[Ceeluh7]

Can somebody explain to me a bit how the codecs work in regards to one thing? So, I mainly use my Android phone for music listening, and I've heard people say that AAC isn't that good/reliable on Android in comparison to iOS devices.

But I mostly use Apple Music when I stream music, and from what I understand, it outputs the music in AAC format. Am I losing more on using SBC over AAC when the app itself outputs files in AAC format? Also kinda confused how AAC is both a file format and a codec? So in the end it might not matter that the track is AAC because it's not the codec itself.

If you have a newer android device, like the last 4 years than you'll be fine with AAC man.

 

[Luke Skywalker]

Prob off topic but I use two Nvidia shields in my house to stream movies and stuff. Because they run Android you can do the same thing - go into developer options to see which codec is being used. I only have one LDAC listening device though (HiBy buds) so I’ve not been able to do any kind of test between AAC, Aptx and LDAC.

 

[Juturna]

You are confused because there are actually two encodes and decodes going on:
1. Encoded by the Studio or the Music Service e.g. Spotify or Tidal or Warner etc. This is an encode that is the best the encoder can give and is often heavily managed today in the music production chain.
2. This is then decoded in your device into a lossless format that is then mixed with other sounds e.g notifications
3. The lossless mix of your music and other sounds are then encoded in real time into the format the headphone desires e.g. SBC, AAC, LDAC and sent across the Bluetooth radio connection
4. The radio connection stream is then stripped of the wrapping and sent to the decoder where it feeds the amplifier of your headphone.

Apple Music is (1) and your SBC/AAC is (3).

AAC is not the file format. You can encode music from e.g. CD using AAC but if you do that it typically goes into an MP4 type file container.

Also, AAC is a 20 year+ set of encoding tools so it is a generic codec name like BMW is a generic car name…

Android does have a great encoder and decoder in most modern builds. The encode efficiency at (3) however, is often compromised by the energy management system policy of Android as set by the device manufacturer, and the reluctance to pay license fees for more modern AAC tools.

Ahh, thank you! I guess I was a bit confused about what the deal was, because I do remember AAC files having a different format name (maybe it was .MP4) back in the day when I used to sail the high seas and pirate music, but it was known to be slightly better at lower bitrates IIRC.

I guess I was just mostly wondering if there was some sort of quality/resolution loss between a service that outputs AAC using earbuds on SBC, but I get that it doesn't really work that way in the end

If you have a newer android device, like the last 4 years than you'll be fine with AAC man.

Yeah I do, so that's good to hear! I'm not sure what sounds better though, it's so weird because I do feel like I am hearing a difference between SBC and AAC, and it's a bit strange, to me SBC retains the same type of character to the sound as LDAC but I can hear that the audio sounds compressed and has low resolution around the upper mids-ish. AAC I feel like sounds different to LDAC in sound, it feels like the higher frequencies get rolled back quite a bit, almost to the point where I would almost want to use a different EQ than on LDAC.
Maybe I'm just imagining things.

 

[Juturna]

Nice job man! Great write up. Couldn't agree more too

I am really looking forward to seeing (and possibly hearing) what the Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro will be like. If they improve the battery on LDAC or include some other hi-res codec that's more battery efficient they will already be fantastic, but if they can improve the stock tuning a bit, make the case and buds smaller and improve the ANC and still keep the price below $200 I feel like they're going to be worthy a mention in the same category as the real heavy-hitters.

Still feels like people regard Anker/Soundcore as a "not audiophile enough" because the stock tuning is very tailored to your average consumer, and I guess they market themselves a bit as such, but I think they're worthy of being included... Maybe not with Noble Audio and B&O etc, but for sure in the same category as Sennheiser, Technics and I guess Sony for creating great sounding earbuds that are also impressive in features and specs, and not just being "budget friendly bang-for-buck bass boomy earbuds" I know it's been shifting a bit and people here who have tried them are in the know, but I still feel like people rate them lower than they should be.
I think these sound way better than the Technics AZ60, Sennheiser MTW2s (actually the 3s too, but I've only heard them in passing), better than the Devialet by far, and so on.

 

[Ceeluh7]

I am really looking forward to seeing (and possibly hearing) what the Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro will be like. If they improve the battery on LDAC or include some other hi-res codec that's more battery efficient they will already be fantastic, but if they can improve the stock tuning a bit, make the case and buds smaller and improve the ANC and still keep the price below $200 I feel like they're going to be worthy a mention in the same category as the real heavy-hitters.

