Denon - PerL Pro

As another commenter mentioned, iphone doesn't support aptx; it only natively supports 256kbps AAC. That said, you can get something like the creative bt-w5 and use it with the iPhone. I do that with Denon Perl Pros that I got for $150 around black Friday, and this combo is absolutely incredible. I use them with apple music which has a ton of lossless music, and I couldn't be happier.

Counterpoint: mine have been incredible in the couple months I have had them; they're very comfortable, feel premium and sound absolutely amazing.

I run Denon Perl Pros and have been listening to stuff that is in that wheelhouse. See: Major Crimes by Health and tell me if that fits your mold. I did get nausea from the Denon ANC but I wasn't worried about that feature so I've turned it off. The app will run a profile on your ears and tailor the EQ to your hearing range, then you can use the immersion slider. Bass is very strong but pleasing, feels really nice to listen to. Starboy by The Weeknd was a treat just because Im particularly fond of that bass line. Battery life is decent. I'm using them for 5-6 hours throughout the day with periodic trips back into the case and it took about a day and a half for the case to need charging, but they have wireless charging so you can make it fairly convenient to keep it topped off. It charges very fast which balances things out nicely.

I touched on that around the middle of my comment. It's strong but very pleasing. I'll add it scales well with volume in my opinion, it was still crystal clear at the edge of comfort for me. Your mileage may vary.

I'm afraid I don't know. I only recently got the Perl Pros and before that I was using old ass Galaxy Buds and this was my first step into something nicer. I can offer my thoughts on this specific model, but I don't have any experience with the others. I've seen technics recommended in the same comment as Perl Pros and they were on my radar, but a buddy of mine has some Denon sound stuff and vouched for the quality of the brand, and the current $150 price is a good value.

I appreciate the suggestion and information on the Perl Pro tips, I ordered a set of S/M/L Denu S&S tips to see if I like them better. I got my Perls about a month ago and I love them but I've struggled to find the right tip for me, hopefully this solves that for me as it's my only real "complaint" with them, though I hesitate to even call it a full complaint as it packages with lots of options, just nothing that felt perfect for me.

Just got these, I noticed an annoying slight hiss coming from having ANC mode turned on. The ANC is minimal anyway so nothing is really lost when turning it off, just the mid-lows become a little less engrossing. I preferred the sound & fit of my MTW3's but had two pairs become defective after a few months each. Also biased because I live half my life in the Momentum 4 over-ear headphones. I'll let these grow on me a few more days and see whether to return these or give the MTW4's a chance.

The best sounding earbuds are the Denon Perl Pros. I also own the Gemini 2, BW Pi8 and MTW 4. So far the best sounding has been the Denons the problem with them is there size and fit. Just below the Denons in sound quality are the Pi8 and Gemini 2. There are distinct differences you can hear in sound from each of these earbuds.

Yes the Denons have better sound quality. The Gemini has good sound quality but it is a more neutral sound with very accurate bass. You get that and more with the Denons.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a fix for the size and fit. Denon would have to literally redesign the earbud to make it much smaller with the comfort level of the Gemini 2 or the Pi8.

My rankings based on what I own. My criteria are big soundstage, tight articulate bass, and comfort. 1. Noble FoKus Prestige 2. Master & Dynamic MW09 3. Devialet Gemini II 4. Noble Fokus Rex5 5. Denon Perl Pro 6. Technics AZ100 7. B&W Pi8

Denon Perl Pro are amazing if they fit in your ears. My right ear had trouble but the volume and sound quality after the acoustic tuning for your ears is top tier. If those don't fit well then try the Technics AZ80 but the volume is a little lower even at max volume.

Better sound - Devialet Gemini ii, B&W Pi8, Denon PerL pro, Noble Audio Rex5

The Denon PerL pro aren’t much more on sale at the minute. They have a brilliant personalisation feature that reads the shape of your ear and adjusts the sound to suit. They are a bit odd looking and big but I never had a problem with comfort and are a definite step up on sound quality

Devialet Gemini ii closely followed by Bowers and Wilkins Pi8. Denon PerL Pro are great too but I personally couldn’t live with the size of them, they are ridiculous

DPP for me too, with the caveat that AAT works for you.

I have not experienced this. I was initially disappointed that DPPs don't support AptX HD, and my phone doesn't support Adaptive/Lossless, but the tuning is where the DPPs really shine.

Do they really sound that much better with Adaptive? I can see if you consistently are hitting Lossless on Adaptive there would be a difference if your source is HD / Ultra HD. I can't really compare, but the difference to me in LDAC (AZ80) vs AptX classic vs AAC using Amazon Music Unlimited Ultra HD tracks is noticeable but not a night and day difference. Also, if anyone is interested in the differences of the Pro and non pro versions. The pro has additionally: Ultra low distortion triple-layer titanium dynamic driver aptX Lossless (CD quality Bluetooth) Spatial audio with DIRAC Qi wireless charging More microphones for better call quality, including bone induction microphones Bluetooth 5.3 Multipoint Bluetooth (connect to multiple devices simultaneously) ProEQ - fine-tune your EQ after creating your personal listening profile Dynamic primary circuit for flexible single earbud use Longer battery life (up to 8 hours on a single charge, up to 24 hours with the charging case) 1 hour of playback from five minutes of charging Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Earbuds/s/JqwlBzC828

from all the tests i´ve seen, The only Wireless headphone that can stand toe to toe with its wired equivalent is the Audezee Maxwel and it steamrolls everything else in the bluetooth world. When you make a headphone, first you design the headphone, and then you think how you´re going to connect it. but in bluetooth headphones its the other way around. I tested time and time again, when i had the sound rhyme SR5 with a adapter cable, or the EM6L with AZ20 compared to "high end" bluetooth buds like the Technics AZ80, the Denon Perl pro, the Sony XM4... they just crush them. you lose ANC, and the package is bigger overall, but the sound quality is just in another category, thats why i have the AZ80´s for when i listen to audio books or go out at night and dont want to take my actual good mobile setup, and then have the BTR17 with the Aful P7 as by standard carry on and work setup (soon to be xenns top pro).

You will see only few or none responses about Perl Pro, because it's price range make it in the prestige category with B&W PI7 S2, B&o Beoplay, Noble Fokus Mystique, Deviolet Gemini 2. What I can say is , among my collection, B&W Pi7, Status Between 3ANC, Beyerdynamic Free Byrd, Senn's MTW3, the Perl Pro has the best after tuned sound quality.

Thumbs up for a great analysis and to a Perl Pro fellow. I went from AirPods Pro 2 to MTW3, then Free Byrd, Status Between 3anc and Pro, Perl Pro, Svanar Wireless, Gemini 2. And had Jlab epic lab, Jabra 85t, 7 elite and 10 elite, MTW4, Sony XM5, Cambridge m100 briefly. Perl Pro is the most comprehensively all around with emphasis of sound quality and stage presence.

