lol...I was thinking the same thing! either bump up that Sennheiser score or lower that Sony XM4 score.....but having them rated the same SQ has me questioning this fellows ears
You are free to make your own scoring.
Going fully Wireless IEMs. Too soon? Or are we there yet?
- Thread starter webreaper
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You are free to make your own scoring.
shooter
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I like Senns very much I guess 8/10 in TWS world.
Have they make a wireless version of Kato or starfield yet?
scubaphish
500+ Head-Fier
I was concerned about that but ordered anyway. Fwiw I reached out to cancel my order and said it was due to a bad review. Besides the fact that they were very reassuring that I’ll get a legit product else they’ll pay for the return…Blah blah blah…they really seem to want to make good with the person with the bad review. I suggest you reach out to them if you haven’t already.
dweaver
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We all hear things differently. What sound awesome to one person might not be so good for another. That's why it's always good to state your preferences and then try to describe what is you hear when describing an headphone. One of my favorite reviewers used to be a guy by the name Tyll and he was a legend. But I just as often used his reviews to rule out some of his favorites because he and I had opposite tastes at times. But his reviews helped me because I knew what things I would like that he didn't and the opposite as well.
Besides being technically weak, they forgot to add some treble to it.
It's probably wrong to compare wired to wireless, but that's the point anyway, isn't it?
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erockg
Headphoneus Supremus
I think instead of racing for those sales, you should save the money, get something that is brand spanking new release! I've had all you've had and they're looooong goneLOL, been on a tear, sell a bud buy a bud, sell 2 buds, but a bud
I have now tried all the brands or models aside from the expensive big boys so going stop for a while.
The Sony's have surprised me the most sonically in a good way. Have to admit I am now waiting to see what they do with the XM5.
Ok what the hell is going on with these ATH? The app says I can switch the button mapping but it does nothing! If I say switch between left and right side it actually just changes the right side to use volume controls instead of track skipping. It's buggy as all get out!
Edit: NVM it is poorly done, but my issue was I needed to turn off the Google assistant feature and then I could assign right and left as I wished.
Like the 64 step volume, nice touch regarding refined control. Had to set the button speed to slow. Mist be getting old LOL.
The mids are nice but lack a bit of detail and emotion compared to the XM4. Bass is not as punchy or hard hitting as well. They are good but giving me any wow factor which strangely enough to XM4 did.
I need to articulate what I am hearing out of the XM4, in what songs and what parts.
erockg
Headphoneus Supremus
So crazy. I do know that some of the knock-off APP do register as seeming legit on iPhones. Curious if the ANC is solid. IF it is, it'll be on par with the Bose QCII if not slightly better in some situations.
erockg
Headphoneus Supremus
Nah, those are all single driver Moondrop iEMs. I've read the Alice can sound similar with some settings, but falls short in most other ways. Sad. Would love to try them though. Maybe soon
Was really hoping Moondrop would release a killer TWS. We continue to wait...
scubaphish
500+ Head-Fier
I’ve read the same. And especially with the serial number checking out, but out of warranty. Wish me luck
That would be magnificent, I would like a planar tws if possibleNah, those are all single driver Moondrop iEMs. I've read the Alice can sound similar with some settings, but falls short in most other ways. Sad. Would love to try them though. Maybe soon
dweaver
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OK, so why am i liking these darn XM4's...
OK first off as mentioned by @Canabuc I am a low volume listener ranging from 25% to 50% 90% of the time. But while I listen at low volumes I like to hear emotion in vocals and feel sub-bass in orchestral sound tracks. I still want to "experience" the music. So my tastes lean towards products that allow me to hear/experience those things at lower volume or be able to EQ the product achieve my goal.
What I find is most products that don't come close to allowing me this sound I like out of the box rarely are able to be EQ'd to allow it. Which is why the WF-1000XM4 surprised me so much. Out of the box they were dark sounding just as I suspected they would be. But for some reason they have responded very well to the EQ I applied. I am starting to think the challenge is the quality of the driver(s) in the TWS. If they have a certain bass threshold for example and it is already maxed out at the default tuning, then EQing it louder generally starts to sound bad. The same can be said for the midrange and treble. So in the case of the XM4 it's like Sony tuned the IEM to have a big bass and scaled back the midrange and treble even though the driver could handle more in those areas. Then when I adjusted the EQ the drivers were fully able to express the added midrange and treble because they had the sonic headroom to reach those levels. Other TWS I have when I try to do this and this includes Sony's Linkbuds S just could not deliver the EQ changes fully.
One other thing that might be why I am enjoying the XM4 is the bands they chose for their EQ settings. Most EQ's are usually 5 band and have something like 100hz, 250hz, 1khz, 4-5khz, 10-12khz or the like. Sony is not really any different except is has 5 and chose 400hz, 1khz, 2.5khz, 6.3khz, and 16khz. I have set those to +3 +5 +7 +5 +3 or basically a reverse V. This places the most emphasis as the 2.5Khz region versus the 1Khz region which may be where the emotive notes of singers like Patricia Barber reside and it also seems to give guitars edge, cymbal crashes might be around that 6.3khz giving them added presence. I then added +1 to Clear Bass which just ever so gently increased the bass. I also think that +3 on the 400hz band also added warmth and more presence to bass guitars and double bass.
