Dual-core noise reduction, lightweight, Sony WH-1000XM5 sets a new benchmark for noise reduction

In an era when true wireless headphones have become the dominant force in the headphone market, how can we create a pair of wireless noise-cancelling headphones that can win a lot of praise? In recent years, with the explosion of the true wireless Bluetooth headphone market, more and more traditional audio manufacturers have transformed into this field, completely breaking away from the past of selling wired headphones and headphones. However, this does not mean that all audio manufacturers have given up. Sony, the undisputed ace player in the headphone field, has never thought of giving up, but has continued to improve and always insisted on pursuing the perfect combination of high sound quality and popular functions.

The previously launched Sony WH-1000XM5 wireless noise-cancelling headphones are another vivid example of Sony's unwavering commitment to good sound quality. It not only proves Sony's persistence, but also fully reflects Sony's concept of balancing sound quality and popular functions. Today, let's talk about Sony's new headphones WH-1000XM5. Unboxing: A drastic new look brings a big improvement in experience. I have always liked the packaging design of Sony products. Regardless of the price, every box of Sony is carefully designed, so that users can also feel the love of the product manager for the product. The same is true for the packaging of WH-1000XM5. The front design of the cover is extremely simple. From top to bottom, there are the SONY logo, product model and the appearance of the headphones. A strong Japanese minimalist aesthetic style blows in.

The outer packaging is made of environmentally friendly mixed raw materials and does not contain any plastic materials that may pollute the environment. After removing the cover, you can see the WH-1000XM5's carrying case, which has a surface texture similar to rough paper and has the advantages of being not easy to get dirty or fingerprint-resistant.

When you open the carrying case, you can see the WH-1000XM5 earphones and the earphone connection cable. Under the semicircular cover on the top, there is a Type-A to Type-C data cable that can be used to charge the WH-1000XM5.

With this portable bag, you can better store the earphones and carry them with you. You don’t have to worry about the earphones being accidentally squeezed when you put them in the bag.

Not only that, the details of the portable bag can also be said to be a perfect design. The surface has a slightly matte feel, the light gray shell and the gold zipper head printed with the SONY logo, all of which bring out the elegant and subtle Japanese aesthetics to the fullest. If you have some research on Japanese aesthetics, I believe that when you see it in person, you will definitely smile knowingly.

The main reason why Sony prepared a carrying case for the WH-1000XM5 is that the WH-1000XM5 adopts a brand-new design. Unlike the previous generation that supports folding, the WH-1000XM5 does not support folding. However, this does not mean that the design of the WH-1000XM5 has regressed, but the new headband + earmuff design of the WH-1000XM5 makes it easier to adjust the size of the headphones.

It can also further reduce the weight of the WH-1000XM5, making it as lightweight as possible, and reducing the pressure on the user's head caused by the weight of the headphones. After actual measurement, the weight of the WH-1000XM5 is about 248.4g, which is very light among wireless noise-cancelling headphones. And thanks to the new body design mentioned above, the WH-1000XM5 can provide users with a comfortable wearing experience while being lightweight. The headband strength design is very reasonable, and there is no feeling of clamping the head when wearing it, and there is no pressure to wear it for a long time.

Back to the WH-1000XM5 itself, the inner earmuffs on both sides are very soft, and you won’t feel that it is squeezing the outside of your ears when wearing them. The inner mesh is also as soft as the earmuffs. If your ears are very sensitive to squeezing, then the earmuff design of the WH-1000XM5 will definitely satisfy you. Dual-core noise reduction: quiet, but no pressure Compared with true wireless headphones, headphones have always had the advantage of better passive noise reduction, because the large earmuffs of headphones can naturally cover the ears and provide a certain sound insulation effect. If you want to achieve a deeper level of noise reduction, then even headphones still need to be equipped with dedicated processors and noise reduction algorithms like true wireless headphones. This is already recognized common sense in the headphone market. However, the WH-1000XM5 is more complicated than common noise reduction solutions. In order to achieve the most perfect noise reduction effect, it is specially equipped with two chips and 8 microphones for this purpose.

Sony's self-developed integrated processor V1 and HD noise reduction processor QN1 can provide a very sufficient performance level for headphones to process noise, which is also the basis for WH-1000XM5 to use the data collected by 8 microphones. The 8-microphone system can collect environmental noise and provide better noise reduction effects with dual chips. The cooperation between each other allows WH-1000XM5 to have noise reduction performance far exceeding that of headphones of the same price. Because the chips are all independently developed by Sony, there are basically no headphones on the market that can exceed the noise reduction performance of WH-1000XM5 at the same price. In a coffee shop, WH-1000XM5 can completely isolate the music sound from the speakers. The ambient human voice can be completely covered after adjusting the headphone music volume to 15%, while some noise reduction headphones turn the volume up to about 70% to completely cover the human voice. For people with higher demands for noise reduction, WH-1000XM5 must be an unavoidable choice.

