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

[galaxygrrl]

If I really enjoy the Svanars, would the ZX1 be a good choice or should I be thinking Noble?

Here’s a little vibe map for you to visually the sound of some TWS including the ZX1

Based on the clusters, you might vibe more with the Nobles. Personally, I’m team Rex5 (so good), and the TE-Z1? Total shrug. Did nothing for me.

Beoplays are awesome too. IMHO, though overpriced a little at this point.

 

[nijfi]

All being well, I'm off to London CanJam again this year, with TWS this time being top of my wants list as my Soundcores are on their last legs.

It looks like I should be able to audition offerings from Hifiman, Noble, Sennheiser, Hifiman and Technics directly?

Aside from really hoping that someone might have some Aviots there, although that might be unlikely, is there any other makes I should look out for?

I think that for my use case, ANC is top of my list, followed very closely by sound quality (LDAC preferred), and then battery life. Call quality is a complete non issue as they won't be used for phone calls, just listening to music on train travels mainly.

I'm really excited to hear that there's an Aviot planned for release with piezoelectric. I also read up on MEMS, and for a brief while got excited by the Creative Aurvana Ace 2, that was until I started reading the reviews.

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

TWS Fans,

In case you didn't hear, we are running a contest over here in this thread. Please stop by and check it out!

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ifi-audio-asks-gotta-lotta-iems.977026/

Cheers!!

 

[galaxygrrl]

The earbud gods are messing with me.

Out of nowhere, Amazon drops a pair of AZ100s at my door. Order date? Jan 12. Plot twist? I already returned those.

There is no charge on my credit card. No new order in Amazon. Just… poof. Free earbuds.

And now I'm staring at them like: are you a test… or a gift from the audio heavens?

My conscience says “return them.”

My inner gremlin says “they’re yours now.”

Moral integrity: hanging by a wire. (Bluetooth, obviously.)

But yep… I’m sending them back. Sigh

 

[SaveTheMantaRays]

The earbud gods are messing with me.

Out of nowhere, Amazon drops a pair of AZ100s at my door. Order date? Jan 12. Plot twist? I already returned those.

There is no charge on my credit card. No new order in Amazon. Just… poof. Free earbuds.

And now I'm staring at them like: are you a test… or a gift from the audio heavens?

My conscience says “return them.”

My inner gremlin says “they’re yours now.”

Moral integrity: hanging by a wire. (Bluetooth, obviously.)

But yep… I’m sending them back. Sigh

If it is that odd of a delivery, they might let you keep them

 

[Not so fat head]

Just fyi…, I’ve been using my JBL live pro 2’s, these are a steal at Walmart’s price of $89..

 

[ctjw33]

The earbud gods are messing with me.

Out of nowhere, Amazon drops a pair of AZ100s at my door. Order date? Jan 12. Plot twist? I already returned those.

There is no charge on my credit card. No new order in Amazon. Just… poof. Free earbuds.

And now I'm staring at them like: are you a test… or a gift from the audio heavens?

My conscience says “return them.”

My inner gremlin says “they’re yours now.”

Moral integrity: hanging by a wire. (Bluetooth, obviously.)

But yep… I’m sending them back. Sigh

You have to be honest in life or it bounces back at you. What I would do is contact Amazon customer service via online chat. Tell them exactly the truth of what happened, and just ask what would you like me to do? They actually made a mistake at your inconvenience. There is a good chance they say “just keep them.”

 

[galaxygrrl]

You have to be honest in life or it bounces back at you. What I would do is contact Amazon customer service via online chat. Tell them exactly the truth of what happened, and just ask what would you like me to do? They actually made a mistake at your inconvenience. There is a good chance they say “just keep them.”

I said I was going to going to be honest I’ll call them tonight

 

[rlw6534]

I said I was going to going to be honest I’ll call them tonight

Call them? It can be done, but it's pretty difficult...

 

[galaxygrrl]

Call them? It can be done, but it's pretty difficult...

No it’s not and it takes half the time Chat is twice as long by the time you go back and forth and dig though the Amazon site to find chat. Google gives you the number in one search.

 

[helmutcheese]

 

[Darkestred]

The earbud gods are messing with me.

Out of nowhere, Amazon drops a pair of AZ100s at my door. Order date? Jan 12. Plot twist? I already returned those.

There is no charge on my credit card. No new order in Amazon. Just… poof. Free earbuds.

And now I'm staring at them like: are you a test… or a gift from the audio heavens?

My conscience says “return them.”

My inner gremlin says “they’re yours now.”

Moral integrity: hanging by a wire. (Bluetooth, obviously.)

But yep… I’m sending them back. Sigh

You should black out your name and address.

 

[galaxygrrl]

Just watched the review, and I think it sticks the landing—pretty much echoes what we’ve been saying here:

• Rex5: Takes gold in the sound quality event, no question. It’s the event specialist—the Simone Biles of earbuds. Might not compete in every category, but when it comes to audio? Flips, twists, and absolutely nails it.
• AZ100: The all-arounder. Maybe not winning gold in any single event, but consistently strong—SQ, ANC, calls, app experience. The all-around champ of the bunch.
• Pi8: Built like a shot-putter—heavy bass, big power, less finesse. Great if you want impact over nuance.

As for me? I’m proudly on Team Rex5 (shocking, I know ). That sound just hits the sweet spot. But I do keep the Beoplay Elevens in rotation—my go-to all-arounder for when I need the full package.

(The reviewer forgot to mention that the AZ100 and Pi8 both have IP ratings. Designed for movement, sweat, and the real world—though not relevant if your main sport is marathon video editing, that detail feels… optional. Yep, that was harsh, I admit it, but I can't believe it was left out.)

 

[FullCircle]

PURPOSE BUILT

 

[dweaver]

Definitely think the REX 5 sounded substantially better than the PI8 and AZ100. The audiophile in me say damn... me want those. But that price point is so high and the loss of other features or lower quality of some things makes it hard to justify.

But if I win the lottery they are on a short list of things I would have to buy and I really like their color scheme.