Sony 1000X The Collexion Review – Setting a new bar for sound and comfort

Sony has carved out a name for themselves with its 1000X series of over-ear headphones since the debut of the first MDR-1000X in late 2016.

Their most recent mainstream offering, the WH-1000XM6 released last year still retains its status as one of the best over-ear headphones in the market though its latest offering aims to usurp it in comfort and sound quality.

To celebrate over a decade of audio excellence, Sony has released a special variant, the WH-1000X The Collexion that aims to dial comfort, craftsmanship and sound quality to eleven. After spending several weeks testing it, it emerged as a strong, distinct alternative to its sibling the WH-1000XM6 though it comes at a considerably higher price tag.

The 1000X The Collexion headphones are a step up in price, clocking in at RM2,799, which is an RM800 increase over the standard WH-1000XM6 headphones though it has a number of unique features that go beyond mere aesthetics. If you’re on the fence, our Sony 1000X The Collexion review shares our findings on whether this pair of premium headphones are worth its asking price.

Sony 1000X The Collexion Review – Build and Design

Out of the box, our Sony 1000X The Collexion review sample sports a posh looking hard case featuring textured fabric, a magnetic clasp and a carrying handle integrated into the upper portion. The textured fabric finish helps resist smudges and also makes the case easier to grip while the magnetic clasp resists the typical wear and tear of a conventional zippered case. 

The star of the show, the 1000X The Collexion headphones are stored within the case and the package ships with a 3.5mm audio cable that can be neatly stowed into a dedicated recess in the case itself. Oddly, it lacks a USB-C charging cable though this isn’t a deal breaker.

At first blush, our Sony 1000X The Collexion review sample looks and feels suitably premium with the design consisting of an off-white padded headband wrapped in faux leather, similarly well padded cans with matching off-white finishes and chrome-accented stainless steel hinges.

The stainless steel hinges slide smoothly up and down and each can is also able to rotate 180-degrees to allow it to lay flat. If the off-white finish doesn’t quite appeal, you can also pick up the 1000X The Collexion in a shade of matte black.

Up close, the left earcup features a power button, a toggle for noise cancelling/ambient sound mode, a listening mode button as well as a 3.5mm audio jack while the right earcup features a single USB-C port for charging.

The headphones also feature touch support with the right earcup featuring a flat control surface that supports swipe and tap touch controls with a surprising level of interactivity.

A double tap lets you play or pause playback while a back-to-front swipe from edge to edge lets you skip a track while doing so in reverse rewinds back to the beginning.

Holding your finger down on the surface lets you fast forward while swiping backwards and holding down lets you quickly reverse a track. Swiping upwards lets you increase the volume while swiping downwards decreases the volume. 

If something pressing demands your attention, you can use the palm of your hand to cup the entire touch sensor on the right earcup to trigger Quick Attention mode that temporarily lowers music volume and lets you hear announcements around you like train timings or to have a quick chat with a waiter.

Donning it feels exquisite, almost as if wearing a crown though it is noticeably heavier at 320g than the WH-1000XM6 which only weighs 254g.

Fortunately, it doesn’t feel as heavy as the headband has significant padding along with the earcups that are lined with memory foam to provide a measure of passive noise insulation.

While it isn’t as compact as the WH-1000XM6, The Sony 1000X The Collexion is still flat enough to slide into a backpack though it’s still a bit too chunky to put into a handbag. 

Unfortunately, like the WH-1000XM6, the 1000X The Collexion lacks dust and water resistance so it isn’t particularly suited for usage outdoors.

Sony 1000X The Collexion Review – Setup and Performance

On paper,  the Sony 1000X The Collexion headphones are not so much a successor to the earlier WH-1000XM6 but a general-issue, more premium variant with enhanced build quality, tuning by Grammy Award-winning mastering engineers along with subtle enhancements across the board, with the notable inclusion of thicker copper foil on the circuit board to reduce electrical resistance and offer richer detail and clarity. 

While it retains the same 30mm drivers as its sibling, our Sony 1000X The Collexion review sample features an enhanced Integrated Processor V3 chip which is able to offer improved noise cancellation, better spatial sound and sound quality.

The V3 chip also confers Native DSEE Ultimate capability which leverages AI to upscale typically compressed content like MP3s or streaming audio services for better sound quality. 

Like its sibling, the WH-1000XM6, the 1000X Collexion works straight out of the box but requires the free Sound Connect app on your phone to gain access to most of its higher functions and to tweak equaliser settings.

Like the XM6, the headphones also support multipoint pairing with two devices and it was easily able to pair up and swap between a Windows laptop and my Galaxy Z Fold8 test phone without issue when I needed to divert attention from one to the other to take calls, play videos and the like.