Still feels like people regard Anker/Soundcore as a "not audiophile enough" because the stock tuning is very tailored to your average consumer, and I guess they market themselves a bit as such, but I think they're worthy of being included... Maybe not with Noble Audio and B&O etc, but for sure in the same category as Sennheiser, Technics and I guess Sony for creating great sounding earbuds that are also impressive in features and specs, and not just being "budget friendly bang-for-buck bass boomy earbuds" I know it's been shifting a bit and people here who have tried them are in the know, but I still feel like people rate them lower than they should be.
I think these sound way better than the Technics AZ60, Sennheiser MTW2s (actually the 3s too, but I've only heard them in passing), better than the Devialet by far, and so on.

I agree. L3P was simply too far off on stock tuning. I was very surprised how well they took to EQ however. I was able to eq that set to a totally different beast and with no audible distortion. I rate the L3P higher than the AZ60's as well as far as SQ is concerned too. I ran k them a bit better than many tws in the price point. Def better than the 1more Evo as well. Ya Id like to see what they do in L4P

 

[uraklechko]

I am really looking forward to seeing (and possibly hearing) what the Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro will be like. If they improve the battery on LDAC or include some other hi-res codec that's more battery efficient they will already be fantastic, but if they can improve the stock tuning a bit, make the case and buds smaller and improve the ANC and still keep the price below $200 I feel like they're going to be worthy a mention in the same category as the real heavy-hitters.

Still feels like people regard Anker/Soundcore as a "not audiophile enough" because the stock tuning is very tailored to your average consumer, and I guess they market themselves a bit as such, but I think they're worthy of being included... Maybe not with Noble Audio and B&O etc, but for sure in the same category as Sennheiser, Technics and I guess Sony for creating great sounding earbuds that are also impressive in features and specs, and not just being "budget friendly bang-for-buck bass boomy earbuds" I know it's been shifting a bit and people here who have tried them are in the know, but I still feel like people rate them lower than they should be.
I think these sound way better than the Technics AZ60, Sennheiser MTW2s (actually the 3s too, but I've only heard them in passing), better than the Devialet by far, and so on.

I own both L3P and Technics AZ60, and can confirm that L3P blows away Technics from any perspective. L3P sound louder, and cleaner, and the soundstage is a lot wider.
I also like how comfortable L3P, cause their corpus does not put into your ears, only tips and earwings, which is beneficial when listening to them for a long time.
Now I'm going to sell Technics

 

[scubaphish]

Good day crew. FYI, Linkbuds S on sale at Amazon for $148

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-LinkBud...qid=1659783667&sprefix=linkbuds,aps,69&sr=8-3

 

[March78]

AZ60 are nothing special and a little overhyped in my opinion, better than XM4 yes, but I heard many better TWS by now.
Selling the AZ60 too.

 

[whitete]

I need to do a more in-depth review of the Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro now when I've had it for awhile.

The L3P is honestly my favorite TWS that I've used so far, honestly both overall and sound quality-wise specifically.
Listening to them on LDAC is just an excellent experience, because the sound stage is honestly pretty fantastic for a TWS in comparison to the many other buds that I've tried before, it really has excellent depth and width to it, better than anything I've heard before in TWS's.
It's the first time with TWS's where I was listening to a track that has a guitar line that pans around your head, and it's the first time I feel like I can hear sounds coming straight from, not only in front of my eyes, but at a distance quite a bit in front of me. I feel like I'm listening to over-ear headphones (but obviously not open-backs because that's unrealistic to expect tbh) at times.

