Hi Folks,
VERY rare poster here but have used head-fi as a resource on and off over the years and figured it was time to give back a little. Over the last few weeks I have purchased a number of different true wireless IEMs and am in the midst of demoing them to see which (if any) I want to keep for use with a new iphone. As an aside, I am not sure what's come over me, I'm a LONG time android user but for some reason just bought an iphone 12 pro max which should be here soon. I have long bitched about the apple ecosystem and some of the moves by apple that i consider to be ludicrous. One prime example of that is disposing of the headphone jack. Nonetheless, here I am demoing bluetooth iems so that I can avoid the 3.5mm dongle. So there's your back story.
Here are the ones that I have on hand. I will edit this post with my thoughts as I continue to work through my impressions of each set. Please keep in mind that I am running all of these through my PC currently, which is a Dell XPS 15 laptop. Source material is all FLAC. Currently listening to just a few of the same songs but will continue to cycle through these demoing with more material.
Klipsch T5II: Lovely packaging (who cares ultimately), case is a very nice zippo lighter style, sound is disappointing. Just far and away too rolled off for my taste in the treble. Where's the treble!! They could probably be eq'd but out of the box the sound isn't at all balanced. Mid bass and deeper bass extension is good relative to some of the others. Midrange is mediocre. Cannot get past the rolled off treble. Just no sense of space and not particularly engaging, as a result. Comfort is pretty good on this pair, they are relatively small and the fit is pretty good for me with the 2nd largest of the ear thingys.
edit 1 Klipsch: Sticking with more or less my original take here. These are a disappointment to me. I suppose taken at their price point (paid 100) it should be expected that they'd be out of the top tier but they just are not good enough for me to want to keep them. They are missing detail and are just too recessed for me in the upper midrange and treble. Even with some eq tinkering, I can't seem to get them quite to my liking - better, yes, but still just OK. Unlikely to come back to this pair again.
Master & Dynamic MW07 Plus: First impression... damn! why do I always have to like the most expensive ones. I need to do more extensive demos of my favorite few pairs but these are probably going to be one of them. Good treble extension, initial thought is that they have a hair of sibilance but overall well balanced vocals and, in fact, the overall tonal balance is good. They suffer from the same issue as a few of the others which is what seems like some compression or harshness with complex tracks played loudly. These cost something like 225ish on sale. Worth it? Eh, not sure to be honest.
edit 1 for M&D: Listening to one of my reference recordings, Clfford Jordan Live at Ethell's. This is a live recording in a small venue and there is a ton of ambiance. It's great for testing imaging and detail. I am hearing things from the M&D that I wasn't able to get from the Apple product. For instance, I can hear Jordan clicking each of the keys on his sax. These headphones are better than the Airpods. The tonal balance out of the box isn't wildly different but they are more detailed and I've not needed to tinker with the treble. There is a better bass extension as well as a bit more detail in the mid bass. These are good headphones, perhaps the best of the bunch. Onto the Sony again next...
edit 2 for M&D: Getting some sibilance on Trey's vocals on the Phish track. Listening to this after the Apple set these are a lot more dynamic. Vocals are a bit more forward. Space and imaging is better. There are some background sound effects that should be a little bit more forward than they are. Bass extension is a little better than Apple and the bass, overall, seems more realistic to me. The difference in detail is the most obvious on the Clifford Jordan track. I mentioned previously that it's recorded in a small club and it's a reference quality recording so you can hear clanking of dishes and glasses in the background. These are the only set that really gets at that fine detail. You can hear it in pretty much all of these headphones but not with the finest of detail. The same applies to Jordan's key strokes on the sax. You can pick this up in all of the headphones but this pair is the most realistic sounding. In fact, the sax itself is the most realistic sounding of the bunch. Listening now to ride cymbal, sounds perfect to me. The treble is pretty much right on for these headphones without tweaks, in my view. On the negative side, I am getting a little sibilance also on the Norah Jones track. I don't think I'd reported this issue before but I am getting a bit of this on both the Jones track and the Phish track. That's a tough pill to swallow at this price point honestly. On the other hand these do a lot right and are probably the one pair that seems to be significantly better than some of the other choices in other ways.
