When I used to be 14 years outdated, I had an older pal, Danny, who had a Volkswagen Scirocco. He was the eldest of our pal group and the one one on the time who had a license and a automotive. He had one thing else none of us had on the time: a boomin’ system. Two 10-inch subwoofers in a fantastically crafted speaker field, full with amps, crossover, and some other know-how the late 80’s needed to provide. The bass his twin tens put out was so aggressive when maxed that you would virtually really feel it messing along with your coronary heart rhythms while you sat within the again seat. That isn’t hyperbole.When I first donned the brand new Sony ULT Wear wi-fi noise-canceling headphones and pressed Play on my “Bass Test” playlist, I instantly began smiling just like the Cheshire Cat. The ridiculous (in a great way) bass response instantly evoked nostalgia for that late 80s and early 90s trunk-rattling growth bap. *If your system was excessive caliber, your trunk didn’t rattle btw.Bass like this isn’t for everybody, so it’s a great factor that Sony put some thought into ULT Wear, making a pair of noise-canceling headphones that very seemingly will work for many listeners. Fear not bass curmudgeons, I’ll drop bars on why you continue to might wish to take a pay attention.Sony ULT WEAR: Price and availability(Image credit score: Tshaka Armstrong)Sony’s ULT Wear headphones are extensively obtainable not solely on Sony.com but additionally on Amazon, B&H Photo, and brick-and-mortar shops like Best Buy and Walmart. They price $200 and can be found in Black, Forest Gray, and Off-White. As a lover of all issues camo, the Forest Gray variant is looking my title!According to cost tracker camelcamelcamel.com, the previous-gen WH-XB910N headphones might be bought for lower than MSRP fairly often, so it’s a great guess that the ULT Wear (WH-ULT900N) will quickly be obtainable for lower than $200.Swipe to scroll horizontallyCategorySony ULT WEAR (WH-ULT900N)ConnectivityBluetooth 5.2, wired 3.5mmSupported codecsSBC, AAC, LDACSpeaker kind/dimension40mm dynamic, neodymium magnetSpeaker frequency range5Hz – 20kHzActive noise cancellationYes, feedforward and suggestions micsBatteryUSB-C chargingWeight255gApp helpHeadphones Connect app for Android & iOSColorsBlack, Forest Gray, Off-WhiteSony ULT Wear: What’s good(Image credit score: Tshaka Armstrong)Where do I start? Thinkin’ of a grasp plan. With nothin’ however bass inside these cans.
Eating fish, which is my favourite dish, I started my evaluate with a bass playlist!Okay, sufficient riffing on Rakim and “Paid in Full,” which simply occurred to be one of many first songs I had banging by way of the specifically designed 40mm drivers on these closed-back over-ear headphones. What makes these headphones totally different from Sony’s venerable WH-1000XM5 is their concentrate on earth-shattering bass response, however additionally they share some options with the XM5, just like the V1 Processor chip. The mannequin for these headphones is WH-ULT900N, so technically, they’re the successor to and share some DNA with a product in Sony’s AdditionalBass lineup, the WH-XB910N.I’m glad Sony moved the main target away from a mannequin quantity and went with ULT, which is brief for “Ultimate.” That makes remembering the title rather more easy. To assist provide you with a memorable expertise, Sony packed the $200 ULT Wear with options. They’re working Bluetooth 5.2, and together with Bluetooth audio codecs like SBC and AAC, you’ll get Sony’s LDAC codec carrying your tunes. If you wish to slip into one thing greater decision, you possibly can join through aux cable to your audio supply, offered you will have the correct dongle or cellular DAC. The ULT Wear have lively noise canceling onboard, which Sony says is improved over the earlier technology. Like the ULT modes, you possibly can entry and alter ANC modes with a button on the left earcup. You’ll additionally discover the ability button and all ports there. The massive, thick, thermo-foam earpads on the ULTs are fairly comfy and do a good job offering passive noise cancellation. The companion app additionally has a characteristic that may select your stage of noise cancellation primarily based in your location and exercise, which I discovered to be spot on in its changes to my surroundings. Caveat emptor: You’ll should be okay with giving Sony that stage of location-based entry to your life. (Image credit score: Tshaka Armstrong)In addition to noise-canceling, you additionally get an adjustable ambient sound mode so as to keep your situational consciousness whereas listening if mandatory. I hold all of it the way in which up as that gives a stage of amplification to my environment. However, in the event you solely want transparency when speaking with somebody, Quick Attention makes that doable by inserting your hand over the proper earcup, which quickly prompts ambient sound mode on the fly till you take away your hand. I haven’t absolutely vetted the battery life claims simply but as a result of these appear to go and go, however Sony says you’ll stand up to 30 hours of playback with ANC on and 50 with it off. Rapid charging through USB-C offers you 1.5 hours of playback on a three-minute cost, whereas 10 minutes offers you 5 hours of playback.