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

[erockg]

Sitting here judging these new Noble Fokus Pro. First impressions. WOW. I mean, these things fit perfect, like molded IEMs in my ears. SOOOO much better than the Falcon Pro. Case is made of metal and plastic. Sound... yeah, exactly what I expected. Soundstage is wide, full. Instrument separation is there. Out of the box they sound great, but I do love to slap on a little EQ. Bring up the low end a bit so my head can rattle. I'm a Harman curve guy. Still messing around. Touch panels work great. No honeymoon yet, just a lot of thinking and analyzing. These buds have no frills. Just play, pause, skip and vol control. No wireless charging, no auto pause. You're paying for the tri-drivers et al. Not really sure what else to comment about yet until I keep playing.

The Wizards magic is blowing my mind, hypnotized for the moment listening to this:

I hope his magic doesn't wear off.

 

[Canabuc]

So interesting experiment today with my AZ60.
LDAC is a temperamental thing and to rely get the best implementation of it is tricky.
Test song:

https://music.amazon.ca/albums/B09KK3LGKB?trackAsin=B09KK64XTV&ref=dm_sh_534LTuT3vblcmcQGekHEZS8Er
So LDAC at 990kbs you hear a power in her voice in the treble region that is incredible. At same time you hear the gentle cymbals.
At 660kbs our sounds very good but a bit of that top end is just enough less to notice a difference when doing an A/B though most would be very satisfied with either.
In AAC, still sound very nice but you feel that the high end extension isn't there as it a layer of height to the song is not there.

Now granted this is with ultra HD source on Amazon.

The tricky part with LDAC at least in my Shaun phone is that you need developer seeing enabled.
It defaults to best effort. This usually is in the 400s range from what I've read.
You can manually select a higher audio quality setting but it doesn't actually change it. You also have to toggle something else such as the bit rate or change away from LDAC and back for the phone to actually now stream at the higher setting.

Then you can hear the difference. Unfortunately if I choose 990, I need to have my phone screen off. If not it is a stuttering mess. At 660 I can use my phone and generally fine.

Bad news none of these settings in developer settings stick after a reboot or next connection with the buds.

If anyone knows of an easier way it work adding please let me know.

 

[dweaver]

hmmmm I did not know I needed to change another setting to get the highest setting to actually work with LDAC. Let me do some playing...

 

[Canabuc]

hmmmm I did not know I needed to change another setting to get the highest setting to actually work with LDAC. Let me do some playing...

What phone to you have? Do you have developer mode enabled in settings?

 

[jant71]

LDAC is finicky bitch. Hopefully aptX lossless will be a nice girl.

 

[Canabuc]

LDAC is finicky bitch. Hopefully aptX lossless will be a nice girl.

Yes but not sure if it is the Samsung phone. Sound is incredible though. Aptx lossless will be marketer in 2 years I figure

 

[dweaver]

What phone to you have? Do you have developer mode enabled in settings?

I have a Samsung S20 5G and have developer mode enabled.

 

[Canabuc]

I have a Samsung S20 5G and have developer mode enabled.

Ok so what you need to do is go into developer settings go to where LDAC is and change to a higher quality (990 might be stuttery if you intend to use your phone during music listening so try 660 in that scenario).

That selection alone won't actually give you 990. You then need to switch another swing for example switch from 32 to 24 bit and back. That will do the trick for they listening session and enjoy hi res wireless audio.

By the way do you have a hi res source?

 

[dweaver]

I have lots of FLAC files for music plus I can access amazon hires as well. Lots of my FLACS are ripped though so in reality no better than CD quality. But a few hi-res from HDTRacks and other sources.

 

[Canabuc]

Amazon I think it's best deal for hi res audio streaming especially if you already have prime.

 

[dweaver]

HOLY CR@P!!!! I don't think I have EVER EVER EVER actually used LDAC fully, no damn wonder I have been unimpressed!

OK, using your instructions I tried 990 and it was a stuttering unusable mess. Will try with my 2 full size LDAC headphones later.

I then switched to 660 and that worked and DEFINITELY sounded better than the default LDAC settings. I used an Ultra HD Enya tune from Amazon. I then switched to one of my Patricia Barber Smash FLAC files and when I looked at the file details saw it was 24bit 96hz so set LDAC to those values and it sounded way more detailed. Tried it at 990 and same stuttering mess, so think 990 is just to high for TWS which does not surprise me at all.

I almost guarantee you most reviews of products have not been properly tested because of the way LDAC is implemented and the reviewer simply not knowing all this techy BS.

I am personally happy to know it now though. It will interesting to see if this impacts battery life even more though.

 

[Canabuc]

HOLY CR@P!!!! I don't think I have EVER EVER EVER actually used LDAC fully, no damn wonder I have been unimpressed!

OK, using your instructions I tried 990 and it was a stuttering unusable mess. Will try with my 2 full size LDAC headphones later.

I then switched to 660 and that worked and DEFINITELY sounded better than the default LDAC settings. I used an Ultra HD Enya tune from Amazon. I then switched to one of my Patricia Barber Smash FLAC files and when I looked at the file details saw it was 24bit 96hz so set LDAC to those values and it sounded way more detailed. Tried it at 990 and same stuttering mess, so think 990 is just to high for TWS which does not surprise me at all.

I almost guarantee you most reviews of products have not been properly tested because of the way LDAC is implemented and the reviewer simply not knowing all this techy BS.

I am personally happy to know it now though. It will interesting to see if this impacts battery life even more though.

990 is a stuttery mess unless you close your phone screen and just let it play music.
When I do that it sounds great!
660 is better than best effort but at least can use phone while listening.
Thinking this is a Samsung issue.

 

[BooleanBones]

I think I am going to need to spend some time on LDAC this weekend. Initially listening on AAC tracks between my XM4s and the AZ60s, it just seems like the XM4s have more range (and juice). The AZs do sound purdy for sure.

 

[TK33]

990 is a stuttery mess unless you close your phone screen and just let it play music.
When I do that it sounds great!
660 is better than best effort but at least can use phone while listening.
Thinking this is a Samsung issue.

My Samsung phones (and tablet) were always like this as well. Pixel 6 has the same issue for me, although aptX HD on my Pixel 6 has been flawless with my PI7s so I don't mind (PI7s are terrible using aptX adaptive on the LG V60 though). On the other hand, no issues with the LG V60 and OnePlus 8t for me when using LDAC. Both phones will go up to LDAC 990 on their own without having to go into the Developer Options menu or do any of the "techy" stuff. Implementation still seems very inconsistent across devices.

 

[dweaver]

My Samsung phones (and tablet) were always like this as well. Pixel 6 has the same issue for me, although aptX HD on my Pixel 6 has been flawless with my PI7s so I don't mind (PI7s are terrible using aptX adaptive on the LG V60 though). On the other hand, no issues with the LG V60 and OnePlus 8t for me when using LDAC. Both phones will go up to LDAC 990 on their own without having to go into the Developer Options menu or do any of the "techy" stuff. Implementation still seems very inconsistent across devices.

Might have to dig out my LG phone, it is a V model, just not sure which one, it has LDAC though. Will try the 990 again later tonight.