[dweaver]

I've had both the FP8 and the T90. They're fine, but Airpods Pro 2 (which I have now) and Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are sooooo much better. LG aren't awful. Nice and small and I liked the controls. UV feature is eh. Who knows if it even works!

Agree on the GB2P being better . For $50 these are OK, but definitely not worth their MSRP. Just wanted to see what LG managed to create. The biggest thing I am not a fan of is the bass which is a bit boomy and lacking detail.

 

[dilpal]

To me, it's the QCY HT05 (aka Melobuds ANC):

https://www.qcyearbuds.com/qcy-ht05/

For about $40, you get a capable LCP graphene driver, decent ANC (active noise cancelling), very stable BT 5.2 connection and good battery life.

But the icing on the cake is the QCY app, which lets you configure the touch controls and provides a 10-band in-device EQ. The latter means you can tune your TWS any way you want and save this tuning as an EQ preset in the device. This EQ will work with any source (phone, tablet, PC) and keep on working, even if you uninstall the app.

Here's the way I tuned my HT05, red is the default EQ, green is DF-neutral (0 -2 2 5 8 2 0 -2 -4 8) and blue is my preferred, slightly v-shaped settting (1 -2 1 5 8 7 4 1 0 8):
(All measurements are DF-compensated. Note that my EQ setting is meant to be used with ANC on for commuting)

The result sounds excellent for the price and that's a lot you get for $40 imo. In reference to a set of great budget IEMs, I'd say these are the current Tenore of TWS.

I am considering to buy these. Currently have qcy t13 and those sound excellent. How are the mids on HT05? I am a sucker of good mids.

 

[james444]

I am considering to buy these. Currently have qcy t13 and those sound excellent. How are the mids on HT05? I am a sucker of good mids.

Out of the box, the mids are too laid-back. But if you take my EQ recommendation as a baseline and then fine-tune it to your preference, I think you won't be disappointed.

On a side-note, I have the Soundpeats Capsule 3 Pro incoming, which cost just $10 more than the QCY HT05 and support LDAC. I intend to EQ them similarly to the HT05 and then compare both in a listening test to find out whether the Soundpeats might become my new budget kings.

 

[Aevum]

i bought the soundpeats mini HS and they are absolute garbage, muffled, connection issues,

Gave them to my brother.

 

[helmutcheese]

^^ Do they fit you well?

You must really love your brother!

 

[dilpal]

Out of the box, the mids are too laid-back. But if you take my EQ recommendation as a baseline and then fine-tune it to your preference, I think you won't be disappointed.

On a side-note, I have the Soundpeats Capsule 3 Pro incoming, which cost just $10 more than the QCY HT05 and support LDAC. I intend to EQ them similarly to the HT05 and then compare both in a listening test to find out whether the Soundpeats might become my new budget kings.

Thanks. I just checked your signature and you have mentioned Ostry KC06. These were my favourite IEMs on those time and introduced me to good quality mids. It was only IEM I bought multiple times due to its mids. Wonder I can find somewhat similar in TWS form factor.

 

[Bhelpoori]

Yes, obviously it will take many years before most of your devices (on both ends) supports the new standard. But for us enthusiasts it's finally moving forward, the new Audezes seems to be the first commercially avaliable device that supports both LC3 and LC3plus, I'm guessing there wlll be plenty of more devices next year.


When it comes the other end then newer Android phones already supports LC3 and It looks like there's USB adapters on the way for PC.

The benefit of LC3 is exactly the ability to give us great SQ even at a modest bit-rate... It seems to work great too judging by the test that you can take. This will be really beneficial for your portable life when you're out and about.

When it comes to critical listening and more "hardcore"- usage that's were LC3Plus comes in..

Here 2 features really stands out:

- Super wideband quality for VOIP (basically VoLTE)
- Super low latency

All of this whilst delivering high quality audio (500 kbit/s, 24 bit, 96 kHz).

The codec will most likely be way more stable than LDAC as well.

But yes, it will probably take many years for this to become a new standard even for normal people.

Here's the link were you can compare LC3 codec (from 64 kpbs to 248 kpbs) with SBC and no encoding at 1536 kpbs. LC3 sounds very close to the latter even at a much lower bitrate.

https://www.bluetooth.com/learn-about-bluetooth/recent-enhancements/le-audio/

LC3 Plus is not aimed at Bluetooth but other radio carriers, such as DECT or proprietary e.g gaming which if you want to cross check you can see this directly in communications from Fraunhofer the inventors… It is also requires a fee/license.

