If you’re in the market for a premium smart speaker that sounds better than sub-$100 options, this Sonos Black Friday deal may be what you’re looking for. The company is taking $50 off the Sonos Era 100, which offers improved bass and clarity over its predecessor, the Sonos One. In addition, the company has notable discounts on the Sonos Ray soundbar and Sonos Roam portable speaker, letting you save on a variety of home audio products thanks to early Black Friday sales.
Usually $250, the Sonos Era 100 is one of Engadget’s picks for the best smart speakers in 2023. Engadget’s Nathan Ingraham gave the device a review score of 88, writing, “The $250 Era 100 is a complete redesign, inside and out, and the end result is a worthy upgrade and a very versatile speaker.”
The Sonos Era 100’s audio is a cut above budget choices like the Echo Dot and Nest Mini, and it gives you the option of Alexa or the Sonos assistant for voice control. If you pick up two speakers, you can turn them into a stereo pair that fills your room with rich, immersive audio. The WiFi-connected speakers even have Bluetooth as a secondary option.
If you’re looking for a soundbar this holiday season, the Sonos Ray may also be of interest. Engadget found it to have a solid balance of price and performance with its clear dialogue, rumbling bass and solid stereo presence. Usually $279, Sonos’ Black Friday deal brings the soundbar down to $223, making it a much more attractive buy for enhancing your TV’s audio.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Meanwhile, the Sonos Roam lets you take your music with you. Sitting at over six and a half inches tall and weighing less than a pound, its sound quality transcends the simple Bluetooth speakers it could easily be mistaken for. Holding down a button is all it takes to switch from its standard WiFi to Bluetooth when taking the little sound machine to a party or outdoor excursion. Speaking of the latter, the speaker is rated IP67, meaning it can withstand sitting in three feet of water for 30 minutes. When reviewing it for Engadget, Ingraham stuck it in a bucket of water and tossed it across the room; it kept playing without skipping a beat. The speaker even adjusts its audio depending on whether it’s sitting upright or horizontally.
Sonos’ sale runs from today through November 27 (Cyber Monday).
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonos-black-friday-deals-discount-the-era-100-smart-speaker-to-199-140002193.html?src=rss
Master & Dynamic didn’t get off to a good start with its true wireless earbuds, but the company’s last two efforts were much-improved. After rounding into form with the MW08 Sport, M&D has returned with the MW09 ($349 or $399): earbuds with a familiar design but enhancements to sound quality, active noise cancellation (ANC) and call performance. As always with the company’s audio gear, high-end materials are on display, although the starting price is higher than most of the competition.
Design
Master & Dynamic didn’t make too many changes to its design. The same basic D-shaped housing remains for the outer portion of each bud. The company did add a circular element on the outer panel where its trademark “M” branding resides, but this is purely aesthetic. There’s no additional touch panel or physical button there. Controls are still on the top edge with a volume rocker on the left and a multi-function button for playback and calls on the right. The volume controls also enable/disable ambient sound and ANC with a long press on either end, but it’s just an on/off function that recalls your last preset choice. It doesn’t cycle through all of the MW09’s available options.
One of M&D’s calling cards is its use of premium materials. Usually a mix of leather and metal, but those don’t translate well to earbuds. Like the MW08 Sport, the company opted for a mix of aluminum and sapphire glass with a shiny aluminum charging case. There’s also a Kevlar option for the case, and certain colors are only available with it, but that material will cost you an extra $50. Even with the high-end details, the MW09 is IP54 rated against dust and moisture while the case is IPX4. Master & Dynamic offers more fit options than most headphone companies as well, including five sizes of silicone tips and and two sizes of foam tips in the box.
Software and features
Every setting and customization that’s available on the MW09 is done through the M&D Connect app. The software shows battery life for the earbuds (one number for both) and the case on the main screen after you choose the connected device. A gear icon in the top right gives you access to sound presets, a fully customizable EQ and ambient sound — all of which appear under the Sound menu. Sidetone, the ability to hear your voice on calls, and the option to disable audio prompts are also available here.
Deeper in the Settings menu, Master & Dynamic allows you to disable in-ear detection and set the auto-off timer. There’s an acoustic earbud seal test and the option to manage Bluetooth connections. Multipoint is supported here, and it works well. The company doesn’t overload you with options, and none of them are particularly nifty, but all the basics are covered and there’s a solid degree of customization available. For example, there are three settings each for active noise cancellation and ambient mode, so even with those you aren’t stuck with one default configuration.
Sound quality and noise cancelation
Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget
The one thing I enjoy most about the Master & Dynamic’s consistent tuning is its affinity for balanced, natural sound. They’ve always had great clarity too, so it’s easy to listen to them for long periods of time.
That knack for detail returns on the MW09 and it’s on full display for albums like Chris Stapleton’s Higher. You can hear every bit of texture in the singer’s bluesy rock riffs and things like the subtle decay in the snare drum rattle are easily lost on other earbuds. The MW09 really shines with genres like Stapleton’s country rock, Nickel Creek’s bluegrass and classic jazz. Even more bombastic styles like metal are thick and layered rather than seeming flat and compressed. Drain’s Living Proof, for instance, is just as angry, gritty and loud as it is on a set of over-ear cans. The stock tuning is fine but I personally preferred the Audiophile sound preset, which emphasizes treble and mids.
Master & Dynamic says it “optimized” the microphone and sensor placement of its ANC setup on the MW09, with new adaptive noise-blocking algorithms for improved performance. The company offers three presets — Max ANC, All Day ANC and Adaptive ANC — with two designed for high- and low-noise settings with the third built to automatically adjust to environmental changes. I found the Max option the best at combating distractions overall, but the company has been clear that it impacts battery life. What’s more, all three struggle to keep up at volumes below 50 percent, with things like white noise machines and human voices are ever present below 50 percent.
Call quality and ambient sound
The company touts a new “AI-enhanced” voice setup for calls that employs six microphones and offers wind reduction to keep you sounding your best. Every earbud maker claims to provide pristine performance and almost all of them fall short. The MW09 does a great job cutting down on background noise, but the overall clarity isn’t as natural as M&D brags. It’s fine for casual chats, but you’ll want something better for your voice and video calls at work.
