[SilverEars]

Except AAC is not standardized and many Android phones have sharp fall offs in higher frequencies, not to mention the resonant noise that can come up in intervals around 150hz, 1000hz and then again after 6000k or so due to the psycho acoustic compression model it uses.

Any proof on this or explanations out there? Can you show me the roll-off? Also, the difference of roll-off between AptX and AAC?

 

[AudioNoob]

Any proof on this or explanations out there? Can you show me the roll-off? Also, the difference of roll-off between AptX and AAC?

https://www.soundguys.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-bluetooth-headphones-aac-20296/

 

[SilverEars]

https://www.soundguys.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-bluetooth-headphones-aac-20296/

Interesting. I wasn't are of this. It says this in terms of roll-off. "The Huawei P20 Pro performs the worst, with a roll-off occurring at an stunningly-low 14.2kHz—very much still with the range of most people’s hearing. The LG V30 performs marginally better by rolling off at 16kHz, followed by the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 at 17kHz."

The factor of how wide your range of hearing and if the recording has higher frequency information is anther matter. What matters seems to be up to 10k, and so called high res really concerns with how high of frequencies the information is contained. This information depends on if the high frequency information actually matters.

I guess different devices have different sampling frequencies of AAC. I thought it would be the same, but it's apparently not. the question is, is AptX better or not. If AptX varies accross as well, that doesn't say much about differences besides AAC works better on iphones.

 

[AudioNoob]

I believe aptx is chipset dependent, and so all use whatever they get from qualcomm

 

[d3myz]

Only if tronsmart could update their app with different eq presets, but they are being obstinate for some reason. I've been telling them for a month and everybody else has also said the same thing about bass. It is not rocket science to add a couple neutral presets to a qualcomm soc platform.

I hear you there. I don't even use mine anymore because the presets sound so bad. Typically I can listen to audiobooks on anything, but not the apollos. What a shame.

 

[d3myz]

So, i've been using the FIIL T1 XS for a couple days now and the Monitor mode has started clipping every 15-20 seconds, I'm hearing a balance shifting type effect as well. I've re-synced and factory reset multiple times, thinking I just got a bad pair. Anyone else experience anything similar?

 

[FYLegend]

Audio-Technica are back to get it right this time? New ANC model...

I feel like they're still sticking to that old "flagship-midrange-budget" model which is no longer viable with Chi-Fi/OEMs coming out with high-tier specs at lower prices. AT products are great with sound quality but they are a bit like Nintendo/Canon of audio brands being old-school in build-quality and features/specs. Would be nice to have something like the IM70/LS50's form factor. Sony may be a bit iffy in some departments, but there's a strong push for you to get their flagship products like the WF-1000XM3, as opposed to something midrange.

I wanted to report that Tranya offers refunds only after positive Amazon reviews. Besides being against the rules on Amazon, I find it deeply unethical and have refused their offer. I wanted to note it here so that people take reviews of their earbuds with a grain of salt. I review for a wide range of companies from Tronsmart to Jabra and have always required that I receive the sample without any expectations about the nature or the content of the review. I make it clear that my review will likely be more specific than an influencer's, and while I cannot quantify claims of objectivity, that I will be honest.

I read somewhere that while the seller may be liable if caught, there is a loophole in the ToS such that customers can't and won't be held liable. On Amazon.ca many sellers also don't list themselves as a brand but something more ambiguous - they're not grey market but might seem like it at first. It's more sketchy if they ask for your Paypal rather than refund you right away. When I opened my TT 94, I was given a 15$ gift card for Tao******* (it actually says this on the gift card like they want you to think it's a grey market product!) under the condition I give a 5-star review. I do commend them for shipping replacements fast, while Tronsmart insisted I send back a product via Aliexpress before I could get a replacement.

Regardless, it is the end product that matters to me. Bigger brands like Samsung and Jabra still play coy with inherent defects or QC issues in their products. The Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro "hiss" controversy stopped me from getting them and the anticipation that newer earbuds will have ambient sound at the same price point. There are issues that 90% of customers will not notice or find the end of the world and brands will play coy over them.

 

[gocam]

Anyone else her trying out the Hiby WH3 ? -one of the more interesting pairs I've listened to - they have an app that allows one to tune the crossover ( https://store.hiby.com/products/hiby-wh3 ) - midway between the default Hybrid and Balanced for me makes for a great compromise - good soundstage, outstanding isolation and fit once I flipped the stock tips for spinfits. No fatigue after listening for quite some time - they aren't the best looking headphones, but I am enjoying listening...

 

[howdy]

I was reading that the Jabra 85t has a 12mm driver vs. the 6mm driver in the 75t. Can't wait to see how these sound. May need to pick these up to even though I have the 75t elite. I think Jabra is really great product for their price point.

