Hey guys… sorry to be so late checking in today. I have only had half a mind and been bedridden, but I’m starting to feel better and more alert!
Units have started reaching Taiwan, great!! Hello!
Well, the good news is your touch sensors are working if you are able to enable ANC and NAR. To toggle transparency on/off, you have to be fast with the tap… the launch firmware had a 160ms timer to recognize a “tap,” the new firmware extended that to 240ms. That is about a quarter of a second, so you still have to be fast, but if we made it longer it would cause other issues.
The idea to add a touch sensor activation delay when removed from the case is interesting… there aren’t expensive proximity sensors, but we’ll see if perhaps the disconnect from the charging pins could be used as a trigger?
Your description of volume issues seem unusual. When I use my TWS/1 with the tips that fit me best (small), I typically listen at around 50%, and over about 80% volume is painful for me. I think the most likely solution for you would be experimenting with some eartips… it’s crucial that you are able to fully insert the tips into your ear canal, and they shouldn’t be too loose and have a bad seal, or too big and squeezing out from your canal. Some people need different sizes for each ear.
We did increase the max volume with the last firmware update, but ultimately we are bound by hearing safety laws, and we don’t want to cause permanent hearing loss. In a Bluetooth system, where the amplifier and transducer are integrated together in one system, the range of decibels can be reliably designed in (unlike wired headphones, which could be connected to an amplifier of any power). I believe you when you say the notifications are too quiet and that you were pushing the drivers to distortion for music playback, and of course I can’t exactly predict what is happening, but the most likely, healthy, and easy step to take is making sure the fit is right! Here’s a picture of the TWS/1 in my ear; notice how the inner “bulge” of the earpiece is below my antitragus, and the earphone is only sticking out a little bit:
With some in-ears I need medium tips, sometimes I need small tips, or foam, and I always have to experiment with fit and tips when I first get an in-ear. My mom put them “on” her ears rather than “in” her ears, they looked like they were at a 45° angle to her ears, and she had the same issues you described. I hope this helps!
Both of these issues would be caused by a loud sound going into the microphone… my wife made my TWS/1 scream when she dropped the earpieces into the case, making a loud “click” that started a feedback loop (this only happened the one time, but I feel like I could recreate it if I wanted), and the ANC strength is adaptive, so when it’s working harder to reduce background sounds it will feel like it is exerting more pressure.
@dr. ego Try enabling ANC and let the earbuds play music overnight, give them a full charge cycle in the morning. If the issue persists as you keep using it, reach out to us at
support@grellaudio.com, and let us know you’re dr. ego here on Head-Fi.
Yes; just like the original MTW1, the earpieces go to sleep mode when placed in their case with the lid closed. SoundID doesn’t use extra power, but higher volumes and features like ANC do use more power (you should get about 6 hours of runtime in the earpieces with ANC or NAR on).
The MTW/1 was designed to “sleep” instead of totally turning “off” while in the case, so that it could reestablish Bluetooth connections quickly and be immediately responsive to the user. The MTW2 “solved” this by using a lower power Qualcomm IC, but there was a small trade off in features and background noise. It was expected that users would use their earbuds every day (a cumulative 8 hours, on the spec sheet), and recharge every few days; a standby charge on the MTW/1 would last about a week if in “sleep mode” and not used.
I don’t know if the TWS/1 has the same sleep feature to be responsive and pair quickly, but I’ll ask and find out. Meanwhile, the grell audio TWS/1 should be even more convenient to give it sips of power whenever you’re home or at a desk: not only does it have the USB-C port, but you can also set the case on any Qi certified wireless charger (the most common type of wireless charger!) for a bit of power, even while you’re listening to music.
Hmm, interesting! Well, I am still trying to figure out if there is a root cause, but here’s an odd tip which seems to help, even if I don’t know why yet: I’ve had a few people say their intermittent dropout issues went away after they used them for several hours. Just yesterday, I had someone contacting me, wondering if the issue was because he was going for walks in cold weather, but I filmed myself going for an hour walk in a 25°F snowstorm (I got ice in my beard! I kinda regret it, I think going for a snow walk right after getting a booster shot is what made me feel bad today) with only two short dropouts (and I think maybe one was caused by covering the earpiece). We were talking about an exchange, but he went for two more walks of his own and has since had no dropouts. He uses in-ears all day, every day
Well, that’s it for tonight… I was working on another project for everyone before I was under the weather, hopefully I can work on that tomorrow and share with all of you soon!
