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

[TK33]

Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro were waiting for me when I got home and have been playing with them for the last few hours. Got home late today so only spent a little bit of time with them but my thoughts so far are as follows:

Sound- these are a significant step up from the Buds2 Pro, and previous Samsung earbuds that I owned (buds, Buds2, Buds Live, Buds2 Pro). Still not "wowed" by the sound but detail, soundstage, clarity is much improved. EQ responds well but still need to play with it a bit more. Does seem a bit bass heavy for my taste but obviously that is personal preference and I see many EQ profiles online where people have boosted the bass so no real right answer here. For my taste, despite being able to use SSC with my Fold 5 and Tab S9 Ultra, I still prefer sound of my B&W PI8, MTW3 and AZ80 (all are EQ'd). For now, my B&W PI8s are still my favorite TWS for sound (but the Buds3 Pro may be a better allrounder in my opinion).

Fit: I can see this being a problem for many people. I typically use medium Azla tips and am probably between the medium and large Buds3 Pro stock tips. Medium tips were too small for me and large feels slightly too big (they don't disappear in my ears). PI8s and Elite 10s are much more comfortable to me. I can see this being a problem for people who need larger sized tips.

ANC: works very very very well for me after switching to the large ttips. Blocked out all the fan noise and was pretty impressive. Would rank it the best for ANC among the TWS I currently have here.

Unfortunately these have not wowed me quite yet but they are still enjoyable and are nice as an all-rounder. Traveling this weekend so these will definitely be making the trip along with my PI8 and Px8 (trying to travel light). Still happy I got them and I have been pretty happy with the Buds3 for calls so expect the same from the Buds3 Pro. For $150 or so that I paid (trading in old unused TWS for $50) it is not a bad deal (PI8s cost much more so not really a fair comparison). I do think these will be great for calls and media consumption. They did grow once after a while but still personally prefer others for music.

 

[troyk]

My MW3 stopped charging after maybe 18mos and left ear of my Samsung buds stopped working. With all the companies making TWS buds those two are off my buy list. B&O battery life is crap after 2 years, but I guess that's normal, but they've never been loud enough anyway despite amazing sound. I've been going back and forth between Status ANC and Bose QC Ultra, mostly because they are newer, Bose has great ANC and sound is decent with spatial audio, and they still have good battery life which is a must for me. I had some Oneplus Buds Pro 2 that I had barely used, so I pulled them out, and have to say, they sound great and battery life is stellar. High volume, 5 hrs plus play, and at 50%. I'm wondering if the Oneplus Pro 3 are good, because I'm really liking the 2, comfort is great too and case is nice and pocketable, and not bad ANC either.

 

[HeadphoneAddict00]

Is the ie900 crap though?

It punches far below it's price range. There is stuff in the $500 range that outcompetes easily

The ie600 is better sounding to me and cheaper. Ie900 has weird peak

 

[webvan]

QC2 arrived yesterday and pretty impressed so far !
Fit is great, they're just "glued" to my ears with the standard fins, I just changed the right tip to L as I always do. They do feel like an "all-day" TWS especially with the effective Aware mode.
ANS is as good as it gets for a TWS and seems to have less white noise than the QC Ultra I briefly had. It's not quite as efficient for "cabin noise" (YT demo) as the QC SE cans I only use for long train trips. I'll compare them during my next train trip, maybe the QC2 will block out more "chatter" thanks to their form factor.
They do catch a bit of wind noise when running even with ANC off, possibly due to the fact that they stick out quite a bit more than the Bomaker SiFi II I normally use. With ANC on they're useless when running of course due to the wind noise. The fact they don't move in my ears is great though, didn't have to readjust them once. Runner's thud is acceptable too.
SQ sounds fine to me out of the box, I tried the bass boost setting but it didn't seem necessary.

 

[mainguy]

So the new Moondrop Moca (out oct 4th) look interesting (I know everyone here for the most part has a penchant for premium tws, as do I, but bear with me).

These have the exact same driver as the Aria 2, and the published FR curve matches the Aria 2 to a tee. Bear in mind last time Moondrop did this many said their Alice sounded better than the Kato, which had the same driver as Kato, thanks to DSP it matched and even exceeded its wired counterpart in some areas.

If these do sound equal to an Aria 2, they'll likely outperform basically every consumer tws up to and including Pi8. Measurements look super promising. Plenty of reviewers have compared Aria to top tier buds, Resolve was one I saw who compared buds 2 pro to Aria, and found Aria to outperform them easily. So Moca could be seriously good

Oh and they're $50 lol.

https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/moondrop-moca-true-wireless-headphone-tws

 

[Thesonofkrypton]

Enjoying the Bowers Pi6.

