[krenzler]

Interesting review of the Devialet Gemini:

Thanks, that really is an excellent thorough look at the Geminis. Others could learn from this - looking forward to his XM4 review.

 

[bladefd]

Sorry I'm late on this. Just confirmed with a set of CX400BT. Audible distortion at about 12k with aptX, none with AAC.

Maybe it's a gain thing?

Sounds like my learning curve when I started. Are you trying to go as deep in as a traditional IEM? These like a shallower fit, where it just sits on the opening of your ear canal (at least in my experience). The hook does the rest of the work for me.

I like the Crystals with them, too. 50/50 with those and the Final TWS, but I think the tackier silicone of the Crystal will be a better option for your fit issues. Not much of a sonic difference between the two.

Which one between Crystal and Final tws do you find more compatible with a bigger variety of TWS? I have been thinking about buying new silicone eartips for several months now. I think I'm going to try either of those 2.

 

[AudioNoob]

@miserybeforethemusic @turbobb Thanks for checking. Yeah I don't know what to make of it and how it relates to actual music reproduction.

 

[BlazdiqFoods]

I am definitely not knowledgeable enough to offer a thorough list, BUT am excited for the upcoming Soundpeats H1 hybrid with Qualcomm 3040 / Adaptive AptX which I believe allows AptX HD compatibility to stream 24 bit audio.

Qualcomm 3040 does not support AptX Adaptive as found from AptX website. How did Soundpeats H1 manage to get that???

 

[cattboy]

I grabbed a pair of PI7

Thanks. These might be the only aptX-LL TWS that are out there.

Battery life still avg ~4 hours for you too?

 

[tiagopinto]

The case battery draining issue was with the original Senn MTW, not the MTW2

Thanks for your input. Anyway, they were double the price of the MT and maybe they had that “one independent bud only” issue... can’t remember but it’s always a few things that make me back off. I did like the sound a bunch, just not enough to justify the difference.

 

[tiagopinto]

Haha the thing is that I don't really find it fun right now, only stressful lmao.
Without getting into my life story I'm not exactly financially stable and won't be for awhile, but I have more money to spend right now than I will the rest of the year and probably next... so I want to make the best purchase possible, and since I don't have the opportunity to test out earbuds and return them if I dislike them I just spend way too many hours each day reading and watching peoples opinions and comparisons, and hopefully hearing somebody echo the opinions that I have so I feel like I can make a more educated guess on if I will like a set of earbuds. So finding new earbuds and reading about them is super fun, but this sort of "endgame chasing" that i'm doing right now isn't too fun. When I make a decision I second guess it and then i'm back to square one.

I can buy a cheaper pair of earbuds and be moderately pleased with it, like i'm super pleased with the SoundPeats T2 I just got in the mail yesterday, but i'm pleased FOR THE PRICE. They're not endgame material however, and I bought them as a cheap but competent backup pair to whatever I decide on buying, but I get EXTREMELY picky and uncertain when i'm buying something expensive. I narrowed down a list of maybe 10 earbuds and now i'm down to mostly two, but there isn't one option that strikes me as "the one". If Sennheiser had released the MTW3 with updated sound quality or even the same quality but also packed a smaller more convenient case, better ANC and qi-charging i'd be running down to the store and buying them right away.

I can totally relate to the financially stable bit but you have to admit that the TWS you buy next week may be “old news” in two months time.

To give you an example, I offered my wife the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 in the end of last year. She doesn’t give much priority to gadgets so, for the price, these ticked the boxes of what she needed. A month or two later they come out with the Liberty Air 2 Pro, now with ANC! I’m pissed off, I tell her... “ah, I’m fine, these are ok.” is the reaction I got. I’d be bonkers trying to return the first ones to get my hands on the new tech...

Maybe in a few years time it’ll all be hi-res, wi-fi, one week battery, and if you ask nicely it’ll make you a sandwich.

Relax, try and make the chase as fun as possible. There is no endgame in TWS right now and probably not in the future.

I too am picky and strive on making the absolute best choice for the given budget. I also would be running to the store to buy the perfect MTW3 or something similar but it’s just not there yet.

Choose wisely and happily.

