[erockg]

Me neither. Look kinda cool

I bet they are cool, lack bass and folks will complain they aren't loud. I'd probably try them using my Bose discount through work because I'm stupid.

 

[clerkpalmer]

I bet they are cool, lack bass and folks will complain they aren't loud. I'd probably try them using my Bose discount through work because I'm stupid.

Stupid was buying those PSBs.

 

[erockg]

Stupid was buying those PSBs.

Happens to the best of us.

 

[clerkpalmer]

Happens to the best of us.

look like they cost $10 make. So about 1/2 of the average TWS.

 

[Darkestred]

Have a 23 ultra myself.

From what I've read the trade in value Samsung is offering was pretty minimal?

If you have an s23 ultra (as i do). The trade-in was better this year. Last year i paid 819 out the door for the s23 ultra with 512gb storage and buds2 pro. This year i went with the 1tb option and with the credit i got the s24 out the door at 714 and buds2 pro "free."

 

[SynaestheticA]

look like they cost $10 make. So about 1/2 of the average TWS.

I feel like if they were proud of them they would have at least announced their release.

 

[Juturna]

I had written a pretty substantial review of the Mackie's, but it seems to have been deleted from the text box (usually that sort of stuff sticks around) but no bother, I will post a slightly more comprehensive review later.

But for now I will say that I'm liking the Fokus H-ANC's a lot more than I did at first, after spending quite a bit of time trying to EQ them.

Funnily enough, I could be wrong but I think the Mackie's and the Fokus H-ANC's are made in the same factory and sort of made from the same or at least a similar mold.
They vary slightly in the shape of the cases and the buds, but they are still extremely similar. They both have this sort of oval shape where a small portion of the "face" of the buds extend further out than the body, which I haven't really seen on any other earbuds except these two:

They also have the exact same eartips supplied, the voice prompt they have with "pairing complete" or whatever it says is identical, and the driver(?) you can see through the "speaker grill" has the exact (quite distinct) shape.
Now, I don't know exact details and it might still feature different drivers inside, Mackie details a "Knowles Versonic Balanced Armature" driver, while the H-ANC mentions a "Knowles RAN balanced armature driver", and Mackie do say that they use a "custom" dynamic driver as well, while the Fokus' mainly say that they do use a Dynamic driver as well. The battery specs are very similar if not identical too, in how long it lasts I mean.
The cases are honestly very similar too even if they vary slightly in shape and size. There are a bunch of sort of small details of how the markings for the L/R earbud are in the exact same place, the cases have the same battery specs exactly: 3.7V/500mAh/1850WH, and the headset battery capacity as well as the input SV are also the exact same for both earbuds.

I think the main differences are in the tuning (and possibly the drivers I guess), and that's where I just think the Mackie outshines the Fokus H-ANC for MY taste.
I should be very clear though that both are excellent-sounding earbuds and you can't go wrong with any of them.
The Mackie's just sound a lot more natural and detailed to me - Actually the Mackie's are my favorite earbuds as of yet just because of how natural and balanced they sound to me. I feel like I can really hear the timbre of the individual instruments, as well as the "room" the instruments are in, in a way most other earbuds have been unable to convey.
The Fokus are more "dynamic" I guess you could say, they are definitely more mid-bass-focused and the vocals are harder to EQ to my liking.
But of course they have other upsides like an app with EQ and so on, which is definitely a plus for users who can't use Wavelet, like people on iOS devices.
They also have better volume control since they have more volume "notches", the Mackie really makes you listen slightly too loud or slightly too low volume most of the time haha.

I bought a second pair of Mackie's when I thought my Mackie's were faulty (they were not) and I have them here and I actually sent in that I want to return them yesterday.
I had been listening to the Fokus H-ANC's the entire day yesterday and felt like they were getting to an almost equal level of the Mackie's... but just now when I put in my Mackie's just as I was typing this... no, it's not even close, and it's like... now I feel hesitant to actually send the other pair back, because if it breaks I just need to get a new pair, and maybe they won't be sold anymore at that point.

