Sony 1000X The Collexion review: More luxurious, but far from perfect

There's no denying the staying power of Sony's 1000X headphones. Since their debut 10 years ago, each successive model claimed the top spot in our best headphones list upon arrival. To celebrate the anniversary of the company's legendary over-ear headphones, Sony debuted its 1000X The Collexion (WH-1000XX) edition. There are some obvious upgrades to the design and materials, but the company retooled the inside as well, hoping to create the ideal form of its flagship headphones. I discovered during testing, however, the 1000XX is far from perfect, and may not even be the best choice in Sony's lineup right now, depending on your listening priorities. Plus, at $650, this ultra-premium model is considerably more expensive than the WH-1000XM6.

The 10th anniversary edition of the 1000X headphones have by far the lineup's most luxurious design yet. Sony completely ditched the plastic for a new look that's entirely leather and metal. The company also revised the size adjustment sliders and headband, but the ear cups on this new model only rotate flat. They don't fold in towards the headband like the WH-1000XM6.

In addition to the materials and mechanisms, Sony slimmed down the overall profile of the ear cups for a less bulky look. The company says it also increased the inner volume of the ear cups and widened the headband, both of which it did to improve comfort. The headband padding is 40 percent thicker and the overall clamping force on your head is less of a burden during long listening sessions.

Inside, Sony developed new unidirectional carbon drivers that it says boost high-frequency details and widen the overall soundstage. The company explains that it also optimized the circuitry for a better signal/noise ratio and clearer sound. More on my observations there in a bit, but I should also note that the next-gen version of Sony's powerful upscaling tech is available for the first time on the 1000XX. DSEE Ultimate builds on DSEE Extreme by restoring even more detail and texture that's typically lost to compression — thanks to AI sound enhancement.

When you don't want to employ DSEE Ultimate, 1000X The Collexion comes with two new spatial audio upmixing modes: Music and Game. Sony debuted a dedicated Cinema spatial mode on the 1000XM6, but it had to be activated in the company's Sound Connect app. On this new model, Sony added a dedicated button for these audio modes on the left ear cup near the top edge, above the noise control button I'm used to on 1000X headphones.

Sony absolutely nailed the design and comfort on this new 1000X model. The company set out to make "a new premium addition" to its highly-touted headphones lineup, and it certainly succeeded in terms of aesthetics. Ditching the plastic enhanced the overall look and both the extra padding and less intense clamping pressure lead to increased comfort. Not that the 1000XM6 was a slouch in terms of wearability, but I prefer the feel of the 1000XX. And even with the extra 67 grams of weight, The Collexion edition never becomes a burden to wear during long listening sessions.

I'll get to my criticism of the overall sound profile in a bit, but one thing that hasn't changed is the excellent detail clarity I've loved about the 10000X line. In more mellow genres especially, acoustic instruments sound like they're right beside you. On Punch Brother's "New Bike," for example, I might as well have been sitting right in the middle of the room where the band was recording. There's nuance to every plucked string and instrumental melody that a lot of headphones can't muster. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the DSEE Ultimate upscaling here. Like previous versions, it does an exceptional job of improving the sound over the stock tuning by regaining some of the subtle elements of a recording.

Sony's long list of handy features is one area where the company continues to outperform the competition. 10 years into the 1000X line and the company still has the most robust set of tools you'll find on a set of headphones. Those include Adaptive Sound Control that automatically changes settings based on activity or location and Speak-to-Chat that enables ambient sound when the headphones detect that you're talking. There's also a Quick Access button to quickly open a music service app and the ability to use head gestures to accept/reject calls — among many others.

Unfortunately, there are a few areas where the 1000XX headphones aren't as good as the 1000XM6. Overall sound quality is one of those. While the DSEE Ultimate upscaling noticeably improves the stock tuning, there's an over-reliance on booming bass, so details in the midrange tend to get lost for more intense genres like metal, rock and and synth-heavy electronic styles. The overly prominent bass line even impacts the otherwise chill vibe of Kacey Musgraves' "Middle of Nowhere." I don't care for the new Music spatial audio preset either, as it makes the sound overly tinny and the vocals too prominent.

Sony clearly explains that the ANC performance on The Collexion isn't as robust as the WH-1000XM6. That's despite the new model having the exact same QN3 processor, 12-microphone array and noise-canceling optimizer as last year's headphones. The difference comes down to the passive noise isolation in the ear pads as Sony says it prioritized comfort over seeking the pinnacle of ANC effectiveness. I can confirm the company accurately describes the difference between the two models, and you'll notice moderately loud noise creeping in at times — things like fans and white noise machines that operate at a constant roar.

Performance-wise, the last major area where the 1000XX falls short of its predecessor is battery life. The 1000XM6 lasts up to 30 hours on a charge, but Sony says this model will provide tunes for up to 24. Both of those figures are with ANC on, but the difference is disappointing nonetheless, especially in a $650 set of headphones. The quick charge feature on The Collexion isn't as efficient either, so you'll have to wait two minutes longer to get half the amount of play time the tool provides on the 1000XM6.

Sony obviously spent a lot of time refining the design of its 1000X line for this 10th anniversary model. The 1000XX has a more premium look thanks to an abundance of leather and metal, as opposed to the usual matte plastic and leather formula. Some of those changes also lead to a more comfortable fit, which is always a welcome upgrade for a device you'll likely wear for hours at a time. I also celebrate the arrival of more robust DSEE upscaling as that's one of Sony's long-running features that I truly can't live without.

Alas, a more perfect 1000X package wasn't meant to be this time. Despite the improvements here, I prefer the overall tuning and the more effective ANC performance on the WH-1000XM6. For a set of headphones that costs $650, nearly $200 more than the "regular" version, I have some pretty high expectations. For the first time in the history of the 1000X line, Sony failed to meet them.