Going fully Wireless IEMs. Too soon? Or are we there yet?
Feb 10, 2023 at 4:46 PM Post #51,001 of 66,424
How are the Beoplay EX Holding up these days? I'm thinking about them since I got some money to burn at B&H
FWIW: Glad you asked - have been very tempted by all these reviews of the new stuff coming around. Was starting to investigate further while listening to music with my overears HPs on a nice setup. Then decided to shut off everything and switched to my B&O EX (with 360 spinfit). And wow, it maybe that the newer TWS are better, but in my humble opinion the EX deliver a great, detailed and punchy sound.....They will stay a bit longer :sunglasses:
 
Feb 10, 2023 at 4:47 PM Post #51,002 of 66,424
Calls were fine on the EX. Once upon a time I used them all the time. Flipped mine because of the new regime of TWS. I do think the Nuratrue Pro edge them out, despite the fit issues I have. They fit, but after a few hours my ears hurt because of the wing style. Not everyone has this issue. That said, ANC and all the features are great. Multi-pair, force pair, calls, transparency all decent. The sub-bass the NTP puts out is incredible. I think the NTP over the EX right now. Just my two cents. But as was said, unless you can get the EX for 300 or less, go NTP. Double but (heh) if you have that cash to burn, the EX are premium, have a metal case and gorgeous. The recent updates added auto-pause and most of the bugs have been worked out with firmware updates.
If anyone has a good recommend for tips that are flawless on the Nuratrue Pro, please do recommend. I've tried Azla, Final, Spinfit, stock and they just don't seem to prevent the pain. Ohhhhh the pain.
 
Feb 10, 2023 at 5:13 PM Post #51,003 of 66,424
FWIW: Glad you asked - have been very tempted by all these reviews of the new stuff coming around. Was starting to investigate further while listening to music with my overears HPs on a nice setup. Then decided to shut off everything and switched to my B&O EX (with 360 spinfit). And wow, it maybe that the newer TWS are better, but in my humble opinion the EX deliver a great, detailed and punchy sound.....They will stay a bit longer :sunglasses:
I'm probably going to get them Monday. The nura are very tempting, mostly for the sound quality and the sub bass which I love , but I don't like the way wings feel in my ears they are usually a nuisance.
 
Feb 10, 2023 at 5:23 PM Post #51,004 of 66,424
What I understood with my Kann Alpha's terrible experience is that A&K use obsolete hardware with obsolete android version with no really efficient developers in their firm...
It took them more than one year to fix an issue with obsolete Wifi hardware which dropped every 15 minutes.

With the Bluetooth receiver mode :
-> it took them more than one year too, to activate it and you must deactivate WIFI to avoid cracks and drops in LDAC mode.
-> Hardware button don't operate when screen is off.. so you must first put the screen on before using the buttons to play with the buttons in BT receiver mode.

So, I imagine that with SP3000 it's more or less the same old story... don't expect a usable DAP with such developer's and hardware.
That’s awesome I’ll try turning wifi off tonight
 
Feb 10, 2023 at 7:35 PM Post #51,005 of 66,424
U-Free might be another UM TWS flop. Pretty much everything has a better low end than these. About as 2D as it gets. Feels like I paid full price for a prototype.

Kind of defeats the purpose of having a BC piezoelectric for the highs if you aren't going to tune the bass to begin with. Literally even the earfun free pro 2 outperform these ( so far)

Mids and highs are awesome tho
 
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Feb 10, 2023 at 7:51 PM Post #51,006 of 66,424
Does the s23 have it? I have the s23 ultra now and in developer settings I only see APTX but don't know if there should be a separate lossless or adaptive section or if all lumped together.

Also how does one driver handle the frequencies so well?
Went to developer options with the Vivo connected. On the ROG 6, it has most Bluetooth codecs except LHDC. The Vivo only supports AAC, SBC and Aptx Adaptive
 
Feb 10, 2023 at 9:18 PM Post #51,007 of 66,424
Happy accident. The Bowers & Wilkins PI7 S2 seem to have Magsafe. I'm sure it's just metal in the case but this is cool. I can charge with my Magsafe stand/charger.
 

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Feb 10, 2023 at 9:27 PM Post #51,008 of 66,424
Hi all,

Haven't posted much as I've been pretty happy with the Senn IE80s over the last couple of years. But I'm getting a bit fed up with having to replace the cable every 8-12 months. The IE80s are fantastic sound-wise, and I have custom-moulded sleeves which give a wonderful fit and great sound isolation. I was originally looking for a wireless lanyard like the Westone BT cable 78548, but unfortunately the IE80s use a custom connector, and I can't find an equivalent wireless converter that'll fit the Senns (there's some $5 ones on Alibaba, but I've no confidence that they'll have decent SQ, battery life or reliability).

