[clerkpalmer]

Grabbed the Beats Pro to work with my Apple Ecosystem. Not a bad product. I like the fit. The sound is very balanced - APP like. The spatial audio part is really special. If Apple ever decides to do a hi end headphone (no the APM is not it), there may be something there. These are definitely passable for music. Good product with the typical Apple polish. I don't see why anyone would buy the APP unless the form factor is preferable.

 

[helmutcheese]

It was my UK address, If I change to the US address in my account they are both in stock.

 

[erockg]

Grabbed the Beats Pro to work with my Apple Ecosystem. Not a bad product. I like the fit. The sound is very balanced - APP like. The spatial audio part is really special. If Apple ever decides to do a hi end headphone (no the APM is not it), there may be something there. These are definitely passable for music. Good product with the typical Apple polish. I don't see why anyone would buy the APP unless the form factor is preferable.

I actually love the BFP form factor better. It's more like the old Earin M-2s which were awesome. Hopefully Apple comes through with a major redesign of those APP. Pipe dream or they'll just take a few more years, unless the rumors are true. My ears must not be a great as most, but man, I truly love Spatial Audio with my APM. They just sound sick. I prefer them now over the Sennies, B&W and the like. Clearly not the high end cans you're talking about, but they do well for that ol' Apple Eco and for music. I just wish they didn't clamp so hard. That's my only issue with them.

Now that Apple has updated Macs etc. to SharePlay. I'd love to try SharePlaying a movie in bed with my wife while both listening via Spatial Audio. Tech keeps getting better!

 

[erockg]

I suspect there might be more at play re: Grell battery life. I don't have my set anymore, but during my first usage session I noticed very fast battery drain that I couldn't reproduce the next day. Possibly the battery controller learning or a quirk of the QCC5141 implementation.

Mine are at 79% after using them for over 2 hours. ANC on.

 

[clerkpalmer]

I actually love the BFP form factor better. It's more like the old Earin M-2s which were awesome. Hopefully Apple comes through with a major redesign of those APP. Pipe dream or they'll just take a few more years, unless the rumors are true. My ears must not be a great as most, but man, I truly love Spatial Audio with my APM. They just sound sick. I prefer them now over the Sennies, B&W and the like. Clearly not the high end cans you're talking about, but they do well for that ol' Apple Eco and for music. I just wish they didn't clamp so hard. That's my only issue with them.

Now that Apple has updated Macs etc. to SharePlay. I'd love to try SharePlaying a movie in bed with my wife while both listening via Spatial Audio. Tech keeps getting better!

Yeah I may give the APM another try now that I’m back to Apple. Although that Oppo Find N foldable looks pretty sick … I’m a believer in then spatial audio now. Much better than with the APP.

 

[erockg]

Yeah I may give the APM another try now that I’m back to Apple. Although that Oppo Find N foldable looks pretty sick … I’m a believer in then spatial audio now. Much better than with the APP.

Totally agree. The deals on the APM are great. Think I got mine for $429. I'm not familiar with the Oppo. Don't temp me!

 

[Tommy C]

It's going in and out of stock for me. I got an order in. I'm an absolute glutton for pain, apparently. I hope the pairing process and stability have been improved vs. the UTWS3. Still not happy you have to use the case for pairing mode, but whatever. I miss using my SE846s.

Since you're planning to pair them with the SE846 you may want to also consider the TW2 adapters.
I've been using them with the stock SE215 Special Edition and very happy so far with the sound quality and features.
Also used them for several calls and no issues there.
Been wearing them for almost 6 hrs now and starting to feel like my ears can use a break.
The downside, the case is just huge but I get very solid battery life so shouldn't be too much of an issue to leave the case at home if l really wanted to go lean.

 

[clerkpalmer]

Totally agree. The deals on the APM are great. Think I got mine for $429. I'm not familiar with the Oppo. Don't temp me!

It’s tempting but being on iOS just makes everything better. Just wish Apple would innovate their phones. Boring.

 

[Ceeluh7]

For those interested, Amazon US has the Fiio UTWS5 in stock for 12/24 delivery. Going to take a shot with the 2 Pin version since I already have the Shure TW2.

​

Jumping on this

 

[erockg]

It’s tempting but being on iOS just makes everything better. Just wish Apple would innovate their phones. Boring.

I'm an Apple junkie, drank the Kool Aid years ago. I'm so deep in the ecosystem, I prefer their phones. But I do think they're slow to get there half the time. Being able to listen to tunes and then move within all my devices for work is just so smooth over here. That said, I'm very much over WFH life.

 

[clerkpalmer]

I'm an Apple junkie, drank the Kool Aid years ago. I'm so deep in the ecosystem, I prefer their phones. But I do think they're slow to get there half the time. Being able to listen to tunes and then move within all my devices for work is just so smooth over here. That said, I'm very much over WFH life.

I agree. Off topic but every time i move to Android I realize despite coming a long way it’s still a long way away. I have a Fold 3 collecting dust currently.

 

[erockg]

I agree. Off topic but every time i move to Android I realize despite coming a long way it’s still a long way away. I have a Fold 3 collecting dust currently.

For sure. I used to jailbreak my iPhones for that reason. I got tired of Android always cannibalizing it's OS on so many devices. That said, who knows, I may go there again.

 

[Ceeluh7]

For those interested, Amazon US has the Fiio UTWS5 in stock for 12/24 delivery. Going to take a shot with the 2 Pin version since I already have the Shure TW2.

​

Man I'm torn, if I go utws5 I will def get the 2 pin as I have way more 2 pin than mmcx... However I'm looking at the iFi go blu as well and it just looks awesome. I have the Qudelix 5k and the BTR5 though and not sure if it is much of an upgrade, I kinda like the form factor of the lil guy. As far as utws5 I have both versions of the Utws3... Ugh. I do like that the utws5 has the AK dac now along with the Amp which will likely be much better than the Utws3, more refined, a bit better output power as well. Anyways I greatly appreciate you posting the availability, I checked yesterday and it said it would get here around the 29th. Thanks man

 

[jant71]

Quick strike with this as the 9 Pro is just really getting going.
https://www.kztws.com/products/kz-az10

Of course only gonna be two pin and only the C variant so far.


We got another ZE3000 impression. Sounds good but still no comparisons to anything.
https://www.phileweb.com/review/article/202112/17/4583.html

 

[turbobb]

I ideally fully cycle my buds a few times (use till each side turns off not partially charge) to try condition them for a hopefully longer life.

This may have been required with non-Lithium batteries back in the days but every TWS now is Lithium based and this is actually not advisable.

Here's a relevant excerpt from BU (source: https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-808-how-to-prolong-lithium-based-batteries)

"Similar to a mechanical device that wears out faster with heavy use, the depth of discharge (DoD) determines the cycle count of the battery. The smaller the discharge (low DoD), the longer the battery will last. If at all possible, avoid full discharges and charge the battery more often between uses. Partial discharge on Li-ion is fine. There is no memory and the battery does not need periodic full discharge cycles to prolong life. The exception may be a periodic calibration of the fuel gauge on a smart battery or intelligent device(See BU-603: How to Calibrate a “Smart” Battery)"

Also check out the discharge curves in Figure 1, if there was a benefit from cycling, you would see an initial uptick in the capacity but all curves show an immediate decrease.

The flip side of this is that Lithium batteries are also happiest when not charged fully to 100% with some manufacturers opting to charge only to 80-90% but it's highly unlikely that total longevity is the focus with TWS given battery life (capacity) is a key bragging right in the specs.