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

[erockg]

Here we goooooo!

 

[Hozay]

Here we goooooo!

updating the fav list soon?

 

[LordToneeus]

Here we goooooo!

Waiting with baited breat!

 

[erockg]

Waiting with baited breat!

Still messing with them, but here are a few thoughts:

Nice unboxing experience.

Not a fan of the shell. Yamaha, Cleer, Beyerdynamic all use a similar one. Making it work.

Trying to find tips with a good seal. Settled on Azla tips for now.

FiiO's app is just awful. Same app that uses the UTWS3/5. They need to overhaul it IMO.

No ANC, no Transparency. I'd like to think FiiO will add the latter like they did on the UTWS5.

Case is not as cheap as I thought it would be. Lightweight. No wireless charging as we all knew. Bummer, but fine.

They get LOUD.

Volume control scheme is like the UTWS adapters. Wish it was uniform whereas I can just control with phone and/or buds. Don't like having two options. I have to turn it up in the app then use my iPhone right now. I know some like this, I do not.

Clarity and instrument separation is excellent. Very noticeable. Wide soundstage. Balanced sound. Vocals are up front, not too much. As always, wish I could bump the sub-bass for my metal, but it's there, just could use bit more for my taste. Not awful. Listening to Soundgarden's Louder than Love and I'm really digging the sound. Cornell is ringing in my brain. Love it.

No BT dropouts for me and I've walked at least 100 ft away into other rooms at home.

Haven't tried them on calls yet. Voice is loud and clear when taking a voice memo, but you can still hear background noice. So I'd say call will be good enough at home, mileage may vary outside.

For $150 or less, these are very much worth it.

Going to have to shuffle out some of my others. These are great.

 

[helmutcheese]

That is a big house if 100 feet (unless 100 feet squared), the 10m BT Class 2 Cert is line of sight so 33 feet but yes can get further even indoors but 100 feet indoors would need be a house made of paper.

I cannot get 20 feet away and my house is not made of lead but does have thick walls, but the doors are open, the FiiO Neckband is as bad.

I can walk to the back garden with my cheap SoundPeats Sonic PRO/H1 connected to any devices in my home even the Nvidia Shield 2017 (BT 4.1/2).

I wore them last night to sleep and found very little passive NC (on a main road) so adding ANC would not work for me, these are big and not that comfy just like the Free Bryd to my adult male sized ears and larger canals (I have to push then in further than someone with smaller ears would).

 

[444906]

Did you buy the FW5 or just going by what your reading on them? Fine either way just curious.

My UTWS5 has that same 85% setting in the app. It is a weird setting for sure. My biggest gripe about the UTWS5 is that the units start to grab the BT signal while in the case when they hit that 85% threshold. It's the worst aspect of the adapters, hopefully the FW5 has resolved that issue.

sound wise the UTWS5/FH5 combo is quite a bit ahead of any TWS I own for sound quality. My best TWS is maybe 75% of the quality. So if the FW5 has achieved that sound quality level or better then I will be pretty happy even if it's missing features like ANC and for the moment Ambient mode.

It certainly won't replace my Galaxy Buds 2 Pro for all round use. But it might become my deep listening TWS.

Having said all that I am seriously thinking of getting a Sony phone so I can get the best BT standards, 3.5mm Jack, and SD expansion. If I go that route I might end up going back to wired for pure music quality. But that's a $1100 away savings I need to do since no phone companies seem to offer Sony phones through their plans anymore, which means I am buying it outright. But it will be 6 months out before I have saved up the money for it.

Thinking I will go all in on the Xperia 1 iv since it's only $100 more the Xperia 5 iv through Swiftronics in Canada and that $100 difference in coat gives me 512GB of storage in the phone. Not a big fan of the shape of their phones but if all the rest works well I can live with the length.

Have a look here:
https://m.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_1_iv-price-11521.php
The 256GB version with a nice 512GB microsd (around 50-60$ on Amazon) is wha I'd go with.

Have you guys seen this from Plussound?

https://www.plussoundaudio.com/customcables/tws-a.html

A bit overpriced IMHO. It seems like they use an older BT chip if they offer BT 5.0 and no LDAC or Aptx Adaptive support.
And that usb dac function doesn't sound practical. Even the most supple usb cable will move the adapter around.

 

[Tenlow]

Fidelio T1.

Very bulky. Very big. Very huge case. But also very cheap these days. Brand new and sealed for 60€. Might be worth it for that cheap. Let’s see

Great build quality on that gigantic case, though. Nice leather touch. Same for the buds. They come with 9 pairs of tips (6 silicone/ 3 comply).

Battery life should be great. Spec sheet reads pretty nicely. Wireless charging and USB-C on deck of course. Single bud mode, Hi-Res Audio, adaptive ANC, transparency mode, multipoint bluetooth.

But my god they’re huge Still excited tongive them a try for that price.

