These Headphones are Simply Amazing: Sony WH-1000XM3 Review

As a Computer enthusiast, I look for many things when buying a computer. I look at the type of components being used, the hardware, etc. However, this one component, looked over by many, has always been the one of the main key selling points for me. If said computer has a powerful enough DAC/audio chipset. I love listening to Rap/Hip-Hop with heavy bass, you might even say I thrive on Bass lol. In fact, having a DAC that can deliver the best audio quality while maintaining strong bass has always been one of my key factors in purchasing a motherboard or laptop. Okay, so your computer has a powerful DAC, so what? To drive that chipset, you need the right pair of headphones. That brings me to my main point. Today, I received a pair of Sony WH-1000XM3's from Ebay for $179.95. I bought them Like-new, pristine condition with the original box and accessories included. This pair of headphones retail for $348.00 @ Amazon and Adorama. So yeah, a pretty decent bargain. The headphones itself look fantastic. I bought mine in the Black option, which comes with a gold accent along the Sony Logo. They came with a big, sturdy-ish carrying case, which I thought was really nice. Inside the case came the USB-C charging cable, travel adapter for flights, and a decently long AUX cable.

Let's move onto the features: the headphones come with a very high-end ANC (Active Noise Cancelling) chip. My honest opinion about the ANC; it's just out of this world. I had put the headphones on for the first time, not even turned on yet, and I could barely even hear what was going on around me. I turned the headphones on, and man, that ANC is amazing. I began to download the "Sony Headphone Connect" app from the App Store, where you pair the headphones. I did run into a bit of trouble here, where the app would not detect my headphones. However, after going into Settings and pairing the headphones through bluetooth, returning back to the Sony App it connected flawlessly. The app then greeted me with a picture of my headphones, the battery percentage and features enabled.

Features like Adaptive Sound Control, Ambient Sound Control, The Optimizer and the equalizer were all options I had messed around with. I seemed to notice that to get the best bass results, I had to disable adaptive sound control as it was lowering the sound and EQ levels automatically. But I guess that's fine because the  "Adaptive" feature was working... But just not in my liking. I did keep Ambient Sound Control on with noise cancelling off, since I couldn't hear a damn thing with music playing anyways. Then I began messing around with the Equalizer. First thing I noticed was that I had to turn off equalizer on Spotify. They were combating each other, so I disabled Spotify's, and began to edit the Sony EQ. I used the Bass Boost setting with 400hz pushed to about a level of 3. I also pushed the 16k frequency to about 1, and put the "Clear Bass" setting to a max of 10. This helped me achieve the best bass possible. The sound quality was crisp and clear, while the bass was hard as possible.

  As you advance down the screen, the App will report the music playing, asks if you would like to setup 360 Reality Audio (can only be used with certain apps like Tidal). It also included the option to enable or disable DSEE HX. DSEE HX is basically Sony's technology to "upscale the existing sound source to a near high-res sound quality". However, I really didn't hear any difference with this option turned on or off, so I kept it as auto.

All in All, these pair of headphones have been amazing. Seamless connectivity, great sound quality, a really good/sturdy build quality, and very comfy cushions. If you are looking for amazing headphones, these are the one's worth investing in.