I use the IEMs primarily for music/movies during my commute; it's walking and sitting, so they don't have to be exercise-proof or waterproof - although that would be good for listening sessions while I work in the garden. Battery life is reasonably important; I don't want to have to charge them every day, and if I forget to charge them once they need to last for a second commute (so at least 3hrs+ in total).

So the question is, are we at the point yet where it's feasible to go for fully-wireless IEM buds. There seem to be a lot of devices out there which very nearly cut the mustard, but all so far seem to have caveats. But there's also some interesting kit being released in the next few weeks, and I'm wondering whether anyone has experienced them and can help encourage me to take the plunge. :wink:

Current possibilities/shortlist seems to be:
  • Sony WF-1000X - has a few great (p)reviews, and the noice cancellation appears to be a great extra feature. Haven't seen any reports on battery life, but stated claims of 3hrs + 9 extra from the case seem 'okay'.
  • Bragi The Headphone - seem to be generally well-liked and a good feature-set. No charging case seems problematic though.
  • Bragi Dash Pro - super cool, but super-expensive (and reviews on head-fi indicate that the SQ is not good).
  • Zolo Liberty Plus - very promising, I'm looking forward to hearing what these sound like. I nearly pulled the trigger on a speculative punt via the Kickstarter, but missed the deadline.
  • Bose SoundSport Free - again, seem like they might be good, waiting to see reviews. No UK release date as yet.
  • B&O Beoplay E8 - look like they'll be good, but expensive too.

Anything else I should add to the list and consider? Are there any fully wireless IEMs with custom sleeves yet for a perfect fit?
I’ve been using any IEM truly wireless since 2021 when I got myself a Fiio UTWS5 TWS adapter

I’ve been using it with my Solaris OG, Zetian Wu and Andromeda

I’ve used it outside the connection is stable and doesn’t interfere with other devices and the transparent mode lets in sound and I was able to hear my surroundings like wearing an open back

I’ve used it on gym too the ear hooks are pretty stable and doesn’t fall off when I use the treadmill
 
Feb 10, 2023 at 10:59 PM Post #51,009 of 66,424
More listening this morning. The Noble best the Nura and Final by a pretty significant margin in terms of pure sound quality. After some time with all 3, I'd say it's not even really that close and Noble is the gold standard for sound. They have fullness that really can't be matched by the others. And that bass slam - my goodness. That said, the Nura may be the better all around particularly if you need ANC. The Nura are really fun and check a lot of boxes for a daily driver but I wouldn't call them audiophile grade. The Final are a step below. The best part about them is that they are really light and feel like you are wearing nothing at all in your ears. If the other two didn't exist, the Final would probably be getting a lot of attention. Id like to get my hands on the PI7, S2 for giggles but my wallet is burning. I have a feeling they can hang with the Nuras for a fun daily TWS.
Thanks to both of you for convincing me to buy these. Especially considering that I have the same setup as erockg with the arc and sub, and 100% share sentiments on Sonos and Apple. The biggest problem is that they’ll be harder to hide from my wife because they’re blue.
 
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Feb 10, 2023 at 11:47 PM Post #51,010 of 66,424
Happy accident. The Bowers & Wilkins PI7 S2 seem to have Magsafe. I'm sure it's just metal in the case but this is cool. I can charge with my Magsafe stand/charger.
Nice how do you like them? That 3.5mm -> case -> Bluetooth sounds awesome. I could use that on my work laptop b/c USB is a big no no :)
 
Feb 11, 2023 at 2:11 AM Post #51,011 of 66,424
Does the s23 have it? I have the s23 ultra now and in developer settings I only see APTX but don't know if there should be a separate lossless or adaptive section or if all lumped together.

Also how does one driver handle the frequencies so well?
I just got the s23 ultra too. Do you find the sound output to be flat and a bit bright compared to other phones?
 
Feb 11, 2023 at 5:07 AM Post #51,012 of 66,424
I'm probably going to get them Monday. The nura are very tempting, mostly for the sound quality and the sub bass which I love , but I don't like the way wings feel in my ears they are usually a nuisance.
For the B&O EX, please remember to experiment with the ear tips. The default were not exactly to my taste, but the spinfits really do make them shine. However, it does make the ANC less efficient. Hope you like :L3000:
 
Feb 11, 2023 at 10:21 AM Post #51,014 of 66,424
Feb 11, 2023 at 12:01 PM Post #51,015 of 66,424
I'm surprised that it seems like there still isn't any new information on the AZ60v2 (successor) - if there has and I missed it, please let me know. Otherwise, does anyone have any conjecture about when they think they'd update their products to the new versions (even if it's just a wet-finger in the air type of guess?)

TIA
 

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