They also respond so well to EQ, they do sound a bit doo-doo just out of the box, but using Wavelet it really turns into something else. I thought they were extremely hyped up by some of the reviewers who put them at the top of the mainstream earbuds, but I honestly understand it now. The mids are beautiful and so clear where vocals just sound so damn good, and it doesn't sound "metallic" to my ears like some people have stated, but possibly it lacks a liiiittle bit in organic warmth around that section, but it's not something I think about much.
The highs are also really nice and detailed, and I feel like I've been able to reign in the peaky areas that originally had plenty of sibilance. I'm very treble/sibilance sensitive and I have basically no issues with it now.
I've gone back to my Galaxy Buds Pros and now they sound muddy and lacking clarity after me singing their praises just a few weeks/months back on here.
I've dialed back the bass quite a bit, and despite being able to bring some serious oomph, it's possibly the part of the earbuds that I find the weakest, because I would want the bass to be just a tad bit faster and more... tactile, is that the right word? I miss some definition in real bass guitars where you really hear the character of the bass notes, in other words it's kinda bloated... but I hate using that word hear because it's not that the bass bleeds too much into the mids or anything, it's still a warm, round bass. It's just slightly too warm for my taste when I'm listening to more instrument-based music. For electronic music the bass is pretty much perfect though.
I think I could possibly EQ some more and get more of that though, but I'm so happy right now that I don't want to mess with the sound any more.

I honestly think they could sound good for pretty much any genre of music, but they definitely shine more on modern music in comparison to old jazz and blues records. Listening to "Kind Of Blue" by Miles Davis right now and it sounds VERY good, but I could see something like the B&O EX POSSIBLY making that type of music shine even more but I still feel like it would maybe be 5-10% better, not more than that. But otherwise it's really great for electronic music like Drum & Bass, Garage, EDM, Pop, R&B, Hip-Hop, Death Metal, Hardcore, Post-Rock, Indie Rock, Folk, and yeah that's just a small assortment of genres that it definitely does sound great with.

Other good things:

• Phone calls seem very stable and nobody seems to have issues hearing me, which has been an issue with Galaxy Buds Pros that also seems to get worse with time. Not sure if it's skin and ear wax blocking the mics but I've looked at them and tried to use a light little brush to clean all the mics and that seems to not have helped.
• The App is really good and I like how many things you could change in it, they really tried to make it as decent as possible so you could change the sound to your liking (well, I still found it lacking compared to Wavelet but that's a different story), but I would argue that there are almost too many options that you can play around with.
• Comfort is really good to me, I still use the included L eartips that came in the packaging and they feel and sound great.
• The case has wireless charging which I haven't used to be fair, and is fairly lightweight and fits easily in a pocket, I would've liked for it to be smaller but it's not a big issue.
• ANC is pretty good for the most part, it seems a bit inconsistent in how well it works though and sometimes decreases sounds that I wouldn't expect it to by a lot, and sometimes lets through sounds that I would expect it to cancel way better.

The things I don't love:

• Battery life on LDAC - I think it's a crying shame that it's really this low. Because to my ears LDAC is a CLEAR and obvious upgrade on SBC or AAC. LDAC makes the sound go from a 7/10 to a 9/10 pretty much to my ears. To my ears it expands the soundstage and overall ups the resolution and clarity especially in the mids and treble, so I would never go down to SBC unless I REALLY REALLY have to conserve the battery life when I'm out and about basically, but even then I tend to stick with LDAC.
  I think battery life is ALMOST a deal breaker and I wish they would've included AptX (Adaptive? Not sure which one is the best if you exclude all the newest AptX Lossless talk) just as a middle ground. I would want 8 hours of battery life at least, but I could deal with 5-6 hours. But on LDAC I get 3 hours-ish which means that I almost always run out of battery before I put the earbuds down of my own volition.
• ANC - It's decent, somewhat good. But I think I read either here or on reddit that if the ear sensors are covered it can't provide ANC properly, which impacts the efficiency by a lot. The ear hooks tend to really slide and glide on the earbuds and they can end up blocking the ear sensors in that case, which means that it won't block any noise at all. I really wish the ANC was better at decreasing more mid and high frequency noises as well, but it's definitely not bad.
• Codecs. Well, I already mentioned it in the battery part. Wish they had more options than just SBC/AAC and LDAC.
• The design. They certainly aren't beautiful. Better than the biggest earbuds a la Bose QC Buds and Sony WF1000XM3, but sure as hell not pretty in the ears, and they don't exactly look especially luxurious either even if they're not necessarily cheap-looking either.
• The wingtips. I'm of the opinion that wingtips can be helpful to make earbuds fit better in the ear for sports and so on, but I don't like the fact that these earbuds were designed in a way where it doesn't make sense to wear them without any wingtips (sharp edges and looks/fits weird), which to me feels like a flawed design from the start. Either do the wingtips a la Beats Fit Pros where they're actually integrated to the earbuds completely, or have them be complementary if you really need it for heavy sports.
  Doesn't help that some people say that their wingtips kinda disintegrate with time (or well, gets all loose and don't fit anymore)
• The crackling sounds - Some songs do get a slight crackle to them, at least on LDAC. I don't really understand why it happens, and I wish something could be done software-wise to make sure it doesn't happen, but since it hasn't happened yet, I don't really see it happening. It's not on all tracks either so it's a minor inconvenience imo.
• The transparency mode is slightly weaker than I would've liked. I could with some effort have a conversation with it on, but it's not as strong as I would've liked. I much prefer the Galaxy Buds Pro/Airpods Pro way of being able to really dial in a lot more sound even if it means it sounds less natural. Would I wish the sound was so natural that I didn't know I was wearing earbuds? Yes, duh. But what I prefer in any way is having transparency on so I can actually hear my surroundings and what people are saying to me when I activate it, 100%.
  

