These caught my eye while browsing Amazon in the leadup to Black Friday:
SoundPEATS Air5 Wireless Earbuds
(with aptX Adaptive Lossless, Bluetooth 5.4 Earphones with 6 Mics Compatible with Snapdragon Sound, 13mm Driver, 30H Playtime, Qualcomm QCC3091, PeatsAudio App)
Normally $114.99 but with 25% off they're now $86.24
CamelCamelCamel.
you say "TWS hybrid earbud". they look like semi open to me?
do you mean the speaker inside? it looks like just one single type.
It's neither:
It's in-between those two things, and thus known as a hybrid. Open/semi-open/semi-closed/closed refers to the enclosure of the driver/device, not the coupling method to the ear (the exception being an earspeaker, which traditionally does not really couple on or around the ear at all).
It's in-between those two things, and thus known as a hybrid.
okay so I think you mean the part of the Soundpeats opening is slightly curved to go inside your ear more, compared to airpods 2nd gen style earbuds. is that area silicone as well? because I think my JBL earbuds are like that with silicone shape but sit outside your ear.
from my sources I see Airpods 1/2 style earbuds to be referred to as semi open. https://youtu.be/5zUxmgvZkqc
so open style earbuds would be like bone conduction ones.
@n3ck3ntry8bort0rgasm: It doesn't sit atop the ear canal, it doesn't have a silicon or foam tip that seals inside the ear canal, thus its low and sub-bass delivery sits between the two, as does the mids and treble delivery. It is a hybrid of those approaches, and needs to be very careful about treble directivity and levels.
Its typical soundstaging will also sound somewhere between the two (old-school earbuds actually have a really wide soundstage). The Air5 are similar to Airpods, the Airpods Pro are IEMs, and traditional earbuds are largely flat on the ear-facing surface and sit atop the ear canal.
Bone conduction devices are their own thing and are 'open ear' rather than 'open back', pressing against another part of the ear/head anatomy to conduct bass.
It doesn't sit atop the ear canal, it doesn't have a silicon or foam tip that seals inside the ear canal, thus its low and sub-bass delivery sits between the two, as does the mids and treble delivery.
okay makes sense. would the Ailybuds Pro+ I linked below be hybrid? to me they look really similar in design to Airpods 3.
they have really impressive deep bass. I don't think any other non in ear earbud can do it like this.
link timestamped. just click pause.
https://youtu.be/RgHcJaByIdY?si=LzO4XzeBVMOJ9vKe&t=450
@n3ck3ntry8bort0rgasm: That's a hybrid, yup.
As the drivers inside these devices deliver lower distortion in the bass - without requiring heavy dampening or a secured fitting - at a given sound pressure level, they can improve on the weaknesses of earbud and hybrid earbud designs.
It's slow progress on the engineering side of things beyond developing something that sits more snuggly in the ear, but at that point you're likely using different materials to drift towards an IEM design. The inherit physics of sound eventually takes hold for a given design.
Ultimately you're just going to want a nice-fitting IEM, and then some form of real-time modulating DSP to deliver a sense of spaciousness.
@jasswolf: I can't do IEM's. I tried them and they are uncomfortable after minutes.
I can't afford them but apparently apple's airpods Pro are different, they don't have the stem part going in your ear. so the entire earplug is soft and squishy and much more comfortable.
@n3ck3ntry8bort0rgasm: Yeah for some people it can require some experimentation with various measurements for the stem and tips to figure out what works for them, and then you might have strayed far enough outside the norm that nothing delivers good quality audio at a good price.
I'm sure shops, manufacturers and audiologists will get better at assisting with the buying process and/or product offering over time.
@n3ck3ntry8bort0rgasm: Same here dont like the ones with the in ear tips. Currently using soundpeats 3hs. Strongly recommended
Hey @jasswolf, I'm thinking of getting the Capsule3 Pro+ but it's priced almost the same as Earfun air pro 4, which would you pick?
The Capsule3 Pro+ has the better sound quality, the Air Pro 4 has better features and battery life.
If you're chasing aptX Lossless, you've got the option of the Creative Aurvana Ace 2 for $15 more with code 'BF24', but it comes at the expense of ANC and mic quality.
All of these options will need EQ to shine.
I hvae the air 3's, they sound great and have been super happy. would love to upgrade to some form of ANC, but just wish they included wireless charging
Are you upgrading?
I like Soundpeats but they just have too many models and its hard to tell the differences between the two unless you are an audiophile. I recently bought the Capsule3+ and love them and need to get a pair for my partner and wondering if these are worse or better than the Capsules..
Ailybuds Pro+ is on sale again and half the price.
https://www.amazon.com.au/QCY-AilyBuds-PRO-Cancelling-Multip…
haven't checked graph measurement of the Soundpeats but the Ailybuds Pro have extremely deep bass for semi open TWS earbuds.
As I understand it, this isn't a great TWS hybrid earbud - even for the price - and if you can handle TWS IEMs, the SoundPeats Capsule3 Pro+ is just $10 more in the same sale.