Hi all,
I just came back from a trip to Tokyo and spent some time at the e-ephone store in Akiba.
I went with the need to replace my old in the tooth, Noble Falcon Pros that don't hold much charge after 2.5 years of constant use. Given the weak yen and 10% tax that can be avoided, I had to get a new pair of TWS. I went with an open mind but had done basic research and narrowed it down to the following. I have provided my feedback below based on testing each one for at least 15mins with 5 tracks that best reflect my musical preferences (lil Durk - All My Life, Shin Yong Jae - First Line, Keane - Black Burning Heart, Kavinsky - Testarossa, JVKE - Golden Hour). It's only a short listen but it was enough to base my purchase at the end.
Denon Perl Pro (~46,000 yen, inc. 10% tax)
Connected well, basic/solid case with ease of removal/insertion, light buds but look BIG like mini-dishes, good fit and stays in the ear, even without the personalization the sound was impressive and very clean across the entire low/med/highs, 8hr battery life sounded good to me, I thought I hit the winner with my first test.......but there was a hint of thin-ness to the sound that I couldn't shake off.....
Noble Falcon Max (~44,000 yen, inc. 10% tax)
It looks like a fatter/shiner version of my Falcon Pros, connected well, the case is much better than the old box design but still with super cheap plastic feel and the buds were hard to get in/out, the fit wasn't great (needed smaller tips? but I assume the store fitted mediums to them all?) and didn't feel as locked-in as the Denon's, the sound was good with clean/punchy meds and just about sufficient bass but I found abit of harsh sibilance that needs to be eq'd down and the overall volume was quite limited as I had to max out to achieve the desired level of listening (I would say that it is 80/85% of the Denon's), given this volume issue I was worried about the stated battery life of 4.5hrs as that would get worse with use of higher volumes.....I can see the potential of mems combined with a DD but the battery life may be a big issue for some.
Noble FoKus Pretisge (~103,000, inc. 10% tax)
This is the big boy of the bunch.....Both the buds and case look amazing and the buds were relatively ok to get in/out, both are a bit bulky compared to the above but the buds fit very well into my ear, it connected well, the sound was amazing with a super fun v-shaped profile that made me smile with the rumble that it produced and there were bags of head-room on the volume, 10hr stated battery life was impressive and would help prolong the life of this TWS beyond 2/3 years even if it only holds 50% of the charge (i.e. I could still use the buds for 5hrs even after afew years!)
Devialet Gemini II (did not check)
Could not connect with my phone after many attempts.....I assume that the last tester didn't delete his BT connection? Sad not to be able to hear it but it was out of the competition
The end result?........ I couldn't resist the fun sound and looks of the Noble FoKus Prestige but it was a close call with the Denons. I voted with my heart and not my brain given it was a xmas present to myself! I will upload my longer-term review of the Prestige after a few weeks of hard use.
Note: This is my first proper post so hope the above is suitable for such a thread....Mod> please move to another thread if required.