It’s on par on many aspects and cheaper, Perl Pro still has the edge on personalization, wider and deep low frequency stage and volume

None in the market can beat Perl Pro in every aspect of sound at current price ($150-200)

The Pros sound great. I care littlefor ANC. I havne had them long so I cant speak to build quality. I preffer them over the momentum 3 and 4 and the BW Pi7S2. Speaking only of sound. No they will not sound good straight out of the box, you must set them up. And like any sound system you must listen for a while to adapt.

Noble Rex5 I had the Pi8 to see which one I like better, Pi8 went back as they are just simply not in the same class. Recently got the Denon Perl Pro for working out and honestly I wouldn't pay the extra money for the Pi8 compared to these for the 130 dollars off woot.

Hi everyone, Earlier today I received my earbuds in the mail and I've been excited to try then and also excited to share how I felt they were. The Denon PerL Pro's are a wireless earbud that came out last year I believe. I was excited to try these because I saw around the subreddit that these were currently the best on the market, sound quality wise, which mattered to me most. Prior to buying these I didn't know anything about Denon, I've only ever had an AKGN400, Galaxy Buds 2 Pro and AirPods Pro 2. Disclosure: These are just my opinions, I don't claim to be an expert. Firstly I'm going to be leaving out all the tech specs of the product, I just don't feel like mentioning it all, it's online if you're really curious about what it's compatible with, how many speakers it has, how large and how much it weighs. **Design and Build Quality** Tbh it looks exactly like any other earbud in the 100-400$ price range, it's 2 pieces of plastic but overall it is pretty polished looking. I have been really careful with them so far so I can't claim to know how durable they are. They are pretty comfortable, I haven't felt fatigued at all with them in, my only concern is that when wearing the silicone tips they feel a bit loose after a while of wearing it. My ears are really big so I just use the largest fins as well as the silicone and foam tips XL sizes. **The App** As soon as you put them in your ears for the first time, it tells you to get on that app so that you can use the Adaptive Acoustic Technology (AAT). It examines your ear by shooting frequencies in there and seeing what the ear is sensitive to, from that point it makes a sound profile for you to listen to, you can make many many profiles. The interesting thing though is that every profile you make turns out different, in my experience it was all circumstantial based on the position of your jaw, the size of the room you were in, how much background noise was there, if you were moving your head a lot etc. It took me many, many tries at making sound profiles before I got 2 that I absolutely loved. One for when I'm wearing silicone tips and one with foam. Heads up: If you wear the silicone tips while making a profile, then the foam ones will sound off for that profile and vice versa in my opinion. From the app you have the option to turn off and on the soundstage and to increase or decrease the bass. There is also an EQ function but I haven't gotten around to it yet, I found it wasn't necessary. When making a personalized sound profile I personally found that it's best do it in a medium sized somewhat quiet room, sitting down somewhere okay posture, looking forward or slightly down, jaw in normal position, no clenching. Maybe this will work for you, maybe not, but after hours of trying to find my fit I just wanted to share what worked for me. There's other features that I haven't really experimented with yet so I can't comment right now. **Sound Quality** The most important part. The factory setting that you get out of the box is absolutely dog shit, flat and tinny.. but we both know that we aren't buying this to listen to the factory setting. To me, the bass is clean, it isn't muddying up the rest of the music, The soundstage is pretty good, it definitely pops the music. The soundstage is as good as a wireless earbud can be. I listen to a lot of different genres, R&B, acoustic, indie, rock, pop, dance, rap. I had no problems with any of the genres. The mids: When the soundstage is on, and the profile is calibrated properly, you can hear everything so clearly and precisely. The treble is also great, the highs don't verge onto sibilant territory, it always stops just shy of giving you a sssssss headache. The only way I could describe it would be sharp and crispy. The noise cancellation is pretty average, it blocks out most things but I could still hear the faint sound of loud noises. Of all the previous earbuds I used (mentioned above) this one completely blows them out of the water, SOUND QUALITY wise. Final Thoughts Pros - The imaging is great, the bass is clean, deep and doesn't overwhelm the midrange, the midrange is very rich and detailed, every note is clear. The treble sparkles and has an airiness to it. Cons - $$$$ 300-500 dollars depending on where you live. - You will spend a bit of time finding your perfect sound profile - The EQ is only a 5 point sliding EQ Any questions in the comments, I can answer as best as I can :)

Once you fine tune the sound profile to your liking they are amazing. It’s the best I’ve ever had and if it broke I’d spend another 400 dollars on them tomorrow. Can’t go wrong with these. Just make sure to really set the room up properly that you want to make your sound profile in,

Dennons have dropped to 149. To me that makes them a no-brainer. Best earbuds I've ever owned and I find them incredibly comfortable.

I stand by my Denon Perl Pros

I've tried a bunch and I keep going back to the Denon Perl pros. Hard to explain why I like them. I'd say they're really fun. Once you do the hearing imaging the sound is phenomenal. I'm not an audiophile by any means but I'd pick them over more expensive one for doing. Anc sucks but I have pixel buds pro 2 for anc when I'm out and about.

I stand by my Denon Perl pros.

Agreed. The sound after that EQ adjustment is incredible.

I have a pair of Denon PerL Pro, and I think the sound is elegant, and controlled, and just a joy every time I use them. However, I've tried a pair of Technics AZ80, and I think those are just a tiny little bit better.

I have a pair of PerL Pro, and I love the sound, but as I said in several comments on this sub, the AZ80, which I've tested for a couple of hours, sound a little, little bit better. Not by much though.

I have and had Perl Pro, AZ80, Elite 10. I also wanted to try MTW4 but i have the momentum 4 headphones. For some reason whenever i want to do critical listening i always reach for my az80s.

Bro. Holy sht. Im a/b ing my tws collection today and realized im full of it. Listening to some Revocation album and the Liberty 3 pros destroys them all lol. Im returning my Denon Perl Pros tomorrow (lack separation compared to L3P, more muddy and has a weird timbre on the mids) It was a re purchase for 149. Still lost the 2nd time around. I thought the nothing ears were better too, but upon comparison the nothings are grainier and lacking resolution. The only one who can go toe to toe with them in my collection are the Status 3ancs, which has better treble reproduction (cymbals are more fleshed out, L3P sometimes have metallic treble). I just cant believe my ears. The L3Ps are still right there among the top (for metal). I just wished their midrange reproduction was better. For that i pull out my AZ80s. Now i am onto the Gemini 2s, If I dont find them SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER than the L3Ps I am gonna lose my mind lol.

Just got the Perl Pros. I will say this. The sound is good, but they don't get anywhere near as loud as the Nothing Ear As.

For purely music listening, not an upgrade IMO. They have less distortion but that is because they get less loud.

