Going fully Wireless IEMs. Too soon? Or are we there yet?

[howdy]

For those who have bought Complys from there website, how long did they take? I had 3-5 day shipping and it's now been over 3 weeks.

 

[bronco1015]

My MTWs still have around 4 hours but the case is broke and they case only holds a charge for about 2.5 days. I was gonna see if they would give me a replacement as they still are on the 2 year warranty window.

Let me know if they do give you a replacement case. i called them back in November a couple days after mine broke, and the Woman i spoke with was very specific in saying, the iems themselves were covered for 2 years, not the case. I wasn't rude, but i told her how that was BS. i had a ton going on at the time and never got around to calling them again, but didn't have high hopes either. Hopefully you have a better experience.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

looks like my 1st gen MTW are starting to lose their longevity in the battery department. The last 3 times i've used them this week, with the case fully charged, i've gotten just a hair over 3.5 hours, then 2.5 hours, then i recharged the case again and the 3rd time just a hair over 2.5 hours. Until this week, i've been able to get 5 hours or close to it each time when i listen to them till they die. And this is at 65-70% volume. Bummer too, because the drivers sure have aged well. By far these get used mor than anything else i currently own but still. i thought this would be something i'd be saying maybe 2.5-3 years in, not at 18 months.

My MTWs still have around 4 hours but the case is broke and they case only holds a charge for about 2.5 days. I was gonna see if they would give me a replacement as they still are on the 2 year warranty window.

Let me know if they do give you a replacement case. i called them back in November a couple days after mine broke, and the Woman i spoke with was very specific in saying, the iems themselves were covered for 2 years, not the case. I wasn't rude, but i told her how that was BS. i had a ton going on at the time and never got around to calling them again, but didn't have high hopes either. Hopefully you have a better experience.

I think it maybe time for me to run another battery life test with mine that are now nine months old.

 

[TK33]

looks like my 1st gen MTW are starting to lose their longevity in the battery department. The last 3 times i've used them this week, with the case fully charged, i've gotten just a hair over 3.5 hours, then 2.5 hours, then i recharged the case again and the 3rd time just a hair over 2.5 hours. Until this week, i've been able to get 5 hours or close to it each time when i listen to them till they die. And this is at 65-70% volume. Bummer too, because the drivers sure have aged well. By far these get used mor than anything else i currently own but still. i thought this would be something i'd be saying maybe 2.5-3 years in, not at 18 months.

I can see these things becoming like cell phones...battery starts dying after 18 months and need to upgrade every 2-3 years. Maybe they'll even come bundled with phones or be financed on payment plans from your wireless carrier one day.

 

[Luke Skywalker]

@HeadphoneAddict has an iPhone, and uses the N6 Pro and enjoys the sq with them he's said in several posts throughout this thread. as far as companies not making something compatible with IOS devices, many do with AAC. obviously AAC works well for most use cases, and Apple implements it well throughout the entire Ecosystem. while objectively APTX has the potential to sound better, it doesn't always for several possible reasons. The TWE's OEM may not have implemented APTX correctly, so it might not sound as it should generally. Or the same could be said for the phone OEM for any codec. There are several other reasons to point out as well, so i'll just say, it would be nice if Apple, Qualcom, Huawei, LG, Xiaomi, BBK with their respective brands, sony A&K, Fiio etc; came together and set standards for each codec, then the TWE OEM's could follow those standards, then our discussions on these products would be refined significantly and we'd just be talking about things like, Fit and our sound preferences and SQ in general. Since that hasn't happened, i think Apple uses SBC and AAC only for a similar reason they only use iMessage. Build around 1 platform or in the case of Bluetooth audio; build around 1 codec, to create a mor consistent experience for the masses. using SBC is part of the standard bluetooth stack just like using group or MMS messages is part of basic messaging. Just to complete my analogy.

Just to add my 2 cents... I listen to music for a couple hours a day usually with the N6 Pro + iPhone 7 AAC, and it sounds awesome... Blows away the sound quality of everything except my JH Lola IEM's. I've heard some people say that the N6 doesn't have heavy bass, which isn't something I'm into, so maybe factor that in... But I think the N6 is a steal for the price

I also like how intuitive the controls are and tactile. so easy to raise and lower volume, go to the next track, etc.

 

[clerkpalmer]

RHA True Connect for 85 bucks using code TRUECONNECT50. A bit long in the tooth but have a very nice sound signature. Not a bad buy at that price.

 

[bronco1015]

I can see these things becoming like cell phones...battery starts dying after 18 months and need to upgrade every 2-3 years. Maybe they'll even come bundled with phones or be financed on payment plans from your wireless carrier one day.

Very possible, but not a trend i hope to see personally, because will likely be limited to products like Galaxy Buds, Airpods pro, and maybe a few others; but it would seem those 2 would be the first offered if that were the case. And OEM's do that a lot lately, Samsung bundled 1st gen galaxy buds with preorders of the S10 and S10 plus, maybe the note as well, can't remember for the 10E. but while that would be cool to finance different TWEs through a carrier, if the variety were good. As for the most popular models, imo that would just give phone manufacturers mor assumed leverage in raising phone prices. And Qualcom could raise prices as well, saying they need mor of a cut on licensing their true Wireless SOC's, as well as phone SOC's, which could drive prices even higher, because it's only $1 or $2 extra per unit over the course of 2 years etc. Don't get me wrong; i love the idea. I just think it would be easier for companies to price fix and subtlely take advantage of the consumer.

