PSB Spekaers M4U TW1
Jan 18, 2018 at 10:49 PM Post #16 of 43
clerkpalmer said:
Would love to understand this a bit more without going too far off topic. I use an iPhone and have multiple bt headsets none of which appear to officially support AAC. These psb sound pretty good to me. Is lack of AAC support a deal breaker or is it marketing mumbo jumbo. I just ordered some higher end bt wired headphones that support aptxhd and Sony lossless format but not AAC and I'm wondering if I wasted my money.

Also I wonder why all of these headsets do not support aptx or aac? How much more could it possibly cost them? And if the answer is because they don't improve the sq it would be nice to have more concrete information supporting that.
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The majority of the BT headphones I have support AAC. iPhone doesn't support APT-X, though that is a better codec as it can do CD-quality lossless. I use Apple Music so all my music is in AAC format so it's a direct transfer, no re-encoding/converting. For something like Spotify where it's MP3, that would need to be converted over to something that can be read using the AAC codec (AAC) which causes a lossy to lossy conversion (bad). The same would occur for SBC. For something like APT-X, regardless of what format you have you'd either have a lossless to lossless conversion (no degradation) or a lossy to lossless conversion (no degradation).

One major issue with many BT headphones is the included DAC and amp that may not be up to par. They are indeed getting better, but your music can only sound as good as the weakest link, and much of the time this portion is the weaker portion of the link.

As for not using AAC or APT-X, you have to remember this adds complexity to the hardware and design which is quite costly, could use more battery, or take up more space (less room for other things). The use of AAC or APT-X does indeed keep the quality of the source intact (and compared to SBC will improve quality), but the downfall for many is typically the DAC/amp.

I should note that with the PSB TW1, there were many choices made to keep the price of them at 150 (which for what they are is quite worth it). This includes the lack of a battery case, wireless charging (they use a split USB-micro cable), and more advanced codecs.

So, to sum it up, just because it supports AAC/APT-X doesn't mean it will sound better. However, hooked up to the same output (DAC, amp, drivers), the support of AAC/APT-X will, at worst, make no difference and at best improve sound quality. I should note that with the PSB I can hear some distortion within tracks and some oddities, but I have to really listen for them. Though it's nothing like the little amplified distortion that the B&O E8 have.
 
Jan 22, 2018 at 9:42 PM Post #18 of 43
jnak00 said:
I'm curious to know how these fit with glasses. Anyone who wears glasses try these? I'd love to hear about your experience.
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I personally haven't had issues with glasses. My frame arms aren't thin, but not super thick either.
 
Jan 22, 2018 at 10:05 PM Post #19 of 43
jnak00 said:
I'm curious to know how these fit with glasses. Anyone who wears glasses try these? I'd love to hear about your experience.
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They fit well with my main frames, which sit high. They don't fit well with my frames that hang tighter around the ear, but a little fiddling works well. This could certainly be a concern for thick frames because they do want to occupy the same real estate behind your ears.
 
Mar 11, 2018 at 1:11 AM Post #23 of 43
I'd like to hear more about these as well. I'm a big fan of Barton's sound and really enjoy both the M4U-4 and the HP50.
 
Mar 11, 2018 at 7:07 PM Post #24 of 43
The PSB TW1 is very good when it comes to sound quality.
Two major drawbacks for me though:
1. Voice during phone calls coming from right side only
2. No charging case, and while the battery is good for close to 5 hours it is a bit annoying that if if you want to charge them on the go it’s impossible unless you carry a power bank with you.

I have the M4U4 as well and love their sound, the TW1 is more colored but still very nice - I’m using the Jabra Elite Sport as my daily driver and to my surprise with the built in eq in the Jabra app I made them sound 90% like the M4U4. A huge shocker to me is also the Jabra has wider soundstage.
 
Mar 14, 2018 at 9:39 AM Post #25 of 43
Does anyone know if the earplug part of the PSB TW1 is detachable from the ear-hook? Like with MMCX connectors? I was thinking the ear-hook would be ideal to use with SE215s/SE535s. I currently use the Shure BT-1 cable which is pretty good, except the mic which is terrible. Seems like someone should make some standalone MMCX ear-hook true wireless systems that you could connect a range of IEMs to, I've tried many but all bluetooth with cable.

If anyone is after long battery life and an excellent microphone, then the Smartcable - https://www.amazon.co.uk/BASN-Smart...TF8&qid=1521034703&sr=8-1&keywords=smartcable is really very good. I often call my brother on my cycle commute and at 20mph with wind it's still clear on his side. I use SE215s with the cable only on left ear if cycling.
 
