[gibletzor]

Oh man; this thread is the holy grail of TWS. I've tried so many! Here are my quick thoughts on all of the pairs I've used over the years:

AirPods v1: Easiest Bluetooth headphones to pair ever, especially on a Mac, but surprisingly easy on other devices as well. Sound is okay, not great. Isolation is absent. AAC only. Control system kind of stinks; taps are worse than buttons. Phone calls are God-tier; could use these anywhere. Battery life okay at 5 hours, though in the past it was the best you could get. Being able to use each pod independently made this feel longer. No transparency mode or ANC. Case was pocketable; fit in the coin pocket. Recommend.

Bragi Dash Pros: A bit challenging to pair. Even more challenging to update. Sound is okay for $100; poor for $300. Bass is basically absent, mids and highs a bit muddy. No separation and shoebox-sized soundstage; worse than other IEMs. I'd say the sound profile was below-flat. Isolation was very good. Control system was very good; 4D menu was well beyond its years. AAC only. Abysmal for phone calls; troublesome indoors and unusable outdoors. Also, phone calls were imbalanced, which was annoying. Battery life okay at 3.5 hours; using its features brought that down a bit. Transparency mode was God-tier; nothing comes close to it. Case was a brick; not pocketable. They were waterproof, but they also had terrible QC; showering with them broke them twice. Didn't use the fitness features; already had a smartwatch. Sadly, do not recommend.

Custom Bragi/Starkey Dash Pro. A massive rollercoaster ride. Same as Dash Pro, but with more bass b/c custom. Heavily depends on how well they fit, which is an ordeal. Massive pain to get repaired; expect two weeks wait time every time. Sadly, do not recommend.

Jabra Elite 65t: Easy to pair; not as easy as AirPods. Easy to update, but took a while. Sound is good, but not great. Like AirPods, but better. AAC only. Control system was fine, though physical buttons can be tiring on your ears. Fit was a massive sore spot for me; could not wear them past two hours. Comply tips sort-of worked, but they wouldn't fit in the case if you used them. Call quality was great, but struggled outdoors. Transparency mode was passable; things sounded slightly robotic. Case was pocketable; fit in the coin pocket. Recommend...if they fit you.

B&O Beoplay E8: Easy to pair. Easy to update, but took a while. I didn't like the sound profile. Heavy-ish bass for no reason. Felt artificial. Mids and highs okay. Small soundstage, as expected. AAC only. Control system was annoying; don't remember much about it except it annoying me. Fit was amazing, especially with normal-sized Comply tips (which they used no problem). Call quality was absolute trash. Transparency mode was trash too; everything sounded underwater. Really liked the case, but it was big. Not pocketable. Do not recommend.

Sennheiser Momentum TW: Easy-ish to pair. Easy to update, but took a while. LOVED how these sounded. Bass was big, but not overbearing. Mids and highs were crisp. Great clarity, and great separation. I'd say the sound was light V-shaped. AAC and AptX supported. Fit was amazing, especially with Comply tips (which they used no problem). Call quality was not great, but passable. Fine for using indoors. Transparency mode was fine. Life-like, but quiet. Really liked the case; felt quality. Pocketable. Highly recommend.

Samsung Galaxy Buds: Very easy to pair, especially if you have a Samsung phone. Easy to update. A lot of people seem to like how these sound, but I don't think they sound that great. Mids and highs sound artificial to me. Bass was lacking. Tried hard to find it with a bunch of different tips. AAC and Samsung Scalable Codec (SBC-derivative) only. Fit was really good; not as so-comfy-you'll-forget-them as the Senns were. Call quality was not great, but passable. Fine for using indoors. Transparency mode was passable; not great. This feature, along with a bunch of others, only works if you have an Android device. Everyone sounded robotic, but I got used to them. Very small case. Very pocketable; fit in my coin pocket. Recommend.

