The headphones thread! [Sorry about your wallet]

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › The headphones thread! [Sorry about your wallet]

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#2731446 20-Jun-2021 13:18

So I'm now considering pulling the trigger & purchasing the Senn MTW 2 earbuds - partly as they are on special ($379) at the moment.

I was looking at the Sony XM4 earbuds but have started seeing a number of reviewers talk of comfort level issues after a period of time due to the pressure of the new foam tips and together with a higher price (for now) it has got me rethinking my options.

In terms of what I'm looking for - the following is the order of my preference.

Sound Quality
Comfort
Battery Life
Connection quality/interaction with devices
ANC is not high priority for me with the earbuds as I have the Sony XM3 cans for that.

As per my earlier posts I currently own the MTW (Gen1) but I'm considering the upgrade (Mainly as this is a 50th birthday gift to me) & since they have fixed the battery drain issue on the second gen.

One smaller issue I had with the originals was occasionally they would be lacking a little in volume. I don't imagine the second gen are any different in this regard although keen to hear from current owners.

Are there other earbuds out there that I should consider? (Although while I own an iphone I don't rate their sound quality)

Are there other things/issues to consider with the MTW 2?

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#2731449 20-Jun-2021 13:35

WWHeisenberg:

I was looking at the Sony XM4 earbuds but have started seeing a number of reviewers talk of comfort level issues after a period of time due to the pressure of the new foam tips and together with a higher price (for now) it has got me rethinking my options.

I have pre-ordered the XM4 and am selling my 3s.

I fully imagined I would continue using the same Comply tips I am using for the 3’s as I have a pack still, so not anticipating comfort issues!

https://www.complyfoam.com/products/tg-truegrip-pro-for-sony-true-wireless-earphones/

dafman

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#2731456 20-Jun-2021 14:03

WWHeisenberg:

One smaller issue I had with the originals was occasionally they would be lacking a little in volume. I don't imagine the second gen are any different in this regard although keen to hear from current owners.

Volume is not great, but adequate. And they are slippery to hold. And no battery indicator in the app. My only three complaints.

Sound quality makes up for all the shortcomings, it’s brilliant, I just love listening to music on these. I was also considering waiting for the XM4 in-ear to release but decided to pull the pin on the Senns as they were sub $400 at the time. I have no regrets - I have read numerous reviews of the XM4 and, on sound quality, consensus is that the Sony are great but not as good as the Senns.

For me, the fit is the best I have experienced with in-ear and the touch controls are great and really easy to use. Transparent mode is brilliant, call quality is adequate but useable.

ANC is adequate for train, but not outstanding. I often turn it off, esp when biking as wind can play havoc with it.

Can’t comment on battery, I’ve never used for longer than 3 hours between charges. Typically, I only charge the case for about 20 mins each day.

I’ve owned three pair of wired Senns, have the original Momentum wireless, the Galaxy buds (1st gen) and the Sony XM2 over ear. The Senn true wireless are the best by a long margin. Very happy with my purchase.

networkn

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#2731923 21-Jun-2021 10:17

This should give those people interested in the future of Sennheiser after the offloading of the consumer division, some insight, and relief.

WWHeisenberg

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#2732092 21-Jun-2021 14:59

dafman:

WWHeisenberg:

One smaller issue I had with the originals was occasionally they would be lacking a little in volume. I don't imagine the second gen are any different in this regard although keen to hear from current owners.

Volume is not great, but adequate. And they are slippery to hold. And no battery indicator in the app. My only three complaints.

Sound quality makes up for all the shortcomings, it’s brilliant, I just love listening to music on these. I was also considering waiting for the XM4 in-ear to release but decided to pull the pin on the Senns as they were sub $400 at the time. I have no regrets - I have read numerous reviews of the XM4 and, on sound quality, consensus is that the Sony are great but not as good as the Senns.

For me, the fit is the best I have experienced with in-ear and the touch controls are great and really easy to use. Transparent mode is brilliant, call quality is adequate but useable.

ANC is adequate for train, but not outstanding. I often turn it off, esp when biking as wind can play havoc with it.

Can’t comment on battery, I’ve never used for longer than 3 hours between charges. Typically, I only charge the case for about 20 mins each day.

I’ve owned three pair of wired Senns, have the original Momentum wireless, the Galaxy buds (1st gen) and the Sony XM2 over ear. The Senn true wireless are the best by a long margin. Very happy with my purchase.

Have just been doing the last of my research before purchasing the MTW 2 and have noticed quite a few people discussing audio video lag (sync). I remember this being an issue for me with the originals and at the time was one of the reasons I stopped using them for awhile. Then at some point I tried them again and the issue had gone. As I understand the likes of youtube & Netflix added technology to their apps to help with this. Is this still a current issue? I have an iphone & will be pretty much just watching youtube & netflix. Personally I would be surprised if this is still an issue given it works ok now on the Gen1 which I have.

qwertee

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#2754960 4-Aug-2021 11:25

BMarquis: I finally bought a pair of SHP9500 Headphones
Holy moley, how are these things ~$100!?

Sensational value for money. Prefer them over my ATH-M50x when the situation allows for open back....

Try https://centralsound.co/

I am trying to get an older Sony MDR1000-X repaired by getting the parts ( but they only offer in black)
Best to get both sides replaced if you are going down this path.

