Currently got some Powerbeats Pro, but the charging is getting a bit flaky

Keep seeing ads for the Marshall Motif, which look pretty nice and get decent reviews, but then it  says the Sony WF-1000xm4’s are better (I have WH-1000xm3 headphones)

But then the rabbit hole takes me to B&W pi7’s, which are supposed to be outstanding.

Anyone tried them?

Ah, the problem of the internet, reviews. it’s getting harder to sport the shills and advertiser influenced reviews :(.

They all tend to be great at the upper end although some might be slightly more coloured towards one sort of music.  My daughter has the Sennheiser momentums and I can say they are fab but I haven’t tried to compare them with lots of other things.  I can say that if i had bought them i would be very happy

I can’t comment on the B+Ws, but I’ve had both Apple Airpods Pro and The Sony WH1000-XM3s, and the Apple ‘buds are better. Better sound, better fit (both were uncomfortable; I may try some of the new AirpodsPro 2s, as they have a smaller ear tip, the Sony’s fell out regardless of ear tip, with the slightest of movement), better connectivity with my iPhone. The XM4s are supposedly better than the XM3s, but I don’t know how they rate against the new Airpod Pro 2s. The B+Ws by all accounts don’t seem to fare very well overall. And are a lot more expensive.

Ah good point on the size.  That’s why my daughter went with Sennheiser as they hide a wider range of tips

Ah, the problem of the internet, reviews. it’s getting harder to sport the shills and advertiser influenced reviews :(.

Can’t disagree with that 😬

I may try some of the new AirpodsPro 2s, as they have a smaller ear tip, the Sony’s fell out regardless of ear tip, with the slightest of movement)

I have Airpods Pros and find the tips too big – I ordered some of the new AirPod Pro 2 XS tips;
– Good news – the Apple position that AirPod Pro 2 tips are not compatible with original Air Pod Pros is, as expected, nonsense.
– Bad news – personally I didn’t find the XS any better than the S. I’ve concluded it’s not so much the size as the shape and material that doesn’t suit me.

The best tips I’ve found are ones that are made of a different material that grips the ears much better, search on Amazon for “SednaEarfit Xelastec for Airpods”. I think I bought a set with various sizes in and then a further pack of the ones that fitted best (SS).

Jabra Elite 75 or 85t

@timmys; interesting. I found the original APP tips just too big, and uncomfortable for anything more than 5 minutes. Tried the Sony’s, and as I said, sound quality wasn’t as good, and they fell out all the time. I think I have very small ear canals, so I do prefer the more common thin stemmed type earbuds, where you can change tips easily. But there aren’t any that are up to APP standard. Would much prefer Apple buds, as the connectivity with an iPhone is vastly superior to anything else. I have some B+O over earphones for ‘serious’ listening, but they can be a bit finnicky getting them to work straight away with the iPhone. I found the original APPs excellent, apart from the fit. So smaller eartips may solve the problem. Are yours more comfortable with the 3rd party ones?

I’ve got some BT earbuds, which work ok, but I got fed up with the frequent drop-outs and batteries dying partway through the day, plus I just can’t see paying a couple of hundred quid for something which will be completely useless in several years when the non-replaceable batteries give up the ghost.

Also, you get no benefit from having lossless music through BT, it can’t handle the bandwidth needed.
I use either EarPods, with Lightning connectors, which will allow Lossless, and are dead cheap, or else my Pinnacle P1’s with Lightning cables or a pair of UE TripleFi Studio with a third-party Lightning cable.
They’ll last me for many years, even if iPhones go over to USB-C, all I’ve got to do is swap cables, which cost less than $50.

Also, you get no benefit from having lossless music through BT, it can’t handle the bandwidth needed.

Phones and earbuds are now supporting aptX

@configuration

Are yours more comfortable with the 3rd party ones?

Less about comfort. More that with the Apple tips I can’t get them to stay sealed in my ears for more than a few seconds so they sound like junk.

