Sony MDR-1000X Noise Cancelling, Bluetooth Headphone, Black (International Version with Full Warranty)

I tried all three extensively using an iPhone/iPad/Mac as the source and a lot of Radiohead (plus other genres) as my test music. I ended up with the Sonys and am really happy with them. I also listened to spoken word podcasts too. I mention the music sources because apparently the Sonys work extra well with a Sony music player that can use a certain audio codec, but I didn't have this available and they still performed very well.At the time of writing this in January 2017, I have read many reviews and watched many YouTube videos and decided that these three were the best in class competitors that I needed to try out myself. Apparently the Sennheiser Momentem 2.0 don't have the best noise cancelling and are a bit outdated at this point, so they got excluded. Also, the Bowers & Wilkins P7 headphones were left out based on them generally being older at this point and being rated below Bose by most of the reviews I found. So anyway, let's get to it!Sony MDR-1000X: These were the ones I kept out of all three. They have the best overall noise cancelling, comfort, and sound quality. I tested loud background music playing on another floor of my house and also tested them outside near a school with kids being dismissed and cars driving by and wind noise. These handled all of this without a struggle. In quiet environments, they also sounded very good with noise cancelling both on and off. I like all the tech in these and the fact that noise cancelling can be disabled and you can still use the headphones. This is also true for the Beoplay H9 but not true for Bose. You have to have noise cancelling turned on for the Bose for any sound to come out. Also, I found the touch controls and buttons to work really well and the whole interface pleasing and reliable to work with on the Sonys. I couldn't find that the earpads were user replaceable when I searched online which is a big downside. I think you have to send them to Sony for that. Also, there is no user removable battery like the Beoplay has. But overall, these were a pretty clear winner for me compared to the other two choices here. While not totally necessary, I've been playing with the EQ app for iOS called "EQu" and find that it improves things even more and gets the sound quality nearly indistinguishable from the Beoplay with this.Beoplay H9: If spectacular sound quality is your absolute top priority, these win hands down. They have rich and highly precise deep bass with beautifully well balanced mids and highs. I was seriously impressed by the sound quality of these. The companion app for iOS is also surprisingly good. I prefer a bit warmer tone and this app achieved that easily. It can also make things bright or accommodate whatever flavor of EQ you lean toward with a very simple interface. I can't heap enough praise about how good these sound. The Bose sound so annoyingly bright and I love how rich and clear the Beoplays are in contrast. However, the downside for the Beoplays is noise cancelling. With minimal background noise in a certain frequency range, the Beoplays performed okay and you couldn't hear much background noise or much difference compared to the other two headphones. But there were so many circumstances in my testing where it was hard to believe noise cancelling was even turned on because it wasn't blocking out any sound compared to the Sony and Bose in the exact same testing environment. Changing gears now, I'm a 5' 11" tall male who weighs about 150 pounds and found these to be relatively comfortable. Sure, the top of the headband is rock hard but you can slide it to the crown of your head and you don't really even notice it. The earbpads are comfy just like the other two headphones being compared. To sum these up, if audio quality in a quiet environment was my absolute top priority, I would have totally gotten these and dealt with the perfectly acceptable comfort and the subpar noise cancelling. But the Sonys were just too well rounded to pass up. Oh, almost forgot to mention how worthless the volume controls are on the Beoplay. Changing tracks, pausing, and enabling/disabling noise cancelling works reliably, but moving your finger in a circle on the ear cup to control the volume is essentially impossible. Having an Apple Watch to control the volume with the Digital Crown is a workaround, but that obviously doesn't help most people. Pretty sure the earpads can be replaced on these easily if I remember correctly. Also, the easily replaceable battery is very cool. Oh ya, just remembered that I didn't like these very much in the wind with noise cancelling on. It filtered through the cans in a weird way and was annoying and noticeable. The Sony and Bose didn't have this problem.Bose QC35: Noise cancelling, simplicity (single on/off switch), low price, and pairing with two devices simultaneously are the pros here. I have owned multiple Bose noise cancelling headphones over the years and I'm just personally so tired of their bright/tinny sound signature in their noise cancelling models. However, these