Going fully Wireless IEMs. Too soon? Or are we there yet?
Nov 27, 2019 at 8:56 AM Post #16,201 of 66,424
Got the Tranya Rimor TWS yesterday. Compared to the B530's and T5, I find them to fit my ears very well - comfortable and secure. The SQ is superior to the other two IMO in that the highs are crisper, the mids a bit more forward and the bass is better defined. The 10mm drivers deliver the low end in a more realistic manner - no over-hyping - but plenty of punch when the music calls for it. I am using a new S10+ with no Adapt Sound set yet. Everyone hears this stuff differently!

The case is a step up from the B530's - it's smaller, more sturdy with USB-C.

They still need some breaking-in, but I expect that this will only improve things.

I'll report back in a few weeks.

My feeling exactly. I feel like it’s an improvement over their previous iterations.
 
Nov 27, 2019 at 9:15 AM Post #16,202 of 66,424
What did you buy that made you unhappy?

I think folks look for different sounds.
It's important that the reviewer has same "ears" as you. If the first earphone doesn't match - it means you need to look for your ideal reviewer.

From their descriptions I can identify right away that scarbir.com and d3myz probably has same ears as myself.
In my opinion - there are I think a few types of "ears":
1) The majority group (including many audiophiles) prefers sensitivity - they want to hear pin drop, hear sounds they never noticed before.
2) Some want sub sonic bass. The Monsters and Beats went that route.

To satisfy the market - V shaped sound frequencies are applied as: "Humans are intrinsically attracted to sound that are more colored than those with a flat profile. Headphones with V-shaped sound signature tend to have booming bass and sparkling treble, which makes for a more exciting listening experience." Include Bose, Sennheisers.
https://www.headphonesty.com/2017/01/v-shaped-sound-signature-mean/

3) Remaining folks and some audiophiles want thick sounding buds - tonal accuracy. For me, I want Snare drum to sound like real snares and rim shots to be full bodied. Metal string guitars should not pierce. These kinds of sound signature tend to be less exciting. It sounds even more dull when you add bass to thick sounding buds. Personally I do not judge by "how clear, cymbals, treble / bass extension",.. I look for tone, texture, feel. In other words "timbre". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbre

So reviewers also tend to fall into the above categories.
You need to know which sound appeals to you.

I'm not an audiophile... only a very average non pro musician.
I always try to identify type #3 and follow them....


Sound is subjective and everyone hears differently, but thee is a common unifier and most people know what is good and what is bad. Some like brighter sound. Some like more base. Some like more lower end. And some like clear that to others might be unpleasant. But most people can recognize good vs bad. Especially people who frequent head-fi.org.

Personally I currently have in my setup for full size headphones Sennheisers, Audezes and Focals... While I not an expert at all there is a certain quality that I need to enjoy my music. For a long time I was thinking of TW and now seemed as it is the time to try a bunch as there certainly has been an explosion of TS models on the market. Something good has to be out there, right?

So first I got Jabra's Actibe 65T and they are just ok. In terms of sound I could use them for walks. But there has to be something better and they are not the most comfortable thing out there. So after some research I purchased:

Sabbat E12 Ultra
Shanling MTW100
Mpow T5

https://www.scarbir.com/ reviews were a big factor in my purchasing decision... I know he reads here and this is not personal at all. I actually appreciate all the work and time the guy puts into it.

In my experience:

Shanling while has a great potential with mids and highs is a total let down. There is no base. I tried 30 different tips and pretty sure was able to get a good seal. They are just horrible. They are too small to stay in ears. No amount of good highs and mids can make them tolerable. It is just a total mess. My little son liked them because they were really small and cute and wanted to keep them for himself but after listening to them even he said they were bad and he does not want them. The mid and high have a great tuning but as a whole the sound reminds me of very cheap IEM that you get for free on tour bases...

Mpow T5 had a great low end and spaciness to them but they were so unclear and cheaply sounding that I found them unacceptable. Even for $50 they are just bad. You first think that they sound great the first few seconds but immediately within moments everything falls apart. Just muffled sound that is very unpleasant.

Sabbat they are not absolutely horrible if you like brighter sounds but the base is not fully there. Listening to George Michael for example you can hear that the vocal is messed up. I tried large variety of tips and they can be the somewhat pleasant but tonal accuracy as you put it is not there. Mids and low end is not coherent. I might keep them as they are not expensive but I can't say I am enjoying them. They are way more comfortable than Jabra's but the sound is not that great.

