Bluetooth Headphones

[Deckard]

Yeah, nothing interesting *and* discounted enough to be of interest turned up today, so I've ordered a pair of the 700s.

What HiFi, reading between the lines, struggled to justify the 3x cost of the XM4s against the 700s:
https://www.whathifi.com/features/sony- ... are-better

If Apple actually got their dick out of their arse and supported LDAC/AptX/AptXHD on iOS it would have been a tougher choice for me. But as most of my listening with the earbuds will be on iPhone (I always use the big wired cans with the NW-A45 for HD audio), there's no point.

Thanks for the help/advice as always, folks...

They arrived ? Thoughts ? I like my Wf5s but the bundled earbuds are terrible at staying in - thank god for other tips !

[WiteWulf]

Yeah, but they’re a Christmas pressie, so I’ll tell you in three weeks

[WiteWulf]

Very quick test this morning: mmm, thumpy

But also, ANC is surprisingly effective for such little devices. And holy-hell do Sony want *all* the personally identifiable data just to run a pair of earbuds

[Deckard]

Very quick test this morning: mmm, thumpy

But also, ANC is surprisingly effective for such little devices. And holy-hell do Sony want *all* the personally identifiable data just to run a pair of earbuds

Yeah that annoys me as does this on these and my Focals - when I change mode using the buttons give me a voice telling me what mode i am now in - dont give me some kind of computer sound....I am sure on my previous sony in-ears - it would say "noise cancelling on" or off or equaliser preset names....

[Deckard]

Found my old mark 1 ziks in the loft -



Havent turned them on in at least 2 years - and lo and behold they're fine - forgot how good they were so will be wearing to the gym every other day instead of my Sony WF5s (at least during the winter, over the ears kill me in the gym in the summer)

Pretty good noise cancellation too - very impressed.

PS The Focals are my best tech buy of the last few years (possibly even since the Switch) - They are truly unreal on the move and have spoilt me something rotten for audio - Using the Sony WF5s at the gym now is just "fine" playing PsyTrance whereas before I didnt know what I was missing....

Much like when I first took my Switch out in the first few weeks of owning it loads of people ask me about them especially as I have their side lights on MAX (what a twat !)

[Mat]

My WH-1000XM4s started feeding back recently, which looks like it was caused by a rubber sheath slipping off of a mic inside the speaker cup. I fixed it, but it wasn't 100%.

Having bought a Fairphone 5 recently to replace my Pixel 5, I thought I'd give the Fairbuds XL a chance.
While the audio quality isn't quite as good as the XM4s, I've been impressed by the company's responses to moans about custom EQ profiles not sticking and acknowledgements of manufacturing errors.

They're completely user serviceable, and you can order replacement parts from within the app via a neat little exploded diagram. One of the arms broke on mine, so I grudgingly placed an order for a replacement, then moaned about the cost in the review. Fairphone got in contact and asked for a photo as they suspected the part had broken because of a manufacturing fault, then refunded me what I'd spent on the replacement.

So yeah, a little lower audio quality, but headphones that are built to be sustainable and user serviceable.

And yes, I've been very happy with my Fairphone too. It's a little bulky, but it performs almost as well as a flagship, has potentially ten years of updates, and again, is completely user serviceable, with every part being replaceable.

My Pixel 5 had been the first smart phone I'd bought with my own money, as I'd previously been able to rely on work providing a phone. I was horrified when it stopped receiving updates only 3 years after I bought it, so the Fairphone was the obvious choice for something a bit more ecologically responsible.

[Deckard]

I would

https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/gbr/en/p ... mania-m100

As I loved my melomanias but my Sony wf5s sort the gym out and everything else I use the Focals

[Deckard]

Almost worth it for Matt Berry doing all the voicer announcements on them apparently -



I LOVE Toast of London

[VNVObit]

Went to CanJam London last week
tried some really expensive (the most expensive being the most disappointing) headphone amps
pics of the gear I used can be seen here mastodon post

did a/b test of BathysMG/Bathys and buckled (there was a good discount at the show) so have upgraded to BathyMG - don't think I would have if there wasn't a discount but yes it did sound better to my ears (and wife was relieved after seeing the pics of the gear she feared the worst

delighted with them

[Deckard]

WellI I have had the Focals for almost 2 years now and they are fantastic both on aptx and via usb c to my iPhone or my Mac Mini - welcome to the club !!

I also use them a lot for watching late night films for my LG B9 tv and they excel there either thru the wired headphone jack or even just over plain BT.

[VNVObit]

WellI I have had the Focals for almost 2 years now and they are fantastic both on aptx and via usb c to my iPhone or my Mac Mini - welcome to the club !!

I also use them a lot for watching late night films for my LG B9 tv and they excel there either thru the wired headphone jack or even just over plain BT.

have had my Bathys for about the same length of time - these are an upgrade

[VNVObit]

WellI I have had the Focals for almost 2 years now and they are fantastic both on aptx and via usb c to my iPhone or my Mac Mini - welcome to the club !!

I also use them a lot for watching late night films for my LG B9 tv and they excel there either thru the wired headphone jack or even just over plain BT.

have had my Bathys for about the same length of time - these are an upgrade

[Deckard]

Ah sorry I misconstrued - I think I will be keeping mine for a few more years at least I think but I would still love some "proper" surround sound headphones for late night film viewing (but they dont seem to exist in any decent format)

[Deckard]

Vnv will be pleased / it must be true !

https://www.whathifi.com/headphones/wir ... -bathys-mg

[VNVObit]

Vnv will be pleased / it must be true !

https://www.whathifi.com/headphones/wir ... -bathys-mg

I don't read reviews once I've bought something (avoid buyer's remorse ) as there's usually something better that comes along afterwards.

Happy with them