I've owned the MTW3 (basically the same as the MTW4), Denon Perl Pro, airpods pro 2, creative aurvana 2 and Technics AZ80. For me the AZ80s are the best by quite a margin in every category except comfort. That's not to say they're uncomfortable, in fact when they go in and for a few hours they're the most comfy earphones I've owned. However, if I have them in for 6+ hours they can start to get uncomfortable. That said I've sold/ returned all the other earphones and stuck with them so highly recommended from me. Lots of people will recommend the Denon Perl Pros but the AZ80s are much better imo for many reasons.

I’ve got the Pi7 s2’s, the WF-1000XM5s, AirPods Pro (latest), and the Denon Perl Pro - and they all have their pros and cons. The Denon Perl Pro are the sleeper though, they look bizarre, but once you run the tuning program they sound as good if not better than the others. Haven’t tried the Pi8’s yet, but love my Px8’s.

Same for me, they sound amazing and fit well (for comparison, I can't keep the Sony XM5's in my ears without them falling out regardless of the tips). I just wish the DPP's didn't look like I had gauges in my ears.

I've had all the ones mentioned here for the last few weeks (ok, not the Technics 100, only the 80) If they fit your ears and you can live with the design, the Denon are the best. Anc is okay here, but the sound is so much better than the others after calibration that I was very surprised. Bowers & Wilkins have the problem that you either like them... Or you don't. There's zero customization. In terms of sound, the Sennheiser Momentum would be number 2 for me. Sony may have the best anc, but I honestly found them underwhelming in terms of sound.

I also have small ears 😅 The bass can be adjusted extremely well. There is an "immersion mode" slider in the app. You can use it to make very good adjustments. The bass itself is extremely precise and crisp.

For me, the Denon are my choice number 1

I have no problems with nausea. The Anc is fine, but not perfect. Sony is a tick better, you have to be honest. I don't listen to this type of music, so I can't give a 100% answer, but as I said. The bass is extremely good. Powerful and if you like it, you can also adjust it completely over the top without it distorting. The battery life is like most. After 7-8 hours you have to recharge the parts, the case is sufficient for 3-4 charging cycles

They're good and in my ranking they're also in second place. Only the Denon Perl Pro are slightly better after calibration via the app. I especially like the case and the look, it just has something classy about it

Denon Perl Pro period. Any kind of lossless music is 10x better with them. Devialet sony bose and sennheiser cant compare Dpp has the clarity of mtw4, the bass lf gemini 2 and accurate voice like bose

My Denon Perl Pros are literally the worst fit of any earbud regardless of price. They’re heavy & funky shaped. The sound is great but I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone that has fit issues.

APP are neutral mediocre at best. I have all those and more, the Sony XM5 and Bose can sound better if you have a musical ear with some training. Bose Ultra Immersive mode is newbie to sound mode, they sound impressive for pop but do not stand up to critical listening. The Denon Perl Pro is actually the best sounding if you Can get the calibration correct. It’s not for beginners who think APP are the best you can get lol.

I have tried a lot of premium earbuds, but for sound quality, the denon perl pro is insanely good, kinda lacks in anc and the case feels flimsy, but i cannot fault the sound. Ive literally never heard an earbud sound this good, out of the box it sounds terrible but after the ear canal mapping its legitimately on another level. This is coming from someone who has tried Gemini 2 ,momentum 4s, xm4/xm5 etc

Denon Perl Pro destroy MTW4 if you're looking for sound.

They kinda get clapped by the Perl Pros

For general everyday use Airpod pro 2gen. For music and movies Perl Pros. But the software and hardware still have the same exact issues the Nura model Perls are based on had, Denon doesn't give a shit unfortunately. Zero software updates in 1 year of ownership. For everyday commuting and gym the unusual shape is a detriment. B&O EXs are outdated, they need a model refresh to compete. Jabra no longer make products for consumers, replacements and repair options will dry up soon. My personal next purchase will be AZ80 or 100, depending on what deal I can get when the time comes for my next trip to e-earphone in tokyo. Honorable mentions are nothing ear 3, oneplus buds pro 2 (bass thumpy) and anker liberty 4 nc (the nc model has better anc than the newer pro 4.)

I second this, build quality and reliability is shit. They even have legacy problems from the Nura earbuds that Denon rebranded. The ANC mics will malfunction and start playing white noise, Nura had the same issue. Only fix since Denon wont do anything is to turn ANC off in the settings. Not using the mode toggle, but completely off. Nura stated they were aware of this issue and were going to release a software update. Then Denon acquired them and it became radio silence. Denon has done nothing at all to address issues.

Absolutely agree with you on that . I currently have xm5, mtw4, AZ100, Galaxy buds 2 pro as well as my DPP and overheads, and the sound the Perl Pros put out is beyond fantastic.

I use mine on aptx, and SBC when watching TV. I can say without question, that they are the best sounding buds I have ever owned. I even prefer to wear them to sleep. And I currently own them, az100, xm5 Overheads and buds, Sennheiser M4 and tws, galaxy buds 2 pro, xm4 overhead, and QC ultra overhead. Gave away my tozo A1 golden. Anyway my point is my perl pro are my go to!!

Loved my Pi7, and the Pi8 are massive improved. I’m thrilled with them. Alternate between these and my Perl Pros. Clarity, spaciousness, instrument separation and soul of both is just wonderful.

I have both. I can’t decide which I love more. The instrument, musicality, expressiveness and clarity of both is absolutely amazing. I’ve tested everything, and these two are at the top of my list. Beoplay Ex at the bottom :)

48 hours into this audible journey and am blown away by the depth of sound these produce. Yes, they're like two satellites protruding from your ears and their transparency mode leaves a lot to be desired. That said, if like me, you're looking for a superior sound quality bud, these hit the mark. Once tuned using Masimo AAT prepare to be completely immersed in audible bliss. Crisp highs, tonal mids and deep bass take you through a musical quest. Priced at $141 on Amazon I'd argue there isn't a better value!

- They have no low battery notification to give you time to recharge. Most do from 20% and below. These tell you as soon as they die (battery critical, a second later they’re dead) - You can’t use the Denon app with 1 earbud on, it won’t allow it so you’re stuck if either earbud is dead or lost and you want to change settings. - QC issues, on my 2nd pair and they have a strange white noise that occurs randomly. First pair left earbud white noise was bad and had to return. 2nd pair same left earbud white noise and I’ve returned them. All happened within a week of light use. I loved the sound despite mids sounding a bit laid back on lower volumes. Going to soon purchase the AZ100 next month probably.

Denon PerL Pros. They go loud without the sound breaking up. Having said that, you will irreversibly damage your hearing if you play crazy loud music. It's not worth it.

I'm into my audio and really like the PerL Pros. Sound is up there with decent IEMs. The audio calibration and spacial mode are amazing. I find them pretty comfortable. Better than the buds with a stalk sticking out of them.

