[jetpacksam]

I don't get the big fuss over phone calls. Do you hold a phone to each ear when you take a call through the handset?

 

[TK33]

I don't get the big fuss over phone calls. Do you hold a phone to each ear when you take a call through the handset?

I usually use 1 ear even with TWS, my BT2 or wired but after a while it gets fatiguing when I am on calls for a few hours a day. I like to alternate ears (left or right). You can do that with a phone but not an earpiece. My favorite for phone calls are the Galaxy Buds Live these days (replaced my wired Shure IEM cable, which was way better than the BT2). Great call quality and I can use just the left or right or both and switching is seamless.

Think of it like a scissor...you need right-handed scissors for right handed people and left-handed scissors for left handed people. Others may prefer both ears because now you can do that with TWS tech amd may be able to hear better with both ears in (or block out more outside noise). It is personal preference...

 

[angryshuna]

Given the pandemic, a lot of us spend all day on calls and video conferences. I'd certainly like to have the option of both ears since, you know, I have two of them.

 

[ryanmatic]

I don't get the big fuss over phone calls. Do you hold a phone to each ear when you take a call through the handset?

Taking a phone call with both of my AirPods Pro feels far, far more like talking to someone in the room than using a single TW1 earbud in my right ear. I’d go so far as to say taking a call via speakerphone is a nicer experience. I totally get why Shure may have made this decision given the primary/secondary connection between the earpieces but it’s most definitely a compromise.

 

[jetpacksam]

I don't and have never expected "stereo" during a phone call.
As long as I can answer calls, that's allI need. True Wireless for the Supreme 846? Priceless.

 

[plakat]

I don't and have never expected "stereo" during a phone call.
As long as I can answer calls, that's allI need. True Wireless for the Supreme 846? Priceless.

Good summary for me as well. I don't like phone calls much, nowadays that's more of a necessity than before of course. Still for me one ear is more natural for a phone call, resembling the interaction with a phone while avoiding that voice in my head syndrome. But I never use the SE846 for calls due to the high isolation. phone calls is the only reason for me to own AirPods...

 

[ccevers]

Ok...so I have just read through 21 pages of this thread, and less than a handful of posts mentioned the elephant in the room.

I own the SE846 & 535reds. The SE846 are on $600 custom silver cable from Norne, paired with the Chord Mojo & are NEXT LEVEL. I have maximized these to their fullest potential with thousands of Vinyl records on the Fiio X5ii/Chord Mojo combo.

I own the BT1 and it is paired with the SE535, because it’s a joke to use the SE846 with an iPhone that can only transmit 250kbps. I purchased the TW1 on Friday & they arrived promptly yesterday.

They are not messing around with the presentation of the TW1. It comes in an exquisite box, and while the case for it is heavy by my standards...the subtle nuances of the charging lights are very nice.

Less than 24 hours after acquiring these I called Shure and berated them for releasing a product with such an Achilles Heel. I use the OG iPhone SE to drive it, which is why I never purchased the BT2, because the OG SE is not Bluetooth 5.0 capable...however these TW1s showed a noticeable improvement in sound signature over the BT1.

The Achilles Heel of the TW1 is that the left IEM is unable to listen to music or operate independently of the right IEM. This is the dumbest decision ever and I am astounded that not a single one of you on this forum has devoted any serious consideration to this.

I work a job where I want to use Bluetooth headphones for 8 hours a day. & I need to hear out of a single ear to conduct business. I would like to use the left IEM for 4 hours & the right IEM for 4 hours so that each ear gets the same use... with the TW1, you would have to have the right IEM turned on and sitting nearby to use the left IEM independently. It is impossible to use these because once the right IEM loses battery, it doesn’t matter if the left IEM is at 100%...the left IEM cannot work without the right IEM turned on with music playing.

Shure has zero excuse for this and are accepting the return on this product. I told them that $20 crappy Bluetooth buds you find at Walmart are capable of using each IEM independently while the other one is in the charging case...along with AirPods & AirPod pro.

The fact that this company thinks they could of charged over $170 for these as a stand-alone item, is pissing down the backs of their customers and telling them it’s raining. There is zero information on the website to tell consumers about this product flaw.

 

[ryanmatic]

The Achilles Heel of the TW1 is that the left IEM is unable to listen to music or operate independently of the right IEM. This is the dumbest decision ever and I am astounded that not a single one of you on this forum has devoted any serious consideration to this.

It's almost like the exact use case you have in mind is not at all common, so maybe it's not worth getting this bent out of shape over (let alone berating the poor soul who happened to take your call). You can always ask about something like this on the forum before purchasing. Anyone would've been happy to have confirmed how the separate earpieces work.

It sucks that the TW1 won't work for you—but as you yourself mentioned (and as has been shown by the monstrous TW thread)—you have lots of other options. For me and many others, the TW1 are a stellar product (yes, even when paired with SE846 and driven by iOS).

 

[TK33]

Ok...so I have just read through 21 pages of this thread, and less than a handful of posts mentioned the elephant in the room.

