[stormwrx]

I'm enjoying the Devialet Gemini sound - but an annoying issue has cropped up. It seems that every few seconds to minutes the touch-panel on one of the buds is being triggered pausing or unpausing music at random intervals. At first I thought it was my hair or something affecting source app but after removing those variables it seems the TWS itself may be somehow triggering the touch zone internally (perhaps moisture, it is humid here right now). It seems to be the right bud which also is 20% lower battery than the L.... I've tried an initial go at re-setting, but thus far no success - the issue is still happening. If anyone else has experienced this or has a good tip please let me know! I did turn off the "auto-pause when an earbud is removed" option just in case. Thanks!

Sounds like a hardware glitch. I received the Geminis over the weekend and they have been flawless so far (full review forthcoming).

 

[miserybeforethemusic]

EQ-wise, here's where I am with the 85t. It's subtle, but brings a little more life back into the mix while staying compatible with most genres.

 

[TK33]

It's not your ears; it's the 85t's default tuning. Very boring. I gave it a little bit of a facelift with EQ, but they'll never be on the same SQ level as some of the other stuff out there.

Fit-wise, they're a bit bizarre since you don't have that feedback of pressure building up in your ear to tell you that it's been done right. They're nowhere near as deep as a set of IEMs, either, which is probably also throwing you off. Definitely not a pair for everybody (much like the Earin A-3, it seems), but they do the job well enough.

I was actually tempted to pick one up while walking past a Best Buy last weekend as the bizarre fit you describe seemed perfect for calls. My Galaxy Buds Live (currently back at Samsung for warranty repair) have not been working with Windows 10 the last week (they used to be perfect but now only get 2-3% volume on Windows so no one can hear me, although they are still fantastic when using the phone). The seal on the PI7, which is what I am using while I wait for my Galaxy Buds Live to come back, is a bit too good and makes long calls where I have to talk a lot uncomfortable for me.

The only reason I didnt get the 85t was because the left bud cannot be used independently of the right side. With the Galaxy Buds Live, I could switch seamlessly between ears during calls when I wanted to give one side a break. Since the pandemic/working from home started, I started developing pain in my right ear from having earbuds in my ear for 4-5 hours / day for just calls (add another few hours for music). Never would have thought call quality and independent earbud usage would have become top features for me.

 

[miserybeforethemusic]

The only reason I didnt get the 85t was because the left bud cannot be used independently of the right side.

Yes! That's extremely frustrating, especially on long meeting days where hot-swapping buds would be perfect. It's the one thing keeping the Live in contention for me at the moment.

Since the pandemic/working from home started, I started developing pain in my right ear from having earbuds in my ear for 4-5 hours / day for just calls (add another few hours for music). Never would have thought call quality and independent earbud usage would have become top features for me.

You might be a good WH3 candidate, then. I know you already have the beans, but this could be a good alternative if you want something with more of a seal that doesn't make your ears claustrophobic. Those with the Azla Crystal tips had the most natural VoIP call sound on my end and everybody heard me plenty well on theirs. The buds are hot-swappable and I think the mic being at the end of the stem helps as long as you're clean-shaven. I'm not and, if I'm not careful, will get ridiculous microphonics from my beard.

And you raise a good point. Regular hygiene is important, both for your ears and for your TWS, especially to stave off any risk of ear pain. Sometimes it's just soreness from the small bones inside your ear being pushed out from deep-insertion tips, but it could also be from things like trapped humidity, impacted cerumen (fancy term for your ear canal being plugged with wax), excess sweat, irritation from the tips sliding in/out, etc. I find that rinsing my ears out under the shower daily and cleaning the tips at least once a week really helps keep that under control. Additionally, though I don't know many that would be this strict about their regimen, but you could always swab your ears before and after using a set of buds...every time. Nothing there means nothing can get picked up, pushed in, or swirled around.

Q-tips are cheap; appointments at the audiologist are less so. Protect your ears.

 

[TK33]

Yes! That's extremely frustrating, especially on long meeting days where hot-swapping buds would be perfect. It's the one thing keeping the Live in contention for me at the moment.

