[Lewislink2]

I bought a set of Sennheiser CX400BT and returned them within a day. Without equalization, the sound was terrible. It was muddy, murky, uncrisp, unclear and not even approaching any kind of transparency. They made me ashamed of Sennheiser.

Tonight I read a review of the Lypertek SoundFree S20 on Trusted Reviews and was going to purchase a set because of the stellar review saying they have "impressive sound" and rating them 4.5 stars. But as I scrolled the list of headphone reviews I came across the Sennheiser CX400BT review. They said they have "excellent sound quality" and I immediately backed away from buying the Lypertek because if Trusted Reviews think the Sennheiser CX400BT have "excellent" sound, it means the Lypertek sound even worse than the Sennheiser.

 

[rsbanner]

I bought a set of Sennheiser CX400BT and returned them within a day. Without equalization, the sound was terrible. It was muddy, murky, uncrisp, unclear and not even approaching any kind of transparency. They made me ashamed of Sennheiser.

Tonight I read a review of the Lypertek SoundFree S20 on Trusted Reviews and was going to purchase a set because of the stellar review saying they have "impressive sound" and rating them 4.5 stars. But as I scrolled the list of headphone reviews I came across the Sennheiser CX400BT review. They said they have "excellent sound quality" and I immediately backed away from buying the Lypertek because if Trusted Reviews think the Sennheiser CX400BT have "excellent" sound, it means the Lypertek sound even worse than the Sennheiser.

Wow, just ahiws you that you need to be careful... I struggle to find reliable reviews!

 

[rsbanner]

Since the black(would have preferred the blue) had the 1-day shipping I took a flyer on the Sabbat flagship...
The quick pics and I'll get the first quick impression/experience in before anyone else here

The presentation is indeed nice and they include a decent amount of tips though small bore is probably not the best I'm thinking so pretty sure some other type from the ole' kit will be the better choice. Case is solid and handsome and Qi compatible though you have to leave it open to see the LED. Should fit most normal length tips and all the shorter wireless ones. Even Sedna Earfits M work in the case. ML have to wedge in a bit but still work to start charging but the case doesn't close that last tiny bit. Most tips should be okay till really long or wide and firm.

They pair and connect as fast as you'd want. Connection seems rock solid. The ergo shape is easy to fit gives a good amount of isolation(will vary with tip) and is good to press the button and not bother the seal. Buttons are nice so you'll never have any accidental presses and you can grab them any way you want.

The sound is very nice for $99. So, far I would like to wait on the dynamic part to burn in some in case of any change. Good reach and some feel but a little bloom on it and the detail and texture is a bit smoothed over so hoping the burn in and tip choice will round them into the best shape. The 7mm magneto part, which is very planar but more electret-like on how it uses charge and can't produce much bass hence the magnetostat always being a combo with it's dynamic helper, does it's job well and has extension, clarity, and liveliness. The good extension and detail are good for TWS to offset what is lost over BT. No bad cable choices here or alloy housing so no Tape style problems with being detail freaks at the cost of the F.R. and needing some kind of fix. Not polite but not strident or sibilant. Energetic but not too aggressive on the highs. They will bring the treble to the party in a evident way. My previous Victor was darker and compared to the MTW2 in signature and my Audio-Technica is in the same way so these will be more hybrid sounding in adding the treble driver. More Falcon Pro than Falcon if you will. Still want the bass to tighten up a bit with the best seal to show more of what is underneath as far as texture and layering a bit. It will happen with run in and/or tips or will need to be done via EQ.

I think with JVC Spiral Dot SF they come together for my ears. Coherent, a big sound with a clean W signature. Male vocals pop, bass has some punch low and a nice lighter snap a bit higher, and the treble is up with good extension and shimmer and the roll on either end is minimal and pretty satisfying for a TWS. They can certainly sound excellent and dialed in right few will complain for $99 for the sound they are capable of. They have clarity, detail, extension, some room in the presentation, and take to EQ well to tweak.

The pros so far:
- Good build and shape and looks
- Good connection and stability
- Good fit
- Good volume with more headroom than many other TWS
- No accidental pressing and still button mashing is not an issue
- Good value

The cons so far:
- Buttons could be a bit bigger esp. for bigger fingers
- The W sig is not the most coherent out of the box (more tip related?)
- Narrow bore tips cut the stage height some
- TWS style short tips have no issues for sound but they only give one size
- No ambient or talk-through mode
- L/R indicators are stamped in so won't rub off but are not easy to see with no color difference(not symmetrical in shape so not a big deal)

Sabbat did a nice job with these!

