[ClieOS]

Thanks for that info - I wasn't aware of HWA beforehand.

Like Sony's LDAC, HWA is a BT lossless codec proposed by Huawei (though I believe it was originally developed by a Taiwan's software company, which Huawei acquired the right from). A few of the Chinese DAPs makers already adopted it onto the newer DAP, including FiiO, Hifiman and iBasso, as well as some of Huawei's newer smartphones. You can check out the list of companies that have pledged to support it here: https://www.hwa-lhdc.org/. My smartphone is a Sony Xperia so LDAC is already enabled when used with BTR3 - that allows me to switch between LDAC (Xperia's default) and HWA (via FiiO app), which the difference is much more obvious than changing cable on some headphone even though both claimed to be lossless. HWA just sounds fuller / less compressed than LDAC most of the time.

 

[waynes world]

Like Sony's LDAC, HWA is a BT lossless codec proposed by Huawei (though I believe it was originally developed by a Taiwan's software company, which Huawei acquired the right from). A few of the Chinese DAPs makers already adopted it onto the newer DAP, including FiiO, Hifiman and iBasso, as well as some of Huawei's newer smartphones. You can check out the list of companies that have pledged to support it here: https://www.hwa-lhdc.org/. My smartphone is a Sony Xperia so LDAC is already enabled when used with BTR3 - that allows me to switch between LDAC (Xperia's default) and HWA (via FiiO app), which the difference is much more obvious than changing cable on some headphone even though both claimed to be lossless. HWA just sounds fuller / less compressed than LDAC most of the time.

Thanks again. Do you notice the difference also when streaming 320kbps music, or when playing 16/44.1 flac files? I think the answer you're going to give me is "yes".

 

[csglinux]

Like Sony's LDAC, HWA is a BT lossless codec proposed by Huawei (though I believe it was originally developed by a Taiwan's software company, which Huawei acquired the right from). A few of the Chinese DAPs makers already adopted it onto the newer DAP, including FiiO, Hifiman and iBasso, as well as some of Huawei's newer smartphones. You can check out the list of companies that have pledged to support it here: https://www.hwa-lhdc.org/. My smartphone is a Sony Xperia so LDAC is already enabled when used with BTR3 - that allows me to switch between LDAC (Xperia's default) and HWA (via FiiO app), which the difference is much more obvious than changing cable on some headphone even though both claimed to be lossless. HWA just sounds fuller / less compressed than LDAC most of the time.

The problem with LDAC (other than being more proprietary nonsense) is that, like with most BT connections, you don't know in advance what you're going to get. It can transmit at 990, 660, or 330 kbps, depending on hardware, handshake and connection quality. There's not much information out there about the LHDC codec that is HWA, beyond the obvious disingenuous marketing that shows how much better it is than SBC (well, duh, anything's better than SBC):

https://www.hwa-lhdc.org/how-it-works

Theoretically, LDAC can achieve higher bandwidths than LHDC.

It'd be interesting to know whether LHDC is yet more proprietary nonsense that Huawei are just trying to monetize or whether it will actually bring about some common, open platform that might actually improve BT quality for the good of the world. The cynic in me suspects the former.

 

[mbwilson111]

people with the NiceHCK EB2 and Faaeal Datura-X, which do you prefer and why? trying to decide which one to get during 11.11

Eb2 with eq or Datura X. They are both great!

Which part you eq?

I have both and would not want to have to give up either. So, get them both. You will be happy you did. I do not feel the need to use EQ with either... actually I do not use EQ with anything.

 

[mbwilson111]

I have both. Honestly, I have not spent much time with the Zen Lite. I fall asleep every night to the Zen LL though. The Zen Lite is closer in sound signature to the ZOE. I like the Zen LL as it is not quite as dark. (The slightly dark signature isn't because of amp'ing, I have plenty of power. I just prefer its additional treble without being bright.) The shells can't be beat for sleeping!

Last night after reading your post my husband and I traded.... his Zen LL (150ohm) for my Zen Lite (300ohm). Neither had been used in awhile. It was a logical trade because he uses amps more than I do. Even when sitting at my desk (where I have an excellent dac/amp setup) I often use my buds or iems plugged into one of my better DAPs. He almost always is plugged into his desktop amp when at home. They both have the same comfortable shell and cool looking cable. I think they both sound great.

I do have portable amps that I can use with my DAPs but I am finding I prefer the freedom of using just the one device.

My Zen LL terminates in a 2.5mm balanced plug (and includes a single ended adapter) so I am excited to be able to use it with the balanced output on my newest DAP the iBasso DX120 and one of my older DAPs the Opus #1

 

[Carrow]

So apparently Rholupat release their own models from time to time. Their Asoka bud is seemingly a modded Edifier H180, definitely picking this up! http://www.rholupat.com/custom-earphone/asoka.html

 

[MisterMudd]

My Earbuds Confession

I only started buying gears late last year after years of not caring about musics. After I tried some of IEMs, I realized that I need something with low isolation because I need to be aware of my environment, whether at home or at office. Open back cans are an option, but it won’t fit well in an office environment as they leak.

Then a few clues pointed me toward earbuds.

Earbuds? Aren’t they obsolete? The last time I listened through any of them was probably two decades ago, and they were not that good in term of SQ (and looks). Look, even the big guys are directing their resources on cans and IEMs.

So I decided to order some from the suggested items in this thread. The first came to my door was EB2.

