expired Posted by iconian | Staff • Aug 22, 2024
Aug 22, 2024 9:27 PM
Item 1 of 1
expired Posted by iconian | Staff • Aug 22, 2024
Aug 22, 2024 9:27 PM
Yamaha TW-E5B True Wireless Earbuds (Various Colors)
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AAC, SBC, aptX Adaptive
Here is a review of them that is pretty good: https://www.whathifi.com/news/yamahas-tw-e5b-wireless-earbuds-try-to-stop-you-from-turning-up-the-vo... [whathifi.com]
Here is a review on Amazon that is helpful (keep in mind reviews are mixed on various sites because depending on what codec you use you will get different results).
OTHER PROS
- Fit: very light, very comfortable though they stick way out of the ears
- Case: attractive, love the indicator LEDs in front. Case is on the large side but I don't walk around with earbuds cases in my front pocket.
- Bluetooth range: amazing, the best of all my earbuds, along with the E7B. I have more than once left my phone in the house and walked around the driveway without having a disconnect.
- Listening Care: This is a hidden gem of a feature, accessible through the app. It's not a marketing gimmick. You can turn the volume way down, and still enjoy the music because you can still hear a lot of the details that normally get lost once the volume goes down. This is great for listening while working, when loud volumes make it hard to think clearly.
- aesthetics: love the teardrop shape, the textured finish, the subtle Yamaha logo.
- buttons instead of touch controls. so much easier to deal with on little earbuds.
- Ambient mode: very helpful and works well.
UNKNOWN/INDIFFERENT
- Battery life - have not pushed to the limit. I never listen to music for more than 3 hours at a time.
CONS
- lack of active noise cancelling: would be nice, but there is the higher end E7B which has that - for a price. I would not take these on a plane ride.
- Mic/phone calls: people can hear me and I can hear them, and that's good enough for me, as I spend minutes a day on phone calls. However I have been asked more than once on a call, "where are you?" which I take to mean that the mic is not the clearest.
- app connectivity: these buds rarely connect automatically to the Yamaha app. I typically need to open the app, and press a button for it to search for the buds. this is annoying.
- wind interference: because these lack ANC and stick far out of the ears, they are prone to having strong winds overwhelm the audio. definitely not suitable for bike riding. However the more expensive E7B model does have ANC and does a great job dampening wind.
- sound is bright without EQ: For my musical preferences, these needed a good amount of EQ manipulation to coax out the wonderful sound qualities. I gave a big boost to the lows and mids. It also seemed like the audio got appreciably better after I did the firmware update, though that may have been speaker burn in and not firmware? not sure.
While far from perfect, the audio quality is so freaking great on these, that none of the limitations dampen my 5 star rating. Will gladly pick up whatever comes next from Yamaha.
EDIT A FEW MONTHS LATER:
I was initially using these paired directly to an iPhone 13 Pro, relying on the phone's awful native AAC codec. Recently purchased the Sennheiser BTD 600 USB Bluetooth transmitter which can send out in aptx Adaptive. I connected this to the IVSHOWCO Lightning to USB adapter and plugged the two into the iphone's lightning port. Then paired this intermediary contraption to the Yamaha TW-E5B. It sounds complicated but is actually pretty simple. The results are freaking stunning. The sound quality went up a whole other level because the music is now reaching the earbuds with a far superior Bluetooth codec. The treble has opened up tremendously, clarity way, way up, while the original powerful sound I enjoyed is still there. I no longer need to EQ to get optimal sound quality. Highly recommend this setup if you plan to use these earbuds with an iPhone!
Here is a review of them that is pretty good: https://www.whathifi.com/news/yamahas-tw-e5b-wireless-earbuds-try-to-stop-you-from-turning-up-the-vo... [whathifi.com]
Here is a review on Amazon that is helpful (keep in mind reviews are mixed on various sites because depending on what codec you use you will get different results).
OTHER PROS
- Fit: very light, very comfortable though they stick way out of the ears
- Case: attractive, love the indicator LEDs in front. Case is on the large side but I don't walk around with earbuds cases in my front pocket.
- Bluetooth range: amazing, the best of all my earbuds, along with the E7B. I have more than once left my phone in the house and walked around the driveway without having a disconnect.
- Listening Care: This is a hidden gem of a feature, accessible through the app. It's not a marketing gimmick. You can turn the volume way down, and still enjoy the music because you can still hear a lot of the details that normally get lost once the volume goes down. This is great for listening while working, when loud volumes make it hard to think clearly.
- aesthetics: love the teardrop shape, the textured finish, the subtle Yamaha logo.
- buttons instead of touch controls. so much easier to deal with on little earbuds.
- Ambient mode: very helpful and works well.
UNKNOWN/INDIFFERENT
- Battery life - have not pushed to the limit. I never listen to music for more than 3 hours at a time.
CONS
- lack of active noise cancelling: would be nice, but there is the higher end E7B which has that - for a price. I would not take these on a plane ride.
- Mic/phone calls: people can hear me and I can hear them, and that's good enough for me, as I spend minutes a day on phone calls. However I have been asked more than once on a call, "where are you?" which I take to mean that the mic is not the clearest.
- app connectivity: these buds rarely connect automatically to the Yamaha app. I typically need to open the app, and press a button for it to search for the buds. this is annoying.
- wind interference: because these lack ANC and stick far out of the ears, they are prone to having strong winds overwhelm the audio. definitely not suitable for bike riding. However the more expensive E7B model does have ANC and does a great job dampening wind.
- sound is bright without EQ: For my musical preferences, these needed a good amount of EQ manipulation to coax out the wonderful sound qualities. I gave a big boost to the lows and mids. It also seemed like the audio got appreciably better after I did the firmware update, though that may have been speaker burn in and not firmware? not sure.
While far from perfect, the audio quality is so freaking great on these, that none of the limitations dampen my 5 star rating. Will gladly pick up whatever comes next from Yamaha.
EDIT A FEW MONTHS LATER:
I was initially using these paired directly to an iPhone 13 Pro, relying on the phone's awful native AAC codec. Recently purchased the Sennheiser BTD 600 USB Bluetooth transmitter which can send out in aptx Adaptive. I connected this to the IVSHOWCO Lightning to USB adapter and plugged the two into the iphone's lightning port. Then paired this intermediary contraption to the Yamaha TW-E5B. It sounds complicated but is actually pretty simple. The results are freaking stunning. The sound quality went up a whole other level because the music is now reaching the earbuds with a far superior Bluetooth codec. The treble has opened up tremendously, clarity way, way up, while the original powerful sound I enjoyed is still there. I no longer need to EQ to get optimal sound quality. Highly recommend this setup if you plan to use these earbuds with an iPhone!
They are very detailed/analytical, maybe even clinical perhaps, which I guess was expected. Base is non-existent unless you dial up the low end on the equalizer and dial down the highs. Even then the fit is very important (finding the correctly sized tips and the correct angle to insert the earbuds into your ear). While that's true for any earbuds, it is even more critical with these due to their size and the weak bass.
I haven't tried exercising in them yet, but if you can get the right fit, they should stay in your ear as well as any other earbuds. Despite their large size, I can get an almost perfect fit in my left ear and a poor fit in my right one (which for me is very common).
Does anyone have a recommendation for aftermarket / custom tips/foams? I need to try to upgrade the tips. Otherwise I would have to send the earbuds back because of the poor fit on the right.
They are definitely a keeper. I am still thinking of buying a set of aftermarket tips. $10-$15 is not a huge investment, but I am hesitant for two reasons: 1) I don't know if they will make a difference; 2) I don't want to add to the price of an already moderately expensive earbuds.