You’ll want to switch to one of the MW09’s three ambient sound modes to keep yourself from getting overly shouty. The company’s app does include the ability to pipe in your voice here via Sidetone, but you don’t get the full effect if you stay in ANC mode. I found the Voice preset the best of the three ambient modes for both calls and keeping tabs on my surroundings, but there’s a more general Natural option as well as an “enhanced” Awareness tuning. M&D’s transparency mode isn’t as natural sounding as on Apple’s AirPods Pro, but it’s above average.
Battery life
Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget
Master & Dynamic has extended the battery life on the MW09 by two hours over the MW08 Sport when you have ANC on. With noise cancelation turned off, you’ll get four more hours than that model. That’s 12 and 16 hours compared to 10 and 12 hours. There’s also an additional two hours in the charging case, up to 32 hours as opposed to the MW08 Sport’s 30. Thanks to a quick charge feature, the MW09 can give you two hours of use in just five minutes, hitting 50 percent in 20 minutes.
During my test with the All Day noise canceling setting enabled and volume at around 85 percent, the MW09 only lasted 10 hours. That’s a higher volume level than I’d typically run, but these earbuds are also quieter than most of the competition. You have to listen to them cranked up. M&D says the 12 hour figure is an average of run times in various scenarios and codecs at a volume just over 50 percent. That level just wasn't loud enough for me. While it’s disappointing to not hit the stated number, 10 hours is still at the top end of most premium earbuds these days. Sony manages eight out of its flagship model while Bose gets six, both are with ANC on.
The competition
Sony’s WF-1000XM5 remain our top pick for best wireless earbuds. You can find better ANC performance from Bose and slightly better sound quality from Sennheiser, but Sony is a close second in both. What gives the 1000XM5 the edge is Sony’s continued ability to put a ton of useful features on its earbuds, the sum of which no other company does. Things like Speak-to-Chat automatic pausing for conversations, automatic sound adjustments based on activity or location and DSEE Extreme upscaling that keeps Sony’s audio chops near the best you can buy. They’re Sony’s most expensive earbuds yet, but they’re still $49 less than the MW09.
Bose’s new QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are also worth a look. They’re cheaper than the MW09 at $299 and support Bose’s unique take on spatial audio that doesn’t require specially-created content. The design is nearly identical to the QuietComfort Earbuds II, but that’s okay since that shape is a lot more comfy than the previous iteration. Plus, the company’s stellar noise-canceling setup is on the QC Ultra model, which is really the star of the show.
Wrap-up
With the MW09, Master & Dynamic makes tweaks to a familiar formula with the most significant changes coming the sound profile and customization options. Ambient sound mode is improved and the convenience of multipoint Bluetooth that works well can’t be overstated. However, ANC performance is just okay and overall call quality is average. Lovers of a more natural sound profile and premium materials will be happy with these, but you can get more for less money elsewhere if those are your primary concerns.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/master--dynamic-mw09-review-premium-materials-impeccable-clarity-132522028.html?src=rss
The Sonos Beam has been our top pick for compact soundbars for a while now. It offers a lot in a small package and the second-gen version also supports more immersive Dolby Atmos audio. The Beam doesn’t have any upfiring drivers though, so the impact of that spatial sound is limited. That’s not an issue with the Ambeo Soundbar Mini ($799.95), Sennheiser’s smallest soundbar yet to feature its impressive Ambeo 3D audio technology. It cranks out more sonic oomph with dual upfiring woofers on top of all of its virtualization tricks, in a unit roughly the same size as the Beam. The bigger sound comes at a significantly higher price, though.
The design
While the overall shape of the Ambeo Soundbar Mini is similar to the Sonos Beam, there are differences in the details. Most notably, Sennheiser has opted for illuminated (dimmable) Ambeo branding on the front right corner. The top panel of the mini also slopes back to front and the sides are wrapped in a fabric all the way around. Up top, there are controls for volume, playback, Bluetooth, input selection and muting the microphone. There’s also a white light that gets longer from left to right as you increase the volume.
The Ambeo Mini is about an inch and a half wider than the Beam at around 27.25 inches, but the height and depth are nearly identical. Not that you’ll be moving the speaker around much, but the Mini is also almost a pound heavier than its primary competition. Still, this is a compact unit that’s perfectly sized for smaller living rooms and spaces where you don’t have the real estate for a bigger soundbar.
Inside, there are four 1.6-inch full-range drivers. Two of them are front facing while two more are at the ends, angled slightly outward. A pair of four-inch woofers are positioned near the middle of the soundbar, but they face upward. Sennheiser has also included six class D amplifiers capable of 250 watts of power. Four far-field microphones handle the room calibration and you’ll need to make sure they’re unmuted before that process can be completed.
Sound quality
Sennheiser
It’s impressive what Sennheiser has managed to get out of a small speaker. When listening to music, there’s great bass that provides plenty of low-end thump to the driving drum beats of TesseracT’s prog metal and the hip-hop musings of Kaytraminé. Even if a soundbar has woofers, most of the living room speakers can’t muster enough bass for them to be useful as a music setup without an additional sub. That’s not the case here. Still, you’ll want to consider an Ambeo Sub if you’re planning to use it in a medium-to-large room as the bass tends to get lost in bigger spaces. The Mini also supports Sony’s 360 Reality Audio and MPEG-H if you’re into them, but the Ambeo does a great job upscaling stereo content.
The Ambeo Soundbar Mini’s key feature is Sennheiser’s 3D audio tech. It has been a staple of the company’s soundbars since the first Ambeo model in 2019. Both of the larger, pricier Sennheiser soundbars have more drivers, including two upfiring units in addition to the two upwards facing woofers inside the Ambeo Soundbar Plus. The Mini does a solid job with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X content, but the effect isn’t as enveloping since it’s more reliant on virtualization. I particularly enjoyed the immersive, directional audio in quidditch matches during my annual fall viewing of the Harry Potter series.This soundbar still gives you a 7.1.4 setup after the room calibration places virtual speakers around. That’s the same channel layout as the Plus, though that bigger unit has seven total drivers and two woofers for a fuller sound and more immersive experience.
Software and features
Like a lot of smaller soundbars these days, the Ambeo Mini connects to your TV via HDMI eARC. It supports HDMI 2.1, which is the latest spec that allows higher resolution (up to 10K) and higher frame rates (up to 120fps) thanks to increased bandwidth. Most new TVs have at least one HDMI 2.1 port and both PS5 and Xbox Series X support it.
