My wonderful cheapo JBL bluetooth earphones with neck cable finally gave up the ghost after many years of service. JBL don't make the model I have anymore so I thought maybe it's time to join da kidz and get some wireless cableless earbuds.
I bought a pair of Sonys earbuds for about 70 quid. Sound was ok but no bass oomph at all. Returned these for a pair of JBL earbuds about the same price. Even worse sound, super tinny.
I realise this is all a bit subjective but I am wondering if it is the driver size that is the problem - the earbuds I picked are quite small as I am averse to have massive black earring type things sticking out of my ears.
Has anyone been through a similar experience? Are wireless headphones with a neck wire and outboard controls really much better than earbuds in terms of sound?
PS. I will not buy Bose.
This is a good review website - https://www.scarbir.com/
I have the Earfun Air Pro 2 which get good reviews, lots of bass and the ANC works well. There is a new version that has a mobile app. Good value at £50.
'True wireless' ear buds are always a huge compromise in return for pure convenience.
Thanks to Samsung removing the headphone port in the S21 *shakes fist at cloud* I've resorted to a Fiio BTR Bluetooth headphone DAC and amp so I can still use wired earbuds that tend to last longer and sound better.
They also won't need to go in landfil when the teeny tiny batteries inside give out or something else goes wrong, even if the battery on the Fiio eventually goes you can still use it as a plug-in DAC or bluetooth receiver.
I also have a fiio btr 3k and while the sound quality is good it's not miles ahead of the earbuds. Both the wired headphones I use and the earbuds have 10mm drivers and the levels of bass are about the same. I find that the ANC of the earbuds adds way more quality to the sound in noisy environments than the wired headphones have extra.
I guess how you use them plays a part in this as well. Commuting and a noisy office means the ANC and lack of cables is a big help.
+1 on wired sounding better and lasting longer.
Have Jabra Elite 3, sound is pretty good. Mainly used for the gym, works perfect for me.
I also have Bose QC what nots over ears and find the Jabra pretty close in sound terms….but then I’m not an audiophile in the slightest.
I’m generally streaming Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube and YouTube music. Sounds fine to me.
Cost I think about £100.
Neb - thanks.
Based on that website I ordered a pair of Anker ones with 11mm drivers. We will see!
Bass from earbuds is more to do with how well they fit in your ear than the drivers. Unless they completely seal the ear canal you will get no bass at all. Try experimenting with different tips, maybe try some foam ones as well as the standard silicone.
+1 on wired sounding better and lasting longer.
As long as wireless relies on Bluetooth, the sound quality of wired ‘phones will always be better! BT doesn’t have the bandwidth to handle lossless or other high-bitrate files. I got fed up with the wireless ’phones I have running out of juice at inopportune moments, so I’ve gone back to wired - either EarPods with Lightning plug, which has a DAC built in, and which sound amazing for how much they cost; I’ve spent three/four times as much on ‘phones that didn’t sound as good, or a pair of Røde NTH-100 studio headphones, using an Amazon Basics Lightning > 3.5mm adapter with my phone or iPad. All my music is Lossless and the NTH-100’s sound amazing, which they should, because they’re studio-spec. They cost £145, significantly less than most quality BT ‘phones.
They’ll also last a long time, having no internal batteries to die and render them useless.
onewheelgood
Full Member
Bass from earbuds is more to do with how well they fit in your ear than the drivers. Unless they completely seal the ear canal you will get no bass at all. Try experimenting with different tips, maybe try some foam ones as well as the standard silicone.
100% this. The sound you hear is based on the driver moving air which in turn moves your ear drum (or something). If there's no seal then the air will take the path of least resistance and exit the ear rather than act upon it.
Lack of bass is usually a sign of poor fit rather than poor driver unless they're really crap.
Comply memoryfoam earbud tips are a good upgrade, and they come in packs of 3 so you can swap them out when they get manky.
There are loads of tips out there, and they don't all work the same with different:
1) IEMs
2) people
3) music genres
Its also interesting to see how, in the UK, most people only see the usual brands: Sony, JBL, JVC, Philips, Beats, Logitech etc in Tesco/Argos/and so on.
Nowadays I have:
FiiO F9 IEMs for when out, combined with a FiiO BRT3K Bluetooth dongle amd a balanced 2.5mm cable.
Edifier G4 over-ear headset (USB) for laptop gaming.
Edifier R2000DB bookshelf speakers at home for TV/Music
Takstar Pro-82 over-ear headphones for playing music "loud" at home and not disturbing the neighbours.
There are largish forums online nowadays (such as Head-fi) to read about brands/models. Its been a long time since I only had a shelf, or a catalogue and buying pretty much unseen/unheard with no comeback when the products failed to live up to expectations.
I bought Anker Soundcore Earbuds after a recommendation from this parish. They are one of the best things I have ever bought. On sale from c£100 down to £50 12 months ago. I can't find the exact model but they look broadly like this https://uk.soundcore.com/products/life-a2-nc?ref=navimenu_4_img
Coming down a hill at speed with loud music and oodles of bass has been a super pleasure this summer. Agree that the fit is important for bass, but they come with about 10 different tips so I got a perfect fit second time out.
matt_outandabout
Full Member+1 on wired sounding better and lasting longer.
£ for £ this is true, but they don't sound better when you hear your footsteps thumping through from the cable, nor do they last longer when you stand up, snag the cable and rip it out of the driver 😣
Horses for courses.
One place the big brands' bluetooth offerings (primarily Sony and Apple's) seem to have a real edge is active noise cancelling.
Even a cable-fan such as myself uses Sony WH 1000-XM's at work for the noise cancelling, being able to run them from my work laptop and being able to get up to go to the printer etc.
Whilst out and about I use Shure Se215 IEMS or Bower and Wilkins P3's via a Fiio BTR 3
When WFH I use Grado SR 80's through a Fiio USB headphone DAC/Amp.
For gaming I have Sennheiser GSP500 gaming headset running through a Creative labs X-Fi sound card, having the little desktop module with the volume control and all the different ports to hand is very handy.
Loves my headphones I do, if I hadn't had offspring I'd have probably gone down the $$$ audiophile route but sadly they need feeding occasionally.
