[Mouseman]

Weird, Mine were near identical to my B530's. Granted the B530's sounded a little more open with slightly better bass extension probably due to the hours of burn in.

Yeah, it seems like they're a very polarizing piece of kit. People who got them seem to love them or hate them. I was shocked how bad they were compared to the B530s, which I really like. I thought the B530 with a bigger driver would be a good upgrade. YMMV.

 

[jant71]

Anybody else get this email today...

 

[tma6]

For those looking at an ANC option, the more I use the AuSounds Au-Stream Hybrid the more I like them. I know some are skeptical of burn in but 30 hours in, to my ears they sound warmer and way less harsh in the high end than they did when I first started using them. The bass is excellent, super clean, tight and satisfyingly punchy. I’d say more of a consumer oriented sound sig than pure “flat” audiophile, but the timbre is still on point and the detail retrieval in the mids and highs is actually pretty great. Still a touch hot In 1-2k region at high volumes, but it’s gotten better either due to burn in or I just got used to it. The form factor and low profile is probably my favorite of any TWS I’ve tried so far, and that goes for the tiny case too. They look fantastic and touch controls work well. No volume controls are a bummer. They had some weird quirks when I first started using them, some random quick drop outs, but those have seemed to have gone away for the most part. Also, while the case is super small and pocketable which is great, it also seems to need to be charged more frequently than many other cases I’ve used. The battery on the buds is solid - got around 7.5 hours no ANC, 6.5 mixed usage, and around 5.5 hours with ANC at 80% volume. The ANC is solid, probably slightly below the APPs, but they sound much better than the APPs. Definitely does the trick for low frequency noises and was helpful in a crowded super market. They have AAC but no AptX. IPX5 resistance. Phone calls are definitely solid when not too much is going on in the background. Does get muddled and pretty difficult to hear if it’s too loud, but the mic quality is good. Full review to come in the next week or so.

Main problem with the ANC on the Ausounds Hybrid unfortunately is that it is super sensitive to wind noise, which is nearly impossible to escape when walking around NYC. I didn't notice wind noise at all w my Airpods Pro when I had them. Is this also an issue w the Sony's, 1mores, or other ANC buds?

 

[Bhelpoori]

Not sure why. Seems works for the other guy here as well. Did you add underscore and all capitals? What model do you have?

This might be a noob question, but maybe someone can enlighten me with the magic and nomenclature of BT transfer protocols. Often I ask sellers “AAC or only SBC?” ... and one of the funnier responses was ‘works for both: Android and iOS’
So, today’s seller just sent me this screen print, a string of acronyms that I can’t really decipher (must admit that I have seen those before)


any of those mean SBC, or AAC?

Welcome to the world of Bluetooth, which as you have seen is a collection of various specifications at various levels. What you are seeing are the various Bluetooth protocols that are connected with the audio and microphone world: HeadSet Protocol (HSP), Hands Free Protocol (HFP), Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) and Audio Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP). HSP and HFP are for phone calls, the other two are audio ones.

The question therefore to ask them is "Does your A2DP profile support the optional AAC codec as in section 4.5, page 26 of the A2DP v1.3.2 specification? You can find the 1.3.2 version at: https://www.bluetooth.org/docman/handlers/downloaddoc.ashx?doc_id=457083 for your reference."

 

[webvan]

Main problem with the ANC on the Ausounds Hybrid unfortunately is that it is super sensitive to wind noise, which is nearly impossible to escape when walking around NYC. I didn't notice wind noise at all w my Airpods Pro when I had them. Is this also an issue w the Sony's, 1mores, or other ANC buds?

Yes because the mics have to be on to capture the surrounding noise and cancel it. You can't ride a bike with ANC on for instance, regardless of the ANC earbuds I've used (Echobuds, WF1000xm3, Libratone TA+, AirPods Pro) and if it's windy headphones like the QC25 are going to have a problem too.

 

[tma6]

@d3myz just got the Boltune ANC buds in. First impressions are decent. They sound pretty good for the price, nothing offensive sounding, the highs are a bit washed out but smooth mid-range and solid bass that's not too overpowering. The ANC is very mild it seems. Honestly the T1X have much better sound and just as good isolation for less money. So I'm probably going to be returning these. They're not bad though for the price and gonna test out phone calls before they go back to see how they do there.

