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

[pgravili]

I am considering whether or not to buy the Technics az100. I already have the Rex5. I would like someone who owns both the Rex5 and the az100 to do a comparison of both here especially regarding the sound quality. Thanks in advance!

 

[galaxygrrl]

I have both. The super top level is AZ 100, the full package; it's excellent all around. Rex5 has fantastic sound, but it's not as good at ANC and the app is not as robust.

- Best for Warm Sound & ANC: Technics EAH-AZ100 – Balanced, intimate sound with strong ANC, long battery life, and water resistance.
- Best for Audiophile-Level Sound Customization: Noble FoKus Rex5 – Bright & detailed sound, wide soundstage, and personalized EQ tuning.

I had Chat GPT help me a little with the comparison for you, and it was accurate.

I really loved the AX 100 as my all-around, and then I tried the Beoplay Elevens, which I think are the best full-package TWS, but I have an iPhone, so no LDAC. Gemini 2 are a great full package too and are more for base heads.

 

[toomasg]

I'm not sure I understand your point then. You are saying that by lowering volume, you are potentially losing some "bits" because they may drop below the audible floor. If that's the case, I'm not really sure how that would be any different from any other analog volume control since we have established that bitrate does not change. Pretty sure if what you were describing was an actual thing, we would have heard about it by now. Like there would be a ton of sources saying to max out volume on the TWS and adjust from there. In most cases, the volume moves up and down on my phone and TWS in sync anyway. A big nothingburger.

Ask your AI "How Digital Attenuation of android bluetooth signal Reduces Perceived Audio Resolution" and take it further from there.
Also one needs to learn the difference between the bit depth and resolution of uncompressed signal vs the bitrate of the signal compressed by a bluetooth audio codec.
At the end of the day if you can't hear the difference it doesn't matter for you. Why bring it up at all - because "Fi" in "Head-Fi" stands for "Fidelity"

 

[aaalexx]

I have both. The super top level is AZ 100, the full package; it's excellent all around. Rex5 has fantastic sound, but it's not as good at ANC and the app is not as robust.

- Best for Warm Sound & ANC: Technics EAH-AZ100 – Balanced, intimate sound with strong ANC, long battery life, and water resistance.
- Best for Audiophile-Level Sound Customization: Noble FoKus Rex5 – Bright & detailed sound, wide soundstage, and personalized EQ tuning.

I had Chat GPT help me a little with the comparison for you, and it was accurate.






I really loved the AX 100 as my all-around, and then I tried the Beoplay Elevens, which I think are the best full-package TWS, but I have an iPhone, so no LDAC. Gemini 2 are a great full package too and are more for base heads.

Nice Comparison !
But is the gain in Sound Quality worth the price gap ? Between AZ100 (300€) & Rex5 (500€)
And between the Az100 (300€) & the Beoplay (500€) ?

I'm usually using wired IEM while working with a DAC (actually Sound Rhyme SR5 + E1DA 9038) and a low budget TWS for video or podcast during transportation, and I'm searching to upgrade my TWS to the best SQ possible

 

[galaxygrrl]

Nice Comparison !
But is the gain in Sound Quality worth the price gap ? Between AZ100 (300€) & Rex5 (500€)
And between the Az100 (300€) & the Beoplay (500€) ?

I'm usually using wired IEM while working with a DAC (actually Sound Rhyme SR5 + E1DA 9038) and a low budget TWS for video or podcast during transportation, and I'm searching to upgrade my TWS to the best SQ possible

I thought about that, too. I think the AZ100s are awesome, And you get the most bang for the buck with them. The sound on the rex5 is fantastic, so I kept those The Beoplays have better sound than the az100. What sealed the deal for me on the Beoplays is I really like their EQ feature and the sound is excellent. The wind feature is essential because when I go for walks and talk to my friends, they can’t tell it’s windy and they can with the AZ100's. This to me alone was worth the price difference.

That said, its a fair question. This video does a nice job of exploring your question.

Noble Fokus Rex5 Discussion vs Pi8, Gemini 2, and AZ100​

 

[helmutcheese]

Anyone sampled the Audio-Technica ATH-CKS50TW2 yet?

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/ath-cks50tw2

 

[clerkpalmer]

Ask your AI "How Digital Attenuation of android bluetooth signal Reduces Perceived Audio Resolution" and take it further from there.
Also one needs to learn the difference between the bit depth and resolution of uncompressed signal vs the bitrate of the signal compressed by a bluetooth audio codec.
At the end of the day if you can't hear the difference it doesn't matter for you. Why bring it up at all - because "Fi" in "Head-Fi" stands for "Fidelity"

Fair enough. I did ask AI. How does this help for TWS that have volume directly linked to the phone like almost all of them do?

 

[aaalexx]

I thought about that, too. I think the AZ100s are awesome, And you get the most bang for the buck with them. The sound on the rex5 is fantastic, so I kept those The Beoplays have better sound than the az100. What sealed the deal for me on the Beoplays is I really like their EQ feature and the sound is excellent. The wind feature is essential because when I go for walks and talk to my friends, they can’t tell it’s windy and they can with the AZ100's. This to me alone was worth the price difference.

