[EvilHomer80]

After a few days testing I've found with the adjusted fit I'm not getting the pause issue, so if anyone still having trouble it might be worth adjusting the fit a little and work out where it sits best.

I am having another issue though its small and not something I use much, but I can't activate siri using the voice assistant. It pauses the music for around 5 seconds when I press the voice assistant button but no siri. Anyone had this issue when paired with an iOS device? Tried with an iPhone and iPad no luck either way

 

[wolfmath]

My issue right now is that when I'm sitting at my desk at work I want to listen through the cable so I don't use too much battery.
I can't figure out how to open them without turning them on. I'm following the instructions as stated here in the documentation, but they still turn on.

 

[EvilHomer80]

I also get the same thing although its not really something I'd do that regular. On mine if I hold the multifunction button and open I get a prompt saying "No connection" but not "Power Off".

I've dropped an email to Sennheiser UK as they've been pretty responsive so hopefully it can be sorted by firmware

 

[JP254]

I also get the same thing although its not really something I'd do that regular. On mine if I hold the multifunction button and open I get a prompt saying "No connection" but not "Power Off".

I've dropped an email to Sennheiser UK as they've been pretty responsive so hopefully it can be sorted by firmware

Are you holding down the play/pause button (this is the multi-function button) or the voice assistant/Bluetooth pairing button? Mine say "power off" and are off when I hold down the multi-function button while unfolding.

If you use the cable with them turned on, are they a lot quieter compared to using them turned off with the cable or turned on with Bluetooth?

 

[EvilHomer80]

Ah perfect, I was pressing the wrong button to turn them off. To be honest I was only doing it to check for wolfmath. I don't use it cabled, I use a pair of Oppo PM-3s so I can't say what happens to the volume.

I still have the issue with voice assistant not working, not sure if its an iOS issue. In testing sometimes siri will very briefly appear then disappear before I can give any instruction. The reason I think its more likely headphone is Siri is working under all other circumstances and other headphones though

 

[wolfmath]

I got mine to turn off. I was pressing the correct button, but maybe not doing it right? Whatever, I'm happy now.

 

[EvilHomer80]

Fixed my Siri issue sort of. I had to reset everything, re-pair, and then restart. Wasn’t really worth it for how little I’ll use it

 

[Monstieur]

I can tell a difference between Aptx HD and SBC on my Bowers and Wilkins PX. I have A B tested with AptX HD vs all the others and Aptx HD always comes through with the most detail and impact. Its subtle usually but, there none the less. From all i read Aptx HD is the better of them, while on paper LDAC should be better its not in testing. Aptx HD is the cleanest signal. Plus, on Sony headphones you can't use EQ if you are using LDAC. They are the ones who invented LDAC too.

There is an audible improvement from SBC to aptX to aptX HD. All of them are simple low fidelity codecs by design, with aptX HD having the least distortion. AAC being a psychoacoustic codec is in a different league altogether and should always be preferred as it's transparent at the 256 Kb/s used in Bluetooth, especially on iOS / macOS which have the highest quality AAC encoders. On sources with inferior AAC encoders, aptX HD may sound better.

 

[cleg]

Our review video

 

[Sonic Defender]

There is an audible improvement from SBC to aptX to aptX HD. All of them are simple low fidelity codecs by design, with aptX HD having the least distortion. AAC being a psychoacoustic codec is in a different league altogether and should always be preferred as it's transparent at the 256 Kb/s used in Bluetooth, especially on iOS / macOS which have the highest quality AAC encoders. On sources with inferior AAC encoders, aptX HD may sound better.

Have you managed to test to see if you can indeed spot these differences in blind, multiple trial listening tests?

 

[Monstieur]

Have you managed to test to see if you can indeed spot these differences in blind, multiple trial listening tests?

I haven't performed an ABX test. However with sighted listening:
SBC is instantly detectable in any song I'm familiar with. There's distortion everywhere.
aptX sounds transparent to me 99% of the time. In a specific notes in specific songs I know well, I can hear it distort every time.
aptX HD and AAC are transparent to me.

From an engineering perspective, AAC is superior.

 

[Sonic Defender]

I haven't performed an ABX test. However with sighted listening:
SBC is instantly detectable in any song I'm familiar with. There's distortion everywhere.
aptX sounds transparent to me 99% of the time. In a specific notes in specific songs I know well, I can hear it distort every time.
aptX HD and AAC are transparent to me.