 

[d3myz]

I saw someone posting about the L2pro for $130. I have 2 unopened black L2pro's. one version 2 and one version 3. If anyone wants one, i'll let them go for $107 each shipped within the U.S. HMU.

 

[d3myz]

Yeah, it seems like they're a very polarizing piece of kit. People who got them seem to love them or hate them. I was shocked how bad they were compared to the B530s, which I really like. I thought the B530 with a bigger driver would be a good upgrade. YMMV.

We are talking about the B530 Pro, right? aka the B530 Qualcom version? From what Ida@Tranya told me, the tuning is the same and so are the materials except for the chipset. That was also my experience. Super Weird.

 

[aspirina750]

Quick one, I own the Elite 75t and I'm still within my 1 month exchange time, should I go for the Active 75t? The question is mainly sound wise, I haven't found a good review that compares them acoustically.... Anyone has had some time with both of them?

Thanks!

 

[johnston21]

The SONY WF-H800.3’s arrived today (no APTX). Great form-factor. Have yet to compare against theT5’s. The Falcon’s are due tomorrow or Wednesday.

 

[Caipirina]

Welcome to the world of Bluetooth, which as you have seen is a collection of various specifications at various levels. What you are seeing are the various Bluetooth protocols that are connected with the audio and microphone world: HeadSet Protocol (HSP), Hands Free Protocol (HFP), Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) and Audio Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP). HSP and HFP are for phone calls, the other two are audio ones.

The question therefore to ask them is "Does your A2DP profile support the optional AAC codec as in section 4.5, page 26 of the A2DP v1.3.2 specification? You can find the 1.3.2 version at: https://www.bluetooth.org/docman/handlers/downloaddoc.ashx?doc_id=457083 for your reference."

Great response! Thank you! I copy / pasted this as a question to the seller ... let's see what they respond

 

[stormwrx]

For those looking at an ANC option, the more I use the AuSounds Au-Stream Hybrid the more I like them. I know some are skeptical of burn in but 30 hours in, to my ears they sound warmer and way less harsh in the high end than they did when I first started using them. The bass is excellent, super clean, tight and satisfyingly punchy. I’d say more of a consumer oriented sound sig than pure “flat” audiophile, but the timbre is still on point and the detail retrieval in the mids and highs is actually pretty great. Still a touch hot In 1-2k region at high volumes, but it’s gotten better either due to burn in or I just got used to it. The form factor and low profile is probably my favorite of any TWS I’ve tried so far, and that goes for the tiny case too. They look fantastic and touch controls work well. No volume controls are a bummer. They had some weird quirks when I first started using them, some random quick drop outs, but those have seemed to have gone away for the most part. Also, while the case is super small and pocketable which is great, it also seems to need to be charged more frequently than many other cases I’ve used. The battery on the buds is solid - got around 7.5 hours no ANC, 6.5 mixed usage, and around 5.5 hours with ANC at 80% volume. The ANC is solid, probably slightly below the APPs, but they sound much better than the APPs. Definitely does the trick for low frequency noises and was helpful in a crowded super market. They have AAC but no AptX. IPX5 resistance. Phone calls are definitely solid when not too much is going on in the background. Does get muddled and pretty difficult to hear if it’s too loud, but the mic quality is good. Full review to come in the next week or so.

I have the AuStream Hybrid ANCs as well and agree with you on them getting better after some burn-in. I haven't logged that many hours yet, but will post further impressions shortly.

 

[Ascariss]

Qualcomm chips work fine with non-Snapdragon devices, they just won't support TWS+ (Samsung, Huawei, Windows 10 to name a few) and/or AptX (only Apple off the top of my head). Even with a TWS+ device the single-bud switching is reportedly still clunky. I suspect Sony might have weighted in this usability issue as well.

Ya that is what I meant, devices without snapdragon would just use the old TWS connection, first connecting to one earbud and then that earbud connects to the other and not 2 direct separate connections to each individual earbud.

