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

[Zune]

There are different camps out there. Ones that want ambient mode, noise cancelling, mics, etc., and the ones that just want an earbud that has good sound, good battery, a small package, and works. I will never use ambient mode or noise cancelling, so those features are wasted on me. A good seal is all I need to get what I want out of earbuds. I don't want to hear any noise from the outside world, and yes I realize that means I may walk in front of a train. The price I pay for tuning out the world.

Ditto, all i need is decent sound, a stable connection and decent battery life. They will only be paired to my DAP and i don't need to do or hear anything when i'm listening to my music. I'm new to good quality kit and i'm loving the experience of my first DAP with some decent balanced IEMs but the convenience of bluetooth IEMs sounds very appealing. I've nearly pulled the pin on a set of Anbes 359's a couple of times but there is so much happening in this thread i've held off. It feels like something ground breaking is going to hit the market soon so i'll keep an eye on this thread for it

 

[nc8000]

At least with the current level of technology I will only be using true wireless iem’s while out and about with my phone as source in various mildly to loud noisy environments where to me the finer points of sound are lost to background noise so outright sq is not my highest priority. For “proper” listening I’ll swear by my various wired balanced phones.

 

[assassin10000]

i just carry the BT20 units alone with the smaller carbon case.

I too use the small carbon case. They fit well in there, and it’s the smallest case I found that still fits everything.

I've been using the same carbon case, but also found the small oval size works well too. It is a bit thicker and may work better for some larger size IEM's.

 

[AtariPrime]

Ditto, all i need is decent sound, a stable connection and decent battery life. They will only be paired to my DAP and i don't need to do or hear anything when i'm listening to my music. I'm new to good quality kit and i'm loving the experience of my first DAP with some decent balanced IEMs but the convenience of bluetooth IEMs sounds very appealing. I've nearly pulled the pin on a set of Anbes 359's a couple of times but there is so much happening in this thread i've held off. It feels like something ground breaking is going to hit the market soon so i'll keep an eye on this thread for it

I was very hopeful that something ground breaking was coming. At the moment though I'm not sure what's going on. Most of the new models have been a bust or just mediocre. The 1more is too big, the JBL 120 TWS is too big and has bad battery life, the JBL Reflect Flow has the same dimensions as the Under Armour model they make and will likely sound the same, the Bose 500 is not a true IEM and is very large, the Klipsch T5 is largish but has great battery life but doesn't seem like it will change the world. I'm not even sure who that leaves with a new product imminent. The Jabra Elite 65t is aging and is due for a new model. The Earin M-2 could be fantastic with updated internals aka an M-3. If bass is the number one consideration the Sabbat E12 and Anbes 359 supposedly have good bass but both are Chi-Fi meaning no name companies that get rebadged a lot with cheap parts and suspect quality. I am at a loss for what to buy or what is coming soon.

 

[vladzakhar]

When I started to get into TWE, I was looking for big names reputable companies. I thought, the quality should be top notch. But all of them had so many flows. Yep, Senns have very good sound, but the battery drainage is unacceptable. Earin M2 small and comfy, but the battery last only 3 hours. Beoplay E8 loose connection all the time. And so on.

Thanks to this forum, I thought I should try some Chi-Fi stuff. Not talking about $20 cheap earbuds. I bought Sabbat e12. Wow, the sound is awesome and form factor is great, battery life is over 6 hours and it's only $60. When I bought Tranya T3's and they sound even better with great battery life and superb build quality and the cost only $50. And so on.

My point is that, if the company has no name, it doesn't mean they have bad product with cheap parts. The sound and build quality are on pair or even better when big boys. Not all of them, but some. And they always working fast on updating they products, compare to big brands like Bose announcing the new earbuds to be on the market some time in the end of 2019.

This is why I love the forums like this one, where I can find out about quality brands I never heard about and don't spend tons of money for the way overpriced products.

