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

[C_Lindbergh]

Doesn't Aptx lossless require Qualcomm Chipset aka Snapdragon sound? If so, that's very different from LDAC which is just a codec.

I doubt there's some hardware limitation in the source devices, as long as the BT chip is somewhat modern (+5.3?).

Aptx and more recently Aptx HD are now part of the Android ASOP, no matter if the SoC is from qualcomm or not.

 

[Not so fat head]

Yeah, but to me that attitude is a bit weird, wouldn't they be able to sell even more SoC is more source devices supported their proprietary codecs?

.001% of the BUYING public knows what Aptx is. All they want are good solid TWS with (excellent) ANC. Hence Bose, Apple and Sony dominating the space…. I was at a mall two weeks back, and was amazed (again) at all the white stemmed (Apple) TWS..

 

[davidmthekidd]

.001% of the BUYING public knows what Aptx is. All they want are good solid TWS with (excellent) ANC. Hence Bose, Apple and Sony dominating the space…. I was at a mall two weeks back, and was amazed (again) at all the white stemmed (Apple) TWS..

Apple is 100% a Fashion statement these days, just like Sony represented excellent engineering and quality during the 90s. My kids despise Android or anything other than Apple, why?? All their peers have it, not because it is better.

 

[TK33]

Looking forward to your comparison!

So a few additional thoughts on the Jabra Elite 10s now that I had a few minutes to try them out. As an all-rounder, I think these are great if you don't care about codecs or the best ANC. They are very comfortable, good enough SQ for use when out and about, and so far so good for calls. I especially like the sidetone feature which makes taking calls very comfortable (apologies if the below seem a bit scattered or short-hand...have an almost 1 month old at home).

Sound - I need to play around with the EQ a bit but my initial reaction was that it has a very full sound and a nice wide soundstage. I need to tweak the bass and mids a bit as the bass was a bit overpowering for my personal tastes and it does sound a bit v shaped to me but they sound great so far. In comparison, the Samsung GB2P sounds very bass heavy and has a much narrower soundstage to my ears (note, I never really used the GB2P for music anyway). Based on the few minutes I have had to listen to them, I prefer the Elite 10s to the GB2P, even with my source being a Samsung Galaxy Fold 5 (i.e. AAC on Elite 10s vs. SSC on GB2P). For SQ, MTW3 still wins in my book. They just sound more natural to me while the Elite 10s still sound a bit processed (not really a fair fight since I have spent hours tweaking the EQ on my MTW3).

EQ - as noted above, I have not had time to EQ them to my sound preferences but they seem to EQ well and I think I will be able to tweak them to my liking. Can't hold a candle to the MTW3 Sound Personalization feature.

Calls - was able to try it out on a call. No complaints from the other end and the sidetone feature works really well. This was in a quiet room so no idea how it will perform outside but I am usually taking calls in my office anyway. I picked up the Elite 10s primarily for calls so I am happy with these. Has some nice features where it will pick up calls automatically (Samsung also has this) and has mic mute functionality, which is pretty cool.

ANC - have not had a chance to test it out outdoors but it seems the weakest of the three. Not bad but not the best. I don't think I will be traveling for a while anyway. However, as I was typing this, I noticed I could hear myself typing with the Elite 10s (I made sure I was on ANC mode). Hearthrough is adjustable and seems to work well. I like that I can cycle through ANC/Hearthrough/Off using a physical button. However, I did notice the sound changes significantly when enabling Hearthrough/ANC vs. Off on the Elite 10s. As I believe someone mentioned in an earlier post, the MTW3 does this very well and is pretty consistent when you switch between passthrough/ambient and ANC (I usually use anti-wind mode ont the MTW3)

Comfort - these are the most comfortable to me among the three (Elite 10, GB2P and MTW3). They really seem to disappear in my ears compared to the others.

Physical buttons - I forgot how much I missed physical buttons. Fully customizable and work well.

Take all the above with a grain of salt as they are my sleep-deprived opinions after less than an hour of listening (new toy syndrome is real in my opinion) but I am happy with these so far

EDIT: figured out how to save custom presets by pressing the + button next to Music Presets in the app. Knew there had to be a way.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

My kids despise Android or anything other than Apple, why??