If bass and sound is a huge concern get the Denon Perl Pro

I just got the Pi8's and I'm returning the Perl Pro's just for the design alone. I do think the Perl Pro sounds a little better in terms of sound quality and it's because of the sound personalization technology. The Pi8 sound is very close to it, I do think they sound more rich but I feel like I was hearing a few more sounds with the Perl Pro's.

Bose ultra has good bass. Before i had the denon perl pro the bass on that thing was insane the best i’ve ever heard i loved them so much. Unfortunately i send them back because the mids & treble were lacking no matter what i did with eq.

Denon perl pro best sound quality on the market right now for wireless

Sound quality, definitely yes. Other things like noise cancelling, mic, transparency probably not

How long have you had the Perl pro? Any issues?I got mine for 2 weeks and now it started to hiss on the left earbud. Contemplating if I should get replacement or try something else as I’m still within the return window. I do love the sound on this bud, it’s amazing. Only thing I dislike is how big it is and a little uncomfortable after about an hour but not a big deal.

My headphones died on my last flight, so I've been exploring an in-ear wireless replacement. While I don't consider myself an audiophile, I am very particular... I'm a classical musician and want high-quality sound. I need great ANC since I travel frequently, and long bike rides introduce lots of wind noise. I'd like them to replace my desktop headset for calls if the mic is good enough, and being able to customize the controls is a must. So far here are the ones I've tried: * **Sennheiser MTW4:** Love the sound (one of the best), controls are customizable enough for me, the fit is amazing right out of the box with max isolation. ANC is excellent and wind reduction is amazing (the best). I was riding about 15 mph into a headwind and it sounded like a weather channel reporter in a hurricane. Turned on wind reduction and if not for feeling the wind, I could've been in a concert hall. App is easy, intuitive, simple, and fast. Unfortunately the mic and call quality are atrocious. * **Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2**: Great sound (not the *best*, but very good (although they do *not* support aptX). Controls are customizable enough for me. I feel like the fit would be amazing if they went just a touch further in. Again, if I could get a better fit, I think the ANC is outstanding. The wind reduction isn't as good as the MTW4, but I suspect that's mostly due to poor isolation: I'd welcome recommendations on replacement ear tips. Call/mic quality is the best. The app is a little confusing, and has some neat features. My first pair was defective--constant static in the left earbud. Customer service was phenomenal and I had a new pair with next day shipping for free. * **B&W Pi8:** Overall sound quality is amazing. I'd consider these the best. ANC is on the better end, but leaves quite a bit to be desired with ambient noise. Wind reduction is pathetic, but this isn't marketed for an active lifestyle. The controls are not very customizable, and there's no way to enable/disable ANC without going through the app (which doesn't help me if I'm listening from a laptop). The app is straightforward, though a little bloated, and it took me three attempts to get them paired with my devices. Mic/call quality is very good. Apart from lacking good wind reduction, my chief complaint--and it would have been enough to send it back regardless of everything else--is the obnoxious (and obnoxiously loud) haptic noises when using the controls. I couldn't figure out how to adjust them, so even when listening at low volume to a quiet section of a song, you get acoustically assaulted by a chime. These were sent back, and I'll add their customer service is horrendous and slow. * **Bose QC Ultra:** Outstanding ANC in the low and low/mid range. Doesn't work as well for intermittent sounds or higher frequencies. Fit is so-so even with the wings, sound quality is what you'd expect from Bose: an inauthentic representation of highs and lows to make the illusion of superior sound. I was sufficiently turned off by the fit, sound, and controls that I didn't test anything else. * **Apple AirPods Pro 2:** Quite honestly, I hate white and was reluctant to even try them. I couldn't get these to fit comfortably any which way, so they went back. I'll confess some of this may be personal bias, so don't write them off on my account. My wife uses hers all the time and I know from being on the receiving end the call/mic quality in noisy environments leaves a lot to be desired--even worse than the MTW4. * **Sony WF-1000XM5:** The default sound really (I mean *really*) emphasizes the lows and highs. For classical music lovers, I'd advice against these. The balance of ANC, wind reduction, and controls makes them all-around a good product. Controls are good, but I couldn't get a great fit that truly isolated the sound and made them feel secure. Since everything else was "good" I didn't bother with other tips and sent them back. * **Denon PerL Pro:** Takes a little bit to personalize the sound, at which point they sound pretty good. Not the best, but they pass my tests across multiple genres. Something feels a little "off" with the default frequency response curve, but I don't have the equipment to test it. Fit is great right out of the box. The wings fit in my ears perfectly and they feel the most secure out of them all. App is straightforward, wind reduction is good; not great, but good enough. Controls are the most customizable of them all. Worth noting: you can also customize whether they pause automatically when one or both earbuds are removed. Call quality hasn't been tested yet. Also, and this is a real annoyance: they're really hard to get out of the case. I have to turn it upside down and shake it to release the earbuds, so one-handed use isn't possible. I'm going to hang on to these a while longer--they definitely make the final cut along with the Jabra and MTW4. * **Technics AZ100:** Out of the box, the sound was... weird. There's definitely some heavy bass, but also a really pronounced high end. This was immediately striking me as a turn-off and would be exhausting to listen to all day. The fit was good--it took a little finagling to get them firmly in place, but once I did, I barely knew they were there. App was pretty buggy for me. Despite supporting multipoint connections, I couldn't control the EQ on the earbuds from my phone while listening from my computer. Controls are highly customizable. ANC works on all frequencies (unlike some others which are more effective on certain frequency ranges). but it's effect isn't as dramatic as Bose or Sennheiser. Haven't tested the mic/call quality or wind reduction yet. What other earbuds should I be considering? (Before anyone jumps on it: yes, both my computer and Qobuz are sending via aptX.) ETA: Updated with description of pros/cons of each.

I never had an issue with the fit with Perl Pro...they look big but that s only.the outside .They also have winged tips so they are both very comfy and secure... I use mine with the foam tips included and without the wingtip for max passive isolation

I have Jabra Elite 10, Technics AZ80 and Denon Perl Pro. My experience is that the Jabras (with AZLA tips) are the most comfortable pair I own, with good mics and reasonable sound and long battery life - definitely the pair I use the most. AZ80 and Perl Pros are quite even in terms of (superior) sound quality with Perl having slightly better ANC.

I love my Denon perl pro's.

The Denon Perl Pros have amazing sound quality, I use them at the gym and the ANC is decent enough

The sound personalization did not work for me. Tried it multiple times, each time with exactly the same result. Awful. I guess I have weird ears.

DPP is nowhere close to having the best ANC

Fit is definitely a per person thing. My perl pros feel incredibly secure and I can wear them all day

I am surprised to see you rank the AZ80 quality so low, I have never used them but was debating between those and the perl pros because of all the reviews. In the end I went with the perl because people talked about the bass and I am extremely happy with that choice.

