Going fully Wireless IEMs. Too soon? Or are we there yet?

[clerkpalmer]

Using mine right now Love the soundstage very much. Definitely in my top 5, maybe top 3.

What’s the current top 5?

 

[erockg]

What’s the current top 5?

Not in this order but ya know: Noble Fokus Pro, Beoplay EX, Astell&Kern UW100, B&W PI7, Shure TW2 with SeeAudio Midnight... this week. Also, playing around with the Sony Linkbuds S, Earin A-3, Sennheiser MTW3. APP are still around here too, but only get love when I need to share audio on the Apple TV with my wife. I had a rewards credit at Audio46.com and grabbed a pair of the Noble Falcon ANC to try for a great price. Expectations are low, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised

 

[Not so fat head]

Not in this order but ya know: Noble Fokus Pro, Beoplay EX, Astell&Kern UW100, B&W PI7, Shure TW2 with SeeAudio Midnight... this week. Also, playing around with the Sony Linkbuds S, Earin A-3, Sennheiser MTW3. APP are still around here too, but only get love when I need to share audio on the Apple TV with my wife. I had a rewards credit at Audio46.com and grabbed a pair of the Noble Falcon ANC to try for a great price. Expectations are low, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised

Nice collection!!

 

[darkgod5]

So, out of all the TWS earbuds I've tried, the Sony XM4s are by far, BY FAR the best. Though, there are a couple caveats:

1) EQ is mandatory for good tuning. The Sony app comes with a graphic EQ which is actually pretty good. I used the treble boost setting but take the 16k band back down to 0 gain. However, now I use Poweramp for my Android phone and use parametric EQ settings that AutoEQ set for IEF neutral (from Crinacle's graph tool)

2) The tips it comes with are only foam (or some hybrid composed of) and, like all Sony IEMs tips, are absolutely awful as they get rid of most treble (and all the sparkle) and butcher the heck out of detail retrieval. So aftermarket (silicone) tips are also mandatory. But the nozzle actually fits fine every aftermarket tip I've tried (since there's a notch in the nozzle and it's decently long for a TWS) including Final E and Deep Mounts

But anyway, after all that's done I would put the Sony's in the range of $100-150 wired IEMs. Just before the 7Hz Timeless but comfortably after the Moondrop Arias.

 

[JoshG1217]

So, out of all the TWS earbuds I've tried, the Sony XM4s are by far, BY FAR the best. Though, there are a couple caveats:

1) EQ is mandatory for good tuning. The Sony app comes with a graphic EQ which is actually pretty good. I used the treble boost setting but take the 16k band back down to 0 gain. However, now I use Poweramp for my Android phone and use parametric EQ settings that AutoEQ set for IEF neutral (from Crinacle's graph tool)

2) The tips it comes with are only foam (or some hybrid composed of) and, like all Sony IEMs tips, are absolutely awful as they get rid of most treble (and all the sparkle) and butcher the heck out of detail retrieval. So aftermarket (silicone) tips are also mandatory. But the nozzle actually fits fine every aftermarket tip I've tried (since there's a notch in the nozzle and it's decently long for a TWS) including Final E and Deep Mounts

But anyway, after all that's done I would put the Sony's in the range of $100-150 wired IEMs. Just before the 7Hz Timeless but comfortably after the Moondrop Arias.

I agree with that. I've tried virtually all of them and even Just got the technics but after further use, the Sony just sound fuller and more musical. I've sent everything else back: gemeni, lu,pi7, eq, az60, momentum, evo, and the list goes on. Fokus sounded slightly better but no anc and the fit was weird for me because of the giant ass nozzles
If you haven't tried the xm4 wirh sedna tips yet, I encourage you to do so

 

[Fleeple]

I agree with that. I've tried virtually all of them and even Just got the technics but after further use, the Sony just sound fuller and more musical. I've sent everything else back: gemeni, lu,pi7, eq, az60, momentum, evo, and the list goes on. Fokus sounded slightly better but no anc and the fit was weird for me because of the giant ass nozzles
If you haven't tried the xm4 wirh sedna tips yet, I encourage you to do so

Do you have any recommendations if the xm4's are just too big for your ears/too unstable? Those were the start of my journey (admittedly with the provided earbud tips), but they just felt so uncomfortable so quickly and they kept falling out.

