Bang & Olufsen - Beoplay E8 3rd Gen

I've used Bang and Olufsen Beoplay E8s for the last 7 years. There's a caveat though; the first and second pairs fell apart (came unglued, no technical issues). I sent each pair back when it happened (first set was 8 months in, second was 14 months later) and they covered them both under their 2 year warranty, no questions asked. It seems like the latest 3rd gen model that they sent me in 2020 is pretty reliable. I don't use them often anymore, only once every few months for travel, but back when I used them every day biking to class they were generally quite solid despite being taken in and out of the case 10-20 times daily and occasionally dropped from chest height (which is probably what caused the first two pairs to fall apart). Anyway, I think the TL;DR for me is that if you spend enough money on a pair (around $250 for the B&Os) from a reputable brand that despite the disposability of bluetooth earbuds at least the company should stand by any manufacturing errors and set issues right. Also if you're more careful about them than I was and generally clean and take care of them they should last alright despite the inevitable battery degradation over several years. I will add that my brother has been using the wireless Galaxy buds from Costco that were around $120 in 2019 for going on six years now. He also doesn't use them as often anymore, but considering he used to kill a pair of wired earbuds in around a month by bending the aux input or simply twisting them to the point of losing sound in one ear it's a pretty resounding endorsement of Samsung that they've lasted this long. It's also a rare scenario of a wireless product being more reliable for a particular use case. I believe he used them for sleeping which is why the wired ones kept getting bent out of shape, literally.

Nobody knows what is good for you. You have to listen to them. Also it's useful to look into their measurements curve. I didn't listen to the Denon,Jabras and Nothing Ear. Sony are linear but will not amaze you with details and clarity. Same to Technics. Sennheisers sounds just wrong for me with no lows. Bose are ok but initial tuning is too bassy for me. It's like one just increased the bass with eq. I personally have Devialet Gemini 2. Very linear with slight increase of lows and trebles which is easily compensated. Amazing resolution, imaging, separations you name it. But again, just listen to them. I listened to Nobles, B&W, Bang and Olufsen and they did not suite my needs. But maybe they are for you.

My original comment was based on your first list. I've owned most of the earbuds in your edited list, and I'd consider them *all* among the best sounding earbuds out there. I'd probably say the Gemini, Denon, B&W, and B&O are roughly tied for "best sounding," and the winner comes down to personal preference. But if I had to choose only one set, I'd still probably go with the Sennheiser MTW4 or Technics (AZ100, which I like better than the AZ80). The Gemini and others may have slightly better sound but the Sennheiser and Technics still sound fantastic: they're not far behind, and you wouldn't be missing out on some mindblowing sonic experience. But I consider these two to be better overall, in terms of functionality, app, features, etc.

>If you don't mind, could you share your ranking list for best overall and one for sound quality? Thank you in advance! Of the ones listed in your post, my personal rankings would be: BEST OVERALL: 1. Sennheiser, Technics 2. Denon, Devialet 3. Bose, Sony 4. Pi8, BeoPlay BEST SOUND: 1. Devialet, Pi8, Denon, BeoPlay (in roughly that order if I *had* to rank them, but I consider them more or less tied, and my preferences might change from day to day or song to song) 2. Sennheiser, Technics AZ100 3. AZ80 4. Sony, Bose I've never used the EQ or the Eleven.