If you like the Andromeda sound, you may try Shure Aonic 4. It is easier to drive and the sound pairing with utws5 is great.

It seems you are using a beta firmware. Most of us are using version 1.1

For your first question, I think the phone volume controls the power of the QCC5141 bluetooth receiver chip in the UTWS5. The UTWS5 app and buttons control the AK4332 DAC chip in the UTWS5. I find setting the phone volume control to 90%+ does not sound good for me. I prefer setting the phone...

I hope it will have a user replaceable battery. Otherwise we don’t want to spend a few hundred dollars knowing the battery will die in 1-2 years.

aptX web site statement on the backward compatibility. https://www.aptx.com/aptx-adaptive

It appears Qualcomm did not include aptx HD support in the chip. FiiO has nothing to do with it. The other chips that support both HD and adaptive are too big to fit in UTWS5. https://www.qualcomm.com/products/qcc5141 Qualcomm said about backward compatible, it meant the device will work...

There is channel balance

I have both BTR5 and UTWS5. UTWS5 has a much more stable bluetooth connection. There is a little bit more bass and treble. It has got enough power to drive my Shure Aonic 4. If you have a higher end IEMs, you will need to check if it could drive them well. UTWS5 shuts down automatically when...

Here is the picture with Aonic 4. These are small buds that fit in the case very well.

If you use MMCX adapter, you can rotate the buds and might have a better fit. (I used Powerbeats Pro before that I could not get a proper angle and fit.)

Unfortunately UTWS5 does not support LDAC. UTWS5 seems to be the best option for sound quality for true wireless. If you don't mind to have a wire on your neck, you can use BTR5, which supports LDAC and has got more power to drive your IEMs.

Based on my usage for a few days, I would say UTWS5 is about 95% of BTR5 via Bluetooth. It is not going to match a dedicated DAC and a lossless connection.

I have received UTWS5 today. I am pairing it with iPhone and Shure Aonic 4. It will replace my old good BTR5 (1st gen). This thing has got plenty of power to drive Aonic 4. I am setting the iPhone volume to 75% and the Fiio app to 26 out of 32. It seems the bass is a little bit more than...

Thanks all for your advice. Finally I bought the Shure Aonic 4 at a discount for about $250. I am very happy with it. These sounds very similar to SE535, except the bass is more substantial. I have been using Shure for so many years and it is difficult for me to switch to another brand. I...

I need some advice. I am currently using Shure SE535 and Apple Airpods Max. I would like to have something better to replace SE535. I like the sound of Airpods Max in general. The bass and clarity are good, but the vocal sound could be better. Since it is too big to carry around, I cannot...