 

[Slater]

When I started to get into TWE, I was looking for big names reputable companies. I thought, the quality should be top notch. But all of them had so many flows. Yep, Senns have very good sound, but the battery drainage is unacceptable. Earin M2 small and comfy, but the battery last only 3 hours. Beoplay E8 loose connection all the time. And so on.

Thanks to this forum, I thought I should try some Chi-Fi stuff. Not talking about $20 cheap earbuds. I bought Sabbat e12. Wow, the sound is awesome and form factor is great, battery life is over 6 hours and it's only $60. When I bought Tranya T3's and they sound even better with great battery life and superb build quality and the cost only $50. And so on.

My point is that, if the company has no name, it doesn't mean they have bad product with cheap parts. The sound and build quality are on pair or even better when big boys. Not all of them, but some. And they always working fast on updating they products, compare to big brands like Bose announcing the new earbuds to be on the market some time in the end of 2019.

This is why I love the forums like this one, where I can find out about quality brands I never heard about and don't spend tons of money for the way overpriced products.

It almost sounds to me like you’re saying that just because something is ‘brand name’ doesn’t guarantee it’s any better than the ‘non brand name’ stuff (and often times is actually worse).

You know, like you’re paying a premium for nothing other than the ‘big’ name and logo on the box.

 

[vladzakhar]

Exactly

 

[hifi80sman]

When I started to get into TWE, I was looking for big names reputable companies. I thought, the quality should be top notch. But all of them had so many flows. Yep, Senns have very good sound, but the battery drainage is unacceptable. Earin M2 small and comfy, but the battery last only 3 hours. Beoplay E8 loose connection all the time. And so on.

Thanks to this forum, I thought I should try some Chi-Fi stuff. Not talking about $20 cheap earbuds. I bought Sabbat e12. Wow, the sound is awesome and form factor is great, battery life is over 6 hours and it's only $60. When I bought Tranya T3's and they sound even better with great battery life and superb build quality and the cost only $50. And so on.

My point is that, if the company has no name, it doesn't mean they have bad product with cheap parts. The sound and build quality are on pair or even better when big boys. Not all of them, but some. And they always working fast on updating they products, compare to big brands like Bose announcing the new earbuds to be on the market some time in the end of 2019.

This is why I love the forums like this one, where I can find out about quality brands I never heard about and don't spend tons of money for the way overpriced products.

Totally agree. Brand image/reputation is something marketing folks build up, which in turn, builds up their bank accounts. It's not a bad thing per se, however, many times a company that has an established brand may begin to cut corners OR rest on their laurels and fail to innovate. Chi-Fi has almost zero marketing costs and doesn't need inflated margins to cover employee salary or health care, so they can offer similar products for far less. Additionally, most of the tech they use was already developed by someone else, so no R&D costs. This is likely why most high-end stuff from Sennheiser is produced in Ireland or Germany, so their trade secrets are not stolen. Same with Sony and manufacturing in Japan for it's high-end stuff.

 

[vladzakhar]

It's interesting that first TWE where from no name brands like Earin, Bragi and bunch of others on crowd funding.

 

[RobinFood]

I always felt like what you really pay for with big brands is an app, tighter quality control and after sales service.

I feel though that big companies just can't move fast enough to stay relevent. Just look at bose revieling their noise cancelling buds at a tbd date. By the time they come out they probably won't be interesting anymore.

 

[CocaCola15]

Well, had to send back the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1s due to some minor issue (some interference) at their suggestion. Bought a new pair. This time, so far, no interference. Very high on the sound and they do need a wee bit of bass EQ for me, but not much. Listening now, to Lucinda Williams (Wrap my Head Around That) and wow, these things sound fantastic. No, no specifics. Just sound great. I kept all the old tips, so now I have two pair of the foamies that come with them. At $129, I think I may be selling off the Senn MTWs. They won't be getting much play time, since the CAs have 9 hours rated battery life per listening session. I have the QCY T1, and just no comparison, but that makes sense considering the price point.