 

[dweaver]

Have a look here:
https://m.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_1_iv-price-11521.php
The 256GB version with a nice 512GB microsd (around 50-60$ on Amazon) is wha I'd go with.

That was what I was thinking as well. But reading the few posts I can find there is lots of talk about heating and battery issues on the Xperia 1 iv. I can say the photo features are a distant 2nd for me so am wondering if the Xperia 5 iv or possibly saving more than half the cost and getting the Xperia 10 iv might be a better option for me.

I don't play much games on my phone and the few I do are tower defense or some card games. So don't need lots of horse power. I also do not use my phone for Netflix just YouTube. I do take lots of photos but they are mostly of headphones or the occasional landscape photo so the camera in any of these will likely be good enough.

In reading the 10 iv supports LDAC, APTx HD and adaptive so should be good enough for BT codecs I am thinking and I also would have the headphone jack I can use.

The 5 iv seems to have basically the same thing but is BT 5.2 vs 5.1 on the 10 iv model. Not sure which has a better built in DAC for music through the headphone jack, both claim 24bit / 192kHz so am thinking they will be similar. But reading suggests maybe tuned differently.

I can get to 10 iv open box for $419 as compared to $1049 for the 5 iv or $1149 for the 1 iv. So a drastic price difference!

Also reviews suggest the 10 iv has one of the best battery life avaialble today which would also be great.

Anyway I will try to minimize side tracking this thread but am curious on anyone who has experience with the Sony phones, thoughts.

Final comment, at $419 I could get a new phone that is a bit of a side grade (more music options) / downgrade (lower screen res, 6GB RAM vs 8GB) from my S20. This almost seems an option over buying yet another TWS at the moment. It might be a good setup to maximizing some of the future TWS purchases down the road. Plus allow me to use some of my wired headphones more often.

Edit: just checked my S20, I am actually using it at 60hz refresh and middle resolution to gain battery life. So the screen resolution on the Xperia 10 iv would be pretty comparable to what I am used to...

 

[Canabuc]

Well bought the GBP2 and am a bit disappointed. Sound is good but not better than my year old Technics. Vocals are a bit thin
ANC is no better either.
And truthfully find them less comfortable than the AZ60.

They are going back.
The oppo Enco x2 intrigue me but would have to order from AliExpress so if I buy can't return.

Would love to hear from everyone who has tried the Oppo about Sq for co.fort ANC and can you adjust Eq or just a few presets like the Samsung..

 

[dweaver]

I find the GB2P more comfy than the AZ60 but fit is always a crap shoot. So is sound for that matter, if you don't like their sound or find it's not any better than the AZ60 then yup, send them back. No sense paying for something you don't like.

 

[Canabuc]

I find the GB2P more comfy than the AZ60 but fit is always a crap shoot. So is sound for that matter, if you don't like their sound or find it's not any better than the AZ60 then yup, send them back. No sense paying for something you don't like.

They sound good but miss ing something in the vocals and mids.

 

[dweaver]

The vocals lack some resolution and edge so vocals lose some of the emotion. Not as bad as Sony but definitely missing it a bit. Also have less chance of sibilance though, but of a double edged sword...

 

[Canabuc]

Any experience with Enco x2 or. Huawei freebuds pro 2? Both dual driver with planar and dynamic drivers.
These are the last buds I will consider before waiting for next gen models with LE LC3

 

[DigDub]

Any experience with Enco x2 or. Huawei freebuds pro 2? Both dual driver with planar and dynamic drivers.
These are the last buds I will consider before waiting for next gen models with LE LC3

I have both. They sound pretty similar. I do prefer the enco x2 as it has deeper sub bass and a wider soundstage. Sound quality is top out of the tws I have. Passive isolation is not great as it has vents at the nozzle area which gives it the airy soundstage. Mic quality is great. Battery life on the enco is also better than the Huawei. Enco uses force touch to "click" for controls, Huawei uses touch which results in accidental touches. The biggest sized sleeve on the enco x2 is pretty small, so if you have large ear canal, it may not seal well and third party sleeves cannot be used as the sleeve comes with a notch to accommodate the hole in the nozzle.

 

[Canabuc]

I have both. They sound pretty similar. I do prefer the enco x2 as it has deeper sub bass and a wider soundstage. Sound quality is top out of the tws I have. Passive isolation is not great as it has vents at the nozzle area which gives it the airy soundstage. Mic quality is great. Battery life on the enco is also better than the Huawei. Enco uses force touch to "click" for controls, Huawei uses touch which results in accidental touches. The biggest sized sleeve on the enco x2 is pretty small, so if you have large ear canal, it may not seal well and third party sleeves cannot be used as the sleeve comes with a notch to accommodate the hole in the nozzle.

Thanks. Like what you say about the oppo.
I use largest tips from the Samsung's. Would oppo be ok?
Also would you go black or is the white better color choice for showing marks.