Wow, this is such a good review! Thank you!

 

[SilverEars]

I bought a set of Sennheiser CX400BT and returned them within a day. Without equalization, the sound was terrible. It was muddy, murky, uncrisp, unclear and not even approaching any kind of transparency. They made me ashamed of Sennheiser.

Tonight I read a review of the Lypertek SoundFree S20 on Trusted Reviews and was going to purchase a set because of the stellar review saying they have "impressive sound" and rating them 4.5 stars. But as I scrolled the list of headphone reviews I came across the Sennheiser CX400BT review. They said they have "excellent sound quality" and I immediately backed away from buying the Lypertek because if Trusted Reviews think the Sennheiser CX400BT have "excellent" sound, it means the Lypertek sound even worse than the Sennheiser.

I hated the MTW3. v-shaped, hated the boosted treble. At that level of treble, unlistenable and likely cause hearing damage. similarly, the full-sized momentum has v-shape as well, but I can tolerate the treble, but I still hate the treble quality. Bass is too boosted and hammering.

 

[bladefd]

I bought a set of Sennheiser CX400BT and returned them within a day. Without equalization, the sound was terrible. It was muddy, murky, uncrisp, unclear and not even approaching any kind of transparency. They made me ashamed of Sennheiser.

Tonight I read a review of the Lypertek SoundFree S20 on Trusted Reviews and was going to purchase a set because of the stellar review saying they have "impressive sound" and rating them 4.5 stars. But as I scrolled the list of headphone reviews I came across the Sennheiser CX400BT review. They said they have "excellent sound quality" and I immediately backed away from buying the Lypertek because if Trusted Reviews think the Sennheiser CX400BT have "excellent" sound, it means the Lypertek sound even worse than the Sennheiser.

I felt the exact opposite of the cx400bt sound. I tried them for a month and felt they had great sound. You sure you had good isolation and tried a variety of music? They were very uncomfortable though so I returned them

 

[Caipirina]

Seeing how it is only 10h 16min until 1:00 JST
What do we think (or people in the know, well, know) when the review videos are allowed to hit the net?
Talking about the XM4 in case that wasn't clear

I really need to know if the ANC is better than the Bose's

 

[Gromu]

This reviewer seems to be posting at 15 minutes later so I guess immediately after?

 

[webvan]

" I really need to know if the ANC is better than the Bose's "
There are a few aspects to this, rarely discussed here unfortunately, I've tried a few times though To me (and likely others) what matters is overall isolation * and ANC only plays a part in that. I've found that to achieve the best possible overall isolation you need the best passive isolation to start with and only then will ANC take it to the next step. That's mainly because passive will deal with medium and higher pitched sounds and ANC with lower pitched sounds. That means that you can achieve the best possible isolation even with a "non-wow" ANC like on the Amazon Echo Buds, THE best TWS for overall isolation in my 3+ year TWS experience (not to mention all the time spent with wired IEMs). The MTW2s are pretty close as well as the XM3s (when you ram them in your ear canals so they hold).
On the other hand you have TWSs with a " Wow ANC" like the APPs or the Bose but since they lack proper passive isolation the overall isolation is markedly lower, most people seem to prefer to be "wowed" though and I wouldn't be surprised if the XM4s followed that "less pressure" trend too, like the Amazon EchoBuds2 recently for poor overall isolation as measured by rtings.com.

* I suppose the exception to this would be to use TWS in a cubicle environment where you'd use ANC to reduce the background noise and still hear people coming around to talk to you.

 

[Caipirina]

" I really need to know if the ANC is better than the Bose's "
There are a few aspects to this, rarely discussed here unfortunately, I've tried a few times though To me (and likely others) what matters is overall isolation * and ANC only plays a part in that. I've found that to achieve the best possible overall isolation you need the best passive isolation to start with and only then will ANC take it to the next step. That's mainly because passive will deal with medium and higher pitched sounds and ANC with lower pitched sounds. That means that you can achieve the best possible isolation even with a "non-wow" ANC like on the Amazon Echo Buds, THE best TWS for overall isolation in my 3+ year TWS experience (not to mention all the time spent with wired IEMs). The MTW2s are pretty close as well as the XM3s (when you ram them in your ear canals so they hold).
On the other hand you have TWSs with a " Wow ANC" like the APPs or the Bose but since they lack proper passive isolation the overall isolation is markedly lower, most people seem to prefer to be "wowed" though and I wouldn't be surprised if the XM4s followed that "less pressure" trend too, like the Amazon EchoBuds2 recently for poor overall isolation as measured by rtings.com.