It's nice to not have to mess with equalizer on the perl pros thanks to the technology it has too. Thanks for the reviews

Out of these 4? Galaxy Buds if you have a Samsung phone. Otherwise either B&W Pi8s, Denon Perl Pro or Nothing Ear(2024).

I've also recently bought one (albeit a returned unit) and had similar findings as you. The bass on these are really something! I do have an issue which is quite annoying, when I close my case with the earphones in it, it doesn't disconnect from the phone. Did you find a similar issue with yours or is my unit defective?

Thanks for your reply! Yeah it really detracts from the use experience because I need to constantly remind myself to disconnect it manually on the phone once I kept it in the case. Does yours disconnect after you put the earbuds into the case without closing the lid, or it only disconnects after closing the lid?

check out AZ80/Denon Perl pro and XM5's. I have had all three and my favorite sound is the XM5, but favorite fit is by far the Perl Pros.

they sounded like they were shouting or screaming at me, but, the sound signature didn't bother me, what really made me return the set was the Hissing sound, and the whitenoise.

Denon PerL Pros or AZ100. You can get the Denons for about $100-150, the AZ100s for $285. For me, in terms of sound, they are not $150~ better at all. In fact, I love the Denons. Remember that on their release about a year ago the DPP price was $350, so they compete in the big leagues like the AZ.

Denon PerL Pros? I just bought a brand new pair for $90 on Ebay...I just can't spend $300-$400 on earbuds and these were $350 originally

I got my Denon PerL Pros for $90 brand new in Ebay after searching and stalking for some days...I love them

I've had the Perl Pro for over 6 months. To date, with my profile, these are my favorite TWS based off of sound quality. I even like these more than my Noble Fokus Pro. Clean, clear, precise, and bass can be anywhere from light to thumping based on the immersion level. Good soundstage for sure. I also like these over any low to low/mid range wired earbuds, bgvp, etc. 

I settled on the Denon Perl Pro's and am really happy with them. I did try the Cambridge Audio Melomania M100's, but they sounded flat and lifeless to me, and didn't go loud,so they were returned.

Denon Perl Pro's, they just get everything right for me. My other sets have all become superfluous.

MTW4 has crap sound quality. Technics AZ80 and Perl Pro are the best currently. Except Noble Fokus Rex5 just came out and I’ll report back how those sound.

Not for me  already sent back two pairs. Sound is awesome. But they are anything BUT reliable. At least in my experience ;(

I’ve had the denon perl pro for about a month now and they’re the best earbuds I’ve ever owned. I got them after my Status earbuds took a massive dump on me. They sound amazing and will definitely buy them again. They’re cheaper on Amazon too

I just got my Denon Perl Pros today after scouting various threads and seeing they were on sale ($150). After about 2.5 hours, I think the sound quality (after personalization) is better than my Pixel Buds Pro (washing machine, RIP), but the ANC is noticeably worse. If I snap my fingers next to my head, with the Denon it sounds like it's behind a sheet of plywood, but with the Pixel it sounded like someone was snapping in another room, if I heard it at all. It isn't a major dealbreaker because I only use the ANC on planes and when my wife is home while I'm working, but while I'm in the return window, I'm open to advice for what other people would do.

For me pi8 is really standing out from the rest of the top earbuds. I also use denon pearl pro and b&o eq. Both of them are very good but far behind pi8 in sound fidelity. Even my friends who don't care much about audio are very very impressed comparing pi8 to their latest airpods pro/Galaxy buds etc. Haven't had a chance to listen to new Technics az100 - those are supposedly superb as well.

It is true that sound quality is subjective everyone is going to give a completely different answer than what you'd hope, so I'm going to try and be as concise and honest as possible. One of my main hobbies is trying and returning earbuds on Amazon, so that I can do my best to help other people find the pair that best suits their needs. It's been close to 200 at this point, I'm sure. So here's an unpopular take, which many may disagree with, and I'm still trying to understand why i seem to be the odd one out. I've tried the status between 3, and the original beteeen pro that I ordered through kickstarter, and I'd put them in the same category as the nuraloop, which i also ordered through kickstarter in 2016. Sadly, the denon perl pro sound pretty much the same to me, which is, dynamic, but completely muddy, and as if a thick theater curtain hides the detail from you in all three pairs. They should all be worth less than 80 dollars for the way they sound, imho. I was very unimpressed. The momentum true wireless 4 have very delicate drivers that are incredibly sensitive to changes in eq, making them distort and crackle on aptx, and I didn't find them to sound that much better than my old galaxy buds 2 Pro, tbh. Similar sound signature. I've tried all of noble Audio's wireless earbuds, and I'd put them in the same category as raycons. Overhyped, oversold, unimpressive sounding, consumer targeted garbage that looks really cool. Sadly, my 20 dollar soundcore a20i sounded miles ahead of the Noble fokus prestige, which are supposed to be the "pinnacle" of true wireless. I don't understand why people like them at all, and I hope their iems sound better. The beoplay ex were very impressive for what they were, but were incredibly uncomfortable due to the plastic seam which held them together. I have yet to try the pi8. The master&dynamic mw08 sport were amazing earbuds, but only after an eq was applied, and then they did the same thing the mtw4 did, crackle and distort due to weak speaker drivers, but they were the best and most realistic I'd ever heard, so maybe put the new mw09 at the top as well? Not sure. The devialet gemini 2 seem to get both positive and negative reviews, so it may be a gamble, haven't heard them myself tbh. Svanar wireless are another I haven't tried, but seem legit. Possibly beyerdynamic's new pair. I would say the mtw4, xm5, az80, and buds 3 pro would probably satisfy most people generally, but I've heard so many earbuds that were impressive and downright atrocious sounding that I'd put those three in the category of "good enough", not something like the prestige category. Comparing those to the beoplay ex would be like comparing caviar to boba, its just not the same. Anyways, at this point I'm rambling and probably not that helpful, sorry. Good luck with your search!

I got the Denon Perl Pro on Black Friday deal, man, it is worth every penny. I am experiencing music like I had never experienced before. I am not an audiophile,  but I enjoy good music. I currently have the AZ 60, 1More Evo, and OnePlus Buds 3 Pro which I bought simultaneously with the DPP. My intention was to try both and return one of them, but I am stuck with both. The two are fantastic pairs of earbuds. The DPP is great for sound, but the OnePlus isn't a slouch neither. I use the Buds 3 Pro at work and DPP at home.  The Buds 3 Pro is incredibly light weight with a seducing case. I sometimes forget they are in my ears. The only downside to the DPP is the weight. They can feel heavy and a bit fatiguing in the ears but they are a bitter sweet, sweet that pill I am happy to swallow. As for other aesthetics, here are my experience  - The design is unique. You either like it or hate it but I like their imposing nature. I would like to have on in flight and make people stear at me - Battery 🔋 is fine - ANC is good. It is good enough for me. I don't buy earbuds because of the ANC. I never liked being completely locked away from my environment. I am not looking for a Bose Ultra Comfort serenity - Transparency is 6/10. The Buds 3 Pro has a better transparency in my experience so far - Fit, I swithed to the in ear wing tips and I have used them in the gym twices and they stayed on my ears.  Finally, I am keeping my DPP for the long haul. They rock misic like a headphone. I am also keeping my Buds 3 Pro for different reasons. They are both exceptionally good. 