Apple Airpod Pro: I'm well aware of the negative perception of these here. Beyond that, as I implied above, i'm predisposed myself to having negative views of apple products in the sense that they tend to be a bad value. Having said that, these are actually not that bad. Are they the best of the lot sound wise? Eh, probably not but they may well be one of the better options of the group that I am demoing. They seem a bit rolled off in the treble but the overall balance is pretty good and they have pretty good bass and midrange. They are fairly detailed and they are comfortable to wear. At their normal price, I'd have to say they are a bad value. However, I paid $170 for these on sale and at that price point they seem to be a lot more inline with the competition.
1st edit for apple: ran a few more tracks through these including one of my reference recordings. these are really not bad headphones at all. honestly, I think people knock them a bit too hard given how they sound. negative apple rep? that's my view. I find the treble a little too rolled off for my taste and have given them just a slight boost in the upper treble to give them a little more space. On some material, there's some need for tweaks here and there but these are more detailed than I'd expect from a consumer grade product. I could easily see someone with limited experience getting their socks blown off by these. I'm sticking with my original impression, which is that they are pretty good. Not the best thing since sliced bread but good headphones without any serious issues to my ears.
2nd edit for apple: these are not quite as detailed as I think they should be for the $. However, i'm going to hang onto these as an option for testing once I have the iphone since, knowing apple, there may be some secondary benefits to them in terms of integration or other factors that I am not thinking of currently. I find them to be fairly middle of the pack sound wise. Not distinguished in any specific way but they also aren't falling down in any specific way either. I could be happy with them but I don't feel they are significantly better than some of the less expensive options. I'm giving them a slight boost in the treble now, which I think improves their sound a little. They sound pretty good with the norah jones track. The clifford jordan track is where I'm noticing some of the small detail missing and what prompted the treble boost. Instrument placement and imaging on the Phish track was good but not great. Some of others seemed better to me. They are reasonably punchy sounding for Rock but I don't think the extension is quite as good as some other options. This all sounds kind of negative but I think my original impression basically still stands, which is that they are pretty good in most respects and honestly better than I expected given their rep. They seem like a decent value at 170. Not a great value at 250 or whatever the normal price is for them.
Sony WF1000XM3: Like many other people here, I like the Sonys. They're one of the better options of the group that I've demoed. Overall, well balanced sound. Good detail and good upper and lower extension. The biggest issue with these, I think, is the fit. They are on the larger side relative to the other options and I just seem to get less of a good positive engagement in my ears.
1st Edit Sony: Coming to the Sony from having just listened to the two budget options. The Lypertek and Fiil. Back to reality. These are better than those two sets by a decent bit. The vocals are thicker and richer while still being very delicate on the norah jones track. Out of the box and even with some tweaks to the cheaper pairs the bass is better on the Sony. Vocal separation on the phish track is good. Mid bass and bass extension are both better. Treble is pretty good. I'd prefer the wah effects in the guitar bits to be a little more forward and have bumped the upper midrange to get a little more of that. These seem to take pretty well to eq vs. some of the others, which maybe means that people might prefer slight tweaks to the sound signature but that they are pretty well put together overall. For instance, listening to the Jordan track the background ambiance and fine detail on the sax are there but a little more recessed than I prefer. Small tweaks in the eq bring it out while still sounding pretty realistic. I think the biggest issue with the Sony is that while they aren't uncomfortable they could well be the least comfortable of all of the options. That's a bit of a bummer.
Anker Soundcore Liberty Pro 2: I've listened to these twice now and came away with the same impression both times. People like these? Not for me. WAY too bright, which isn't necessarily a problem in its own right (I actually tend to like relatively bright headphones) but there is just a ton of sibilance, which kills them for me. I'd say there is also too much mid boost as well. They just are not natural sounding or balanced to me. The best thing they have going is that they are pretty detailed but my overall impression of these was negative.