 

[FYLegend]

Honestly, not sure, but never got a low battery warning. Let's just say, I wear them in the car when I drive to the gym, at the gym (about 2 hours), then in the car back home. 3 hours there or so and no low battery. I'll keep a better track and use them in the office and see what I get.

Do they scream "battery low"? It would be nice if all TWS could do away with warnings as they wake me up from sleep.

Sad to say I think my S60 BT4.2 is losing battery life. I barely get the full 3 hours (around Android's estimate of 40% the battery low warning kicks in and repeats every minute or so until completely drained). The charging case also seems to drain fast and charge slowly. To compare, Jabra 65t's 15 hour total time can last me 5-7 days.

I was able to "restore" my Jabra 65t recently. Turns out the volume loss was mainly due to ear wax getting into the pressure vents and affecting driver flex as a result. It's still disappointing because I've not had this issue with IEMs after they get dirty. The volume imbalance and left-bud hiss/clipping is still a problem. Aside these issues and the uffy seal, the utility features and call quality are great. It also doesnt seem to drain my phone's battery as much .

 

[hifi80sman]

Do they scream "battery low"? It would be nice if all TWS could do away with warnings as they wake me up from sleep.

Sad to say I think my S60 BT4.2 is losing battery life. I barely get the full 3 hours (around Android's estimate of 40% the battery low warning kicks in and repeats every minute or so until completely drained). The charging case also seems to drain fast and charge slowly. To compare, Jabra 65t's 15 hour total time can last me 5-7 days.

I was able to "restore" my Jabra 65t recently. Turns out the volume loss was mainly due to ear wax getting into the pressure vents and affecting driver flex as a result. It's still disappointing because I've not had this issue with IEMs after they get dirty. The volume imbalance and left-bud hiss/clipping is still a problem. Aside these issues and the uffy seal, the utility features and call quality are great. It also doesnt seem to drain my phone's battery as much .

The Astrotec S80 is a champ. Been listening from about 2 in the afternoon to 7 in the evening (with a few calls in between) and they are at 50% on my iPhone Xs Max. I listen to these at 4 volume bars on my iPhone.

UPDATE: I ended up getting about 6 hours 15 mins before the “low battery, please charge” warnings, which seem like about every 15 seconds. Looks like the 50% estimate was off, but overall, I got 6+ hours at 4 bars.

 

[Nailzs]

I'm also surprised, and a bit disappointed about that.

With my slight (age-)impaired hearing loss at high frequencies I made promising experiences with sound/hearing personalization technology like the Mimi app on my iPhone. As a test I then bought a Nuraphone full size headphone, but didn't like that (subjective clumsiness) and returned it.

Now I'm very interested in trying the Nuraloop, once they appear in autumn. I didn't make a prerelease order, because I don't want to be bound, and dealers like Amazon sure will quickly offer convenient discounts and rights to return.

But I would be pleased if one of you premium HeadFiers could already now open a thread about the coming Nuraloops, to which I could subscribe (I myself being an absolute HeadFi-nobody don't want to do that).

Of course initially not much traffic would happen, but we would have a standard place of collecting the - initially sparse - news and insights.

Please give it a thought...

I've not seen any early reviews and the product won't be out until sometime in September so starting a thread at this point might be a bit premature.
I bought in early because my Nuraphones are by far the best sound I've came across in the years I've been messing personal audio.

 

[Soreniglio]

The Astrotec S80 is a champ. Been listening from about 2 in the afternoon to 7 in the evening (with a few calls in between) and they are at 50% on my iPhone Xs Max. I listen to these at 4 volume bars on my iPhone.

UPDATE: I ended up getting about 6 hours 15 mins before the “low battery, please charge” warnings, which seem like about every 15 seconds. Looks like the 50% estimate was off, but overall, I got 6+ hours at 4 bars.

How are they sound-wise?