[clerkpalmer]

Literally walking out the door for a 3 day cruise and look what arrives!



Load me up with questions, plan to do nothing but lie on a deck and listen to music for 3 days.

Thanks to the Addicted to Audio team in Aus for getting these out in time!!!!

Nice. Definitely will put these in the list to compare with the Nuras. When do they officially release?

 

[erockg]

Nice. Definitely will put these in the list to compare with the Nuras. When do they officially release?

Audio46 has them up for presale. Can't find a date, but the app is on the Apple App store for a few weeks now. Read something this month for the US.

 

[clerkpalmer]

Audio46 has them up for presale. Can't find a date, but the app is on the Apple App store for a few weeks now. Read something this month for the US.

Hmm. Might preorder. I’ll bet they sound amazing.

 

[Hozay]

Literally walking out the door for a 3 day cruise and look what arrives!



Load me up with questions, plan to do nothing but lie on a deck and listen to music for 3 days.

Thanks to the Addicted to Audio team in Aus for getting these out in time!!!!

What is the UK distributor doing! I literally refresh their website 500 times a day, since 16th Dec.

 

[dweaver]

OK, before I sell off some of my gear. Let's do a few comparisons. Prices are based on Canadian MSRP

Galaxy Buds 2 Pro $289

• Comfort and stability - these are the most comfortable of the roundup but come in 3rd for stability as they feel loose at times. They are good for jogging and my gym workouts.
• Ambient Mode with no music can easily hear sounds around me and can hear sounds around me with music playing at 25-30% volume. The volume level is 3rd best and naturalness is pretty much a tie for 2nd with the JBL.
• ANC - These are a close 3rd to the Linkbuds S being just slightly behind.
• Battery Life - These are in 4th for battery life being ahead of the Linkbuds S by about 1 hour, but were also doing all that using the 24bit scalable codec from Samsung is not so terrible.
• General enjoyment of music - These are easily the most enjoyable TWS straight out of the box for me personally. Which is good as they are the least adjustable in regard to sound. But since they are not easily tweaked from the app you have to like the default tuning or be lucky enough to enjoy one of the limited presets.

Linkbuds S $299

• Comfort and Stability - these are the 3rd most comfortable just slightly behind the JBL and 2nd most stable. I have used these for jogging, gym, walking all with no issue or fussing.
• Ambient mode with no music is very clear and natural, not quite like having nothing in my ear but close. With music sounds are still very audible. This is the best Ambient mode based on natural sound and loudness.
• ANC - i was surprised at how well the Linkbuds S did compared to XM4 they wer only just ever so slightly behind them.
• Battery life - these are not very good for battery life coming in last of all the models in the roundup. I found I had to turn off most of their features to get any reasonable life out of them.
• General enjoyment of music - I was absolutely believed I would like these more than the XM4 when I bought the S and was wrong in this regard. The biggest challenge with these is something missing in the bass and midrange, they just sound to safe even though they are more balanced than the XM4. In terms of musical enjoyment, I would say they come in last out of this round up.

JBL Live Free 2 $199

• Comfort and stability - these are the 2nd most comfortable and 4th for stability as they feel a bit looser than the GB2P but only by a hair, so are OK for jogging and gym with just a bit of adjusting.
• Ambient mode with no music is actually louder than Linkbuds S but not quite as natural sounding. With music playing it is very close to the sound clarity as the Linkbuds S with a similar if not slightly louder volume. This is not quite as natural sounding as the Linkbuds S but is slightly louder so the the 2nd loudest and 2nd for natural sounding.
• ANC, these come in 4th for ANC in this roundup but are still more than adequate for most cases in this regard.
• Battery life - These only have AAC/SBC so achieve fairly decent battery life by not using higher energy codecs.
• General enjoyment of music - While I do like these, I find the bass is just a bit to boomy, but the treble is sparkly and alive and the mids while slightly more recessed do come across nicely. They edge the Linkbuds S out but only by a bit and its simply because they don't play it safe like the S does.

Liberty 3 Pro $199

• Comfort and stability - these are 4th for comfort and 2nd for stability. But even in 4th for comfort they still are pretty comfortable. These buds stick out more than any of the other buds though.
• Ambient mode no music is clear but a bit higher pitched. With music playing you can clearly still hear noise but it's a bit to clear and high pitched really intruding on the music. If awareness is the highest priority, these are great but if you want awareness WHILE enjoying your music these are 4th.
• ANC - This is the only buds out of the group that I could hear something when I enabled ANC with no music. Not much, but there was a definite level of anti-sound present. Not a full hiss but noticeable. The amount of noise blocked was about the same as the JBL but given the noise I would place them last for ANC.
• Battery life - These are a mixed bag, they drop pretty fast when using LDAC but work pretty well with AAC.
• General enjoyment of music - The bass is the 2nd best out of the roundup of devices but the treble timbre is just a bit off making these fall behind the XM4 and GB2P.

