Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION v Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2

Sony has long been rumoured to be readying a new pair of over-ear headphones to celebrate a decade of its WH-1000X wireless noise-cancellers. Noteworthy trademark filings for '1000X THE COLLEXION', info leaks and a famous chap seen wearing them in recent weeks may have spoiled the surprise just a little - but now they’re here. Which means I can finally wear them while out and about without Sony's strict say-so.

The 1000X THE COLLEXION aims to be the new high watermark for Sony's enviable selection of wireless noise-cancelling cans, by taking the essence of the already fêted  WH-1000XM6 and upgrading it with a gentle touch of refinement and class in design and sound. As seems only right and proper at the £549 / €629 asking price.

There is a fly in the ointment, though, and it comes in the form of the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2. Bowers & Wilkins updated its original Px8 model late last year, slimming down the chassis, optimising the carbon drivers and improving the ANC - all of which made them a favourite from the moment Carrie-Ann tested them. These updates led to a higher price tag of £629, though.

Sony is going up against one of our established favourites here, and I'm the referee in what looks to be quite the main-card premium noise-cancellers match-up.

Sound Quality

One side of this battle is well-trodden ground, while the other requires new insights. Let's start with the new.

The 1000X THE COLLEXION use an adapted version of the 30mm soft-edge drivers in the WH-1000XM6 - a new soft-edge and harder centre dome provides a wider soundstage, clearer separation of instruments and vocals, and improved treble response. The core of the listening experience with these headphones, though - a relaxing and natural sound - remains the same as with the XM6.

Bowers and Wilkins has executed similar optimisations with the Px8 S2 over the original model. The 40mm carbon-cone drivers feature a stiffer chassis, and a new motor system and voice coil. This translates to a touch more power and depth in the low end, without it dominating the rest of the precise frequency response.

Carrie-Ann's review of the Px8 S2 praises the immense width and detail afforded by these optimised drivers, picking out even the most minute details, and the strong helping of low-end grunt. It's the latter that’s most prominent to my ears. The bottom end here has greater presence and extension than the 1000X THE COLLEXION, more power and thump.

That's not to say Sony's latest cans are bereft of bass, because they most certainly aren't. They just opt for a more relaxed overall feel – the low end is there, with a rich and smooth feel that underpins the rest of the frequency response. The Px8 S2 are just a little more in your face, and carry more weight.

Further up the frequency range, the midrange clarity of the 1000X THE COLLEXION is excellent, with a forward and quite warm presentation of vocals and guitar elements. There's a hint of smoothness here that helps the Sony present a quite relaxing character while being meticulous with detail retrieval. The Px8 S2s have a warm and rich midrange themselves, although they provide a little more texture and overall precision.

Much of this holds true for the treble, with the Bowers and Wilkins candidate offering a top end that's surgical in its precision - every cymbal and percussion hit is packed full of detail. It executes this without being needlessly jarring or harsh, too - the Px8 S2's treble is never close to being painful even over long listens.The 1000XM THE COLLEXION has high-end excellent clarity and detail, but it feels pushed a smidgen back in the mix – Sony has delivered on its promise of judicious tonal balance for a more natural sound.

Soundstaging is particularly interesting, as this is where Sony has been very specific in the direction the 1000X THE COLLEXION has been pushed. In its briefings the brand mentions a wider soundstage, with stronger separation between instruments and vocals - and I think it is definitely wider and better defined in its layout than, say, the standard XM6. There’s more space between different elements and better imaging to boot. Here is where the Sony are closest to the sound profile of the PX8 S2s, which have one of the widest and most precise soundstages I've heard on a set of wireless noise-cancellers - they have excellent separation and definition, and a wonderfully immersive sound.

There is more freedom to customise the sound profile of the 1000X THE COLLEXION in Sony's ‘Sound Connect’ app, though, with various presets and a 10-band EQ for more personalised tastes. It also provides access to the headphone's ‘360 Upmix’ modes (enabled by the new V3 integrated processor) for music, games and movies, plus some configuration of ANC with a transparency mode and adaptive control. By contrast, the Bowers and Wilkins ‘Music’ app is a bit more minimal, with only a five-band 'advanced' EQ and basic ANC on/off.  

