I will update this review soon after I received more eartips and write a full review, but I made up my mind. I think what this IEM suffers from the most is the shimmering metallic treble which I can't unhear.. It destroys its ability to be used in a lot of my library such as everything just shimmers. Shimmering shimmer peaks that destroys the rest of the sound.
This cause alone is enough for me to warrant another 1 star penalty.. because 4/5 would be "I love it for the price its fair and excellent - would be hard finding something to beat it, but its not perfect".

3 is like.. "I like it, but it has flaws that makes me unable to enjoy 360 degrees of my music library" - and thats even being nice imo. Sadly I'm very treble sensitive when it comes to flaws like this. 2.5/5 would be harsh, but 3 is fair I feel, I initially set it at 3.5 stars but honestly.. I think the shimmering is so bad in many tracks you would even expect it to be good in, its a letdown in all ways. The compromise of getting a crisp treble at the cost of making too many details seem too bright and "dry" is not worth it.. It works with synthwave, 80s rock, but not with sparkly ambient or similar trance/EDM details like leads, choirs.. Its too bright, non-neutral, too dry at peaks.

Changing my Topping E30 DAC from filter 3 (default, neutral) to filter 6 (warmest) helps "slightly" but I'm not fond of equalizing IEMs.


To make examples of what music sounds great on these without sounding too "dry" in the treble:

(Lets start with 80s rock)










(Then synthwave)








(Then less fortunate synthwave tracks for this particular IEM)











Verdict: Overall I like it, but I'm very disappointed in the shimmering which severely limits my listening pleasure. I don't really understand why someone can think its OK to release something that distorts the treble this bad. From start to finish its been the shimmering thats been holding me back from loving the crap out of this IEM cuz I really would if NOT that dreaded shimmering treble was so colored. The shimmering makes you wanna back off from so many tracks and thats what makes it tiring to listen to. Its not initially very obvious, but once you listen to more than a few genres you will clearly hear it and you will not like it.. These IEMs simply don't work well with tracks with bright details (which excludes a lot) - the 80s kickdrum as is used in synthwave is kind of sound these IEMs does best with in my opinion, as well as warm and bassy music. I think this IEM should cost no more than $150 straight up! It has too many flaws to warrant this high pricetag.

I've been watching the true wireless trend, but been hesistant to pull the trigger in fear of sacrificing features over sound. Christmas was coming and family asked me what I wished for. I learnt when the AirPods Pro 2 were released that reviewers, audiophiles and alike were equally impressed and came to consensus by the new generation of AirPods Pro 2nd.

DISCLAIMER: I don't have any experience with previous or other true wireless earbuds.

These are my impressions of the sound exclusively.

I am listening to these with these features disabled initially:
* noise cancelling
* spatial audio
* adaptive transparency.

Together with the wireless freedom the sound is actually quite good and surpassed my expectations, even as you turn up the volume (I think I topped at 2 levels before max). My drumnbass library I think the punch and bass is beyond my expectations and the imperfections are neglible, but the worst thing I can say is that sometimes at higher volume the mids and highs can be slightly 'canny' and not as crisp as better headphones, but the body of the bass is 80% of the way of what I want - lacking a bit of full-body experience, but still impressive and absolutely acceptable for most people. This is way beyond what I expected for the quite limited (so far) selection in True Wireless, therefore I find the price reasonable and well-worth it for the features alone and don't think the sound is sacrificed for features - Its an excellent match for Apple-users in particular. Actually I expected way less and thought of these as mostly 'podcast'-headphones So I'm really surprised.

A track such as (oldschool dubstep is what I'd call it)

The Airpods Pro 2nd handle surprisingly well with almost full bodied bass, but also excellent details and imaging.

drumnbass

Is where I feel like the canny-ness can be heard with many mids and highs together with subbass, but its definetily in the nitpicking department considering its Apple and its true wireless headphones.

More Truth Dubstep (oldschool dubstep)

Its truly impressive that they can even be considered ok for this type of music.


Truth music is excellently mastered and recording quality top-notch and thats why I think it works great with the AirPods Pro 2nd, I'm sure as I get into the more grainy lighter sound of industrial dnb the shortcomings of the AirPods Pro 2nd is more apparent.

I am listening to podcasts now and the crisp speech-optimized Apple audio that I usually know apple for in iPhone, iPad, Macbook-speakers is also still somewhat present but not as forward - which makes sense when we're talking built-in speakers vs headphones. Nevertheless the headphones do have pleasant and engaging speech for podcasts, reviews - but the best thing is the subbass and resolution of details which they've managed to get right, and much better than you'd expect.

You can be sure I'm going to voice my opinion if I find anything annoying, an issue or long-term irritations in sound, then I will update my review, but so far I have been most comfortable with no processing of the sound - even though that might change depending on my surroundings.

