A mention of ‘craftsmanship‘ often comes accompanied by our sense of touch. The mastery implied here highlights the humanness of our artistic endeavours, putting both the best of physical and emotional feelings front and centre.
This is how Sony has pursued sound over the last 70 years, dedicatedly designing immersive worlds that one can easily enter and exit with sound alone. But the portals to these worlds also make a difference in the daily listening experience, the transition an act that can also be perfected. The newest addition to their most premium, portable and personal device line — the 1000X series — thus not only attempts this but achieves a new level of luxury with the 1000X THE COLLEXION, and we were flown all the way to Tokyo, Japan to witness its sonic prowess first-hand.
Set in the serene grounds of Re;Place Koishikawa, Sony invited media from all over the world to track the development of the 1000X series through the years, before taking us through the nitty gritty details of the latest premium headphones with a curation of immersive experiences. From the Walkman, to the line’s first model MDR-1000X in 2016, all the way to its most advanced evolution today, it was crystal clear how Sony’s sonic game has always been top tier in the industry — and will continue to be with this new luxurious proposition.
Echoed in the choice of the historical site was how traditional Japanese design values of minimalism, restraint and harmony with nature all anchor the design of 1000X THE COLLEXION. Like knowing how timber expands and contracts through the seasons, Sony understands how culture, lifestyle and the environment shape how people listen to the world. On that note, Sony made sure to keep the new 1000X headphones’ construction sleek and simple, 1000X THE COLLEXION being crafted with only two primary premium materials — metal and faux leather.
Metal presents itself as a matte, sandblasted surface around the headband, while a hand-polished glossy metal accents the connection to the ear cups. A soft, faux leather that took two years to make then wraps and cushions the rest of 1000X THE COLLEXION’s body, with integrated metal buttons and microphone openings embedded for a clean and seamless finish that sings at both sight and touch. Entire rooms in the venue were coated in the two available colour choices of the faux leather — a beige for the Platinum and Black — to demonstrate it’s generous and luxurious tactility.
As for the sound that comes out of the ergonomic 1000X THE COLLEXION, a key highlight was being able to experience a music performance three times — live, with THE COLLEXION, and specifically the 360 Reality Audio Upmix — to see how the DSEE Ultimate™ was able to use Edge-AI to upscale compressed digital music files in real time, restoring lost detail and dynamic range for a richer listening experience. This is particularly exciting for those are paying increasing attention to the creative process of their favourite artists, because Sony collaborated with GRAMMY® award-winning and nominated mastering engineers to refine the tuning of 1000X THE COLLEXION to ensure smoother vocals, more balanced instruments and more nuanced dynamics to faithfully convey the emotion and intent of the artists and creators. If getting to closer to the penultimate appreciation of your favourite artists’ works is on your to-do list, then here’s a luxurious proposition with your desires in mind.
The wear of the 1000X THE COLLEXION was also made to be more comfortable for extended listening, with the ear cups ergonomically designed to hug the ears just enough for stable and ideal isolation while staying snug. Our flight back to sunny Singapore was the perfect testbed for what 10 years of innovation have led to. Safe to say that a complete and holistic experience of the best of sound is what Sony set out to do and achieved quite excellently with the 1000X THE COLLEXION.
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