Products
Sennheiser HD 4.50 BTNC
Sony MDR-XB950N1 Wireless
Tested using Methodology v1.4
Updated Oct 27, 2023 06:42 PM
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Tested using Methodology v1.3.1
Updated Feb 25, 2022 03:54 PM
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TypeOver-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
Noise CancellingYes
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
TypeOver-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
Noise CancellingYes
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
Our Verdict
Sennheiser HD 4.50 BTNC
Sony MDR-XB950N1 Wireless
The Sennheiser HD 4.50 BTNC are better headphones than the Sony MDR-XB950N1 Wireless. The Sonys have a very dark sound profile and their ANC feature is quite disappointing. On the upside, they have slightly longer battery life, but they take twice as much time to charge as the HD 4.50. The HD 4.50 can also connect to two devices simultaneously.
Variants
- HD 4.50
- MDR-XB950N1 (Black)
- MDR-XB950N1 (Green)
Check Price
Standard
HD 4.50
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Black
MDR-XB950N1
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Standard
HD 4.50
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Green
MDR-XB950N1
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Standard
HD 4.50
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HD 4.50
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Main Differences for
Mixed Usage
Mixed Usage
Threshold
Mixed Usage
6.9
6.3
Noise Isolation
7.2
5.9
Bass Accuracy
8.8
5.5
Treble Accuracy
5.9
2.7
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
Over-ear
Over-ear
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Closed-Back
Wireless
Yes
Yes
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
7.0
7.0
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.5 lbs
0.65 lbs
Clamping Force
1.1 lbs
1 lbs
Controls
6.4
7.0
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Mediocre
Decent
Feedback
Subpar
Okay
Call/Music Control
Yes
Yes
Volume Control
Yes
Yes
Microphone Control
No
No
Channel Mixing
No
N/A
Noise Cancelling Control
On/Off
Yes
Talk-Through
No
No
Additional Controls
Multi function
N/A
Breathability
6.5
6.4
Breathability After Picture
Avg.Temp.Difference
5.8 °C
6.1 °C
Portability
6.2
6.0
Portability Picture
L
4.5"
7.4"
W
6"
7.1"
H
3.2"
1.9"
Volume
86 in³
102 in³
Transmitter Required
No
N/A
Case
6.5
5.5
Case Picture
Type
Soft case
Pouch
L
4.8"
N/A
W
7"
N/A
H
3.5"
N/A
Volume
118 in³
N/A
Build Quality
7.0
7.5
Build Quality Picture
Stability
7.5
6.0
Stability Picture
Headshots 1
Angled Picture
Side Picture
Headshots 2
Front Picture
Rear Picture
Top
Top Picture
In The Box
In The Box Picture
Sound
Sound Profile
Frequency Response
Frequency Response
Bass Amount
-0.71 dB
5.39 dB
Treble Amount
-2.85 dB
-6.59 dB
Frequency Response Consistency
7.4
5.9
Consistency L
Consistency R
Avg. Std. Deviation
0.52 dB
0.96 dB
Raw Frequency Response
Raw FR L
Raw FR L
Raw FR R
Raw FR R
Bass Accuracy
8.8
5.5
Bass
Bass
Std. Err.
1.79 dB
6.27 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
13.16 Hz
10 Hz
Low-Bass
1.93 dB
7.78 dB
Mid-Bass
1.99 dB
7.36 dB
High-Bass
1.71 dB
5.64 dB
Mid Accuracy
7.5
9.4
Mid
Mid
Std. Err.
3.38 dB
0.75 dB
Low-Mid
-0.02 dB
-0.19 dB
Mid-Mid
2.18 dB
0.59 dB
High-Mid
5.26 dB
0.36 dB
Treble Accuracy
5.9
2.7
Treble
Treble
Std. Err.
5.47 dB
8.62 dB
Low-Treble
-1.31 dB
-8.14 dB
Mid-Treble
-1.69 dB
-8.51 dB
High-Treble
-8 dB
-7.13 dB
Peaks/Dips
6.7
6.5
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
2 dB
2.03 dB
Dips
2.19 dB
2.71 dB
Imaging
8.9
8.4
Group Delay
Phase Response
Weighted Group Delay
0.26
0.24
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.3
0.38
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
1.5
2.31
Weighted Phase Mismatch
3.72
8.71
Passive Soundstage
4.3
4.1
PRTF
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
3.99 dB
4.21 dB
PRTF Size (Avg.)
