Sony WF-1000XM4, JBL Club Pro+, Moondrop Sparks... best TWS IEMs #2

It’s not the headphone that is bad, but the fit you are getting

Oluv'Sone

I just got the Earfun Free Pro OE and first impression is not too good. The headphones are shouty, have an uncomfortable ringing between 2khz - 5khz where our ear is the most sensitive, bass is tiny and shy. Maybe the drivers are too weak or too low quality. Unfortunately the main problem is still there, they sound like cheap headphones. Great fit tho, i like the ergonomics. The Xiaomi Haylou GT5 sound even better for music and are half the price, they have better sound-stage, instrument separation and do not have the annoying 2khz to 5khz hump. As a comparison, my daily driver are the Fiio FH5 with the Fiio UTWS3, the sound difference compared to Earfun Free Pro OE is phenomenal. (yes the FiiO are more expensive but they are worth the price) and you also compared them to way more expensive headphones so why shouldn't i? Music tested: Diana Krall - Temptation (poor instrument separation and poor sound-stage) voice is not smooth as it should be. Patricia Barber - Use Me (on good headphones that double bass is very meaty and powerful, also poor sound-stage). Vaya Con Ddios - Far Gone Now (the voice is too shouty, not smooth as it should be, resolution is mediocre). Metallica - The Memory Remains from S&M2 live with symphonic orchestra. James Hetfield's voice is too shouty and tiny, here you can easily hear the 2khz to 5 khz hump, also the guitar is abrasive. Since this is a live recording i should hear a better sound stage but i do not. Prodigy - Voodoo People (Pendulum Remix) again it sounds tiny and lifeless it is like the headphones are running on low battery. No energy, tiny bass and drums. Everything sounds small. If i get the volume a little louder i get distortions, that means the the micro amplifiers can not power properly the drivers. The conclusion is that these are just a decent pair of headphones, but nothing special. Not to the extent we are meant to believe. I am sure that there are more expensive headphones that sound even worse. I might use them for audio-books and podcasts, but not for music or return them. By the way, how can i tell if your EQ presets are loaded in the headphone?

who, me ...

Hallo Oluv, Ich habe deine von dir modifizierten Earfun Free pro heute erhalten und ich bin begeistert. Ich habe einige InEar Kopfhörer Aiwa Prodigy 1, Sony mh1, Enacfire E18 Plus+ und andere, auch OverEar Sennheiser HD58 , Sony MDR CD1700, Stax SR44 u. a..... Deine Earfun Free Pro sind über jeden Zweifel erhaben. Deine Arbeit hat sich wirklich gelohnt. Habe leider nur ein Paar bestellt, wenn möglich, werde ich bei einer erneuten Auflage noch 2 weitere Parre bestellen, es sei denn, du arbeitest noch an weiteren Produktionen. Deine Bemühungen auch bei den Vorstellungen andere Produkte in Sachen HiFi sind einziartig. Deine Bemühungen akustische Sachverhalte vergleichbar zu machen sind bewundernswert.

Well I tried for the first time ever foam tips called comply... Well they didn't fucking comply... they were uncomfortable and turned the sound into a treble blasting crap... I dont get why that happened as new to in ear. So least I experienced foam ones and they ain't for me.

Simon Hibbert

I don't have an accurate answer for this because I'm listening this on a gaming headphone which I tuned to nearly flat or near impossible. In my opinion from what I've heard from this comparison. I like the Earfun better which is close to the original recordings The sony is there but it has this fat bass and somehow hollowness to it The Jbl is a very V shaped tuning with too much bass and some sharp ear killing trebles, losing the mids The Spark is too thin for me

The Sony sound muddy through the recording but at the same time way smoother than the other 2 as the Sony has no peaks, with some used EQ adjustment it would sound way better than the others. I would like to make a dedicated video on them but will probably return them due to the AAC compression issues I am hearing. The only really enjoyable wired IEM for me was the Sony MH1 although I sealed it completely to bring that fat bass down. They sound pretty similar to the Earfun just with more bass. The response is very smooth just with some upper treble emphasis. I also liked the Audeze iSine 10 because they were more or less open so I could wear them within traffic with no issues just that of course sound suffered with loud noises all around but at least I felt more secure while still could listen to songs. I liked the iSine 10 only with the old gen cipher cable and some custom EQ otherwise they were unusable. I just had a listen to them recently when I wanted to hear them against the Earfun when I finished the tuning and I still liked them somehow, they have a unique quality other more traditional IEMs do not offer. I also used the Etymotic ER2 (either SE or XR) a lot when on the to. But then it was the contrary to the iSine 10 as the Etymotic block out completely, more than a decent ANC headphone, so definitely not the best choice if you still need to hear something around you. Taking them out or putting them in again is still quite a hassle for me. To get exactly the right fit is not easy and they can hurt quite a bit

Oluv'Sone

Just goes to show how we hear things differently. I thought the Sony's were shockingly bad to the point were I thought there must have been a fault in the recording:-) Do you ever do wired earphone (buds) reviews? I have my Sennheiser headphones and my Earfun OE bluetooth earphones (buds). I am now looking for some good wired earphones (buds) which is what I mostly use when I am on my way to work.

