Caporegime
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Nothing's offiical site has it the cheapest atm
General Headphone Audio
- Thread starter garyfl
- Start date
Nothing's offiical site has it the cheapest atm
@Angst I'm sure you may of seen this, but noticed this posted a few hours ago in r/headphones: Reddit Link
This person does talk a little bit about their experience and the end result. Also helpfully provided a full spreadsheet with costs too. $184, ends up at 363g in their configuration. The Dekoni earpads ended up being the most expensive thing.
Obviously the post had a the soldering station and 3D printer. Without those the costs would increase massively.
This person does talk a little bit about their experience and the end result. Also helpfully provided a full spreadsheet with costs too. $184, ends up at 363g in their configuration. The Dekoni earpads ended up being the most expensive thing.
Obviously the post had a the soldering station and 3D printer. Without those the costs would increase massively.
It should be a bit cheaper for me as I will be printing the headband (https://www.printables.com/model/1108653-capra-headband-v3/files) and not spending 40-50 on one like the one they bought. I already have a printer and soldering iron etc as well. Im not sure if I will buy the Dekoni pads, I'm sure I can find a cheaper option that's acoustically similar.
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Been using the stock hifiman cable for a bit to test something out with single ended and can't help but notice the excessive microphonics it has even just brushing against an arm and it's there. Why do things like this slip through QC on such expensive products... the Tripowin/Fosi cables have been brilliant though in this area.
Even with custom cables there can be issues, like that one I got form the USA because it was highly recommended on another board (Arctic Cables) had good microphopnics, but some time later one channel started to crackle when moving around on my Arya Stealth at the time, emailed them and they requested I sent it back (at my cost no less) and they found no problem with it.... So they sent it back to me and the problem was still there!
So ended up selling it and using a Tripowin again.
So ended up selling it and using a Tripowin again.
Caporegime
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I use the Fosi one that comes with the i5 and an extension from Openheart (but it looks more like a Tripowin design) when i sit further away.
Argh really? These are coming from the official Hifiman store so probably not UK.
Not desperate for them so if I have to wait a week or so it's fine.
I managed to resist the Hifiman Ayra's on Amazon over the past few days.
Sticking with my non-stealth AE bargain basement HE400SE's that we're had for under 40 squids for my planar fix until I'm extremely bored. I can't miss what I haven't heard right? Right?
Sticking with my non-stealth AE bargain basement HE400SE's that we're had for under 40 squids for my planar fix until I'm extremely bored. I can't miss what I haven't heard right? Right?
Caporegime
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CMF buds 2 Plus arrived today. Just using stock tips that it came fitted on. Sounds good for the £37, actually sounds really good for the money.
I got it in grey but perhaps I should have got it in black because this texture matt grey is going to get smudge in T minus 2 minutes lol
But it's only £37!
con - Wish the tips would go inside my ear further. ANC is not apple level, I can hear the guy talking on the phone behind me. My wired Hexa has better seal and noise isolation. Might look into trying if i can change the tips.
I got it in grey but perhaps I should have got it in black because this texture matt grey is going to get smudge in T minus 2 minutes lol
But it's only £37!
con - Wish the tips would go inside my ear further. ANC is not apple level, I can hear the guy talking on the phone behind me. My wired Hexa has better seal and noise isolation. Might look into trying if i can change the tips.
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Funny story, my Plus also arrived today, also the grey version though I really like the colour and texture so all good there. Feels more expensive than the price we paid. at least from the case POV.
The funny bit is I forgot Creative Labs were sending me TWS buds:
Suppose something to compare with lol. The Ace 3 doesn't feel as nicely textured, though the case does have wireless charging which I was not expecting. Also comes with way more tip sizes.
Will have a listen in a bit.
Caporegime
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Yeah, the CMF feels much more expensive than £37 (but they were like £70 RRP).
Caporegime
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Which sounds better? 
Don't forget to download the Nothing X app.
Don't forget to download the Nothing X app.
I'm just multitasking at the moment so will sit down to listen in an hour or so, just configuring the apps and settings to be as balanced as possible and then will do the listening on the PC as I have the Alt A2DP driver to be able to use any supported CODEC so can determine which sounds better when a phone's support isn't the limiting factor.
Thoughts...
Creative Ace 3
Connected to my S25 Ultra perfectly fine, displays buds battery in Android but not the % left on the charging case. Can enable LE Audio and works fine but the buds then flash the lights for pairing mode as if there''s no connection and the voice in the buds says searching for device , even though I can play music and audio comes out via LC3 perfectly fine lol. Did a firmware update, still the same issue and no matter what the Creative app is so finicky and loses connection to the buds randomly.
