About Me
Like most people, I am an avid fan of music ranging from my all-time favorite Metallica to 2Pac to Mozart, YoYo Ma and a lot in between (sorry country but heck no). I have what doctors would call a compulsive disorder for headphones as I can never seem to stop buying and trying. I am not an audiophile, but I have a worthy quest to find the best headphone / earphone for my tastes and I like to test new gear… a lot. I rely on my ears, and my listening pleasure to determine review scores. I just hope to help other people find nice devices that will suit their taste and their budget.
As my ocd of headphones is expensive I tend to hover around the $200 or less range of headphones, sorry fancy schmancy headphone connoisseurs. Also I prefer Bluetooth as I am on the go a lot and don’t like cables (que the diss sesh of poor BT quality headphones). Enjoy!
-Tech Specs for us nerds
• Drivers: Not listed, but small…
• Rated Impedance : Not stated Ω
• Frequency Range : 10 -23Khz
• Sensitivity : 90db SPL (1 mW /500Hz)
• Expected Battery: 7.5 hrs
• Bluetooth Version: 4.1
• Codecs: APT-X
• Weight: 13g
Accessories
3 Pairs of silicone eartips (S, M, L)
1 Pair of ear hooks
1 Charging cable (USB-A to micro USB)
1 Case
-Build Quality
Housings: These are small, probably the smallest iem I have owned. They are made with all metal and are very nice looking. They are also built well.
Cable: The cable is a flat, mid-size wire with pretty robust strain reliefs at the earbuds. The cable is nice and tangle free and should hold up over time.
-Functionality/Pairing/Range
Pairing for most BT is the same so I will only call out if there are issues.
The Byron BT has a built in 3 button controller like just about all BT headsets. Volume Up, Down, Power, Sync, Track Skip.
Using my OnePlus 3 all buttons worked without issue.
The signal was strong and I was able to walk about 20-25 ft before skipping occurred. Pretty standard.
-Comfort
I will be honest; I don’t like silicone tips. Once you go Comply, you don’t go back. So I always buy the correct comply tips to go with my set. In this case it’s the small 100 series. I prefer the Ts-100 comfort tips.
With the comply tips I got a good fit with a nice seal. I couldn’t get the ear hooks to work with the comply tips as they are thicker and a bit longer than the silicone tips. No matter as I couldn’t get them to work right with the original tips anyway.
-Sound Review
I always test with the same devices and song list:
Devices: OnePlus 3 & Macbook Pro
Songs (don’t judge me):
Eagles – Hotel California [Hell Freezes Over Live Edition]
Metallica – No Leaf Clover or Fade to Black
Big Tymers – Still Fly
Jethro Tull – Locomotive Breath
Enya – Oronoco Flow
I will start out by saying these sound fantastic, perfectly neutral sound with sparkling highs and controlled lows.
As stated these sound great, Locomotive Breath was crisp and broad with the piano, guitar, bass and flute/piccolo. Sounded great, and with the Byron BT I picked up nuances other earphones didn’t allow.
That all said if you prefer hard hitting bass, these are not it and wont satisfy those who do. The bass is controlled and present, but not hard hitting or overpowering. This is very present in Still Fly, where the backbeat has little “meat” to it. Don’t get me wrong, still sounds good, but these aren’t made for heavy bass rap.
Also, another callout, every Bluetooth earphone I have used (Brainwavz, SoundMagic, Ghostek, 1More) all have a wireless static when the music has quiet or silent parts to them. The Byron have basically eliminated this annoyance and it sounds like your using a plugged-in set of earphones. Not sure how they did it, but no one else has that I have tested to date.
Comparisons
--Byron BT vs E10BT
Note the Byron BT runs about $40 more than the E10BT, which does make a difference. The sound signature is similar with a more neutral tuned earphone, but the Byron takes it to another level with highs. E10BT have a better battery, but weird battery inline. Is the difference worth it, in my opinion yes. The musical aspect of the Byron is great and given their both non-workout devices for pure musical enjoyment go with Byron.
--Byron BT vs Brainwavz Blu-Delta
This is an even wider price gap at more than double the cost (Byron). The Byron again sounds much better and seems to be of better quality, but the Brainwavz hold their own with a great sound and vast accessories. If the Brainwavz didn’t have BT issues I would chose them just for the value.
-Conclusion
I am aware that I have went into a different league of earphones with these as they are at least 70% higher than others I have reviewed (Brainwavz, SoundMagic, iBfree, Ghostek). But all these listed have been stated to be worth in excess of $75-$150 in some cases and I wanted to actually see if that was true. These are a great price for a phenomenal brand of earphones that sound and look great, but the law of diminishing return tells me that $40 that sound 75% as good are a better value.
Would I recommend. Over a good sounding $40 BT set (Brainwavz), hard choice but probably not.
