Sony WH-1000XM4 (2020) vs Sennheiser HD 598 (2010)

The Sony WH-1000XM4 (2020) makes for an outstanding Over-Ear Headphone at $348. The Sennheiser HD 598 (2010), however, while overall a good product for its asking price, doesn't quite manage to stand out from its competition - there are better Over-Ear Headphones that can be found for around $490 available here.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 (2020) impressed reviewers from numerous sources that do high-quality in-depth testing, such as TechGearLab, PCmag, CNET, Tom's Guide, SoundGuys, Laptop Mag, Wirecutter (NYTimes), and Rtings. It performed amazingly well in their roundups - it was dubbed "Top Pick" by TechGearLab, "Best for Noise-Sensitive Audiophiles" by PCmag, and "Best all around" by CNET. That, by itself, suggests that it's an excellent product.

As for the Sennheiser HD 598 (2010) - it impressed reviewers at Android Authority, a trustworthy source that conducts solid hands-on testing. It did great in its "Best Samsung Galaxy S10 wired and wireless headphones" roundup - in fact, it earned its "Best comfort" title, which, on its own, indicates a certain level of quality.

To get a better idea of how they fare when compared directly to each other, we analyzed review scores of sources that tested both. What Hi-Fi?, Tom's Guide, SoundGuys, and Rtings, for example, preferred the Sony WH-1000XM4 (2020), while PCmag rated both of them the same.

We also took a look at which sources had the best things to say about them. We learned that the Sony WH-1000XM4 (2020) got reviewed the highest by T3 - it gave it a rating of 10, while the Sennheiser HD 598 (2010) most impressed reviewers at Head-fi, which gave it a score of 9.5.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Over-Ear Headphones on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Over-Ear Headphones being 7.5 out of 10, whereas the Sony WH-1000XM4 (2020) and Sennheiser HD 598 (2010) managed averages of 9.3 and 7.8 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct Sony WH-1000XM4 (2020) vs. Sennheiser HD 598 (2010) comparison might not be entirely fair - some sources don't take value for money into account when assigning their scores and therefore have a tendency to rate more premium products better.