Mar 22, 2018 at 2:02 PM Post #26 of 43
I just got my pair yesterday. Quick impressions after about 30-40 minutes of use:
1. They fit very nicely and are very comfortable to wear. They don't move around much. My glasses don't get in the way at all.
2. The ergonomics are odd. You to turn on the left earpiece, wait for it to pair, then turn on the right earpiece. Not sure if that's normal with total wireless IEMs or not. I figured turning one on would automatically turn the other on, but no. There is a status light on each earpiece for power, pairing, and charging, but it is tiny and very difficult to see if your thumb is on the power button. Turning them off requires holding the power button for what seemed like 7-10 seconds, which is a long time (turning one off turns both off).
3. They sound pretty good - not as powerful in the bass as the M4U2 but a similar sound signature. Great for running or being on the move, where you just want good sound. Don't buy these to sit in the dark and listen whilst sipping brandy. Use proper wired headphones for that.
4. At one point, they did something bizarre. Certain parts of the sound mix suddenly panned left, and up. So it sounded like the vocals were coming from someone standing on a stool, slightly to my left. Same with the drums. Other parts of the mix (guitar and piano) stayed centred or panned slightly right. I pulled the left earpiece out and I could still hear vocals and drums on the right, but it was definitely messed up. Un-pairing and re-pairing fixed it. They my have just been slightly out of sync or something.
5. I did get some dropouts, but I was also setting up my home mesh wifi on my phone at the same time, so I suspect that had something to do with the dropouts (the dropouits coincided with the same step on the wifi setup process)

I'm pretty pleased with them so far. We'll see how they hold up with more use.
 
Mar 23, 2018 at 4:02 AM Post #27 of 43
jnak00 said:
I just got my pair yesterday. Quick impressions after about 30-40 minutes of use:
1. They fit very nicely and are very comfortable to wear. They don't move around much. My glasses don't get in the way at all.
2. The ergonomics are odd. You to turn on the left earpiece, wait for it to pair, then turn on the right earpiece. Not sure if that's normal with total wireless IEMs or not. I figured turning one on would automatically turn the other on, but no. There is a status light on each earpiece for power, pairing, and charging, but it is tiny and very difficult to see if your thumb is on the power button. Turning them off requires holding the power button for what seemed like 7-10 seconds, which is a long time (turning one off turns both off).
3. They sound pretty good - not as powerful in the bass as the M4U2 but a similar sound signature. Great for running or being on the move, where you just want good sound. Don't buy these to sit in the dark and listen whilst sipping brandy. Use proper wired headphones for that.
4. At one point, they did something bizarre. Certain parts of the sound mix suddenly panned left, and up. So it sounded like the vocals were coming from someone standing on a stool, slightly to my left. Same with the drums. Other parts of the mix (guitar and piano) stayed centred or panned slightly right. I pulled the left earpiece out and I could still hear vocals and drums on the right, but it was definitely messed up. Un-pairing and re-pairing fixed it. They my have just been slightly out of sync or something.
5. I did get some dropouts, but I was also setting up my home mesh wifi on my phone at the same time, so I suspect that had something to do with the dropouts (the dropouits coincided with the same step on the wifi setup process)

I'm pretty pleased with them so far. We'll see how they hold up with more use.
Click to expand...

For point 4, I also noticed it while doing my reviews. Yes I believe the earbuds are somewhat out of sync. I just had to either stop-play the track or turn off Bluetooth and turn back on to re-connect.

psb_m4u_tw1_4.jpg


The stream quality was poor when I tested with LG V30+ and other Android phones, but audio was great with iPhone X. In fact, the iPhone X delivered a more disciplined treble, less harsh, which I would very much prefer.

psb_m4u_tw1_7.jpg


Comfort was excellent, my favourite true wireless, because it eases the pressure off my ear canals to support the earbuds. Plus, I could ease the eartips and listen to the surroundings without removing the buds entirely and risk misplacing.

If anyone is keen, you may read my full write-up.
 
Mar 23, 2018 at 8:18 AM Post #28 of 43
I'm using a Pixel 2XL and did not notice any real harshness. Maybe a tiny smidge of compression artifacts here and there, but not enough to detract from the music.

I also found that holding the touchpad on the right earpiece for a couple seconds, not long enough to skip tracks but long than a tap, would cause that earpiece to beep, and then the sound would shift left. If I did the same on the left earpiece, it would beep and the sound would normalize.

musicphotolife said:
If anyone is keen, you may read my full write-up.
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I did read your review before I bought these. Thanks for putting it up!
 
Mar 29, 2018 at 9:11 PM Post #29 of 43
Great review! I just purchased these a few days ago and I love them.

Quick question though - the manual indicates that the LED should turn off when charging. Mine turn solid blue but also sometimes go solid red. I have a ticket out with PSB to clarify what it's supposed to do...have you had any problems with this?
 
Mar 29, 2018 at 9:17 PM Post #30 of 43
wanton007 said:
Great review! I just purchased these a few days ago and I love them.

Quick question though - the manual indicates that the LED should turn off when charging. Mine turn solid blue but also sometimes go solid red. I have a ticket out with PSB to clarify what it's supposed to do...have you had any problems with this?
Click to expand...

Mine stay red charging. Then blue when charged.
 
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