 

[tiagopinto]

Got the Melomania Touch's from UPS and have been listening/trying different tips and EQ settings. I'm having an issue where every time I move my head or my jaw the sound changes, and this is the same with pretty much every well fitting silicone tip I have. The only thing that doesn't do this are memory foam tips. The tips I've settled on so far are actually the foam tips that came with the old Lypertek Tevi that I sold a while ago. They fit well, seal well, the sound doesn't change when I move my head or jaw, and these are short enough to fit in the charging case. I ordered another set of memory foam tips that are super short on Amazon. I have no problem using foam tips, but I just know these old Lypertek Tevi tips aren't going to last. Memory foam doesn't last, and these are already a couple years old.

Anyway, they sound good with some EQ. I guess I'm just not a basshead as I'm still adding mids and highs and reducing the bass. I did not expect to have to EQ out this much bass, but the EQ in the app works well, so whatever. This is the EQ I've been doing so far with the foam tips. It's a nice impactful and tight bass, but just a bit too much for me for the music I listen to. The mids and highs are great though, but I just wanted a tad more.

Glad you’re enjoying them. This EQ is about what I was using before the last firmware update. Didn’t find the need for it after updating. Have you done this? They also might change a bit and even out after some burn-in. Let us know.

The “seal-loosing when you move your jaw” makes some sense in these because the fin (which I love for a secure fit), which is flush against your concha might be pushed when your jaw muscles flex and thus making the buds “dislocate” in your ears. Get a good nights sleep to avoid yawning, don’t chew... and enjoy the music

Seriously now, this is a well implemented bud. For a TWS at this price, it has very good amplification, very nice tonality, timbre, soundstage and clarity. Could it be better and have the Pi7 sound? (haven’t tried it) it could... but it would cost more than 300€ and have a 3 hour battery.

Like I told Juturna, we have not reached it yet... but we’re closer.

 

[Juturna]

I can totally relate to the financially stable bit but you have to admit that the TWS you buy next week may be “old news” in two months time.

To give you an example, I offered my wife the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 in the end of last year. She doesn’t give much priority to gadgets so, for the price, these ticked the boxes of what she needed. A month or two later they come out with the Liberty Air 2 Pro, now with ANC! I’m pissed off, I tell her... “ah, I’m fine, these are ok.” is the reaction I got. I’d be bonkers trying to return the first ones to get my hands on the new tech...

Maybe in a few years time it’ll all be hi-res, wi-fi, one week battery, and if you ask nicely it’ll make you a sandwich.

Relax, try and make the chase as fun as possible. There is no endgame in TWS right now and probably not in the future.

I too am picky and strive on making the absolute best choice for the given budget. I also would be running to the store to buy the perfect MTW3 or something similar but it’s just not there yet.

Choose wisely and happily.

Yeah, you're right! I think it's mostly due to knowing that my financial situation will change for the worse for awhile, so if I make a bad purchase i'll be stuck with something I don't enjoy. The part about the TWS I buy next week might be old news in two months time, yeah it really does feel like that. That's why I've been considering the WF-1000XM4 before the MTW2 because the Sony's are brand spanking new and the MTW2 is probably going towards the end of its life cycle. But I actually ordered the MTW2's today, or maybe I should say that I reserved a copy in-store, so I get to think a bit first before I pick them up. If money wasn't going to be an issue I would just buy the MTW2's now and the WF-1000XM4 next month and just be done with it. But it won't work like that now.


I think it's a shame that there aren't any cheaper competitors that offer equally good sound as the big brands but on a budget. I mean, there's always going to be compromises but I used to be very into smartphones a couple of years ago and there were always "flagship killers" trying to really push excellent specs and performance but with cheap prices to challenge the more expensive brands.
Actually, scratch that, there are competitors that offer almost the same sound, but I meant an earbud that has all the other bells and whistles too with ANC, Transparency Mode, Qi-charging case etc.