I have the sony xm4 buds and was at first disappointed with the sound and the fitting as they hurt my ears and didn’t fit properly.
I’ve changed the tips with some bought from Amazon and they are a lot better.
Ear pain has gone, they now fit properly and testing the noise cancelling on a plane over the weekend they were excellent.
Sound is great as well but I don’t have anything else to compare them to apart from some cheap ones I already had.

Recently got pair of Nura loops, great sound, the loops, instead of buds come with a cable so can wire them too, saves battery.
App does a test when you fit them to ensure have right tips/ fit. Only annoying thing is if they move in use it moans at you about poor fit.

Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+ are on sale £49 on Cambridge Audio website. If the simple fit works then these are a good option if you don’t want active noise cancelling. Especially if you have a relatively new Android phone with a Qualcomm Bluetooth chipset as you’ll then get Aptx HD codec and the newer (more reliable) configuration for BT.

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”> Sound quality is a  improvement over older version and would take a lot of beating. </span>

@CountZero

Just gone in to developer mode on my S22 Ultra

[url=https://www.flickr.com/gp/85252658@N05/48PH2n416F]2022-10-04_08-01-13[/url] by davetheblade, on Flickr

I don’t know what to compare but my Samsung Galaxy Buds pro are really impressive, but then the last time I really sit down to listen to music was about 30 years ago.

Friend told me top end Sony earbuds are much better … hhhmmm … I might buy another pair if I got some cash.

My P7s had continual dropouts and were returned. I expected a software update to fix it, but 2 updates later and nothing. I now have both the Sony XM4s and AirPod pros. The Sonys have better sound and better controls. The Apple are comfier, stay in better and connect slightly better.

You can also buy some slip over hooks for the AirPod Pro which turn them into great sport headphones that just don’t ever fall out.

I had an old pair of Bose QC20 wired buds which I broke a month or so back – I spent a while looking round for a replacement set of BT buds, read a lot of reviews, and in the end went for these:

Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro

They had a flash sale on with 30% off at the time, so I paid £69 for them.

I really can’t fault them for the price – the charging case is neat, they fit well and are comfy, don’t feel like they are going to fall out, come with a massive selection of different sized tips to suit different ears. The sound is very, very good to my ears. They support the Sony LDAC hi bandwidth bluetooth protocol if you want as well. Apparently they sound pretty good for phone calls with the multiple mics too. Noise cancelling worked well on a recent plane flight too – maybe not as good as the Bose did, but well enough.

The only minor downsides – they don’t support multipoint BT, so you can only connect to one device at a time, and they don’t support APX-X Low Latency, so watching movies on a tablet I have to mess with the audio sync to prevent lipsync issues. Other than that, I am really impressed..

I have a set of Beats Flex for general “out of the house” music/podcasting duties and they are great to be fair.

They do have the cable between the earbuds but that’s good for me as I would inevitably drop/lose them whilst walking the dog and meeting “dog friends”.

Sound quality is more than sufficient.

RRP is 70quid but can be had for less.

I have the Sony WH-1000xm3 and that’s my reference point, as they are brilliant.

Tried the Sony earbuds xm3 and found them uncomfortable and they aren’t weather proof, sound good though – returned them. Haven’t tried the 4 version
Tried airpods – just didn’t like the sound, but great for calls – returned.
Wife had some of the anker earbuds here and for me the sound was not good at all – kids had them.

ended up with Jabra Elite active 75, which are just superb, comfy, great sound, multi connect, wireless charging case etc. I’m sure there’s a new model out, but by far and away best I’ve used so far. (though one day I may buy a set of the sony earbuds as my xm3’s are superb, even after 2 years of use)

Picked up some Airpod Pro 2s yesterday. The extra small eartips are better, but not perfect. I shall try some 3rd party tips, see if they’re better. I can actually wear them for extended periods though.

Have to say, these new ones do sound pretty amazing. Spatial Sound can be used for all music, not just specially recorded stuff, and it’s fantastic. Sounds much more ‘open’ than standard stereo. Higher dynamic range. Big upgrade on my B+O headphones which I bricked anyway attempting to update.