Stay away from B&W. All models have trash call quality. Crazy disappointing. Denon Pro Pearl are a big upgrade vs B&W. Good earbuds going for $150 these days. No complaints on my conference calls now.

I daily the beoplay ex and love the sound the anc and the ip57 rating. Have a premium feel and look. I also have the denon perl pro, the jabra elite 10, mtw3, and many more and those are my daily for all things except work which I use Bose ultra open.

I just added the Devialet Gemini 2 so. Devialet Gemini 2 Beoplay ex Denon perl pro Nothing 2024 Jabra elite 10 Based on sound quality alone.

They WERE the best. Along with the Denon Pearl Pro. That all changed recently with the Bowers and Wilkins Pi8's just released. Unmatched. But the Sennys are just below. I am a Senny only guy and will probably get the Bowers when they go on sale.

I just got the AZ100s and I've only had them for a few hours, but they're fantastic. I would say the Denon Perl Pro, Pi8, Devialet Gemini 2, and BeoPlay EX still have a slight edge in terms of sound quality, but the AZ100 sound pretty fantastic and aren't that far behind, at least in LDAC (which is all I've tested). The AZ100 are better all-arounders than any of those, although I have no real complaints about the Devialet and Denon. My initial impression is that they've dethroned my beloved Sennheiser MTW4 for best sound in the $300-ish range, but I need to spend some more time with them to know for sure. I preferred the MTW4 over the AZ80 but so far I think the AZ100 has them both beat.

I think they're recommended less for the same reason fewer people recommend Ferraris than Hondas: because fewer people have them. Also, they're not as common to find in stores: you need to learn about them through word-of-mouth or research. I think in general these earbuds *do* sound "better" than flagship mainstream buds, but at this level "better" translates to maybe a 3-5% improvement. (Of course I'm being very subjective and unscientific here, and the numbers 3-5% don't correspond to any concrete measurement in my context, I'm just illustrating a point). For most people, your music listening experience isn't going to be drastically different listening on these vs. Sony/Technics/Jabra/Sennheiser/etc. Honestly, it won't even be *drastically* different than listening on cheap JLab earbuds. You'll still hear all the parts and you'll still enjoy your music. But stepping up from a cheap set to a more premium set tends to give you small improvements like (for example) more clarity, more punchy bass, a more balanced and/or pleasing frequency response, better separation between instruments, a faster transient response translating into slightly more detail (you'll hear breaths and fingers scratching along guitar strings and other subtle details that may add richness and life to the sound). It's a bit like putting on a set of glasses that make your vision slightly better: you could see fine before, but now everything's a bit sharper and richer, and you didn't realize how much subtle detail and clarity you were missing before. I think for most people, the improvement you get from upgrading to a premium mainstream set of earbuds like the Sennheiser/Technics/Jabra/Maybe-Sony is more than enough, and $250-300 USD seems to be about the highest the average customer is willing to fork over for the highest tier of "mainstream" buds. I think the next tier of $350-500 earbuds give you the same type of improvements, just a tiny bit more. They're for people who want (and can afford) to seek that extra 3-5% improvement. If you want the absolute best sound and can afford it, you may as well get them, although you may find that the extra 3-5% is very subjective and personal. From reviews I've read, most of these "extra-premium" earbuds have some deficiencies in features or controls or something else. Sometimes it's a genuine deficiency and sometimes it's a "for this price it should be better" kind of thing. I haven't heard many complaints about the Devialet Gemini 2s *except* for the price, and I get the impression that these would be a unanimous favorite if they were $300. I actually find my Denon Perl Pros to be pretty solid in terms of their controls and feature set, and their sound is incredibly good, although I'm not a huge fan of their huge size and shape. I do consider them to be noticeably better sounding than my Sennheiser/Jabra/Technics, but once again I'm talking about very small, incremental improvements: if my Denons were lost I'd miss them but I wouldn't feel like I could never enjoy music the same way again.

**Top tier sound under $350**: * Pi8 when they're on sale. * Denon Perl Pro (which have dropped dramatically in price lately) * BeoPlay EX (the Eleven are out now but they're $500 and I haven't tried them). **So Close to Top-Tier that You're Unlikely to be Disappointed**: (and these are generally better all-arounders than the top tier list) * Sennheiser MTW4 * Technics AZ100 * (Maybe) JBL Tour Pro 3 (I had these briefly and was initially underwhelmed, but the sound grew on me)

I have most of the best earbuds except the ones from Noble. Excluding the Noble, the best sounding are Devialet Gemini 2, B&W PI8, BeoPlay EX (and I'm assuming the new BeoPlay Eleven), and Denon Perl Pro. I'd consider the Devialet to be the overall winner for sound quality, but they're all pretty close. The Pi8 are the winners when you use the case transmitter function. AZ100 sound fantastic but they're not quite at the same level sonically as the others on this list.

Yes, I own the BeoPlay EX. I find them to be in the same league, sonically, as the Devialet, Pi8, and Denon, although I admit they're probably my least favorite of this bunch. I consider this league to be a bit better sounding than the next league down, which includes Technics and Sennheiser earbuds--also fantastic sounding earbuds. I do most of my mobile listening using high res streams through Tidal and the best-available codec, which for the BeoPlay is, I think, AptX adaptive. I have a custom EQ curve set just the way I like it, and I find the BeoPlay sounds best best on punchy, drum-heavy rock music, although it sounds quite good in other contexts too. It's been a while since I've listened to subtle, quiet, classical or cinematic music on the BeoPlays, so you may be right about its dynamic resolution. I find the Gemini and Denon really excel in terms of subtle dynamics (which is interesting because I think the Gemini don't even support 24-bit), and I tend to gravitate to the BeoPlay for crisp and aggressive music. I love the new AZ100 and think they may be one of the best overall earbuds on the planet at this point, and they're *almost* in the sonic league with the others I listed--close enough that it doesn't really make a difference unless I'm actively listening. The main thing holding them back, for me, is that they're a bit more reverberant than I like. I don't know if it's in the tuning/processing or if it's just the way they resonate in their own chamber/tips or in my ear canal, but it slightly washes out the sound and obscures the detail a tiny bit. The other buds, particularly the Devialet and the BeoPlay (and also the much cheaper Nothing Ear 2024) somehow manage to have a much more dry sound. The reverberant sound adds some fullness/lushness and excitement, but a drier sound brings out more detail and crispness, especially in transients. This is me being incredibly nitpicky: as I said, I think the AZ100 are still one of the best sounding earbuds, and they have no shortage of clarity and crispness, I just think the other earbuds do it a bit better. I'm a pro musician too, and part of my career involves recording and mixing, so I'm accustomed to pro gear and my ears are fairly well attuned to the details of musical timbre and production techniques. I'm not saying this to pull rank or suggest that my opinion is more valid, I just want to let you know I'm not a rube spouting hype I don't understand. From what I'm reading here, our difference in opinion is more a matter of differing personal preferences.

