Hi,
Actually I was having a little jape sorry. I have a slightly strange sense of humour.
I was reading earlier in the thread where that member jumped in about the IconX, again apparently, and was once again admonished.
I do own both presently but will be returning the E8 I think. I actually feel the reproduction from the B&0's to be more technically accurate. It is better balanced, greater clarity, more genuine, less coloured than the bass driven IconX IMO.
Had the B&O's given me a comfortable ride straight off my decision may have been different.
I updated them immeadiately after connecting, which took several attempts, not the great problem I've been reading about though. So all ok at that point, then I come to operate the touch pads, thats where it all goes wonky and most frustrating.
I could play/pause, switch to pass throughm skip forward no problem but try as I may not backwards. The volume control was is so laggy I have to keep my finger there for about 4 secs before it responds, I'm a patient chap but expect better response. The volume level is a tad low for me, not much but just enough to leave me wanting, plus I hate to have my volume slider maxed out, a personal thing that, I like a little headroom, no doubt doesn't apply so much today, never the less.
Now the IconX is not as good reproduction IMO. It's balance, clarity and detail is lacking, it's bass heavy taking away from the lower mids. To be honest i cant really say too much about either, im used to much better from wired earphones 5 x the price, so what I expected is what I got tbh. .... The IconX has functioned perfectly however, touch pads precise and responsive, the odd crackle or two but on the whole pretty stable. They fit and hold in place well, I've found a tip from collection that for me does a better job than stock. I found the music more fun, even though below the E8 quality, and of course they just work, no hassle. If I'm going to take a large drop in performance anyway, good consistent functionality and fun is what I'll take when I'm lightweight hiking and camping! ....... When I'm car or short hike camping it's Chord and Noble that entertains.
That's my personal reasoning.
Oh, additional, I forgot to say the source was my Samsung Galaxy S8. Qobuz streaming and Onkyo playing stored flac files.
Sorry for quoting myself folks but there's been a change.
I've changed my mind and done a u turn, this audio enthusiast is for turning!
I decided to persevere with the B&O E8, I've developed the nack so to speak. Although it is slower to respond than the IconX it is consistent, no drop outs, actually (due to the more sophisticated Bluetooth no doubt) it performs better holding on to the signal through walls and at greater distance than the IconX.
This is of no importance to me, it will never be far from my SG S8, but good to know for some no doubt.
No breakup between ears and I'm watching my TV at this very moment, no lag/lip sync issue, absolutely bang on. The IconX did show very slight lag but nothing to ruin the viewing experience.
I've not ventured outside yet I will report back on that. I'm away to the woods in a few days for a few nights out, unless the deer have taken up Amateur Radio, I suspect not, I'll not know if they are susceptible to RFI.
Reason for this perserverence should be obvious to those on here, it's audio quality of course !! ....... I just couldn't pass that up, it does outshine the IconX easily to my ears. Greater clarity, the balance is better, bass is well controlled and quite well defined. Mid range I've not listened to enough voice yet to comment just yet. Having said that, I listened to Murry Perahia, Goldberg Variations, last night lying in bed, piano sounds very nice.
For completely wireless BT earphones I'm quite impressed. My only other venture into BT was with the B&W P7, of course they are over ears and better overall sound quality.
Oh I forgot to add. I got over the slightly low volume by going through the personalisation routine in the S8 sound settings.
It's lifted the volume a tad overall, and has created an EQ curve to compensate a little for my natural loss in frequency range/frequencies.
I run this routine several times, strictly answering accurately whether I could hear tones or not. In the end I found that answering "no" to very faint, (im talking so faint your not sure) recognition of tones gave the best results for me.
And as I said, it has increased volume level, only slightly but enough to make me happy.
I'm glad I stuck at it folks, nice little units these E8
