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WH-1000XM6 is the new, flagship wireless noise-canceling headphone from Sony. It has a new design; more comfortable, better noise cancellation, new features, and most importantly, Sony’s best sound yet in a noise-cancelling headphone. XM6 offers excellent value for $449 in silver, blue or black. 

Sony is an industry leader in noise-canceling headphones, which are super-popular because you can enjoy music in a noisy coffee shop, at the gym, on an airplane…and hear your music clearly. You can also control the amount of noise-canceling, ideal if you’re out for a walk, and want to be aware of traffic and other people. 

A nice upgrade: XM6 is a dual-hinged headphone, like the XM4, so it folds up to fit an easy-closing case that’s much smaller than XM5’s. It has a magnetic clasp and no zipper. XM6 wins big if you travel! Let’s talk about 5 upgrades Sony made vs their XM5: 

Comfort upgrades vs the previous XM5: Both XM5 and 6 are over-ear closed-back phones, so you can listen at pretty loud levels and not disturb others. The earpads are very soft synthetic leather, and quite comfy. The headband is wider than XM5, for long wearing times. It’s still lightweight at just over a half-pound; you can wear them for hours. The earcups even fold down when you put them around your neck, a nice touch. 

Noise cancellation upgrades: XM6’s noise canceling is superb, as good as we’ve heard. Sony is using an adaptive noise canceling system, with 12 beam-forming microphones vs 8 mics in the XM5. Using AI, it updates in real time as the outside noise changes! 

There is also a huge upgrade of 7 times faster processing power, with the Sony QN3 chip vs their prior QN1. You can also let some noise in by cupping your hand over the right earcup, so you can easily converse with someone, then back to full noise canceling. The benefit is you get really quiet noise canceling. The other benefit of much faster processing power is better call quality when a friend rings you up.

Sound quality upgrades: There are all-new drivers in XM6, and yes, music sounds better than with Sony’s XM5. They won’t sonically beat our $5,000 headphones, but they sound very good for the price. You’ll hear deep bass notes more clearly than with XM5; bottom end that’s punchy and detailed. Allman Brother’s Whipping Post has a great opening bass line – it sounds terrific. You’ll hear good midrange clarity with your favorite singers, and clear high-end notes, such as cymbal crashes.

All new Sony Sound Connect app: You get a 10-band custom EQ, which is a terrific addition. XM6 sounds good out of the box, and you can customize it further to your tastes. Plus, you can store several different curves for different situations; one with some bass boost for older tracks, another for modern music, etc. 

With Ambient Sound Control, the Sound Connect app detects your actions, and auto-switches to take in ambient sound. It stores it; you get best performance both at your noisy gym, and in your quiet home. The 360-degree spatial audio up-mixer isn’t exactly Dolby Atmos, but is an interesting take on getting the spatial image moved beyond the normal headphone experience

Other Upgrades: there is a large power on/off button, so your fingers won’t confuse the power button with the much-smaller active noise canceling button. That eliminates a common complaint on earlier versions of this product. You get a Bluetooth 5.3 upgrade from the XM5’s Bluetooth 5.2, so you get less connection interference and more stable connections

The earpads also get a nice upgrade, in that years from now, when the earpads get worn, they pull off easily for replacement. That’s a big deal if you have ever had to ditch a pair of nice ‘phones because the earpads were shot. The XM6 also comes with a 3.5 mm headphone jack cable, great for air travel, and a short but handy USB charging cable. Both fit easily in the case.

Battery life: if you charge via USB connection, Sony specifies a max of 30 hours with Noise Cancellation on; a max 40 hours with ANC off. It’s nice that you can charge XM6 while listening to music too. The FastCharge feature translates just 3 minutes of charging into 3 hours of listening. Boarding a plane from Denver to Chicago? Get to the airport with 5 minutes to spare, spend 3 minutes charging, and get a flight full of music.

Sony’s new WH-1000 XM6 headphones are a significant upgrade vs their WH-1000 XM5. They are easier to travel with, better sounding, more comfortable, and have even better adaptive noise canceling. For more information on XM6 and all our great brands, check it out on Gramophone.com, and to pick up your own pair, go to SKYbyGramophone.com, for fast and free shipping straight to your door. Thank you for reading this, and please let us know your thoughts: ask@gramophone.com.