So what does all this add up in a song?
I used Patricia Barber's song Smash and secondarily the song Missing from the album called Smash.
When listening to Smash there are moments when I can hear the ache in her voice on the XM4 it's like she hits a note and holds it until it almost become unbearable and then she releases it, and you can breathe. Meanwhile pianos are playing, and you can feel the notes and lushness of the notes and double bass notes are full and vibrant with wonderful detail. As the song progresses it transitions into a lament of a guitar and drums that is vibrant and crashing that carries the rest of the song.
Most TWS just lose what I mentioned above. Some can carry some of the song but areas like the vocals just come off as flat or the double bass or piano lose their vibrancy, or the cymbals lose life.
Similarly, the song Missing has even more aching vocals and equal parts of piano and guitar that fill the air. The vocals in this song have almost a whispered quality with hints of a waver. The XM4 conveys all of this. But most of my TWS just lose the sense of intimacy ruining the experience of the song.
OK first off as mentioned by @Canabuc I am a low volume listener ranging from 25% to 50% 90% of the time. But while I listen at low volumes I like to hear emotion in vocals and feel sub-bass in orchestral sound tracks. I still want to "experience" the music. So my tastes lean towards products that allow me to hear/experience those things at lower volume or be able to EQ the product achieve my goal.
What I find is most products that don't come close to allowing me this sound I like out of the box rarely are able to be EQ'd to allow it. Which is why the WF-1000XM4 surprised me so much. Out of the box they were dark sounding just as I suspected they would be. But for some reason they have responded very well to the EQ I applied. I am starting to think the challenge is the quality of the driver(s) in the TWS. If they have a certain bass threshold for example and it is already maxed out at the default tuning, then EQing it louder generally starts to sound bad. The same can be said for the midrange and treble. So in the case of the XM4 it's like Sony tuned the IEM to have a big bass and scaled back the midrange and treble even though the driver could handle more in those areas. Then when I adjusted the EQ the drivers were fully able to express the added midrange and treble because they had the sonic headroom to reach those levels. Other TWS I have when I try to do this and this includes Sony's Linkbuds S just could not deliver the EQ changes fully.
One other thing that might be why I am enjoying the XM4 is the bands they chose for their EQ settings. Most EQ's are usually 5 band and have something like 100hz, 250hz, 1khz, 4-5khz, 10-12khz or the like. Sony is not really any different except is has 5 and chose 400hz, 1khz, 2.5khz, 6.3khz, and 16khz. I have set those to +3 +5 +7 +5 +3 or basically a reverse V. This places the most emphasis as the 2.5Khz region versus the 1Khz region which may be where the emotive notes of singers like Patricia Barber reside and it also seems to give guitars edge, cymbal crashes might be around that 6.3khz giving them added presence. I then added +1 to Clear Bass which just ever so gently increased the bass. I also think that +3 on the 400hz band also added warmth and more presence to bass guitars and double bass.
So what does all this add up in a song?
I used Patricia Barber's song Smash and secondarily the song Missing from the album called Smash.
When listening to Smash there are moments when I can hear the ache in her voice on the XM4 it's like she hits a note and holds it until it almost become unbearable and then she releases it, and you can breathe. Meanwhile pianos are playing, and you can feel the notes and lushness of the notes and double bass notes are full and vibrant with wonderful detail. As the song progresses it transitions into a lament of a guitar and drums that is vibrant and crashing that carries the rest of the song.
Most TWS just lose what I mentioned above. Some can carry some of the song but areas like the vocals just come off as flat or the double bass or piano lose their vibrancy, or the cymbals lose life.
Similarly, the song Missing has even more aching vocals and equal parts of piano and guitar that fill the air. The vocals in this song have almost a whispered quality with hints of a waver. The XM4 conveys all of this. But most of my TWS just lose the sense of intimacy ruining the experience of the song.
dweaver
Headphoneus Supremus
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Similarly, the song The Chain by Fleetwood Mac at the 3/4 point of the song has a bass guitar that kicks in and the XM4 captures the weight and authority of that guitar perfectly, while presenting all of the cymbal's leading up to it beautifully, later on it also captures the guitar well, all while presenting their vocals well. Again, it creates an experience versus just music playing in the background which is often how I feel about TWS.
Gilroypro
500+ Head-Fier
I am underwhelmed by the new TE-Z1PNK. They sound better due to the tuning than the TE-BD21J-LTD-PNK. My underwhelment comes to the volume. The TE-Z1PNK's volume is lower maybe due to LDAC? I don't know the reason but the TE-BD21J-LTD-PNK are way louder and I love that.
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