Background: I upgraded from a pair of Sony MDR-ZX650 to these, so I'm used to Sony's sound. However this is my first set of Bluetooth or other wireless headphones and also my first encounter with noise cancelling tech. Been using them daily for about 3 weeks at this point. Used primarily with a Windows 10 PC via a Logitec USB bluetooth dongle; also tested with an AGPTek MP3 player.
Pros:
- Sound is good across all sorts of music. A touch heavier on bass than I usually go for, but it's minor, and a tweak of Winamp's EQ fixes this fine. Things basically sound exactly like they are supposed to. My collection includes a great variety of music - rock, synthwave, classical, prog, folk, enka, J-pop and more - and these headphones deliver sound very clearly across the spectrum; this is my experience with most Sony headphones (except the Xtra Bass series, of course). If you tend to like Sony headphones, chances are you'll be happy with the sound quality.
- No noticeable lag. I use them for gaming too, and there's no perceptible delay between action and audio feedback, at least for me.
- Pretty good battery life. I don't always remember to charge them, and in the three weeks or so I've had them I've had them run out of power once only - and when that happens...
- Usable as passive corded headphones. Even if the battery is dead, all you need to do is plug a 3.5mm jack into them (125cm cable provided in the box) and they work as normal corded headphones with no need for batteries.
- Pretty light. They feel lighter to me than the previous ZX650s, which surprised me as they need to carry a battery.
- Easy to pair. As this is my first piece of bluetooth tech, I was happily surprised by how easy it was to connect. Hold the power button until the light flashes...and that's about it. Windows finds them and uses them. Mess around with the sound control panel a bit and they are the default sound output device.
- Noise cancellation is pretty effective. I don't usually use this feature, but for example on a train this makes a significant difference. It can also be configured to assess the ambient noise and select the right mode, and seems pretty effective.
- Playback and volume controls. Play/pause/stop, skip forward/fast forward and skip back/rewind are combined on a familiar jog-switch on the right ear, along with volume up/down.
- Look pretty. I have the blue-accented ones.
Cons:
- A little uncomfortable. They are rather tight compared to my last headphones, and more much more isolating. The earcups are leather, and create an almost airtight seal against my head; for noise cancellation to work, this is of course necessary, but it's a peculiar feeling not that dissimilar to being underwater. This has either eased a bit or I've got more used to it, but still it's something to consider. Possibly the fact I've been keeping them on a styrofoam head when not in use is helping too.
- Noise cancellation is always on by default. For those who really want this feature, this is probably a pro, but for me, I want to maximise the battery and I use them in a fairly quiet environment usually, so I kind of wish they remembered their state when switched on and off. It's easy to switch NC off, just press the button; but it's also easy to forget about.
- No feedback on battery life. I'd really like some sort of charge indication somewhere. EDIT: I discovered that the number of times the LED blinks red when switching on indicates charge - three times for high, two for medium, one for low. Better than nothing but not really helpful while using them.
- Provided USB lead is not long enough to charge the headphones while using them (only 50cm). Ideally I'd like to see a combined 3.5mm/MicroUSB lead that would fit any of Sony's wireless headphone range, but clearly this is a design goal too far for Sony.
- EDIT: This no longer applies but I'm leaving it for transparency. I think this was a windows issue - after a recent update (Win 10 v1809) they are now fully functional! (PREVIOUSLY: Playback controls don't work with Windows. I can't believe Sony didn't foresee this and make the controls work in Windows as generic media buttons such as you find on many keyboards; they seem laser-focused on making it work with phones instead. I looked for drivers but no such software exists, apparently. They do work with my extremely cheap AGPTek MP3 player, but not with the world's most common OS...at least the volume controls work.)
- EDIT: fixed in Skype v8.3 and above; previous problem kept for transparency (PREVIOUSLY: Skype doesn't really like them. Even though they appear as an audio device in Skype's preferences, I can't convince Skype to output to the headphones in their capacity as headphones, rather than as a hands-free headset, meaning that every time I receive a message my music is muted for a moment so it can play a super-low-quality sound to notify me, and call sound quality is pretty dreadful. Since I spend a lot of time on Skype I'm a little annoyed by this. It's much better if I just plug in the 3.5mm jack when on Skype.)
Overall I am very pleased with them. They do take a little getting used to, but the sheer freedom of being able to wander all over my house while listening to music that won't disturb the neighbours cannot be overstated and is worth the relatively minor problems they have. They fully deserve the sticker I've put on them - ''happy life generator''.
| 電池 | 1 リチウムイオン 電池 |
|---|---|
| 商品モデル番号 | MDR-ZX770BN B |
| メーカーにより製造中止になりました | いいえ |
| カラー | ブラック |
| コネクタ | bluetooth |
| 電池種別 | リチウムイオン |
| カラースクリーン | いいえ |