 

[chinmie]

I hear you there. I don't even use mine anymore because the presets sound so bad. Typically I can listen to audiobooks on anything, but not the apollos. What a shame.

did you update the firmware on your bold? the jazz and pop EQ preset reduced the bass to a more listenable level (at least for me). it's good enough for movies and YouTube, though i still cut the bass just a bit more with Wavelet for listening to music

 

[Luke Skywalker]

So after a week or so with the Bose... I love them! I took a 4 hour road trip on a noisy car And only heard the classical music I was playing. I literally took a nap in a room with a 3 year old using the thunderstorm sounds on the iOS Brainwave app...

however I came across a situation where the lack of volume control was a problem. I paired them easily to my fire stick to watch a late night movie but the sound was too quiet. But the fire stick remote doesn’t adjust the volume on Bluetooth buds. Without a way to control it from the buds, there was literally no way to change it. couldn’t use the iOS app either because you can only connect to one device at a time

fortunately I had my nuarl N6P’s with me too so it was all good but otherwise i would’ve been out of luck!

 

[AudioNoob]

did you update the firmware on your bold? the jazz and pop EQ preset reduced the bass to a more listenable level (at least for me). it's good enough for movies and YouTube, though i still cut the bass just a bit more with Wavelet for listening to music

They also make vocals sound underwater

 

[AudioNoob]

So I went testing AAC, SBC and AptX and had some surprising results with the Apollo bold. Could anyone double check? I'm on a pixel 3a

Reference

Firstly, AAC cuts off at 16.5khz on multiple earphones, so you won't hear anything before then

With SBC, I have clean reproduction from 17.5khz down

With aptx, there seems to be an issue with the Apollo. They make a hissy noise starting between 20 and 19khz all the way down to 8k. I double checked with a tone generator

 

[FYLegend]

So I went testing AAC, SBC and AptX and had some surprising results with the Apollo bold. Could anyone double check? I'm on a pixel 3a

Reference

Firstly, AAC cuts off at 16.5khz on multiple earphones, so you won't hear anything before then

With SBC, I have clean reproduction from 17.5khz down

With aptx, there seems to be an issue with the Apollo. They make a hissy noise starting between 20 and 19khz all the way down to 8k. I double checked with a tone generator

Well I feel like AptX decoding can be unreliable at times. My Dyplay Urban Traveller 2 over-ear ANC exhibits a crackling sound with certain "busy" tracks when using AptX but not with SBC or AAC. I thought this was the fault of the headphones, but later noticed that my much older 1More MK802 had the exact same problem with AptX on Windows 10 and my Galaxy Note 9. For whatever reason, AptX on the Sony Xperia Z5 does not exhibit this problem.

I've had less issues with TWS that use QCC3020, but the floor noise of Tronsmart Onyx Neo is quite high compared to the Sabbat E12 Ultra (which is still somewhat noticeable).

I remember doing some frequency sweeps on Audiocheck.net for various TWS - with SBC there is an odd echo effect after playing frequency sweeps from the files on the site, but not with AAC. It's been a while since I've done this test though. I just did some tests on the Taotronics 94 - with SBC, the bass shaker test has a high pitched hiss/rattle that accompanies the low frequencies, but this is absent when using AAC. I've yet to notice it on actual songs though.

 

[Bhelpoori]

Except AAC is not standardized and many Android phones have sharp fall offs in higher frequencies, not to mention the resonant noise that can come up in intervals around 150hz, 1000hz and then again after 6000k or so due to the psycho acoustic compression model it uses. On the other hand, if you have an apple device, AAC is perfect.

AAC is heavily standardised by MPEG originally as ISO/IEC13818-7:1997 and non-proprietary, unlike LDAC or AptX. As I've said before on this forum, "AAC" is an acronym for a large number of audio compression tools that have evolved over many years. There's been a ton of work over many years to make sure there's interoperability between different encoders and decoders.

What SoundGuys are describing is an implementation specific issue rather than a codec problem. Indeed, the codec on Android comes from one of the originators of AAC, Fraunhofer IIS and got a major update in Android 9 (Pie) so it should be comparable to Apple's. Indeed, the latest version of AAC has only be just released on iOS but has been on Android via Fraunhofer for some time. Note: The Fraunhofer codec is free but doesn't contain a grant of patents so some vendors don't like it.

Android has lots of flexibility about how you do things which means that several parties in the chain between your player and the output, which is described well by Soundguys, which makes for an inconsistent experience over Apple which controls everything. You'll notice the Huawei issues are to do with power management and not the codec at all...

Finally, codec issues often show up as Bluetooth radio issues. Apple tends to be really good at radio stuff making the Bluetooth max out at 256Kbps to it's stuff whereas Android/random TWS can be in the 192-224 kbps range.