All of the settings for the Ambeo Soundbar Mini are accessible in Sennheiser’s Smart Control app. This includes the initial setup and room calibration, the latter of which takes about three minutes to complete. First, you have the ability to change the sources between HDMI, Bluetooth or Spotify Connect. There’s a volume slider here too and just below reside the Ambeo 3D audio on/off buttons. The company offers a few sound presets next, with Adaptive, Music, Movie, News, Neutral and Sports as the choices. During my tests, I found Adaptive best suited for most viewing and listening, so I kept it locked there. Lastly, the app’s main interface provides access to Night Mode and Voice Enhancement features should you need those.
Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget
There’s a more detailed settings menu, but I’ll only point out one item. Under both Audio and System is where you’ll need to go to add an Ambeo Subwoofer to the Mini (the same stuff is available from both places). Once you do, you’ll have the ability to adjust the additional speaker’s volume and enable a tool called Phase 180. This balances out the low-end from the sub when it's positioned close to the soundbar. Sennheiser says otherwise the bass can have a hollow character and this helps correct that. You’ll also need to recalibrate the system once you add a sub, which you can do from this menu.
The Mini runs Sennheiser’s Ambeo OS, which allows a whole host of connectivity options. You’ll primarily connect via Wi-Fi, but as I’ve already mentioned Bluetooth is here as well. Wi-Fi gives you the choice of Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect, in addition to Alexa built-in and Google Chromecast. The wireless connectivity allows you to easily use the Mini as part of a multiroom setup too. I was able to select it and a HomePod from the connections menu in Apple Music with no additional setup required. The company promises “a future-proof experience” thanks to “regular” Ambeo OS updates as well.
The competition
Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget
As you’ve probably guessed, the Ambeo Mini’s primary competition is the Sonos Beam. The second-generation version of which debuted in 2021, most notably delivering Dolby Atmos and a new cover. While the speaker sounds great and does an admirable job with Atmos, it doesn’t have any upfiring drivers, so the effect of the immersive audio is limited. However, Sonos still achieves a level of immersiveness through some virtualization tricks with extra height and surround channels. Plus, it’s $300 cheaper than the Mini, even after Sonos raised the price to $499. You’ll probably want a sub for the Beam too, which is another $429 or $799 depending on which model you choose (there is a Beam and Sub Mini bundle that saves you $45).
If you’re sold on the Ambeo tech no matter the cost, the Plus and Max soundbars are worth a look. Sennheiser has dropped the prices since their debuts as the Plus is now $1,119.95 and the Max is $1,999.95. Like the Mini, neither of those come with an Ambeo Sub which is an additional $599.95 and the only one these soundbars are compatible with. There’s no denying these Ambeo models can muster some amazing audio, but you’ll pay a premium for the tech.
Wrap-up
With its smallest soundbar yet, Sennheiser continues to show how good its 3D audio tech is. The Ambeo Soundbar Mini offers impressive sound in a small package, including great low-end thump without a dedicated wireless sub. It does an admirable job with Dolby Atmos content, though the Mini does its best work in smaller rooms. There’s no denying this is a very good home entertainment speaker for the size, but the company makes you pay dearly for its fancy technology.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sennheiser-ambeo-soundbar-mini-review-excellent-and-expensive-183045244.html?src=rss
The Sonos Beam has been our top pick for compact soundbars for a while now. It offers a lot in a small package and the second-gen version also supports more immersive Dolby Atmos audio. The Beam doesn’t have any upfiring drivers though, so the impact of that spatial sound is limited. That’s not an issue with the Ambeo Soundbar Mini ($799.95), Sennheiser’s smallest soundbar yet to feature its impressive Ambeo 3D audio technology. It cranks out more sonic oomph with dual upfiring woofers on top of all of its virtualization tricks, in a unit roughly the same size as the Beam. The bigger sound comes at a significantly higher price, though.
The design
While the overall shape of the Ambeo Soundbar Mini is similar to the Sonos Beam, there are differences in the details. Most notably, Sennheiser has opted for illuminated (dimmable) Ambeo branding on the front right corner. The top panel of the mini also slopes back to front and the sides are wrapped in a fabric all the way around. Up top, there are controls for volume, playback, Bluetooth, input selection and muting the microphone. There’s also a white light that gets longer from left to right as you increase the volume.
The Ambeo Mini is about an inch and a half wider than the Beam at around 27.25 inches, but the height and depth are nearly identical. Not that you’ll be moving the speaker around much, but the Mini is also almost a pound heavier than its primary competition. Still, this is a compact unit that’s perfectly sized for smaller living rooms and spaces where you don’t have the real estate for a bigger soundbar.
Inside, there are four 1.6-inch full-range drivers. Two of them are front facing while two more are at the ends, angled slightly outward. A pair of four-inch woofers are positioned near the middle of the soundbar, but they face upward. Sennheiser has also included six class D amplifiers capable of 250 watts of power. Four far-field microphones handle the room calibration and you’ll need to make sure they’re unmuted before that process can be completed.
Sound quality
Sennheiser
It’s impressive what Sennheiser has managed to get out of a small speaker. When listening to music, there’s great bass that provides plenty of low-end thump to the driving drum beats of TesseracT’s prog metal and the hip-hop musings of Kaytraminé. Even if a soundbar has woofers, most of the living room speakers can’t muster enough bass for them to be useful as a music setup without an additional sub. That’s not the case here. Still, you’ll want to consider an Ambeo Sub if you’re planning to use it in a medium-to-large room as the bass tends to get lost in bigger spaces. The Mini also supports Sony’s 360 Reality Audio and MPEG-H if you’re into them, but the Ambeo does a great job upscaling stereo content.
The Ambeo Soundbar Mini’s key feature is Sennheiser’s 3D audio tech. It has been a staple of the company’s soundbars since the first Ambeo model in 2019. Both of the larger, pricier Sennheiser soundbars have more drivers, including two upfiring units in addition to the two upwards facing woofers inside the Ambeo Soundbar Plus. The Mini does a solid job with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X content, but the effect isn’t as enveloping since it’s more reliant on virtualization. I particularly enjoyed the immersive, directional audio in quidditch matches during my annual fall viewing of the Harry Potter series.This soundbar still gives you a 7.1.4 setup after the room calibration places virtual speakers around. That’s the same channel layout as the Plus, though that bigger unit has seven total drivers and two woofers for a fuller sound and more immersive experience.
