[xSDMx]

Pixel buds pro.

Very comfortable and doesn't protrude much out of the ears. Treble and mids are present, could be a tad piercing at times. Heavy mid bass, the 11mm drivers you can hear as much as you can feel. Soundstage is pretty enclosed and not very spacious. Volume control can be done by swiping on the earbuds which works well (down to increase volume, up to decrease). There seems to be no way to turn off the adaptive ANC, long pressing on the earbuds just switches between adaptive ANC and transparency mode. Transparency mode sounds quite unnatural. Taking either bud out of the ears will stop playback, which is quite irritating for me. Putting any of the earbuds in the ear will resume playback. I hope the in ear detection function can be turned off. Unfortunately the pixel buds app keep crashing, so there's no way to find out what I can do with the app.

Thank you for sharing your early impressions! Seems like the sound signature is W shaped? Did you own the Pixel Buds 2 or A? How do they compare? I think these have the same 11mm dynamic driver, so I wouldn't be surprised if the tuning is identical.

Did you confirm which audio codec they are using? AAC? How is the connection stability?

Re: in-ear detection and the app crashing. My guess is that there is a release day app update scheduled which fixes compatibility for the new model. I've owned all the other Pixel Buds and the app did have an option to disable the in-ear detection, enable bass boost, etc. There will also probably be some option to change ANC vs. transparency mode control.

 

[DigDub]

Thank you for sharing your early impressions! Seems like the sound signature is W shaped? Did you own the Pixel Buds 2 or A? How do they compare? I think these have the same 11mm dynamic driver, so I wouldn't be surprised if the tuning is identical.

Did you confirm which audio codec they are using? AAC? How is the connection stability?

Re: in-ear detection and the app crashing. My guess is that there is a release day app update scheduled which fixes compatibility for the new model. I've owned all the other Pixel Buds and the app did have an option to disable the in-ear detection, enable bass boost, etc. There will also probably be some option to change ANC vs. transparency mode control.

Ya I think it's W shaped. These are my first pair of Google buds, so I can't make any direct comparison. They use AAC on my Samsung flip 3 phone. Connection is rock solid so far. I hope Google updates the app soon so it can work with the buds.

 

[Caipirina]

Dangit! All that hype talk here makes me want to order the Free Byrds ... you guys are a bad bad influence ... and amazon is a terrible enabler ...

OH, but good I checked ... it is apparently NOT as easy as usual to send those back ... what is 'original condition?' ... if they have a seal / pull strap like Bose, once you open it is 'used' ... sooooo ... this makes me circle back ...



Then again ... my birthday is coming up

AND they are not available in Japan yet AT ALL ... (flying back soon)

 

[bladefd]

Dangit! All that hype talk here makes me want to order the Free Byrds ... you guys are a bad bad influence ... and amazon is a terrible enabler ...

OH, but good I checked ... it is apparently NOT as easy as usual to send those back ... what is 'original condition?' ... if they have a seal / pull strap like Bose, once you open it is 'used' ... sooooo ... this makes me circle back ...



Then again ... my birthday is coming up

AND they are not available in Japan yet AT ALL ... (flying back soon)

Did Amazon change return policy or is it only for that single item?

 

[james444]

Haven't been following this thread for a while so I might have missed out: has anyone tried the Oppo Enco X2? I have 3 TWS on my radar and it's the only one that I can easily buy right now (other 2 being the Pixel Buds Pro and Huawei Freebuds Pro 2).

Getting it from China, it should cost me around $140 and it has a few interesting features that I'm interested to test out, like smart ANC, dynamic+ planar drivers, sound tuning by Dynaudio and Joe Hisaishi tuned EQ, bone conducting microphones etc.

I had the Oppo Enco X2 from Amazon and they're going back to where they came from. Had high hopes after an all-around positive experience with the Enco Air 2, but contrary to the latter, the X2 seem like a somewhat half baked product to me. Encountered multiple issues, even the largest tips being too small for large ears, proprietary tip mount, lack of space in the charging case for third party tips, BT-connection reverting from LDAC to AAC (despite the fact that my phone supports the former), about 10dB drop in bass when going from ANC mode to no ANC, you name it. Must confess I Lost patience after two hours of largely frustrating testing, even though the hybrid DD/planar driver seems very capable and sound quality would be stellar, if the rest of the package were up to snuff.

 

[Caipirina]

Did Amazon change return policy or is it only for that single item?

This is for all items that are NOT shipped / sold by amazon ... if it comes from a 3rd party seller / shipper (in this case Beyerdynamics), THEIR rules apply ... always check who you are actually buying from, in this case, amazon is just the middle man

 

[Caipirina]

Ok, some detail questions regarding the Free Byrds:
Is it possible to disable the single tap in the app? That is a recipe for disaster, every time I need to adjust the fit ...