That said, its a fair question. This video does a nice job of exploring your question.

Noble Fokus Rex5 Discussion vs Pi8, Gemini 2, and AZ100​

I'll watch this video, thank's.
As I don't use the call feature often (even less when outdoor), it's not a big issue for me.
(Plus I feel myself akward having a call with TWS, like I'm speaking alone like a crazy guy. The same when I see someone speaking alone : a crazy one or TWS ?? )

That's why I'm focusing on SQ.
My search begins reading the Denon Perl Pro had good reviews, but seems AZ100, Rex5, and Beoplay are wayyyy better.
The PI8 could enter the fight, even the Aviot if it wasn't so expensive.
I Guess I have to order them all to try

 

[pgravili]

I'll watch this video, thank's.
As I don't use the call feature often (even less when outdoor), it's not a big issue for me.
(Plus I feel myself akward having a call with TWS, like I'm speaking alone like a crazy guy. The same when I see someone speaking alone : a crazy one or TWS ?? )

That's why I'm focusing on SQ.
My search begins reading the Denon Perl Pro had good reviews, but seems AZ100, Rex5, and Beoplay are wayyyy better.
The PI8 could enter the fight, even the Aviot if it wasn't so expensive.
I Guess I have to order them all to try

Given that obviously everyone's ear is different from everyone else's, I tried both the pi8 and the Denon Perl Pro which I immediately returned. The pi8 are good but have above all connectivity problems, while the DPP are dark with a large amount of mid-bass. The personal equalization then is not comparable to that of the Rex5.

 

[aaalexx]

Given that obviously everyone's ear is different from everyone else's, I tried both the pi8 and the Denon Perl Pro which I immediately returned. The pi8 are good but have above all connectivity problems, while the DPP are dark with a large amount of mid-bass. The personal equalization then is not comparable to that of the Rex5.

Of course !
Several years ago, I tested Sony's headphones and other, and remember a muddy sound, no soundstage neither dynamics.
I'm affraid of something similar with the DPP : heavy boom bass darkish FQ

 

[galaxygrrl]

I thought the PI8 were way to buggy and the app was not great

To be honest I bought five Az100, pi8, Gemini 2, rex5 and Beoplay 11 Listened to them all and kept the Beoplay and Rex5

You made trade offs with the rex5 Great sound, ok anc, good but not great app, and no water resistance

Really happy with my choices I got the Beoplay’s for 45% off, so that helped for me and I bought an open box for the Rex5, so the beoplays were less than the AZ 100s and the Rex5 were a little more

aZ100s is absolutely the best bang for the buck

I really think the best thing to do is buy the ones you want to bake-off and play around with them I thought it was really fun

If you like base the geminis were awesome, but I’m not a base head and I like a wide soundstage

 

[toomasg]

Fair enough. I did ask AI. How does this help for TWS that have volume directly linked to the phone like almost all of them do?

If absolute volume is your only option then it doesn't make any difference indeed. You can't help it. OT was about a setup with absolute volume disabled.

 

[Not so fat head]

Fair enough. I did ask AI. How does this help for TWS that have volume directly linked to the phone like almost all of them do?

I think he's making this a little more complicated than it actually is.

The statement below says to increase the volume on you TWS from the device (phone), when you press volume up, it sends this string across the
Bluetooth data stream 23 0 f 1 ff ff ff volume up , for volume down, it sends this 23 0 f 2 ff ff ff . I'd say it's incrementing/decrementing a programmable amp/attenuator.

But I'm no expert, not my area....

Volume Control from Bluetooth Device​

When the Volume+/- button is pressed on the Bluetooth device, the following commands need to be sent from the host to BM devices.

23 0 f 1 ff ff ff – Volume up

23 0 f 2 ff ff ff – volume down

 

[AudiOhm]

Pretty sure if what you were describing was an actual thing, we would have heard about it by now. Like there would be a ton of sources saying to max out volume on the TWS and adjust from there. In most cases, the volume moves up and down on my phone and TWS in sync anyway. A big nothingburger.

AFAIK Fiio the only brand that says anything at all, but the opposite. Advice being to max the volume on the phone and use the buds for adjustment, but with the app for FW5 release the way it was, I didn't trust the FW5 to keep the set volume.

 

[TK33]

AFAIK Fiio the only brand that says anything at all, but the opposite. Advice being to max the volume on the phone and use the buds for adjustment, but with the app for FW5 release the way it was, I didn't trust the FW5 to keep the set volume.

Here is a link from Qudelix that discusses this. Seems to impact Android devices. Honestly, I never bother to disable absolute volume in Developer Options and just use my phone to control volume (all my phones are Android). Never noticed any decrease in quality. I just use whatever is convenient. It is bluetooth after all, which is not lossless.

https://www.qudelix.com/blogs/5k-dac-amp/volume-control