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

[helmutcheese]

Go by your ears not a chart and I would bet someone else's chart would look different.

 

[james444]

Go by your ears not a chart and I would bet someone else chart would look different.

Do you even know how to read such a chart? And did you go to their website to check if other earphones they measured look legit?

I agree that someone else's chart would look different, but that's because people use different measurement rigs and different compensations. That's why one should only compare charts from the same rig.

I did the latter and most of their measurements of other earphones I know look legit. So I have no reason to assume that these particular measurements of the Ace/2 are off. All the more since they measured two models and got the exact same results.

 

[helmutcheese]

No need to be condescending!

 

[SenyorC]

I wouldn't worry too much about the treble on the graph.

The large peak at 8kHz is an artifact of the measurement rig and after that point, hearing varies so much between people that a graph will not necessarily resemble what you hear.

 

[cresny]

Do you even know how to read such a chart? And did you go to their website to check if other earphones they measured look legit?

I agree that someone else's chart would look different, but that's because people use different measurement rigs and different compensations. That's why one should only compare charts from the same rig.

I did the latter and most of their measurements of other earphones I know look legit. So I have no reason to assume that these particular measurements of the Ace/2 are off. All the more since they measured two models and got the exact same results.

I don't normally read charts but I guess this is saying you would barely hear anything above 8 kilohertz? I don't know if my ears are even capable of arguing with that, but what sort of sounds are we talking about in that range?

 

[SenyorC]

I don't normally read charts but I guess this is saying you would barely hear anything above 8 kilohertz? I don't know if my ears are even capable of arguing with that, but what sort of sounds are we talking about in that range?

As in my previous post, just ignore the 8kHz peak and anything above it (on all graphs).

 

[jant71]

Hmm, color me surprised. This doesn't look like the treble performance I'm getting from my Linner Deluxe.

Seems like not all MEMS are equal. Or DSP is messin' with the FR.

The Linner vs. the Creative driver

The enclosure, the chip(they don't use the same one do they?), the supposed custom tuning Creative touts, different tips. No reason they can't differ similarly as different BA models do in the highs.

 

[spr33]

Finally bit the bullet and went to buy the Ace 2.. but they're now sold out in the UK ;(

 

[james444]

I don't normally read charts but I guess this is saying you would barely hear anything above 8 kilohertz? I don't know if my ears are even capable of arguing with that, but what sort of sounds are we talking about in that range?

If it were my measurements on my own rig, I'd say they lack air (and probably sound rather closed-in). But that's only because I've measured dozens of IEMs on my rig and learned how to relate the graphs to what I hear.

I can't say anything reliable about a different rig though, except that most of their other measurements show higher SPL in treble. I agree with @SenyorC though that the 8kHz peak is a measurement artifact.

Honestly tempted now to order the Ace to hear / measure them myself...

 

[helmutcheese]

The only issue for me is the 6 hour battery life and that is without ANC and unless otherwise stated will be AAC@50% Vol.

 

[cresny]

The only issue for me is the 6 hour battery life and that is without ANC and unless otherwise stated will be AAC@50% Vol.

If you can get your hands on it the Falcon Max has LDAC.

 

[helmutcheese]

I prefer aptX family as 99% of my music on my phones SD card is CD rips and again AFAIK they have a not so good battery life.

 

[james444]

The only issue for me is the 6 hour battery life and that is without ANC and unless otherwise stated will be AAC@50% Vol.

Not an issue for me, as I rarely have time to listen longer than 2-3 hours per day.

The Linner vs. the Creative driver
The enclosure, the chip(they don't use the same one do they?), the supposed custom tuning Creative touts, different tips. No reason they can't differ similarly as different BA models do in the highs.

Agreed, but isn't treble quality supposed to be *the* strong point of all MEMS?

Honestly tempted now to order the Ace to hear / measure them myself...

... done.

 

[helmutcheese]

I have been spoiled by many headbands/earbuds (mid range and higher range) over the past few years that I can listen to for 3x 1 hour walks and pause them but keep in my ears and still connected to my device the rest of the day and this way I am not partially charging the battery all the time shortening its life.

This began with BT 5.0 now we are on BT 5.4 with new chipsets using less power etc and the battery life on some earbuds seem to be going backwards (Creative were at 15 hours at least years ago) and Jabra due to lack of codecs and battery life are a no go for me.

 

[cresny]

Has anyone else had issues with static with the Ace 2? Whenever I open my mouth too wide or occasionally just when looking down the left side will get crackly. CS had me do a master reset, FW update, and another master reset and now I'm sending it in for an exchange.
I also had issues with low volume occasionally when reconnecting with my phone which usually resolved by turning off/on.

No so much that, but I am getting one really weird behavior where the soundstage sometimes goes from a relatively intimate state to a wide one on its own... and just as I type this I think realized the reason: I'm using the LE Bluetooth option on my Pixel 8, and I have Spatial Audio checked as well. I had never heard any effect from the Spatial checkbox when I tried it on anything else and figured it was some Pixel Buds-only feature, but I guess it's also built into the "Experimental" LE implementation, which explains why it's sporadic (experimental = buggy). Apologies for such a narrow use case, but other Pixel + Aurvana Ace users might want to try it out.