[harpdoc]

I ordered the QCii from Lenovo with a $119 price tag. They were supposed to be shipped and in hand by the end of the week.
I received an email from Lenovo saying it's being delayed, shipping now can be up to 30 days.
Anyone else who ordered these get an email stating a delay?

I also got the delay notice. Can't help but wonder if the price was listed as a mistake, then they freaked out and delayed shipping to get people to cancel their order. Just a guess.

 

[erockg]

I also got the delay notice. Can't help but wonder if the price was listed as a mistake, then they freaked out and delayed shipping to get people to cancel their order. Just a guess.

That makes sense to me.

 

[clerkpalmer]

I also got the delay notice. Can't help but wonder if the price was listed as a mistake, then they freaked out and delayed shipping to get people to cancel their order. Just a guess.

Price was definitely a mistake.

 

[ElKabong]

I did notice that their soapstone color was $299 & triple black @$119. Curious about that, unusually big discount.
i will wait it out a bit and see what's what.

 

[Robert13x]

Would you guys buy the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 or the Enco X2? Is the OnePlus just some badly tunned Enco X2? (like - do they use the same drivers?)
(I would try the Huawei FreeBuds2, but they have bad battery life) (OPBP2 are cheaper by 30-40$ in my country)

 

[dweaver]

I've been testing the Technics AZ80 for five days, and I think they're going back. Everything is premium but the sound in my opinion.
I tried to eq them and it's not the "barrel" effect that annoys me, it could be the acoustic chamber. The problem is in the treble region, the sound is metallic and screeching. This comes out in recordings where the highs are emphasized. Sometimes I can hear it in female voices too.
Honestly I can't understand how so many reviewers and users didn't complaint about it. In-ear devices should serve for bad recordings too, with a safe tuning not with something that creates big soundstage for perfect recordings. Especially if the hardware is limited. Maybe the type of driver used is responsible too for these unnatural highs.
I wouldn't complain if I didn't spend 300€, because these Technics are good but not worth the money they cost when I listen to music.
I've been testing always with ANC switched on.
This is the last eq I've used, if someone want to help I would be grateful, but eq imo is for fine tuning not for redoing things from scratch.

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 170 Hz Gain -0.5 dB Q 0.900
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 850 Hz Gain 0.1 dB Q 2.000
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 1400 Hz Gain -1.2 dB Q 2.000
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 3250 Hz Gain 0.5 dB Q 1.400
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 5100 Hz Gain 1.0 dB Q 1.500
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 8080 Hz Gain -1.8 dB Q 2.000
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 10500 Hz Gain 5.5 dB Q 3.000
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 12000 Hz Gain -7.0 dB Q 1.100
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 16000 Hz Gain -2.8 dB Q 1.400

Funny how we all hear things differently.

I hear no treble issues (old ears) and while I did feel the AZ70 had some hollowness to the sound have not had sense from the AZ80. I do think the chamber does make these sound in a way that some people might not like though.

 

[ac3knight]

Funny how we all hear things differently.

I hear no treble issues (old ears) and while I did feel the AZ70 had some hollowness to the sound have not had sense from the AZ80. I do think the chamber does make these sound in a way that some people might not like though.

Preference for level of hardware treble tuning also stems from the prior buds one has gotten used to.

For eg, when I first started on my Bose QC II, I felt that the highs were over emphasized but got used to it over time. Now moving from the QC II to AZ80, it is obviously different in that the highs are not as accentuated.

What I can say is that the AZ80 dials down some of the higher frequencies, to result in a sound signature that has a lot more "air" to it, which creates a very wide (and sometimes holographic) sound stage.

Sure, one can EQ the treble up if that's the preference, but it also results in vocals moving closer, more front and centre, losing some of that holographic effect.

From my fiddling around, the AZ80 seems to have onboard EQ, so that's a bonus when using it on multiple devices.

Another thing I noticed about the buds is that different eartips can change the sound profile significantly. I've tried Spinfits, Azla sedna earfit MAX, Divinus Airy S (with patented pressure equalization design), Divinus Velvet and Acoustune AEX50. So far, the AEX50 provides the best fit with rich sound quality.

Overall, AZ80 ticks a lot of boxes for me - light and easy to wear, great fit, pressure vents (I believe) that increase comfort, onboard EQ (based on my testing), good ANC (a tier below Bose QC II but still significantly better than others in the market), etc.

The only thing I wished it had was aptX support but I can live with SBC, AAC and LDAC.

