bit more than you would with music.
@okgoofy47578 жыл бұрын
can one still listen to music without the music file being hi resolution?
@okgoofy47578 жыл бұрын
+Amos Barnett thank you for your review. have a nice day.
@jokogilbert32786 жыл бұрын
Hi Amos, I've spent wayyyy too much time now trying to pair these headphones to my Samsung TV (on phone with Fios, on phone with Sony) and no one can help me. Any suggestions? I love these headphones and had no problem at all connecting them to my phone. Help! Thank you! And yes, my TV has bluetooth :-))
@Currawong6 жыл бұрын
I've got a Bluetooth transmitter for my non-BT TV, though I haven't tried it with any of the Sony headphones. If they don't pair with anything, they could be faulty.
@jokogilbert32786 жыл бұрын
thank you :-)
@hardballcarl7 жыл бұрын
How do these sound powered but connected with a cable, better or worse than through bluetooth?
@Currawong7 жыл бұрын
Bluetooth sounds best. They seem to be focussed on the wireless quality.
@hardballcarl7 жыл бұрын
Thanks man
@esprithk7 жыл бұрын
Too bad iPhone BT does not support any of the latest codec such as APTX. ** for iPhone 6 which I have. I can still use 3.5mm audio jack to connect this MDR-100ABN and keep the audio quality while still able to use its NC function. The MDR-100ABN has built in amplifier in the NC circuit, but no DAC. For iPhone 7, I use MDR-1ADAC to connct to it via lightning cable. All music files (I use VOX music player to play FLAC and WAV from iPhone) are sent to the headphone's built-in DAC + Headphone amplifier. Audio quality is improved by very large margin(iPhone has built in Cirrus Logic ODM DAC chip but obviously the DAC in MDR-1ADAC does a better job)
@Currawong7 жыл бұрын
As far as I know, the noise cancelling is done digitally, so if you use the analogue input, it is first digitised. You might be right about the iPhone 6 though. The sound using mine as a Bluetooth source was pretty good though. I'm not 100% sure if it was APTx or not. I do need to figure that out though. Thanks for the feedback.
@esprithk7 жыл бұрын
iPhone Bluetooth neither supports APTX or LDAC. It is still using the original basic SBC (Bluetooth version has nothing to do with this). It is just shameful to have a device that is always promoting audio sound, but neither the hardware or the music store (iTunes) has evolved in the past 10 years. Competitors such as SPOTIFY, TIDAL, and (Hong Kong local) MOOV already include high-fidelity format for steaming or downloads (for offline mode), iTunes remains lossy format only. I can understand that 10years ago, smartphone have very limited storage. But we have phones that are 256GB and SD card for adding extra 200-256GB. File sizes are not an issue anymore. Also, iPhone's Cirrus Logic DAC is a good DAC. So, it is really waste of the hardware's ability. The only lucky thing that as an iPhone user, I can still install 3rd party app such as VOX or FLAC Player , as well as another app for DSD files. So, I can still export files to external DAC device via lightning and get Hi-Res sound quality.
@esprithk7 жыл бұрын
Somewhat, iPhone 7 has made a very brave and right move to cancel the 3.5mm. Now, user likes me can focus on searching a headphone with built-in DAC & amplifier. This actually is an advance step forward in comparing to the Android devices.
@TyroneCLove7 жыл бұрын
Would you say the 1000x has a much better sound than this one ?
@Currawong7 жыл бұрын
I don't know about much better, but the bass was definitely better and so the sound was overall more balanced with the 1000X.
@manishratan91737 жыл бұрын
how does this headphones compare to Bose qc 25?? Please reply
@Currawong7 жыл бұрын
Good question. I have never owned or had a pair of Bose headphones here, but the ones I've tried didn't have as good a sound-quality as these did, though the noise cancelling on the Bose was better.
@manishratan91737 жыл бұрын
Currawong Actually I am a student and noise cancellation matters quite a bit 😅😅 Can the Sony mdr 100 abn block people??
@Carbon13447 жыл бұрын
Why dont you go for the MDR 1000X? It has better NC than Boses
@manishratan91737 жыл бұрын
Yeti Bluesky Budget 😓😓
@MapleTalkative26 жыл бұрын
how much did you spend on your gear TOTAL
@Currawong6 жыл бұрын
I don't want to know :P
@j.rileylocke35316 жыл бұрын
They will not connect to my iPhone 7+ any suggestions? Asked Sony, they were no help.
@sotonkids13866 жыл бұрын
Have you hold tried holding the on/off button for 10 sec until ur iphone discover them? pressing the button for 2sec will only switch it on but not pairing mode
@rhorlandas7 жыл бұрын
how's the sound quality sir is it good?
@Artinmusicc7 жыл бұрын
ATH-m50x or MDR-100ABN?
@Currawong7 жыл бұрын
They have different sound signatures, so it depends what you are after.
@neurozero7 жыл бұрын
listen to music while at gym
@champloo27347 жыл бұрын
Cant connect these to my iphone..
@Currawong7 жыл бұрын
I did.
@champloo27347 жыл бұрын
Yea sth was wron w the phone
@ashtonjeansonne54615 жыл бұрын
Dont even show how to connect bluetooth in a 12 min long video lol smh wow
@Currawong5 жыл бұрын
That's what the instructions are for. But just for you, for pretty much every Bluetooth headphone out there: 1. Switch them on. 2. Go to Bluetooth on your phone or DAP. 3. Find the headphones and tap on their name. If the headphones are already paired, you'll have to put them in pairing mode (usually by holding down the power switch for longer after switching them on) first.
@drobena17 жыл бұрын
Why use such a good headphones for a shity phone like Iphone. Ow sorry, can we call an Iphone a smartphone, because it is a garbage and not a phone. Clearlly all of the specs of that headphones wasn't at it's best because Iphone doesn't support hi res audio. Use a phone not a garbage.