(Image credit score: Tshaka Armstrong)Ultra bassy, with out being fundamentalWith some specs out of the way in which, let’s discuss what makes these headphones the “ULTimate.” I used to be grinning ear-to-ear as I listened to LL Cool J’s “Going Back to Cali,” adopted by N.W.A. and “Dopeman.” Masta Ace’s “Born to Roll” remix was an anthem identified for being bumped from high-octane sound techniques again within the day, however I additionally wished some extra closely engineered sonics to sip from, so I loaded up Skrillex’s “Mumbai Power” and The Roots’ “Do You Want More?!!!??!” For severe jeep-beat nostalgia, I even nodded my head to L’Trimm’s “Cars That Go Boom.” What’s nice concerning the ULT Wear is that none of those songs sounded muddy due to the hyped bass response. Allow me to qualify that assertion, although. While not muddy, bass on ULT2 mode positively upstages the opposite frequencies, however that is form of the purpose right here. The enhance in bass additionally had punchy mids, which helped convey ahead vocals. High frequencies weren’t washed out both, as I found whereas listening to “Mumbai Power.”(Image credit score: Tshaka Armstrong)The large characteristic right here is the ULT button on the left aspect of the headphones, which provides you three ranges of bass amplification: ULT Off, ULT1, and ULT2, however there’s extra customization available. You can fine-tune the bass response with the CLEAR BASS slider as you play with the varied EQ presets or create your customized preset utilizing the five-band EQ along with the ULT and CLEAR BASS settings.Before you do all of that, I like to recommend hitting the Find Your Equalizer menu and tuning the general sound to your listening to. Pick a music with a great stability of vocals and instrumentation, then play that whereas selecting from two screens of various EQ choices. In my testing, this made a distinction in how bass and mid-forward the general sound signature was.(Image credit score: Tshaka Armstrong)With my customized EQ and ULT1 with CLEAR BASS set to +3, listening to different genres of music is pleasurable. Art Blakey’s “Moanin’” is shiny and pleasant, with a very strong sound separation within the stereo picture. Highs are restrained because the shrill horns on this observe weren’t a tad uncomfortable like they are often. Other tracks, like a remastered “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie, are immersive, and Paul Simon’s “Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes” remains to be ethereal, although a bit restrained in nuance as nicely. To my level about customization, merely altering to the Treble Boost preset, the place CLEAR BASS is about to “0” and bass enhancement is about to “ULT1,” restores some nuance again to the combo. Clarity is added to your sound by activating Sony’s Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE) know-how, and I really feel it does a strong job of delivering simply that.While watching films and movies, there isn’t a latency with dialogue whereas linked through Bluetooth. The EQ characteristic set right here makes it straightforward to customise sound in order that these boomy bottoms do not hinder your enjoyment of movie scores and dialog. The taiko drum scene in episode two of “Blue Eye Samurai” is certainly “warmer” by way of the ULT Wear, however my EQ customization retains dialog and sword sounds shiny and crisp.Last, on the sound entrance, know that the upgraded microphone array within the ULT Wear can even provide you with a strong calling, Zoom, or Google Meet expertise. They do a wonderful job of canceling background noise for these you are talking to, and while you’re silent, they do a strong job of muting your surroundings in the event you’re out right here on these streets.Bass by wire(Image credit score: Tshaka Armstrong)The Bluetooth LDAC expertise received’t go away you wanting, and the analog expertise with the 3.5mm cable can also be strong. Bonus factors for having the ability to use it while you run out of juice!I linked the ULT Wear to my Pixel 7 Pro utilizing the included aux cable connected to among the