Software and features
Like a lot of smaller soundbars these days, the Ambeo Mini connects to your TV via HDMI eARC. It supports HDMI 2.1, which is the latest spec that allows higher resolution (up to 10K) and higher frame rates (up to 120fps) thanks to increased bandwidth. Most new TVs have at least one HDMI 2.1 port and both PS5 and Xbox Series X support it.
All of the settings for the Ambeo Soundbar Mini are accessible in Sennheiser’s Smart Control app. This includes the initial setup and room calibration, the latter of which takes about three minutes to complete. First, you have the ability to change the sources between HDMI, Bluetooth or Spotify Connect. There’s a volume slider here too and just below reside the Ambeo 3D audio on/off buttons. The company offers a few sound presets next, with Adaptive, Music, Movie, News, Neutral and Sports as the choices. During my tests, I found Adaptive best suited for most viewing and listening, so I kept it locked there. Lastly, the app’s main interface provides access to Night Mode and Voice Enhancement features should you need those.
Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget
There’s a more detailed settings menu, but I’ll only point out one item. Under both Audio and System is where you’ll need to go to add an Ambeo Subwoofer to the Mini (the same stuff is available from both places). Once you do, you’ll have the ability to adjust the additional speaker’s volume and enable a tool called Phase 180. This balances out the low-end from the sub when it's positioned close to the soundbar. Sennheiser says otherwise the bass can have a hollow character and this helps correct that. You’ll also need to recalibrate the system once you add a sub, which you can do from this menu.
The Mini runs Sennheiser’s Ambeo OS, which allows a whole host of connectivity options. You’ll primarily connect via Wi-Fi, but as I’ve already mentioned Bluetooth is here as well. Wi-Fi gives you the choice of Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect, in addition to Alexa built-in and Google Chromecast. The wireless connectivity allows you to easily use the Mini as part of a multiroom setup too. I was able to select it and a HomePod from the connections menu in Apple Music with no additional setup required. The company promises “a future-proof experience” thanks to “regular” Ambeo OS updates as well.
The competition
Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget
As you’ve probably guessed, the Ambeo Mini’s primary competition is the Sonos Beam. The second-generation version of which debuted in 2021, most notably delivering Dolby Atmos and a new cover. While the speaker sounds great and does an admirable job with Atmos, it doesn’t have any upfiring drivers, so the effect of the immersive audio is limited. However, Sonos still achieves a level of immersiveness through some virtualization tricks with extra height and surround channels. Plus, it’s $300 cheaper than the Mini, even after Sonos raised the price to $499. You’ll probably want a sub for the Beam too, which is another $429 or $799 depending on which model you choose (there is a Beam and Sub Mini bundle that saves you $45).
If you’re sold on the Ambeo tech no matter the cost, the Plus and Max soundbars are worth a look. Sennheiser has dropped the prices since their debuts as the Plus is now $1,119.95 and the Max is $1,999.95. Like the Mini, neither of those come with an Ambeo Sub which is an additional $599.95 and the only one these soundbars are compatible with. There’s no denying these Ambeo models can muster some amazing audio, but you’ll pay a premium for the tech.
Wrap-up
With its smallest soundbar yet, Sennheiser continues to show how good its 3D audio tech is. The Ambeo Soundbar Mini offers impressive sound in a small package, including great low-end thump without a dedicated wireless sub. It does an admirable job with Dolby Atmos content, though the Mini does its best work in smaller rooms. There’s no denying this is a very good home entertainment speaker for the size, but the company makes you pay dearly for its fancy technology.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sennheiser-ambeo-soundbar-mini-review-excellent-and-expensive-183045244.html?src=rss
Last spring, Teenage Engineering announced a curious, tiny mixer. At $1,200 the TX-6 appeared to pair a serious price tag with almost comically small controls. It divided music making forums with naysayers deeming it evidence that the company was squandering its reputation as a maker of spendy-but-delightful products. Importantly, the TX-6 was the first in a new line of “Field” products. It was soon joined by the OP-1 Field synthesizer, but until recently that was it, and a mixer with a synth didn’t feel like much of a “system”.
With the arrival of the TP-7 recorder and the CM-15 microphone, the Field family is complete — although the company hasn’t ruled out adding more products further down the line. And like some sort of heavily designed musical Infinity Stones, all four products feel far more exciting and powerful together than they do individually. Or, forced metaphors aside, it’s easier to see where the company was going with all this now that the family is complete.
That’s if the $5,900 entry fee for the full set doesn’t make you balk. But let’s ignore the economics for now, as that’s an accepted part of the Teenage Engineering experience at this point. What we have here is a compact, creativity-inducing system that’s like no other and this off-beat, playful approach to product design is something I wish we saw more of (and ideally in a more accessible way).
We’ve already covered the TX-6 mixer and the OP-1 Field synthesizer and how they interact with each other. But as the two new arrivals bring their own set of skills to the Field system, most of which is laid out below. I say most, as every time I tinker with them, it occurs to me to try something new. Similarly, revisiting the online guide seems to have an uncanny ability to throw up things you missed last time, further unlocking ideas or features.
CM-15
Teenage Engineering’s first studio microphone is nothing if not beautiful. The Field aesthetic of small, rectangular CNC aluminum makes the most sense here out of all the products. The CM15 could really just be another fancy microphone. The CM15 is also the one where the price is most inconspicuous, given high-end microphones tend to start around the $1,200 that you’ll need to spend to add this to your collection.
The CM15 is a large diaphragm condenser microphone which is the type preferred in studios and tends to be a lot more sensitive than something like the podcaster’s favorite Shure SM7b. This microphone doesn’t have elaborate features like internal storage or any type of sound modification tools, but it’s not without some interesting details. For one, the CM15 has three output options — mini XLR, USB and 3.5mm — which makes it compatible with a wide range of devices. Specifically, as the CM15 has its own battery, it plays nice with more USB devices than rival condensers that may require more juice than your phone can deliver.
A switch around the back offers three levels of gain adjustment (neutral and +/- 18dB) which is handy given the variety of things you can plug this into. The gain is analog and in testing sounds pretty clean, with only a marginal effect on the noise floor. I found being able to quickly adjust the gain directly on the mic for different situations made this mic feel like a really good all-rounder, both at home or on the go.