Without ever having tried other noise-cancelling headphones take my comments with a grain of salt.. But my honest opinion is that as soon as you turn on noise-cancelling you can hear a faint mute "high-pitched" sound, kind of like a dog whistle. Everytime sudden noises appear it does not succeed at filtering them. Any background noises like fan from extractor hood from cooking its very relieving the first time, but the second and third time you can somewhat still hear it, but its far less. There's something mythical still about walking into a room that you think is loud, but remains calm.. Its truly an experience worth investing in, just to try it.

I also still have tips to try, but initially I felt like the large tips were larger than what I've previously been comfortable with in in-ears so the default tip or large seems best in my case since smaller doesn't actually go deeper in the ears due to the shape.

I think so far the worst aspect of the AirPods Pro 2 is the fit. I've tried now between normal size, extra-large size and a smaller size. Since they don't go that deep they have a tendency to come loose, even if you wear the right tip-size - the shape of the earbuds makes it hard to press them properly in. Its not a dealbreaker for me, but it might be for others.

The other day I just smiled at a comment during a podcast while working and I felt them come loose, this is all it takes. I wish the eartips were longer and the shape of the earbud did allow for pushing them in further.

EDIT1: Yes I've actually decreased my 4.5 stars to 4 now, I really think its a bad problem on a great set and it gives de-ja-vu vibes from the original headphones that also always were horrible fit - but it can't stand in the way of the otherwise great product.

EDIT2: Regarding spatial audio, even in fixed-mode I think has a place for tracks like:

There's something with the imaging in particular that vastly improves.

This headphone is something else, in a bad way.

Its like they gave up on comfort half-way thru the design process and made the infamous hotspot.

The sound is.. Lets be clear here;

The sound is extremely low-emphasized to the point its not even funny or can be taken serious (I write this as a total techno, dnb basshead btw - deep dark tribal progressive trance and energetic dnb is my jam). Campfire has seriously imprinted themselves into my memory as tone-deaf headphone makers..

Everything is sacrificed in the Cascade for a bass that resembles an arcade cabinet. Boomy, too much, just hurtingly bad.

You try to drive the volume knob and you realize all you get for 2/3 of the knob is just all low frequencies coming forward to drown out everything else.

I'm a basshead, but I can't recommend this headphone any day of the week. The only situation this headphone shines is with epic cinematic movie soundtracks with unreal amounts of bass like think big godzilla and dinosaur shrieks.. That thunderous crackle of godzilla entering or the thunder sparking.. There it does deliver an experience similar to being blasted in the theatres on the back row just in front of the loudspeakers - It almost surprises you how loud the crackles can get, but its mostly because the sound is layered in such a way that bass is ultra-forward and everything else is recessed. Its just too much, even for mostly bass-focused music with the deepest growly wobbly bass.. Music is way too colored and lose details.

But a good headphone it is not.. And I'll never take Campfire Audio serious again.

As a basshead that prefers sensible subbass extension I bought these after researching intensely for 2 weeks and settling on these.

I am genuinely disappointed in the sibilance in the treble. All high tones, but especially percussion and drums has this sSsSsSs-sound to them and they sound tonally off.. Its like someone attempted to make crisp hihats, but failed.

You can somewhat alleviate this by doing a peak filter:
3.6-3.7KHz (Q=3, -9dB)

I would even go as low as -12dB to totally silence the sibilance and give more room for the subbass in the mix, but I feel that sacrifices way too much.

"Smooth", "Round" is not 2 words I would use to describe these as they are described in reviews.

"Sharp" and "Sibilant" is more correct.

Bass is not "amazing" its ok for what you expect.. You can feel that it is boosted, but it doesn't appear harsh or boomy. In my opinion it has a good level of bass, but it just isn't "special", its just higher. The bass is also significantly shadowed and muted by that sibilance at 3.6-3.7KHz, you will get way better and fuller sounding bass with the filter applied.

EDIT: I changed my review from 1-3 stars after my IEM completely changed after 2 hours of use. EQ no longer applies, in any way. The bass is fuller, the percussion and treble is less flat and bright, but still hisses and makes ssss-lingering sounds. I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'll update once I reach a conclusion.

UPDATE 2: I just think the treble is too intense for me to really appreciate the music I listen to. Too quickly it becomes fatigueing to me. I do appreciate the OH10 for resolution and detail it IS excellent in that regard, but the volume of treble is just too much.

I've had this headphone 3 times.

I destroyed drivers in my first pair after 2-3 years of abuse. I ordered new drivers and then I broke the headband. Ultrasone was nice to give me a new pair in exchange for mine with the broken headband cuz they didn't have the parts.

I also ordered a pair for a friend that was hesitant to buy proper headphones after he was nice enough to lend me money when I needed it, gave him these as a christmas present.. He's very happy for them and friends agree those are amazing headphones for bass.

These headphones have put a huge smile on everyone I've tried them with.. I listen to music like drumnbass, psytrance and these headphones have never let me down and I've always struggled to find a pair that could trumph them.