I bought the SoundPeats T2 last week as I wrote earlier in this thread and honestly i'm so blown away by how much headphone I got for $35, the ANC is fantastic even if I would want maybe 5-10% more to be like "I could never need more", the call quality is better than any other TWS I've had (besides Airpods that I had a couple years ago) and the sound quality for music is honestly good. But I'd still rate it at 6.5-7/10 for sound and I want something that's 9-10/10 (as in 10/10 being the best sound in a true wireless earbud) right now. They're close to being a flagship killer but the sound on offer just isn't enough to feel like I have the gear to fully enjoy my music on-the-go for the next year or so. I also worry about the longevity since some chi-fi buds just don't have the same QC as some more established brands.

 

[DigDub]

Yeah, you're right! I think it's mostly due to knowing that my financial situation will change for the worse for awhile, so if I make a bad purchase i'll be stuck with something I don't enjoy. The part about the TWS I buy next week might be old news in two months time, yeah it really does feel like that. That's why I've been considering the WF-1000XM4 before the MTW2 because the Sony's are brand spanking new and the MTW2 is probably going towards the end of its life cycle. But I actually ordered the MTW2's today, or maybe I should say that I reserved a copy in-store, so I get to think a bit first before I pick them up. If money wasn't going to be an issue I would just buy the MTW2's now and the WF-1000XM4 next month and just be done with it. But it won't work like that now.


I think it's a shame that there aren't any cheaper competitors that offer equally good sound as the big brands but on a budget. I mean, there's always going to be compromises but I used to be very into smartphones a couple of years ago and there were always "flagship killers" trying to really push excellent specs and performance but with cheap prices to challenge the more expensive brands.
Actually, scratch that, there are competitors that offer almost the same sound, but I meant an earbud that has all the other bells and whistles too with ANC, Transparency Mode, Qi-charging case etc.

I bought the SoundPeats T2 last week as I wrote earlier in this thread and honestly i'm so blown away by how much headphone I got for $35, the ANC is fantastic even if I would want maybe 5-10% more to be like "I could never need more", the call quality is better than any other TWS I've had (besides Airpods that I had a couple years ago) and the sound quality for music is honestly good. But I'd still rate it at 6.5-7/10 for sound and I want something that's 9-10/10 (as in 10/10 being the best sound in a true wireless earbud) right now. They're close to being a flagship killer but the sound on offer just isn't enough to feel like I have the gear to fully enjoy my music on-the-go for the next year or so. I also worry about the longevity since some chi-fi buds just don't have the same QC as some more established brands.

You can look at the Fiil t1 pro or lite. The t1 pro is amazing value for money.

 

[jasonb]

Glad you’re enjoying them. This EQ is about what I was using before the last firmware update. Didn’t find the need for it after updating. Have you done this? They also might change a bit and even out after some burn-in. Let us know.

The “seal-loosing when you move your jaw” makes some sense in these because the fin (which I love for a secure fit), which is flush against your concha might be pushed when your jaw muscles flex and thus making the buds “dislocate” in your ears. Get a good nights sleep to avoid yawning, don’t chew... and enjoy the music

Seriously now, this is a well implemented bud. For a TWS at this price, it has very good amplification, very nice tonality, timbre, soundstage and clarity. Could it be better and have the Pi7 sound? (haven’t tried it) it could... but it would cost more than 300€ and have a 3 hour battery.

Like I told Juturna, we have not reached it yet... but we’re closer.

That EQ that I posted is still after the latest update. I guess I just like less bass than most people. I find most IEM's to have too much bass. I'm not sure the update changed the sound for me or not. It updated while I was in the middle of messing with EQ and trying different tips. Maybe after some break in I'll end up with a flatter curve, we'll see. I'll do some more listening tonight after work, but I was definitely impressed with what I was hearing last night.

 

[tiagopinto]

Yeah, you're right! I think it's mostly due to knowing that my financial situation will change for the worse for awhile, so if I make a bad purchase i'll be stuck with something I don't enjoy. The part about the TWS I buy next week might be old news in two months time, yeah it really does feel like that. That's why I've been considering the WF-1000XM4 before the MTW2 because the Sony's are brand spanking new and the MTW2 is probably going towards the end of its life cycle. But I actually ordered the MTW2's today, or maybe I should say that I reserved a copy in-store, so I get to think a bit first before I pick them up. If money wasn't going to be an issue I would just buy the MTW2's now and the WF-1000XM4 next month and just be done with it. But it won't work like that now.