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#2758573 11-Aug-2021 12:51

Finally got my Sony WF-1000XM4 pre-order - delayed due to COVID supply chain issues I believe.

Initial impressions:

Out of box fit wasn't great - although nice enough quality, the included tips were too small for me and I usually use a medium. Fortunately I had accounted for this and have my Comply 3rd party tips which work perfectly here and when installed, give me a fit as good, if not slightly better than the XM3s
Build quality seems slightly better than the XM3s - plastic seems slightly higher quality and they look and feel premium
Case is *light years* better than the previous model. Compact and again, higher-quality feeling
Sound is very much like their predecessors - clear, non-fatiguing, slightly warm and maybe a little too bass-forward. Overall great, but some may need a bit of EQ to get it as they like.
ANC is very good, though have yet to try them outside of the home
Battery life? Dunno yet!

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#2759480 13-Aug-2021 08:40

Update to the above:

Firmware updates done and really settling in with these now.

Have got used to the fit & insertion and with the Comply tips, these are better secured and more comfortable for my ears than their predecessors.

Very happy with the sound as well - overall, Great Success!

Handsomedan

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#2759487 13-Aug-2021 09:03

Whilst not particularly high-end, I have recently upgraded my "work headphones" to some JBL Live400BT Noise Cancelling headphones.

Sound-wise, they're pretty good. Decent depth to the bass without being Beats-style overwhelming and the mids and highs are crisp enough without being intrusive or ear-piercing.

Comfort-wise, I have to say I wish I'd gone with over-ear instead of on-ear. I wear glasses and I find these to be quite tight fitting and therefore they compress the glasses into the backs of my ears which makes for a quite uncomfortable fit long-term.

If I am using them sporadically, it's fine...it's extended use that bothers me.

The ANC works well enough, especially considering these are on-ear, so don't seal.

Overall, I am pretty happy with them, but think I should've plopped down the extra few bucks for the larger over-ear version (500BT).

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alasta

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#2759587 13-Aug-2021 10:51

I bought the Airpods Max a week ago. I held off buying them partly because I was hoping that Sonos would have released a competing product by now, and also partly because of concerns around glitchy behaviour which seems to have been resolved with subsequent software updates.

In terms of observations I can't really say more than the obvious; the sonic performance is outstanding, but they are clearly bottlenecked by the resolution of bluetooth audio encoding. I am really hoping that at some stage Apple might release a cable that allows Airpods Max to take a digital audio feed directly from an iPhone lightning port, as opposed to the lossy analogue-to-digital cable that they currently offer.

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#2760483 16-Aug-2021 10:41

Item:

Finally got my Sony WF-1000XM4 pre-order - delayed due to COVID supply chain issues I believe.

Initial impressions:

Out of box fit wasn't great - although nice enough quality, the included tips were too small for me and I usually use a medium. Fortunately I had accounted for this and have my Comply 3rd party tips which work perfectly here and when installed, give me a fit as good, if not slightly better than the XM3s
Build quality seems slightly better than the XM3s - plastic seems slightly higher quality and they look and feel premium
Case is *light years* better than the previous model. Compact and again, higher-quality feeling
Sound is very much like their predecessors - clear, non-fatiguing, slightly warm and maybe a little too bass-forward. Overall great, but some may need a bit of EQ to get it as they like.
ANC is very good, though have yet to try them outside of the home
Battery life? Dunno yet!

Final update for now; tried the "Enhanced Wind Noise Cancellation" mode on a walk over the weekend and it is a *massive* improvement from their predecessors and works really well.

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

Wakrak

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#2776468 11-Sep-2021 18:04

Just got the Edifier TWS1 Pro earphones. $50 delivered off Aliexpress. Wowie much better than the Edifier X3 TWS earphones I had prior. Clearer sound, comfortable fit and decent noise cancellation. Had someone talking right next to me and I couldn’t hear a thing.

Just need to test Zoom and phone call quality. First 24hr impression = 👍😃

See how I feel in a week or two. Just noticed that PB Tech sells em too and the lone reviewer gave it a 3/5.

Dunnersfella

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#2776558 11-Sep-2021 19:45

Wakrak:

Just got the Edifier TWS1 Pro earphones. $50 delivered off Aliexpress. Wowie much better than the Edifier X3 TWS earphones I had prior. Clearer sound, comfortable fit and decent noise cancellation. Had someone talking right next to me and I couldn’t hear a thing.

Just need to test Zoom and phone call quality. First 24hr impression = 👍😃

See how I feel in a week or two. Just noticed that PB Tech sells em too and the lone reviewer gave it a 3/5.

When you say decent noise cancellation, do you mean noise isolation?

I can't find anywhere that states that the Edifier's have active noise cancellation.

Wakrak

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#2776566 11-Sep-2021 20:43

Dunnersfella:

When you say decent noise cancellation, do you mean noise isolation?

I can't find anywhere that states that the Edifier's have active noise cancellation.

Yeah I could be using the the wrong word there.

mentalinc

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#2776568 11-Sep-2021 20:45

If you want to empty wallet with Focal:

https://www.hifi.co.nz/collections/focal

CPU: AMD 5900x | RAM: GSKILL Trident Z Neo RGB F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC-32-GB | MB: Asus X570-E | GFX: EVGA FTW3 Ultra RTX 3080Ti| Monitor: LG 27GL850-B 2560x1440

Quic: https://account.quic.nz/refer/473833 R473833EQKIBX

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