1st edit for Anker: Ok, I missed the boat a bit on these in the first couple go rounds and I know why. Female vocals seem to accentuate an issue that I am pretty sensitive to, which is sibilance. Cutting the treble a hair reduces a little of that while not affecting the space and imaging much. These are actually pretty good. I like them quite a bit more than the Klipsch, which I listened to immediately before them. If you are into imaging these punch above their weight. I can't recall how much these cost? Around $100, I think. These have a nice presence for rock but it's probably not the direction I'd go for jazz or female vocal oriented music unless you want to tweak the treble to reduce the sibilance (don't feel like it can be fully tuned out, personally).
Lypertek Tevi: Comfort is better than Sony, these are much better than the Soundcore but like a few of the others they get a bit compressed/bad sounding especially when listening to complex tracks loudly. These are fairly well balanced. I found the upper treble a bit recessed at times but the vocals are good and there is minimal sibilance. I wasn't blown away by these but they are also one of the cheaper options that I purchased and given the cost they are not bad.
1st Edit Lypertek: Going back and forth on these a bit. They are one of the less expensive options. They do some things right. The bass doesn't sound quite right to me. I think they are lacking extension. Even with some tweaking in the bass I can't quite get some of the bass guitar riffs sounding quite right on the Phish track. On the other hand, these do a pretty good job on some of the wah effects and assorted effects placement in the midrange. They handle vocals pretty well to my ears, not getting sibilance on these, which is great. The treble still feels a bit rolled off to me and I've given that a little eq as well. I'm listening to these right after the M&D set and for the $ they hold their own. While they aren't my favorite they represent a pretty good value.
Fiil T1XS: Comfort better than sony. These are slightly less rolled off than Lypertek but at the expense of more sibilance. I really do not like sibilance and I don't find it to be really fixable generally so EQing the Lypertek might be the better option if I was going to pick between the two least costly options. Like some of the others, these get that compressed/bad sounding feel when loud (not quite sure what's up with that), these don't sound that realistic to me for some reason, I think they are lacking some presence since the bass is a little recessed and the upper treble is lacking detail.
1st Edit Fiil: Listening to these again right after the Sony. Still feel like the comfort on these is a step up from the Sony but in terms of sound they are really not too bad. The signature is fairly similar to the Sony but just a hair more sibilance. They give a very nice intimate feel to the norah jones track I have been using. I slightly prefer the Sony but it's not a huge difference to my ears. Also demoing with Phish's Ghost which is a good rock track for testing imaging and instrument placement. I think I said initially that I felt these were less rolled off in the treble than the Lypertek but they are actually too rolled off and it's pretty apparent on this Phish track. I've given them a little bump in the upper treble, which helps. These aren't amazing but they are very good budget option in my opinion. I think this may be the least expensive pair that I bought (can't remember) and they seem like a reasonable option with some small tweaks. Not really feeling like bass is overly recessed anymore either.
2nd Edit Fiil: Ok trying to figure out if I prefer the Fiil or Lypertek. Female vocals are more compelling to me on the Fiil. Norah Jones has more of a delicate feel on the Fiil. Her vocals are a little more forward and have a little more sweetness. I prefer this. On the hand the piano is more thin sounding. So some give and take there. Moving to the Phish track, there is slightly better separation in the overlayed vocal tracks but male vocals seem a bit thinner to me, which is happening because the midbass is a little too thin. This might be a fitment issue, honestly. These are just a hair looser than they probably should be on me. I think these may have slightly better bass extension even though the midbass is a little more thin. I do still feel like these are little less rolled off in the treble. I don't really love these headphones but they are respectable. They are also 1/3 the price of a few of the others, or in the case of the M&D almost a quarter of the price. Hard to argue with the value proposition. I think I'd probably take these over the Lypertek, ultimately. I can thicken up the midbass with some eq and I'm not sure your getting anything for the added cost of the Lypertek. In fact, I could see a lot of people saying, effectively, to hell with it. These are good enough that it's not worth spending a lot more to headphones that aren't wildly superior. To be honest with you, I am starting to wonder that myself.
My initial thinking is that the Sony, Apple, and Master & Dynamic are the best 3 sets. Unfortunately, they are also the 3 most pricey... go figure. I will continue to add more thoughts as I tinker with these. I need to also try these with cell / conference call type applications. Have not tried that out at all and it will be a big factor in my decision.
