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

[dmphile]

That's funny, I didn't even notice that! Guess they cut a few corners with the translator. I was worried they weren't the Ikko OH10 but they are. And man, the soundstage and bass on these suckers rocks.

I'm still waiting for my OH10s to arrive so I can pair them with the UTWS5. The more I'm reading about them and others experience, the more excited I get!

 

[dmphile]

I'm still waiting for my OH10s to arrive so I can pair them with the UTWS5. The more I'm reading about them and others experience, the more excited I get!

Guys - I need to put my son to sleep first but I am jacked!

 

[dj24]

I've had those XM4 2x and I do love them. I grabbed the Jabra Elite 7 Pro again yesterday because the 2.0 firmware added multipoint and "supposedly" better sound & ANC. We shall see!

Eagerly awaiting your thoughts on the Elite 7 pro...If I'm not mistaken you were not enamored with their sound the first time around compared to the 7 Active so I'm wondering if they've tweaked the sound as well with this latest update. I'm also not sure if the Pros are IPX7 just like the Actives since there's a lot of info online with different views on it..

 

[Phaethon]

That's funny, I didn't even notice that! Guess they cut a few corners with the translator. I was worried they weren't the Ikko OH10 but they are. And man, the soundstage and bass on these suckers rocks.

I had the same exact experience! It’s like the “Ikko OH10” were nowhere to be seen on the box when I first looked! The units themselves seemed so big and heavy, but they fit my ears perfectly with stability and seem to have no weight when in the ear. The tuning is spectacular to me and sound absolutely perfect for almost everything. The one music I found it doesn’t care for is Calvin Harris. He produces this famous wall of sound and the OH10s struggle to find separation and resolution. I had no such problem in a wide variety of EDM, but nothing by Calvin Harris worked well for me. Rock, jazz, fusion, and classical all sounded well-defined and exciting otherwise! These on 2 pin converters on Shure TW2s are my every day wireless!

 

[erockg]

Eagerly awaiting your thoughts on the Elite 7 pro...If I'm not mistaken you were not enamored with their sound the first time around compared to the 7 Active so I'm wondering if they've tweaked the sound as well with this latest update. I'm also not sure if the Pros are IPX7 just like the Actives since there's a lot of info online with different views on it..

Yeah, I did find that the 7 Active beat the 7 Pro in sound with the bass/sub bass. But now, they seemed have tweaked the firmware and the 7 Active sound much better to me. Also, the ANC seems tweaked. It's eliminating much more than I remember here at home. Multiparing is working flawlessly. I'm able to switch from computer to iPhone easily. Only two devices at a time. From what I'm seeing on the Jabra site, the Active 7 Pro and the Elite 7 Pro both are IPX57 which seems odd, but I'll take it. I haven't used them on any wfh Zoom calls or regular calls yet. That'll come during the week. These are a much better value now, especially with multi-pairing. Really hope all the bug are gone. So far so good.

 

[Ceeluh7]

Guys - I need to put my son to sleep first but I am jacked!

Nice man!

 

[dmphile]

Nice man!

Will share impressions after I do a few hours of listening on my favourite tracks.

 

[erockg]

I had the same exact experience! It’s like the “Ikko OH10” were nowhere to be seen on the box when I first looked! The units themselves seemed so big and heavy, but they fit my ears perfectly with stability and seem to have no weight when in the ear. The tuning is spectacular to me and sound absolutely perfect for almost everything. The one music I found it doesn’t care for is Calvin Harris. He produces this famous wall of sound and the OH10s struggle to find separation and resolution. I had no such problem in a wide variety of EDM, but nothing by Calvin Harris worked well for me. Rock, jazz, fusion, and classical all sounded well-defined and exciting otherwise! These on 2 pin converters on Shure TW2s are my every day wireless!

That's awesome man. Glad I'm not alone and a few of you all on this chain love them. I can't get them to work comfortably with my ears and the TW2 .

 

[clerkpalmer]

If only that was really the case. It is pretty simple really as exposed by https://www.qucox.com/bose-quietcomfort-earbuds-teardown/

Bose use a separate and custom noise cancelling DSP plus Separate CPU. This takes room and needs a larger battery. In addition, they decided on a 9-10mm speaker to get better bass power to cancel the low frequency sounds of e.g. ’plane engines. Take all these together and you get a compromise of better ANC for a larger footprint. Oh, and the QC use a Qualcomm 5127 too…

Nice find. Bose gets crapped on all the time undeservedly. I find their products to be tech forward and solid. Customer service is excellent. Rarely disappointed. They aren’t trying to be Audeze. Anyway, the clearly spent a lot of engineering mojo to create the best ANC tws in the market. It’s crazy how good it is considering the semi open nature of them.

 

[clerkpalmer]

I think the Gemini ANC is pretty great.

True. I have a set of these laying around somewhere.

 

[guitarizt]

Timeless is 198 usd on linsoul.

 

[dmphile]

Ok - been using the OH10s for a few hours now and I think found my end game for now...

