First off I understand the limitations of Bluetooth 4.2 which my iPhone 7+ has in terms of fidelity. I have been so disappointed in one why or another with all of the sets I have had. The best sounding so far have been the Klipsch R6 BT, and the Klipsch R6 Neckband. The R6 BT’s are OK but seem to suffer from poor quality Li-Ion batteries, Kilpsch quickly replaces them but why not install good batteries at the begining. The Neckband R6 is the biggest disapointment. I love this earphone 14 hour battery, good sound, very comfortable, but the rubber inserts covering the controls on the neckband separate and make it difficult to use the controls. Klipsch replaced one and it replacement after a couple of weeks did the same thing. The heat from your neck causes the rubber to separate. My everday earphones are the Anker Curves, cheap, 12 hour battery, comfortable. They don’t sound as good but at $29 buck each I can live with that. Repcement is not painful. The bottom line is I am really reluctant to spend a lot of money on a BT earphone who’s non replaceble battery dies leaving me with another addition to the drawer of discarded earphones. I am looking at the Bluetooth adapter cable for my Shure earphones I am hesitant to spend $99 Dollars. I would love to have a discussion on this.
So far for quality Bluetooth headphones the Bowers P7 and the ATH DSR9BT are nice sounding headphones. There’s a long way to go with battery and sound quality in the wireless world. Fortunately, there’s so much demand that we will continue to see progress
Who knows what the future holds, but right now if you gave me one new in box I’d sell it on Ebay. I think JRiver is the best as far as gagerty is concerned but I’ve A/B them so many times and your doing 16/44.1 there’s no difference. I’ve heard there is a different on Mac’s. Gee if the only had 2 grand…
The iPhone 8, and the X have Bluetooth 5.0 which is supposed to have CD quality sound. Later this year we are promised the release of earphones that support this standard. I miss my Ety’s yes I can play them through the adapter but I do not like the sound of the earphone amp used in the Apple adapter. I have a FiiO headphone amp it is great with my AKG 240 Mk II headphones, snd the Ety’s but it is a pain to use moving around.
Thanks for letting me know about Bluetooth 5 . I never knew we had gone beyond 4.2 . Maybe that’s why Bowers and Wilkins have been having sales on their wireless. Maybe their Bluetooth 5s are right around the corner
As usual Apple is forcing the issue. Here you can get on Bluetooth’s mailing list, and get a copy of 5.0 technical spec’s.
https://www.bluetooth.com/bluetooth-technology/bluetooth5/bluetooth5-paper
I feel your pain. I too have been looking around for a good set of BT earphones. Heck I’ve purchased 3 different sets just in the past 3 months and am still looking for something that ticks all the boxes for me, the main box being playing music back well. I’ve done the research, read the reviews but no BT earphone/bud/on ear/in ear has worked well enough to keep me from wanting something better. Hopefully the new BT 5 standard will be the answer we’re all looking for. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Anker now has a BT earphone for the Bluetooth 5.0 standard.
Is this thread limited to in ear phones or are we including over the ear options too?
Someone can add to this or correct me - but I thought BT5.0 doesnt do a whole lot for BT audio. All the additional features seem to boost range for low energy devices/internet of things stuff like smart watches, gps trackers, and smart devices. I did not think BT audio was going to see any improvements with this new standard, at least not right off the bat.
For BT headphones though, I found the Audeze Mobius as the best over-ear for sound quality of the ones I’ve tried. It has LDAC support and a proper 1W amp built-in to it which really helps.
For ear phones, I recommend using something that has detachable cables and then you’re free to add in a BT cable. There are many mmcx/2-pin cables out there with bt modules on them.
I use the Radsone ES100 bluetooth dac/amp and it is great. Pairs well with even power hungry over-ears. I have made my own short length cables to use with my IEMs. Drastically improves sound quality over most bt earphones.
I recently shift a lot of my listening to the Bluetooth FiiO Q5 – it’s a phone sized Bluetooth balanced DAC/amp and battery. So, you can convert any reasonably efficient set of high quality headphones to Bluetooth (but you’ll be carrying the amp).