Look, so they are most likely not better than the Fokus Pro's of the world for sound quality, and maybe the B&O EX could school them in clarity (maybe) and luxurious design/feel, but for the price difference? I paid $79 for mine, and they sound better than some earbuds I've tried for about 4x the cost and is also an overall good earbud as well with good mics and good for sound quality, decent case, good features, and really good all-rounders but with the added benefit of being at the top of the game for sound quality if you really mess with Wavelet and EQ them to your hearts desire.
If you get them for a cheap price and you're willing to mess with Wavelet, they're such a good set of earbuds. If you find them for full retail... I'd honestly say in hindsight that they're worth that price as well, at least to me. Your mileage may vary, though.

Where did you get them for $79?

 

[Not so fat head]

Don't what it's like where you all live, but here in the SF Bay Area, Apple TWS are everywhere. Went to a mall for the first time in a while, and was surprised at the acceptance of people shoving something in their ears.. That use to be reserved for heating aids... Seems far more than when it was just IEM's.
Amazing..

 

[cresny]

I own both L3P and Technics AZ60, and can confirm that L3P blows away Technics from any perspective. L3P sound louder, and cleaner, and the soundstage is a lot wider.
I also like how comfortable L3P, cause their corpus does not put into your ears, only tips and earwings, which is beneficial when listening to them for a long time.
Now I'm going to sell Technics

Not to dump on the az60 -- I'm keeping mine -- but the Huawei Freebuds Pro 2 is, for me, the best yet, especially when played high resolution, ANC off.

I think what we're seeing today is the validation of the Shenzhen open tech model. I mean, does anyone else remember when Anker was more known for USB chargers? I think that was like six or seven years ago?

I was alive in the stone age, before the Sony Walkman, when headphones were actually cans with drivers connected by wires. Now, have a look at what we are buying for under $200. This is insane.

https://www.qucox.com/huawei-freebuds-pro-2-teardown/

 

[xSDMx]

Don't what it's like where you all live, but here in the SF Bay Area, Apple TWS are everywhere. Went to a mall for the first time in a while, and was surprised at the acceptance of people shoving something in their ears.. That use to be reserved for heating aids... Seems far more than when it was just IEM's.
Amazing..

It's honestly kind of depressing. I love my audio equipment, but I've started intentionally going out "ears free" to try to be more present in my environment. It's nice to be able to strike up a casual conversation when waiting in line, etc.

 

[Not so fat head]

Also, don't forget.. Probably a billion plus transistors too!!!

 

[Not so fat head]

Not to dump on the az60 -- I'm keeping mine -- but the Huawei Freebuds Pro 2 is, for me, the best yet, especially when played high resolution, ANC off.

I think what we're seeing today is the validation of the Shenzhen open tech model. I mean, does anyone else remember when Anker was more known for USB chargers? I think that was like six or seven years ago?

I was alive in the stone age, before the Sony Walkman, when headphones were actually cans with drivers connected by wires. Now, have a look at what we are buying for under $200. This is insane.

https://www.qucox.com/huawei-freebuds-pro-2-teardown/

Thank you for the link.. I really enjoy these tear down pics...
As I said, over a billion active elements on those chips too..

 

[Darkestred]

Noble FoKus Pro users. So, weird issue with this unit. I use these mainly on my PC. 1 out of 2 uses the right piece will have the noise of electronic interference. It lasts for about 15 seconds and then is fine. Does anyone have this issue when using on their phone?