I think it's a shame that there aren't any cheaper competitors that offer equally good sound as the big brands but on a budget. I mean, there's always going to be compromises but I used to be very into smartphones a couple of years ago and there were always "flagship killers" trying to really push excellent specs and performance but with cheap prices to challenge the more expensive brands.
Actually, scratch that, there are competitors that offer almost the same sound, but I meant an earbud that has all the other bells and whistles too with ANC, Transparency Mode, Qi-charging case etc.

I bought the SoundPeats T2 last week as I wrote earlier in this thread and honestly i'm so blown away by how much headphone I got for $35, the ANC is fantastic even if I would want maybe 5-10% more to be like "I could never need more", the call quality is better than any other TWS I've had (besides Airpods that I had a couple years ago) and the sound quality for music is honestly good. But I'd still rate it at 6.5-7/10 for sound and I want something that's 9-10/10 (as in 10/10 being the best sound in a true wireless earbud) right now. They're close to being a flagship killer but the sound on offer just isn't enough to feel like I have the gear to fully enjoy my music on-the-go for the next year or so. I also worry about the longevity since some chi-fi buds just don't have the same QC as some more established brands.

That anxiety about stability is understandable. I feel it most of the time. I enjoy music and it’s gadgets but I also like to cater for bodyboarding, diving and mountain biking. Can’t have 350€ buds and a bad regulator, derailleur or board. No problem. Instead of owning 10 pairs of TWS, I own 2. The MT and a pair of old Bluebuds X... see, it took me 6 years to upgrade. On the other hand, last year I (very unusually) bought two new bodyboards. Can’t complain.

About getting the Sony, I have nothing against the brand, but I just hate their arcade, juvenile, market pleasing approach to sound reproduction, at least in the WH/WF department. To each his own, but it’s not for me. Although, to be fair, some of their other features are really nice, like the ANC implementation. But I don’t buy headphones because of it. It’s just not one of my priorities. If it were, I’d get the Bose. At least their sound is accurate. Not fun, not engaging, just acceptable.

As for the MTW2, @PixelSquish said the battery issues were in version 1, not 2. Like you say, a third version might be impeding. You probably won’t regret if you get them but I’ll just wait and see.

This morning I was listening to a few recent albums on the MT (using stock large tips and large fins, which work very well for me). Andy Stott, Cannibal Corpse, Ulrich Schnauss/Jonas Munk, Field Music, Lil Yachty, Alfa Mist. Like @jasonb said, insanely fun.

I too was looking for more assured QC, which in chi-fi is sometimes a gamble. Cambridge Audio made some mistakes in the beginning and a lot of people were rightfully p-off about it. I held on and they, thankfully, corrected everything with firmware. Are they perfect? No. Are they endgame? No. Are they 130€ and very nice? Yes. Are there other options, at the same price, with this sound? Probably not. Are there better options out there? Yes, but they cost more than 200€. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Juturna]

You can look at the Fiil t1 pro or lite. The t1 pro is amazing value for money.

They cost way too much unless I order them from Aliexpress and I'm really not up for waiting over a month for them to get here. If I order them from Amazon US it's not only the price but also like $30 in import taxes and stuff, so I don't think it's going to live up to the price, but thanks for the tip!

 

[tiagopinto]

That EQ that I posted is still after the latest update. I guess I just like less bass than most people. I find most IEM's to have too much bass. I'm not sure the update changed the sound for me or not. It updated while I was in the middle of messing with EQ and trying different tips. Maybe after some break in I'll end up with a flatter curve, we'll see. I'll do some more listening tonight after work, but I was definitely impressed with what I was hearing last night.

Then I can totally understand why you didn’t like the XM3. Yes, after some burn-in, they even out a bit. They all do. Sometimes they don’t correct themselves like we wanted to.

