[solblack]

Who makes the best sounding "Bluetooth earbuds"?

 

[joshnor713]

Who makes the best sounding "Bluetooth earbuds"?

That's a pretty open question. With or without wire? Neckband?

There's plenty of detachable IEMs from HiFi brands that are now shipping with Bluetooth cables. UE CSX, RHA CL2, and the newly announce Audeze LCD-i3, to name a few. These kinds are technically the best "Bluetooth earbuds" out there, but you won't get an answer to your question because it's like asking, "What's the best sounding IEM". Too many out there, too subjective.

 

[emusic13]

I think Sennheiser does make the best true wireless currently which is why I'm surprised they didnt just put the IE80s drivers in the Momentum True Wireless and increase the price. Not $300 good sounding but for true wireless, not much other good options. Your average consumer is not paying $500 for earphones. Like my earlier post, at that price point, there are many more subjectively better iem options. If you're an audiophile/music lover who's willing to spend for sound, I doubt bluetooth would be your first choice. With bluetooth currently, you're paying for convenience and portability so again, either go all the way or not at all. This shouldnt be 2010's with neckband wires. I'm really not sure who they're trying to target. Unless you love the Sennheiser sound, whats to stop you from getting a new discounted IE80s elsewhere and buying the neckband instead of getting locked in with both anyways?

 

[joshnor713]

I think Sennheiser does make the best true wireless currently which is why I'm surprised they didnt just put the IE80s drivers in the Momentum True Wireless and increase the price. Not $300 good sounding but for true wireless, not much other good options. Your average consumer is not paying $500 for earphones. Like my earlier post, at that price point, there are many more subjectively better iem options. If you're an audiophile/music lover who's willing to spend for sound, I doubt bluetooth would be your first choice. With bluetooth currently, you're paying for convenience and portability so again, either go all the way or not at all. This shouldnt be 2010's with neckband wires. I'm really not sure who they're trying to target. Unless you love the Sennheiser sound, whats to stop you from getting a new discounted IE80s elsewhere and buying the neckband instead of getting locked in with both anyways?

When I was IFA 2018 (where they launched the Momentum True Wireless), I was told that the driver in the MTW is a variant of the one in the flagship IE 800. You'll notice that they're both a 7mm dynamic driver. That's no coincidence.

That said, a bit different design to accommodate the use cases. The IE 800 has bass port, for instance. Won't necessarily exactly sound the same, but the foundation is. I also think the tiny DAC in the earpiece is a bottleneck. You're only as good as your weakest link. This goes to your point which I totally agree with, when you get to "audiophile" and costly territory, you get less folks interested in investing in Bluetooth and more in the best sound. With this IE 80 S, I think Sennheiser is trying to bridge the gap by incorporating a notable DAC in the neckband. Not any I can think of have an AKM DAC (though I found it odd they don't say which kind. They just say "high-end", to which I say, I'll be judge of. Sennheiser should know that when you're dealing with audiophiles, you need to be transparent).

I also question the decision of a neckband. They've never made sense to me, as you can't just stuff the unit in your pocket (with earphones, pocket-ability must be a requirement). For that reason, I'd have a normal IE 80 S attached to a BTR3 or ES100, or an Xelento Wireless kind of design, over this. I have a BT2 attached to my SE846 and similarly get most of its potential without having "equipment" around my neck. And I can roll it up and put it in my pocket.

 

[robertjwarren]

Yeah sad to say but your right.
I still can't figure out why "Apple" didn't buy "Sennheiser" or "Audeze"? The Beats are horrible. lol
Look all you do is put a "Sennheiser" Momentum in LeBron James hand in a commercial, "boom" money coming in..
Work for Michael Jordan. lol

My Beatsx are perfectly acceptable for youtube

 

[HeadAmpTeam]

We just got the IE80S BT in today for those in the US wanting to try them!

https://www.headamp.com/order/sennheiser-ie-80s-bt-wireless-in-ear-monitors/

 

[Sennheiser]

To answer a few of the most common questions from this thread:
We do offer several wired and wireless IEMs at lower prices in the CX and Momentum lines; this is our first "audiophile" wireless IEM aimed at pushing the quality boundaries of what Bluetooth can provide. We've done this with a neckband containing high computational power, high bandwidth Bluetooth codecs, and high quality source components, and paired that with our existing IE 80S that provides hifi sound and a wide frequency response without the need for multiple drivers and crossovers.