You might be a good WH3 candidate, then. I know you already have the beans, but this could be a good alternative if you want something with more of a seal that doesn't make your ears claustrophobic. Those with the Azla Crystal tips had the most natural VoIP call sound on my end and everybody heard me plenty well on theirs. The buds are hot-swappable and I think the mic being at the end of the stem helps as long as you're clean-shaven. I'm not and, if I'm not careful, will get ridiculous microphonics from my beard.

And you raise a good point. Regular hygiene is important, both for your ears and for your TWS, especially to stave off any risk of ear pain. Sometimes it's just soreness from the small bones inside your ear being pushed out from deep-insertion tips, but it could also be from things like trapped humidity, impacted cerumen (fancy term for your ear canal being plugged with wax), excess sweat, irritation from the tips sliding in/out, etc. I find that rinsing my ears out under the shower daily and cleaning the tips at least once a week really helps keep that under control. Additionally, though I don't know many that would be this strict about their regimen, but you could always swab your ears before and after using a set of buds...every time. Nothing there means nothing can get picked up, pushed in, or swirled around.

Q-tips are cheap; appointments at the audiologist are less so. Protect your ears.

Thanks. May need to think about the WH3. I just cant get over earbuds with stems for some reason.

 

[miserybeforethemusic]

Thanks. May need to think about the WH3. I just cant get over earbuds with stems for some reason.

Maybe you're concerned about something touching the side of your face? Much like regular earbuds (not IEMs), I can angle them a little bit outward so the stems don't make contact with anywhere in particular.

It's funny; I'm on the other side of the fence, convincing myself that I don't need the beans. There's too many mid-fi sets of IEMs that I'd rather be saving up for at the moment.

 

[tinyman392]

It's not your ears; it's the 85t's default tuning. Very boring. I gave it a little bit of a facelift with EQ, but they'll never be on the same SQ level as some of the other stuff out there.

Fit-wise, they're a bit bizarre since you don't have that feedback of pressure building up in your ear to tell you that it's been done right. They're nowhere near as deep as a set of IEMs, either, which is probably also throwing you off. Definitely not a pair for everybody (much like the Earin A-3, it seems), but they do the job well enough.

I didn't find the default tuning too bad on the Jabra 85t. The EQ I have setup for it is a relatively simple bass shelf to control it a bit more. Granted pushing the upper mids and treble a bit does add a bit of clarity to it which is nice.

 

[TK33]

Maybe you're concerned about something touching the side of your face? Much like regular earbuds (not IEMs), I can angle them a little bit outward so the stems don't make contact with anywhere in particular.

It's funny; I'm on the other side of the fence, convincing myself that I don't need the beans. There's too many mid-fi sets of IEMs that I'd rather be saving up for at the moment.

Yes that and I am also convincing myself that I dont need another one and to suck it up since WFH may end in a few months. May just deal with it and use the Zoom dialin feature instead of VOIP with the beans as I used to do when they are back with me. Also dont see WH3 in stock anywhere but good to know there are some other swappable buds out there.

 

[miserybeforethemusic]

Yes that and I am also convincing myself that I dont need another one and to suck it up since WFH may end in a few months. May just deal with it and use the Zoom dialin feature instead of VOIP with the beans as I used to do when they are back with me. Also dont see WH3 in stock anywhere but good to know there are some other swappable buds out there.

I honestly prefer that way, though some of our projects have transitioned to Teams and require special credentials that I can't reach by phone. Have had my home internet drop out in the middle of calls more than once, so it's the only way I've managed to be able to at least stay connected to audio. I can still log in on the computer for video.

You'd think Jabra would have managed to figure out hot-swappable buds by now, especially since they've shown they can retrofit ANC onto a pair that wasn't sold with it. Here's to hoping they can add a whole lot to the next product line. Would love to see high-bitrate codec support, independent use of left and right buds, and a bit of a tuning refresh.

