Question Best Earbuds to pair with Samsung S10?

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Let me start by saying I love my audio, and I like it to sound the best it can. I'm currently using an old set of Sennheiser wired earphones with my S10, but they are getting a bit battered and I'd love to be free of the cable when I'm out and about.

So, I've been looking at wireless earbuds. Now the codec support is a bit complex and I'm trying to figure out what combination will give me the best audio from earbuds (I am well aware it won't be up to wired standards).

I've looked at the Sony wf-1000xm3 and the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2, both seem to have pros and cons.

The codecs you want appear to be either Aptx, Aptx HD or LDAC. The S10 doesn't support Aptx HD and doesn't appear likely to, LDAC is supported, but is also Sony proprietary and only on their earbuds.

Will Aptx be 'sufficient'? Bear in mind I only use FLAC/ALAC files on my phone as a rule.

I'm not too fussed about cost, I don't mind paying for performance, but I don't want to get an expensive set to find out they aren't going to work fully with the S10.

Any suggestions?
 
Buy and try the Sony WF-1000XM3's, they sound wonderful.
I recently bought them and the Apple Airpod Pro's after reading reviews and although the Airpod Pro's are the best Apple wireless IEM's to date (now that you can change the tips) and have incredible noise cancelling, the XM3’s blow them out the water as far as sound quality goes.
On paper you may assume the lack of aptx is a problem, it isn't, at least not in my case, Sony work wonders with their headphone audio tech these days, the sound out of these is incredible, spacious, airy, just the right amount of low, mids and highs and great detail.
I returned the Airpod Pro's and sold my Melomania 1’s. The XM3’s are keepers.
I know the XM4’s are due for release soon which will probably have better multipoint Bluetooth and possibly better battery life (not that I'm unhappy with the 6 hours of mine) but as to sound quality, I doubt they can be improved on, they’re that good.
 
Buy and try the Sony WF-1000XM3's, they sound wonderful.
I recently bought them and the Apple Airpod Pro's after reading reviews and although the Airpod Pro's are the best Apple wireless IEM's to date (now that you can change the tips) and have incredible noise cancelling, the XM3’s blow them out the water as far as sound quality goes.
On paper you may assume the lack of aptx is a problem, it isn't, at least not in my case, Sony work wonders with their headphone audio tech these days, the sound out of these is incredible, spacious, airy, just the right amount of low, mids and highs and great detail.
I returned the Airpod Pro's and sold my Melomania 1’s. The XM3’s are keepers.
I know the XM4’s are due for release soon which will probably have better multipoint Bluetooth and possibly better battery life (not that I'm unhappy with the 6 hours of mine) but as to sound quality, I doubt they can be improved on, they’re that good.
Very helpful, thank you :) Can I ask what device you use and what format your music is in?
 
I use them mainly with my iPhone Xs Max and Apple music which is 256K AAC and 320K MP3’s and the Vox music player app.
Also in use are an iPhone 6+ stripped of every app possible used exclusively for playing music via the (sadly no longer available) “Tuneshell” music player and filled with 56GB of Flac and 320K MP3’s, also a Shanling M2s DAP gets used occasionally.
Music played is 99% Movie soundtracks.
 
I use them mainly with my iPhone Xs Max and Apple music which is 256K AAC and 320K MP3’s and the Vox music player app.
Also in use are an iPhone 6+ stripped of every app possible used exclusively for playing music via the (sadly no longer available) “Tuneshell” music player and filled with 56GB of Flac and 320K MP3’s, also a Shanling M2s DAP gets used occasionally.
Music played is 99% Movie soundtracks.
If they had a downside, what would it be? In your opinion.
 
Probably how they look, they are bigger/broader than the competition but TBH that doesn’t bother me as I rarely wear headphones or earbuds outside.
I’ve no idea what the mic or call quality is like as I use them purely for listening to music.
 
I have a Fiio BTR5 that does high quality LDAC with my high-end IEMS's but I recently got some Samsung Buds+ and amazed how good they are for their price point. Perfect control & can use the Samsung Adaptive BT with the S10+ which I also use. Its Samsung's alternative to LDAC. I only use these when out exercising though.

Heard WF-1000XM and not impressed to be honest for SQ, unless noise cancelling is your main priority.

I don't use Headphones much as I prefer IEM's. I bought a pair of Audeze Mobius 3D headphones for gaming/TV but amazing music sound quality over BT LDAC from my S10+ too. I just take the microphone off (only 10hr battery but plenty for me). Far better SQ than Sony or B&W BT ones IMO. Not noise cancelling so no good if you need that. I prefer them to the HD660S & HD800 I had! They are planar magnetic type, great base.
 
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Does anyone have experience of the Sennheiser 2s? How they might compare?
 
Does anyone have experience of the Sennheiser 2s? How they might compare?