Within the Sound Connect app, users are able to default to standard settings or swap to one of three new 360 Upmix settings for Music, Cinema and Game that tweak standard stereo sound into more immersive spatial audio.

Last but not least, users are also able to swap over to a rather novel Background Music mode that muffles tracks so that it sounds like a background track in a cafe.

The app also allows you to select from multiple equaliser presets  with available Hard, Soft, Game, Heavy and Clear settings or tweak your own.

The headphones offer wireless connectivity via Bluetooth 6.0 with support for SBC, AAC, LDAC and LC3 codecs as well as wired via the 3.5mm audio jack though it unfortunately lacks support for wired listening via the USB-C port. 

When put to the test, our Sony 1000X The Collexion review sample proved to be a treat and was capable of tackling almost all genres from classical to EDM.

On the default Standard mode with some tweaking, it offered a spacious soundstage with a deftly tuned balance of lows, mids and highs, along with superb separation and detail. Subtle tracks like Vaughan William’s The Lark Ascending were rendered due justice, with its subtle violin and flute work sounding distinct even as they were gradually layered throughout the song.

Subtler tracks like Télépopmusik’s Breathe sounded fuller with the late Angela McCluskey’s voice sounding richer and separated from the layered musical accompaniment without either overwhelming the track. 

On the other end of the spectrum, Bear McCreary’s drum-heavy Prelude to War with its bass-heavy taiko drums sounded a bit more restrained but with the opportunity to appreciate the other instruments in the orchestra like the duduk which often gets overshadowed by the drum-heavy arrangement. 

The new DSEE Ultimate literally broadened my acoustic horizons with its upscaling capabilities, making my aged MP3 collection of kitschy indie tracks and Cantopop from high school which were ripped at a middling 128kbps, soundricher and with more prominent distinction between instruments and vocals.

If you’re looking to give your tracks a bit more immersive, the 360 Upmix mode is able to lend music a broader virtual soundstage though this also disables equaliser and DSEE Ultimate modes at the same time. Your results may vary, though. 

In 360 Upmix’s Game mode, extraneous noise like background music gets muted out in favour of more critical audio feedback like direction gunfire.

In Warzone, the usual moody tracks were noticeably muted out in favour of louder, more directed gunfire sounds and other audio cues like frag grenades and announcements which helps with better situational awareness.

360 Upmix’s Cinema mode was a bit of a mixed bag and offered slightly better positional audio in some movies and better mids along with clearer audio which . The biggest game changer, though, is 360 Upmix’s Music mode which offers the broadest, most immersive soundstage of all available settings and added nuances even to familiar tracks.

When it comes to active noise cancellation performance, our Sony 1000X The Collexion review unit has the exact setup as the WH-1000XM6 and was able to blissfully mute out most ambient background noise and conversations on the train, helped in part by its comfortable, snug fit.

In terms of comfort, our Sony 1000X The Collexion review sample offered a well-balanced amount of clamping force without being overly restrictive or uncomfortable, allowing for extended usage sessions spanning several hours at a time. 

When it comes to battery life, our Sony 1000X The Collexion review unit offers up a decent 24 or so hours of playback on paper which is less than the quoted 30 hours on the older WH-1000XM6 with ANC on. 

On average, I used it for about four or so hours a day for listening to music and calls at work, lasting a good four or so days with a combination of ANC on and off before it needed a recharge. 

Recharging is relatively straightforward by hooking it up to the mains via the integrated USB-C port. In a pinch, a 5-minute charge is able to offer a respectable 1.5 hours of playback which is enough to survive a short drive.

Should you buy the Sony 1000X The Collexion?

The Sony 1000X The Collexion costs quite a bit more than the standard WH-1000XM6 headphones but brings to the table enhanced comfort for extended use and more premium build quality while offering excellent noise cancelling performance as well as more spacious, balanced sound.

If you have the cash to spare and desire something comfortable for extended listening experiences, this comes highly recommended.

Specifications
Price RM2,799
Headphone Type 30mm drivers
Frequency response 4Hz – 40,000Hz (Connected with headphones on)/ 20Hz – 40,000 Hz (LDAC 96 KHz 990 kbps, Bluetooth)
Connectivity Bluetooth 6.0 w/ A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP, TMAP, PBP, GMAP, Stereo mini jack
Supported formats SBC, AAC, LDAC, LC3
Battery 24 hours (ANC on), 32 hours (ANC off)
Weight 320g

Sony 1000X The Collexion review sample courtesy of Sony Malaysia. For more details visit https://www.sony.com.my/headphones/products/1000x-the-collexion?sku=wh-1000xx-wze