Great sound for the asking price. Still agree with my first assessment of them being quite close to the Pi8 and for most people that will be enough.
First noticeable difference though is the soundstage, while similar, sound less grand overall but far better than the XM5.
ANC exactly same as Pi8, quite good but not XM5 level.

On the Pi8 I could leave it on factory tuning and be happy. On the Pi6, I need to adjust bass +1 and Treble -0.5 to get it about the same sounding.

Mids are fantastic on these.

If I was going for all out sound quality, the Pi8 are still it. Personally I think it's worth to go up to the Pi8 if you can afford it. Pi6 are still one of the best options at that price range.

 

[fmkuz]

Anyone knows a good review of the Noble FoKus Triumph?

 

[scottsays]

Recently got a set of the Technics az80--fit is great and sound is very good. Noticed the Edifier Stax Spirit S10 and was curious if the sound was better on these.
I can return the az80 for the S10 if I want to---anyone compare the two and have any recommendations? Thanks for any input----

 

[scrane]

Anyone knows a good review of the Noble FoKus Triumph?

https://www.stereocheck.com/test/headphones/noble-audio-fokus-triumph-review-tws-reimagined/

 

[SussyTofu420]

So the new Moondrop Moca (out oct 4th) look interesting (I know everyone here for the most part has a penchant for premium tws, as do I, but bear with me).

These have the exact same driver as the Aria 2, and the published FR curve matches the Aria 2 to a tee. Bear in mind last time Moondrop did this many said their Alice sounded better than the Kato, which had the same driver as Kato, thanks to DSP it matched and even exceeded its wired counterpart in some areas.

If these do sound equal to an Aria 2, they'll likely outperform basically every consumer tws up to and including Pi8. Measurements look super promising. Plenty of reviewers have compared Aria to top tier buds, Resolve was one I saw who compared buds 2 pro to Aria, and found Aria to outperform them easily. So Moca could be seriously good

Oh and they're $50 lol.

https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/moondrop-moca-true-wireless-headphone-tws

Too bad they only support SBC, I don't think my Motorola supports LC3.

 

[JoshG1217]

I read an article on the detail Sennheiser goes through to test and match their drivers. Don’t listen to folks that call Sennheiser crap!! There’s a reason other companies try to OEM German products and have German companies set up production facilities on their sites. Watch YouTube shows on German car manufacturing to get an idea.. Only the Japanese can match Germany on manufacturing capabilities….

Well, so think the ie900 is crap. The over ear momentum 4 is really good though

 

[spr33]

Got my Pixel buds pro 2 or whatever they are called.Out of the box, it is amazing how tiny they are. I am able to get a seal, even though I have big ear holes. I haven't spent any time with them yet, but thus far they are comfortable. The sound is very balanced on the default setting. I haven't played with head tracking yet, but I will. ANC is strong, I am using the OPUS codec. So far so good.

Any further thoughts? I've always been tempted to try them having had Google phones for some years but nothing in particular with them made me try them.

 

[mikaik]

In case anyone is interested, my almost 2y old xm4 last for 8h in AAC, with ANC off, 50% volume (had to put them in a box, as I can't wear them for so long). I know this does not apply to every set out there, but I thought it's nice to spread out some good news from time to time. Normally people take on to the internet only when there are problems. If only I could wear them....

 

[highlightshadow]

Gonna be short and sweet.... bought some Edifier Neodots
They're not keepers. I find them really lacking and at best average across the board.

Sound is fine but lacks sparkle / airiness in the trebles. The bass is decent and doesn't feel bloated but it similarly lacks the punch.
The app is "ok" but pretty minimal. The EQ ability looks good on the surface, can set the +dB level, q-factor and pick frequency but it's limited to 4 bands and a max EQ of +/- 2dB
So frankly even min/maxing the bars really doesn't feel to be doing much of anything.

Codec's are SBC/AAC/LDAC but on LDAC max the buds crackled and died and downgraded the sound with the phone 30cm away
Case/Build quality feels nice but nothing special.
The buds have Android QuickPair but the app on the Google Play does not support the buds so you have to get the apk from Edifiers own site.

Overall a disappointment and well below what the Earfun Air Pro 4's manage to deliver at 1/2 the price.

 

[helmutcheese]

What is the passive seal and ANC like as I was looking at them for sleep due to the very long battery life?

These were the cheaper release with the Neobuds Evo being the higher SQ option.