Living with the Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION and Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2

One area where Sony has often excelled over its rivals is with its active noise cancellation, and that remains the case here - the 1000X THE COLLEXION borrow the QN3 chip and 12-mic array from the XM6, with virtually identical results. This means excellent cancellation of low-end rumbles and hums, plus effective suppression of higher-end noises such as background chatter and wind noise. Voices are dealt with well on a rattling Thameslink train, although not entirely removed.

Even though the Px8 S2 noise-cancellation is better than that of its predecessor, it isn't as good at dealing with wind noise or the trickier higher-frequency noises as the Sony. Lower and midrange noise is dealt with in decent fashion, although again it isn't as dulled down as with the 1000X THE COLLEXION. ‘Ambient’ mode is also more natural-sounding on the Sony cans, with the Px8 S2 sounding a little synthetic and processed when I want to let some sound in.

Sony has an interesting option that Bowers and Wilkins goes without: ‘Adaptive Noise Cancelling’ mode, accessible via the app. This mode means you can have the headphones understand what you are doing and automatically choose a level of noise-cancellation to suit. You can customise these levels yourself, or stick with the recommendation - and from my experience, it works reasonably well at knowing what it is you’re up to. I experience the odd issue when, say, moving my head to dive into my bag when sitting in a coffee shop - the headphones will occasionally switch to ‘ambient’ mode for no good reason and then move back to full noise-cancellation after a few seconds. This is a known bug with the XM6 according to the online community, one that doesn't seem to have been fixed with this new model.

The ‘Sound Connect’ app is more feature-rich than the Bowers and Wilkins ‘Music’ app, supplementing a larger EQ and more ANC options with the clever ‘360 Upmix’ modes and ‘Background Music’ options - and it also enables support for Sony's ‘DSEE Ultimate’ upscaler. This, the company says, can enhance the bandwidth and bitrate of lower quality recordings for optimal sound quality, such as taking a 16bit/44.1kHz file and upping it to 24bit/ 96kHz. Quite how this is done, the company isn’t saying.

The Sony support the basic SBC and AAC Bluetooth codecs, of course, along with LC3 and LDAC. The Px8 S2 are a little more expansive - they support SBC and AAC plus aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless too, and can accept much larger wirelessly streamed files (as long as you have a smartphone or DAP that can support these codecs too. My Honor Magic V3 offers LDAC for the Sony and aptX Lossless for the Bowers and Wilkins).

Call quality is better with the Px8 S2s than via the 1000X THE COLLEXION - certainly my partner dislikes the thinner nature of the Sony sound against either the Px8 S2 and the Focal Bathys which I regularly use on WhatsApp calls.

As far as battery life is concerned, the Px8 S2 is ahead with (up to) 30 hours of runtime against the 24 hours of the 1000X THE COLLEXION - both with ANC enabled. Sony has, intriguingly, lowered the endurance of its premium set relative to the 30 hours of the XM6, although it says 24 hours is adequate for most people. In my test, both are in and around their claims.

On the design front, each offers a different side of the premium coin. For instance, the 1000X THE COLLEXION feature only two materials: faux leather on the bits you touch, stainless steel on the pieces you don't. They're available in black or platinum (which is white and silver), and carry much of the minimalistic design language of the XM6s before them. 

Sony has slimmed down the earcup profile to emphasise this more minimal finish, while retaining a deep inner portion for comfort and a good seal for noise cancellation. The faux leather headband and earcup are plush, and the clamping force is pleasant. As with the way these headphones sound, the 1000X THE COLLEXION are a comfortable and relaxing set of cans to wear.

Bowers and Wilkins offers a lot more in the way of colour options for the Px8 S2, with a vast array of hues joining the initial black and white. My sample comes in 'midnight’ blue, blending a dark blue finish with gold accents for a very premium look. There’s a lovely blend of materials here, too, with brushed surfaces on the earcups and real Nappa leather on the headband. If you're a vegan, Sony's synthetic leather will suit you better, although I appreciate the plushness of the Px8 S2s when they're in position, as well as the fact these have been slimmed down against their predecessor for a more slender look.

