I like to listen to Hi-Res audio. And when I travel on trains and planes I like to use noise canceling headphones. But until the past year, I needed two separate sets of headphones to accomplish both. Several years ago I asked the folks at Sony why they didn’t have headphones that could do both noise canceling and Hi-Res audio. Initially, I got some blank stares. But obviously, Sony was already coming to grips with the issue. Last year at CES the company released its colorful line of h.ear on headphones. Now priced at $299, the MDR-100ABN has both noise canceling and Hi-Res audio reproduction as well as Bluetooth. They were good, but the new phones with both capabilities, the MDR-1000X are far better still.
Just about every review I’ve read about these phones compares them to the Bose QC35, considered the industry standard for noise canceling phones. But this ignores the fact that the Sony phones are also optimized for Hi-Res audio, not so the Bose phones.
The MDR-1000X phones have a number of innovative features. Sony uses sophisticated software to tune the sound hitting your ears based on the ambient noise around you and the shape of your ears and head. Sony has microphones both inside and outside the earcups to measure noise and cancel it. You can adjust how much of the outside world you want to allow in. That’s a good thing in places like an airport where you might want to listen to music but also hear announcements. Phone controls as well as volume, track forward and backward, and pause controls are all touch controls embedded in the exterior of the right-hand earpiece with no visible buttons or markings. The right cup also has the micro-USB charging port. If you cup your hand over the right earpiece you can shut off the music and have a voice conversation until you are ready to go back to your tunes.
The left-hand cup has the power button, the noise canceling on/off button, and the button that controls the level of ambient sound. All three buttons have roughly the same shape, so you’ll have to learn by feel which is which. Fortunately, the headphones provide you audio cues so you know when you have turned on the power, or noise canceling, and what ambient sound level you’ve set. Also on the left is the input for a 3.5mm headphone cord in 
case you want to be wired instead of wireless. Carrying the audio cable with you is a good insurance policy since it will allow you to listen to the phones even if your battery is dead, though you won’t be able to use the noise canceling function. The unit also has NFC pairing. Sony says the MDR-1000X will play for 20 hours on a single charge. The earpieces are covered with soft leather, enabling them to comfortably conform to your head. The earpieces swivel and they fold up into a relatively compact travel case.
These phones are not cheap – just under $400, but frankly for what they deliver, I don’t think they are at all overpriced. Comfortable, with flexible noise cancellation and Hi-Res audio quality, they have become my latest traveling companions. And that’s about the best endorsement I can offer.
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