AI that feels, emotions that adapt, sound that follows: designing the future of audio

Every two years, a new Sony 1000X-series headphone arrives and redraws the map of personal audio. The first WH-1000X in 2016 gave Sony its place at the top of noise-cancelling technology. The direct follow-up, tagged WH-1000XM2 – that means “Mark 2” refined portability. The Mark3 shifted aesthetics toward a softer, urban identity. The 1000XM4 embraced connectivity and multipoint pairing, followed by the fifth model, launched two years ago, that pursued minimalism with a rigid shell.

The new Sony WH-1000XM6 closes this cycle and opens another. It folds again. It sounds cleaner. It feels lighter. But more than anything, it shows where Sony wants to take the entire listening experience. And it’s all about experience and design. About them, leading technology media outlets as The Verge and Wired have written that “the WH-1000XM6 refines rather than reinvents” and that “Sony doesn’t just build tech — it builds experiences. From the Walkman to the WH-1000X line, the company has always treated sound as a design problem, not just an engineering one”. And according to Highsbobiety, “Headphones today are more than tools — they’re style statements. Sony understands this better than anyone.”

Mio Nakanishi, Tetsu Sumii, and Koichiro Tokunaga (Sony)

“Our approach is based on steady evolution and continuity,” explain to Domus in an in-depth email interview Mio Nakanishi (Sony Corporation Personal Entertainment Product Planning), Tetsu Sumii (Sony Creative Center), and Koichiro Tokunaga (Personal Entertainment Product Planning). “This is why we don’t need to make significant changes to our design language.” Each generation marks a two-year philosophy. The 1000XM6’s message is not revolution but orientation: a headphone that disappears into daily life while anchoring a system that follows the listener everywhere. Featuring a new chip for the first time in seven years, the 1000XM6 promises “sound quality that faithfully reproduces artists’ intentions,” a result refined through collaborative tuning with numerous studios.

The design story of the 1000X is also the story of Sony’s evolving philosophy. The first WH-1000X had a squared,  almost brutalist clarity in their looks — lines that made the object stand out. Over time, the series became more parametric, softer and more fluid, culminating in the 1000XM6’s seamless curves and foldable, portable body.

The form reflects a shift in how Sony thinks of audio: less about the object, more about how it blends with the environment. These headphones are also exceptionally light and comfortable — wearable all day. That makes them ideal for Gen Z, who increasingly see music devices “as fashion items and part of their lifestyle,” and who enjoy them in more diverse ways: listening while doing other things, or wearing them constantly. For this audience, Sony created ULT, a lineup dedicated to twenty-somethings, and developed unique colorways like the Olivia Rodrigo edition of the LinkBuds series.

Having used the 1000XM6 all summer, I find them not dramatically more “perfect” than previous models. But they don’t need to be. They’re not about revolution — they’re about direction. The noise cancellation is outstanding, probably the best I’ve ever tried, the new blue finish looks fresh and refined, and the comfort is high even when you wear them around your neck. More than anything, the 1000XM6 marks a new era: the headphone as companion, as node in a system, as interface to an ecosystem that follows us — on the street, in cafés, at home, and soon, in the car. The future of audio is not about headphones alone. It’s about sound itself becoming fluid, anticipatory, and seamlessly present.

In an era dominated by earbuds, Sony insists that over-ear headphones still define the deepest listening experience. “Over-ear headphones continue to be the choice for those who want to enjoy entertainment more deeply and with greater focus,” the designers explain. The enveloping structure provides immersion and superior noise cancellation — the very reasons why the 1000X line has become a benchmark. But seamlessness has long been the weak point of over-ears. Unlike open earbuds, they create a barrier that makes users take them off when they want to reconnect with their surroundings. Open earbuds are a relatively recent development, and Sony’s LinkBuds Open embraced this shift perfectly — earbuds “you might as well never take off,” designed for continuous, always-on listening.

