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

[Luke Skywalker]

I've lived as long as you, if not more, and sometimes I can hear angels fart. Maybe that's just my kid. But after years of too much metal, I do hear things I shouldn't hear. It's a blessing and a curse.

I will always own an Apple product and I hope many others do. I drank the Kool Aid years ago, and very much prefer their OS. I've tried everything Android and always come back. I digress.

I too can hear the difference with between my old CD rips and the new stuff. Some of the stuff I listen to will never achieve todays standards because no one cares to go back and remaster many of those albums. So I'll always be stuck with what some feel is an inferior codec. But some days I prefer to listen to my vinyl over those hi-res codes stuff anyway. Just like I prefer 24p most times when I shoot on my iPhone over the 4k or even the Samsung 8k I had once. At times, if music and or movies are too clean, they lose their intimacy. But for perspective, this is coming from someone who works in the entertainment business.

“Angel Fart” would be a great name for a band

 

[Ultrainferno]

Happy New year! The first review of 2023 is all about the Apple AirPods Pro 2. In this article we check out how they perform, sound and why we're giving it the first Recommended Buy Award of the year. Now on Headfonia!

https://www.headfonia.com/apple-airpods-pro-2-review/

 

[Juturna]

See, I didn't like the LP3P as much as you by far. Sure, I get it, the LP3P can be had cheap these days, but I bought them at launch and had horrible sibilance. Also, found many others that sounded better. Shows you everyones ears are different. I think the NTP are waaaaay better than the LP3P. Same as the Fokus Pro and EX. BQC2 are the best they've made imo. If you're a sub-bass guy and listen to hard rock/metal, the Nuratrue Pro just crushes my brain. Love them.

Thing is that I've tried several of the top "mainstream" TWS's ( many many years in a row, and with mainstream I'm not talking about the more niched ones like Fokus Pro etc) and I still put the L3P's very high if not at the absolute top of the ones I've tried.

I 100% agree that they sound like absolute crap straight out of the box, but they are probably the most EQ-friendly buds I've tried so far, and I don't even need to use Wavelet either with them. I'm very treble/sibilance-sensitive and I have very little issue with that after just a little EQ tbh.

l think the Nuratrue Pro's are really good, they've grown on me a bit. But they still sound a bit veiled to me unfortunately. Also think how they sound seems to be very varied depending on the measurements they make on your hearing. I have two profiles I tried setting up that sounds vastly different.

To me, rock and metal sounds FANTASTIC on the L3Ps, but pretty damn bad on my Nuratrues. Like I don't want to listen to that type of music when I'm using the Nuratrues.
It sounds a bit muffled and compressed to my ears. But honestly, even trying now as I write this, it sounds OK, maybe a bit better than that even.
I think it was that I needed some "brain burn-in" after using the L3P's too.

I haven't heard the fokus Pro and the EX i've only demoed in store, but yeah they did sound very good.

 

[Caipirina]

Happy New year! The first review of 2023 is all about the Apple AirPods Pro 2. In this article we check out how they perform, sound and why we're giving it the first Recommended Buy Award of the year. Now on Headfonia!

https://www.headfonia.com/apple-airpods-pro-2-review/

The article mentions twice the price of 299USD ... isn't it 249USD? Same as APP1 on introduction?

And what does 'foreign' mean in "a proximity sensor is at the inner side, hidden from foreign viewers." even in cursive ...

 

[erockg]

Thing is that I've tried several of the top "mainstream" TWS's ( many many years in a row, and with mainstream I'm not talking about the more niched ones like Fokus Pro etc) and I still put the L3P's very high if not at the absolute top of the ones I've tried.

I 100% agree that they sound like absolute crap straight out of the box, but they are probably the most EQ-friendly buds I've tried so far, and I don't even need to use Wavelet either with them. I'm very treble/sibilance-sensitive and I have very little issue with that after just a little EQ tbh.

l think the Nuratrue Pro's are really good, they've grown on me a bit. But they still sound a bit veiled to me unfortunately. Also think how they sound seems to be very varied depending on the measurements they make on your hearing. I have two profiles I tried setting up that sounds vastly different.

To me, rock and metal sounds FANTASTIC on the L3Ps, but pretty damn bad on my Nuratrues. Like I don't want to listen to that type of music when I'm using the Nuratrues.
It sounds a bit muffled and compressed to my ears. But honestly, even trying now as I write this, it sounds OK, maybe a bit better than that even.
I think it was that I needed some "brain burn-in" after using the L3P's too.

I haven't heard the fokus Pro and the EX i've only demoed in store, but yeah they did sound very good.

Did you redo the tuning a few times? I did mine out of the box, turned on spatial audio and then did a tiny bit of EQ, mostly to tame the bass. Love it! I still have my Fokus Pro and EX. FP will prob leave to be replaced by the upcoming Mystique. EX is just plain solid, so it's a permanent fixture in my collection until B&O top it.

 

[Canabuc]

For any of those who bought the Enco X2 from Oppo .I am just very curious where you got them from and whether or not it had a Chinese or a global firmware on it. If I don't like my Huawei ones I am contemplating going for that but I am worried I will have a Chinese firmware that will either not allow me to have English or to update to LDAC.

 

[SynaestheticA]

For any of those who bought the Enco X2 from Oppo .I am just very curious where you got them from and whether or not it had a Chinese or a global firmware on it. If I don't like my Huawei ones I am contemplating going for that but I am worried I will have a Chinese firmware that will either not allow me to have English or to update to LDAC.