All of the same features of LC3 Plus are already in the Bluetooth license that are usable on Bluetooth. “Super Low” Latency of LC3Plus in not achievable on Bluetooth because of the radio carrier but you will generally be able to get latency down to 15ms plus whatever is OS dependent which is good enough given wired today is around 35ms for standard headphones like Apple EarPods (inc OS).

Voice is one of the biggest advantages of LE-Audio since it unifies the handset and headphone profiles into one cohesive framework that is actually quite neat. It will allow, finally, lots of good VoIP features to happen… but today, there are already ways to do wideband codecs and I’m betting if you are using Apple or Jabra you are already have the ability to use one but it’s just a bit of a mess and since the both sides have to keep switching/guessing which profile you are on then it all becomes buggy and defaults back to something from 20+ years ago… which is what LE-Audio will solve. Note also that super wideband makes background microphone background noise suppression more difficult, but that’s a whole other subject…

SBC was a default free codec added to the original A2DP spec 20 years ago. One would hope that LC3 is significantly better…Glad to hear that it is actually better. A lot of work by a lot of people got us to this place…

 

[Bhelpoori]

"Yet", but less latency can mean more radiation since they either need more power or more effective codecs

Running lossless audio (aka ALAC or FLAC) ar 1.4Mbps over Bluetooth 2Mbps today is possible but why would you? I’d guess your battery would need to be 3x the size or have 1/3rd battery life, the range would be terrible, and it would not work at all in challenging radio environments. It is pointless too since LC3 will give the equivalent quality at much lower bandwidth.

Bluetooth strictly controls the transmitter and receiver power…so more power isn’t really possible.

 

[Aevum]

he just said "give me whatever you´re not using" i tried to give him my Starfield with my old BTR5.

 

[cresny]

The TWS parade keeps marching on, but some of the ancient models -- like from 6 months ago! -- deserve some props so as not to get trampled under foot. With all the mixed mode travel I do in the holiday season I need a good all-rounder, and this year the Huawei free buds Pro 2 have been it. Above average noise canceling plus the planar diaphragm second driver make for very good listening on the subway and the street, tuning is excellent across all frequencies. These are also the best I have for wind noise. The build quality and reliability is tops. In short, I guess I could say that these come as close to the Android APP2 equivalent.

So with all that said, for people in the US who have to deal with the Huawei embargo and have to do nasty things like side load the app, I've noticed the Oppo Enco X2 can be had for around $129, have the same driver design and by some reports here are slightly superior. These are a great value and should not be missed.

 

[Hozay]

All the above have their pros and cons, depending on what you're looking for. I'm more a fan of the latter three than the first two. Different strokes for different folks.

never tried any campfire earbuds, have you got your replacement for orbit and how is it?

 

[erockg]

never tried any campfire earbuds, have you got your replacement for orbit and how is it?

Not yet, got a refund and am going to get them from Amazon with some gift cards from the holidays. They're no frills, so if you're looking for stuff with features, like ANC and Transparency, maybe look elsewhere depending on what you want to spend.

 

[Vonbuddy]

Gizaudio just gave review on new fiio wireless. All I will say is it wasn’t promising. I guess I will wait on Noble Fokus upgrade.

 

[erockg]

Gizaudio just gave review on new fiio wireless. All I will say is it wasn’t promising. I guess I will wait on Noble Fokus upgrade.

Yup, had the FW5 and returned them. Wanted them to be great, but Noble Fokus crushes them IMO. d

 

[helmutcheese]

Jesus some half-baked review, he never had a user manual and no App.

From a real user here not some YTuber, I think they sound great most of the time (depends on the genre and quality of the files) they are not so forgiving for lower quality files but that is the same for any good ear/headphones that do not shape the sound too much as that is what an EQ is for.

That said sometimes there is something missing as another user here put it, also the past 2 nights they sound totally different, more boomy bass, not as nice as before strange I know but I will mess with other tips more so Spinfits now I am only using them indoors due to poor passive NC.

Now the shape/fit comfort/controls/passive seal/battery/case are all pretty poor IMO and unlike some owners here I seem to have very poor BT range.

As I said before if from Amazon they would be going back after 1 FW update or the month whatever comes first.