Master and Dynamics MW07+: Pairing experience is alright. You have to take out the right bud to pair it with another device. A bit annoying, especially with Complys on. Updating experience uncertain, since they don't come with an app. These sound really good. The bass doesn't attack as hard as the Momentums do, but it is REALLY clean. Listening to jazz on these is nice, but the Senns are better for trap with that heavy bass. You hear it more than you feel it...but sometimes you feel it. Mids and highs are CRISPY. Super duper clean. Beautiful separation; better than the Senns, as the treble isn't as sibilant. Soundstage feels bigger than it really is. These support SBC HD and AptX. They theoretically support AAC, but I can't use them as such with my Mac. They still sound quite good through SBC alone, but this might deter iPhone users. Call quality surprised me. These are AMAZING for calls. Extremely usable indoors and out. Fit is really good; I can wear these for hours no problem. Transparency mode is okay, but not great. Senns were better here. Almost life-like, but quiet. LOVE this case. It's cold and unapologetic stainless steel. Yes, it's a fingerprint magnet, but it also looks SUPER cool. Very pocketable. Highly recommend.

When was the last time you used your Galaxy Buds? There were a couple firmware updates this summer that boosted the sound quality a fair amount. Also if you haven't already, try some 3rd party tips. I use Tennmak Whirlwinds on mine and they sound fantastic with plenty of bass.

 

[carlosonunez]

When was the last time you used your Galaxy Buds? There were a couple firmware updates this summer that boosted the sound quality a fair amount. Also if you haven't already, try some 3rd party tips. I use Tennmak Whirlwinds on mine and they sound fantastic with plenty of bass.

I got them in July this year, but have since returned them. That's a good update, though!

 

[hifi80sman]

Changing topics for a minute, I seriously considered selling my note 10 for an iphone 11 pro today. My family is invested in apple and while I find iphones boring, they are definitely excellent phones. But I couldn't bring myself to commit to AAC only with my tw addiction. So I'm standing pat and anxiously awaiting someone making a kick ass pair of LDAC tw headphones. Carry on.

Why not trade in the Note 10, get the iPhone, then pick up an LG V30 or V35 for a couple of Benjamins (aptX, aptX HD, LDAC). It will also have the Hi-Fi Quad DAC if you ever want to go wired.

Shoot, LG V30 (renewed) is dirt cheap.
https://www.amazon.com/LG-V30-H932-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B07DL11YRX/

 

[gibletzor]

Ended up returning mine as well. Extreme EQ made them sound decent and I was going to use them for the gym and such, but when I switched to another pair of TWS', I forgot to reset the EQ and nearly pierced my eardrums. They looked good and were comfortable, but just couldn't deal with EQing back and forth.

Returned mine as well, but because whichever side was the slave would disconnect constantly.

 

[stacey]

Curious to hear how good the Apple AirPod pro is. Last one I tried are the Bragi, and yeah..... those were trash. I currently have Bose QC20 for the ANC but if Apple sounds better I’d rather switch to that.

 

[hifi80sman]

CNET says there's more bass in the Pros vs. original AND says they compete with the Sony WF-1000XM3 as far as ANC & sound. Better calls on the Pros vs. Sony (as expected).

 

[johnyr]

Thanks for the tips for BT adapters. Looks like Shanling UP2 might be the way to go. TRN BT20s looks good too but I guess the sound quality might be lower than UP2 and reviews talk about problematic pairing etc.
Is there anything similar to UP2 that would be worth considering - I mean better features for similar money.

One more thing. Some of these BT adapters have some noise cancelling/reduction in their specs. Does this work for the music being played or is that only for calls? Having noise cancellation would probably be fine, however, I don't know how much it affects the SQ. Any comments on this?

I also looked for a short MMCX cable, as I'd probably fix UP2 somewhere near my collar to be able to use the built-in mic, but I can't find anything short, so that's probably not a way to go.

Thanks everyone.

 

[veraideishal]

One more thing. Some of these BT adapters have some noise cancelling/reduction in their specs. Does this work for the music being played or is that only for calls? Having noise cancellation would probably be fine, however, I don't know how much it affects the SQ. Any comments on this?