do get the job done and work great for travel. It's like they were designed with noise cancelling of planes and trains as their top priority (although the Sonys are essentially just as good in this department). The Bose are exceptionally comfortable. I'd say the Sony and Bose were very close in the comfort department with Bose just barely edging it out here, but it's nearly a tie. Pairing with two devices with the Bose is really nice, but I think it's worth tolerating the little bit of trouble switching between iPad/iPhone/Mac for the Sonys because of the sound quality for both music/podcasts. I'll leave that trade off up to you though. The earpads are user replaceable on the Bose, but there's no easy battery removal like the Beoplay.Summary: The Sony MDR-1000X nailed comfort, sound quality, and noise cancelling in one package. I was tempted by the Beoplay H9 because I went into this really wanting nothing less than excellent sound quality at any price out of a set of Bluetooth headphones, but because the Sony MDR-1000X still sound very very good and the noise cancelling is leaps and bounds ahead of the Beoplay, I just had to go for the Sonys for my personal needs (loud neighbors, traveling, etc). Lastly, personal opinion, I think the build quality of all of them are fine and seem like they will hold up just fine over time. Yes, the Beoplay seemed to have the highest quality materials and the most stunning looks, but honestly they all will probably do just fine if you take good care of them, or wear out if you trash them. The slight weight discrepancies didn't seem to make much difference in terms of comfort either. Battery life is about 20 hours for the Bose and Sonys, and 15 hours for the Beoplay with removable battery. But this is such a long time I didn't really factor it into my purchase decision. Lastly, I think there's only so much a company can do to make Bluetooth headphones deliver great sound quality while also cancelling lots of background noise. So obviously B&O (Beoplay) decided great sound quality in a quiet environment was most important and Bose decided sound cancelling was most important and Sony decided to make no compromises and excel in all of these and I think they did a spectacular job, especially for the price. Oh ya, also didn't experience any dropouts with any of these. Didn't test if there were any lip syncing issues or delays when using them with video, but I assume they're fine for this based on other reviews I've read.What a weird review this turned out to be. Hope it helps someone make a decision.

I have used noise-cancelling headphone for travel on flights for many years now. My original Bose from way back when (sold it) was replaced with a Bose QC-something ... that I inadvertently left on a plane! I had my business card in the case, so am quite annoyed that someone chose to rip me off, rather than contact me - the airline lost-and-found did not have it the next day when I came back to the airport.I bought an inexpensive Audio Technica ANC-7b as a replacement, but that turned out to be a mistake in the long run. It was simply too tight and I was unable to make it fit comfortably. The band extension did not allow me to lower the "cans" enough to cover my ears properly - either the band would be painful at the top of my head, or the cans would sit high on my ears rather than around them. Plus, the audio quality was not adequate - I am a bit of an audiophile and wanted better sound.So, on a recommendation of a friend, I bought these Sony MDR-1000X noise-canceling headphones. At this point, I am generally happy with the sound and the quality of the noise-cancellation - as good as my former Bose and better than the Audio Technica.However, they have one serious flaw (hence a one-star loss). I use them for travel on planes, and they will not keep the noise-cancellation engaged without a plug inserted into the recessed jack of the headphone! This is annoying as all heck - my primary purpose is for noise-cancellation to work great on the plane the majority of the time, and only rely on better audio quality when I am listening to music or watching a video or something.Having to keep the cable plugged in to engage the noise-cancellation is silly! One time, One time, I forgot that the cable was plugged into the airplane seat (the movie had finished and I was asleep) and stood up - bending the plug! So, I had to buy a replacement cable - which arrived today. I am testing this new cable and it works well, but has to dangle from the headphone to keep the noise-cancellation active.Overall, the noise-cancellation is excellent, the sound quality is very good (but not as outstanding as my Audeze EL-8 at my desk), and it does not pinch my head too badly - I hope it will loosen up more in time though!Does anyone know if there is any kind of firmware upgrade that would allow the noise-cancellation to stay engaged without a plug? I suppose I may have to just take a cable - with a slim plug - and cut the cable near the plug, but it will be a stupid solution. Hmmm ... maybe I can do this with the original cable that I bent ... it will look pathetic though!