I ordered the Sennheiser True Wireless Momentum 2’s on Thurs from Amazon, got them on Fri and will be packing them and returning them for a refund later today.
I just wanted to see how they compared to my Sony XM3's...no contest, the Sony's are far superior for sound quality, fit, volume level...and price.
The Sennheiser's come with silicone tips only, no foam tips are supplied. I knew this before I ordered them but it wasn't a problem as I had some third party foam tips which fitted them (INAIRS Air1 S,M,L also from Amazon).
I downloaded and installed the companion Sennheiser “Smart Control” iOS app for them which straight away signalled there was a firmware update needed on the TW2’s. This took around 30 mins then I tried them on tracks I know well.

The first noticeable thing was a lack of volume, I had to increase it to around 90% on my player (Apple Music on iPhone Xs Max) compared to my normal 65-70% using the Sony's (and Airpod Pro's). I also found they lacked a wee bit of bass compared to the Sony's but this can be overcome by using the equaliser in the app.
The one big disappointment was the noise cancelling, or lack of it, i switched it on and off a good few times using the controls on the earpiece but it hardly made any difference whatsoever TBH.
The app isn't as polished as the Sony's either, so overall the Sennheiser's are a big disappointment, not worth their price tag and I'm sticking with my XM3’s.
 
Thanks for all the advice JayCee , much appreciated :)
 
Regarding the Sony WF-1000XM3s, codec support seems to be different depending what site you look at. Some say it supports LDAC (which is Sony proprietary) and others say it doesn't. Same with AptX.

I can't settle for SBC or AAC, not at this price. Does anyone know for sure?
 
Mine does AAC and DSEE HX (don't propriety?)

Is there a difference in reality between aac and aptx in the real world? I thought AAC is just as good but is less efficient
 
Mine does AAC and DSEE HX (don't propriety?)

Is there a difference in reality between aac and aptx in the real world? I thought AAC is just as good but is less efficient
Because I'm not paying top whack for a sub-standard codec. If I wanted to listen to music at 250kbp I'd stick to mp3s.
 
Because I'm not paying top whack for a sub-standard codec. If I wanted to listen to music at 250kbp I'd stick to mp3s.

Ok, chill, I was only asking.


Not sure I could tell the difference with in ear headphones.
 
I thought AAC is better at encoding on a per bitrate basis Vs aptx but it's less power efficient. So 356kbps aptx is similar to 250kbps aac
 
+1 for the sony wf 1000xm3,sold the melomania 1s as no contest the sonys sound superb,i have all the processing stuff turned off in the app,bass is unbelievable. used with pixel 2xl.
 
Ok, chill, I was only asking.


Not sure I could tell the difference with in ear headphones.
Sorry mate, wasn't meaning to sound 'off'. I'd just rather have either AptX or LDAC support, all my media is in either FLAC or ALAC format.
 
Sorry mate, wasn't meaning to sound 'off'. I'd just rather have either AptX or LDAC support, all my media is in either FLAC or ALAC format.

Thats a fair point but you're missing out in my opinion. Lots of headphones support AptX that don't sound as good as the Sony headphones, you can pump a FLAC through some cheap PC speakers or an MP3 through some high end speakers, which will sound better. The Sony headphones are regarded as sounding as some of the best regardless of codec.

I had the same issue before I bought them but I sat down and I doubt you can tell the difference between a 320kbps MP3 and FLAC when using in ear headphones, they just don't have the range.
 
I agree with jizzlejimbo.
These Sony XM3's do sound great and the lack of aptX or LDAC is certainly no drawback.
I've used Bluetooth aptX from my Shanling M2s DAP to my over ears WH-1000XM3’s with Flac files and I can't hear any difference compared to the same tracks from 256K AAC on Apple music and my WF-1000XM3’s.
They are universally praised in all reviews for their sound quality so I would urge you to give them a try.
Seemingly they couldn't incorporate aptX into them as unlike most True Wireless earbuds where one earpiece is the master and the other a slave the earbuds of the WF-1000XM3’s work independently, it is rumoured the XM4’s may have aptX.
 
Bought the Sony's on the basis of advice from here and quite a few online reviews. In the charging case now. I hope these live up to the hype.
 
have taken a few calls lately on the buds,perfectly clear and the callers had no idea i wasn't using the phone.
 
Bought the Sony's on the basis of advice from here and quite a few online reviews. In the charging case now. I hope these live up to the hype.


Let us know how you get on.

Make sure you test the isolation on all the ear buds, made a massive difference to the ANC
 
Let us know how you get on.

Make sure you test the isolation on all the ear buds, made a massive difference to the ANC
When you say 'all the earbuds' are you referring to the different sizes? Make sure to get the best fit?
 
When you say 'all the earbuds' are you referring to the different sizes? Make sure to get the best fit?
Yep. I used the normal ones and they seemed to fit okay, and was a little disappointed with the results so tried some others and the ANC was much better.
 
Is the charging a little 'iffy'? The buds are locked in place in the case and it's plugged in, red light is on, but occasionally goes off until I pick it up and open it and the light will come back on?
 

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