A bit off-topic but still relevant, I recently got the Meze Rai Solo. Before burn-in they were terrible, just awful, scary. I had been warned but I was still worried. So, I connected them to my ipods, alternating each day and I chimed in for a quick listen each 24 hours. Well, after 72 to 96 hours I was amazed at how wonderfully these “settled”. Just love them to bits now. Every bit, pun intended.
(now come tell me burn-in is a hoax... and like this other guy said in another thread recently “cables don’t make a difference”... oh lord!)

The MT won’t change as much, but still, they “settle”... for fun.

 

[Juturna]

That anxiety about stability is understandable. I feel it most of the time. I enjoy music and it’s gadgets but I also like to cater for bodyboarding, diving and mountain biking. Can’t have 350€ buds and a bad regulator, derailleur or board. No problem. Instead of owning 10 pairs of TWS, I own 2. The MT and a pair of old Bluebuds X... see, it took me 6 years to upgrade. On the other hand, last year I (very unusually) bought two new bodyboards. Can’t complain.

About getting the Sony, I have nothing against the brand, but I just hate their arcade, juvenile, market pleasing approach to sound reproduction, at least in the WH/WF department. To each his own, but it’s not for me. Although, to be fair, some of their other features are really nice, like the ANC implementation. But I don’t buy headphones because of it. It’s just not one of my priorities. If it were, I’d get the Bose. At least their sound is accurate. Not fun, not engaging, just acceptable.

As for the MTW2, @PixelSquish said the battery issues were in version 1, not 2. Like you say, a third version might be impeding. You probably won’t regret if you get them but I’ll just wait and see.

This morning I was listening to a few recent albums on the MT (using stock large tips and large fins, which work very well for me). Andy Stott, Cannibal Corpse, Ulrich Schnauss/Jonas Munk, Field Music, Lil Yachty, Alfa Mist. Like @jasonb said, insanely fun.

I too was looking for more assured QC, which in chi-fi is sometimes a gamble. Cambridge Audio made some mistakes in the beginning and a lot of people were rightfully p-off about it. I held on and they, thankfully, corrected everything with firmware. Are they perfect? No. Are they endgame? No. Are they 130€ and very nice? Yes. Are there other options, at the same price, with this sound? Probably not. Are there better options out there? Yes, but they cost more than 200€. Decisions, decisions.

Yeah I feel you, I have a few hobbies and interests I wish I could spend my money on for some new gear, but right now I just need to make sure that I have food on the table and so on. But music is the most important thing in the world to me so I just feel like it's worth the money to get some new earbuds.

Ah, I feel like Sony definitely has gone a bit too much with the crowd-pleasing sound signature that I just don't think I prefer ANYMORE, I used to always buy earbuds with a lot of bass and eq the crap out of them to pull up the bass even more in Poweramp (got some insane rumbles that i've never felt on any TWS) on my android phones back in the day, but my preferences have changed a little bit.
It's a bit annoying though because I do enjoy some really impactful bass from time to time when I listen to more electronic music like Burial and Jon Hopkins for an example, and obviously with some modern pop and hip-hop/trap music that I like, but I don't like it when the bass impacts the rest of the music, and I don't like what overly consumer-oriented headphones do to more atmospheric and organic music, and you just lose something that's not measurable in hz, but it's just that headphones like that tend to evoke less of an emotional response for me because there's just SOMETHING missing, probably that little sparkle in the top end.

I generally think that the MTW2 might be a bit lacking in the bass department for me, but i'm not 100% sure because i've only tried them with the medium tips and I pretty much always use the largest tip available with earbuds.

I think another thing is that now when I have the SoundPeats, it's going to feel SO damn hard to motivate purchasing another earbud for like 7x the money (the MTW2 is 7x the money, WF1000XM4 8x the price, and so on), because there's honestly no way that it's 7x better in sound quality compared to this, and it generally has all the features that I want in an earbud (small pocketable case, good ANC & transparency, decent call quality) except for Qi-charging which honestly isn't even important to me, just nice to have. I sound like a big Soundpeats shill here but i'm definitely not, it's just insane value for money unless it happens to break within the first few months of usage (which is a risk of course), and since they're so cheap but still generally sound decent it's going to require quite a lot of money to find something that matches it in features but also has way better sound. At least I think so.
My budget is probably $300 so i'm okay spending that, but then I need it to be a damn good purchase.