Eleven

I had the exact same issues with EX (loved the sound though)so it seems that they learned nothing. Connectivity was a disaster. Hoped they fixed things with eleven but nah.

I’ve been checking out in-ear headphones recently. I love the Elevens and their sound (not too much bass and incredibly well balanced), plus features like the wind guard are really useful for me, as I spend a lot of time outdoors. As others have said, though, the noise cancelling is garbage. It was clearly at the bottom of their priority list. And if noise cancelling is your main requirement, the Bose QuietComfort Ultras are insanely good. Just not quite top-tier on audio quality (despite being close).

The B&O Beoplay EX is last-generation. It has epic sound quality, but it suffers from a poor ANC system compared to rivals at the same price point. The B&O Eleven is the newest generation - they took the EX earbuds and improved the ANC system, that's the biggest difference you'd notice between the two. However, one big elephant in the room is your iPhone. As you know apple likes to create a "walled garden" for their customers. And earbuds are no different. Apple *wants* you to stick with their brands (Airpods and Beats). So the software only enables max AAC bitrates when using Apple products within their ecosystem. Any other earbud you buy will have a limited streaming bitrate. So, in essence - what's the point of $500 earbuds if you can only stream at greatly reduced bitrates? You would either need to switch to an android phone (like a Sony, because Samsung is a b*tch about bluetooth protocols these days as well - AptX-adaptive is literally open source software, Samsung could easily integrate it into their flagship phones but they choose not to in favor of their own proprietary bluetooth protocol) With a healthy budget, you can get some better sounding earbuds and more comfortable earbuds with nice features like the ANC of the Quietcomfort Ultra, or the full transparency of the Quietcomfort Ultra-Open earbuds. But, just know that Apple once again sucks and they choose what you're allowed to play with. They'll let you use other bluetooth products, but not at the highest fidelity possible. For me with my Bose QC-Ultra earbuds and a Samsung Galaxy phone, I am buying a Creative Labs BT-W6 USB-C streaming audio chip so I can stream from phone in high definition

B&O Eleven are an excellent choice where sound quality is awesome. B&W PI8 is solid choice. Noble Amadeus, Rex5, and Encore are great. Devialet Gemini II are real audiophile level. Your husband would do well with any of these, I own all of them though I do prefer wired IEM’s above Bluetooth.

Had these when their first came out and was truly left speechless. They are junk compared to the PI8s. I bought them thinking they would be on par with the H100 in quality as I use those daily and was just not impressed. Sent back and kept the PI8s for the gym and H100 for everything else. Edit: they are literally just the Ex Gen 2 IMO. Even says EX on the case and ear bud stickers.

Airpods pro 2&3 Sony xm5&6 Huawei freebuds 4 and 5 Status pro x Denon perl pro Technics AZ80&100 Bose Ultra Nothing Ear Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Soundpeats H3 Bowers and Wilkins Pi8 B&O 11 And many many others. Guess it's more than 20 not 15

My top picks & ratings for best sounding TWS: 1. [9.7] ($450) Noble FoKus Rex5 2. [9.6] ($500) Devialet Gemini II 3. [9.3] ($250) Status Audio Pro X 4. [9.3] ($400) Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 5. [9.2] ($400) Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Eleven 6. [9.0] ($300) Technics EAH-AZ100