Also, this is no shade AT ALL towards Noble Audio, I mean there's no question that Noble Audio has many more acclaimed products in the IEM and TWS space than Mackie, but the comparison seems natural to me: Two products I received almost at the same time, they seem to share many physical aspects and specs, they both are TWS earbuds that "only" have AAC and SBC. I still think both are very much worth the money you're paying for them, and I'm looking forward to the new Fokus earbuds with the xMEMS drivers. I'm still debating getting the Fokus Prestige as well... but I don't think I can motivate paying that for them when you add in the import tax for getting them here, which is like 20% of the cost of the earbuds.

 

[LDude]

I bought a second pair

Do they connect to phone while they are in the case like mine do?

- They disconnect when I place them in the case and close the lid but they connect again in a couple of seconds.

 

[subguy812]

I truly love my PF. I can't see myself trading it in until the PF2 comes out. I had the Oneplus Open for five mins and got rid of it. OS sealed the deal. I really enjoy the PF OS more than Samsung. That said, if Samsung reworked the form factor, I'd try again, but that bloatware!

Samsung should either get an agreement with Google so they aren't obligated to load Google apps and just include their own or use only Google apps. The latter would work for me. If you are heavily invested in Google photos, for example, the Samsung Gallery is just annoying. I also feel the AI features in Samsung, will only work in the Gallery. I don't know, but I do know there is too much bloatware, as you said.

 

[LDude]

the Mackie really makes you listen slightly too loud or slightly too low volume most of the time haha.

I found a way to work around it.

 

[Juturna]

I keep getting that stupid thing with the Mackies where the sound starts crackling all to hell in the left earbud now as soon as you go over 60% volume.
I can't sort it out what it is because it seems to be an intermittent issue, and despite feeling like a hardware issue I swear that when it does this for awhile it's after noticing that the sound overall became slightly wonky for a bit.
Because I mean it has happened several times now, but then it usually goes away by itself.

Not sure, what do you guys think? Like ear wax or a hair on/inside the drivers, just overall the drivers **** the bed or something caused by something software-related?

 

[imagpie]

I keep getting that stupid thing with the Mackies where the sound starts crackling all to hell in the left earbud now as soon as you go over 60% volume.
I can't sort it out what it is because it seems to be an intermittent issue, and despite feeling like a hardware issue I swear that when it does this for awhile it's after noticing that the sound overall became slightly wonky for a bit.
Because I mean it has happened several times now, but then it usually goes away by itself.

Not sure, what do you guys think? Like ear wax or a hair on/inside the drivers, just overall the drivers **** the bed or something caused by something software-related?

It kind of sounds like something I had with the Denon Perl Pro past 75/80% volume. It happened on two different sets too, but never had the issue on any other bud. I'm hoping it was something software-related on my phone as I'd love to return to DPP.

Good luck with the Mackies! It's a real pain, especially when reaching rock-out volume.

 

[clerkpalmer]

My Fokus Prestige are not responsive and all I get is 4 flashing blue lights on the case. Any ideas? Edit - Nevermind.

 

[dweaver]

I had written a pretty substantial review of the Mackie's, but it seems to have been deleted from the text box (usually that sort of stuff sticks around) but no bother, I will post a slightly more comprehensive review later.

But for now I will say that I'm liking the Fokus H-ANC's a lot more than I did at first, after spending quite a bit of time trying to EQ them.