I've got the enco x (1) and use an Oppo. The phone is automatically integrated with the buds via Bluetooth settings where you control all settings. Naturally this is in your phone language.

When I use my work phone (Samsung) I've downloaded the 'Hey Melody' app which is in English and quite functional and easy to use.

I think the Enco X2 will still be using hey melody so you should be in the clear.

 

[Canabuc]

I've got the enco x (1) and use an Oppo. The phone is automatically integrated with the buds via Bluetooth settings where you control all settings. Naturally this is in your phone language.

When I use my work phone (Samsung) I've downloaded the 'Hey Melody' app which is in English and quite functional and easy to use.

I think the Enco X2 will still be using hey melody so you should be in the clear.

So there is no separate firmware world vs China? My only option would be to order from Ali Express

 

[Hyperfluxe]

What flagship smartphones do you guys use with your Noble Audio FoKus Pro/top TWS of your choice for a clean aptX Adaptive output? I've been using an LG V60 this whole time and it sounded great but it's nearly 4 years old and too slow as a daily driver.

My best upgrade options were the Asus ROG 6 Pro (which sounds worse for some reason via aptX Adaptive even with the Dirac tuning software/AudioWizard fully disabled via ABD, I suspect it's a "Snapdragon Sound" issue with spatial EQ/DSP enhancement). Other than that it's the perfect phone in terms of performance for my daily driver.

The other option is the Sony Xperia 1-IV NA version but now that the V is confirmed to have the next gen SDG2 chipset with proper thermal management I think I'd rather wait it out a few more months until the summer for that iteration.

The S23 Ultra would be ideal which comes out in less than 6 weeks but despite having SDG2 it likely won't support advanced aptX codecs due to Samsung's refusal to pay Qualcomm and implement their own SSC codec to sell more GBuds.

For now my temporary solution is to use a Pixel 7 Pro (it was a gift) and a Nura 5.3 Bluetooth transmitter which will hopefully bring my FoKus Pro back to V60 level sound quality over Bluetooth. It's pretty outrageous that a 4 year old smartphone sounds better over Bluetooth than the aforementioned flagships which cost $2.3k CAD (the V60 was barely over $500 CAD when I bought it new on day 1 after selling the second screen and included TWS). I'm starting to think I need a dedicated DAP even for Bluetooth listening...

 

[SynaestheticA]

So there is no separate firmware world vs China? My only option would be to order from Ali Express

Maybe I don't understand the question. The app hey melody is global. The enco X2 has LDAC which you can use on any supporting device. It might change with the X2 but I don't think it's like the Fiio app that allows you to push LDAC through if your phone doesn't have it.

I've hunted around and Ali xpress seems to be the only seller rn.

Maybe someone with the x2 can chime in?

 

[C_Lindbergh]

The S23 Ultra would be ideal which comes out in less than 6 weeks but despite having SDG2 it likely won't support advanced aptX codecs due to Samsung's refusal to pay Qualcomm and implement their own SSC codec to sell more GBuds.

A very small part of me hopes they'll finally license it now that it looks like every region will get a Qualcomm SoC...But Wont prob happen

 

[nekonhime]

What flagship smartphones do you guys use with your Noble Audio FoKus Pro/top TWS of your choice for a clean aptX Adaptive output? I've been using an LG V60 this whole time and it sounded great but it's nearly 4 years old and too slow as a daily driver.

My best upgrade options were the Asus ROG 6 Pro (which sounds worse for some reason via aptX Adaptive even with the Dirac tuning software/AudioWizard fully disabled via ABD, I suspect it's a "Snapdragon Sound" issue with spatial EQ/DSP enhancement). Other than that it's the perfect phone in terms of performance for my daily driver.

The other option is the Sony Xperia 1-IV NA version but now that the V is confirmed to have the next gen SDG2 chipset with proper thermal management I think I'd rather wait it out a few more months until the summer for that iteration.

The S23 Ultra would be ideal which comes out in less than 6 weeks but despite having SDG2 it likely won't support advanced aptX codecs due to Samsung's refusal to pay Qualcomm and implement their own SSC codec to sell more GBuds.

For now my temporary solution is to use a Pixel 7 Pro (it was a gift) and a Nura 5.3 Bluetooth transmitter which will hopefully bring my FoKus Pro back to V60 level sound quality over Bluetooth. It's pretty outrageous that a 4 year old smartphone sounds better over Bluetooth than the aforementioned flagships which cost $2.3k CAD (the V60 was barely over $500 CAD when I bought it new on day 1 after selling the second screen and included TWS). I'm starting to think I need a dedicated DAP even for Bluetooth listening...

Wait for the rog phone 7 if you can, rog 6 is a disaster. I returned mine long ago

 

[clerkpalmer]

This place is selling new in box APP2 for $135 today. That’s like offering a crackhead 50 percent off… ordered.

https://www.discountstoresavings.com/

 

[mainguy]

Man going back to wired iems after a while on Airpods Pro 2...Lord, do good wired iems still spank tws as an overall experience. Not even critical listening, just the sheer scale and meatiness of good wired iems. Hope tws gets better soon.

 

[clerkpalmer]

Man going back to wired iems after a while on Airpods Pro 2...Lord, do good wired iems still spank tws as an overall experience. Not even critical listening, just the sheer scale and meatiness of good wired iems. Hope tws gets better soon.

What wired IEM?