Sony’s Extra Bass line of headphones has given listeners an extra dose of low-end tone over the years, and was generally cheaper than its high-end 1000X cans. The company is still keen to offer brain-rattling bass to those who want it, but gone are the Extra Bass moniker and its confusing alpha-numeric product names (more to come on that change). Today, Sony is introducing the ULT Power Sound, which it calls the “final step in the evolution” of its portable audio gear.

ULT Power Sound will also be available on Bluetooth speakers of various sizes, but are the first headphones to feature the new audio direction. ULT Clothing ($200). A direct replacement for the WH-B910, the ULT Wear features 40mm drivers that Sony says are specifically designed for deep bass. If the stock tuning isn’t enough, there’s an ULT button for two more levels of low-end boost. Plus, the company has crammed in some of its best features from more expensive headphones: the V1 audio chip, 30-hour battery life, Quick Attention Mode, 360 Reality Audio with head tracking, and more.

Sony

Sony’s ULT Wear headphones are a better implementation of bass boost than previous models with significant updates to ANC, features and overall design.

pros

• Pure design
• Great sound most of the time
• Handy features
• Reformed ANC

opposition

• ULT boost can be very high
• Some WH-1000XM5 features are not available
• With some styles the sound gets muddy

$200 on Amazon

The first thing I noticed about the ULT Ware is its design. These headphones don’t immediately strike me as anything less than premium. The matte white finish on my review unit mostly helps mask the plastic construction that looked cheap on previous products like the WH-CH720N. It certainly has a more refined aesthetic than the WH-XB910 it’s replacing. There are definitely some nods to the premium 1000X line in some areas, such as the curve of the ear cups and headband.

Sony decided on a mix of physical and touch controls for the ULT Wear, another way to bridge the gap between its cheapest and most expensive headphones. On the edge of the left ear cup is a power/pairing button and a control for cycling between active noise cancellation (ANC) and ambient sound modes. ULT is a third button on the bottom for bass boost. This item switches between Off, ULT 1 (deep bass) and ULT 2 (more powerful sound with deep bass). On the right, outside the ear cups is a touch panel that you can tap and swipe for playback controls, volume adjustments, and calls.

Since the ULT Wear sits in the middle of Sony’s headphone lineup, it has some handy features from the 1000X line that the company’s cheaper options don’t. For example, placing your bare hand over the right ear cup activates Quick Attention Mode, which lowers the volume so you can respond to a colleague or hold your cortado without pausing your tune. Adaptive Sound Control is here, too: Sony’s long-standing tool that automatically adjusts the headphone’s settings based on your activity or location. Common features like multipoint Bluetooth and wear detection are also present. The convenient speak-to-chat function is missing from the more recent 1000X headphones, which is a significant omission in terms of overall usability.

Bass reigns supreme for the ULT Ware tuning and you definitely get a heavy dose of it. Those new specially tuned drivers pack a lot of low-end thump before you start exploring the ULT boosts. The out-of-the-box level was good enough for me for most genres, though the overall sound can get muddy with more chaotic genres like metal and some synth-heavy electronic tracks. For the most part though, the stock bass offers depth and range that complements the full mids and cutting highs.

At Bayside’s There are worse things than being alive, There’s a thundering kick drum to drive the punk-tinged indie rock tune, but the texture of the crunchy distorted guitars is distinct and the vocals are clearly cut. Plus, you can add Sony’s DSEE upscaling via its app, a software trick designed to recover sonic elements lost in compression. And if you have access to 360 reality audio content, ULT Wear supports head-tracking so sounds are heard when you move. This provides a more realistic experience as immersive audio in this format would otherwise move with your head.

When you hop into the ULT boost modes, things are a mixed bag. The Sony has done a better bass boost than most of the other companies here, as songs are still listenable in a musical style, rather than just garbled. ULT 1, the option for Deeper Bass, is the best in my opinion. You don’t lose much detail using it and things like kick drums are still punchy throughout. A hip-hop track is a better canvas, with songs like Killer Mike’s “Down By Law,” bombastic, yet nuanced, amplified bass. His album Michael With the ULT 1 enabled it’s one of the better-sounding choices I’ve tested.

ULT 2, the setting for more powerful sound with stronger bass, is also not good. During my tests, I didn’t find a single track where I felt it sounded good playing low-end genres like hip-hop and EDM. It’s like you’re standing in front of a subwoofer at a concert where the bass is most prominent and everything else is drowned out. And while I’m sure some people enjoy brainstorming, that’s not what I’m looking for.

Sony improved the ANC from the WH-XB910 by installing its V1 audio processor from the 1000X series in the ULT Ware. The result is significantly improved noise-canceling performance for a set of $200 headphones, but you shouldn’t expect as strong interference-blocking as the WH-1000XM5 offers. That’s fine in most situations, but in some situations it just dulls the roar. However, the ULT Wear does a decent job with human voices – much better than the Sennheiser Accentum Plus I recently reviewed.

The company didn’t go out of its way to discuss call quality on the ULT Wear, but performance here is slightly above average. It’s not pristine, but it also doesn’t have the clear speaker phone sound that most headphones do. Low-to-mid-volume background noise is also dealt with nicely. The ambient sound mode on the ULT Wear is more natural than most headphones offer, save for the AirPods Max. You can hear your own voice better, so you are free to speak at a normal volume during the call. And any sounds around you come through clearly, so you don’t have to worry about hearing alerts or announcements.

Sony says you can expect up to 30 hours of battery life with ANC on, or up to 50 hours with it turned off. The company hasn’t specified whether either ULT mode affects longevity, and I haven’t had it long enough to tell. After 30 hours of use with ANC on, apart from a few instances of ambient sound for calls, Sony’s app was showing 18 percent battery left. Both audiomodes were used at about 50-60 percent volume, and trust me, it’s plenty loud here.

If you crave a deep bassy thump that most headphones aren’t capable of delivering, the ULT Wear does a better job of boosting low-end tones than Sony’s previous efforts. The sound out of the box is definitely boomy, but not at the cost of any detail, and the company gives you the option to add two more servings when you crave it. This won’t be for everyone as many will prefer the more even-handed tuning of Sennheiser’s Accentum Plus in the $200 range. However, Sony has done well to craft a more affordable set of headphones as a premium product, both in terms of looks and features.

The ULT Wear headphones are available in black, white and green color options For $200. Sony says they will start shipping sometime this spring.