Sony just dropped the sixth generation of its flagship noise-canceling headphones, the WH-1000XM6, with upgrades designed to make your music sound more immersive and your environment disappear. I've used every model in the 1000X line, and each one has had incremental upgrades. This time, the jump from the XM5 to the XM6 looks more substantial, especially when it comes to active noise canceling.
With the XM6, Sony claims its new QN3 noise-canceling chip is seven times faster than the XM5’s processor. They also boosted the microphone count from eight to twelve, allowing the headphones to capture and cancel more background noise with greater precision.
The Adaptive NC Optimizer is another new feature that actively adjusts noise canceling based on your environment and even accounts for changes in air pressure. I’m interested to see how this plays out in real-world testing. Sony and Bose have long gone back and forth over who does noise canceling best, and, on paper, this gives Sony a fresh edge.
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Sound quality has also gotten a refresh. Sony brought in top mastering engineers from Sterling Sound, Battery Studios, and Coast Mastering to help tune the XM6. The driver unit is newly optimized too, with a carbon fiber dome and upgraded voice coil structure that Sony says improves clarity and frequency response. LDAC support, high-resolution wireless audio, and DSEE Extreme upscaling all return from the XM5.
On the software side, Sony added a new “Scene-based Listening” feature that automatically adapts playback and noise cancellation based on your location and what you're doing, including walking, commuting, and sitting still. This level of contextual smarts is available on other headphones but was missing from the XM5. You can still tweak everything through the Sony Sound Connect app, including custom EQ and the new Game EQ optimized for first-person shooter games, which was built using tech from Sony’s INZONE gaming headset line.
Call quality also gets a boost with a six-mic AI beamforming system. You can now mute the mic with a single touch, a basic feature that previous XM models lacked.
The WH-1000XM6 also adds support for LE Audio with AuraCast and simultaneous listening and charging – two things the XM5 didn’t offer. Auracast lets anyone using their headphones catch broadcast audio in public spaces. Battery life remains at 30 hours with ANC on, but fast charging is improved: a 3-minute charge gets you three hours of playback, up from 1.5 hours on the XM5 with the same charge time.
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Comfort and build have also been updated. The headband is now wider and softer, with an asymmetrical design that makes it easier to tell left from right – something I appreciate more than I’d like to admit. The folding mechanism has been reworked using a more durable metal injection molding process, and the new magnetic case feels more premium than the XM5’s zippered shell.
The price remains the same at $449.99 on Sony.com, and the XM6 comes in three colors: Black, Platinum Silver, and Midnight Blue.
[Image credit: Sony]
