Sony 1000X The Collexion – ultra-premium headphones celebrating 10 years of the 1000X

Ten years ago this September I was in Berlin for IFA where Sony announced a set of premium noise cancelling headphones with eyes on market leader Bose for that airline traveller market. Today, Over-Ear Noise Cancelling headphones has boomed with a strong selection across a wide range of brands. To celebrate ten years, Sony has released a new model simply called the “1000X The Collexion”.

Those original MDR-1000X headphones led to the WH-1000 series of headphones both over-ear and on ear with the latest generation Mark 6 (MK6) model well regarded, and frankly their Mark 4 (MK4) model still offering a strong quality and value in the market.

1000X The Collexion is not a new model in that range, they do not replace or supercede the WH-1000MK6 – instead they are a whole new line aimed at the luxury and fashion conscious market, and with a price tag of $999.95 they aren’t mainstream – in fact, they are aimed perhaps ideally at the Apple AirPods Max.

With a throwback to the originals from ten years ago the materials you see and feel here are a leather-like finish all around, along with brushed and polished metals.

Engineered into the touch sensitive faux-leather ear-cups are the buttons for control as well as multiple microphone holes for the best call quality possible.

Sony’s new 1000X The Collexion come in just two colours, a Black and Platinum (White).

This isn’t just a new design though, Sony 1000X The Collexion feature a new bespoke driver unit for a full and wide sound powered by Sony’s own audio processing chips and tuned with Audio and Music legends.

Using the 360 Reality Audio Upmix (called 360 Upmix) you have three modes of 360 audio to give you a fuller more vivid cinema, gaming or spatial audio experience, all controlled by a dedicated listening mode button.

Additionally, Sony’s chips allow for an Edge AI upscaling of any digital music in real-time.

Not cheap, but slick and premium. We’ll have a full review after a long-haul flight in a few weeks.

Web: Sony