With regard to the Field range, and the intercompatibility thereof, there’s less here than other devices in the family. When you plug the CM15 into the TP-7 recorder over USB it recognizes it as the CM15 and presents you a cute mini icon of it. When the mic is detected you’ll also have the option to add an additional 12dB of digital gain — something that’s not an option when plugging in a phone, for example. The CM15 is also the only mic I tried that worked with the USB port of the TX-6 mixer. This allows you to add effects and, of course, mix it with other instruments, but also this frees up an analog input if needed (though the mic will share channel six with anything else on that input).
Teenage Engineering states the CM15 can also be used as an audio interface, but when tested this didn’t work for Windows, MacOS or iOS. Though it will work as a USB mic for all those operating systems.
As for sound, the CM15 is a very “close” sounding condenser microphone. By that, I mean it never seemed to pick up a lot of the room which can often be the case with condensers, especially those with larger diaphragms. This is due to the supercardioid polar pattern but the result is perfect for mobile applications where you may find yourself in different environments and the CM15 will deliver fairly consistent sound. For my voice, I might appreciate the option to bump the mid-high frequencies a touch, but for most everything else, including foley and instruments, the CM15 sounds bright and clear.
TP-7
I’ll say it straight up front, the $1,499 TP-7 is my favorite of the four Field devices. The OP-1 Field is the flagship, but for pure portability to functionality balance, the TP-7 wins. Described as a “Field recorder” the TP-7 takes the idea of a portable cassette recorder and brings it up to date for the 21st century. There’s a built-in microphone, 128GB of storage and three stereo inputs (that can also be outputs). It can record multitrack podcasts, has tactile scrubbing controls and a thumb rocker and can even become a tiny turntable complete with scratching and physical pitch control.
First and foremost though, the TP-7 is a capable recorder. Press and hold the side button, even when the device is off, and it’ll spring to life and start recording via the internal mic. This feature is more about recording short notes and ideas which you can then have transcribed via a companion app. The app connects over Bluetooth or USB, works offline and will even identify different speakers. It’s not as fully featured as a paid service like Trint or Otter but it’s really cool extra functionality. I even tried loading an old interview I had on my PC onto the TP-7 and the app happily transcribed that, too. The only restriction seemingly being that you have a TP-7 (you can’t load an audio up from your phone within the app, for example).
Beyond memo recording is more general recording of the TP-7’s various inputs. As with the TX-6 mixer, your main inputs are 3.5mm ports which isn’t ideal but most things with a line signal can be wrangled into 3.5mm easily enough. You can also record audio into and out of your phone via USB-C (including the iPhone 15) or directly from the CM15 digitally and over 3.5mm analog at the same time, if you wanted.
The three 3.5mm ports can be configured for line-level or headset/TRRS input or flipped into outputs. Line level will cover most instruments and active electronics with audio output, while headset mode is for anything with a lower output signal such as, well, headsets, but also some other unpowered microphones like lavaliers. I even had some success recording an SM7b via an XLR to TRRS adapter. You can add up to 45dB of gain to the 3.5mm inputs, and with about 35dB the output from Shure’s gain-hungry mic was quiet, but clean and usable. Other XLR dynamic mics were much louder and usable.
With three microphones connected this way, the TP-7 will spit out a multitrack WAV file with each one recorded on its own channel making this a capable podcast recording tool or mini studio recorder that you can mix properly after the fact.
Connect a phone to the TP-7 over USB-C and you can record any sound directly, so you could grab the audio from a video and transcribe it with the app, or load up a beat and then sing or rhyme over it for an on the go demo whenever inspiration strikes. When playing back on the TP-7 the main front disk rotates and you can speed it up, slow it down or even do some rudimentary scratching. This could be used for effect when feeding the output into the TX-6 mixer for recording onto another device.
Multitrack also works for playback. So if you have a WAV file that has drums, vocals, synth and bass as different tracks, you can play it on the TP-7 into the TX-6 over USB and you can mix and add effects to each part of the track separately. In this way, you can use the pair as an effective performance tool, creating an intro with just the beat, adding in the bassline and so on.
Taking this concept even further, with two TP-7s and the TX-6 mixer you effectively have a pair of tiny turntables, with actual turning platters, that can be pitched up or down in real time into the mixer. It’s a classic analog DJ setup but the size of a paperback. I tried it, and mixing this way is really hard as using the jog wheel to alter pitch is a bit heavy handed. You can adjust the pitch more gently by holding the side button and then using the jog wheel, but if, like me, you haven’t mixed this way in 20 years, it takes a little getting used to. It’s also a little OTT to be fair.
What’s much more reasonable, is using the TP-7 as a general audio player. You can load files onto it, and then play them back either on the internal speaker or (preferably) via headphones. You can use the side rocker or the main wheel to control the playback, too. Currently you can only play .wav and .flac file extensions, which is fine, but the lack of mp3 feels like an obvious omission (Teenage Engineering confirmed support is incoming).
The flexibility of the TP-7 doesn’t stop out in the field. Connect it to your PC and it’ll become an audio interface, too. Or at least, that’s the idea. Right now on Windows I only had it working briefly and not in full. On macOS it was marginally better, but not usable. Bear in mind the TX-6 also offers this functionality, and after months that still doesn’t work with Windows at all and is still not flawless on macOS. It’s a shame, as at this price point you’d hope it works at launch and across both systems.
There’s really a lot more you can do with the TP-7, especially in combination with the TX-6. There’s Bluetooth MIDI functionality, for one. The two really make a great team, but the above cover much of the main functionality. Everything else starts to get a little bit niche. Fun, but niche. I’m also certain that functionality will continue to grow as Teenage Engineering is generally pretty good about adding features, often based on user feedback.
Putting it all together
After spending days plugging different things into the TP-7 and the TX-6 and trying out various scenarios and ideas, it sometimes felt like that was often half the fun. Wondering what will happen if you do X and connect to Y. Like musical lego. Much of this will be true for many combinations of audio gear, but the Field line does lend itself particularly well to this playful experimentation.