Looks like you've failed as a parent.

 

[cresny]

I doubt there's some hardware limitation in the source devices, as long as the BT chip is somewhat modern (+5.3?).

Aptx and more recently Aptx HD are now part of the Android ASOP, no matter if the SoC is from qualcomm or not.

Those can be implemented as codecs, but lossless requires the chipset and I guess adaptive as well. I think it's an integrated thing, unlike the Qualcomm 5G modem that everyone uses afaik. So Google's out, and so is Samsung; even though they actually use the chipset in the US, they don't want to differentiate their offering when they use Exynos. That leaves only outlier brands. Not good.

 

[cresny]

So a few additional thoughts on the Jabra Elite 10s now that I had a few minutes to try them out. As an all-rounder, I think these are great if you don't care about codecs or the best ANC. They are very comfortable, good enough SQ for use when out and about, and so far so good for calls. I especially like the sidetone feature which makes taking calls very comfortable (apologies if the below seem a bit scattered or short-hand...have an almost 1 month old at home).

Sound - I need to play around with the EQ a bit but my initial reaction was that it has a very full sound and a nice wide soundstage. I need to tweak the bass and mids a bit as the bass was a bit overpowering for my personal tastes and it does sound a bit v shaped to me but they sound great so far. In comparison, the Samsung GB2P sounds very bass heavy and has a much narrower soundstage to my ears (note, I never really used the GB2P for music anyway). Based on the few minutes I have had to listen to them, I prefer the Elite 10s to the GB2P, even with my source being a Samsung Galaxy Fold 5 (i.e. AAC on Elite 10s vs. SSC on GB2P). For SQ, MTW3 still wins in my book. They just sound more natural to me while the Elite 10s still sound a bit processed (not really a fair fight since I have spent hours tweaking the EQ on my MTW3).

EQ - as noted above, I have not had time to EQ them to my sound preferences but they seem to EQ well and I think I will be able to tweak them to my liking. Can't hold a candle to the MTW3 Sound Personalization feature and I wish they had custom presets (maybe they do and I just missed it).

Calls - was able to try it out on a call. No complaints from the other end and the sidetone feature works really well. This was in a quiet room so no idea how it will perform outside but I am usually taking calls in my office anyway. I picked up the Elite 10s primarily for calls so I am happy with these. Has some nice features where it will pick up calls automatically (Samsung also has this) and has mic mute functionality, which is pretty cool.

ANC - have not had a chance to test it out outdoors but it seems the weakest of the three. Not bad but not the best. I don't think I will be traveling for a while anyway. However, as I was typing this, I noticed I could hear myself typing with the Elite 10s (I made sure I was on ANC mode). Hearthrough is adjustable and seems to work well. I like that I can cycle through ANC/Hearthrough/Off using a physical button. However, I did notice the sound changes significantly when enabling Hearthrough/ANC vs. Off on the Elite 10s. As I believe someone mentioned in an earlier post, the MTW3 does this very well and is pretty consistent when you switch between passthrough/ambient and ANC (I usually use anti-wind mode ont the MTW3)

Comfort - these are the most comfortable to me among the three (Elite 10, GB2P and MTW3). They really seem to disappear in my ears compared to the others.

Physical buttons - I forgot how much I missed physical buttons. Fully customizable and work well.

Take all the above with a grain of salt as they are my sleep-deprived opinions after less than an hour of listening (new toy syndrome is real in my opinion) but I am happy with these so far

Re. ANC, did you try different tips? I usually use mediums but needed large with these to get good ANC.

 

[Not so fat head]

Jabra 10’s getting lots of praise for ANC of YouTube, so probably a fit issue.

 

[TK33]

Re. ANC, did you try different tips? I usually use mediums but needed large with these to get good ANC.

Not yet. Will try eventually when I have a moment to myself. They were pretty comfortable and stayed put so may just stick with it. Dont really care for strong ANC as I rarely need it when using TWS but will give it a shot when I have some time.