I use it with my full sized Focal Elex and AEON Flow Closed around the house, but go lighter in public.
-John
I can concur with @Antdroid here. The mobius are great Bluetooth headphones and work well with most standard codecs including SBC, AAC and LDAC. For high fidelity listening on Apple your going to want to connect via AAC and on Android O and above, LDAC.
For IEM’s the MMCX Bluetooth adapters are a great recommendation. I have a pair of Campfire Audio Orions, and Revonext QT2 with Bluetooth adapters that range from $30-$50. These work great and have AptX support for High Fidelity streaming on supported devices.
CA Comets with MEE BTX bluetooth cable/neck thing lol. my daily workout go to…
I have tons of BT headphones: MEE, B&W, Bose OEs, Mobius, etc etc. I’ve never had a battery die in any of them ever and, as an example, I’ve been using my P7s routinely for years, maybe 4? Use them every day for at least an hour, use them on flights and trips monthly for hours at a time in the air and at the room … same with my Bose OEs … never had a battery die.
In any event, I’d go for the P7Ws with confidence.
How far can you move before the connection cuts out and how old is your unit?
I can probably get 30-40’ away in a gym environment. It’s just under a year old.
ever used, Apple MMEF2AM/A Airpods ?
Apple Airpods headset is the best wireless earbuds which you can use all devices but specially designed for Apple devices.
They might seem like hearing aids at the first glance, but they are not! The earbuds take place in your ears by fitting snugly, without needing any distracting wires.
These earbuds are small, and usually they don’t have more than five-hours battery life. However, you can recharge them in their carrying cases. I purchased it from here, https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Airpods-Wireless-Bluetooth-Headset/dp/B01MQWUXZS/
get all of the specifications from here,unitedtechguys
Apple Airpods headset is the best wireless earbuds which you can use all devices but specially designed for Apple devices.
“the best” how? What qualities about them make them “the best”? Sound quality? Long-term battery life?
The OP is looking for something inexpensive that sounds great with a non-replaceable battery that won’t die in a year making them useless. That’s a tough mix of trade-offs - why do you think airpods fit the bill here?
On a separate note, i’ve got some new USB-C pixel buds which I have to say are surprising: the design is clever and they’re different from normal earbuds in that they don’t actually fit into your ear canal, they more rest in your ears. Overall they sound pretty good and are plenty loud, albeit not close to the fidelity as an on-ear or over-ear or good set of wired buds (don’t expect to be having a discussion about bass slam or treble sparkle with them).
They’re tethered together with a cord which seems bizarre for truly wireless earbuds, but maybe I’m old school, i actually prefer it. The bluetooth is also fantastic when it comes to connecting - they’re just on and connected when they need to be and off and disconnected with they don’t - that’s pretty cool and completely seamless and transparent: you don’t ever worry about connecting - what a luxury. Overall I probably wouldn’t pay MSRP for them, but they’re a really nice option for bombing around, travel, great for airports or hikes, etc. I kinda rely on them.
Measurements of Beats Audio PowerBeats 3 Bluetooth Sport Ear Phones by me
MiniDSP EARS measurements using a Monoprice THX-AAA amp outputed to a TROND Bluetooth Transmitter to BEATS
Here is the Raw Frequency Response data for PowerBeats 3.
Next up is if you compensated it using Diffuse Field compensation
Here is the Waterfall CSD (decay) chart:
And then you compare it to other IEMs in it’s price range and you cry.
These PowerBeats 3 were provided to me for FREE by my lovely fiancee who had also gotten for free by the stock-crashing Apple store by way of an iPad Pro purchase this Fall. It has passed hands now and will soon be passing hands again.
Just saw your post up on the other site. Those are… ooof haha. There’s a reason why the first line in our about us is “No, we do not sell Beats by Dre.”
Interestingly I have a pair of Sennheiser’s new Momentum True Wireless headphones in my ear right now and they are interesting… The call quality on them was good though so that’s a plus.
Really interested to see how the new Audio-Technica ATH-CKR7TW compare.