Right away, comfort is top notch (better than timeless) to my ears. I don't feel the weight at all, as some others have noted. You definitely feel it picking them up at 16g each but not enough to feel when they're nested properly in your ears.

This sound signature is the closest and reminiscent of the beoplay EQs and if my ears don't deceive me, they are actually better than the EQs in terms of detail and resolution with a similar amount of soundstage, imaging and slightly brighter (non sibilant or harsh) top end. Sooooo good! They are not harsh at all to my ears where the timeless would fatigue my ears quite quickly on certain tracks but man the OH10s handle so many tracks beautifully. Ikko has created something quite special here for the $200 range. I can see myself reaching for these on most nights for a nice and casual listen. The bass (mid and sub) are so well textured and impactful without muddying the mid range and top end as many have already stated through various reviews. Can't wait to run them through the rest of my playlists. UTWS5 does a fantastic job of powering them with no issues.

Thanks @Ceeluh7 for the recco!

 

[guitarizt]

Ok - been using the OH10s for a few hours now and I think found my end game for now...

Right away, comfort is top notch (better than timeless) to my ears. I don't feel the weight at all, as some others have noted. You definitely feel it picking them up at 16g each but not enough to feel when they're nested properly in your ears.

This sound signature is the closest and reminiscent of the beoplay EQs and if my ears don't deceive me, they are actually better than the EQs in terms of detail and resolution with a similar amount of soundstage, imaging and slightly brighter (non sibilant or harsh) top end. Sooooo good! They are not harsh at all to my ears where the timeless would fatigue my ears quite quickly on certain tracks but man the OH10s handle so many tracks beautifully. Ikko has created something quite special here for the $200 range. I can see myself reaching for these on most nights for a nice and casual listen. The bass (mid and sub) are so well textured and impactful without muddying the mid range and top end as many have already stated through various reviews. Can't wait to run them through the rest of my playlists. UTWS5 does a fantastic job of powering them with no issues.

Thanks @Ceeluh7 for the recco!

Oh man I've been eyeing the oh10. DIdn't see where ceeluh7 rec'ed them. I was gonna ask him what he'd recommend next. I just ordered the blon 3 and tanya. I still love the he01. Idk, something about the way it reacts to stuff and the sound sig. Also have my eye on the heart mirror. Just wish it was closer to 40 instead of 60.

The timeless fatigues me as well, and the way everything meshes together feels weird. Looks like the oh10 might be next for me. Maybe fh3 for a bit cheaper. The oh10 starts getting into blessing 2 territory for me.

 

[dmphile]

Oh man I've been eyeing the oh10. DIdn't see where ceeluh7 rec'ed them. I was gonna ask him what he'd recommend next. I just ordered the blon 3 and tanya. I still love the he01. Idk, something about the way it reacts to stuff and the sound sig. Also have my eye on the heart mirror. Just wish it was closer to 40 instead of 60.

The timeless fatigues me as well, and the way everything meshes together feels weird. Looks like the oh10 might be next for me. Maybe fh3 for a bit cheaper. The oh10 starts getting into blessing 2 territory for me.

I literally listened to hours of a bunch of sound demos on youtube between the OH10's, XENN UPS, MEST, Arias, Timeless, T3 plus, Hana's etc... including the blessing 2 and the OH10's just sounded way better to me and more open. The B2 sounded really congested to me and way too neutral for my taste but that might suit some, just not me. I was a little hesitant on the OH10's but took the plunged and have been swimming in sonic bliss since they arrived. I'm praising them quite a bit now because I'm very particular in the sound signature that I enjoy and they got my head bobbing right way just like the Beoplay EQ's did. I tested them on some of my favourite tracks. Classical, Jazz, Pop, House, and it's performed beautifully so far without fatigue or discomfort. Will likely be putting the Timeless up for sale at this rate...

 

[guitarizt]

I literally listened to hours of a bunch of sound demos on youtube between the OH10's, XENN UPS, MEST, Arias, Timeless, T3 plus, Hana's etc... including the blessing 2 and the OH10's just sounded way better to me and more open. The B2 sounded really congested to me and way too neutral for my taste but that might suit some, just not me. I was a little hesitant on the OH10's but took the plunged and have been swimming in sonic bliss since they arrived. I'm praising them quite a bit now because I'm very particular in the sound signature that I enjoy and they got my head bobbing right way just like the Beoplay EQ's did. I tested them on some of my favourite tracks. Classical, Jazz, Pop, House, and it's performed beautifully so far without fatigue. Will likely be putting the Timeless up for sale at this rate...

Hmm, interesting. I tend to like neutral and congested. I've started listening to the sound demo's of iem's I own and they're so misleading. In real life they sound much diff to me than on yt, but I'll have to spend more time with everything. I really like the mele on the sound clips, but in real life I just haven't been feeling them.

Oh and I just ordered the heart mirror. It's about 45 shipped after vat on aliexpress. The only thing is eta is march 20.

Linsoul has blon 03 for $22 for anyone interested. I was about to buy it for 40 on amazon until I found it on linsoul by accident searching for the heart mirror.