 

[FYLegend]

Decided to bite the bullet on the Galaxy Buds+, currently 10$ off on Amazon.ca (watch out for third-party listings as they're inflating the prices). I do suspect local stores might drop to this price, but last year the buds didn't really go on sale until Black Friday/Boxing Day.

Is there a new version of the Rimors? They were slated to be launched in December with new tuning...

Also wondering if anyone here has got their hands on the Astrotec S90 Pro. It seemed they wanted testers but never got back to me about it...

MPOW M30 looks promising except the lack of AptX. Did anyone here try M7 or M8 yet? I was eyeing on M8 but the reviews seem mixed relative to the M5.

Votomy TWS-V22 seems to use the same shell as GRDE T11 but it has only 2500mAh (vs 3000mAh), IPX7 (vs IPX5) and I don't see AptX listed either. I was considering the T11 which sometimes goes on sale on Amazon.ca but someone told me they got two units which both had swapped channels. Then there was this Chinese video using Gaia Control to fix the problem but it's so poorly explained. It seems more recent users say they don't have this issue though.

I'm basing it from product information on AE, that most newer TWS (not exclusive to qualcomm chip based ones) all have that picture that claim they have independent connection between each of the earpiece to the device.

if from experience, my XM3 and Dyplay (both use Airoha) and Galaxy buds (Broadcom chip) can all continuously play music without any stopping/skipping while putting one side in the case, taking it out again, and putting the other side in the case. my Airsun would have a slight skipping in that scenario.

my BT20S (qcc3020) would use master slave connection, but the master can be either the left or right, depending on which one's connected first to the device. if the slave turned off, the music still plays, but if the master side is turned off, the music would stop, and the slave would then connect as master to the device.

i haven't tested my son's QCY T5 which suppose to have Realtek chip.. maybe tomorrow.

I'm using Note 8 phone that doesn't support qualcomm TWS+ scenario to test them. also to my experience, the Airoha ones (XM3 and Dyplay) and the QCC3020 (BT20S) have the best stability in connection and range. i don't think i ever have experienced signal skip with them so far. i have several signal skip with Realtek ones, and the BES chip one (Airsun) has the worst range, but stable when close

The best way to test this is to remove the master bud from your ear and see if the slave bud cuts out.

I just tested out the Aufo M1. It doesn't pause when switching master buds and transitioning to mono, only a brief skip when I go back to using stereo. Cupping the master bud also causes the slave bud to skip, so it's not true single-bud mode. I presume this is a realtek chip as it is similar to my BE30 Air UFO.

Unfortunately I misplaced my Jabees buds somewhere and never really got around to testing it in this manner, but it did have seamless single-bud switching. I only recall that I almost never experienced skipping with it on my phone but all too often with Windows 10. Another note is that these were firmware upgradeable which fixed SBC volume distortion but not the stuttering.

On the other hand QCC3020 devices skip when I am strolling along a certain area downtown, and the "death grip" of my phone becomes more sensitive (cupping the top-left corner of the phone or sometimes just touching the volume keys). Probably not directly related to the chip, but my Sabbat E12 Ultra has been acting up recently with the left bud sometimes not pairing at all. It seems to be linked to the buds not being charged properly in the case. These have the best connection with Windows 10 that I've tried to far - next to zero disconnects.

Not directly TWS-related, but I'm still appalled as to why Samsung doesn't support AptX HD or AptX LL.They use a Murata Buetooth modem rather than Qualcomm (even on the Snapdragon version), but Huawei also don't use a Qualcomm modem either but they still support AptX HD. Not even sure the Snapdragon S9/S10 even support TWS+, as there were some early complaints I read on some forums...

 

[chinmie]

The best way to test this is to remove the master bud from your ear and see if the slave bud cuts out.

this scenario would only cut out on NFMI based master-slave TWS like the T65 or Earin M2. even cheaper TWS like QCY T1C that uses older Realtek master - slave won't cut out signal when removing the master side (and vice versa) from the ear. the best way to identify it as far as i know is like i described: from the connection name and by putting one of them in the charging case