I didn't find the default tuning too bad on the Jabra 85t. The EQ I have setup for it is a relatively simple bass shelf to control it a bit more. Granted pushing the upper mids and treble a bit does add a bit of clarity to it which is nice.

Setting up a shelf is pretty smart, given how limited the EQ is. Do you run that on top of the MySound profile?

 

[tinyman392]

Setting up a shelf is pretty smart, given how limited the EQ is. Do you run that on top of the MySound profile?

I felt the 85t already had enough pinna gain, so I didn't push that much further; but I do see the want to push it a little more. I just found the bass a little high for my liking. I disabled MySound.

 

[Bhelpoori]

Jabra Elite 85t - First Impressions!

I've just had a couple of hours with my new Jabra Elite 85t wireless IEMs and and here are some first impressions in case these are on anyone else's TWS shortlist.

Packaging
Very good, fuss-free packaging. Mostly recyclable cardboard too, if you're a 'greenie' (which I am). It's typical IEM packaging and just contains the minimum that you need.

Initial Setup
Charged the case using a USB-C cable (which is also included). I could have used wireless charging too as the case supports Qi charging. The charge status LED on the front of the case is simple to understand. They were supplied almost fully charged so charging to full charge for both the case and the earbuds took just a few minutes. Whilst I was charging them I installed the Jabra Sound+ iOS app on my iPhone 12 Mini. Once charged, I took out the earbuds and put them into my ears using the stock Medium tips which were preinstalled - you get one pair of Small and one pair of Large eartips in the box. Initial feel was they weren't quite pushed into my ear properly, but actually were!

As this was a first-time use, the voice prompts from the earbuds guided me to run the app and begin the setup. The Jabra Sound+ app is pretty decent. It's been designed quite well and is fairly intuitive to use. It takes you through the steps you need to get up and running quickly. The app updated the firmware in the 85t earbuds as part of the initial setup process. Updating the firmware did take quite a while: something like 13 minutes. You have to put the earbuds back into the case to get the firmware updated and the case LED flashes purple during the update process.

One of the tasks included in the app is the MyFit test - this tests if your earbuds are fitted properly in your ears. My right one wasn't so I adjusted it and re-ran the test. The advice the test provides is to adjust the earbud or use another sized eartip. I changed the tip to the Large size and re-ran the test and this worked. So I have Medium in the left ear and Large in the right ear - this does freak my OCD out where everything must be perfectly symmetrical!

There's also a MySound test in the app. This generates different frequencies at different volumes and you tap an area on the app if you can hear the sound. It does this both for the left and right earbuds and then analyses the results to create a profile for your ears. You can then apply this profile to music if you want to. I will do an A/B test for MySound on/off to see if it makes a difference another time.

There's a lot more in the app which I'll go through in the coming days. But, overall, getting the 85t earbuds personalised for my ears didn't take too long and the process was fairly straightforward thanks to a good app and the ergonomics of the 85t earbuds.

The Fit
With the different sized eartips, the fit is very good. I generally don't like wearing IEMs, yet here I am a few hours into wearing them at home and enjoying them. The tips are quite shallow. This is mostly good as it doesn't feel like I'm wearing earbuds. On the downside, the centre of gravity is further out from your ears so it sometimes feels like they aren't inserted properly so you may end up trying to twist and push them further in until you get used to the sensation.

As the earbuds are vented, there's far less of the feeling of ears being plugged. It's still there, just to a lesser extent. Shaking my head with some vigour doesn't dislodge the 85t earbuds, which is a positive.

Each earbud has a single push button for call and music functions, and is programmable via the Jabra Sound+ app.

Call Quality
This was an important requirement for me. I called my home phone's answering machine and made a 30-second voice test. When I listened to it on my home phone's answering machine I was a little disappointed. The call quality wasn't as good as I had hoped for. It was very 'fuzzy' and loaded with noise. Given it's the Jabra brand, this made it even more disappointing. I'll try some WhatsApp calls to test this out more.

Music Sound Quality
My music source is the Neutron Music App and the TIDAL app, all playing music in lossless CD-quality or better. I have not made any EQ adjustments in my music source app or the Jabra Sound+ app, so these impressions are for a 'flat' sound EQ.