I guess I am also in your #3 category. I think 10 year old Shure's 215 will destroy any of these. I am just very surprised by the positive reviews on youtube and sites like scarbir. Do people come to expect so little from TW based on what airpods deliver?
 
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Nov 27, 2019 at 9:17 AM Post #16,203 of 66,424
Mpow M5... comes with smooother bass. Less deep, less impact.

New version has M5 written on box

Bartig = scarbir. Com :) I bought 3 tws based on your recommendation. Best reviewer I ever followed!!
Whoah, thanks. <3

Meanwhile, my pile of TWS yet to review has become so big, I decided to bundle 5 true wireless earphone reviews in one single post: the Nillkin Go, Awei T6c, Baseus W01, Alwup i9 and Doss Cloudfox Freepods.
 
Nov 27, 2019 at 9:22 AM Post #16,204 of 66,424
Sound is subjective and everyone hears differently, but thee is a common unifier and most people know what is good and what is bad. Some like brighter sound. Some like more base. Some like more lower end. And some like clear that to others might be unpleasant. But most people can recognize good vs bad. Especially people who frequent head-fi.org.

Personally I currently have in my setup for full size headphones Sennheisers, Audezes and Focals... While I not an expert at all there is a certain quality that I need to enjoy my music. For a long time I was thinking of TW and now seemed as it is the time to try a bunch as there certainly has been an explosion of TS models on the market. Something good has to be out there, right?

So first I got Jabra's Actibe 65T and they are just ok. In terms of sound I could use them for walks. But there has to be something better and they are not the most comfortable thing out there. So after some research I purchased:

Sabbat E12 Ultra
Shanling MTW100
Mpow T5

https://www.scarbir.com/ reviews were a big factor in my purchasing decision... I know he reads here and this is not personal at all. I actually appreciate all the work and time the guy puts into it.

In my experience:

Shanling while has a great potential with mids and highs is a total let down. There is no base. I tried 30 different tips and pretty sure was able to get a good seal. They are just horrible. They are too small to stay in ears. No amount of good highs and mids can make them tolerable. It is just a total mess. My little son liked them because they were really small and cute and wanted to keep them for himself but after listening to them even he said they were bad and he does not want them. The mid and high have a great tuning but as a whole the sound reminds me of very cheap IEM that you get for free on tour bases...

Mpow T5 had a great low end and spaciness to them but they were so unclear and cheaply sounding that I found them unacceptable. Even for $50 they are just bad. You first think that they sound great the first few seconds but immediately within moments everything falls apart. Just muffled sound that is very unpleasant.

Sabbat they are not absolutely horrible if you like brighter sounds but the base is not fully there. Listening to George Michael for example you can hear that the vocal is messed up. I tried large variety of tips and they can be the somewhat pleasant but tonal accuracy as you put it is not there. Mids and low end is not coherent. I might keep them as they are not expensive but I can't say I am enjoying them. They are way more comfortable than Jabra's but the sound is not that great.

I guess I am also in your #3 category. I think 10 year old Shure's 215 will destroy any of these. I am just very surprised by the positive reviews on youtube and sites like scarbir. Do people come to expect so little from TW based on what airpods deliver?
Hmm, while I enjoy a thick, engaging V-shape, my personal favorites are the audio products that display the most natural sounding instruments and put through details I've not heard before. The Shanling MTW100 with Balanced Armature (to be sure, do you have this version?) personally is great for me in more acoustic genres such as jazz, blues and classical pieces. I think instrument tonality shines on these genres, with excellent separation and placement. It is less suitable for pop and dance songs perhaps, where prominent center-mids are less likely the preferred sound character. I will add this in my review.
 
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Nov 27, 2019 at 10:14 AM Post #16,206 of 66,424
Hmm, while I enjoy a thick, engaging V-shape, my personal favorites are the audio products that display the most natural sounding instruments and put through details I've not heard before. The Shanling MTW100 with Balanced Armature (to be sure, do you have this version?) personally is great for me in more acoustic genres such as jazz, blues and classical pieces. I think instrument tonality shines on these genres, with excellent separation and placement. It is less suitable for pop and dance songs perhaps, where prominent center-mids are less likely the preferred sound character. I will add this in my review.