Funnily enough, I could be wrong but I think the Mackie's and the Fokus H-ANC's are made in the same factory and sort of made from the same or at least a similar mold.
They vary slightly in the shape of the cases and the buds, but they are still extremely similar. They both have this sort of oval shape where a small portion of the "face" of the buds extend further out than the body, which I haven't really seen on any other earbuds except these two:

They also have the exact same eartips supplied, the voice prompt they have with "pairing complete" or whatever it says is identical, and the driver(?) you can see through the "speaker grill" has the exact (quite distinct) shape.
Now, I don't know exact details and it might still feature different drivers inside, Mackie details a "Knowles Versonic Balanced Armature" driver, while the H-ANC mentions a "Knowles RAN balanced armature driver", and Mackie do say that they use a "custom" dynamic driver as well, while the Fokus' mainly say that they do use a Dynamic driver as well. The battery specs are very similar if not identical too, in how long it lasts I mean.
The cases are honestly very similar too even if they vary slightly in shape and size. There are a bunch of sort of small details of how the markings for the L/R earbud are in the exact same place, the cases have the same battery specs exactly: 3.7V/500mAh/1850WH, and the headset battery capacity as well as the input SV are also the exact same for both earbuds.

I think the main differences are in the tuning (and possibly the drivers I guess), and that's where I just think the Mackie outshines the Fokus H-ANC for MY taste.
I should be very clear though that both are excellent-sounding earbuds and you can't go wrong with any of them.
The Mackie's just sound a lot more natural and detailed to me - Actually the Mackie's are my favorite earbuds as of yet just because of how natural and balanced they sound to me. I feel like I can really hear the timbre of the individual instruments, as well as the "room" the instruments are in, in a way most other earbuds have been unable to convey.
The Fokus are more "dynamic" I guess you could say, they are definitely more mid-bass-focused and the vocals are harder to EQ to my liking.
But of course they have other upsides like an app with EQ and so on, which is definitely a plus for users who can't use Wavelet, like people on iOS devices.
They also have better volume control since they have more volume "notches", the Mackie really makes you listen slightly too loud or slightly too low volume most of the time haha.

I bought a second pair of Mackie's when I thought my Mackie's were faulty (they were not) and I have them here and I actually sent in that I want to return them yesterday.
I had been listening to the Fokus H-ANC's the entire day yesterday and felt like they were getting to an almost equal level of the Mackie's... but just now when I put in my Mackie's just as I was typing this... no, it's not even close, and it's like... now I feel hesitant to actually send the other pair back, because if it breaks I just need to get a new pair, and maybe they won't be sold anymore at that point.

Also, this is no shade AT ALL towards Noble Audio, I mean there's no question that Noble Audio has many more acclaimed products in the IEM and TWS space than Mackie, but the comparison seems natural to me: Two products I received almost at the same time, they seem to share many physical aspects and specs, they both are TWS earbuds that "only" have AAC and SBC. I still think both are very much worth the money you're paying for them, and I'm looking forward to the new Fokus earbuds with the xMEMS drivers. I'm still debating getting the Fokus Prestige as well... but I don't think I can motivate paying that for them when you add in the import tax for getting them here, which is like 20% of the cost of the earbuds.

Glad you were able to compare like this. I suspected this based on pictures and specs but having them in hand like you do is much better.

Certainly no knock on Noble if this is the case. They still would have potentially had their own drivers and if not, certainly their own tuning which you can attest to first hand.

I personally really enjoy the sound of MP-TWS20 so feel no need to try the Noble as I am satisfied now.

But knowing that there is a difference and what it is, is good for other head-fi members thinking about either model.

For anyone unsure, the H-ANC does have an app allowing for custom EQ which does give an edge in versatility.

The MP-20TWS are my go to for clarity and audiophile like sound. For the the rest of the time I am very happy with the Elite 10 for its all round functionality and wide sound stage and 3D audio qualities (NOT using it Spacial Audio setting in the app).

 

[clerkpalmer]

My Fokus Prestige are not responsive and all I get is 4 flashing blue lights on the case. Any ideas? Edit - Nevermind.

Well it appears my NFP do have some gremlins. I keep getting 4 flashing blue lights. It only stops when I connect them to a charging cable. Any ideas ?