Sony’s Extra Bass line of headphones has been offering listeners an extra dose of low end for years and has generally been cheaper than the high-end 1000X headphones. The company is still interested in offering stunning bass to those who want it, but the “Extra Bass” moniker and its confusing alphanumeric product names are gone (more information on this change to come). Today, Sony is introducing ULT Power Sound, a feature Sony calls the “ultimate step in the evolution” of its portable audio devices.
ULT Power Sound will also be available on Bluetooth speakers of various sizes, but the first headphones with the new audio direction are the ULT Wear ($200). A direct replacement for the WH-B910, the ULT Wear includes 40mm drivers that Sony says are specifically designed for deeper bass. If the standard tuning isn’t enough, there’s an ULT button for two more levels of low-end boost. Additionally, the company has included some of the best features of more expensive headphones: the V1 audio chip, 30 hours of battery life, Quick Attention mode, 360 Reality Audio with head tracking, and more.
Sony
Sony’s ULT Wear headphones offer better bass enhancement than previous models, as well as significant updates to ANC, features and overall design.
- Refined design
- Mostly great sound
- Practical functions
- Improved ANC
- The ULT boost can be too much
- Some features of the WH-1000XM5 are not available
- In some genres the sound becomes muddy
$200 on Amazon
The first thing that struck me about the ULT Wear is its design. These headphones don’t immediately strike me as inferior headphones. The matte white finish on my review sample masks the mostly plastic construction that looked cheap on previous products like the WH-CH720N. It’s definitely a more refined aesthetic than the WH-XB910 it replaces. There are certainly some nods to the premium 1000X series in some areas, such as the curves of the earcups and headband.
Sony has opted for a mix of physical and touch controls for the ULT Wear, closing the gap between the cheapest and most expensive headphones. On the edge of the left earcup there is an on/off/pairing button and a control for switching between active noise cancellation (ANC) and ambient noise mode. Further up the bottom is a third button for ULT bass boost. This item switches between Off, ULT 1 (deep bass) and ULT 2 (stronger sound with deep bass). There’s a touch panel on the right outside of the earcup that you can tap and swipe to control playback, adjust volume, and make calls.
Because the ULT Wear sits in the middle of Sony’s headphone range, it has some of the convenient features of the 1000X range that the company’s cheaper options don’t. For example, placing your open hand over the right earcup activates Quick Attention mode, which lowers the volume so you can respond to a colleague or grab your Cortado without interrupting your music. Here too there’s Adaptive Sound Control: Sony’s long-standing tool that automatically adjusts headphone settings based on your activity or location. General niceties like multipoint Bluetooth and wear detection are also present. However, the handy speak-to-chat feature on the newer 1000X headphones isn’t available, which is a significant omission in terms of overall utility.
Bass is the top priority when tuning the ULT Wear, and you’ll definitely get a hefty dose of it. These new, custom-tuned drivers produce a ton of bass noise before you even start trying out the ULT Boosts. The default level was good enough for me for most genres, although the overall sound can get muddy with more chaotic styles like metal and some synth-heavy electronic tracks. For the most part, however, the standard bass offers depth and range that complements full mids and piercing highs.
At Bayside There are worse things than being alive, There’s a thunderous kick drum that drives the punky indie rock songs, but the texture of the crisp distorted guitars stands out and the vocals come through clearly. Additionally, through the app you can add Sony’s DSEE upscaling, a software trick designed to restore sound elements lost through compression. And if you have access to 360 Reality Audio content, the ULT Wear supports head tracking so the sounds are preserved as you move. This provides a more realistic experience as the immersive audio in this format would otherwise move with your head.
When you switch to ULT Boost modes, things are a mixed bag. Sony has done a better job of boosting the bass than most other companies here, as songs in all genres are still audible and aren’t just a muffled mess. ULT 1, the deeper bass option, is the best in my opinion. You don’t lose a lot of detail and things like kick drums are still punchy. Hip-hop tracks provide a better canvas, with songs like Killer Mike’s “Down By Law” producing bombastic, yet refined, amplified bass. His album Michael is one of the better sounding options I’ve tested with ULT 1 enabled.
ULT 2, a setting for more powerful sound with even deeper bass, is not so great. During my testing, I didn’t find a single track that I thought sounded good in driving, low-end styles like hip-hop and EDM. It sounds like you’re standing in front of the subwoofer at a concert, with the bass taking center stage and everything else being drowned out. And while I’m sure some people enjoy this level of brain rattling, it’s not what I’m looking for.
Sony improved ANC over the WH-XB910 by incorporating its V1 audio processor from the 1000X series into the ULT Wear. The result is noticeably improved noise-cancellation performance for a $200 headphone, but you shouldn’t expect distraction cancellation as robust as that of the WH-1000XM5. In most situations it’s good, but in some situations it simply muffles the noise. However, the ULT Wear handles human voices quite well – much better than the Sennheiser Accentum Plus, which I recently tested.
The company hasn’t bothered to discuss call quality on the ULT Wear, but performance here is slightly above average. It’s not flawless, but it also doesn’t have the obvious hands-free sound that most headphones have. Low to medium volume background noise is also handled well. The ULT Wear’s ambient sound mode is more natural than most headphones, with the exception of the AirPods Max. You can hear a good portion of your own voice, so you can easily speak at a normal volume during calls. And all the sounds from your surroundings are clearly reproduced, so you don’t have to worry about not hearing warnings or announcements.
Sony says you can expect up to 30 hours of battery life with ANC on and up to 50 hours with ANC off. The company doesn’t specify whether any of the ULT modes affect longevity, and I didn’t have them on long enough to tell. After 20 hours of use with mostly ANC and multiple ambient sounds during calls, both at around 50-60 percent volume (believe me, that’s way too loud here), the Sony app showed a remaining battery level of 44 percent. This is more efficient than the stated number, but I will update this review once the full review is complete.
If you want deep bass that most headphones can’t deliver, the ULT Wear does a much better job of boosting the low end than Sony’s previous attempts. The sound is definitely boomy out of the box, but it doesn’t come at the expense of detail, and the company gives you the option to add two more helpings of bass if needed. These won’t be for everyone, as many people will prefer the more consistent tuning of Sennheiser’s Accentum Plus in the $200 range. However, Sony has done well to present a cheaper headphone as a premium product, both visually and in terms of functions.
The ULT Wear headphones are available in Black, White, and Green color options for $200. Sony says they will begin shipping sometime in the spring.