The Px8 S2 also have a more tactile interface than the Sony, with buttons for pairing, volume and music playback. There is also a 'quick action' button where you can summon a voice assistant or adjust the level of noise cancellation. The buttons on the 1000X THE COLLEXION are for controlling ANC modes and for toggling the ‘360 Upmix’ surround sound modes. If you're a fan of physical, rather than touch, controls the Px8 S2 is the set to go for.

As regards portability, the 1000X THE COLLEXION don't fold to the same degree as the XM6 because of those metal yokes - but they do fold flat, much like the Px8 S2. Sony has also redesigned the carry-case for the headphones to give it an integrated handle. It's also a smaller and thinner case overall than that of the Px8 S2. The wear detection on the Sony is a little snappier than Bowers and Wilkins, too, so when I do take the cans off my head the audio is a little quicker to stop.

Conclusion

I should start by saying both of these pairs of headphones are top-tier choices, and they're both fantastic buys in the premium category. But I also think they're fundamentally different. The Px8 S2 are 'audiophile' noise-cancellers first and foremost, offering  sound that's spacious, deep, and surgical in its detail and precision, alongside strong battery life and a super-premium fit and finish that goes a long way to justifying their asking price. By comparison, the Sony 1000X THE COLLEXION is a more relaxing and natural listen, with better noise-cancellation, a more feature-rich app and greater eco-credentials thanks to the use of faux leather. Sony is, I think, targeting a lifestyle audience rather than your typical hi-fi alternative, and the 1000X THE COLLEXION have  been tuned accordingly. There's still a lot to love here, don't get me wrong - it's just a different take on the premium end of the market.

Listening Notes

‍Steven Wilson Luminol (Headphone Dust Binaural Mix)
A new headphone-optimised mix of a track from The Raven that Refused to Sing, an album by a man known for his spatial audio mixes for other people (Yes, The Who, Jethro Tull) as well as his own. There’s lots going on, with powerful bass, woodwind and frenetic drum work.

Here the 1000X THE COLLEXION are quite even-handed, with a Goldilocks approach to the weight of the bass and the sparkle of the treble alongside a wide soundstage, while the Px8 S2 offers more grunt in the low-end and a more rigorous top-end to accentuate the detail.

James Taylor October Road
The title cut of Taylor's 2002 album (which was his first in five years) is a rich and luscious arrangement of vocal and acoustic guitar in the middle of the mix, sat atop a warm bassline, with brushed drums and cymbal work a little further off to the side and accents of electric guitar and fiddle sparkling around in the background.

The Sony cans are rich and smooth here, pushing the mids of Taylor's vocal and that acoustic guitar work forward and layering the soundscape around it on a wide soundstage. The Px8 S2 add a bit more weight to the warmth of the bass, and extracts more texture and depth from the acoustic guitar work.

Brand X Not Good Enough, See Me!
One of my favourite tracks for testing headphones, this jazz fusion/rock track features some of the best session players of the time: Percy Jones on bass, John Goodsall on guitar and Phil Collins on drums (who was part of another, rather more successful band at the same time). It's a great track for the weight and power of the kick drum, the incessant cymbal hits and the weight of the bassline in its opening few minutes, where all hell seems to break loose across the soundscape.

It's a fantastic demonstration of the detail the Px8 S2 can reveal - the texture of the snare drum and cymbal hits, combined with the weight and added feel of the bassline, plus the punch of the kick drum that you actually feel inside your head. Some of that power is traded off for an overall smoothness by the 1000X THE COLLEXION that feels a little more balanced and pushed back in the mix - although what's here is wide, with fantastic clarity and detail.

You buy either (or both) of these pairs of headphones if you want fantastic sound in a grown-up and stylish premium-noise-cancellers (and have a fair wad of cash to throw down).

Both of these headphones pair best with a device that's going to get the best out of them, such as a high-end smartphone (to match the flagship ambitions of these cans) or a DAP such as the FiiO M23 that supports both LDAC and the best aptX codecs.