Darko Audio had been reviewing these recently. Check out his recent YouTube videos (tldr: Airpods 2 or Sennheiser)

Had a pair of those Sony X4 in ears. Disappointing. Isolation was OK for that sort of thing NC was good … at the high end. Out of the box sound was poor – a bit of a fiddle with the app settings made it OK.

If I were not experimenting with cheap buds now and again before returning to my CIEMs and a portable BT adapter I’d probably go for the frequently recommended Jabras or go for some Anker ones.

Bose soundsport free’s.

Sweat and water resistant, grippy rubber bits that fit around the inside of the ear to hold them in place (they can fall out but generally only when i knock them putting a back pack on or similar)

Such a good sound. and a great battery life

Downsides are the box isn’t amazing quality but does the job and sometimes they try connecting to my laptop before my phone which confuses it if my laptop isn’t around. quickly fixed though)

If you’re an Apple user just get the AirPod Pro’s. You can better the sound but not the ease of living with them. Add some Comply foam tips and it improves seal / SQ further.

I’ve had B&W, Shure, Bose. If sound quality is your goal go cabled x Shure. If super picky you can add an amp/DAC to the mix like the Dragonfly. No one else can make wireless simply work every time like Apple. I’ll throw these into the mix as a wild card: https://mezeaudio.eu/collections/all/products/advar.

No one else can make wireless simply work every time like Apple

How so? I never have any problems with my Powerbeats (charging aside, but think I’ve fixed that) or my Sony XM3 over ears.

Powerbeat Pros are Apple headphones, the charging issue is because they are not contacting properly with the case, I always swipe left from my phones home screen to make sure both are charging before closing the case. For me they are the perfect headphones, don’t fall out, and can flick them out while still held in place to have a quick conversation, I normally listen to Podcasts while climbing and music while descending, just by saying “Hey Siri, continue Podcast/Music to swap between the two.

I like my bose soundsport qc earbuds, bought jabra elite 75t and jaybird vista 2 before and didn’t get on with either. The bose have a good balance of comfort, security (staying in with the ear tips) sound quality and active noise cancelling that no other I have purchased or just tried in my ear for comfort have.

Phones and earbuds are now supporting aptX

That’s a Qualcomm codec, is it not? Apple don’t use aptX.

So two weeks after I posted above, I saw TK Maxx selling JBL WAVE/VIBE 100TWS (winner of reddot award in 2021) for £29.99 … bought a pair to test just for the sake of trying out. Although they are cheap pairs but the bass is very good, typical JBL, while the mid is so so and the high is minimal but they are good. LOL! The music I now listen to are mainly some weird trance minimal bass heavy German, Norwegian, Swedish stuff like Hozho, Boris Brejcha and the like. Fit me fine as I need to use the largest silicon plug that come with the earbuds. In terms sound cancelling the JBL is solid and can’t hear anything else one the earbuds are in; and stick to my ear like a clue. Then I went out to buy another pair … LOL!

Overall conclusion, although my Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro are good they are not five times (cost 5 times more) better. Perhaps just 3 times better on mid and high but definitely losing out bass. I want the bass to knock my brains out. Now I feel young again. LOL!

weird trance minimal bass heavy German, Norwegian, Swedish stuff like Hozho, Boris Brejcha and the like

Nice. Check out HÖR Berlin on YouTube, for more of the same.

I need to use the largest silicon plug

😳

That’s a Qualcomm codec, is it not? Apple don’t use aptX.

No; Apple uses their own codec, AAC, I believe.

Nice. Check out HÖR Berlin on YouTube, for more of the same.

HOR Berlin is good but not all of them are consistently as good as Hozho, Boris Brejcha or Black Hertz.

I get this free YouTube music app that let me access all the music albums but with advertisement after each song which is fine but just trying to find them can be time consuming LOL. YouTube allows me free trial for 1 month but I am not bothered. Enjoying all this minimal bass whatever now and some are really good …

Spent all afternoon listening to this weird trance, got more work done on a Fri afternoon than I can remember in a long time. Nice recommendation, cheers.