The XM4 is way smoother and with some EQ it can sound pretty similar to the Earfun although I still perceive the Earfun as more natural and open sounding. The XM4 is definitely one of the best TWS IEMs I have tried so far although the default tuning is a bit boomy. I wanted to keep them but discovered some severe AAC compression issues, also the JBL suffered from the same problem and I would assume it’s a bug by Apple as I heard the same issues with from the Earfun before which was mainly the reason why I let AAC disable for the OE version, I was sure it was an issue with the Bluetooth chip inside the Earfun but now hearing the same problems coming from the Sony and JBL I think it’s rather some Apple issue and wouldn’t recommend any of these at least not if you were an Apple user

Oluv'Sone

Oluv, very appreciative of what you do I ordered some Earfun OE’s just in time and look forward to trying them. Could you speak to the differences you hear between the sound signature of the XM3’s compared with the XM4’s? I was hoping to find something with excellent noise cancelling that had very good sound. Bose or Sony xm4s were supposed to be that if reviews were to be trusted.

Brian

I think there is some potential with the parametric EQ, but it was very unprecise to work with, I am not sure I could manage something really great also because I am not sure how many filters are supported within the app. The 5 available filters from the Jaybird app were not enough to fine tune the Vista 2.

Oluv'Sone

I had tried the JBL Club Pro Plus a while ago, and while they weren't as bad as the Live 300, they weren't that impressive. I remember the eartips fitting well for me, but the treble was too grainy for me, though I saw potential with the eq in the app but it was kind of hard to them perfect. I returned them as they were defective. Do you think the Club Pro Plus would have potential with the eq in spite of its tuning? I am kind of curious about them again but I'm not sure.

Yay!!! This is exactly the kind of comparison the last set of IEMs needed. I think the results would have been very different. On the topic of this set, once again I agree completely. The JBLs are too harsh for my liking (though I know some people think it equates to more detail), the moon ones sound cheap, the Sony sounds fine, but just a bit boomy with the upper bass. The Earfun, which still not exactly like the original track, sound closest to my ears as well and I really appreciate their smooth treble. And personally, I’ve never get the bass was lacking. It goes down plenty deep to my ears. Well done, Olaf! And thank you for this thorough sound comparison.

Yes. By lowering the 400hz and bass slider you can get the bass pretty neutral if you want. I use 400 -1 and bass -2. You also want to boost 2,5khz to bring out the vocals.

Tony Wisman

würde noch ein Paar kaufen aber grad sind bei mir auch keine 70€ drin , leider. sehr zufrieden mit den earfuns pro nach deinem tuning

Oluv, do you think it's possible to bring the sony to neutral bass with that limited EQ? it's impossible to find an IEM without bass boost this days.

Yes I will make a separate post on this topic also including all measurements

Oluv'Sone

Could you provide your eq for the Sony please

Have you ever tried different tips with the Earfun? Ones that expose the nozzle maybe even more or longer ones… I wonder how that would change the sound for you. The biggest issue with the Earfun is that the sound changes most in the 6-8khz area although it never should become really peaky above the target. The peak appears but is always below the target while most other IEMs get peaks above the target depending on the insertion depth etc. I would need more experience and other models that I could work on to see how that behaviour could be optimised

Oluv'Sone

I have yet to hear one which sounds more real to me let alone for 70$

Oluv'Sone

I don't comment a lot here, but that is due to be being very picky with my headphones. Wired earphones, or wired+dynamic+open headphones. These are neither.

KlarkKentThe3rd

I have the sonys because i liked the features it provides. To my surprise they sound really good for my ears(with eq). The 5-10khz region is smoother then the earfun. No peak at 7,5 and more energy at 9 dispite the graphs being so similar. I also tryed some silicone tips but that makes them slightly too harsh. Im not sure if i will keep them because im feeling some slight comfort issue. Like you mentioned i think its a controversial topic and different ears can really change the end result a lot.

Tony Wisman

Habe drei gekauft. Ich würde gerne einen Lebensvorrat kaufen aber das wird mir leider nicht erlaubt