Are you the scarbir reviewer? I purchased Dynamic as based on various reviews I thought it would work better for the kind of music I listen. My preferred music genres are house/dance, pop and jazz. I am not a 'basshead' but do like clean and rich lower end. While Shanlings do sound pleasant for songs that have no base at all (vocal jazz and easy listening) and have impressive tonal tuning for highs and mids any song with any amount of bass including dance, pop or rock is simply untolerable. I wonder what music do you use for testing in your reviews? My 10 year old loved Shanlings as they were too cute including the toy like case and asked if he could keep them. I gave Shanlings to him and after 30 minutes of listening he gave them back to me and he said he does not want them as he did not like how they sound. He probably listened to Michael Jackson and Depeche Mode (don't ask...). They were the perfect fit for his ears as they are tiny... I think your reviews are misleading. While Mpow T5 low end is good everything else about them is very disappointing. You did not find the sound extremely muffled and unnatural?
 
Nov 27, 2019 at 10:55 AM Post #16,207 of 66,424
Are you the scarbir reviewer? I purchased Dynamic as based on various reviews I thought it would work better for the kind of music I listen. My preferred music genres are house/dance, pop and jazz. I am not a 'basshead' but do like clean and rich lower end. While Shanlings do sound pleasant for songs that have no base at all (vocal jazz and easy listening) and have impressive tonal tuning for highs and mids any song with any amount of bass including dance, pop or rock is simply untolerable. I wonder what music do you use for testing in your reviews? My 10 year old loved Shanlings as they were too cute including the toy like case and asked if he could keep them. I gave Shanlings to him and after 30 minutes of listening he gave them back to me and he said he does not want them as he did not like how they sound. He probably listened to Michael Jackson and Depeche Mode (don't ask...). They were the perfect fit for his ears as they are tiny... I think your reviews are misleading. While Mpow T5 low end is good everything else about them is very disappointing. You did not find the sound extremely muffled and unnatural?
A 10 year old listening to Depeche Mode? Awesome. :D

The Shanling MTW100 with Dynamic Driver is not as good as the Balanced Armature. It's like Shanling first created the balanced armature version, and then reverse-engineered a dynamic driver to sound like the balanced armature. It doesn't work very well - the bass feels restricted and whereas I really like the tonality of the balanced armature version, the dynamic driver version feels a bit cold - artificial too.

And plain simple, no, I do not find the Mpow disappointing. I've now tested over 70 true wireless earphones and I think it's an excellent performer for its price, with a sweet soundstage. I keep testing it against newer TWS, and still think they are very good. Of course, I test TWS with other TWS side by side, not against other audio categories.
 
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Nov 27, 2019 at 11:29 AM Post #16,208 of 66,424
Ya I’d happily buy an updated senn, also curiosity is killing me so I just purchased the mavin air xr and will get them Friday, I’ll update on any important differences from the air x after I get them, I still suggest anyone to try the mavin air x tho with comply tips as I found the hard to use actively with their silicone tips for the suction cup effect the sealed cavities create and how finicky the fit depth changes the overall sq of them. I still think they sound even better than the l2p in aptx codec


I rate the Mavin Air-X very highly. I've recently tried both the Sony WF1000XM3 and the Apple Airpods Pro and from a pure sound quality perspective I think the Marvin's are not that far behind.
 
Nov 27, 2019 at 12:22 PM Post #16,210 of 66,424
Nov 27, 2019 at 2:32 PM Post #16,212 of 66,424
Bartig got the M5s and the Spunkies on point. I guess we have the same somewhat sonic preference. Thanks for the rec'd mate.

Also, between the T1x, Rimors and Bomaker, which one should i go for?
I tested all 3 on an iphone xs max with no Eq'ing. The Rimor is much different then the other two. I personally like the T1x better than the Bomaker. The Rimor also has much less clarity, lots of high mids. It also has less bass and almost no sub-bass to me it sounded flat and a bit sterile. I also got it from Tranya for free. LOL. So they didn't pay me to say that. :laughing: There are a couple guys on here who just got the Rimor and said they sounded good with Samsung's audio eq'ing applied, but I don't know if they have the T1x or Bomaker to compare to.
 
Nov 27, 2019 at 2:43 PM Post #16,213 of 66,424
I tested all 3 on an iphone xs max with no Eq'ing. The Rimor is much different then the other two. I personally like the T1x better than the Bomaker. The Rimor also has much less clarity, lots of high mids. It also has less bass and almost no sub-bass to me it sounded flat and a bit sterile. I also got it from Tranya for free. LOL. So they didn't pay me to say that. :laughing: There are a couple guys on here who just got the Rimor and said they sounded good with Samsung's audio eq'ing applied, but I don't know if they have the T1x or Bomaker to compare to.