I own the SE846 & 535reds. The SE846 are on $600 custom silver cable from Norne, paired with the Chord Mojo & are NEXT LEVEL. I have maximized these to their fullest potential with thousands of Vinyl records on the Fiio X5ii/Chord Mojo combo.

I own the BT1 and it is paired with the SE535, because it’s a joke to use the SE846 with an iPhone that can only transmit 250kbps. I purchased the TW1 on Friday & they arrived promptly yesterday.

They are not messing around with the presentation of the TW1. It comes in an exquisite box, and while the case for it is heavy by my standards...the subtle nuances of the charging lights are very nice.

Less than 24 hours after acquiring these I called Shure and berated them for releasing a product with such an Achilles Heel. I use the OG iPhone SE to drive it, which is why I never purchased the BT2, because the OG SE is not Bluetooth 5.0 capable...however these TW1s showed a noticeable improvement in sound signature over the BT1.

The Achilles Heel of the TW1 is that the left IEM is unable to listen to music or operate independently of the right IEM. This is the dumbest decision ever and I am astounded that not a single one of you on this forum has devoted any serious consideration to this.

I work a job where I want to use Bluetooth headphones for 8 hours a day. & I need to hear out of a single ear to conduct business. I would like to use the left IEM for 4 hours & the right IEM for 4 hours so that each ear gets the same use... with the TW1, you would have to have the right IEM turned on and sitting nearby to use the left IEM independently. It is impossible to use these because once the right IEM loses battery, it doesn’t matter if the left IEM is at 100%...the left IEM cannot work without the right IEM turned on with music playing.

Shure has zero excuse for this and are accepting the return on this product. I told them that $20 crappy Bluetooth buds you find at Walmart are capable of using each IEM independently while the other one is in the charging case...along with AirPods & AirPod pro.

The fact that this company thinks they could of charged over $170 for these as a stand-alone item, is pissing down the backs of their customers and telling them it’s raining. There is zero information on the website to tell consumers about this product flaw.

Unfortunately, many true wireless devices work this way. Qualcomm males a TWS+ chip that allows you to use each side independently but require a phone to support the standard too. I have 4 pairs of TWS (Senn MTW v1, M&D MW07 Go, JBL Reflect Flow and Samsung Galaxy Buds Live) and only the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live work where the left can work independently of the right side. Usually the right side is the master and the left side is paired to the right. Samsung and Apple seem to use their own tech so they seem to work differently. Unfortunately, for your use case, you need to make sure they can work independently you buy since not all true wireless devices will work the way you need it to. The True Wireless thread on headfi has many people who can help you with this. I would suggest asking the group there before you buy again to make sure it will work for you.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/going-fully-wireless-iems-too-soon-or-are-we-there-yet.861024/

 

[jetpacksam]

The Achilles Heel of the TW1 is that the left IEM is unable to listen to music or operate independently of the right IEM. This is the dumbest decision ever and I am astounded that not a single one of you on this forum has devoted any serious consideration to this.

I work a job where I want to use Bluetooth headphones for 8 hours a day. & I need to hear out of a single ear to conduct business. I would like to use the left IEM for 4 hours & the right IEM for 4 hours so that each ear gets the same use... with the TW1, you would have to have the right IEM turned on and sitting nearby to use the left IEM independently. It is impossible to use these because once the right IEM loses battery, it doesn’t matter if the left IEM is at 100%...the left IEM cannot work without the right IEM turned on with music playing.

The fact that this company thinks they could of charged over $170 for these as a stand-alone item, is pissing down the backs of their customers and telling them it’s raining. There is zero information on the website to tell consumers about this product flaw.

Paragraph 1: No one has devoted any time to it because it is non-essential to most of the listeners here and, as has been pointed out,
virtually all other TW earphones operate in the same way..

Paragraph 2: It doesn't do what you want it to. That's on you not doing research, not them.


Paragraph 3: From the Shure TW1 page, 2nd "bullet" point {<Link}:

"Enjoy clear calls with exceptional audio through integrated microphones for video conferencing and phone calls. Call audio only heard in the right earphone."
No, it isn't implicitly stated that they do not operate independently of each other, the above sentence pretty much says it all.


180.00 is more than fair for what these do and the sound quality is phenomenal, and quite in line with the original 150.00 msrp of the BT2 at launch.

 

[ccevers]

It's almost like the exact use case you have in mind is not at all common, so maybe it's not worth getting this bent out of shape over (let alone berating the poor soul who happened to take your call). You can always ask about something like this on the forum before purchasing. Anyone would've been happy to have confirmed how the separate earpieces work.

It sucks that the TW1 won't work for you—but as you yourself mentioned (and as has been shown by the monstrous TW thread)—you have lots of other options. For me and many others, the TW1 are a stellar product (yes, even when paired with SE846 and driven by iOS).

TW1 are a stellar product, and offer noticeable improvements over the BT1, but it doesn’t make sense why $20 Bluetooth earbuds are capable of operating independently of one another and these aren’t. I understand it is a Qualcomm issue, based on what the representative relayed to me, but once again why are $20 Bluetooth earbuds using tech that is more versatile than $170 pieces?!? Why is it that $20 Bluetooth IEMs can relay phone calls to the left & right ears at the same time...while $170 Bluetooth pieces can only deliver to the right ear...