finest small DACs below $100, Fosi Audio’s mini DS2, and was not disillusioned. Listening to hi-res audio by way of this highly effective USB-C DAC introduced shiny, ethereal, and full-bodied music for closed-back $200 headphones. I listened to Tidal tracks, in addition to FLAC recordsdata, by way of VLC media participant. Just so you realize, you’ll have the ability to use the 3.5mm aux with the headphones powered on or off, and also you’ll get two totally different sound signatures relying on that energy state. Powered on, you get the bass-heavy profile, however the sound is extra impartial when powered off.One of the problems with bass-heavy recordings revealed by the ULT is how nicely producers and engineers grasp tracks. Listening to some hip-hop tracks, I see that there’s a little bit of mud within the combine, whereas others have deep, resonant bass that’s tight with out muddying mids or highs. The Roots, Dr. Dre, Skrillex, and a number of other different producers of heavy bass and sub-bass tracks clearly present they know learn how to convey the thump with out dulling the vibrance of the remainder of the picture. Others, not a lot. DSEE helps these tracks out a bit, however when actively listening, you be taught the distinction between high quality technical engineering and rough-around-the-edges compositions from totally different creatives.Speaking of high quality technical engineering, I’m not an enormous fan of contact controls on headphones, however the ULT WEAR’s controls are responsive and intuitive. Not solely that, however the proximity sensor, liable for controlling the power to pause music while you take away the headphones, was equally responsive. There’s a split-second latency when eradicating them, however they unpause play when positioned again in your head with no lag by any means. Sony ULT Wear: What might use enchancment(Image credit score: Tshaka Armstrong)Sony has performed a wonderful job engineering these heavy hitters, so there are solely a few issues I discovered that would use some enchancment. First off, there isn’t a USB-C audio help. You received’t get that on the pricier 1000XM5 both, so that basically is a Sony technical choice I’d prefer to see it modified in its subsequent technology of headphones. That mentioned, I do desire utilizing a cellular DAC, in order that isn’t an enormous deal for me.I attempted organising head-tracking optimization, however I couldn’t get it to work. You have to carry the cellphone stage in entrance of your face as you swivel your head up and down, not side-to-side, however I feel this superb beard is throwing that know-how off. Something else that will get “thrown off” is the power to make use of LDAC and multipoint on the identical time. I don’t know why that’s, contemplating that the WH-1000XM5 acquired an replace final 12 months, which made that doable.Sony ULT Wear: Competition(Image credit score: JBL)There aren’t many choices this heavy on options at $200. You can have a look at the JBL Live 770NC, Sennheiser Accentum Plus, and even Beats Studio Pro, which initially retailed for $350 however can often be discovered for below $200. You ought to positively take a look at our Sennheiser Accentum Plus evaluate to see if these are a greater match for you. Having personally examined Beats Studio Pro, I’d say that you simply’ll need to take a tough have a look at the 2 merchandise. With the ULT, you’ll get LDAC, EQ customization, and different options not discovered on the Studio Pro. Still, some customers will discover that Beats has a way more balanced, nuanced sound profile with out sacrificing satisfying bass response.Sony ULT WEAR: Should you purchase it?(Image credit score: Tshaka Armstrong)You can purchase Sony ULT Wear if…Bass is life.You need comfy, long-wearing headphonesYou need quite a lot of options for a good value.You should not purchase Sony ULT WEAR if…Neutral sound is life.You want USB-C audio.Though a bass lover’s responsible pleasure, Sony’s ULT Wear current a wider worth proposition at this value level, which ought to attraction to fairly a couple of folks. The ANC is strong, the app is feature-packed, you possibly can hearken to your music over the wire in the event you drain the battery, and you’ve got help for LDAC on board. Sony packs quite a lot of punch into this booming set of headphones, making them a troublesome act to observe for the small pool of choices at or round $200.
ULTimate Boom Bap!
Hyper-bass is not for everybody, however Sony offers you the ULT button and a five-band EQ to make the sound profile extra palatable for many who desire a extra balanced combine. That together with the sturdy feature-set make the ULT WEAR a compelling pproduct.