 

[SynaestheticA]

Our boy Scarbir a big fan of the Liberty 4 NC

https://www.scarbir.com/tws/soundcore-liberty-4-nc-review

 

[Juturna]

I see you have also the NuraTrue Pro - can you confirm that Bose's ANC is miles ahead of the Nuras?
Although I love the sound of the NTP (especially after tweaking with Wavelet and Poweramp EQ), the ANC is dissapointing (+ the awful sound change).
And how would you compare the bass of the Bose and NTP?
Does Bose have LDAC?

Bose does not have LDAC, or even AptX, it's just AAC and SBC for now. They promised that AptX (Adaptive? not sure) would be coming early summer but it obviously hasn't happened yet, so for now it's just the two aforementioned codecs.

Also I'm not sure if I would say that Bose's ANC is MILES ahead of NTP, not in my opinion. Because I think the NTP's are among the best earbuds for ANC just behind the Bose -> Sony XM4's and maybe just a few others. It started out poor but after like one or two software updates it's been really good in my opinion.
But sure, the Bose QCII's are noticeably better, but it's not like a night and day difference. It's better at cutting out higher frequency-noises than the NTP but at the same time, without listening to music you will hear stuff anyway in LOUD environments. But based on your comment it sounds like you might have gotten a poor seal with the NTP's or something. But the Bose is still incredibly impressive and as good as you get with ANC in earbuds, and close to the best you can get even with on-ear headphones from all that I've heard from other people at least.

The difference in bass... well, I think the NTP's are "better" or at least more focused on the sub-bass response which is great even if it to me can sound slightly overdone (and toning it down in the app with the slider sort of makes the bass sound weird) with certain genres, but it's certainly impressive and sounds good.
The Bose also has a really impressive bass response to me, it's more mid-focused, but they've managed to tune it to a point where it sounds like it's slightly enhanced but in a frequency area maybe slightly above many earbuds who end up with the mid-bass bloat? This is subjective and will sound weird to many, but the bass in the QC's has this sort of "bouncy" and "rubbery" texture which makes it sound engaging as hell. They certainly have some sub-bass rumble to them as well, but it's not to the level of the NTP's.

The mids of the Bose are also nice in my opinion, vocals sound really good and forward with just a little bit of EQ. Highs might be the weakness of the earbuds, but that's not to say that it's bad. I think the main thing with the Bose is that it might not really be an audiophile sound, but it always makes music sound better than "good enough" to me, even poorer recordings. To me they're the definition of "inoffensive" but also not boring. I know somebody just over me said that they highs felt "overdone", not sure if that meant harsh, but to me there is NOTHING I have been able to do in the form of EQ:ing that have made the highs sound too harsh or sibilant FWIW. Might also be a fit-thing though.

 

[potix]

Preference for level of hardware treble tuning also stems from the prior buds one has gotten used to.

I hear no treble issues (old ears)

I made an hearing test years ago, and I had already lost 2db over 8k, the doctor said it was normal for someone my age. But I start to think I am above average because I have always the same problem with stuff that emits high treble, or I can't bear it because my ears and brain can't "process" it properly.
There is not much about the frequency response of az80 on internet, but I found this graph and it's very similar to the one in the DHRME video review:

https://pic.clubic.com/v1/images/2107917/raw.webp?hash=476c9ddc8a29590112bec42f0cc9c86c75bca495

I don't know if they are accurate but my ears seems to agree and as Agatha Christie said: “A clue is a clue, two clues are a coincidence, but three clues are proof.”
Those are compensated measurements and they show something like +10/12db at 15k, I don't know what is the reference but in any case it's too much.
I don't deny that most people can like it, but in no way the sound reproduction can be realistic: the rain will sound wrong, the sea waves will sound wrong, cymbals will sound wrong and so on.
If that gain was in the base many "audiophiles" would complain. The pocket-lint reviewer says "Treble lacks some sparkle", this makes me laugh (and think and struggle).

 

[Rackhour]

I had a random thought as I was looking at various IEMs in google images.

Conventional, detachable IEMs come in a variety of sizes. Some can be as small as Etymotic’s ER bullet buds, but then you have chunky ones like KZ and other ChiFi, FiiO FH or even Campfire.

And some of those chunky ones are about as big as the Samsung Galaxy lineup of TWS.

So…I am hoping that manufacturers can catch up on the digital side of things so that we can get hybrid wired/wireless IEMs or earbuds. Have an MMCX or 2-pin connector on the buds, and when you can no longer keep a charge, make them wired.