3.54 dB
1.24 dB
PRTF Distance
10.78 dB
7.81 dB
Openness
2.8
3.9
Acoustic Space Excitation
1.8
3.1
Virtual Soundstage
0.0
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
No
Speaker Modeling
No
Room Ambience
No
Head Tracking
No
Virtual Surround
No App
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
7.3
6.9
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.250
0.686
WHD @ 100
0.313
0.239
Test Settings
Firmware
Unknown
Power
On
Connection
Bluetooth 4.0
Codec
aptX, 16-bit, 48kHz
EQ
Default
ANC
On
Tip/Pad
Default
Microphone
Integrated
Isolation
Noise Isolation
7.2
5.9
Noise Isolation
Isolation Audio
Overall Attenuation
-19.38 dB
-14.15 dB
Noise Cancelling
Yes
Yes
Bass
-9.11 dB
-4.97 dB
Mid
-15.78 dB
-13.42 dB
Treble
-33.72 dB
-24.84 dB
Leakage
8.5
7.5
Leakage
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
30.71 dB
36.57 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
Yes
In-Line
No
No
Boom
No
No
Detachable Boom
No
N/A
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
6.0
6.6
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
329.38 Hz
71.27 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
5.02 dB
5.45 dB
HFE
3,368.2 Hz
3,225.4 Hz
Weighted THD
8.924
6.395
Gain
38.48 dB
42.95 dB
Noise Handling
7.1
5.7
SpNR
Speech + Pink Noise
Speech + Subway Noise
SpNR
21.02 dB
8.14 dB
Active Features
Battery
7.5
7.3
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
22.3 hrs
24 hrs
Additional Charges
0.0
0
Total Battery Life
22.3 hrs
24 hrs
Charge Time
2.2 hrs
3.9 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
No
No
Audio While Charging
No
No
Passive Playback
Yes
Yes
Charging Port
micro-USB
micro-USB
App Support
0.0
7.0
App Picture
App Name
No App
Sony| Headphones Connect
iOS
No
Yes
Android
No
Yes
macOS
No
N/A
Windows
No
N/A
Equalizer
No
Presets
ANC Control
No
Yes
Mic Control
No
No
Room Effects
No
Yes
Playback Control
No
No
Button Mapping
No
N/A
Surround Sound
N/A
Surround Support
No
Connectivity
Bluetooth
8.6
7.6
Bluetooth Version
4.0
4.1
Multi-Device Pairing
2 Devices
No
NFC Pairing
Yes
Yes
Line Of Sight Range
120 ft
175 ft
PC Latency (SBC)
161 ms
173 ms
PC Latency (aptX)
140 ms
151 ms
PC Latency (aptX HD)
N/A
PC Latency (aptX-LL)
N/A
N/A
iOS Latency
137 ms
Android Latency
61 ms
Non-Bluetooth Wireless
0.0
0.0
Non-BT Line Of Sight Range
N/A
N/A
Non-BT Latency
N/A
N/A
Wired
9.5
9.5
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
Yes
Yes
USB Audio
No
No
Detachable
Yes
Yes
Length
4.5 ft
4.1 ft
Connection
1/8" TRS
1/8" TRS
Wired Latency
0 ms
Analog/USB Audio Latency
0 ms
PC / PS4 Compatibility
PC/PS4 Analog
Audio Only
Audio Only
PC/PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PC/PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox One Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
Audio Only
Audio Only
Xbox One Wired USB
No
No
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Base/Dock
0.0
0.0
Type
No Base/Dock
N/A
USB Input
No
N/A
Line In
No
N/A
Line Out
No
N/A
Optical Input
No
N/A
RCA Input
No
N/A
Dock Charging
No
N/A
Power Supply
No Base/Dock
N/A
Check Price
Standard
HD 4.50
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Black
MDR-XB950N1
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Standard
HD 4.50
SEE PRICE
Walmart.com
Green
MDR-XB950N1
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Standard
HD 4.50
SEARCH
B&H
Standard
HD 4.50
SEARCH
BestBuy.com
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Sennheiser HD 4.50 BTNC
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Sennheiser HD 4.50 BTNC vs Sony MDR-XB950N1 Wireless: Main Discussion
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