EDIT - I just tried sizing all the way up to the largest tips. To be honest, I am not blown away by the ANC on the Elite 10s. Obviously better passive seal helps but I can still hear my Logitech MX Keys keyboard (not even mechanical) and it comes at the cost of being less comfortable. I suspect the oval tips just dont fit my ears well. I also tend to listen at lower volumes (currently listening at 4/15 volume steps on my Fold 5). Not a deal breaker for me as I did not get these for ANC. I am using them now and really enjoying them. Pleasantly surprised as I was initially going to skip these.

 

[dweaver]

The Elite 10 have been very good on calls at the grocery and on the streets downtown according to my wife. I also really like the side tone feature and it works really well in teams. My wife said sounds of kids in the store were present but muted by did not sound muffled which she notices when I use the AZ80.

I also like their comfort and have found the ANC to be pretty strong, I am using the largest tips.

I do find they suffer from wind more than the MTW3 which seems to manage the wind better than most TWS with its wind setting. The hear through feature doesn't seem handle wind very well either.

When I turn off the ANC they still have sound in wind but it's not as severe and is more like a typical shallow fit IEM in nature versus mic created whistling.

 

[DigDub]

Soundcore liberty 4 NC. Clear highs and mids and thumping bass. Overall a very dynamic sound signature. Full customization of the controls is available in the app. ANC is good. Supports LDAC after a firmware update. The case design is uniquely designed with a catch holding the cover closed, with a glowing white light when charging.

 

[Caipirina]

I wonder why this Mike guy has the Airpods 3 in this list ... did they add ANC at some point and I somehow never heard about that?




also the Sony C500 ... i guess he threw in one open style, one IEM style non-ANC bud each as benchmarks ...

 

[Vamp898]

I wonder why this Mike guy has the Airpods 3 in this list ... did they add ANC at some point and I somehow never heard about that?




also the Sony C500 ... i guess he threw in one open style, one IEM style non-ANC bud each as benchmarks ...

My IER-M9 measured with roughly 32db of Noise Isolation and i can attest that their Isolation is significantly Stronger than the 1000X M3, 4 5, the last two measure with 54 and 60db

Wearing the WF-1000XM5, when no music is playing, i can still hear myself tiping on the keyboard (no matter which eartips, even with Comply). My keyboard must be at least 90db loud aka concert. I can also hear people talk to me clearly when no music is playing. That would be absolutely impossible with 60db of Isolation

Earplugs, professional hearing protection that completely clog your ears, measure with 35db, just for reference. And they block more noise for me than any of these earphone.

In theory, ANC could be stronger than earplugs by eliminating the noise, but most ANC top out at around 3000Hz to prevent amplifying the outside noise. So as soon you reach 3000Hz, the ANC is off anyway.

And the Sony C500 don't isolate at all. They are very very average earphone and, as you mentioned, don't even have ANC. They are not even remotely close to earplugs level of isolation and still measure better than them. According to these measurements, the "open" C500 with Silicone tips isolate better than my closed stage monitor with foam that were made for isolation.

I can only advice and highly recommend everyone to not trust these measurements at all. No average standard earphone that doesn't even have ANC block more noise than earplugs.

If these measurements would be true, the BOSE would lower the volume of an Metal Concert to whispering volume.

 

[highlightshadow]

Can anyone recommend a song or three which would be useful or in which you can really feel a differnce with features like "spatial sound" enabled
I know our brains get used to a sound very quickly and have a hard time remember how it sounded but i struggle to notice anything at all when i enabled it on a couple of different sets now which have had it in some way.

Would be nice to have a couple of reference tracks that any of you guys have noticed a tangible difference in how it feels.

 

[helmutcheese]

The Elite 10 have been very good on calls at the grocery and on the streets downtown according to my wife. I also really like the side tone feature and it works really well in teams. My wife said sounds of kids in the store were present but muted by did not sound muffled which she notices when I use the AZ80.

I also like their comfort and have found the ANC to be pretty strong, I am using the largest tips.

I do find they suffer from wind more than the MTW3 which seems to manage the wind better than most TWS with its wind setting. The hear through feature doesn't seem handle wind very well either.

When I turn off the ANC they still have sound in wind but it's not as severe and is more like a typical shallow fit IEM in nature versus mic created whistling.

When are you returning them?