“Spent all afternoon listening to this weird trance, got more work done on a Fri afternoon than I can remember in a long time. Nice recommendation, cheers.”

Yes, they are good with a good earbuds.

LOL! I thought I was 30 years behind …

Oh ya … these are also good.

Deniz Bul (listening to Awake now … good bass … thumb! thumb! thumb! LOL!)
Adonis FR

Go watch Crinacle on YT talking about the newest Samsung Bud 2. Reckons they’re the best BT IEMs out there. The way he talks about them, there can only be one choice in this category.

Personally I prefer a Bluetooth dongle clipped onto my shirts, and wired IEMs into that.

11:11 is coming up. I want some basshead IEMs that are also clear above the bass (my current ones don’t play the mids and highs properly). Maybe Fiio FH1S, Ikko Oh10, or Final e5000,

The best tips I’ve found are ones that are made of a different material that grips the ears much better, search on Amazon for “SednaEarfit Xelastec for Airpods”. I think I bought a set with various sizes in and then a further pack of the ones that fitted best (SS).

So; I bought a set off the back of this recommendation, and they are significantly better in terms of comfort. I think it’s the kind of material used, that causes me discomfort with the Apple ones. £21 to rectify a problem stings a bit though. Glad I had a gift card form buying an iPad.

HOR Berlin is good but not all of them are consistently as good as Hozho, Boris Brejcha or Black Hertz.

It’s a ‘radio station’, so they have many DJs doing sets. Worth having a listen to a few, then checking out their stuff. Boiler Room is similar. Ellen Alien and Amelie Lens do some great sets too; bit harder and darker perhaps. You’ve got the legendary Carl Cox of course, for the proper Detroit sound. Good to see so many names from the past, still doing stuff. So long since I was out listening to the likes of Carl Cox, Jeff Mills, Sven Vath, Plastikman etc. And lots of young people inspired by those times, really pushing the boundaries of what can be done with current technology. Tresor still smashing it in Berlin. But really, you can’t go wrong with just going down theYouTube rabbit hole of music.

This looks like such a fun night out! 😃

Go watch Crinacle on YT talking about the newest Samsung Bud 2. Reckons they’re the best BT IEMs out there. The way he talks about them, there can only be one choice in this category.

I will need to check them out as my Samsung Bud Pro is pretty good. I think I might be addicted to earbuds with good bass now. LOL!

It’s a ‘radio station’, so they have many DJs doing sets. Worth having a listen to a few, then checking out their stuff.

All my music comes from YouTube music app with plenty of free albums. Really good me think. Oh ya … sound quality is surprisingly good with earbuds.

Not keen on Carl Cox for some reasons especially if they add vocals into the set.

Currently listen to all these:

Hozho (My favourite I think. A bit like “Prodigy”)
Black Herzt
Boris Brejcha (some of his albums/sets are not my taste but otherwise good when he speeds up)
Luttrell (Good but a bit trippy … need to speed up a bit LOL! ‘More Than Human’ good!)
Ann Clue
KhoMha – Tierra is good.
Ben Bohmer
Yotto
Armin van Buuren
Above & Beyond
Orjan Nilsen
Cosmic Gate / sometimes other names (these blokes are really good)
Treetum
Deniz Bul

Go watch Crinacle on YT talking about the newest Samsung Bud 2. Reckons they’re the best BT IEMs out there. The way he talks about them, there can only be one choice in this category.

Personally I prefer a Bluetooth dongle clipped onto my shirts, and wired IEMs into that.

I’ll check them out – I’m a bit of a Samsung fanboi – phone, watch, TV (never, EVER buy a Samsung washer/dryer though)

So; I bought a set off the back of this recommendation, and they are significantly better in terms of comfort. I think it’s the kind of material used, that causes me discomfort with the Apple ones.

Glad you like them. They are pricey and they do not last ages – the material is so soft it basically falls apart eventually.

They all do tbh. 😪