Sony Launches Flagship Noise-Canceling Headphones for Wired, Wireless Use
Sony’s making a bold move in the noise-cancellation headphone category, with a set of $399 over-the-ear phones with multiple-button operation and optional wired and wireless operation. The company demo’d the MDR-1000X headphones in New York under embargo last week and…
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put them on preorder Thursday before sales begin in October at Amazon, through Sony dealers and at B&H and InMotion Entertainment locations. The MDR-1000X, the standard bearer of the Sony headphone line, has dual noise sensor technology and a personal noise-canceling optimizer to tailor the amount of canceling for individual ears, even taking into account users' hair styles and whether they wear glasses, said the company. The headphones support Hi-Res Audio in wired mode through the company’s S-Master HX audio amplifier, it said. The headphones also can operate in wireless Bluetooth mode, and the company’s LDAC technology is said to deliver three times the audio quality of standard Bluetooth streaming. When users listen to files in MP3, ACC, ATRAC and WMA, the MDR-1000X’s built-in DSEE HX technology upscales the compressed files to “near Hi-Res Audio” quality, it said. The headphones have a “quick attention” mode that’s activated when users place a hand on the side of the headphone’s shell to disable noise canceling and allow natural sound to come through, the company demo'd, giving a use case of a flight attendant taking a drink order on a plane. The MDR-1000X’s are customizable. Through a button, users can change the noise-canceling settings to hear ambient sounds around them to fit their surroundings. Battery life is given as 20 hours. The headphones come with a case, audio and power cables, and an adapter for airplane use, said the company.