 

[FYLegend]

I don't have the GB+ (yet) so I can't comment on the general imbalance, but I've had that disconnect/reconnect "boomy" - I'm not sure that's the right word, but I do know what you mean - it's like you're suddenly listening to cheap on-ears - with TWS+ earbuds. I think this is a quirk of the QC tech. Could be a desync problem, dunno, but none of my buds using non-QC chips do this.

What phone are you using? If you are on a Galaxy or Note 9 or higher you can try to jimmy the adaptive sound settings to temper the mids on the left side. But if the two buds really sound noticably different, I'd return or warranty them.

The imbalance doesn't always happen or otherwise I don't notice it. Sometimes re-connecting them seems to fix it.

I have an Exynos Note 9 so unfortunately I'm unable to test the full extent of TWS+ and both of my units (Sabbat E12 Ultra and Tronsmart Onyx Neo) are possibly defective as they sound brighter on the left side than the right. I got around it by putting foam under the nozzle of the brighter-sounding bud. I'm sure they're just duds (I tried my friend's E12 Ultra with my phone and it sounded much more balanced, albeit slightly brighter on the right).

I never really got the boomy/wide problem with TWS+ buds or AptX devices but it happens often with SBC devices on Windows 10. Realtek chip is especially bad with the Note 9 as putting my finger along the volume key causes an aliasing distortion and the widening dropout.

 

[Aevum]

i have the 1st MTW100 but im considering the FIIL T1X, and im wondering if its worth spending more. to get one of the big boys (sony, Jabra, Samsung Galaxy buds...)

 

[hifi80sman]

Saw these at Target the other day for $49. Anyone try them yet? Wife was with me and I just had a headphone delivery via Amazon, so didn't want to buy something else when I JUST got a $350 pair waiting for me at home.
http://community.anker.com/t/new-release-soundcore-life-dot-2-is-now-available/81376

 

[dw13]

I didn't listen with an iPhone with my Buds+, but the way I heard it described is that Android has the crummy SBC and AAC codecs - Apple's codecs do just fine with the Buds+, so nothing to worry about.

What there is to worry about is fiddling around with the touch and edge touch controls on those darned things... that's why I returned them. They sounded fine, but it was annoying to try to adjust them in my ear and have them take commands from my "touches".

You and many others might love them just fine, but they didn't "gel" with my needs.

And, my other choice to try was the Momentum 2 TWS's, which also sounded fine, but also had the touch control willies. And, those were $362 all in, so back they went too.

I've got some KZ S2's coming this month, or so it seems possible at least, hopefully those will be serviceable at their low price. Otherwise I'm sticking with IEM's + BTR5 / BTR3k

Yesterday the KZ S2'2 arrived and are remarkably good considering their price of $35. Really, really good. Better sounding than Lypertek Tevi IMO.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Returned the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 to Amazon yesterday. Not sound better than FIIL T1X for double the price, although not as bad with driver flex, also has Qi charging, plus auto-pause when removed from ears, which explains the 2x the cost - new tips can help the T1X driver flex 90% but it’s easier to adjust the LA2 if it shows up, without a tip change or losing my seal.

Lack of ambient sound or transparency with both is an issue for me.

PS: the Hear-ID hearing test and associated EQ added too much treble for my 58 year old ears - I guess I got used to my brain filling in the missing frequencies and wasn’t used to hearing it all. And I always needed to use some of the professional EQ to make them sound better. I had them for about 10 days

 

[jant71]

Since the newest JVC is soon to be released, I checked it out on the site...

Still pretty nice in the blue. Knew of the aptX, 9 hours, TWS+, LDS antenna, and IPX55 and all that but thought they came with ambient tips and they didn't have ambient mode. They have both on board ambient and Bass Boost with a nice control scheme...

If the aero design does work well for wind and they have ambient, ambient tips, bass boost and good sound they should be winners. I hate wind noise with some TWS and don't mind touch with these since they have the outer area with rubber surround for comfort and to adjust them w/o activating functions accidentally. Nice controls that do everything is quite nice and only one triple tap for when you adjust the bass which might just be to find the favorite and not even switch after that. Case has a grippable soft rubber on it as well. These are looking better and seem to be a more well thought out sports model. Only thing I might change would be play/pause on the right and ambient on the left and if they could get 2 hours on the 10 minute charge instead of one hour.

Actually I may be swayed for my actual sports use. If holding a racquet it will be in my right hand and dribbling a ball and then stopping to hold I am inclined to go with the right so maybe play/pause on the left is the smart way to go.

 

[Mixmasterjw]

Does anyone know off a good pair of cheaper tws from a european site? I need something for work to wear under my earmuffs.

 

[TK33]

Very possible, but not a trend i hope to see personally, because will likely be limited to products like Galaxy Buds, Airpods pro, and maybe a few others; but it would seem those 2 would be the first offered if that were the case. And OEM's do that a lot lately, Samsung bundled 1st gen galaxy buds with preorders of the S10 and S10 plus, maybe the note as well, can't remember for the 10E. but while that would be cool to finance different TWEs through a carrier, if the variety were good. As for the most popular models, imo that would just give phone manufacturers mor assumed leverage in raising phone prices. And Qualcom could raise prices as well, saying they need mor of a cut on licensing their true Wireless SOC's, as well as phone SOC's, which could drive prices even higher, because it's only $1 or $2 extra per unit over the course of 2 years etc. Don't get me wrong; i love the idea. I just think it would be easier for companies to price fix and subtlely take advantage of the consumer.

I agree with you. Never said it would be a good thing but given the way wireless phone prices are going anyway, I wouldn't be surprised. I do remember Samsung running the promo with the Galaxy Buds and know a few people who have them only because they were free. I paid full price for mine b/c I missed the promo and my wife now uses them for a few hours each day so I can't see those lasting much longer. Hopefully they do.