[loplop]

Apple folks should be just fine on AAC due to Apple's fantastic implementation of that codec on their devices. I'm not as impressed with its implementation on Qualcomm silicon.

This sounds like my answer, thanks (iPhone/aac is likely a bit better than zx507/aptx). I’ll start there.

I received an email that my Drop order shipped today, also.

 

[Ichos]

Regarding the firmware update I have an official reply from Drop.

"the firmware update will be installed via the Sound ID app, similar to how it worked for the Panda headphones."

"To add on — we'll be uploading an instructional video onto our site soon!"

 

[xSDMx]

Just gotta say it: in lieu of multi-point and/or fast/quick pair... thank you, thank you, thank you for providing an option to manually disconnect and enter pairing mode by pressing and holding on the touchpads without needing to use the case nor explicitly disconnect on the previous device. This is such a nice QoL feature that easily justified the preorder for me.

 

[C_Lindbergh]

Do you guys know if the Qualcomm 5141 chipset will support Aptx Lossless?

Also any idea if we'll see any USB adapters that supports snapdragon sound any time soon? I'll most likely get a phone that supports Snapdragon sound next year, but would be awesome to have it on my PC as well.

And is there any major difference between the 5141 chip and the 5151?

As a normal consumer the inner workings of Qualcomms audio business is quite confusing I'm geussing people in the industry got a better overview.

 

[Evshrug]

This sounds like my answer, thanks (iPhone/aac is likely a bit better than zx507/aptx). I’ll start there.

I received an email that my Drop order shipped today, also.

I happen to have an iPhone 12 and a Sony ZX300, as well as a HiBy R6 Pro with android (and a NVIDIA Shield with Android TV, which gives me ideas). I’m waiting for my sample TWS/1 to clear customs just like all of you (probably arriving end of next week or soon after), but I’ll be sure to test on both sources. AAC is nicer/smoother/more agreeable than SBC (and SBC isn’t so bad when implemented well), but so is aptX on an android… I’ve used both, but without A/B comparing them side by side I would say they’re roughly equivalent on their respective platforms.

Further, don’t sleep on LHDC! Savitech (the developers of the codec) are working on getting an app officially through the Apple Store’s certification process, and the app may already be available on Android, that can actually add this hi-res codec. Supporting bitrates similar to LDAC and “lossless” compressed audio (FLAC/ALAC), LHDC also has less latency, and adapts to give the best bandwidth possible for your environment. We’re eagerly looking forward to further developments and took a bet on LHDC’s exciting future!

With that said… sometimes ignorance is bliss. As I mentioned earlier, even SBC can sound quite good on a well configured system, and for an everyday earphone that is your beigleiter (companion) everywhere, the TWS/1 will be a fun and great sounding in-ear with the current compliment of codecs

"To add on — we'll be uploading an instructional video onto our site soon!"

Check it out!

Just gotta say it: in lieu of multi-point and/or fast/quick pair... thank you, thank you, thank you for providing an option to manually disconnect and enter pairing mode by pressing and holding on the touchpads without needing to use the case nor explicitly disconnect on the previous device. This is such a nice QoL feature that easily justified the preorder for me.

Yup yup!! These days, people don’t “just” own a smartphone… we have laptops, smartphones, tablets, smart watches, smart TVs, and who knows maybe we’ll have smart shoes someday. grell audio chose to use a Qualcomm Bluetooth chipset that does support a multipoint function… but Qualcomm hasn’t implemented it yet. Fingers crossed in hope with us?

With that said, the TWS/1 does automatically try to pair with the last device it connected with when you take them out of the case. You can, of course, override that with the manual pairing mode when you need to

 

[mt877]

My choices are iPhone/AAC or ZX507/aptx.

ZX507 does not have aptx adaptive, and it sounds like the Grell doesn’t support aptx hd.

I also have ZX507 and I downloaded Fiio music player from Google play store which has built in LHDC codec. If Grell offered their own player with LHDC support I would definitely go for that.

Did anyone who ordered directly from Grell got their units shipped out today?

In a previous post I said the Grell website showed my order shipped, but that was not the actual case as we were told that a confirmation email would be sent when the pre-order shipped. So far I have not received a confirmation email yet. Just as a point of reference my pre-order number was in the low 200's.