WF-1000XM4 $400

• Comfort and stability - these are last for comfort and stability. The larger size puts pressure on my ears and they start to loosed in my ears within 15 minutes of wearing them. I am unsure I will use these when jogging or the gym but think they will be OK for walking.
• Ambient mode is quiet with no music but words are eligible. With music playing you can barely hear any outside sound. These are easily the worst for ambient if this feature is important.
• ANC - the passive noise cancelling of these is actually so high I only use the ANC occasionally but when I do it is the highest of all group but only just slightly better than the Linkbuds S and then GB2P.
• Battery Life - I was darn surprised today. I disabled the Speak to Chat feature which balanced out the battery consumption between left and right. In testing today, I took them out of the charger at 10 AM and it is now 10PM and in those 12 hours the TWS dropped down to around 15%. I did not have music playing all of that time but these easily lasted my entire work day and evening. So were impressive.
• General enjoyment of music - out of the box these are enjoyable but a bit too dark. Fortunately, these respond really well to the apps EQ and once EQ'd they easily tie the GB2P but for vastly different reasons. The GB2P is the best balanced but dynamic sounding model. The XM4 on the other hand is bolder with the best bass, with nice forward mids that have a bit of edge to them, and treble that is not quite as detailed or sparkly as the GB2P or even JBL, but still has enough detail and sparkle to fit to the rest of the frequencies. I was also surprised at the amount of 3D qualities I could hear. It just presents a bigger type of sound that is fun and engaging, not for the purist but I like it.

I listened to mostly Patricia Barber with a bit of Pink Floyd while testing around the past couple of hours, while typing this post up. If I have time I may do some A/B/C/D/E comparisons on a couple of songs but only if I have time.

 

[Canabuc]

OK, before I sell off some of my gear. Let's do a few comparisons. Prices are based on Canadian MSRP

Galaxy Buds 2 Pro $289

• Comfort and stability - these are the most comfortable of the roundup but come in 3rd for stability as they feel loose at times. They are good for jogging and my gym workouts.
• Ambient Mode with no music can easily hear sounds around me and can hear sounds around me with music playing at 25-30% volume. The volume level is 3rd best and naturalness is pretty much a tie for 2nd with the JBL.
• ANC - These are a close 3rd to the Linkbuds S being just slightly behind.
• Battery Life - These are in 4th for battery life being ahead of the Linkbuds S by about 1 hour, but were also doing all that using the 24bit scalable codec from Samsung is not so terrible.
• General enjoyment of music - These are easily the most enjoyable TWS straight out of the box for me personally. Which is good as they are the least adjustable in regard to sound. But since they are not easily tweaked from the app you have to like the default tuning or be lucky enough to enjoy one of the limited presets.

Linkbuds S $299

• Comfort and Stability - these are the 3rd most comfortable just slightly behind the JBL and 2nd most stable. I have used these for jogging, gym, walking all with no issue or fussing.
• Ambient mode with no music is very clear and natural, not quite like having nothing in my ear but close. With music sounds are still very audible. This is the best Ambient mode based on natural sound and loudness.
• ANC - i was surprised at how well the Linkbuds S did compared to XM4 they wer only just ever so slightly behind them.
• Battery life - these are not very good for battery life coming in last of all the models in the roundup. I found I had to turn off most of their features to get any reasonable life out of them.
• General enjoyment of music - I was absolutely believed I would like these more than the XM4 when I bought the S and was wrong in this regard. The biggest challenge with these is something missing in the bass and midrange, they just sound to safe even though they are more balanced than the XM4. In terms of musical enjoyment, I would say they come in last out of this round up.

JBL Live Free 2 $199

• Comfort and stability - these are the 2nd most comfortable and 4th for stability as they feel a bit looser than the GB2P but only by a hair, so are OK for jogging and gym with just a bit of adjusting.
• Ambient mode with no music is actually louder than Linkbuds S but not quite as natural sounding. With music playing it is very close to the sound clarity as the Linkbuds S with a similar if not slightly louder volume. This is not quite as natural sounding as the Linkbuds S but is slightly louder so the the 2nd loudest and 2nd for natural sounding.
• ANC, these come in 4th for ANC in this roundup but are still more than adequate for most cases in this regard.
• Battery life - These only have AAC/SBC so achieve fairly decent battery life by not using higher energy codecs.
• General enjoyment of music - While I do like these, I find the bass is just a bit to boomy, but the treble is sparkly and alive and the mids while slightly more recessed do come across nicely. They edge the Linkbuds S out but only by a bit and its simply because they don't play it safe like the S does.

