Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) vs Master & Dynamic MW60

The Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) is an exemplary product and sets the bar for all other Closed-Back Headphones at the $210 budget.

The Master & Dynamic MW60, however, is merely passable for its price. We suggest taking a look at some better options if you're considering buying a Closed-Back Headphone in the $330 range.

The Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) has done great in a couple of roundups conducted by highly trusted sources that perform objective in-depth testing, like Tom's Guide, CNET, Laptop Mag, and SoundGuys - it earned the "Best Sony headphones overall" title from Tom's Guide, "Best of previous generation" from CNET, and "Excellent sound paired with great noise cancelling" from Laptop Mag. Any product that's held in high regard by such reliable sources should be considered by anyone that's looking for a Closed-Back Headphone at this price point.

Moving on to the Master & Dynamic MW60: it was unable to reach the very top of any roundups from sources that conduct reliable and unbiased testing. Nonetheless, it still managed to impress reviewers from a number of such sites, like SoundGuys, Head-fi, Headphone Review, CNET, PCmag, Wirecutter (NYTimes), and Audioholics, enough for them to include them on those lists.

Out of the sources that tested and rated both of these Closed-Back Headphones, CNET, PCmag, and Headphone Review preferred the Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018), whereas reviewers at Head-fi liked the Master & Dynamic MW60 better. SoundGuys gave them identical review scores.

We also took a look at which sources liked these products best - the highest Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) rating came from Expert Reviews, whereas the Master & Dynamic MW60 most impressed reviewers at SoundGuys; they earned scores of 10 and 9, respectively.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Closed-Back Headphones on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Closed-Back Headphones being 7.4 out of 10, whereas the Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) and Master & Dynamic MW60 managed averages of 9.0 and 8.1 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct Sony WH-1000XM3 (2018) vs. Master & Dynamic MW60 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.