Wireless headphones, Yay or Nay?

Funny, I just got a pair as well a couple days back. Didn’t pay anything for em though, so that should factor in to my impressions :stuck_out_tongue:

As far as I’m concerned they hurt like hell even with ideal configuration (large tips, medium wings)— sensitive ears and all that jazz. For what it’s worth though I will say that this is about as good as I expect of anything other than really tiny, bullet-shaped IEMs, so I’m actually impressed by how comfortable they feel (and the main reason I endure it is because I got them for free; I did just say that was gonna be a factor).

I can definitely see that these are tuned to the new Harman in-ear curve, which comes as no surprise since Harman has been a subsidiary of Samsung for the last little while, only that they’re very much lacking in proper sub-bass compared to the massive (+8dB boost at the bottommost frequencies. I’m pretty sure I’m getting a proper seal so it’s really just the driver not managing to do ultra-low frequencies justice, in my opinion. 70Hz and lower is definitely audible, but is largely uninspiring.

I have an S9+ so also have access to the Galaxy Wearables app and the five additional EQ profiles and miscellaneous other features it provides. The five are Bass Boost (midrange and treble attenuated), Soft (treble attenuated), Dynamic (midrange attenuated), Clear (bass attenuated), and Treble Boost (no thank you); they offer decent enough variation for non-configurable presets, though I’d have appreciated proper EQ sliders. I normally just stick with the stock profile though, occasionally switching to Dynamic just because it works at lower volumes. For when I feel like listening at somewhat higher volumes, I switch to the Soft setting.

I’d say the sound profile is overall unengaging. Even ignoring the lack of proper sub-bass it’s flat and sterile, leaning into lean and bright territory, which isn’t exactly my cup of tea. Trailing decays are almost nonexistent and initial attack is soft, exacerbating the whole boring-ness of the presentation. Imaging has alright directionality, muddled at times, but the images themselves are paper-thin and lack any sense of depth; what depth it does have is concealed beneath a layer of grit which I guess qualifies their whole timbre. I don’t have any useful experience with IEMs in general but will say that macrodetail didn’t leave me wanting for much in the context of casual listening. When actually listening to music I struggle discerning nuances that I’ve come to take for granted listening to headphones just out of my mobile, but that’s perhaps an unfair comparison since said headphones aren’t really in the same price category (yep it’s the HP-3s). Dynamics are flat, classical and even some pop rock songs I always go back to when I’m feeling low just don’t have the same oomph. The lean tonality does lend itself to “analytical” listening since there’s hardly any bass to mask details in the music, but it’s still a bit of a struggle at times.

For whatever reason I pick up a slight grammophone-esque quality to the sound when adjusting to it off the Klipsches. Last time I heard something like this was the Sony PFR-V1 which I loaned and penned a write up of a few weeks back, leading me to think it was an elevation around 2kHz again. I took a few quick measurements with my phone mic to confirm but found nothing to that effect— instead I see the tonal balance as being surprisingly linear through the audible spectrum, except extremely lacking in lowermost frequencies (not at all surprising) with a massive trough in the mid-treble region (surprising); the whole region from 4-9kHz is a massive 15dB downward slope followed by a sharp +10dB climb peaking at 12kHz which I thought would be extremely offensive to me given how I felt about the Fostex TH-X00 Ebony’s 11kHz blip but just seems to manifest as slow fatigue over marathon listening sessions.

Eh, ear canal resonances. Weird. Or I could be treble-deaf now which is just as likely at this point really.

The wireless range on Samsung’s proprietary Scalable codec is pretty decent, I can leave my phone in my room and the Buds are still effectively useful about 5m or so away through a couple thick walls. Have yet to determine usable range with direct line of sight but I’d really rather keep to the same room as my phone because sound quality and latency are obnoxiously bad otherwise. Think songs stuttering or dropping out entirely only to come back a second or two later.

Ambient Sound is a useful feature that helps me keep aware of my surroundings, and I appreciate that you can choose to have the Buds prioritise voices which I assume means it only lets sounds within a certain frequency band, ones with irregular patterns as in speech, pass through. The only downside is that the built-in microphones are horrible (tested by borrowing my sister’s phone and talking to her on the Buds), so what ambient noise I do get to hear is tinny and harsh— this does not jive well with the Buds’ tonal balance.

These don’t have active noise cancellation, but it’s impressive at passive. Again, no real point of reference for IEMs, but these are better at isolating from external noise than the stock Samsung buds that come with the S9 and S10— maybe the Advanced M4 with Comply tips did a better job but I’ve long since lost those. Really, these would be great for walking along the street in traffic and you want to keep your ears from getting blown out by truck horns, which is a very real concern on my commute. Fit is also good enough that I don’t worry too much about the Buds just falling off my ear if I sneeze too hard, but I would recommend getting something with a proper neck band at least if you plan on running or going hiking with them.

I just tried headbanging hard enough to make my temples hurt, shaking side to side as well. Nope, still secure. They do stick out of the ears a bit though, which while appreciated for the fact that it makes taking them out much easier might also prove tempting for others to do the same in less polite neighbourhoods. Also really uncomfortable lying down on my side.

I’m being deliberately critical to offset my inherent niceness about things, but on the whole I’d say these do the job well enough if the treble spike doesn’t bother you— the sort of environments you’re likely to wear these in don’t necessarily lend themselves to critical listening, so as far as getting acceptable levels of resolution without sliding the volume control past the red line these are perfectly acceptable. They’re also great for listening to podcasts or YouTube let’s plays (yes I like those) in bed or while walking around the house.

Obligatory snapshots— just used my phone since I don’t own a proper camera:

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