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

[helmutcheese]

 

[clerkpalmer]

Anyone get static in the AKG N5? Mine consistently have static but i don't think it's interference. Can't solve for it.

 

[Knightsfan11]

So I have owned the mystique, the Fokus Pro, and the prestige. I returned all of them for various reasons, mostly fit as they have giant nozzles and were uncomfortable for me. I'm keeping the H ANC. They have better ANC than the Sony xm5 and sound better. Sound is pretty on par in terms of resolution with my Aviot TE ZX1. Triumph is more resolving and does fit well, but I don't like the natural tuning profile it has. It's too lean for me, and frankly they are not that far off. I've listed my Triumph for sale, actually. Let me know if you're interested. Personally, I need ANC as gym use is primary for me. I think the H ANC is a hidden gem. It got very little attention, but you can't beat it for $129.

Fit wise compared to the Sony's, I'm interested to read some more info. The shell of the H-ANC seems larger, but potentially longer nozzle compared to the Sony's (more like a traditional IEM than a TWS?).

10 band EQ is nice.

 

[cresny]

Anyone get static in the AKG N5? Mine consistently have static but i don't think it's interference. Can't solve for it.

The only TWS I ever experienced actual static from happen to be the AKG N400. Interesting. For those it was repeatable based on location I was walking. It's hard to believe that after 4 some-odd years they'd have anything in common though.

 

[Not so fat head]

Got two tws cheap for gym use (APP2 for my normal day to day). Super interesting to see a audiophile tws vs a premium mainstream tws. For those who dont know, mw07 go = mw07 plus which are very similar to the MW08 (I used to own) and the new MW09.

No way to cut it, the Moondrop Nekocake destroy the mw07 go. Every technical category, detail, seperation, staging, it's a bloodbath. Add in the far less bass bloated tonal balance of the Nekocake, which means the mids aren't overpowered...It's not even close.

Goes to show price doesn't mean much. I thought the MW07 GO were a steal tbh, and expected them to take it. But I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said the Nekocake are about 3x better in sound. Fyi the Nekocake are very similar to the Space Travel with a slightly different tuning and a bit better tech, but the Space Travel are £25 new on Amazon, and I guarantee they will trash the MW07 GO and likely MW08 too.

Honestly the Nekocake are around 60% of the Airpods Pro 2 in sound alone. They have EQ in the app and I imagine after tuning you can easily get them to 70% by tuning them closer to your preferred sound sig.

Just goes to show how trash some of these consumer buds are re master and dynamic.


Moondrop Nekocake - £36 new on Amazon
MW07 Go - £28 used (originally £189 new RRP in 2020)

This may sound silly, but make sure you don’t have the M&D’s in the wrong ears.
I wrote my pair off, then read it was common to wear them backwards or wrong ear. Got’’em back out, recharged them and wow they hit whole new levels in sound.., It would be good if all manufacturers put R’s and L’s on the units

 

[IdleRover47]

I got some static with the OnePlus Buds pro2

 

[Tstorey]

This may sound silly, but make sure you don’t have the M&D’s in the wrong ears.
I wrote my pair off, then read it was common to wear them backwards or wrong ear. Got’’em back out, recharged them and wow they hit whole new levels in sound.., It would be good if all manufacturers put R’s and L’s on the units

I’ve dug my MW07’s out again in the hope of getting a good seal and this the sound that I’m looking for. Also trying some tips that I didn’t have first time around so that I may have a back up pair of TWS (bought the B&O EX as I just couldn’t get a consistent good seal with the MW07’s).

Fingers crossed

 

[Aevum]

happens when theres no major interesting release.

theres also the issue that TWS are disposable by design. 99% of them have a 2-3 life span since repair or replacing batteries is impossible.
so its hard to swallow a 300+ dollar price tag. a normal IEM will out last them by 3x the time if properly taken care of. (or of proper quality, my moondrop blessing 2 were not exactly good quality)

 

[potix]

Quick ranking
Best sound: Noble. Funny enough, with some EQ, for me the second best remains the Sony 1000xm4.

I think the same about the xm4, yes it's funny. They are the only couple of the bunch that I kept. Safe tuning, clean and punchy sound. But they are uncomfortable.

 

[SussyTofu420]

happens when theres no major interesting release.

theres also the issue that TWS are disposable by design. 99% of them have a 2-3 life span since repair or replacing batteries is impossible.
so its hard to swallow a 300+ dollar price tag. a normal IEM will out last them by 3x the time if properly taken care of. (or of proper quality, my moondrop blessing 2 were not exactly good quality)

The only reason I haven't tried more IEMs is the fact that the highly praised Blessing 2: Dusk that I bought after reading reviews, is absolute garbage. They're worse in every way compared to the Aviot TWS that I now use, the Aviot also cost less.

 

[mikaik]

I think the same about the xm4, yes it's funny. They are the only couple of the bunch that I kept. Safe tuning, clean and punchy sound. But they are uncomfortable.

