[Rackhour]

I'm curious on how's the fit of the ER4XR+UTWS5 on the ear... Would you mind to take a picture of them on the ear?

 

[chinmie]

Thank you! So it appears that you're using an mmcx to mmcx adapter/extender?

Edit: after zooming, it appears to be 2pin to mmcx adapter?

 

[Rackhour]

Thank you! So it appears that you're using an mmcx to mmcx adapter/extender?

Edit: after zooming, it appears to be 2pin to mmcx adapter?

Yeah. I'm using a 2-pin version of the UTWS5. I have two pairs of adapters: one 2-pin F to MMCX M, and one MMCX F to Etymotic MMCX M.

But even the MMCX version needs at LEAST one 90-degree adapter. Or else you get this: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/if-...thread-for-you.538615/page-1159#post-16733523

 

[Sam L]

So, sound like the Technics may drop this month. They dropped a coming soon tweet anyhow so the speculation is weeks away depending on region.


Guess the Nothing Ear2 is getting good impressions. Only checked Gamesky myself but he says ANC/ambient that runs with BOSE and SONY??

Uhh.... no. The Nothing Ear 2 has excellent ANC but it is nowhere near the Bose QC II. For my ears, the Bose is king, with the APP2 a close second, then the sony 1000xm4.
That said, I prefer the Ear 2 over the Bose QC II for the following reasons:
- the multipoint is stellar, easily the best implementation ever.
- sound quality is good
- the personalized hearing ID is phenomenal (to my ears, is better than the liberty 3 pro's personal hearing test). I scanned a couple reviews online and I don't know why this feature wasn't mentioned. (soundguys' review, for example).
- the mics are excellent (on par with the APP2, possible even a smidge better)

An exceptional TWS for $149.

 

[subguy812]

On the S23 Ultra I find LDAC performance ratherinconsistent. At home it works quite well but occasionally crackles especially when near other BT devices, and is sometimes unusable on my commute (AAC is worse as the highs often distort). It also always defaults to adaptive bitrate and you can hear the bitrate changes intermittently. I don't always hear the difference between the bitrates, but the transition seems to be where the compression is quite audible. Samsung Scalable Codec has a similar issue especially on older devices like the Note 9 (I do not recommend Galaxy Buds series for it!), but the newer iteration Samsung Seamless Codec works quite well on the Buds 2 Pro with the S23 Ultra.

So I purchased and returned the Buds 2 Pro only to repurchase again last week. I totally agree with your take on SSC, it works well. I have a real issue with getting a seal on short nozzles like the Buds 2 Pro. I switched to Spinfit tips and still have issue getting a constant seal, according to the Samsung app Earbud fit test. What I have found is I was way too fixated on what the app told me about seal as opposed to just listening to the music. I am trying to not look at the fit test...ugh!

Is the sound quality better than the B&O EX, IMO no, but it is really, really good.

 

[Sam L]

So I purchased and returned the Buds 2 Pro only to repurchase again last week. I totally agree with your take on SSC, it works well. I have a real issue with getting a seal on short nozzles like the Buds 2 Pro. I switched to Spinfit tips and still have issue getting a constant seal, according to the Samsung app Earbud fit test. What I have found is I was way too fixated on what the app told me about seal as opposed to just listening to the music. I am trying to not look at the fit test...ugh!

Is the sound quality better than the B&O EX, IMO no, but it is really, really good.

Is the sound a noticeable upgrade from the previous gen buds pro? I lost my buds pro but always thought they were solid in every way, though the fit was a bit of an issue. I also went with spinfit tips.

 

[subguy812]

Is the sound a noticeable upgrade from the previous gen buds pro? I lost my buds pro but always thought they were solid in every way, though the fit was a bit of an issue. I also went with spinfit tips.

I never owned any other Samsung buds. I am not sure I would get them if you do not have a device that will play SSC. I can't really say. I am using a S23 Ultra. I don't use them with my Pixel 7 Pro.

 

[jant71]

AT with a second gen of their most popular TWS...

