Walmart leaks new Sony XM4 headphone features

What you need to know
- Listing and features found on Walmart's website.
- Headphones said to retail for just under $350.
- Headphones to include industry-leading noise cancellation and real-time restoration of compressed files.
Intrepid headphone enthusiasts from TheWalkmanBlog discovered a page on Walmart.com that appeared to list the as-yet-unreleased Sony WH1000XM4 headphones, along with all of the device's new features and price.
TheWalkmanBlog's post was reported on by XDA-Developers, an incomplete listing for the new Sony headphones was found on Walmart's website. The update to the popular XM3s is said to come with several improvements and enhancements, including industry-leading digital noise cancellation, ambient sound control, proprietary technology for premium sound, touch controls, hands-free calling, multipoint connection, and adaptive sound control.
In our opinion, though, some of the most exciting features include enhanced comfort through pressure-relieving earpads, quick charging capabilities that give you five hours of power in just 10 minutes of charging, and real-time restoration of compressed audio files.
The XM4s are said to be priced just shy of $350 ($348 according to the Walmart listing), which is right in line with what the XM3s have been retailing for on sites like Amazon (opens in new tab) and Best Buy (opens in new tab).
As a reminder, we picked the XM3s as our top pair of Sony headphones, and they are at the top of our best noise cancelling headphone list as well. If you just can't wait for the XM4s, the current version are still available, and are still a great choice for the commuter or the audiophile alike.
Comfort listening
The Sony WH-1000XM3 features class-leading ANC, great battery life, and a ton of customizability.
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Jeramy is the Editor-in-Chief of Android Central. He is proud to help *Keep Austin Weird* and loves hiking in the hill country of central Texas with a breakfast taco in each hand. You can follow him on Twitter at @jeramyutgw.
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I know these will sound good with excellent ANC, but for the "real-time restoration of compressed audio files", that is marketing. As good as Sony's work in codecs and algorithms is, lossy compression formats achieve their reduced sizes by removing data. Musical information that is regarded as unnecessary by the compression algorithm simply does not exist in the final file. There's no way this can "put back" missing sounds unles it know what was there beforehand. The data is not there. PS: this is not to be confused with Dolby Systems companding noise reduction, which was used to remove residual noise from the recording/playback process.
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They are probably talking about dynamic range compression which can indeed be improved with an algorithm. Creative markets it as "Crystallizer."
Sadly there are almost no headset that actually support/market this feature. The only ones I know of are the Creative Headsets with onboard DSP but sadly it seems impossible to find information on whether other manufacturers have something similar.