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

[jant71]

First review I have read on the JBL. They gave it poor marks for sound.

https://www.techradar.com/reviews/jbl-tour-pro-2

Like how they talk about tinny and brash and adjustments didn't work well but down in the bullet points they talk about people having trouble getting a seal. So you can just throw this out till it happens multiple times. Could be just as simple as they weren't able to get a good seal so the impression can be skewed. They may need some run in and perhaps they provided a bad choice for stock tips but a change can totally fix them. Another clue is the talk of a lean sound as that isn't really JBL. They tend to stay a little too much towards bassy so I am not totally convinced these are neutral. Jury is certainly still out. They are up on the site now... https://www.jbl.com/new-arrivals/TOUR-PRO-2.html $249 is too much though. Maybe $199? At least JBL does 50% off sales pretty often.

 

[jant71]

Which one is it? I saw the 5000, 5100, 6000

The 5200.

 

[nekonhime]

The 5200.

Weird, it seem like the 5200 is the inferior version of the 9000 in the specs area except for the Bluetooth version

 

[clerkpalmer]

Far from niche.

AKG N400 are great - I own them. But the EX and Fokus Pro imo, blow them up. Highly recommend them both. Noble is oos because the Mystique is coming and they sold out of the Fokus Pro due to demand. EX are everywhere. Have all three. My AKG are sitting in a desk drawer at the office, unloved A&K were wonderful, but they stopped production due to difficulties getting parts during the pandemic. Bummer. Most, if not all of these buds can be had for less than 300 if you know when to look for sales. Never paid over 3 bills for any of them.

EDIT: I will pay over three for the Mystique if Jim changes that preorder button on his site to BUY NOW!

Man I need a new toy. Still zero news from Nura (it’s now been 11 days). Preordered the Final but no news. Sold off my ATs. I may have to drive to Best Buy today to get my fix. Anything likely to be on the shelf worth grabbing? I’m down to the Bose and that’s it. I did follow your wisdom and land a pair of px8 but they haven’t shipped yet.

 

[jant71]

Weird, it seem like the 5200 is the inferior version of the 9000 in the specs area except for the Bluetooth version

As the older but still flagship hopefully it probably should be better but it is older. No way it is better ergonomically and size wise. ANC I am not sure but would always opt for the newer model on that. Doubt with the shape and fit and being newer the ANC is worse. ANC is better than the Kenwood which matters more since I don't have the 9000. I am not so big on first versions so figured I would try the 5200 and perhaps I would try the next flagship that would replace the 9000 and improve on it and work out any kinks.

 

[nekonhime]

As the older but still flagship hopefully it probably should be better but it is older. No way it is better ergonomically and size wise. ANC I am not sure but would always opt for the newer model on that. Doubt with the shape and fit and being newer the ANC is worse. ANC is better than the Kenwood which matters more since I don't have the 9000. I am not so big on first versions so figured I would try the 5200 and perhaps I would try the next flagship that would replace the 9000 and improve on it and work out any kinks.

Gosh, you are killing me with new curiosity. I might have to buy from amazon japan since they don't sell them in the US

 

[dweaver]

Like how they talk about tinny and brash and adjustments didn't work well but down in the bullet points they talk about people having trouble getting a seal. So you can just throw this out till it happens multiple times. Could be just as simple as they weren't able to get a good seal so the impression can be skewed. They may need some run in and perhaps they provided a bad choice for stock tips but a change can totally fix them. Another clue is the talk of a lean sound as that isn't really JBL. They tend to stay a little too much towards bassy so I am not totally convinced these are neutral. Jury is certainly still out. They are up on the site now... https://www.jbl.com/new-arrivals/TOUR-PRO-2.html $249 is too much though. Maybe $199? At least JBL does 50% off sales pretty often.

Agree that more reviews are needed and this one might be skewed. Also agree that price to high but they will go on sale.

 

[jant71]

Gosh, you are killing me with new curiosity. I might have to buy from amazon japan since they don't sell them in the US

All I know, vs. the Kenwood, is the size and shape and fit are better for me. Iso better with the fit most likely helps with the ANC being better. Glidic handled being touched better and wind noise. Kenwood mics can squelch when touched more and the ANC can be overwhelmed with certain quick noise and have pops or static bursts under certain situations. Not that often but never with the Glidic. I like the Glidic has the bass boost on board and the control scheme is more to my liking. buttons are more easy to work on the Glidic. Tuning is quite close. One issue I have with the Kenwood is that it just won't work with my Cowon. Only TWS that just won't connect to it. Even among japan TWS. AT, Aviot, all the JVC I have had never fail to connect. Limits my use somewhat. Odd thing it really does connect but within a minute they just stop playing anything. The size aspect is much improved...

