Somewhere out there are a ton of folks who are dotty for basso . Perhaps you ’re one of them ? If so , Sony wants you to know it sees you , and it has your next set ofwireless headphones . I ’m talk about theSony ULT Wear — in effect a Modern version of its midrangeWH - XB910Nwith a mercifully unsubdivided name . And this solidification of wireless , noise - canceling headphonesshould satisfy even the biggest basso head in more ways than one .
In increase to a lot of new features , Sony also has lower the price . The ULT Wear betray for $ 200 , whereas the XB910N launched at $ 250 .
How much thunder do these cans create , and should you grease one’s palms them even if your audio tastes tend to favour frequency that wo n’t rattle your dental work loose ? I ’ve spent a few workweek with the ULT Wear , and here ’s what you need to get laid .
Evolved design
Sony ’s ULT Wear might have a fancy new name , but they should be straightaway intimate to anyone who has used their harbinger . Sony has retain a mickle of elements from the WH - XB910N , let in the fold - up / fold - flat design that has earned enduring popularity among phone enthusiasts . Also unaltered is the ready to hand zip up travel case , the included 3.5 mm analog cablegram , and Sony ’s criterion ( and preposterously brusque ) USB - ascorbic acid charging cable .
The earcups are now a act compact , but the buttons and touch controls are well-nigh superposable . Well , except for one very openhanded difference : the obvious and bright colour ULT button that sit on the outer edge of the left earcup . I ’ll talk about this button ( and what happens when you constrict it ) in a moment .
A new semicircular penetrate grille peeks out from the top of both earcups , giving the new beamforming mics considerably confidential information protection . Sony has also streamline the flavor of the headband , picking up a few pattern cues from its flagshipWH-1000XM5along the way .
There ’s also been a subtle advance in the overall notion of lineament — the ULT Wear ’s junction and hinges are less creaky . Then there are the colors . The ULT Wear comes in the standard Shirley Temple Black , plus two Modern options : white and forest gray .
The rest of the changes are invisible . The number one wood have been redesign to give rise deep basso . combat-ready noise cancellation is now power by the same V1 chip that Sony has used on theWF-1000XM4wireless earbudsand several other models . jade sensors have been added , and you get head - tracking spatial audio on prime Android machine . There ’s also a novel sidetone option for hearing your voice more clearly on ANC modal value outcry .
Hard on the head
I ’ve always loved the way Sony headphones fit . They incline to be sluttish , yet secure , and the over - ear model always play nicely with monocle . But something has interchange in the figure of the ULT Wear . On my head , they ’re not as comfortable as late Sony cans . After wear thin them for about 45 minutes , the top of my head was not well-chosen and I could n’t wait to take them .
Upon snug inspection , the ULT Wear ’s headband is slenderly narrower ( 23 mm ) than the WH - XB910N ( 26 mm ) . That does n’t go like much , but it seems to make a departure .
This is really unfortunate because the earcushions are actually more comfortable — they sit more firmly and make a good seal with the sides of my nous .
paroxysm is one of the most subjective aspects of headphones and earbuds limited review . What exploit for me may not work for you and vice versa . For what it ’s deserving , I ca n’t find another ULT Wear review that gibe with me on this — so maybe I ’m the problem . If you have a sensible jacket crown area and have had comfort problems with phone in the past , I strongly propose you find a store that lets you try the ULT Wear on before you bribe .
Still no USB-C audio
Now that theiPhone 15 has a USB - C port wine , headphone makers are start to realize that this represents a great chance . Not only can you reload earpiece ( or earbuds ) from this porthole , you could also play lossless digital medicine at up to 24 - bit/192kHz , with no arranger needed . Beats has enabled USB - C on both itsStudio ProandSolo 4headphones , as hasMaster & Dynamic , Sennheiser , andBowers & Wilkins .
I ’m somewhat baffle that Sony remains a laggard , peculiarly when it has championed both wire and wirelesshi - rhenium audiofor so many year .
It ’s also worth mentioning that you still ca n’t habituate the ULT Wear while charge unless you at the same time link the 3.5 mm analog cable .
The ULT Wear ’s controls are the same as Sony ’s flagships : strong-arm button for power / pair off and switching ANC modes , and touch controls on the right earcup for everything else . They ’re easy to practice and very intuitive , and my only complaint is that there ’s no way to use them unless you have bare hired hand or capacitive - touch - compatible baseball mitt .
Limited spatial audio support
I ’m please that Sony has addedhead - tracked spatial audioto the ULT Wear . I just care you could really use it . It only work on Android and Samsung — the most popular Android smartphone maker by a huge perimeter — has disabled the stock Android spatial audio feature of speech so as to upgrade its own Samsung - only version .
That fairly much will Google , Motorola , and Xiaomi as the only handset manufacturers that stand Sony ’s tech . What ’s even more frustrating is that even if you own one of these phones , spatial support is limited to just a few apps . The only one I was able-bodied to try was Netflix .
It sound … ok . spacial audio onTop Gun : Maverickprovided deeper immersion than you ’d get from two - channel stereo , and the head tracking work as well as any implementation of this tech that I ’ve tried . But give its extremely limited accessibility , you should n’t buy the ULT Wear in the Leslie Townes Hope of get anAirPods Maxexperience on the cheap .
