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

[Ckro]

I have rather small ears (always use S or even SS tips). No fit issue for me with the S tips provided with the Comfobuds.

 

[Juturna]

OK, so a day in using the Linkbuds S and I am loving the default signature! The only TWS I own I might prefer more is the Galaxy Buds Pro but not sure. I will do some A/B testing and come back with a final verdict.

This TWS bucks Sony's trend over the past few years hearkening back to a day when Sony was more balanced in their tuning and I love it. But anyone who has only heard their latest products will think this IEM is of lower sound quality due to the change in signature.

This made me want to try them out... Damn it.
Especially since Galaxy Buds Pro are my favorite TWSs I've used, at least tuning-wise, and I really didn't like the XM4s, and wasn't super big on the XM3's either...

 

[dweaver]

This made me want to try them out... Damn it.
Especially since Galaxy Buds Pro are my favorite TWSs I've used, at least tuning-wise, and I really didn't like the XM4s, and wasn't super big on the XM3's either...

OK did a back to back comparison using a couple Patricia Barber tunes and Day Dreamer by Adele and similarities between the 2 IEMs are remarkable. For Adele her voice was possibly brighter on the Sony as compared to being more husky on other Sony IEMs. The biggest difference is size of the sound stage. The Samsung have a bigger stage having more of a feeling of being open due to their venting, unfortunately this means they let in more noise though and they have a much lower noise floor. The Sony is more intimate but has a very high noise floor so when there is no sound in the music they convey this better.

I honestly can't say which I like more purely from a signature perspective. But from liking to focus solely on the music I do prefer the Linkbuds S. Btw in those tests the Samsung had ANC enabled and the Sony was turned on and the Sony was much quieter letting in less outside sound. If I disable the ANC on the Sony it becomes a bit wider sounding and in my house still has excellent isolation.

This is truly a different Sony tuning. It will be very polorizing, fans of the newer signature from the past few years will not like it and fans of Sony's older signature will be welcoming back an old friend.

 

[Bhelpoori]

On the L3P, neither AAC nor LDAC are entirely clear of dropouts. AAC has a tendency to have an aliasing/stretching artifact if my hands are around the phone's Bluetooth modem. LDAC tends to last for 10 minutes or so but has more blatant cutouts. In both codecs putting my Note 9 in my right pocket (modem facing down and rear) has a tendency to induce dropouts in busy areas. I'm not sure how it performs on other devices but it is somewhat disappointing and overall a bit below average for connectivity.


Have you tried fiddling with the sample rate and bit depth? Somebody mentioned that changing these to lower settings than 96kHz/32bit changes the tuning on the Liberty 3 Pro but when I tried this on my L3P, the audio output just went silent until they were re-connected defaulting at 96k/32.

I have the same issue with dropouts on AAC on multiple iOS devices too on the L3P. It happens occasionally but consistently but hasn't been so bad for me to stop using them.

LDAC had more dropouts but I preferred to use dual connectivity as turning on LDAC made too little benefit.

 

[erockg]

Switched to the Fostex TM2C true wireless adapters with the 2 pin cable. They sound incredible, fit and feel great. Super light. No tight wrap around like the Shure adapters. I think the Moondrop S8 sound better with the Fostex over the Shure. I'll have to keep listening...

 

[vladzakhar]

Unfortunately, had to return TWS3 back to BestBuy. Love everything about it, but it has the big design flow. The case magnets are too weak and I had instances with buds not being disconnected and drained the battery overnight. Unacceptable. In a meantime, I picked up the the Sennhiser CX Plus and these are not far behind the TWS3's. Magnets are super strong and the have almost the same features as the TWS3's. ANC is about the same and transparency mode is even better. Also the have side tone switch in the app that you can hear your own voice when calling. The only thing is missing is anti wind feature. I'll try to bike with them tomorrow and, hopefully, the wind would not be a problem. Sound wise they are very close. And the cost only $129 now.

 

[Tommy C]

Switched to the Fostex TM2C true wireless adapters with the 2 pin cable. They sound incredible, fit and feel great. Super light. No tight wrap around like the Shure adapters. I think the Moondrop S8 sound better with the Fostex over the Shure. I'll have to keep listening...