I more or less second this comment, except I'd rank the Denon and Gemini above the Technics in the "details" category, and my choice of best bass might alternate between the Denon and Devialet depending on what I'm listening to. In general terms I'd say the Denon has more immersive, cinematic, rumbly bass, and the Devialet has cleaner, punchier, loud-without-overwhelming-the-mix bass. I'd still rank the Technics best *overall* (of this list), but lowest in sound quality (of *this* list--they are still one of the best sounding earbuds available, it just so happens that the Denon, Pi8, and Devialet are among the very few that sound even better).

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.

In that price range, the best sound is the Denon Perl Pro or Sennheiser MTW4. The MTW4 and the AZ80 are in the same league when it comes to sound quality, but I find the MTW4 to be the clear winner. It's a closer call with the AZ100--I change my mind frequently about which sound I prefer between the AZ100 and MTW4, but both slightly beat out the AZ80. But the AZ100 is out of your price range, and I don't think there's any need to stretch your price to get the AZ100 when you can get the MTW4 instead.

In sound quality, Nothing Ear 2024 by far. Tried the Denon PerL Pro and the AZ80's but I was shocked when i heard the quality, clarity and bass of the latest Nothing Ear. Anc is weak tho but for me it gets the job done. And the look is badass and unique.

For me sound quality is the most important, and the Nothing Ear 2024 is ELITE level for the money. I tried the Denon PerL Pro and the AZ80's but Nothing destroyed them. I was surprised tho 😆 but its the best i've ever had. And it looks badass 😁 Anc is weak tho.

I havent got yet pi8 but i have got DPP and pi7s2 previously owned . Denon perl pro is not sounding like tws . Its different , it sounds like wired IEM exactly , so powerful, detailed, spacious, boddied. Loudly.. denon is also not comfy its the worst design earbud i have owned so far (22 earbuds i experienced ) fitting big issue, and painful ear chamber and canal paining after 20/min max anyway in term of sound quality denon is gonna be 10 times better than pi8 but only sound quality. Ifni need to list my top 5 earbuds it woiod be; 1- noble audio fokus pro, mystique (or prestige) 2- denon perl pro 3- final audio ze8000 mk2 4- status 3anc between 5- bower wilkins earbuds PS: i owned sony xm5 , beoplay ex, airpods pro2 , beats fit pro, bose qc ultra… many many more u can ask me specific comparisons between any of these if u want. Anything i will answer honestly . All i can yell you is: there is still not made perfect earbuds;) im still hunting ans couldnt find and never gonna be found i guess.

I have got this but I have serious ear Canal and ear chamber pain . I tried wingtips for secure fit but still not so secure and pain after 30-40min heavily started. any tip for me ?

This subreddit has turned into a sheep pen. You cant have different opinions than others. I once said I prefer Nothing ear compared to Denon Perl Pro (I have both) and being downvoted too.

Contrary to your statement, I think without the optimisation the Perl Pro still sounds pretty damn good compared to every major tws iem, even hazard to say ehtter than the lot.

Don't get the Denon PerL Pros. The regular ones sound just as good to 99% of people. The only real difference is the material the drivers are made out of. You can save $100+ with the regular. If you want the biggest bang for the money - Soundpeats Capsule Pro3. Shockingly good sound with ANC, far below the others

Best sound - Denon PerL Pro https://amzn.to/3UDbDyV Best ANC - Bose https://amzn.to/3UElULs Best combo - Sony https://amzn.to/40x2fAG To me, Sony doesn't sound as good as the Denon and Bose beats it on the ANC side, but it's a great total package.

Currently trying to decide between Denon perl pro and soundcore liberty 4 pro. These are to replace the AZ100s, which for the money I wasn't that impressed with. The app for the soundcore is definitely better, and the sound quality on both is extremely good. I do like the personalised sound profile on the denon's and it equalises the music to how I enjoy my music. I also have the Nothing Ear (2024) and the sound quality is excellent, but unfortunately don't get loud enough for my liking. I've also had the Melomania M100s and I struggled to get the music to sound how I liked it. I also returned the OnePlus buds pro for the same reason.

Here's what I've tried in the last 6-12 months and in order of preference based on sound: Denon Perl Pro Sennheiser MTW 4 Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro Nothing Ear 2024 Earfun Air Pro 4 Technics AZ100/Technics AZ80 The above are all excellent choices - The top 2 stood out for me but decided on the Perl Pro's. Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 Huawei Freebuds Pro 4 Couldn't find a sound that suited one on these 2 above.

Denon PerL Pro for Sound Quality 💯 Dunno how they compare for calls. Dunno how stylish they are or aren't. Just know they deliver on music listening experience.

You will see the Denon Perl Pros spoken of favorably again and again. This is for a reason. They are sort of large, they can be tough finding your fit, they require some playing around with initially (for both the fit and the APP Personalization). But the sound experience is totally worth it especially since these hit a low price of $179 recently and likely will again. I've got Sony wf1000xm5's which I still like very much, but the Denon's are my favorite with regard to the sound experience. I probably should just add that ANC isn't a big thing for me personally. I usually turn it off for "purer" sound. The Denon ANC is perfectly fine (for me when I use it) but the Sony canceling is maybe slightly more effective if thats your thing.

Nah, go ahead - break the bank. Get the BUDS you want. You'll thank yourself later when you've lived with them a bit and more fully appreciate the life changing joy you seek. Denon PerL Pros - not for everyone perhaps but these DELIVER if you take the time to "tune" them. They also have been on sale with some regularity these days typically btwn $149 - 199 Sony XM5's - very good also. Probably better ANC than the Denon's (if that's important for you). Also frequently on sale These two suggestions are ones I own.

This is an accurate review of the AZ80. I had the Denon Perl Pros first then bought the AZ80. I was pleasantly surprised on how similar the soundstage was to the Denon Perl Pro, however they lacked that bit of bass. I do own the MTW4 as well which has a narrower soundstage unfortunately, but I felt that guitars didn't sound as crisps on the AZ80 compared to the MTW4. They are no doubt an all rounder bud, but there are areas they do lack slightly.

