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

[Caipirina]

The Alt Fit Kit for the QCII fits but the ear fins for the new buds would not fit the QCII due to the little Notch to stop it rotating (it does not work as they are as loose as each other and fall off).

Looking at the kits and close up photos I would say the Ultra are the same Ear fins.

You can get 3rd party ear fins that may be better.

The part circled in green is a little lug that fits in little groove/notch on the earbuds and to me it looks like the holes for the mics (circled in red) are larger when I tried both models on each other.


QCII



QC Gen2 (looks same on Ultra but I do not have those).

thanks for your intricate detective work and artistry .. much appreciated

 

[AndreRitter]

It is the closest to an audiophile tuning I have heard in a TWS. I love it. If using LDAC, start the music, then hit the Bluetooth button to disconnect, and immediately hit the Bluetooth button to reconnect, and the connection is stable.

Sorely tempted by a set of these but the silver finish is a tad outre for me.

 

[subguy812]

Sorely tempted by a set of these but the silver finish is a tad outre for me.

I do agree about the aesthetics...but I can't see them in my ears, and do care much about other opinions

 

[JML]

Pleasantly surprised at the sound quality of Aviot TE-ZX1

Although I just returned mine, I too was very impressed with the sound via LDAC. For anyone else thinking of these: the issues for me were primarily fit: they're very large and relatively heavy, and the sound tube diameter is quite large, too. They just hurt me. If you have a large ear canal, these might be good, but even with the small tips and small aftermarket tips (11mm diameter) I could not wear them without pain. I found it very difficult to fit even their own tips to the units, except for the foam tips which have a larger bore (but they also came off very easily when removing the earpieces, which is scary when they remained in my ear canal). Getting new Aviot tips in the US is also apparently impossible (they don't ship to the US and none of the eBay or Japanese and other dealers in Asia that I contacted could get the replacement tips or were not willing to ship to the US). I also could not get the voices to change to English or pick among the different people's voices.

But for sound, they were splendid. [sigh]

 

[JML]

I think 3 or 4 of us made the purchase and retracted because the shipping date moved, and not in the direction for all of us instant gratification folks.

Amazon US claims delivery to me on 10/23-26. So I ordered them to try.

 

[erockg]

I think 3 or 4 of us made the purchase and retracted because the shipping date moved, and not in the direction for all of us instant gratification folks.

Back in stock for Monday delivery!

 

[ac3knight]

Although I just returned mine, I too was very impressed with the sound via LDAC. For anyone else thinking of these: the issues for me were primarily fit: they're very large and relatively heavy, and the sound tube diameter is quite large, too. They just hurt me. If you have a large ear canal, these might be good, but even with the small tips and small aftermarket tips (11mm diameter) I could not wear them without pain. I found it very difficult to fit even their own tips to the units, except for the foam tips which have a larger bore (but they also came off very easily when removing the earpieces, which is scary when they remained in my ear canal). Getting new Aviot tips in the US is also apparently impossible (they don't ship to the US and none of the eBay or Japanese and other dealers in Asia that I contacted could get the replacement tips or were not willing to ship to the US). I also could not get the voices to change to English or pick among the different people's voices.

But for sound, they were splendid. [sigh]

I was able to get mine changed to English prompts. In the Sound Me app, there is an option to switch to English firmware in the settings page.

Regarding fit, I generally found it fine. One other way to wear these buds is to switch to the larger white/transparent tips that come in the box.

Then just fit them in your ear such that they sit outside your ear canal but still provide a complete seal. I actually found these buds one of the most comfortable, with the above method.

 

[mcnaugha]

@mcnaugha Do they come with a charging case btw?

They don’t come with a charging case. Instead they come with a little charging cradle which does have a built-in battery, promising up to 50hrs. They also come with a dual-ended USB-C cable if you want to charge them without the cradle. They come with a textured fabric carry case which is just generic with no technological function. It has a little fixed netting on one half where you can store the cable.