I tested their batteries today, as I'm preparing to sell them. After 2 years, 3,5 hours with ANC on in LDAC mode. Not bad!
While listening I started having doubts about selling them. Such a pleasant sound. But even with Azla tips they are simply not a good fit for me. So they'll have to go.
I'm making room for the next ones

 

[davescleveland]

I find it a little amusing when people say the mystique are just boomy and not quality sounds. No they are not boomy in the sense that people use that term negatively. They are a fun, slightly bass heavy presentation. But the base quality is solid, it's not boomy, which implies it's sloppy and messy. If you like a fun sound signature that's quality with good bass, then don't listen to these people. Then don't listen to these people. Especially when they're trying to suggest to you of $500 plus TWS which is a complete rip-off. You're mostly paying for a fancy wood finish for every dollar you're spending over the mystique.

I do understand what good bass is. This is why I recommend the focus pro. You can find it for way less on eBay. I also said that it is not very different from the prestige. Gotta read

 

[potix]

I changed my mind about the JBL Tour pro 3. I'm still thinking they are boomy and shouty, and of course the ba drivers are not the best in the world, but it was emphasized by the LDAC 92/32 digital noise at high frequencies.
After putting foams and doing a bit of eq they are ok at 44/16 and the LC3+ transmitter case sounds ok too to me, even though it's not possible to set samplerate and bit depth. On osx I can even skip tracks with the buds. Equing them is not a walk in the park but now they sound almost hi-fi. Lots of detail, decent soundstage and everything is clear enough. JBL guys can manufacture some nice things like the classic series speakers, it's a pity that they are so consumer oriented and put out a lot of garbage.
The price is too high. I don't think the case's lcd screen affects it too much, it's cheap, maybe similar in some budget chinese tws. I expected it to be useless but some functionalities are welcome. It's big though, the kind of case that make girls say "are you happy to see me or it's your earbuds case?".
And they are super comfy, even with foam tips. The earbuds shell shape it's very clever. I recommend the foam tips for them: better sound, better stability, better ANC. The ANC is very good with low frequencies (perfect for flights), average with the rest and foamies help a lot. Batteries are long lasting, 6-7 hours, maybe more, depending on the options and anc.
Spatial sound is less terrible than I expected, head tracking works fine without delay and it works with the transmitter connected to a pc, unlike what technical support told me.
And with the case no latency at all. So perfect for movies and gaming.
I will check againd the call quality, even with a voice recorder and in a quiet room my voice is not super clear.
A big flaw at the moment is the "smart talk" feature, you talk and the ambient mode should kick in but it doesn't work always and when it works the music keeps going at 0 volume. Touch controls are also a bit lazy.
I'm not sure but I will probably keep them.

 

[JackNarrow]

I changed my mind about the JBL Tour pro 3. I'm still thinking they are boomy and shouty, and of course the ba drivers are not the best in the world, but it was emphasized by the LDAC 92/32 digital noise at high frequencies.
After putting foams and doing a bit of eq they are ok at 44/16 and the LC3+ transmitter case sounds ok too to me, even though it's not possible to set samplerate and bit depth. On osx I can even skip tracks with the buds. Equing them is not a walk in the park but now they sound almost hi-fi. Lots of detail, decent soundstage and everything is clear enough. JBL guys can manufacture some nice things like the classic series speakers, it's a pity that they are so consumer oriented and put out a lot of garbage.
The price is too high. I don't think the case's lcd screen affects it too much, it's cheap, maybe similar in some budget chinese tws. I expected it to be useless but some functionalities are welcome. It's big though, the kind of case that make girls say "are you happy to see me or it's your earbuds case?".
And they are super comfy, even with foam tips. The earbuds shell shape it's very clever. I recommend the foam tips for them: better sound, better stability, better ANC. The ANC is very good with low frequencies (perfect for flights), average with the rest and foamies help a lot. Batteries are long lasting, 6-7 hours, maybe more, depending on the options and anc.
Spatial sound is less terrible than I expected, head tracking works fine without delay and it works with the transmitter connected to a pc, unlike what technical support told me.
And with the case no latency at all. So perfect for movies and gaming.
I will check againd the call quality, even with a voice recorder and in a quiet room my voice is not super clear.
A big flaw at the moment is the "smart talk" feature, you talk and the ambient mode should kick in but it doesn't work always and when it works the music keeps going at 0 volume. Touch controls are also a bit lazy.
I'm not sure but I will probably keep them.

Smart talk is meant to work like that .audio goes to 0 volume whilst you are talking . A shame the music doesn't pause though .

Did u use the default foam tips they came with or something else.?
I've switched to the spinfit Omni and azla foamax and I'm very happy with these earbuds

They have made a generation leap in spatial audio performance. It was awful on their previous buds but now it's great .

Regarding the call quality it appears that the noise gating is a little too strong and at times your own voice can get canceled out, hopefully JBL can fix this with an update .

 

[clerkpalmer]

I pulled my H-ANC out of the expired TWS bin to check them out after the chatter here. They aren't terrible but the are pretty average in terms of ANC and SQ. I guess for 100 ish today they would be fine but I think you can probably do better even in that price range. Not one of Nobles better releases. The purple color is cool.