Recently I have been listening to music with my Airpods 2nd gen more than with my wired headphones - B&W P5 2nd gen, due to convenience only. I did not expect much from the Airpods in terms of sound quality. I bought them for calls and podcasts mostly. However, much to my surprise, I liked them very much and prefer them to the B&Ws for some music.
The thing I am missing though is adequate mid-low-bass reproduction. They start rolling off way too fast at about 100hz, as already mentioned in this thread. I think that loudspeakers and headphones with such a lack of lower bass response are not really high fidelity even if they sound fine otherwise. It might be narrow frequency spectrum but it carries lots of energy in music.
I noticed that the bass response changes significantly if I push the Airpods a little towards the opening of my ear canals. Basically the missing bass appears. I guess this is because they do not go in-ear, but just sit in the pinna leaving an air gap.
So I decided to try some of these in-ear silicone tips and bought the Elago Earbuds Basic Cover as they were locally available in my area. There are other brands to chose from in the big retailers though. The Elagos include four pairs in the box - two small and two large, plus a carrying case. Some general usability impressions:
- Easy enough to put on and remove, they do not fit in the charging case.
- The tips are shallow, and are not supposed to be inserted deep into the ear. I have previously owned Westone um3x, Shure se110, Klipsch Custom 3, Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote and Mic. The Elago tips are roughly half the length of these.
- As a result of the shallow fit, there is no isolation, maybe just a tiny bit more than with no tips.
- I find them comfortable enough, I do not notice any discomfort caused by the in-ear fit or by the slight increase in size.
- The proximity sensors work fine.
- Fit is more secure
Now for the sound. Most importantly, there is a lot more bass now. The overall sound signature is more balanced. I've been playing various songs/genres and I must say I like what I am hearing. I also tried a hearing test (sinusoidal wave from 20hz to 20khz). Without the tips, I could barely hear anything below 80hz in a quite room, with the tips installed these frequencies are clearly audible. I do not notice any major changes in the rest of the spectrum. The Airpods are a bit more "darker" sounding now, but vocals, cymbals, hi-hats and such are not muted or overpowered in any way. Sound is still not as bass heavy as the B&Ws which is OK, because I find them somewhat bass heavy for certain songs.
It would be interesting if someone tested the Airpods with such in-ear tips and we had the frequency response graph to compare with stock Airpods.
I can recommend these for people that like the general sound of the Airpods but want more bass, especially mid-bass and low-bass. Note that I do not have any relation with the manufacturer, I as I said, this was the option available to me locally, so that is the only reason I chose Elago. I see that Comply, a reputable brand in the IEM area, makes a similar product - SoftCONNECT, but with foam inserts instead of rubber.