I am amazed. I am amazed at what this form could do, and the potential. To me, these things sound like miniature open-back cans. I was surprised because, as they are generally semi-open, I thought that they’ll lack of lows, but these have decent quality lows and, with good isolation, they could punch.

Now I know why you guys are all over earbuds.

This form is what I was looking for. Thanks for the recommendations. I think I am just starting out....

I started with IEMs way back when, which was OK for a few years, but the problem I had back then was getting a good seal. They did not have the choice in tips available back then. So, I just focused on full size headphones for the next five years. Then, I bought the original Monk earbud and was totally blown away at the sound quality, and over the years I have tried a dozen or so different buds. I like the form factor a lot, and even budget earbuds are giving you much better sound now. I still save my bigger budget for full size cans, but man, some of those budget earbuds with my Radsone ES100 produce a stellar experience. Enjoy the music!

 

[theresanarc]

So apparently Rholupat release their own models from time to time. Their Asoka bud is seemingly a modded Edifier H180, definitely picking this up! http://www.rholupat.com/custom-earphone/asoka.html

Nice find, would like to hear more feedback on that one, if it's worth the nearly $40 price difference (probably not if all he did was change the cable and used the same driver and everything else).

That shell is my favourite so far and I don't understand why more sellers aren't using that shell instead of the mediocre MX500 shell, I'm fairly certain it's a cheap shell too considering the price of the H180 or Qian39.

 

[handwander]

No Svara L sale for 11.11 yet. EBX is like 50% off though

Nice find, would like to hear more feedback on that one, if it's worth the nearly $40 price difference (probably not if all he did was change the cable and used the same driver and everything else).

That shell is my favourite so far and I don't understand why more sellers aren't using that shell instead of the mediocre MX500 shell, I'm fairly certain it's a cheap shell too considering the price of the H180 or Qian39.

Incoming replies about how the MX500 is the peak of humanity's achievement when it comes to earbud shells.

 

[ClieOS]

Thanks again. Do you notice the difference also when streaming 320kbps music, or when playing 16/44.1 flac files? I think the answer you're going to give me is "yes".

The difference is observable even with Sportify. Don't really have any lossless music on my smartphone as it is not my main music player since it doesn't have a lot of storage on board (*blaming hybrid sims slot for that, as I need to use two sims so I can't use microSD card anymore).. If I am really looking into best SQ, I'll generally use one of my DAP instead.

 

[HungryPanda]

No Svara L sale for 11.11 yet. EBX is like 50% off though



Incoming replies about how the MX500 is the peak of humanity's achievement when it comes to earbud shells.

nuff said

 

[ClieOS]

The problem with LDAC (other than being more proprietary nonsense) is that, like with most BT connections, you don't know in advance what you're going to get. It can transmit at 990, 660, or 330 kbps, depending on hardware, handshake and connection quality. There's not much information out there about the LHDC codec that is HWA, beyond the obvious disingenuous marketing that shows how much better it is than SBC (well, duh, anything's better than SBC):

https://www.hwa-lhdc.org/how-it-works

Theoretically, LDAC can achieve higher bandwidths than LHDC.

It'd be interesting to know whether LHDC is yet more proprietary nonsense that Huawei are just trying to monetize or whether it will actually bring about some common, open platform that might actually improve BT quality for the good of the world. The cynic in me suspects the former.

A few more info on this: again, HWA (LHDC) isn't invented / developed by Huawei, but by a Taiwan company (Savitech, which also made hardware, mainly small DAC chip). Huawei's main interest in this is to have a more open lossless codec than LDAC (*while LDAC is free to use for encoding, you still need to pay Sony a license fee to use it for decoding, that means each BT headset / DAC that supports LDAC needs to pay up.). As far as I know, HWA currently is free for both encoding and decoding, even though a free license is still required for anyone who wants to use it. Hence why you are seeing so many companies already jumping on the HWA's train where Sony's LDAC still get relatively small support after all these time. That being said, at least at this point monetizing is not a goal for either Huawei or Savitech (which still provide the technical support for HWA).

There is also one main advantage that HWA has over LDAC - the later resamples audio into 24/96 before sending it over BT connection, where the former doesn't. This, in theory, means audio is better preserved with HWA, especially when it is not natively 24/96.

 

[csglinux]

A few more info on this: again, HWA (LHDC) isn't invented / developed by Huawei, but by a Taiwan company (Savitech, which also made hardware, mainly small DAC chip). Huawei's main interest in this is to have a more open lossless codec than LDAC (*while LDAC is free to use for encoding, you still need to pay Sony a license fee to use it for decoding, that means each BT headset / DAC that supports LDAC needs to pay up.). As far as I know, HWA currently is free for both encoding and decoding, even though a free license is still required for anyone who wants to use it.

That's encouraging news! Thanks for the info

 

[toear]

I have both and would not want to have to give up either. So, get them both. You will be happy you did. I do not feel the need to use EQ with either... actually I do not use EQ with anything.

I don't normally eq anything either.... This was a bit of a compromise for me and the Eb2. Don't get me wrong It sounds great without eq for many genres, but for techno or electronic stuff I just find the bass gets buried. It's there.... Just not enough for my tastes. Easy enough fix and happy medium. Ymmv.... MB is actually correct though... Get both!

 

[RodRevenge]

Enjoying some Plini with the Willsound Mk3, amazing pairing.