Also got comped the Rimor so ditto. And I have the Bomaker. And no EQ applies. They are nice.
 
Nov 27, 2019 at 2:52 PM Post #16,214 of 66,424
A 10 year old listening to Depeche Mode? Awesome. :D

The Shanling MTW100 with Dynamic Driver is not as good as the Balanced Armature. It's like Shanling first created the balanced armature version, and then reverse-engineered a dynamic driver to sound like the balanced armature. It doesn't work very well - the bass feels restricted and whereas I really like the tonality of the balanced armature version, the dynamic driver version feels a bit cold - artificial too.

And plain simple, no, I do not find the Mpow disappointing. I've now tested over 70 true wireless earphones and I think it's an excellent performer for its price, with a sweet soundstage. I keep testing it against newer TWS, and still think they are very good. Of course, I test TWS with other TWS side by side, not against other audio categories.

I think this is where the disconnect is. Maybe comparing with other wireless it makes sense. With me coming into the TW territory what I purchased was extremely underwhelming. I am now questioning if I should just wait until there is a next generation or go for top of the market Sennhisers that don't look that attractive to me and are missing a whole bunch of important features. I am now questioning if there is a reason why most if not all real headphone/iem companies are still not entering TW market. You would think that technology is there and most companies that make great iems would be easily capable to combine their knowledge and wireless technology at this point. But for some reason not that many are doing it...
 
Nov 27, 2019 at 3:03 PM Post #16,215 of 66,424
Sound is subjective and everyone hears differently, but thee is a common unifier and most people know what is good and what is bad. Some like brighter sound. Some like more base. Some like more lower end. And some like clear that to others might be unpleasant. But most people can recognize good vs bad. Especially people who frequent head-fi.org.

Personally I currently have in my setup for full size headphones Sennheisers, Audezes and Focals... While I not an expert at all there is a certain quality that I need to enjoy my music. For a long time I was thinking of TW and now seemed as it is the time to try a bunch as there certainly has been an explosion of TS models on the market. Something good has to be out there, right?

So first I got Jabra's Actibe 65T and they are just ok. In terms of sound I could use them for walks. But there has to be something better and they are not the most comfortable thing out there. So after some research I purchased:

Sabbat E12 Ultra
Shanling MTW100
Mpow T5

https://www.scarbir.com/ reviews were a big factor in my purchasing decision... I know he reads here and this is not personal at all. I actually appreciate all the work and time the guy puts into it.

In my experience:

Shanling while has a great potential with mids and highs is a total let down. There is no base. I tried 30 different tips and pretty sure was able to get a good seal. They are just horrible. They are too small to stay in ears. No amount of good highs and mids can make them tolerable. It is just a total mess. My little son liked them because they were really small and cute and wanted to keep them for himself but after listening to them even he said they were bad and he does not want them. The mid and high have a great tuning but as a whole the sound reminds me of very cheap IEM that you get for free on tour bases...

Mpow T5 had a great low end and spaciness to them but they were so unclear and cheaply sounding that I found them unacceptable. Even for $50 they are just bad. You first think that they sound great the first few seconds but immediately within moments everything falls apart. Just muffled sound that is very unpleasant.

Sabbat they are not absolutely horrible if you like brighter sounds but the base is not fully there. Listening to George Michael for example you can hear that the vocal is messed up. I tried large variety of tips and they can be the somewhat pleasant but tonal accuracy as you put it is not there. Mids and low end is not coherent. I might keep them as they are not expensive but I can't say I am enjoying them. They are way more comfortable than Jabra's but the sound is not that great.

I guess I am also in your #3 category. I think 10 year old Shure's 215 will destroy any of these. I am just very surprised by the positive reviews on youtube and sites like scarbir. Do people come to expect so little from TW based on what airpods deliver?

Thank you for your reply.
I think the idea of "universal good sound" may not hold.
For example - To me, I am so impressed with the MPOW M5. I prefer it to the much expensive Bose 700 by a small margin.
In fact I prefer the MPOW M5 to the entire speaker list that I have under signature.
I find it thick, tonally accurate, textured and engaging.
But to you it's cheap sounding and unclear and bad even for $50.

Our sonic preferences are different :)
 
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