Good news bad news though…

Good news: They have a gorgeous new silver version. I am attempting to get a hold of this now. They also have a pink version coming soon. Neither new colour is mentioned on Aliexpress yet.
Bad news: The Aliexpress listing doesn’t state which “voice prompt language” you are going to get. On TaoBao, they clearly have the choice of Chinese or English. Yesterday, I received my red pair and discovered they had the Chinese voice prompts. This isn’t the end of the world but given I spent £100 on them, I decided to return. The Aliexpress seller confirmed that they could not offer a firmware flash option to change to English. I also contacted the Taobao (possible manufacturer) seller who explained that not only was the firmware encrypted (meaning they’d need to disclose the key for me to unlock it) but they also did not enable Over-The-Air firmware upgrades. The USB data connection has also been disabled. So, there is currently no way to swap firmwares.

What I can say is that I have the QCC3081 version and have had them since January and they have been great. Never experienced any unusual issues. Connected to my Flairmesh FlooGoo FMA120 and using the FlooCast app, I confirmed they operated at aptX Lossless transmission rates. With lossless I hear no difference when compared to using the same IEM’s wired on an equally neutral/balanced DAC/Amp.


I don’t currently have a way to validate that I’m achieving 24/44.1/48 lossless with the QCC3091 version. I’m not even certain my Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has 24/44.1/48 lossless enabled at this time. Apparently, the 8 Gen 3 should support up to 24/96 lossless transmission but I haven’t seen any documentation to confirm if that’s automatic or if the phone vendor needs to implement it in their Android build. According to the developer of the Bluetooth Codec Changer app, unrooted Android doesn’t give developers access to the Bluetooth transmission rate.


The Aliexpress seller says that customers can request the English version immediately after order. I have suggested they add this to the listing.

 

[SilverEars]

Update on Freebuds Pro 3:

Returned! I've been getting bad comments on it's mic performance like any other TWS I've used. I don't know what to do.

I hate that phones do not have a headphone jack anymore. I think the usb-c to 3.5mm drains battery while connected.

I bought the FBP3 based on a Youtube vid, but now I find out that they are not all that trustable. TWS just isn't good for calls. I really need wired back.

 

[JackNarrow]

Update on Freebuds Pro 3:

Returned! I've been getting bad comments on it's mic performance like any other TWS I've used. I don't know what to do.

I hate that phones do not have a headphone jack anymore. I think the usb-c to 3.5mm drains battery while connected.

I bought the FBP3 based on a Youtube vid, but now I find out that they are not all that trustable. TWS just isn't good for calls. I really need wired back.

Sounds more than likely that you had a bad firmware on your pro 3.

I had something similar and Huawei replaced .
They are pretty much the best out there for calls but of course during manufacturing sometimes u get a bad apple .

 

[clerkpalmer]

Back in stock for Monday delivery!

Weird. Mine delivering Thursday. Must be a west coast thing.

 

[Not so fat head]

They got me again.. . Walmart had the Samsung Galaxy buds 2 Pro for $65 Clearance, and I walked out with them, last pair.. I know they’re not optimized for IOS at all, but Crinicle say they’re super close to the Harman curve. Going to see if I can enjoy them flat, with no EQ. I’ll let ya know.

 

[Not so fat head]

From 10 in stock now down to 8…. They are moving at this price

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C73D3RQK?th=1&psc=1&tag=headfi-20

 

[Saraugie]

From 10 in stock now down to 8…. They are moving at this price

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C73D3RQK?th=1&psc=1&tag=headfi-20

Aliexpress has them for $179...i was tempted then...I'm very happy at $250 from Amazon

 

[msooffutt]

From 10 in stock now down to 8…. They are moving at this price

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C73D3RQK?th=1&psc=1&tag=headfi-20

I think I brought it down to 9. I think after this purchase I will stop reading this thread. I actually cancelled my order twice and then said the heck with it and bought a set. The size of the case is what has me unsure, but that is a good price.