@milstray
audio engineering background so i'm picky but not claiming expert status. biggest upgrade is the ANC. xm5 had this annoying delay where it took 3-5 seconds to adjust when noise changed. turn your head near running water and you'd hear it leak through until the headphones caught up. xm6 fixed this completely. feels consistent now like the qc ultra and airpods max. overall anc performance basically matches qc ultra. bose slightly better on low frequencies but we're splitting hairs. with music playing they're all excellent. transparency mode is massively improved from xm5. airpods max still most natural sounding but xm6 is close. qc ultra has this weird thing where distant sounds drop off a cliff. sound quality is a huge step up. xm5 bass wasn't rich and somehow still muddied the highs. xm6 fixed both. airpods max have clearer treble but almost too bright at volume. out of box tuning with ldac is excellent. best sounding anc headphones i own right now. qc ultra lacks detail in comparison. comfort will be divisive. way more clamping force than xm5. lightweight but tight. won't fall off during workouts which is nice but some people will hate it. qc ultra manages to be snug without the pressure somehow. build feels solid, nothing creaks. new button layout is way better than xm5. pretty close to perfect if they fit your head. actually feels like a worthy upgrade from xm5 unlike what other reviews are saying.
bought them for flights but ended up wearing them everywhere. game changer for anxiety honestly. world gets overwhelming sometimes and being able to just... turn it down helps more than i expected. not completely silent obviously but enough that the constant background noise doesn't drain you. i bought sony wh-1000xm6, expensive investment but genuinely improved daily life. i absolutely love them.