First impressions are of a lovely, mellow sound signature. There's certainly no harshness to it, which means it's very listenable for extended listening sessions. It's a great sound signature for bedtime listening, which is a positive for me.

There is a good amount of airiness and detail in the sound. The mid-bass is slightly pronounced. It doesn't feel like I'm listening to heavily processed music through AAC. The Jabra Elite 85t manage to do a good of keeping my music sounding musical, which is extremely important to me, The is plenty of volume available - I'm listening at 50% and it's just at the point of being a little too loud in my current quiet environment. I'll need to bump up the volume when walking outdoors but there's plenty available.

My reference for music sound quality is my Beyerdynamic Xelento IEMs and those are clearly superior for music quality in terms of clarity and depth. However, for casual listening, the 85t earbuds are 'good' - if I was marking them out of 10 where the Xelentos were a 10, I'd give the 85t a 7 out of 10. When I'm walking outside there's a ton of noise around me so that equalises things a bit more, with the added convenience of not having a wire in the way.

Keep or Return?
I haven't bothered with the EQ, ANC or any of the other fancy features of the Jabra 85t earbuds yet, those are still on my To-Do list. For the price I paid, the ease of use, ergonomics and 'good enough' music sound quality, these do tick a sufficient number of boxes for me, although I don't have any other TWS earbuds to compare them directly to. The phone call quality, or lack of it, is something I need to explore over time as there may be options to improve it. Soooooooooo...

Answer: Keep!

All of the above are my personal opinions. YMMV.

[Edit] Just had my first long phone call using the 85t earbuds via Facetime Audio, and the incoming audio was crystal clear and when I asked the caller how my audio was he said it was very clear. That's a big relief to me!

I use the 85ts for lots of calls and this doesn’t match the performance of mine which are good on calls, certainly not fuzzy and noisy…

 

[miserybeforethemusic]

I use the 85ts for lots of calls and this doesn’t match the performance of mine which are good on calls, certainly not fuzzy and noisy…

I can emulate the same effect on mine; largely depends on the connection and the caller, but I don't find dialogue on the 85t to be very articulate. Ironic, considering Jabra's pedigree is in the VoIP/conference call space, but I think their DSP is overcompensating a bit trying to make callers' voices seem smoother than they are and it results in a bit of grain. Maybe it's possible that's what he's they're hearing?

 

[Taz777]

I use the 85ts for lots of calls and this doesn’t match the performance of mine which are good on calls, certainly not fuzzy and noisy…

I updated my post a short while ago. I received a call later this afternoon and the sound quality was very good both ways! There must have been another issue calling my answering machine.

 

[100Pipers]

I'm enjoying the Devialet Gemini sound - but an annoying issue has cropped up. It seems that every few seconds to minutes the touch-panel on one of the buds is being triggered pausing or unpausing music at random intervals. At first I thought it was my hair or something affecting source app but after removing those variables it seems the TWS itself may be somehow triggering the touch zone internally (perhaps moisture, it is humid here right now). It seems to be the right bud which also is 20% lower battery than the L....

I've tried an initial go at re-setting, but thus far no success - the issue is still happening. If anyone else has experienced this or has a good tip please let me know!

I did turn off the "auto-pause when an earbud is removed" option just in case.

Thanks!

Not experienced the touch panel glitch, but when using them earlier today, battery started at left 97 percent and right 57 percent, 15 mins later right side was dead and left still at 92 percent. I shall fully charge and hope for the best.

 

[Bhelpoori]

I can emulate the same effect on mine; largely depends on the connection and the caller, but I don't find dialogue on the 85t to be very articulate. Ironic, considering Jabra's pedigree is in the VoIP/conference call space, but I think their DSP is overcompensating a bit trying to make callers' voices seem smoother than they are and it results in a bit of grain. Maybe it's possible that's what he's they're hearing?

Is this through a VoIP app or a standard phone call (two different Bluetooth protocols and potentially codecs…???