 

[mt877]

One other Android LHDC player I found is an older player, Savitech Hi-Res BT Player. Last version release was in March 2019. It is no longer in the Google Play store, but a simple Google search results in several hits where the apk can be downloaded. Not sure why Savitech no longer supports development of the player since you would think they would like to spread acceptance of LHDC. Anyway, I downloaded and installed it on the ZX507 successfully, but have not tried using it yet. Of course if it does not work or is buggy it will be deleted.

EDIT: I deleted this Savitech player. Maybe it was a proof in concept attempt of a player. Scanning music function is sloooow and after scanning stopped many albums were missing songs. Repeating the scan would add more songs, but it wouldn't complete 100%. If Savitech releases a newer version I might try it again, but I wouldn't recommend this old unsupported version.

 

[Evshrug]

Thanks for your research!

 

[Evshrug]

Did anyone who ordered directly from Grell got their units shipped out today?

Frustrating thing in America, the TWS/1 and TWS1x (Drop) shipment has been stuck in customs for an unusually long time. At least we know where it is… and we’re getting them out ASAP. Hopefully things are better with the European shipment.

 

[miserybeforethemusic]

Frustrating thing in America, the TWS/1 and TWS1x (Drop) shipment has been stuck in customs for an unusually long time. At least we know where it is… and we’re getting them out ASAP. Hopefully things are better with the European shipment.

Pardon me for asking, but we're two years into these supply chain distruptions. Are you implying to me companies still don't anticipate these "unusually long" customs times in their projections? If so, when is this going to be a priority concern?

Not to mention once you get past customs, you have folks like FedEx majorly dropping the ball on delivery times. Might want to anticipate these choke points before ticked off customers start chasing customer support divisions with pitchforks. The hassle of delayed arrivals is one of the major reasons I don't like buying anything that requires shipping right now.

 

[schwartzasher]

My only question after reading this whole thread is how big is the case? Is it small enough to fit in the extra pocket of the jeans without being too big? Because the transition from the wf1000xm3 to xm4 made the case able to fit well in that pocket. How about the case for these?

 

[mt877]

Thanks for your research!

Much like Sony LDAC getting included in Android OS, Savitech has also collaborated with Google to get LHDC into Android OS as well. From what I've read, LHDC has been included since Android 10 (Sept. 2019). Since Savitech has released the codec into Android OS, they probably decided to stop further development of their player. Unfortunately, unlike LDAC, it appears that even though LHDC may be included in Android 10, it is not enabled in many devices. Even going into developer mode, LHDC can't be enabled. We know that OEMs make custom Android OS deployments which partially favor their own codecs. We see this in Samsung, Sony products for example.

I guess for people that don't have devices from Fiio or Shanling (for example) that have LHDC support it is a problem looking for a solution. Fortunately Fiio released their player which has 'baked' in LHDC codec which can be used on Android devices outside their eco-system.

 

[schwartzasher]

Much like Sony LDAC getting included in Android OS, Savitech has also collaborated with Google to get LHDC into Android OS as well. From what I've read, LHDC has been included since Android 10 (Sept. 2019). Since Savitech has released the codec into Android OS, they probably decided to stop further development of their player. Unfortunately, unlike LDAC, it appears that even though LHDC may be included in Android 10, it is not enabled in many devices. Even going into developer mode, LHDC can't be enabled. We know that OEMs make custom Android OS deployments which partially favor their own codecs. We see this in Samsung, Sony products for example.

I guess for people that don't have devices from Fiio or Shanling (for example) that have LHDC support it is a problem looking for a solution. Fortunately Fiio released their player which has 'baked' in LHDC codec which can be used on Android devices outside their eco-system.

I'm assuming this just means I load up fiio player on my Android phone and lhdc just gets enabled? Only using fiio player of course

 

[mt877]

I'm assuming this just means I load up fiio player on my Android phone and lhdc just gets enabled? Only using fiio player of course

You have to enable HWA support in the Fiio player settings.

 

[Evshrug]

@misery, I share your frustrations!

Yes. grell audio is unable to fix the worldwide shipping changes… not only have many workers quit their shipping jobs, but the magnitude of product shipping has boomed. Add to that, November/December has some of the highest shipping traffic of the entire year.

With that said, we did account for customs and other potential setbacks in our original estimates. Thus why we felt it was more transparent to share that we find this unusual and outside projections as well. Getting the product out has been the priority concern since the design was complete and the first production run was ready! We still anticipate deliveries to arrive at homes either late in the week or soon after, and about two weeks for new orders!