Not sure why it is the SQ1TW2 instead of the SQ2TW but whatever. The green is pretty sweet looking. The Sony is kinda ugly...

https://www.sony.jp/headphone/products/WF-C700N/

 

[dweaver]

The Sony WF-C700N looking tempting but I am going to pass since I own the XM4. Trying to just wait for XM5... LOL

 

[bladefd]

The Sony WF-C700N looking tempting but I am going to pass since I own the XM4. Trying to just wait for XM5... LOL

C700N probably not worth it tbh. Looks like a lower end set. I think I'm going to jump onto the xm5 or new Technics - both seem most compelling for $250 or so

 

[Bhelpoori]

Experiencing the very same issues! Plus recently I sometimes get an annoying 'crinkling' sound on rare occasions that actually reminds me of water running out of my ears ... it feels like some weird radio static ... but not always, no way to replicate.
Ever since I was made aware that there is an extra tip set and I got the XXL in now, these are a perfect and comfortable fit! But those irregularities make me not want to take them out if I want to go somewhere without the case, which is needed for any kind of reset action.

Now, where is that update they kept talking about for higher res BT codecs?

+1
I would just prefer they fix the bugs and make the ANC stable rather than add any fancy codec. It is the most annoying TWS I have, at times utterly brilliant and at others utterly rubbish but you are never quite sure what you are going to get…

 

[nekromantik]

My ibasso DX170 only supports LDAC and Apt X so none of the newer headphones with apt x adaptive will be any use for me haha

 

[Juturna]

I got my ZE8000s yesterday, and first impression is really good. Might be my favorites for sound right now, I think possibly even over the Fokus Pros, but I'm not going to say that the sound is better, because well, 1) subjective and 2) would need to A/B test them a little bit first. But I really like how natural and tight the bass frequencies sound on the ZE8000's, you get a lot of clarity from bass instruments, not as with many other earbuds where you can absolutely hear the bass more than well, but it's still not like individual tones but more a blurry mess of bass notes. Here you can absolutely hear the bass notes individually and it's honestly really good. There are some EQ:ing that imo needs to be done with the mids, but you can really get it sounding great.

Had some issues with the eartips and I don't think there are any in my size for my right ear... would need an XXL I think.

Also had the problem that my earbuds were refusing to connect to the Final Connect app, anybody had that issue?
I did several steps to fix the issue, tried putting the buds back in the case, tried reinstalling the app, etc etc.
But then I toggled bluetooth on and off and that seemed to solve the issue.
The equalizer is super weird to me as well, I might be misunderstanding but it's basically a 12-band EQ but you can only EQ 4 of the bands at one time?

I also struggle with the control scheme, because sometimes "noise cancelling" isn't available when I cycle through different modes while long pressing the earbuds, and sometimes it is there. Extremely confusing to me... I think it's dependent on which mode you're on at the current moment.

The 8K sound makes such a small difference that I'm sometimes not sure I'm hearing it.

Edit: Also currently trying to install a firmware update and my earbuds are flashing like crazy, and the update just didn't seem to want to install, it says "approximately 10 minutes" but I must've been sitting here for 20 minutes+ and I just can't see if there's any progress made with the update. I also don't know if it's fine to listen to music at the same time or not, if I should have them in my ears, if I should put them in the case... etc.

 

[Fudgebar]

I have been using the Phillips fiilio tx1 I got on Amazon for $100 a few weeks ago....OMG!!....the have just moved to number 2 on my list of best sounding earbuds only bested by my b&w i7 s2 buds......absolutely a f,in steal at 100 beans! ..clear and tight powerful and articulate ldac sound!!...... btw I still cannot stress how disappointed I was with the sony xm4 sound.....muddy and lacking detailed resolution. The bose qc2 were also a little bit of a let down. Great anc but the Sq was clear but had sort of an artificial and digital sound to it....
Hard to describe but when u ab it assist better earnuds you see the difference in the limited texture and range of music reproduction

 

[FreeBlues]

Is there such a thing as a volume control dongle the attaches to an iPhone and controls the volume on a Bluetooth IEM?

I'm an iPhone user, streaming through Tidal, soon to own a set of Fokus Mystiques, my first Bluetooth IEM. My issue is with the iPhone and the volume control, or more precisely, the HUGE volume steps iPhones use. To me it seems when a song isn't loud enough, one step up on the iPhone makes it too loud, and vice versa. If Apple could even just double the number of volume steps that would be a big improvement.

So, is there something like an outboard, dongle volume control that would in essence override to iPhone volume control?