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

[scubaphish]

Anyone who still has their Devialet Gemini, did they ever release that firmware update to fix the battery drain? Guessing no.

Nope, not yet…still about 4-4.5 hours of use

 

[Ceeluh7]

Just got my leyding cable and arias. Surprised me cause the tracking never updated. They only took 12 days and 16 days to come but felt like forever.

The arias within less than a second I knew was what I was looking for tonally. They're my fav's by a decent margin right now for tonality. Surprisingly, second place is the leas. The timeless are great technically, but something about them feels unnatural with the way the sounds mesh together. It could be that I'm just not into planar, which wouldn't be that surprising. I tend to like a closed off suffocated sound. I'm not really into open back headphones or grados.

The con of the arias is the treble can be what I'd call shouty. I'm not sure if I'm using the correct term others would use to describe what I'm hearing. I can't really eq it out without killing the sound, but I'm nitpicking and critiquing these ignoring the price. I'd imagine the blessing 2's and variations would have more natural mids and treble, but they make you pay for it. When you consider the price of the arias, they're insanely good and everyone should buy them. I feel like they've gotten lost in the hype of the timeless and others on here.

The leyding cable I got is 'HiFiGo Kinera Leyding 5N OFC Alloy Copper 8 Core Silver-Plated Hybrid Cable'. It's pricey at 70, but giz approved. It helps the bass on the timeless with 2.5mm connector. I was worried about it being worse than the stock 3.5mm cable I got with the timeless, which must be pretty good because I hated the 2.5mm tripowin zonie 16 spc I tried.

I'll have to mix and match more cables with all the iem's I've gotten recently. Hopefully the zonie 16's sound good with something because I got two, mmcx and 2 pin.

[edit] Tried the second zone 16 cable I got with the arias. Holy sh#@ they're way better. More and tighter bass, and the mids and highs are more pleasing to the hear. Either quality control since it's a diff cable, or these just happen to sound great with the aria and not the timeless. This is way better than they leyding cable, though. Ugh, this hobby! I'll try the utws3's in a bit.

So the Arias are just mini Katos... They are all tuned to a degree the same. BTW i love the Aria too. Another set which is Harman tuned as well and is a direct competitor to the Aria is the Tin Hifi T3+.... Tonally very similar but with a bit more liveliness. Also, I agree about the cable. I personally did not like the Aria cable and have used a Kbear 16 core spc balanced cable I got from Amazon for.... Maybe $20. It's basically just like the Zonie cable. It's
All about synergy, not everything sounds good with everything else, cables included, dac/amps included, adapters, bt devices... They have to pair well. I am going to throw the Zonie cable on in a bit, who knows maybe it'll work a bit better than the kbear. Thanks man

 

[erockg]

Nope, not yet…still about 4-4.5 hours of use

Blah, I kinda figured. I have a Best Buy gift card burning a hole in my pocket and considered taking another shot. Oh well.

 

[scubaphish]

Blah, I kinda figured. I have a Best Buy gift card burning a hole in my pocket and considered taking another shot. Oh well.

They sound so good (to me). There’s air between the instruments. Still worth the trade off for me.but I understand your hesitation completely

 

[guitarizt]

So the Arias are just mini Katos... They are all tuned to a degree the same. BTW i love the Aria too. Another set which is Harman tuned as well and is a direct competitor to the Aria is the Tin Hifi T3+.... Tonally very similar but with a bit more liveliness. Also, I agree about the cable. I personally did not like the Aria cable and have used a Kbear 16 core spc balanced cable I got from Amazon for.... Maybe $20. It's basically just like the Zonie cable. It's
All about synergy, not everything sounds good with everything else, cables included, dac/amps included, adapters, bt devices... They have to pair well. I am going to throw the Zonie cable on in a bit, who knows maybe it'll work a bit better than the kbear. Thanks man

Thx, I've seen the t3+ name thrown around. I'll note it.

Yeah, I just updated my original post. I'm not a fan of the cable the aria comes with. Upgrading for $20 to a balanced zonie 16 gets the aria into another tier imo.

I am really shocked by the aria. It far surpassed my expectations. Not even really craving the blessing 2 or the variations. Also still think the leas are great regardless of price, and then you see the price and they're just must buys imo.

 

[Phaethon]

Nope, not yet…still about 4-4.5 hours of use

That was the death of them for me. Tried them twice - returned them twice.

 

[Ceeluh7]

Thx, I've seen the t3+ name thrown around. I'll note it.

Yeah, I just updated my original post. I'm not a fan of the cable the aria comes with. Upgrading for $20 to a balanced zonie 16 gets the aria into another tier imo.

I am really shocked by the aria. It far surpassed my expectations. Not even really craving the blessing 2 or the variations. Also still think the leas are great regardless of price, and then you see the price and they're just must buys imo.