For others that question the neckband, it allows us the space to improve the source components used, maintain a solid Bluetooth connection, and position our dual-microphone array. The majority of the neckband is flexible, and it can be bent down to a pocketable size if desired.

 

[solblack]

My Beatsx are perfectly acceptable for youtube

so are my "soundpeats" for youtube not my music.

 

[jant71]

2 years ago this would have been great, now nobody cares for neckband design.

What I was gonna say. What marketing and research did they do to choose neckband? Of course fitting bigger batteries is one of the only advantages of neckband design and this has 6 hours while the latest TW get 14 and 15 hours at best. Still app dependent, low battery life, more obtrusive neckband, and the 80S isn't very well regarded for SQ either. Senn need to be "woke". This won't be big at all around here cause we know better. Geez, what is the battery life for the higher codecs, 4 hours from a neckband in late 2019. :0

 

[Evshrug]

Not true many don't know them now.
As i said put the product in the hands of a "Superstar Athlete".
Work for Michael Jordan, he does not even bother to design new shoes he just sells the old one's. Sell out in a day.

It WAS true 20-35 years ago. Of the boutique headphone audio brands, Sennheiser still is one of the better known, and their low-priced products still sell pretty well in airports and Best Buys. They were the big boys on the scene before Beats (along with Sony, Bose). Apple did sell Sennheiser's (the Momentums) in their stores before Apple bought Beats. They also sold Audeze for awhile, because Audeze was making the headphones with lightning cables.

Some brands do use celebrity endorsements, but largely Sennheiser tries to make their image based on their own performance. Michael was really really good in his area, basketball, and Sennheiser is talented and skilled in their area. With that said, it can bring awareness to a whole new group of people if someone popular introduces it.

What I was gonna say. What marketing and research did they do to choose neckband? Of course fitting bigger batteries is one of the only advantages of neckband design and this has 6 hours while the latest TW get 14 and 15 hours at best. Still app dependent, low battery life, more obtrusive neckband, and the 80S isn't very well regarded for SQ either. Senn need to be "woke". This won't be big at all around here cause we know better. Geez, what is the battery life for the higher codecs, 4 hours from a neckband in late 2019. :0

I'm with you, more battery life is better, even if I don't use it all in one session. The higher power consuming components (and the higher codecs, as you pointed out) drain more battery. I bet the battery in this neckband isn't all that small.

I'll try to find out what AKM DAC this uses, if I can.

 

[Ichos]

I have a pair at home.
The secret is that this sound much better than the IE80s because Sennheiser have very cleverly adapted the sound of the dac to fix some tuning problems of the original IE80s.

 

[caprimulgus]

Q: Will the detachable neckband be available as an accessory?

A: Yes, it will be available as an accessory and is compatible with IE 8, IE 80 and IE 80S, so users can even upgrade their old models to a wireless model.

Any news on availability (release date) and pricing of this?

Have a pair of IE80, and would be curious to try this neckband, if it's not too expensive! (Although, I already own a pair of Momentum Free / HD1 Free!)

 

[Bernardo Cabral]

Also looking for information on the standalone neckband. When and at what price will it be released?

 

[caprimulgus]

Still no info about the pricing and availability of the neckband (IEN BT)...

 

[caprimulgus]

Sennheiser Australia responded to me on Facebook saying that the neckband should be available through the Sennheiser website in December, and said they won't have any info on pricing until closer to that time.