Which are the best bluetooth IEMs?

[Tell]

Sony’s app has an onboard PEQ? Thanks!

Sadly no, the graphic EQ in their app is quite lacking tbh as you can see in @goat76 post, that's why I recommend using Wavelet or Poweramp on Android since they are way more powerful with at least the latter one got a PEQ if you pay for it, but the ten band GEQ in the free version does it for me

I'm all for higher resolution for music, but I don't find the AAC lacking when listening on earphones as I mostly use them on the go in environments where good noise cancellation makes a bigger difference than resolution.

According to measurements, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 and Sony WF-1000MX5 are both more bass-heavy than the Apple AirPods Pro.

View attachment 381045
View attachment 381044


Below are the measurements of Apple AirPods 3 (cyan) vs. Apple AirPods 2 (yellow) vs. Apple AirPods Pro (white).

Maybe you just prefer the elevated high-frequency response of the Airpods 3 and how they dive under 50 Hz, nothing wrong with that. Another reason could be that the Airpods have more bass leakage as they probably don't seal as well as the soft tips of the others.

View attachment 381046
All the above measurements are borrowed from https://www.soundguys.com/


The Sony WF-1000MX5 has an equalizer with the adjustment values stuck to certain frequencies and there is just a slider for the bass adjustment. Maybe you can still use that to make them sound like you want them, but it would have been better if the user could set the values in frequency and Q.

View attachment 381048

Anyway, I hope you find some earphones that will satisfy your personal sound prefereces. The different between ear canals is more at play when it comes to listening to headphones than loudspeakers, so it's likely a larger span of what people prefer when it comes to frequency curves.

The Airpods default curve do look better than the Sonys yeah, I'm not really that fond of hyped upper bass that the Sonys got, but seeing I'm on Android the Airpods ain't really an alternative, especially since they're so damn ugly!

 

[MayaTlab]

View attachment 381044


Below are the measurements of Apple AirPods 3 (cyan) vs. Apple AirPods 2 (yellow) vs. Apple AirPods Pro (white).

Maybe you just prefer the elevated high-frequency response of the Airpods 3 and how they dive under 50 Hz, nothing wrong with that. Another reason could be that the Airpods have more bass leakage as they probably don't seal as well as the soft tips of the others.

View attachment 381046
All the above measurements are borrowed from https://www.soundguys.com/

It would require a longer post than what I have the time to write now, but Soundguys' measurements of the AirPods (in particular the APP2, perhaps the AP3 as well), haven't been properly primed and / or weren't made with the optical sensor triggered. They aren't valid.

AirPods need to be fed a broadband signal to be able to calculate their adaptive filters, and this in all modes (even ANC off). This will increasingly be a common situation as other companies catch up and implement more advanced active systems of their own (ex in some situations the new Buds3 Pro might require a similar priming approach), whether they rely on a "one-off" process like Bose's CustomTune or are continuously updated using playback content as measurement signal, like the AirPods.

 

[beeface]

The AirPod Pro 2nd gen is your best option for iPhone.

some people will turn their nose up at it because it’s an Apple product, but it’s overall an excellent product.

With Bluetooth IEMs, I believe you need to view the product holistically. IMO, great fidelity is easily undone by other factors (like user controls and ergonomics) if they’re poor in this segment

 

[Miguelón]

I'm all for higher resolution for music, but I don't find the AAC lacking when listening on earphones as I mostly use them on the go in environments where good noise cancellation makes a bigger difference than resolution.

According to measurements, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 and Sony WF-1000MX5 are both more bass-heavy than the Apple AirPods Pro.

View attachment 381045
View attachment 381044


Below are the measurements of Apple AirPods 3 (cyan) vs. Apple AirPods 2 (yellow) vs. Apple AirPods Pro (white).

Maybe you just prefer the elevated high-frequency response of the Airpods 3 and how they dive under 50 Hz, nothing wrong with that. Another reason could be that the Airpods have more bass leakage as they probably don't seal as well as the soft tips of the others.

View attachment 381046
All the above measurements are borrowed from https://www.soundguys.com/


The Sony WF-1000MX5 has an equalizer with the adjustment values stuck to certain frequencies and there is just a slider for the bass adjustment. Maybe you can still use that to make them sound like you want them, but it would have been better if the user could set the values in frequency and Q.

View attachment 381048

Anyway, I hope you find some earphones that will satisfy your personal sound prefereces. The different between ear canals is more at play when it comes to listening to headphones than loudspeakers, so it's likely a larger span of what people prefer when it comes to frequency curves.

Hum, after a while I think what attracted my attention was the brand Sennheiser....

I believed that they will keep usual low bass profile of Harman curves, as my 560s, but they don't.