I totally forgot about this website and the fact that I came here back in 2012 when I began to first research all this equipment, so I apologize. I should of come here first and asked about this capability instead of assuming it would work.

Paragraph 1: No one has devoted any time to it because it is non-essential to most of the listeners here and, as has been pointed out,
virtually all other TW earphones operate in the same way..

Paragraph 2: It doesn't do what you want it to. That's on you not doing research, not them.


Paragraph 3: From the Shure TW1 page, 2nd "bullet" point {<Link}:

"Enjoy clear calls with exceptional audio through integrated microphones for video conferencing and phone calls. Call audio only heard in the right earphone."
No, it isn't implicitly stated that they do not operate independently of each other, the above sentence pretty much says it all.


180.00 is more than fair for what these do and the sound quality is phenomenal, and quite in line with the original 150.00 msrp of the BT2 at launch.

“No, it isn't implicitly stated that they do not operate independently of each other“. Checkmate.... when Apple, Beats & Chinese knockoffs are all capable of operating independently of one another....

I guarantee you they will fix this with the TW2 because I have shared this with employees at Best Buy, Apple & many other outlets and they all agree that the TW1 are a joke because of this.

Unfortunately, many true wireless devices work this way. Qualcomm males a TWS+ chip that allows you to use each side independently but require a phone to support the standard too. I have 4 pairs of TWS (Senn MTW v1, M&D MW07 Go, JBL Reflect Flow and Samsung Galaxy Buds Live) and only the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live work where the left can work independently of the right side. Usually the right side is the master and the left side is paired to the right. Samsung and Apple seem to use their own tech so they seem to work differently. Unfortunately, for your use case, you need to make sure they can work independently you buy since not all true wireless devices will work the way you need it to. The True Wireless thread on headfi has many people who can help you with this. I would suggest asking the group there before you buy again to make sure it will work for you.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/going-fully-wireless-iems-too-soon-or-are-we-there-yet.861024/

Thanks... are there any other devices that can enable Shure IEMs to operate independently of one another without cables?

 

[ccevers]

I don’t know what these are called but they are less than $50 and they arrived at my door by accident from Amazon over a year ago. They are capable of being used independently while the other one is being charged.

The idea for forcing users to have to use the right IEM at all times is a practice of discrimination against those who are either deaf in that ear, or were born without one. If these pieces of crap can do it, then there is zero excuse for Qualcomm or Shure to not follow suit.

These are the worst SQ ever, and they can’t wrap around your ear. They fall out constantly and the right one was run over by a truck as a result.
luckily I can still use the left IEM independently...unlike Shure

 

[plakat]

@ccevers Sorry to hear that the TW1 does not work for you. It's a rather special use case I'd say, so maybe no one in this thread so far had this exact problem. For me, the only time I use one earpiece (an AirPod) is when taking calls. I don't even mind that the TW1 routes calls only to the right earpiece, because I don't use them for calls due to their high isolation which makes my own voice uncomfortably loud.

And yes, its counterintuitive that they only work as a pair. I'd also prefer them to use the more advanced chipset mentioned above... even though my use case doesn't strictly require this. But they *do* sound really good with the SE846... enjoyed them on a long walk this afternoon.

The BT1 also had its flaws, most of which the BT2 corrected. Some day there'll be a TW2 I guess... but I'm more than happy in the meantime.

 

[jetpacksam]

I totally forgot about this website and the fact that I came here back in 2012 when I began to first research all this equipment, so I apologize. I should of come here first and asked about this capability instead of assuming it would work.

“No, it isn't implicitly stated that they do not operate independently of each other“. Checkmate.... when Apple, Beats & Chinese knockoffs are all capable of operating independently of one another....

I guarantee you they will fix this with the TW2 because I have shared this with employees at Best Buy, Apple & many other outlets and they all agree that the TW1 are a joke because of this.

Thanks... are there any other devices that can enable Shure IEMs to operate independently of one another without cables?

Why would it matter if it was talked about here? You didn't go to the Shure site as part of your research?

Well, when brats, crapple, and chinese knockoffs match the Shure audio quality, I'll pay attention.
And the second I take best buy, crapple as a audiophile source of information, I'll stop listening to music.

 

[Kalli]

Since this discussion gets a little heated up at the moment and there are a lot of statements about "there is no use case". I want to share my thoughts.

In my opinion, there is a pretty common use case where someone would just walk around listening to music and occasionally taking a call if a friend calls. Or sitting in the office and taking a call if a workmate calls.

Still my opinion only, here are two ways to make that comfortable.
First of all. If only one side is playing music on isolating IEMs, that's just weird for the ears. For me it feels like some kind of pressure on the other side which I strongly dislike.
Secondly, why don't give the user the option to automatically (via the app) switch into environment mode when taking a call. There are just a few wireless IEMs/headphones, which offer that option, while that seems to be such an obvious choice for me.

And before you guys rage on me. Those are just my thoughts.