What makes a really great pair of headphones? The basic answer used to be sound quality, but modern headphones offer so much more than just audio chops. Think premium designs in on-trend colorways, active noise cancellation (ANC), wireless connectivity, multiple microphones for crystal-clear calling, and voice assistant support—not to mention travel-friendly, foldable designs and huge batteries for long-haul convenience. There are even customizable smartphone apps offering minute control over your cans’ EQ and operation, and low-latency modes for smoother gaming and videos.
But what happens if you remove the aesthetics, the high-tech features and brand preconceptions, and just listen to them? Armed with a blindfold and six of the most popular pairs of over-ear headphones available, WIRED commandeered a recording studio in East London to find out.
Brave enough to take part in our blind listening test was Isabel Gracefield, producer, cowriter, and head engineer at London-based RAK Studios; Ian Lambden, a vastly experienced audio postproduction engineer; songwriter and producer Steph Marziano, who has worked with the likes of Hayley Williams from Paramore; and Mike Kintish—award-winning genre-spanning songwriter and producer, who has collaborated with artists including Becky Hill and Jonas Blue.
As for the headphones on test—and with the exception of the Nothing Headphone (01), which had not officially launched at the time of testing—each has received rapturous praise and accolades in numerous publications, including WIRED. The all-star lineup included the Sony WH‑1000XM6 ($448/£399), Nothing Headphones (1) ($299/£299), Soundcore Space One Pro ($200/£150), Bose QuietComfort Ultra (1st Gen) ($429/£350), Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 ($449/£399), and the latest version of the Airpods Max ($549/£499).
Each expert was interviewed separately and had no prior knowledge of the headphones or brands being tested. They were not allowed to touch the headphones while listening—anyone who has worn the AirPods Max will be familiar with the metal casing, for instance—and, in the interests of keeping it as fair and mainstream as possible, we only played them Blinding Lights by The Weeknd, which, with 4.9 billion streams, was, at the time, the most listened to track on Spotify. Cruel but fair.
ANC was turned on for all headphones—much to the annoyance of our experts—and we streamed at Spotify Premium's 320 Kbps (the test was carried out before Spotify Lossless was released). This too elicited a less-than-positive response from our hi-res–loving team, but as this is how the majority of people listen, we deemed it the fairest assessment. Each pair of headphones was given a letter—A, B, C, D, E, F—and the testers were free to switch between pairs to compare and contrast. The contenders were as follows:
- A: Sony WH-1000XM6
- B: Soundcore Space One Pro
- C: Apple AirPods Max
- D: Bose QuietComfort Ultra (1st Gen)
- E: Nothing Headphones (1)
- F: Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3
What followed was a genuine shock to all involved. It’s not every day someone says, “No, no, no, I don't want to listen to them anymore. The low end is bad. Oh, that's bad!” when listening through an award-winning pair of luxury headphones.
A: Sony WH‑1000XM6
The latest flagship headphones from Sony join a long line of highly regarded cans with superb noise canceling, powered by a new QN3 processor and 12 microphones. They have up to 30 hours of battery life, multipoint Bluetooth connectivity, business-class looks and price to match. Reviewers have repeatedly highlighted the quality of the noise canceling, comfort, and refined sound.
First up was Isabel Gracefield, who found Sony “thin in comparison with B [Soundcore], with a “noticeable dip in the lead vocal levels.” After standing some time listening to Apple and Bose, she relistened to Sony and felt they were “flatter than the others and vaguely unexciting.” But she did praise the “much higher frequency detail” compared to D (Bose).
Ian Lambden, was also less than impressed. “I didn’t enjoy that. The noise canceling was good, but there’s no midrange. All I could hear was a lot of synth bass and then a little of the high end.” After listening to a few options, Lambden asked to listen to Sony again to rule out any possible first-listening issues. Sadly for Sony, this was not the case, “For me, they lack an overall quality at both the top and bottom end. There did seem to be a bit more midrange than when I first listened, but they definitely don't have the full frequency range that some of the other players do.”