Since the three microphones on the outside of the headset are designed to resist wind noise, the WH-1000XM5 also performs very well in resisting wind noise. When listening to music with the window open in the car, there will only be slight noise from processing the wind noise in the first few seconds, and then the wind noise can be filtered out cleanly. For me, the most attractive thing about the WH-1000XM5 is that its noise reduction function does not feel oppressive. Before, whether I used true wireless noise-cancelling headphones of various brands or head-mounted noise-cancelling headphones, the ear pressure was very obvious, and I would feel a little dizzy after wearing it for a long time. The noise reduction function adjustment of the WH-1000XM5 is obviously very careful, and there is no feeling of dizziness at all, no sense of oppression, and it is also very comfortable to wear for a long time. Sound quality: wide sound field, clear and bright sound quality has always been the forte of Sony headphones, and the WH-1000XM5 is no exception. This time, the WH-1000XM5 uses a new 30mm driver unit developed by Sony, which uses polyurethane and carbon fiber materials to enhance the expressiveness of bass and mid- and high-frequency respectively.

At the same time, the audio circuit design using the same gold-containing lead-free solder and high-quality resistors from Sony Walkman has greatly improved the signal-to-noise ratio of WH-1000XM5 and greatly enhanced the sound details. After actual testing, the separation of the three frequencies of high, medium and low frequencies of WH-1000XM5 can be said to be very good. The bass is powerful enough, but not excessive, and the strength is just right; the mid-frequency sound is very clear, and the male voice does not sound dull. Music such as R&B and folk songs will sound like the music quality has been upgraded. The treble is very smooth, not simply raising the high frequency when tuning, but taking into account the overall EQ frequency band for targeted adjustments. The advantage of this is that when listening to female voices, the sound will not feel harsh. Objectively speaking, the sound performance of WH-1000XM5 has Sony's usual tuning style. The three-frequency listening experience is very balanced, and the music details are also very delicate and in place. No matter what type of music you like, WH-1000XM5 will be recognized as a good headset, and you will never go wrong with it for listening to music.

In addition to the conventional sound quality adjustment, Sony WH-1000XM5 also brings more surprising features. The advanced version of DSEE Extreme digital sound enhancement engine can enhance the quality of digital audio in real time through Edge-AI technology, making the sound of music richer and fuller. When using Bluetooth wireless connection, you can also enjoy a listening experience far beyond other wireless headphones. Equipped with DNN technology and microphone beamforming technology, it further improves call quality and increases the practicality of the product in daily life. Intelligence: Humanized and easier to use Nowadays, as we have more and more electronic devices, when we want to switch headphones among multiple devices, we can only disconnect the headphones in the currently connected device before we can connect the paired headphones. The WH-1000XM5 brings a new multi-point connection technology that can connect two devices at the same time. Whichever device plays the sound can automatically switch to the corresponding device, and there is no need to manually connect.

When a call comes in to any of the devices, the WH-1000XM5 can automatically switch to the calling device to answer the call, truly achieving a seamless experience without taking off the headphones or operating the Bluetooth connection. It is suitable for users who often need to wear headphones or use multiple electronic devices, and can significantly improve the convenience of daily life. In order to ensure that the user's hearing is not damaged by the excessive volume of the headphones, the WH-1000XM5 Headphones Connect App has added a safe listening function, which will compare the volume and sound pressure recorded by the headphones with the World Health Organization guidelines. If the results show that the current sound pressure will cause damage to ear health, the App will pop up a window to inform the user.

Because it is not convenient to take off and put on headphones, it is inevitable that you don’t want to take them off frequently when communicating with others. However, due to the sound insulation of the headphones, you often can’t hear what others are saying. Therefore, WH-1000XM5 has also prepared two functions for this scenario. The first is the quick reminder function. You only need to cover the right earmuff with your palm to quickly reduce the music volume and amplify the ambient volume to meet the needs of communicating with others.

If you think this function is not convenient enough, then it is recommended to try the smart free-to-remove function. When communicating with others and starting to speak, the WH-1000XM5 will automatically pause the music and amplify the ambient sound. Even if both hands are busy, you can still hear what others say without affecting normal communication. In summary, the overall strength of the WH-1000XM5 is definitely the strongest product in the same price range. From the first time you see its packaging, you can deeply appreciate Sony's attention to this headset. The details and materials of the packaging box have once again proved to the market that Sony's design aesthetic level is high. The new appearance design also makes the WH-1000XM5's ease of use and ergonomics level a level higher. The overall lightweight performance is enough for people to wear it for a longer time than the previous generation. For a product that has been sold on the market for a long time, Sony dares to make such a big change when it changes generations. People have to admire Sony's courage. The use of dual noise reduction chips and 8 microphones enables the WH-1000XM5 to have the highest noise reduction capabilities among products in the same price range. The addition of multiple technologies such as 30mm driver units has further deepened the general public's impression of Sony's "black technology" image. Sony is probably the only one in the market that can perfectly combine excellent sound quality and popular functions, and it has to be said that this is Sony's most attractive "black technology."

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.