 

[darkgod5]

I agree with that. I've tried virtually all of them and even Just got the technics but after further use, the Sony just sound fuller and more musical. I've sent everything else back: gemeni, lu,pi7, eq, az60, momentum, evo, and the list goes on. Fokus sounded slightly better but no anc and the fit was weird for me because of the giant ass nozzles
If you haven't tried the xm4 wirh sedna tips yet, I encourage you to do so

Ah, yes, the Fokus are one of the few TWS I haven't tried since I didn't want to mess with their return policy... But I can imagine they sound very good, especially with EQ.

The Edifier Neobuds Pros on the other hand were definitely not as good as they were made out to be. Below even the Samsung Galaxy Buds.

Yep. I tried with the Sedna tips. They work fine. I generally settle on Final E or Spinfit CP100 and for the Sony I settled on the Final E tips but that's purely personal preference. Any silicone tip will work fine and be leagues better than the included tips.

 

[assassin10000]

Hi, i'm looking about the Linkbuds S.
I have an earing loss on my left ear so i'd like to know if the android app from Sony (i think Headphones is the app name) has an option to manage the L/R balance.
Thank's

Most Android versions should have a master left/right volume slider in settings. I think usually under "accessibility".

Do you have any recommendations if the xm4's are just too big for your ears/too unstable? Those were the start of my journey (admittedly with the provided earbud tips), but they just felt so uncomfortable so quickly and they kept falling out.

I found them to stick out too much with the stock tips. I have shallow ears tho. I switched to de-cored APP foams an got way better fit and better sound (wider bore).

I also found not rotating them back as far helped with fit too. Instead of twisting them backwards 45-60 degrees, I have them somewhere between 60-90.

 

[Fleeple]

Most Android versions should have a master left/right volume slider in settings. I think usually under "accessibility".



I found them to stick out too much with the stock tips. I have shallow ears tho. I switched to de-cored APP foams an got way better fit and better sound (wider bore).




I also found not rotating them back as far helped with fit too. Instead of twisting them backwards 45-60 degrees, I have them somewhere between 60-90.

So you would say that shallow ears are best suited to foam, and not silicon for them? I'd be curious to give them another try but I kind of hate foam (thank you for your patience and answers with pictures, for the record ).

 

[assassin10000]

So you would say that shallow ears are best suited to foam, and not silicon for them? I'd be curious to give them another try but I kind of hate foam (thank you for your patience and answers with pictures, for the record ).

Preference. Any tws length silicone tip would do the same. Azla has a few and others as well.

I like foam tips that have a 'smooth' outer coating or skin. Shure black 'olives' were my first choice when I had shure and later westone iems. Followed by 'ball' shaped foams, which unfortunately don't have the skin.

After that are these decored APP tips and/or tennmak 'strong' foams. All are dependant on fit.

If you have more 'standard' length or deep ear canals the 4.5mm bore tennmaks may work better. For silicone tips you may want to check the xm4 thread for recommendations.

 

[Fleeple]

Preference. Any tws length silicone tip would do the same. Azla has a few and others as well.

I like foam tips that have a 'smooth' outer coating or skin. Shure black 'olives' were my first choice when I had shure and later westone iems. Followed by 'ball' shaped foams, which unfortunately don't have the skin.

After that are these decored APP tips and/or tennmak 'strong' foams. All are dependant on fit.

If you have more 'standard' length or deep ear canals the 4.5mm bore tennmaks may work better. For silicone tips you may want to check the xm4 thread for recommendations.

Thank you kindly, I'll give that a look

 

[darveniza]

So am I the only one with vampire case drain in my EX? Really don’t want to return them as they sound soooo good.

Nope I think is a recurring issue

 

[JoshG1217]

Do you have any recommendations if the xm4's are just too big for your ears/too unstable? Those were the start of my journey (admittedly with the provided earbud tips), but they just felt so uncomfortable so quickly and they kept falling out.

Maybe the Evo? They were decent and have a small footprint. Included tips are trash though so use something else that get them fully inserted into your ear. The case didn't fit decent tips though so I kept having to take the off to charge. The az60 are really good, bur I Still prefer xm4

 

[darveniza]

My EX had drain, but it seems to be an app misread and maybe a drain at times. I reset, repaired and removed from my iPhone and other devices. Set them back up and haven't suffered noticeably since. I do drop them on the charger every day. Charged up yesterday afternoon and this morning they were still 100% all around. B&O has the worst return/exchange process. They do come through, but the waiting is the hardest part. I'm sure you've done all those steps to reset. If they're draining at a 20 click after fully charging them, return them. Sadly, Amazon and the like do not carry them yet so we're bound to B&O online

Will do the test. But EQ also does the same

 

[jant71]

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