Unholy amounts of bass
It can be easily argued that even the WH - XB910N , with their frequency response of 7Hz to 25,000Hz , already were capable of reproducing bass at levels far below the door of human hearing . ( That ’s typically 20Hz . ) However , some believe that there is time value in abject oftenness that are felt , not heard . Sony ’s designers clearly fall into this refugee camp because the ULT Wear get-up-and-go that low end even lower , all the way down to 5Hz . How low is 5Hz ? quake mostly beam seismic wavesmainly in the frequency reach of 0.01 Hz to 10 Hz .
Thankfully , the ULT Wear give you an sluttish path to keep in line your newfound ability to shake your skull into its component parts . The ULT clit triggers three modes in sequence : off > ULT 1 > ULT 2 . The off mood just means that your strait is being keep in line by your pick of EQ preset ( or manual scope ) in the Sony Headphones app . you’re able to almost opine of this as the ULT Wear in XB910N mode .
The ULT mode are basically two levels of bass enhancement that sit down on top of your EQ preset . ULT 1 is a moderate bass part cost increase , while ULT 2 is a bigger leap . If you start in theSpeechpreset , for example , these encouragement are noticeable , but keep you well within what we ’d count a normal balance of frequencies . It ’s not until you start out in theNormalpreset that ULT 1 and 2 jump to let on their dependable baron . And if you ’re goosey enough to start inBass Boostmode , get ready for a dotty ride as ULT 2 pushes the drivers to their high possible bass output .
This maximum bass voice setting sound moderately rough . Those ultra - blue frequencies sum quivering , which can go a lot like straining . On basso - sonorous track like 50 Cent’sIn Da Clubor Billie Eilish’sbad guy cable , I found it completely overwhelming . Still , I can see it being kinda fun when playing video games — it ’s like a rumble pack for your head — I just ca n’t suppose of many medicine tracks that will gain .
I have a notion most common people will use the ULT button for some impermanent surplus low-pitched - destruction . Like a turbo - battery charger on a car , it ’s there for when you need it , but most of the time you ’ll cruise around without it .
The good news is that if you implement the ULT modes judiciously ( or ignore them entirely ) , the ULT Wear can sound very good . Sony ’s tuning veers toward a more bass part - forward display by nonremittal , but thanks to the app ’s presets and manual EQ modal value , there ’s plenty of room for pinch .
clearness has improved versus the XB910N , which edges the ULT Wear closer toWH-1000XM4 / XM5territory , while not quite matching the faithfulness you ’ll get from Sony ’s flagships . If you ’re an audiophile , the ULT Wear is n’t going to scratch your itch for radical - premium sound .
Android user who find themselves in a nice quiet situation and have sentence for some critical listening should decidedly switch to Sony ’s LDACBluetooth codec . It reduce the amount of compaction , and there can be obtrusive increases in preciseness as both highs and lows give way to more mid - frequency detail .
Improved ANC
ANC on the XB910N already was very capable , and the ULT Wear kicks up a notch , once again dim the lines between Sony earphone modelling . Measuring the performance conflict between them and theWH-1000XM4needs a finer pawn than my casual examination can disclose . dealings sounds , machinery disturbance , even the background din at a restaurant were all nicely muted . I think the bigger taradiddle with the ULT Wear is that farting disturbance had almost no force on ANC — a welcome improvement over their predecessor . It ’s so good , that Sony has even eliminated the wind noise setting in the Headphones app — you do n’t necessitate it any longer .
foil mode , specially when localize to upper limit in the app , is also very equal to . I persist a handsome fan of the cover - the - rightfulness - earcup gesture , which engages transparence temporarily .
Here ’s a tip : When you spread the Sony Headphones app for the first sentence , you ’ll be encouraged to turn on Adaptive Sound Control . I do n’t commend it . It will attempt to guess when and where you should be in transparency versus ANC manner . Maybe I ’m just irregular , but its dead reckoning were awful , and I regain myself fighting with it constantly .
Uneven calls
The ULT Wear do a estimable problem of handling noisy locations while on calls than the XB910N , but not by a mountain . They still struggle when your background is boisterous , and though your callers may never get wind all of that ruckus , they ’ll have a difficult time hearing you too .
Still , when thing are quieter , they volunteer exonerated and natural vox cartridge . The newfangled sidetone option calledCapture Voice During a Callis perplexing . It supposedly lets the sound of your voice come through the speakers when ANC is engaged , but I ’m only going to give it a 5/10 — my voice still seemed muffled to me .
On the other hand , if you switch to transparency ( which you may do while on a call ) , you ’ll hear yourself perfectly — this is the modal value I ’d recommend for most call option .
Faster charging
I ’ve never had cause to quetch about battery life on Sony ’s headphones ( its earbuds are a different story ) and the ULT Wear offer the same hefty performance as their precursor : about 30 hours with ANC on and up to 50 hours when it ’s off .
These numbers take a hit if you listen at louder than 50 % or if you engage the LDAC codec , but you should still get more than a full twenty-four hours of operation out of these can . If you do n’t , the straightaway - accusation time has been improved a fiddling : 3 minutes get you 90 minute of extra playtime , while 10 minute gets you up to 5 hours .
Who are they for?
With the ULT Wear , Sony has done precisely the correct things to keep its mid - tier headphone devotee glad . They ’re more affordable than their predecessors , yet they pack some pregnant advance in areas like levelheaded pellucidity , call quality , and ANC . And though the consecrated ULT button might feel a bit gimmicky , pressing it unleash astonishing amounts of redundant low - remnant boost .
