Gonna go off topic a bit but I think it’s relevant to how we review and assess tws in the grand scheme of this hobby. What full size cans do folks have for critical listening?
ill start: Aeon closed Drop X and LCD-2C for me. One open, one closed. Recently had Ananda, Ananda BT, deva and sundara as well. The aeon closed are stunning. The LCD-2C are bass cannons but I’m still trying to figure them out. They do not sound particularly open or spacious and I may prefer the Ananda tbh.
I only reach for my tws when I’m exercising or if I’m doing chores around the house where I need to move around although the Deva are pretty awesome for this purpose and make me wonder if I should get them again.
I have quite a few, including the LCD-2C, original Aeon Closed, HD6XX, HE-400i, and a Denon AH-D5000. I also have children and almost no ability to sit down and listen to music with both ears covered. Really wish I could enjoy them more.
The Audeze need current and lots of it, but the way they tuned their low end creates a really weird, bulbous stage where things aren't easily locateable outside of, say, the left bubble or right bubble. Eventually, I'll get my hands on a LCD-X to see if it makes up for what I'm missing. The bass texturing is fun, but I find my HE-400i to sound much more spacious. They don't image as well as the Aeon, but they're definitely more open. The Denon are just a giant leather recliner of a headphone and have a sound signature that is uncompromisingly fat.
Honestly, I reach for my 6XX more often than not. Have a 2.5mm balanced cable and a couple DAPs that'll give it enough juice to not sound so thin, so I still get to enjoy headphones, but I'm not tied to a chair. Despite the hype, it's still a HD650 and I think that deserves a place in every collection, if only to be used as a reference point. They're tuned really well.
Conversely, I'm not a huge fan of the Meze 99 Classics. Too much of a good thing (warmth), too little detail for my tastes. Super comfy, though.
https://mm.jbl.com/true-wireless/LIVE-PRO-PLUS-TWS-.html
11mm drivers vs 6.8 in the Club Pro+ but $20 cheaper and worse specs10-20 on the range vs. 20-20 for the Live.
Saw a really good writeup from Dunu in the DK-3001 thread about driver size correlating to bass quality more than quantity. Since the DD is basically coupled to your ear, the whole "no replacement for displacement" thing kinda goes out the window. The 6.8mm in the Club Pro+ is a really capable middle.
I’ve given up on traditional iems. I don’t like the feeling of a deep iem. Most tws are very shallow so they don’t bother me but for comfort full size cans are my favorite.
Seems like the IEM camp is getting equally polarizing. Dunu fit really shallow in my ears and the shells are so tiny that they don't hurt. At all. Might be worth looking into. 2001 for fun, 3001 Pro for critical listening.
As for TWS, that shallow fit is exactly what I like about the HiBy, Noble, UE, and MT. I can wear them all without fatigue and only the Noble is really an outlier in insertion depth. Really, only the Technics, Sennheiser, and Earfun tend to irritate my ears over time. While I can handle Ety deep, I don't always want to.