Like most people, I am an avid fan of music ranging from my all-time favorite Metallica to 2Pac to Mozart, YoYo Ma and a lot in between (sorry country but heck no). I have what doctors would call a compulsive disorder for headphones as I can never seem to stop buying and trying. I am not an audiophile, but I have a worthy quest to find the best headphone / earphone for my tastes and I like to test new gear… a lot. I rely on my ears, and my listening pleasure to determine review scores. I just hope to help other people find nice devices that will suit their taste and their budget.
As my ocd of headphones is expensive I tend to hover around the $200 or less range of headphones, sorry fancy schmancy headphone connoisseurs. Also I prefer Bluetooth as I am on the go a lot and don’t like cables (que the diss sesh of poor BT quality headphones). Enjoy!
-Tech Specs for us nerds
• Drivers: Not listed, but small…
• Rated Impedance : Not stated Ω
• Frequency Range : 10 -23Khz
• Sensitivity : 90db SPL (1 mW /500Hz)
• Expected Battery: 7.5 hrs
• Bluetooth Version: 4.1
• Codecs: APT-X
• Weight: 13g
Accessories
3 Pairs of silicone eartips (S, M, L)
1 Pair of ear hooks
1 Charging cable (USB-A to micro USB)
1 Case
-Build Quality
Housings: These are small, probably the smallest iem I have owned. They are made with all metal and are very nice looking. They are also built well.
Cable: The cable is a flat, mid-size wire with pretty robust strain reliefs at the earbuds. The cable is nice and tangle free and should hold up over time.
-Functionality/Pairing/Range
Pairing for most BT is the same so I will only call out if there are issues.
The Byron BT has a built in 3 button controller like just about all BT headsets. Volume Up, Down, Power, Sync, Track Skip.
Using my OnePlus 3 all buttons worked without issue.
The signal was strong and I was able to walk about 20-25 ft before skipping occurred. Pretty standard.
-Comfort
I will be honest; I don’t like silicone tips. Once you go Comply, you don’t go back. So I always buy the correct comply tips to go with my set. In this case it’s the small 100 series. I prefer the Ts-100 comfort tips.
With the comply tips I got a good fit with a nice seal. I couldn’t get the ear hooks to work with the comply tips as they are thicker and a bit longer than the silicone tips. No matter as I couldn’t get them to work right with the original tips anyway.
-Sound Review
I always test with the same devices and song list:
Devices: OnePlus 3 & Macbook Pro
Songs (don’t judge me):
Eagles – Hotel California [Hell Freezes Over Live Edition]
Metallica – No Leaf Clover or Fade to Black
Big Tymers – Still Fly
Jethro Tull – Locomotive Breath
Enya – Oronoco Flow
I will start out by saying these sound fantastic, perfectly neutral sound with sparkling highs and controlled lows.
As stated these sound great, Locomotive Breath was crisp and broad with the piano, guitar, bass and flute/piccolo. Sounded great, and with the Byron BT I picked up nuances other earphones didn’t allow.
That all said if you prefer hard hitting bass, these are not it and wont satisfy those who do. The bass is controlled and present, but not hard hitting or overpowering. This is very present in Still Fly, where the backbeat has little “meat” to it. Don’t get me wrong, still sounds good, but these aren’t made for heavy bass rap.
Also, another callout, every Bluetooth earphone I have used (Brainwavz, SoundMagic, Ghostek, 1More) all have a wireless static when the music has quiet or silent parts to them. The Byron have basically eliminated this annoyance and it sounds like your using a plugged-in set of earphones. Not sure how they did it, but no one else has that I have tested to date.
Comparisons
--Byron BT vs E10BT
Note the Byron BT runs about $40 more than the E10BT, which does make a difference. The sound signature is similar with a more neutral tuned earphone, but the Byron takes it to another level with highs. E10BT have a better battery, but weird battery inline. Is the difference worth it, in my opinion yes. The musical aspect of the Byron is great and given their both non-workout devices for pure musical enjoyment go with Byron.
--Byron BT vs Brainwavz Blu-Delta
This is an even wider price gap at more than double the cost (Byron). The Byron again sounds much better and seems to be of better quality, but the Brainwavz hold their own with a great sound and vast accessories. If the Brainwavz didn’t have BT issues I would chose them just for the value.
-Conclusion
I am aware that I have went into a different league of earphones with these as they are at least 70% higher than others I have reviewed (Brainwavz, SoundMagic, iBfree, Ghostek). But all these listed have been stated to be worth in excess of $75-$150 in some cases and I wanted to actually see if that was true. These are a great price for a phenomenal brand of earphones that sound and look great, but the law of diminishing return tells me that $40 that sound 75% as good are a better value.
Would I recommend. Over a good sounding $40 BT set (Brainwavz), hard choice but probably not.
