Sony MDR 1000x Still the best?

Sony MDR 1000x was launched in 2017 and promises to offer 20 hours of battery life with great noise canceling capabilities. It has an active Ambient noise canceling feature that can filter noise and allow listening to the surroundings or voice.

With 2020 approaching and many newly launched noise canceling wireless headphones now available in the market. This is the Sony MDR 1000x review 18 months later.

MDR1000x – 2 years later

Build Quality

Having used the MDR1000x in countless flights, trains and different cities and countries – it survives the abuse and is truly durable. The headphones continue to work with fair amount of drizzle and snow. No problems with the headband, mic or the drivers in different environments.

I rarely use the included case and throw it in the bag by folding it. From the daily usage and the beating, I can confirm they are a rugged pair of ANC headphones.

There are a few scuff marks on the surface of the cans, but nothing as such that makes it look bad. The ear cushions are still like new and I use the headphones everywhere from a cold Irish night and on a hot Indian summer day.

The original 3.5mm cable that comes with the headphone also is of very good quality but I broke it while using in a flight. This was stupid on my part else the cable would have survived even today haha!

Audio Quality and App support

The Sony MDR 1000x has impeccable specs on paper for 2017. The audio quality delivered via the mm drivers is very good. The bass is tight and punchy, mids are bright but the vocals seem slightly suppressed. The headphone is very loud so its not recommended to listen at full volume to protect your ears.

Bonus Tip:

There is a built-in audio Optimiser that adjusts the sound and ANC quality. Wear the headphones as usual and hold the Noise canceling button to start the optimiser.

Where it lacks is App Support. Sony never published any official app to connect and explore the features of the headphone like BOSE or for Sony’s new MDR 1000xm3 headphones.

Comfort and Listening Experience

The clamping pressure on the head is still strong as ever and can be a concern for few people who don’t like too much pressure. The good side about that being the headphone never slips while walking or tilting your head.

They’re still my go-to headphones if I want to listen to anything and anywhere. They’re perfect on a cold evenings though your ears can quickly become warm on a hot summer day. It provides no ventilation to the ears and the cups collect sweat on the edges so make sure you clean them regularly.

One of the best features is the attention mode. You can cover the right headphone with your hand and can immediately listen to your surroundings. Its a truly helpful feature and works flawlessly every single time!

Calling and battery performance

Calling is where the MDR1000x really does a poor job. If you’re talking on the phone, the person on the other side cannot hear you clearly. Sometimes I need to cover the mic with one hand to be heard clearly on the other side.

The microphones are positioned high up and hence are far away from your mouth. The MDR 1000xm3 seems to have better performance but is nowhere close to the performance on the BOSE headphones.

The battery life is great and almost delivers 20 hours of listening as advertised. I charge them once a week via the low power mode on Xiaomi Power Bank. The headphones have a voice prompt but does not provide accurate battery percentages.

Overall Verdict – Is it a good buy?

Yes, setting aside the poor microphone, the headphones have proved worthy for the price paid. I purchased these for Rs. 24000 (300 Euro) from a Croma store in Hyderabad.

Bought the Sony after reading many reviews and watching the JimsReviewRoom review video on YouTube (please subscribe to his amazing channel).

I was looking at the Sony MDR 1000xm3, but the upgrade that it offers is not highly significant and these still work as new. Maybe I will upgrade if Sony launches something truly great!

Thank you so much for reading this article and you can read our SoundMagic ES18 earphone review here.

SoundMagic ES18 Review – A great pair of headphones at an amazing price

SoundMagic ES 18 earphones

My SoundMagic ES18 review

The SoundMagic ES18 are an decent looking pair of earphones.

Build & Design:

They don’t look really costly and the styling is modest. Actually, the cable is of really poor quality and by the first look, you’ll feel that the money has been wasted. The cable is a little hard, but still prone to tangling. The earphone jack is a right angled jack, and is well built (some people will feel its an old skool 3.5mm jack!)

Sound:

This is where the SoundMagic ES18 really does well. The sound is amazing since the earphones come in really cheap. The soundstage is good enough and you’ll be able to listen to a lot of punchy bass. (Although some bass-heads may dissaprove this!)

The trebles have a muffed top end, so for those listening to electronic music may be a little disappointed. Although it handled all the other genres really well. The Rock genre is where the earphones really shine!

I listened to all types of tracks right from Eric Clapton’s ‘Cocaine’ to the latest tracks like ‘Uptown Funk’ from Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars and performs well throughout.

Goodies:

At just around 10$ retail price, you really can’t ask for more. But the guys at SoundMagic have thrown in a nice looking pouch with a leather-like feel to keep your earphones protected. I’d say that its really good and I’ve been using it for the last couple of months and have no issues whatsoever.

