Sony ULT WEAR Review - WOW Better than expected đŻ
Forget about Extra Bass, the ULT WEAR is like Sony taking the gloves off. Like, oh you want bass? Here. Enjoy. đ
Itâs not like they can only be bassy. In fact it starts off as not sounding boomy at all, but if you want that Ultra Bass, you press this button and it gives you two levels of bing bang boom. How does it sound like on default versus Ultra Bass, and how is its microphone pickup, active noise canceling or transparency? To find out, weâre going to listen to sound samples, and Iâm going to give you my virgin analysis of what I think of the ULT WEAR. Another review is coming in which Iâm going to compare them to the XB910N, and the flagship WH-1000XM5, so stay tuned!
Specs and Features Worth Mentioning
First weâre going to talk a bit about its build quality and specs. On the surface it resembles the more premium WH-1000XM5, but with a few key differences. Itâs got a the ULT button, the speaker grill under the yoke arm that spans the width of the earcup, possible as a vent for better excursion of its 40mm drivers, and this grille that looks similar to that of the XM5 earbuds, which is for the microphones taking care of active noise canceling or transparency.
Itâs also a more foldable design, so you can fold the earcups inwards for more compact storage. Also, the grade of plastics used in its construction feels cheaper, not as premium as the XM5 or even the XM4, more similar to the XB910N. But as you can see its construction is still able to hold up to this sort of abuse. Watch.
What youâre getting here in terms of specs is basic as far as Sony headphones are concerned. Up to 30 hours of battery with ANC, Multipoint pairing so you can connect up to two devices to them at the same time, and it supports Bluetooth 5.2, streaming over LDAC, AAC or SBC codec. Theyâre not Hi-Res wireless certified. And neither do they have DSEE Extreme like premium Sony headphones for the past 4 years, instead you get the basic version of DSEE, which still does a decent enough job of patching detail in the high frequencies that otherwise would have been lost during Bluetooth transmission. This can be activated through the Sony Headphones Connect app, and it has most of the same features and settings as the flagship models like Adaptive Sound Control and Find my Equalizer.
Controls are split between both earcups. Touchpad on the right for volume and music controls, buttons on the left for ANC toggles, power/pairing, and the bass spamming button. Watch how the touchpad works.
Microphone Quality
In quiet conditions my voices sounds crisp and clean, but in noisy conditions it does let in quite a bit of background noise. Spoiler alert, it seems very similar to the older XM4s so itâs nowhere near as quiet as the current flagship XM5s. Also, sidetone is automatically enabled, which passes through your own voice during a call, but it can be switched off in the app. Listen to the sample.
(Tested its microphone quality in both quiet and noisy conditions using some really loud cafe noise and wind noise from a fan.)
Active Noise Canceling Comparison
In terms of active noise canceling, I find it to be very effective, more effective than the XB910N across the board, about as quiet as the XM5 headphones, and quieter than its predecessor the WH-1000XM4 headphones which had more white noise masking over the midrange, whereas this straight up cancels it, though the XM4 does seem to be stronger at cutting low frequency rumble. Have a listen to the samples.
Transparency Mode
In terms of transparency, I find it to be very natural sounding. A bit of occlusion in the upper mids region so my voice isnât amplified as much, but I find it very usable when having a quick conversation or for general situational awareness. It does block sudden loud noises, but the noise has to be very loud to trigger it.
Sound Quality (ULT Modes Explained)
In terms of sound quality, obviously the whole point of the ULT WEAR is extremely loud, boosted bass whenever you want it. That is the whole point of this product, to go very loud without losing bass loudness like with most headphones. And there are 2 modes which can be toggled with the ULT button. On ULT Off mode weâre still seeing some bass boost below 50 hz, and above 60 to 100 - 150 hz, with a rather V-shaped tuning of the upper mids and highs. This somewhat preserves the crispness of the vocals as well as some brightness in the soundstaging. At this point, listening to the sound, thereâs not a lot of bass. I did get some bass detail and punchiness, but not a lot of sub bass gravity.
In terms of overall tuning, I feel it does lean a bit more warm and mellow in the mids than what I prefer but overall, quite enjoyable. Soundstaging is also more on the compact side rather than spacious, which intensifies that energetic feeling.
Switching to ULT1 we begin to see some further boosting to the bass regions, a bit in the sub-bass, but more boosting in the mid-bass which is going to add more punchiness, gravity and impact. The rest of the tuning remains relatively untouched, but at this point, even pensive, sustained rumble tracks can be felt clearly which wasnât obvious before when ULT was Off.
On ULT2 is when things start to go into overdrive. It has extremely loud bass, around 10db louder at certain points compared to ULT1, and 15db louder than default. Thatâs because it's at +10 Clearbass. At this point, the bones in your skull will be vibrating along with every beat, and it overwhelms the rest of the music such that without some kind of boosting in the mids and highs, the audioâs going to sound more dead in that area. So I actually prefer ULT1 compared to ULT2 which sounds too boomy and bloated for me. Listen to the samples comparing between the different modes.
In my next video Iâll be comparing their sound to the XB910N and XM5 headphones, or you can arrive at your own conclusions by comparing them yourself on loudnwireless.com/soundsamples.
I find it interesting that each EQ preset in the Sony Headphones Connect app has a custom ULT tuning, so it still maintains the same bass balance whether youâre in Vocal mode, Mellow or Bass boost.
Conclusion
For now my biggest gripe with it is the controls. I do prefer having all the controls on one earcup. Itâs more intuitive for me, although I do agree that left-handed folks may not agree and prefer to have the ANC toggles on the left. In terms of comfort, theyâre not uncomfortable, but itâs got a stronger clamp than the XM series. If you wear it for a few hours youâll begin to feel the clamp a bit more, and the heat building up from the cushions which, though very plush, seems to be a stiffer, denser type compared to the XM series.
Overall itâs not bad for the price it's going for. It is a powerful noise canceler almost at the level of the XM5, and its sound is very customizable so even if you donât like too much bass, you can do what I do and set it to the Treble Boost EQ preset in the app, then lower the ClearBass dial a couple of notches.
But I wouldnât say it's extremely great value for money, because you could also consider the WH-1000XM4 which is Hi-Res certified, has flagship performance, specs and features, but at a much lower price than the XM5s since theyâre often on promo. That is if you donât mind that theyâve already been out for four years.
But if itâs about bass performance, the ULT WEARâs a lot more capable in that area. Itâs even more capable than the XB910N because it offers more bass-related options that makes them far more versatile for bassheads compared to the older XB910N. Just to give you a preview, the XB910Nâs default bass tuning is somewhere at the ULT WEARâs ULT1 setting. This comparisonâs going to be in my next review, in which Iâll also be comparing them to the WH-1000XM5.
Also, do check out my take about whether the XB910Nâs still worth it compared to the XM5 and XM4 headphones.
If you want to check the latest prices for the ULT WEAR, use the links to its Amazon page below.
Check latest price:
Sony ULT WEAR - https://amzn.to/3VVR5TS
Sony WH-1000XM5 - https://amzn.to/4bIqJtZ
Sony WH-1000M4 - https://amzn.to/3UL9YID
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