LDAC is supported but needs to be enabled via the app first, there is a low latency mode in the app too which I assume is for LDAC/AAC/SBC as LE Audio is by nature low latency anyway (sits slightly below aptX-HD for bitrate).
Comfort with the largest tips is fine, they seem to stay in place and create a nice seal allowing for nice passive sound isolation without ANC.
CMF Buds 2 Plus
Night and day difference in app and connectivity compared to Creative, the polish of the app and the Android fast-pair feature worked immediately and no connection issues with the app. LDAC is supported but also needs enabling first in the app before it can be enabled in Android BT settings. This experience feels how I expect Pixel Buds or Galaxy Buds to feel, it is a first-part experience through and through.
Comfort with the largest tips is also fine, same goes for the sealing and passive noise isolation.
Sound quality between them
I set the Creative app to the flat EQ profile and the CMF app was set to 0 for the EQ circle thing for the three areas of the sound profile. I assume both save the EQ directly onto the buds so when I poair them to the PC and use LDAC, that this is as neutral as it can get.
Both apps have a personalised tuning feature that runs through some tests to bespoke the tuning to your specific ears. I did this beforehand. I found the Nothing app's personalised tuning to be more thorough although both provide a graph thing at the end:
Nothing:
Creative:
Both produced great results with the custom tuned sound being much nicer.
Even still, I thought the mids and higher end FR on the Creatives sounded too "digital", even over LDAC. No matter what settings I changed in the EQ and app I could not get a balance that felt natural. the bass was detailed and did get low though, but so did the bass on the CMF. The CMF wins for me for sounding most musical and not "digital", with both set to LDAC the soundstage and general midrange felt more natural whereas the Ace 3seems to over-process the upper end especially for some reason making instruments that live there sound a bit too harsh and unnatural. Neither are perfect but the CMF is definitely more enjoyable and fine given they are in ears and cost under £40.
The connection bugs with the Ace 3 are not acceptable, also setting the LDAC mode to max quality 990Kbps on the Ace 3 results in constant stuttering whereas on the CMF it's fine.
Creative's software bugs strikes again.
Creative Ace 3
Connected to my S25 Ultra perfectly fine, displays buds battery in Android but not the % left on the charging case. Can enable LE Audio and works fine but the buds then flash the lights for pairing mode as if there''s no connection and the voice in the buds says searching for device , even though I can play music and audio comes out via LC3 perfectly fine lol. Did a firmware update, still the same issue and no matter what the Creative app is so finicky and loses connection to the buds randomly.
LDAC is supported but needs to be enabled via the app first, there is a low latency mode in the app too which I assume is for LDAC/AAC/SBC as LE Audio is by nature low latency anyway (sits slightly below aptX-HD for bitrate).
Comfort with the largest tips is fine, they seem to stay in place and create a nice seal allowing for nice passive sound isolation without ANC.
CMF Buds 2 Plus
Night and day difference in app and connectivity compared to Creative, the polish of the app and the Android fast-pair feature worked immediately and no connection issues with the app. LDAC is supported but also needs enabling first in the app before it can be enabled in Android BT settings. This experience feels how I expect Pixel Buds or Galaxy Buds to feel, it is a first-part experience through and through.
Comfort with the largest tips is also fine, same goes for the sealing and passive noise isolation.
Sound quality between them
I set the Creative app to the flat EQ profile and the CMF app was set to 0 for the EQ circle thing for the three areas of the sound profile. I assume both save the EQ directly onto the buds so when I poair them to the PC and use LDAC, that this is as neutral as it can get.
Both apps have a personalised tuning feature that runs through some tests to bespoke the tuning to your specific ears. I did this beforehand. I found the Nothing app's personalised tuning to be more thorough although both provide a graph thing at the end:
Nothing:
Creative:
Both produced great results with the custom tuned sound being much nicer.
Even still, I thought the mids and higher end FR on the Creatives sounded too "digital", even over LDAC. No matter what settings I changed in the EQ and app I could not get a balance that felt natural. the bass was detailed and did get low though, but so did the bass on the CMF. The CMF wins for me for sounding most musical and not "digital", with both set to LDAC the soundstage and general midrange felt more natural whereas the Ace 3seems to over-process the upper end especially for some reason making instruments that live there sound a bit too harsh and unnatural. Neither are perfect but the CMF is definitely more enjoyable and fine given they are in ears and cost under £40.
The connection bugs with the Ace 3 are not acceptable, also setting the LDAC mode to max quality 990Kbps on the Ace 3 results in constant stuttering whereas on the CMF it's fine.
Creative's software bugs strikes again.