Liberty 3 Pro $199

• Comfort and stability - these are 4th for comfort and 2nd for stability. But even in 4th for comfort they still are pretty comfortable. These buds stick out more than any of the other buds though.
• Ambient mode no music is clear but a bit higher pitched. With music playing you can clearly still hear noise but it's a bit to clear and high pitched really intruding on the music. If awareness is the highest priority, these are great but if you want awareness WHILE enjoying your music these are 4th.
• ANC - This is the only buds out of the group that I could hear something when I enabled ANC with no music. Not much, but there was a definite level of anti-sound present. Not a full hiss but noticeable. The amount of noise blocked was about the same as the JBL but given the noise I would place them last for ANC.
• Battery life - These are a mixed bag, they drop pretty fast when using LDAC but work pretty well with AAC.
• General enjoyment of music - The bass is the 2nd best out of the roundup of devices but the treble timbre is just a bit off making these fall behind the XM4 and GB2P.

WF-1000XM4 $400

• Comfort and stability - these are last for comfort and stability. The larger size puts pressure on my ears and they start to loosed in my ears within 15 minutes of wearing them. I am unsure I will use these when jogging or the gym but think they will be OK for walking.
• Ambient mode is quiet with no music but words are eligible. With music playing you can barely hear any outside sound. These are easily the worst for ambient if this feature is important.
• ANC - the passive noise cancelling of these is actually so high I only use the ANC occasionally but when I do it is the highest of all group but only just slightly better than the Linkbuds S and then GB2P.
• Battery Life - I was darn surprised today. I disabled the Speak to Chat feature which balanced out the battery consumption between left and right. In testing today, I took them out of the charger at 10 AM and it is now 10PM and in those 12 hours the TWS dropped down to around 15%. I did not have music playing all of that time but these easily lasted my entire work day and evening. So were impressive.
• General enjoyment of music - out of the box these are enjoyable but a bit too dark. Fortunately, these respond really well to the apps EQ and once EQ'd they easily tie the GB2P but for vastly different reasons. The GB2P is the best balanced but dynamic sounding model. The XM4 on the other hand is bolder with the best bass, with nice forward mids that have a bit of edge to them, and treble that is not quite as detailed or sparkly as the GB2P or even JBL, but still has enough detail and sparkle to fit to the rest of the frequencies. I was also surprised at the amount of 3D qualities I could hear. It just presents a bigger type of sound that is fun and engaging, not for the purist but I like it.

I listened to mostly Patricia Barber with a bit of Pink Floyd while testing around the past couple of hours, while typing this post up. If I have time I may do some A/B/C/D/E comparisons on a couple of songs but only if I have time.

Most of those are selling for at least 30 to 40% cheaper right now.

 

[dweaver]

Yup, just wanted to base on MSRP as that is where they all started. I only paid MSRP on the Linkbuds S and GB2P. Everything else was bought in sale.

 

[SynaestheticA]

What is the UK distributor doing! I literally refresh their website 500 times a day, since 16th Dec.

What genre do you listen too? The FW5 arrived same morning and comparing the two. Need waaaay more time with both to find a favourite. Give me some tracks and I can give you my impressions

 

[Peddler]

I have an embarrassing amount of bluetooth headphones in my collection but out of all of them though so like the Sony WF1000XM4'the most. Most comfortable, best anc, best sound quality - even with no eq selected and best features. I think my Magaosi K3 Pro/iBasso CF01 combo has slightly better sound quality, they're not as comfortable and don't have ANC.

I also have the WH1000XM2 full size headphones and love them too. I really like the Sony 'sound'.

 

[Juturna]

Actually got a pair of Astell & Kern UW100 for $130, gonna test them out for a bit. Will return with some impressions. First impression is that they sound very balanced. Almost to a fault!

 

[clerkpalmer]

Audio46 has them up for presale. Can't find a date, but the app is on the Apple App store for a few weeks now. Read something this month for the US.

Audio46's website says "mid February release". Argh. I could be dead by then. And even though there is a preorder link, it doesn't seem to work on my iphone or computer browser.

Edit- preorder link works. Interesting that when introduced, price was $329. Now it's $349. Damn inflation.

 

[erockg]

Audio46's website says "mid February release". Argh. I could be dead by then. And even though there is a preorder link, it doesn't seem to work on my iphone or computer browser.

Edit- preorder link works. Interesting that when introduced, price was $329. Now it's $349. Damn inflation.

Yeah, I saw that price. They charged more for the ZE3000 and I had to have them price match. Wonder if that's just a placeholder...

 

[erockg]

Actually got a pair of Astell & Kern UW100 for $130, gonna test them out for a bit. Will return with some impressions. First impression is that they sound very balanced. Almost to a fault!

Man, I wish I could find them here in the US again. Great price!

 

[scubaphish]

This place is selling new in box APP2 for $135 today. That’s like offering a crackhead 50 percent off… ordered.

https://www.discountstoresavings.com/

Have your APP2 come in? Is this place legit? Thanks

 

[clerkpalmer]

Have your APP2 come in? Is this place legit? Thanks

Got a shipping notice today. Seems legit.