...and can still fit longer tips than the Kenwood case can. Colder weather now so fit and ease of use with hats and hoodies is just better with the Glidic size and flusher fit. They don't sound better but close enough SBC vs. SBC or even aptX phone vs. Cowon with the EQ suite works well for the Glidic so I go back to the Kenwood and am not wowed nor does it put the Glidic in it's place or that type of thing. Hangs close enough to my ears so add it all up and the Kenwood has spent most of the time as of late in the drawer.

 

[dweaver]

Let's hope for the XM5's that the Linkbuds S are a hint of where they want to go with their sound signature, but using better drivers and overall technical specs with the XM-series. So you can get a more balanced and detailed sound, absolutely less dark than the XM4's anyway. I would love to hear what Sony would do with a multi-driver TWS as well.

I've mentioned it before in this thread, but Sony made some of my absolute favorite wired earbuds back in the day before TWS's (or even bluetooth earbuds) were a thing, but that really hasn't translated over to the wireless era, I think they're impressive if we're talking about the technology behind them, but for sound I rate all their TWS earbuds quite low amongst the flagship TWS's I've owned.
I haven't had any extensive testing with the the Linkbuds S and only demoed it in-store however, and it absolutely sounded fine and had a better stock tuning than the XM3 and XM4s, but I wasn't necessarily impressed either.

Their XM-series earbuds to me usually sound too dark, the bass is boosted in the wrong frequencies, the upper mids and lower treble aren't close to as detailed as I want, and the soundstage is really small and "in-your-head" which I usually don't prefer.

They're not bad, but they just haven't really been anything for me, so far.

Great points all around! If the S had a better driver it would have been great as it's stock tuning is definitely a step in the right direction from the darkerness of the flagship models.

The other issues on the S is poor battery life and passive isolation. I appreciate the smaller size but think the tweaks in shape design like removing the bump at the bottom of the XM4 where the antenna thing is helped as much as the size reduction. So maybe the flagship can be some where in between the 2 models for size but the general shape of the S and taller to allow for at least the same battery life as the XM4. A slightly larger size might help with passive isolation.

I also have owned several of Sony's XBA series up to the XBA-Z5. The Z5 was amazing until the damn MMCX connector failed on one side reducing my $800 IEM to rubble. I have spent years trying to get another product with the same sound experience...

 

[erockg]

Man I need a new toy. Still zero news from Nura (it’s now been 11 days). Preordered the Final but no news. Sold off my ATs. I may have to drive to Best Buy today to get my fix. Anything likely to be on the shelf worth grabbing? I’m down to the Bose and that’s it. I did follow your wisdom and land a pair of px8 but they haven’t shipped yet.

You're an animal. I do the BB browse every now and then. They just never have much anymore by me.

 

[clerkpalmer]

You're an animal. I do the BB browse every now and then. They just never have much anymore b

I’m not expecting much - probably a waste of time. Thankfully my APP2 just arrived so I think I’m good for a day or two.

 

[Bhelpoori]

The JBL does work on some things other than the case...
Features of the JBL Tour PRO 2:

● True adaptive noise canceling with customizable ANC and ambient sound

● 10mm dynamic drivers powered by legendary JBL PRO sound

● Customizable sound experience with Personi-fi 2.0

● Immersive JBL Spatial Sound

● 40 hours total music playback - 10 hours in the earbuds with a further 30 in the case

● 6-mic perfect calls with VoiceAware

● Bluetooth 5.3, LE Audio compatible

● Oval Tube design with multiple ear tip sizes for comfort, performance and the perfect seal

Says it has the voice aware so I'm assuming it does the auto pause and activate ambient and resume your music and ANC when done talking. The press blurb says it for the M2 headphones but not for the TWS but voice aware should work the same in both.

But just to be clear: the spec sheet does not support LE-Audio, only classic audio.

Bluetooth 5.3 is just the radio layer which was enhanced to support Auracast over 5.2. You can do LE Audio over 5.2 but it is better over 5.3, and realistically where we are today, nobody is going to do LE Audio over 5.2.

 

[helmutcheese]

BT 5.3 will be short lived IMO (like BT 5.1), they are talking about BT 5.4 (not going to BT 6.0) and the sooner the better as then at least we know if we buy that device it supports XYZ without anything missing.

 

[Hozay]

Any news about TWS cept that JBL one? Didnt see the expected new Technics/B&W/Noble buds.

 

[Toom]

Having tried the Ex and the Fokus Pro, it's the Senn MTW3 for the win, in my book. They just have the complete package of sound and features.