OK, but not audiophile quality

Anyone who knows me or follows this blog knows that I love music and I'm a sucker for good headphones. I have been since high school.

The Amazon Vine Program has allowed me to indulge this passion somewhat extravagantly. Thus far, I've reviewed five Bang & Olufsen models, culminating in the new H9 3rd generation 'phones, along with headphones from ZIK, FILI and this week the new Sony WH-XB900N wireless headphones with EXTRA BASS. They retail for $248 - not cheap but not terribly expensive either.

First and foremost, the sound: Not bad but not great either. As I suspected, the Extra Bass seems like a gimmick that will appeal to some listeners. It can be tweaked with a graphic equalizer in the supporting iPhone and Android app. In my case, I prefer to boost the high end and suppress the low end. Even so, they sound muddy to me, especially when you let the bass loose to grotesquely dominate the music.

They have some nice features, like ambient noise canceling, the ability to receive (but not make) smartphone calls, and the ability to use Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa via the built-in microphones. The packaging also says you can use them with Apple's Siri, but the enclosed documentation and the app give no clues how to link with Siri. I posed the question online and got instructions from Sony that I can't seem to make work. That said, I accidentally found myself talking to Siri once, but was unable to replicate the experience. So I know it can be done, it's just a trickier proposition than with the Google and Amazon helpers.

The advertised 30 hours of battery life and the ability to get a quick 10 minute charge for 60 minutes of listening time are nice features, especially for a long travel day. I also like the ability to instantly lower the volume and turn off noise canceling by covering the right earphone with the palm of my hand - very handy when you have a conversation thrust upon you.

I thought the sound quality was reasonably good until I did a side-by-side comparison with my Bang & Olufsen H9 3Gs. It became immediately clear that these are not audiophile headphones - OK for travel and walking around, but disappointing when it comes to serious listening. They can't compete with the B&O headphones for balance and clarity. Granted, they're only half the price of the H9 3G 'phones, but they're also only half as good, in my opinion.