 

[jant71]

I had a random thought as I was looking at various IEMs in google images.

Conventional, detachable IEMs come in a variety of sizes. Some can be as small as Etymotic’s ER bullet buds, but then you have chunky ones like KZ and other ChiFi, FiiO FH or even Campfire.

And some of those chunky ones are about as big as the Samsung Galaxy lineup of TWS.

So…I am hoping that manufacturers can catch up on the digital side of things so that we can get hybrid wired/wireless IEMs or earbuds. Have an MMCX or 2-pin connector on the buds, and when you can no longer keep a charge, make them wired.

Quite a few out there but the "brands" haven't made any unless you count Motorola...

Usually Tin HiFi, BQeyz, and some other chinese brands are the ones who have made them.

 

[ElKabong]

Just got a notice from Lenovo, Item canceled! QCii priced too good to be true.

 

[FreeBlues]

Some early stage random thoughts and comparison between the Bose QCii's and Noble H-ANC for both noise cancellation and musical listening. I almost only listen to music while at the gym, something I do about 6 days a week for up to 3 hours per day. Just recently a new "corporate policy" came out stipulating that the "music" that played over the gym's system get cranked to stupidly loud levels. Loud thumping bass, painfully piercing highs, etc. In the past, before the change, I could mostly block this out with just a good passive seal on whatever earbuds I was using, but no more.

So, ANC has become a big issue for me. I also didn't want to sacrifice musical fun in the process.

I recently got both the Bose QCii's and borrowed my wife's H-ANC's and have been trying them alternately at the gym. Early days yet, but my conclusion is the Bose do indeed have spectacular ANC, nearly everything at the gym gets blocked, it even seems to nearly block all outside noise when songs aren't playing. The H-ANC's aren't quite as good as the Bose, they don't completely block all the external noise, although when music is playing they work fine.

The sound quality reverses the comparison. The H-ANC's do a really, really good job playing music. The Bose aren't too far behind, but the H-ANC's sound more natural, have more space and depth, somewhat 3D, nice detail and instrument separation. The Bose are much more 2D, not quite the depth and space.

So I'm torn. The two are close enough in price that it isn't a factor. For me, the Bose fit great right out of the box, good seal, no adjusting during my workouts. The Noble's are not quite as good - for me. I'm still rolling tips to see if I can find something that suits and will fit in the case. So far I'm still searching. I like the way the Noble's do music, and the ANC is decent enough that I can easily live with it. The Bose have killer ANC but are a small bit behind the Nobles for sound. Fortunately I can return the Bose if I decide I like the Nobles more, that we already own, so now it comes down to which I'll actually purchase.

 

[james444]

Some early stage random thoughts and comparison between the Bose QCii's and Noble H-ANC for both noise cancellation and musical listening. I almost only listen to music while at the gym, something I do about 6 days a week for up to 3 hours per day. Just recently a new "corporate policy" came out stipulating that the "music" that played over the gym's system get cranked to stupidly loud levels. Loud thumping bass, painfully piercing highs, etc. In the past, before the change, I could mostly block this out with just a good passive seal on whatever earbuds I was using, but no more.

So, ANC has become a big issue for me. I also didn't want to sacrifice musical fun in the process.

I recently got both the Bose QCii's and borrowed my wife's H-ANC's and have been trying them alternately at the gym. Early days yet, but my conclusion is the Bose do indeed have spectacular ANC, nearly everything at the gym gets blocked, it even seems to nearly block all outside noise when songs aren't playing. The H-ANC's aren't quite as good as the Bose, they don't completely block all the external noise, although when music is playing they work fine.

The sound quality reverses the comparison. The H-ANC's do a really, really good job playing music. The Bose aren't too far behind, but the H-ANC's sound more natural, have more space and depth, somewhat 3D, nice detail and instrument separation. The Bose are much more 2D, not quite the depth and space.

So I'm torn. The two are close enough in price that it isn't a factor. For me, the Bose fit great right out of the box, good seal, no adjusting during my workouts. The Noble's are not quite as good - for me. I'm still rolling tips to see if I can find something that suits and will fit in the case. So far I'm still searching. I like the way the Noble's do music, and the ANC is decent enough that I can easily live with it. The Bose have killer ANC but are a small bit behind the Nobles for sound. Fortunately I can return the Bose if I decide I like the Nobles more, that we already own, so now it comes down to which I'll actually purchase.

Did you try to tweak the Bose EQ? Sometimes 3D feel can be enhanced by modifying the frequency response.