What's the situation on multipoint? I saw one bad review on amazon blasting the Byrds for not even having the most rudimenatry form of MP .. while there is one review on YT saying they remember up to 6 devices ...
Then again, the YT reviews out there so far are mesmerizing ... one guy was explaining the marvels of the USB-C plug .. seriously?

I give myself one night to sleep over it

 

[OG10]

Has anyone tried the B&O Ex? - Is there a cheaper alternative or is it worth picking up.
I am only interested in SQ

 

[Phaethon]

I’m cycling through all the gems in my jewel box and am spending some quality time with my FoKus Pros. They are so sweet and every time I wear them I forget all the others!
But… was there ever a firmware update? I don’t find anything about a firmware check in the app and I can’t get the answer from Google!
Thanks as always

 

[Caipirina]

Dangit! I saw on the Beyerdynamics site that I can get 10% off when I sign up for the newsletter ...
Free Byrds will be here in a few days .. for 206.10€.

Early happy b'day to me I guess?

 

[J_3000]

Dangit! All that hype talk here makes me want to order the Free Byrds ... you guys are a bad bad influence ... and amazon is a terrible enabler ...

OH, but good I checked ... it is apparently NOT as easy as usual to send those back ... what is 'original condition?' ... if they have a seal / pull strap like Bose, once you open it is 'used' ... sooooo ... this makes me circle back ...



Then again ... my birthday is coming up

AND they are not available in Japan yet AT ALL ... (flying back soon)

Hmmm. I cant find those from amazon.de. Can you post a link? Not buying though. I have my hopes up for the EX.

 

[Caipirina]

Hmmm. I cant find those from amazon.de. Can you post a link? Not buying though. I have my hopes up for the EX.

you might not be able to see them as they are being shipped directly from beyerdynamics (not amazon) and they possibly restrict the offer to Germany / Austria / Switzerland ... try here

I ordered from Beyer direct and got 10% off (i am currently in Germany)

as for the EX ... i am done with stem based and 399€ is a tough pill to swallow for me ...

 

[Phaethon]

Has anyone tried the B&O Ex? - Is there a cheaper alternative or is it worth picking up.
I am only interested in SQ

I’ve got them and really am impressed with the sound quality. But that’s my ears and not yours. I think they are definitely worth hearing to see if they impress your ears. So, if you can, get them from somewhere with a generous returns policy. I am having the imbalanced earbud power drain, and they seem kind of features weak to me for the price, so I am leaning towards returning them.
As far as cheaper alternatives - every other TWS is a cheaper alternative! It’s all down to sound signatures and you’re the only one who knows what you like. Happy hunting!

 

[Tenlow]

Ok, some detail questions regarding the Free Byrds:
Is it possible to disable the single tap in the app? That is a recipe for disaster, every time I need to adjust the fit ...

What's the situation on multipoint? I saw one bad review on amazon blasting the Byrds for not even having the most rudimenatry form of MP .. while there is one review on YT saying they remember up to 6 devices ...
Then again, the YT reviews out there so far are mesmerizing ... one guy was explaining the marvels of the USB-C plug .. seriously?

I give myself one night to sleep over it

No, single tap cannot be disabled. However, not even once has that been a problem so far. They are big enough to avoid that entirely So, this really isn't a problem at all.

Multipoint, aka two devices at the same time, is not there (yet?). That said, of course they remember previously paired devices, not sure how many exactly, though. Usually it's something between 6 and 8 devices or so. I have them paired to my iPhone and my MacBook e.g. and switching between the two is very easy. Just press connect in the Bluetooth menu, that's it. They will immediately connect to that devices then. No previous unpairing or so needed.

 

[Tenlow]

Has anyone tried the B&O Ex? - Is there a cheaper alternative or is it worth picking up.
I am only interested in SQ

Yes, there are several impressions/reviews in here already, including mine. The EX are great buds, very good sounding. One of the best TWS out there for pure sound quality, They have a great build quality, a good fit, multipoint bluetooth, an IP57 certification and an extended three year warranty even once you register them in the app. Call quality is good. Really lots to like there.

They are not perfect, however. ANC and transparency mode are only average, the touch surfaces are a bit small for my personal liking, battery life is "only" decent and they are obviously very expensive! For reference, I bought the MTW3 and the Free Byrd combined for 6€ less than the 399 I paid for the EX and both are really great buds, too.

If money is no object, they are great. I would personally prefer the MTW3 as well as the Free Byrd, though, all things considered.