Aria is a set everyone should at least try... It punches way above its price. In that 50 - 100 range it is a top 5 in seemingly everyone's list. I'm glad you like it, nothing better than making a satisfied purchase. As with every price tier there are others which compete well against the Aria but there is something special about that set. I feel the same about the T3+ which is a hair cheaper. To be honest the Iems like the Kato is an upgrade across the board but truthfully it isn't monumental, it's incremental and it carries the same tonality. Another to try which is legend status is the Moondrop Starfield which again, same tonality, a bit better imaging but $25 bucks more. Aria is a great buy man and I'm happy you made it.

 

[erockg]

Aria is a set everyone should at least try... It punches way above its price. In that 50 - 100 range it is a top 5 in seemingly everyone's list. I'm glad you like it, nothing better than making a satisfied purchase. As with every price tier there are others which compete well against the Aria but there is something special about that set. I feel the same about the T3+ which is a hair cheaper. To be honest the Iems like the Kato is an upgrade across the board but truthfully it isn't monumental, it's incremental and it carries the same tonality. Another to try which is legend status is the Moondrop Starfield which again, same tonality, a bit better imaging but $25 bucks more. Aria is a great buy man and I'm happy you made it.

For the price, the Starfield are really great. Great full sound. I loved them.

 

[Xinlisupreme]

I thought the same as you and then read great things. The build is so very nice and the sound really is great. Sure, I get it, it's s ton of $$, but I can't think of a bud I've tried recently that crushes them. Yet. The mold of the buds is just killer. I have to hand it to Noble, they did a really great job and I've forgotten about ANC and Transparency/Ambient on these. If I want the latter, I'll pop in my Marshall buds, Shure TW2 or well... yeah, I sold off most of the others. The problem I'm having now is when I stop listening to my IEMs on an adapter or the Noble, I'm disappointed by the sound of other TWS. Not a bad problem to have but you know.

All the above said, if we all ask, maybe they'll listen and do that ambient upgrade sooner than later.

Did you compare ZE3000 with Fokus Pro?

 

[Bobbetybob]

Quick question, if I may.

I have a friend who wants the best bang for his £50 first pair of tws. What's the latest recommendations please?

I have the Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro myself, which I'm very happy with. I originally suggested the old version (pre LDAC) Liberty 2 pro as at one point they were discounted right down to just about £50. Unfortunately, I can't find that price again now, so anything else out there to compare?

He wants them to use whilst skating. He's been very happy with Beats headphones before, so put him down as a bass head that doesn't over analyse things. Mostly listens to drum and bass.

Don't think he's bothered too much about ANC or call quality, but if ANC has filtered down to the £50 price point, then all the better... Probably.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Sounds like the Earfun Free Pro 2 would be right up his alley, good sound with chunky bass, some of the comfiest TWS in my opinion and great for sports because they've got wingtips so they have a secure fit. They do have ANC but it only seems to block very low sounds so it's not great, they also have a pass through mode which might be more useful when skating.

The price on Amazon is £70 but they seem to always have a £20 voucher available.

 

[erockg]

Did you compare ZE3000 with Fokus Pro?

I definitely prefer the Fokus more. I sold off the ZE3000. I was a little disappointed by them. Sound was great, but that was it. Fokus are just gorgeous in comparison. Fit, finish, soundstage, app. Supposedly, there is an app coming for the Finals, but it was MIA when I had them even though they advertised it on the box . The sound clarity, instrument separation and stage was great on the ZE, but I prefer the Fokus. Also, the fit, blah. The sharp edges on the ZE3000 didn't agree with my ears.

 

[scubaphish]

Blah, I kinda figured. I have a Best Buy gift card burning a hole in my pocket and considered taking another shot. Oh well.

I’d love for you to do it, if for no other (selfish) reason than to hear your thoughts in comparison to Fokus just on sound.

 

[jant71]

Blah, I kinda figured. I have a Best Buy gift card burning a hole in my pocket and considered taking another shot. Oh well.

They carry JVC and figure they would be getting the FW1000T in. Maybe that is a possible route.

 

[Ceeluh7]

I definitely prefer the Fokus more. I sold off the ZE3000. I was a little disappointed by them. Sound was great, but that was it. Fokus are just gorgeous in comparison. Fit, finish, soundstage, app. Supposedly, there is an app coming for the Finals, but it was MIA when I had them even though they advertised it on the box . The sound clarity, instrument separation and stage was great on the ZE, but I prefer the Fokus. Also, the fit, blah. The sharp edges on the ZE3000 didn't agree with my ears.

Hey man, how was the low end on the ze3000? Also, was it a very warm sounding set? Just wondering if it carries that final audio tonality. I'm still thinking of picking a pair up.... Maybe

 

[mtl171]

The comfobuds are just ok. For me the NC is below the Soundcore Liberty Air Pro, and those below the Gemini. To make matters worse, they do not default to noise canceling and for some reason, the touch controls do not always work for me from a non-phone device.

Thanks for the tip. Lack of touch controls is definitely a bit concerning. Shame the noise canceling doesn’t work too well irl.