That said, there are some bugs that you might not expect at this price point. The most obvious one I encountered was the audio interface functionality. At launch I would expect Windows and macOS support and for both to be fairly seamless. Other curiosities were less important but still confusing. Sometimes the CM15 wouldn’t be recognized over USB until a restart, or simply using the analog/3.5mm output would sporadically give crunchy audio when recording into one thing, but clear audio on the TP-7. This could well be down to cables, adapters and so on, but when the same scenario works just fine on a product a third of the price it’s harder to justify.
Take the Tula mic, for example. It’s actually a device that’s already quite popular with Teenage Engineering fans. It has a more classic design, but offers similar functionality to both the TP-7 and the CM15 combined. The mic on it maybe isn’t as good as Teenage Engineering’s, and the recorder functionality doesn’t have the fancy rocker and jog wheel controls, but it’s a good mic and a good recorder all in one and it only costs $259 — less than a tenth of the TP-7 and CM15 together.
But as I said up top, this is less about the price. Teenage Engineering fans are aware of the expense that comes with the products. Many consider it worth it just for that extra dash of playfulness that you don’t find elsewhere. (Other fans are, to be clear, still not really okay with the pricing.) That’s perhaps a conundrum that good old market forces can decide. If, after all these years, the company is still chugging along, it suggests there are plenty of people that consider it a premium worth paying.
What is less contested is that Teenage Engineering does something unique enough to earn it enough fans for there to even be an argument. Or an article like this one. The Field system, in my opinion, exemplifies what the company does best. Interesting tools that have a practical core and a less practical fun side. Individually all four field items will solve a basic problem, like most products do. Together they become a little bit more than the sum of their parts. If you believe creativity lives in that space between functionality and possibility then the Field range creates enough room here for the right kind of creator that the price
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/teenage-engineering-tp7-cm15-field-series-review-170052292.html?src=rss
Last spring, Teenage Engineering announced a curious, tiny mixer. At $1,200 the TX-6 appeared to pair a serious price tag with almost comically small controls. It divided music making forums with naysayers deeming it evidence that the company was squandering its reputation as a maker of spendy-but-delightful products. Importantly, the TX-6 was the first in a new line of “Field” products. It was soon joined by the OP-1 Field synthesizer, but until recently that was it, and a mixer with a synth didn’t feel like much of a “system”.
With the arrival of the TP-7 recorder and the CM-15 microphone, the Field family is complete — although the company hasn’t ruled out adding more products further down the line. And like some sort of heavily designed musical Infinity Stones, all four products feel far more exciting and powerful together than they do individually. Or, forced metaphors aside, it’s easier to see where the company was going with all this now that the family is complete.
That’s if the $5,900 entry fee for the full set doesn’t make you balk. But let’s ignore the economics for now, as that’s an accepted part of the Teenage Engineering experience at this point. What we have here is a compact, creativity-inducing system that’s like no other and this off-beat, playful approach to product design is something I wish we saw more of (and ideally in a more accessible way).
We’ve already covered the TX-6 mixer and the OP-1 Field synthesizer and how they interact with each other. But as the two new arrivals bring their own set of skills to the Field system, most of which is laid out below. I say most, as every time I tinker with them, it occurs to me to try something new. Similarly, revisiting the online guide seems to have an uncanny ability to throw up things you missed last time, further unlocking ideas or features.
CM-15
Teenage Engineering’s first studio microphone is nothing if not beautiful. The Field aesthetic of small, rectangular CNC aluminum makes the most sense here out of all the products. The CM15 could really just be another fancy microphone. The CM15 is also the one where the price is most inconspicuous, given high-end microphones tend to start around the $1,200 that you’ll need to spend to add this to your collection.
The CM15 is a large diaphragm condenser microphone which is the type preferred in studios and tends to be a lot more sensitive than something like the podcaster’s favorite Shure SM7b. This microphone doesn’t have elaborate features like internal storage or any type of sound modification tools, but it’s not without some interesting details. For one, the CM15 has three output options — mini XLR, USB and 3.5mm — which makes it compatible with a wide range of devices. Specifically, as the CM15 has its own battery, it plays nice with more USB devices than rival condensers that may require more juice than your phone can deliver.
A switch around the back offers three levels of gain adjustment (neutral and +/- 18dB) which is handy given the variety of things you can plug this into. The gain is analog and in testing sounds pretty clean, with only a marginal effect on the noise floor. I found being able to quickly adjust the gain directly on the mic for different situations made this mic feel like a really good all-rounder, both at home or on the go.
With regard to the Field range, and the intercompatibility thereof, there’s less here than other devices in the family. When you plug the CM15 into the TP-7 recorder over USB it recognizes it as the CM15 and presents you a cute mini icon of it. When the mic is detected you’ll also have the option to add an additional 12dB of digital gain — something that’s not an option when plugging in a phone, for example. The CM15 is also the only mic I tried that worked with the USB port of the TX-6 mixer. This allows you to add effects and, of course, mix it with other instruments, but also this frees up an analog input if needed (though the mic will share channel six with anything else on that input).
Teenage Engineering states the CM15 can also be used as an audio interface, but when tested this didn’t work for Windows, MacOS or iOS. Though it will work as a USB mic for all those operating systems.
As for sound, the CM15 is a very “close” sounding condenser microphone. By that, I mean it never seemed to pick up a lot of the room which can often be the case with condensers, especially those with larger diaphragms. This is due to the supercardioid polar pattern but the result is perfect for mobile applications where you may find yourself in different environments and the CM15 will deliver fairly consistent sound. For my voice, I might appreciate the option to bump the mid-high frequencies a touch, but for most everything else, including foley and instruments, the CM15 sounds bright and clear.
TP-7
I’ll say it straight up front, the $1,499 TP-7 is my favorite of the four Field devices. The OP-1 Field is the flagship, but for pure portability to functionality balance, the TP-7 wins. Described as a “Field recorder” the TP-7 takes the idea of a portable cassette recorder and brings it up to date for the 21st century. There’s a built-in microphone, 128GB of storage and three stereo inputs (that can also be outputs). It can record multitrack podcasts, has tactile scrubbing controls and a thumb rocker and can even become a tiny turntable complete with scratching and physical pitch control.