Sony’s challenge has been to bring that same natural openness to sealed headphones, without compromising immersion. With the WH-1000XM6, they’ve come closer than ever. Using twelve microphones and the Adaptive NC Optimizer — originally developed for noise cancellation — the 1000XM6 delivers a transparency mode that feels far more natural, “as if you weren’t wearing them at all.” In this sense, the new model reframes over-ears not just as tools for isolation, but as devices that can finally aspire to continuous wear. If immersion is the present, spatial audio is the future. With 360 Reality Audio for listeners and 360 Virtual Mixing Environment for creators, Sony is turning headphones into portals to three-dimensional sound fields. As virtual spaces and immersive cinema expand, sound becomes more than an accessory — it becomes architecture: a core element in how we experience stories, games, and performances.

Sony’s headphones are backed by one of the most powerful companion apps on the market. Headphones Connect allows users to customize EQ, manage adaptive sound, set location-based profiles, and control integrations with other services. But that richness can become overwhelming. Sony recognizes that the future lies beyond apps altogether. “Currently, through features like Quick Access, we are advancing the integration of headphones with various services, providing users with an experience where they can intuitively access music and information without launching an app,” the spokespersons note. This is the post-app horizon: interfaces that fade away, replaced by AI-driven systems that anticipate rather than wait for input.

This is where generative AI enters the scene. While Sony refrains from detailing future plans, the vision is clear: headphones and speakers that adapt not just to environment — quiet street, crowded bar, living room — but also to emotion. Music that shifts with mood. Soundscapes that anticipate needs. Personalization that feels natural, not manipulative. A delicate frontier.

The 1000XM6 is part of a larger system designed to follow the user. “There are several elements in the current home audio experience that are not yet fully satisfied,” Sony explains, “but one I believe is the seamless integration of audio experiences.” At home, Auto Switch hands off audio from headphones to speakers. “We are constantly exploring and developing ways to further evolve the connectivity between devices,” they add. These efforts are among the pillars of the brand’s long-term vision. But the home is only one part of the seamless experience Sony is pursuing. In cafés or shared workspaces, the headphones’ ANC and transparency adapt. On commutes, they fold and travel with ease. The ambition is to extend this fluidity even further — into the car, for example. Sony’s joint project with Honda on mobility concepts hints at a future in which personal audio merges with automotive environments.

Mio Nakanishi, Tetsu Sumii, and Koichiro Tokunaga (Sony)

The prototype vehicle Sony Honda Mobility Afeela — first shown at CES — was not conceived simply as a car, but as a sort of micro-house, where you could enjoy the best of Sony’s entertainment tech. This concept was informally explained to Domus by Daisuke Ishii, head of design at Sony and creative lead on the Honda partnership. If Apple has built its empire on total integration, Sony’s path is different. Without commenting directly on competitors, the company emphasizes its diverse ecosystem — headphones, TVs, PlayStations, cameras, and now cars. Where Apple unifies, Sony diversifies: offering seamlessness across different contexts, rather than a single closed garden.

If the WH-1000XM6 points to the future, the Walkman reminds us where it all began. Launched in 1979 as the first portable cassette player, the original Walkman ignited a revolution: music became mobile, personal, and constant. That transformation continues today — from portable listening to sound systems designed to follow us across every environment. That spirit of innovation is rooted in Sony’s design culture. Grounded in Japanese attention to detail and shaped by global research and cultural influences, Sony defines its design approach through archetypes: forms and interfaces that transcend trends and resonate universally. Cinema, art, and philosophy shape this ethos as much as industrial engineering. The result: audio products that are as much cultural artifacts as they are tools.

“Even today, the most important point for customers purchasing headphones is sound quality,” the spokespersons affirm. These “Mark 6” flagship headphones carry that fidelity forward, tuned with professional studios to preserve “the emotion of sound itself.” But its real significance lies in how it reframes fidelity: not just in terms of sonic purity, but as continuity of experience. The Walkman itself, a niche cult propelled on social media platforms by illustrious users such as Hideo Kojima, embodies this continuity. From its analog origins to today’s lineup of high-resolution digital players for audiophiles, it reflects Sony’s commitment to the idea that audio still deserves a dedicated device — and that listening remains an experience worthy of its own form.