If you see the words “Qualcomm” and “noise cancelling” together, potentially with the term “cVc”, it always means that it is for cancelling noise from the built-in microphone for phone calls only (i.e. it only improves call quality for the other person). Because it comes “for free” with the Qualcomm chips used, most manufacturers just throw it on the spec sheet to sex it up. It makes no difference for listening.

 

[C_Lindbergh]

I'm thinking of just skipping true wireless for a while, and use my BT adapter another 1-2 years, unless Sennheiser kan stun everyone with they new model that should come out soon.

There's always something that put me off any given true wireless bud at this point -.-

 

[webvan]

CNET says there's more bass in the Pros vs. original AND says they compete with the Sony WF-1000XM3 as far as ANC & sound. Better calls on the Pros vs. Sony (as expected).

Strange review, what does "sound better" mean ? With so little detail given that's just his personal preference, sure the Sonys sound "pleasing" but I doubt the Pros have the same "Sony" sound signature as they're said to be balanced overall, not a description you could apply to the Sonys with their strong bass and recessed mids and highs. As for the "fit", hum...the Sonys are probably the TWS with which people have had the most fitting problems, getting/keeping a seal...did this guy get one, doesn't seem to know about the "concept" My Pros should be coming in tomorrow so I'll be sure to pipe in

 

[rcmo]

A quick (relative, dirty, etc.) comparison of my current tws with imm6. I like what I hear and what I see
Forgot to include the Jabra. Now Jabra 65t, Airpods Pro, Shanling MTW100, MEE X10 and Sony XF1000M3.

 

[SilverEars]

Curious to hear how good the Apple AirPod pro is. Last one I tried are the Bragi, and yeah..... those were trash. I currently have Bose QC20 for the ANC but if Apple sounds better I’d rather switch to that.

Bose QC20 is great for ANC, you definately made the right decision when it comes to picking iem with ANC. I will have to see if Apple can match it's performance because the QC20 ANC is so good. Reason why I like it is that I preferred wired for SQ (wireless seems to lose some fidelity compared to wired with active EQ) and battery is 16 hrs with ANC. There is no iem with that long of a battery life with ANC. Caveat is it's not for physical activity use due to the ciruit/battery bulk in the wireline, and prefer TW for physical activities. Hopefully the Bose NC 700 TW can do great ANC in an iem. But, why does wired ANC iem makes sense? It has 16hr battery life for long flights, and being wired you can plug to the flight entertainment. It's practical. I prefer ANC device to be light and small like iem.

I'm really curious what Airpod Pro's adaptive EQ can do? And as result, the general frequency response, and how it sounds.

 

[Bhelpoori]

30th October is also when the Amazon Echo buds come out, also with ANC... The reviews are mixed:
CNet: https://www.cnet.com/reviews/amazon-echo-buds-review/
PCMag: https://www.pcmag.com/review/371519/amazon-echo-buds

Would be really pleased if someone who gets them today can comment on how good they really are...

 

[SilverEars]

30th October is also when the Amazon Echo buds come out, also with ANC... The reviews are mixed:
CNet: https://www.cnet.com/reviews/amazon-echo-buds-review/
PCMag: https://www.pcmag.com/review/371519/amazon-echo-buds

Would be really pleased if someone who gets them today can comment on how good they really are...

Review on the Verge seems enthusiastic. https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/29...ds-review-features-bose-noise-reduction-price
In general they say SQ is good. Can commercial reviewers can be trusted with opinions is another though.

What is Bose noise reduction? What is the difference from ANC?

 

[SilverEars]

CNET says there's more bass in the Pros vs. original AND says they compete with the Sony WF-1000XM3 as far as ANC & sound. Better calls on the Pros vs. Sony (as expected).

Not surprising as they should have more bass due to actual fit and seal with tips now. The upper frequencies don't look bad, it's just the bass roll-off due to lack of seal. I'm pretty sure the pro will do better in the bass.

Airpods 2