First and foremost though, the TP-7 is a capable recorder. Press and hold the side button, even when the device is off, and it’ll spring to life and start recording via the internal mic. This feature is more about recording short notes and ideas which you can then have transcribed via a companion app. The app connects over Bluetooth or USB, works offline and will even identify different speakers. It’s not as fully featured as a paid service like Trint or Otter but it’s really cool extra functionality. I even tried loading an old interview I had on my PC onto the TP-7 and the app happily transcribed that, too. The only restriction seemingly being that you have a TP-7 (you can’t load an audio up from your phone within the app, for example).
Beyond memo recording is more general recording of the TP-7’s various inputs. As with the TX-6 mixer, your main inputs are 3.5mm ports which isn’t ideal but most things with a line signal can be wrangled into 3.5mm easily enough. You can also record audio into and out of your phone via USB-C (including the iPhone 15) or directly from the CM15 digitally and over 3.5mm analog at the same time, if you wanted.
The three 3.5mm ports can be configured for line-level or headset/TRRS input or flipped into outputs. Line level will cover most instruments and active electronics with audio output, while headset mode is for anything with a lower output signal such as, well, headsets, but also some other unpowered microphones like lavaliers. I even had some success recording an SM7b via an XLR to TRRS adapter. You can add up to 45dB of gain to the 3.5mm inputs, and with about 35dB the output from Shure’s gain-hungry mic was quiet, but clean and usable. Other XLR dynamic mics were much louder and usable.
With three microphones connected this way, the TP-7 will spit out a multitrack WAV file with each one recorded on its own channel making this a capable podcast recording tool or mini studio recorder that you can mix properly after the fact.
Connect a phone to the TP-7 over USB-C and you can record any sound directly, so you could grab the audio from a video and transcribe it with the app, or load up a beat and then sing or rhyme over it for an on the go demo whenever inspiration strikes. When playing back on the TP-7 the main front disk rotates and you can speed it up, slow it down or even do some rudimentary scratching. This could be used for effect when feeding the output into the TX-6 mixer for recording onto another device.
Multitrack also works for playback. So if you have a WAV file that has drums, vocals, synth and bass as different tracks, you can play it on the TP-7 into the TX-6 over USB and you can mix and add effects to each part of the track separately. In this way, you can use the pair as an effective performance tool, creating an intro with just the beat, adding in the bassline and so on.
Taking this concept even further, with two TP-7s and the TX-6 mixer you effectively have a pair of tiny turntables, with actual turning platters, that can be pitched up or down in real time into the mixer. It’s a classic analog DJ setup but the size of a paperback. I tried it, and mixing this way is really hard as using the jog wheel to alter pitch is a bit heavy handed. You can adjust the pitch more gently by holding the side button and then using the jog wheel, but if, like me, you haven’t mixed this way in 20 years, it takes a little getting used to. It’s also a little OTT to be fair.
What’s much more reasonable, is using the TP-7 as a general audio player. You can load files onto it, and then play them back either on the internal speaker or (preferably) via headphones. You can use the side rocker or the main wheel to control the playback, too. Currently you can only play .wav and .flac file extensions, which is fine, but the lack of mp3 feels like an obvious omission (Teenage Engineering confirmed support is incoming).
The flexibility of the TP-7 doesn’t stop out in the field. Connect it to your PC and it’ll become an audio interface, too. Or at least, that’s the idea. Right now on Windows I only had it working briefly and not in full. On macOS it was marginally better, but not usable. Bear in mind the TX-6 also offers this functionality, and after months that still doesn’t work with Windows at all and is still not flawless on macOS. It’s a shame, as at this price point you’d hope it works at launch and across both systems.
There’s really a lot more you can do with the TP-7, especially in combination with the TX-6. There’s Bluetooth MIDI functionality, for one. The two really make a great team, but the above cover much of the main functionality. Everything else starts to get a little bit niche. Fun, but niche. I’m also certain that functionality will continue to grow as Teenage Engineering is generally pretty good about adding features, often based on user feedback.
Putting it all together
After spending days plugging different things into the TP-7 and the TX-6 and trying out various scenarios and ideas, it sometimes felt like that was often half the fun. Wondering what will happen if you do X and connect to Y. Like musical lego. Much of this will be true for many combinations of audio gear, but the Field line does lend itself particularly well to this playful experimentation.
That said, there are some bugs that you might not expect at this price point. The most obvious one I encountered was the audio interface functionality. At launch I would expect Windows and macOS support and for both to be fairly seamless. Other curiosities were less important but still confusing. Sometimes the CM15 wouldn’t be recognized over USB until a restart, or simply using the analog/3.5mm output would sporadically give crunchy audio when recording into one thing, but clear audio on the TP-7. This could well be down to cables, adapters and so on, but when the same scenario works just fine on a product a third of the price it’s harder to justify.
Take the Tula mic, for example. It’s actually a device that’s already quite popular with Teenage Engineering fans. It has a more classic design, but offers similar functionality to both the TP-7 and the CM15 combined. The mic on it maybe isn’t as good as Teenage Engineering’s, and the recorder functionality doesn’t have the fancy rocker and jog wheel controls, but it’s a good mic and a good recorder all in one and it only costs $259 — less than a tenth of the TP-7 and CM15 together.
But as I said up top, this is less about the price. Teenage Engineering fans are aware of the expense that comes with the products. Many consider it worth it just for that extra dash of playfulness that you don’t find elsewhere. (Other fans are, to be clear, still not really okay with the pricing.) That’s perhaps a conundrum that good old market forces can decide. If, after all these years, the company is still chugging along, it suggests there are plenty of people that consider it a premium worth paying.
What is less contested is that Teenage Engineering does something unique enough to earn it enough fans for there to even be an argument. Or an article like this one. The Field system, in my opinion, exemplifies what the company does best. Interesting tools that have a practical core and a less practical fun side. Individually all four field items will solve a basic problem, like most products do. Together they become a little bit more than the sum of their parts. If you believe creativity lives in that space between functionality and possibility then the Field range creates enough room here for the right kind of creator that the price
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/teenage-engineering-tp7-cm15-field-series-review-170052292.html?src=rss
75 / 65M3-equipped MacBook Pros, the company will soon be releasing an update for Final Cut Pro to make further use of its own silicon. According to the company, its updated video editing suite will leverage a new machine learning model for improved results with object and face tracking. Additionally, H.264 and HEVC encoding will apparently be faster, thanks to enhanced simultaneous processing by Apple silicon's media engines.