From an engineering perspective, AAC is superior.

You need blind testing to confirm your observations, multiple trials with at least a 90% detection rate. Sighted listening tests as I'm sure you know have zero validity.

 

[Monstieur]

You need blind testing to confirm your observations, multiple trials with at least a 90% detection rate. Sighted listening tests as I'm sure you know have zero validity.

There's some data here on SBC's distortion:
https://www.soundguys.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-bluetooth-aptx-and-aptx-hd-19914/

It's hard to check codecs because most of the time it's the implementation that's bad, and there's no easy way to switch codecs without human assistance.

Incidentally I've detected both SBC and aptX "blind" by accident and checked to confirm. I had disabled some codecs on my MacBook and EarStudio ES100 Bluetooth receiver + Shure SE846. Once it was distorting consistently throughout the song, and I checked to find it was using SBC. Another time I heard a single note distort in a song, so I skipped back and played the part again to find it distorted every time. I checked and saw it was using aptX instead of AAC.

 

[Sonic Defender]

There's some data here on SBC's distortion:
https://www.soundguys.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-bluetooth-aptx-and-aptx-hd-19914/

It's hard to check codecs because most of the time it's the implementation that's bad, and there's no easy way to switch codecs without human assistance.

Incidentally I've detected both SBC and aptX "blind" by accident and checked to confirm. I had disabled some codecs on my MacBook and EarStudio ES100 Bluetooth receiver + Shure SE846. Once it was distorting consistently throughout the song, and I checked to find it was using SBC. Another time I heard a single note distort in a song, so I skipped back and played the part again to find it distorted every time. I checked and saw it was using aptX instead of AAC.

I could see SBC having a consistent and audible anomaly, but not so sure I could see it happening with Apt X or AAC. I like AAC quite a bit and use it out and about with my KEF Space One wireless. With a friends help you should be able to do some great blind testing. You would need a friend who is careful not to give any clues (which is harder than you might think as friends want us to succeed) and one test track. You would do at least 10 trials, no variation in volume or equipment and your assistant would have to make sure that with the pairings he/she varied the order between trials for example first trial pairing Apt X -> AAC, second trial pairing AAC -> Apt X. If you could get 9 out of 10 identifications correct under well controlled conditions that would be strong evidence for sure.

If you do this you would have to really get a buddy who won't nod, or smile, or give you any feedback at all until things are done. You sound like somebody who might actually put the work into things. It would be nice, people spend hours debating talking about such things but almost nobody in my experience puts anytime at all into confirming their assumptions with proper testing. Thanks for having an open mind and not getting your back up. Cheers, and enjoy the music.

 

[Monstieur]

I could see SBC having a consistent and audible anomaly, but not so sure I could see it happening with Apt X or AAC. I like AAC quite a bit and use it out and about with my KEF Space One wireless. With a friends help you should be able to do some great blind testing. You would need a friend who is careful not to give any clues (which is harder than you might think as friends want us to succeed) and one test track. You would do at least 10 trials, no variation in volume or equipment and your assistant would have to make sure that with the pairings he/she varied the order between trials for example first trial pairing Apt X -> AAC, second trial pairing AAC -> Apt X. If you could get 9 out of 10 identifications correct under well controlled conditions that would be strong evidence for sure.

If you do this you would have to really get a buddy who won't nod, or smile, or give you any feedback at all until things are done. You sound like somebody who might actually put the work into things. It would be nice, people spend hours debating talking about such things but almost nobody in my experience puts anytime at all into confirming their assumptions with proper testing. Thanks for having an open mind and not getting your back up. Cheers, and enjoy the music.

Read up on the implementation of aptX / aptX HD. When you understand it, you'll recoil in horror. It's shocking that such a low fidelity codec is mostly transparent to the ear. It's a trivial bit discardation adaptive PCM codec designed for simple hardware implementation. It's not comparable to the fidelity of a "real" psychoacoustic codec like MP3 or AAC. I'm not sure if LDAC falls into the same category as aptX. Overall the success of these pseudo-Hi-Fi codecs is just marketing. MP3 and AAC are the only scientifically sound ones.