* I suppose the exception to this would be to use TWS in a cubicle environment where you'd use ANC to reduce the background noise and still hear people coming around to talk to you.

I remember you making this well detailed argument before and I very much agree. For me it's the Buds live, that everyone seems to hate, but I tend to get a great passive seal and really enjoy the noise reduction.
It's also important to keep in mind that ANC does affect different ranges. Most do well with low rumbles like airplanes, trains, busses ... but getting rid of the casual sounds is the elusive holy grail ... I kid you not on my last flight with APP in, everything was so toned down that I was able to follow a conversation that happened on the other side of the plane ...
I also think that this advertizing of how many dB reduction the buds can do is really just marketing (and from what I understand, Bose refrains from that practice)

That being said ... I have been very positively impressed by the semi open experiences I had with ANC (Bose QC20 wired, Bose QC Earbuds, APP and even the Jabra 85t) ... so .. I am just really curious if / what the XM4 might bring new to the table ... jamming in the buds for max passive isolation brings then back the runner's thud ...

Which reminds, me, I think it was you saying the Bose QC earbuds are to heavy for running, or 'who would want to run with those' .. something like that ... anyways .. I actually started using them for running and they pretty much fulfill my 'dream' I voiced here many years ago: Bose SSF with ANC ... there;s still a light thud, nothing beats the X12 in that regard ...

Anyways .. while I am still waiting to get the Amazon Echos from across town ... I might actually have a chance of getting the XM4 by early August .. yeah me ... if not, then September ...

 

[webvan]

"I kid you not on my last flight with APP in, everything was so toned down that I was able to follow a conversation that happened on the other side of the plane ..."
Yeah, so that would be great for "cubicle use", but to be isolated and immersed in your music? Not so much IMHO

Thanks for reminding me of the wired QC20, very impressive ANC too, zero passive isolation so same "issue" at the end of the day. Why settle for less isolation if you don't have to thanks to TWS like the Echo Buds 1 or the MTW2s ? The Panasonic (and Technics) are pretty good too but the form factor (smaller but deeper, like the Echo Buds 2) didn't work for my larger ears.

I guess these companies are looking for new selling angles and marketing studies must have shown that people will reach to their wallet when they're told that earbuds have "less pressure" and Apple was pointing out left and right (with "influencers" only too happy to peddle the story) that they had "vents" to avoid "pressure". I suppose some people really feel claustrophobic with tightly sealing earbuds, but come on, we're not talking Etymotic or Klipsch S4 deep insertion anymore...The "vents" will only go so far anyway, the "thud" is still going to be present when you run with them, I tried and didn't like it a bit. Now I run in quiet environments where I have zero use for ANC (besides ANC mics pick up wind noise "by design") so earbuds with zero thud are my priority

 

[Caipirina]

Thanks for reminding me of the wired QC20, very impressive ANC too, zero passive isolation so same "issue" at the end of the day. Why settle for less isolation if you don't have to thanks to TWS like the Echo Buds 1 or the MTW2s ? The Panasonic (and Technics) are pretty good too but the form factor (smaller but deeper, like the Echo Buds 2) didn't work for my larger ears.

Now you remind me again of the MTW2s ... think I'd like them? Not for running i mean it feels like something I 'should' have and it is available locally, but silly price at 350$ ... I watched so many videos / read reviews and I am still kinda 'meh' ...

 

[DigDub]

Time to dust off those mmcx buds.

Compared to the first version, the utws3 is more comfortable as the loop is more pliable. The charging case is certainly a welcome feature compared to the messy wired charging of the first version.

 

[BLUDGEON]

Now you remind me again of the MTW2s ... think I'd like them? Not for running i mean it feels like something I 'should' have and it is available locally, but silly price at 350$ ... I watched so many videos / read reviews and I am still kinda 'meh' ...

What stopped me from buying them was only being able use the right earbud on its own. My $30 Xiaomi buds can do either/both, pretty ridiculous that something ten times the price has that kind of limitation.

 

[Luke Skywalker]

I wouldn’t pay $5 for a pair of Sony XM4s. I have the XM3 and hate them

 

[Luke Skywalker]

Time to dust off those mmcx buds.

Compared to the first version, the utws3 is more comfortable as the loop is more pliable. The charging case is certainly a welcome feature compared to the messy wired charging of the first version.

Wow nice! What kind of IEMs are those? How does the Fiio compare to the iBasso?