On the user experience side, the new Final Cut Pro comes with automatic timeline scrolling, as well as the option to simplify a selected group of overlapping connected clips into a single storyline, and the ability to combine connected clips with existing connected storylines.
On Final Cut Pro for iPad, meanwhile, users can take advantage of the new voiceover recording tool, added color-grading presets, new titles, general workflow improvements and stabilization tool in the pro camera mode. Both the Mac and iPad Final Cut Pro updates will be available later this month.
With Logic Pro's new Quick Sampler Recorder mode, users can create sampler instruments from any sound using the iPad's built-in microphone or a connected audio input.
Apple
For those who need to focus on music creation, Apple has also updated Logic Pro with some handy new tools. For both the Mac and iPad versions, there's a new Mastering Assistant, which claims to help polish your audio mix by analyzing and tweaking "the dynamics, frequency balance, timbre, and loudness." You can use this tool to refine your mix at any point throughout the creation process. To avoid digital clipping and to boost low-level sensitivity, both flavors of Logic Pro now supports 32-bit float recording when used with compatible audio interfaces.
If you're a fan of "Sample Alchemy" — a sample-to-instrument tool — and "Beat Breaker" — an audio multi-effect plug-in — on Logic Pro for iPad, you'll be pleased to know that both features have been ported over to Logic Pro for Mac. Similarly, the Mac app has gained two free sound packs, "Hybrid Textures" and "Vox Melodics," which can be found in the Sound Library. Some may also find the new "Slip" and "Rotate" tools in the "Tool" menu useful.
Meanwhile, the updated Logic Pro for iPad promises an improved multi-tasking experience. The app now supports iPadOS' "Split View" and "Stage Manager," thus letting you quickly drag and drop audio samples from another app — such as Voice Memos, Files or a browser — into Logic Pro. There's also a new "Quick Sampler" recorder plug-in for easily creating sampler instruments from any sound, via the iPad's built-in microphone or a connected audio input. This update is available immediately, along with a handful of related in-app lessons.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/final-cut-pro-uses-apples-latest-chips-to-improve-face-and-object-tracking-065025314.html?src=rss
Amazon just bundled together the fourth-gen Echo and the fifth-gen Echo Dot in a sale that represents significant savings for both devices. You can snag both for $83, which is a discount of nearly $70 if you bought each separately. The bundle’s even available in multiple colors, including white, blue and black. You can’t mix and match hues, however, for the contrast hounds out there.
The bundle includes the fourth-gen Echo, originally released in 2020. In our review, we said that the speaker “punches above its weight” and praised the reasonable price. Well, if the price was reasonable at $100, it’s certainly reasonable now. The Echo is more or less the gold standard when it comes to basic smart home speakers and gives you access to Alexa, premium sound quality (for a small ball that sits on a counter) and an easy-to-use microphone array.
We also noted that this thing sounds even better when paired with another device for the purposes of stereo or multi-room sound. That’s where the Echo Dot comes in.
The bundle also includes the fifth-gen Echo Dot. This speaker may not be as powerful as its older sibling, but it still offers plenty of nifty features, including surprisingly robust sound, a temperature sensor and built-in Eero capabilities. There’s a reason why it made our list of the best smart speakers. You can pair the Dot with the regular Echo for stereo sound in one room or for delivering audio to multiple rooms at once. It’ll be like the music is traveling with you, resembling the line at a highly personalized Disney ride.
It’s worth noting that both of these devices are a generation behind, as there’s a newer Echo Dot with a built-in clock and a fifth-gen standard Echo. Still, the bundle’s a pretty good deal.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-selling-an-echo-and-echo-dot-bundle-for-83-as-an-early-black-friday-deal-162027983.html?src=rss
A bunch of Sony headphones, earbuds and other audio devices have been discounted as part of Amazon's early Black Friday sales, including the Sony WH-CH720N headset, which is currently selling for the lowest price we've seen for it on the website. You can get the noise canceling wireless headphones for $98, down 35 percent from their original list price of $150. They have a lightweight, over-ear design with ample space around your ears so that they'd be comfortable to use. And while you can completely block out outside noise for full immersion, you can also switch on their Adjustable Ambient Sound mode that comes with 20 levels for when you want to be aware of your surroundings.
You can pair the WH-CH720N with two Bluetooth devices at the same time, and you can easily switch between them at the touch of a button. Plus, the model supports both Alexa and Google's voice assistants, and Sony says it can last for up to 35 hours on a single charge.
The most deeply discounted product among the ones currently on sale, however, are the Sony WH-XB910N wireless headphones. They have the power to enhance low-end frequencies for extra bass with their "dedicated bass duct on the headphone housing" and "increased airtightness between the driver units and eardrums." The headphones use dual noise cancelation technology to keep ambient sounds out, and like the WH-CH720N, you can quickly switch between two connected Bluetooth devices. You can get the Sony WH-XB910N headphones right now for $118, which isn't quite a record-low for the model but is still 53 percent lower than its original price.
If you're looking for earbuds instead of headphones, you can also grab a pair of Sony LinkBuds S with noise canceling capabilities for $128 (36 percent off) from the sale. Want earbuds designed to let ambient sounds in? The Sony LinkBuds earbuds with an open-ring design now also cost $128, or 29 percent less than their original list price. Finally, you can find deals on subwoofers and sound bars from Amazon, as well, if those are what you've been eyeing for the upcoming holiday season.
So what makes the WH-1000XM5 headphones so great even a year and a half after Sony released them? The headphones have an unmatched mix of features, including a remarkable sound quality that is crisp and clear while providing a punchy bass during 30 hours of battery life. The M5 comes with eight ANC mics — double that of its predecessor. Plus, the wireless headphones have an updated fit that makes the 0.55-pound device feel light and remarkably comfortable. It's no surprise we gave them a 95 in our initial review.
Sony's top-tier headphones also have all the controls you need without having to pick up your phone. You can use physical and touch control buttons to change the song, make a call or change the noise mode (which can also change automatically as you move throughout the day). The Speak-to-Chat feature will even pause your audio as soon as you start talking.
If you're more of an earbuds person, Sony's WF-1000XM5 buds are down to a record-low price of $250. These just came out this summer and they feature a ton of improvements like upgraded drivers, new chips and a big bump in sound quality. The WF-1000XM5 are more comfortable than their predecessors, and they support advanced features like adaptive sound and Speak-to-Chat.