I’m intrigued but damn they are thicc, boy!

 

[erockg]

I’m intrigued but damn they are thicc, boy!

They're not that much bigger, they're thin and very light. Hard to explain. They don't wrap or sit on your ear (unless you bend the arms). They hide behind my ears better than the Shure. We'll see how long I last

 

[Not so fat head]

Enjoying all my TWS all over again since downloading Boom EQ....
So far Bose Soundsports Free are the most surprising, in a very good way, with most improved. Might be the best sounding of ALL my headphones....
They had amazing soundstage before, but now full frequency spectrum too.
In heaven, and Bose, who'd think it!!!
No NC, but I'm in it for the sound here...

 

[dweaver]

I used the Linkbuds Pro in a more traditional manner today. Short bursts where I could fit time I'm for some music. I also have now had several calls with them.

Musically speaking I am as happy as I have been with any TWS products to date. The signature is damn near perfect right out of the box. They work great with ANC and with ambient modes I have tried, as well as with nothing.

For calls they are fantastic, I called my wife while driving 30 miles an hour with the window rolled down and she heard no wind noise and when a big bus rumbled by she could not hear it. My mom also commented on clear they sounded while I walked around on the streets it semi windy conditions.

The gadgetry works for the most part and I really like speak to chat even though it occasionally picks up coughs, grunts etc and kicks in. But for talking with my wife it works well at home. I like that it stops the music versus just dimming it.

Between the near perfect signature for me, the comfort and ability to use them in more situations these are starting to feel like the end of the line for me for a while.

I hope like hell that Sony does not release an update that ruins the sound and that they make a XM2 version that just incorporates things like wireless charging and more battery life while maintaining the same signature.

 

[J_3000]

Ok so. Im still waiting for delivery date for the EX I bought from Amazon.de (discounted to 350€). I returned my MTW3 before my return period closed. The MTW3 were ok, but I would describe them as balanced and good, but not exciting. I would have wanted to do a/b testing between them and the EX, but it is what it is.

But, while browsing in Amazon.de a week or so back, I found the SoundPeats H1 with several discounts and coupons for 19 € I have to say, that for that price these are insane good. Probably even for 50 € or something still a steal.

 

[Caipirina]

This made me want to try them out... Damn it.
Especially since Galaxy Buds Pro are my favorite TWSs I've used, at least tuning-wise, and I really didn't like the XM4s, and wasn't super big on the XM3's either...

same same and received like 20h after ordering ... finally jumped gun and got prime .. at least for the next month

 

[dasadab]

Switched to the Fostex TM2C true wireless adapters with the 2 pin cable. They sound incredible, fit and feel great. Super light. No tight wrap around like the Shure adapters. I think the Moondrop S8 sound better with the Fostex over the Shure. I'll have to keep listening...

I see that Amazon now has them, but without the 2 pin cable. Tempting...

 

[jant71]

At a bit over $100 we have a new Radius TWS. The HP-R300BT..

BT5.2 SBC/AAC/LDAC 12.5 hours AAC and 8 hours LDAC. Ambient and ENC for calls. Dolby Atmos, 360 Reality Audio. 8.8mm "Synchro Motion" dual driver...

Of course comes with the traditional Radius Deep Mount tips...

 

[Caipirina]

Flaming the linkbuds S hype flames ... (Linkbuds PRO @dweaver ?)
Got mine and after the luke warm feels I got from the MTW3 2 nights ago, I am now floored by the LBS (? will that acronym stick? Maybe LiB S?)
The ANC is fantastic, the sound is as dynamic as I like it .. and I just re-read the features again, checking in the is Qi (nope, but no biggy), but do I read this correctly, they have LDAC ??? I was not aware .. need to test with my Tempotec V1
Might be 'new toy' syndrome, but I did not get those feels when I tried the Sennheiser, sorry, they are going back

Here's a question: The tip labeling confused me ... we have SS, S, then LL and apparently M is on? What happened to regular L?