Reliability:

The SoundMagic ES18’s are really rugged and I use mine very rough and they have survived with me for 2 months now. How they’ll do in the future… that time will only tell (and I’ll update it here).

I recommend that you have a pair for two reasons – 1) Its really inexpensive and can give a great performance and 2) To keep it as a spare in case you forget / your earphone stops working. Also you get the pouch which you can use for your other earphone too!

SoundMagic ES 18 headphones

SoundMagic ES 18 headphones

Hope that this SoundMagic ES18 review helped you today 🙂

Buy now from Amazon:

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Buy now from Flipkart (India):

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Leave your comments if you have any questions or feedback. The SoundMagic ES18 review will also be soon up on my YouTube Channel 🙂

 

 

A sure way to resume Mega stuck downloads

Mega - Logo

Hi guys… I don’t know whether its already posted somewhere else… but I found out a nice trick to resume the stuck Mega Downloads.. (mega.co.nz)

Are you facing issues like:

  • Mega stuck download
  • Mega stuck at 100 percent
  • Mega stuck at 0 percent
  • ..

Here goes the findings: I started to download a file (~1 gb size)  on my PC last night… I woke up in the morning to see the download was stuck at 27%… I was unhappy about it and I put my PC on ‘sleep’ mode… brushed and had breakfast..

Then I started the PC and saw the message on the stuck mega download as ‘temporary error – retrying’ and my download started again!!

But after that my download had stuck again at 69%… again did a quick PC ‘sleep’ and started again… got the retrying message and download started…

In short – Do this to restart your ‘Stuck’ Mega Download:

1. If the download is stuck – DO NOT close / refresh the browser or tab

2. Put your PC on ‘Sleep’ mode

3. After PC goes to sleep… then start the PC again

4. Mega will show ‘Temporary Error – Retrying’ Message

5. Voila! Your download resumes

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If you find this article useful, kindly read my other articles. In case of any questions, I’ll be happy to help! – Thanks! 🙂

HP Compaq V3000 disassembly – a video guide to open up your laptop

HP Compaq V3000 disassembly – a video guide to open up your laptop

You can also CLICK HERE to see the video on YouTube 

The same applies to all Compaq v3000 and v6000 series laptops. You can open to replace the DVD-RW drive, Hard disk drive ( HDD ), as well as replace the RAM on your laptop.

Leave any comments that you have…

Difference between WhatsApp and BBM – A closer look

WhatsApp and BBM are two competing messengers. While BBM was the first mover, WhatsApp caught up and became more popular due to its ease of making friends and cross-platform compatibility. With BBM launching on iOS and Android, the scenario becomes very interesting – lets see the difference!

1. WhatsApp ties to the phone number of the user whereas BBM has a unique BBM PIN (Personal Identification Number): While this is debatable on which is better… WhatsApp is simpler to set up and finding other WhatsApp users is very easy using your own phonebook. Hence, you can get connected and start messaging instantly.

On the other hand BBM assigns each user a unique BBM PIN which is used to add a new user. While it is more secure than giving out your phone number, but it takes time to build your BBM friends list and may get cumbersome if you have many friends.

2. BBM has a “Message Read” indicator whereas WhatsApp only has message delivered symbol (2 checkmarks): Well this one is the main difference between the two… the BBM is more precise on when the user reads the message (on top of that, it also shows if the message has been delivered). The BBM has a Blue ‘D’ symbol for delivery and a Green ‘R’ symbol indicating the message has been read.

WhatsApp on the other hand shows 1 checkmark if the message is sent to the WhatsApp server and 2 checkmarks if the message has been delivered to the recipient.

3. Web Access – WhatsApp vs BBM:

WhatsApp has launched web.whatsapp.com  and it allows to connect your phone and access all messages on your computer via Chrome Browser.

BlackBerry has a software called “BlackBerry Blend”, which helps access emails, BBM messages, and calendar entries on your PC, Android tablet and iPads. This was launched with the release of the BlackBerry Passport phone.

According to an article published by a website called “The Gadgetmasters” –

Skype Provides Only Mono AudioAudio on Facetime Described As Garbled”

and BBM Video Provides Stereo and Wide-Band Audio”  Link to the full article HERE

4. BBM has “BBM Channels” – BBM Channels is a micro social network where the users with similar interests come together. Its almost like a Facebook Fan Page but is more intuitive and tightly integrated with BBM. BBM channels will be coming in early 2014 to cross platform devices (Android and Apple) and is currently limited to BlackBerry Devices. Blackberry had acquired a company called ScrOOn to improve BBM services.