I have the MTW4, AZ80 and Denon Perl Pro. Of the 3 in terms of sound quality the Denon Perl Pros are the best and come at a good price although the fit might not suit everyone. On second spot will be the AZ80. Probably the most comfortable of the 3 and I guess the AZ100 will be similar. Sound wise they are almost similar to the Perl Pros but just that the Perl Pros have a slightly wider soundstage and better sub bass. Nonetheless they sound awesome. The MTW4 are good as well but just that they have a narrower soundstage compared to the other two. The strings and electric guitars sound the best on these so if you're into metal you may like these. The bass is equally good, probably sounds better than the AZ80 but just slightly. Also the ANC is better on these and the AZ80s following just behind. Cannot say much about the Bose to be honest as I've never tried them.

I started with the MTW3 which were worse than the MTW4 in terms of reliability and pretty much went through 5 pairs till they ended up giving me the MTW4 under warranty. So far I've had the MTW4 for 7 months and they seem to be holding up a bit better, but I better not jinx it. Sound wise they are okay but lack the instrument separation that you can get on the Denon Perl Pro and AZ80. I have the Denon Perl Pro which are by far the best sounding earbuds I have tried so far. Good soundstage and instrument separation. Also the stand out thing about their sound is the immersive feel you get out of them. However you may start getting white noise issues in ANC or Ambient mode with the earbuds, and I'm currently waiting for a replacement for that issue. I also got the AZ80s which are somewhat similar to the Denon Perl Pro in terms of soundstage and instrument separation, but lacks the immersiveness of the Denon Perl Pro. Can't say much about reliability though.

I've been a bit disappointed with the wf-1000xm5 noise cancelling. I need to try different ear tips before giving up on them. My old xm3 seem better than the xm5 Denon Perl Pro, also not that impressed with. Maybe they are too sealed and don't like the feeling and sound quality hasn't clicked for me with personalisation on or off. Soundcore 4 NC, are ok at most things but wouldn't be rushing to use them Moondrop space travel look nice in case, sound pretty good for the price, fit isn't the most comfortable My items not on the list. Most impressed with the soundpeats opera 5, weird fit but great sound, my original Samsung bud pro for convenience and solid performance and the Sony wf-1000xm3 bulky but great noise cancelling

Denon perl pros have amazing sound quality and 8hr battery life

I bought the Perl Pro, the sound on these is next level. I put my AirPods Max on after these and the APM sounded trash in comparison. But they weren’t the most comfy and did run into connectivity issues. After hearing how good the Technics AZ80 were I bought them to try. Much more comfortable, smaller, more reliable, better build quality, basically better at everything bar sound but even that is fantastic on them. Returned the Perl Pro. I should have been happy, the Technics do everything I want in an earbud. But they didn’t set my world on fire like the Denons did. If I had never heard the Denons I might have been more than happy with the Technics. But everytime I put them in my ears I just think, you’re just not the Denons. In the end I ordered them again in the Black Friday sales and am selling the Technics. I know, I’m crazy. I’m giving up a more comfortable, more reliable, better made all rounder earbuds with excellent sound quality for another earbud that is worse in all categories. Except sound. Man that sound is like a drug

I find their sound quality so digital/artificial compared to my denon perl pros. The denons can blast music like floor speakers. I might return the buds 3 pros to either get a used Px7 S2E or save a bit more for a AZ 100

Ive just got the Denon Perl Pro. Although they sound fantastic there are 2 issues for me. Battery life is not quite as advertised, my buds were showing red on the case just after 4h of usage however this is a minor issue. The big issue is that the ANC seems to have a problem on the right earbud, a static noise developed on the 2nd day of owning them and I am not the only one with these issues. I would steer clear from them unless you don’t mind returning until you find a pair that works well. Although this issue with the static noise has been known for years it seems like the manufacturer completely ignored it which is highly frustrating, tells me that they don’t really value their customer experience. I am still thinking what to do with my pair, will probably end up returning but not sure if I should try to get another pair because I really loved the sound of them. Just wanted to add that if you are listening to music the static is almost unnoticeable however since I like to listed to podcasts it drives me nuts to hear the static noise on my right ear all the time.

It goes away if I turn off the ANC but I would like to have it on especially since I use them in noisy environments.

They sound amazing. Some people complained about the fit but I just finished a 5h session with them and was fine. If yours don’t suffer from the static noise you will be fine. Be mindful that I am not talking about the slight static that you can hear on both buds with anc on, I believe that is common on all anc earbuds, Im talking about one of the buds developing a louder static noise than the other.

Battery on the buds lasted 5h and still had a bit of juice but were getting depleted. The case I am not sure but it’s already showing red light after 1.5 full charges of the buds. I must say that the anc issue seems to be intermittent. Sometimes it happens and then it stops just to come back on again later, it is weird but hasn’t happened much today definitely not as bad as yesterday, will see how it keeps up.

Yes, that is correct as music overpowers the static. However I did read some reviews that some users experienced it getting louder overtime and I don’t really want to take that risk.

I can help answer. The denon pearl pro are the best sounding in that list, and also now on sale for $150. I had the sony wh-1000xm5 and returned them. The bass rolled over into the mids too much and instrument separation was terrible. I had momemtum 2 and 3s, had two pairs or 2, and one pair of the 3, all had the same battery failure. I'm sure the momemtum 4 sound good but I'm not wasting my time or money again on sennheiser. So far the denon are the best sounding earbuds I've listened to. The closest thing I've found that sounds like my open back headphones

Since the price got knocked down to $150, I would go with the denon perl pro. I returned my Sony wf-1000xm5. I don't know how anyone thinks they sound the "best." The bass distorts the mids, and instrument separation is terrible. There is a clear night and day difference in sound quality between the perl pro and the sonys. I own a few high-end open back planars and fancy amps, and the denon come the closest to matching their sound technicality. I havent heard the bower and Wilkins pi8, as I wouldnt shell out that kind of money on earbuds as most eventually have battery issues in one bud. But my suggestion would be get the denon for now at $150. Keep the remaining $250 Wait and save up the $150 again and then try something like the pi8 or the upcoming az100s. See if the extra money is really worth the cost.

1000% agree. For the price point at $150, it's almost too good to be true. There are better sounding than the pearls, but then we are talking $500 and up range

Sorry i shouldn't of said "idk how anyone thinks they are the best" Sound is subjective, but most agree that some headphones have better technicalities than others. If you can, return the sonys and give the pearl pros a try. Even watching movies is a lot better. They also support aptx loseless if your device supports that.

I would have to agree I’ve tried all of them and the Denon Perl pros are on a whole different level as far as sound quality

Well, I own the XM4 and although they were great that then on or on a much higher level. They have some really interesting features that can help you dial in the sound. They have a lot more volume. They have this really cool gain feature where if you’re listening to audio that seems heavily muted, you can increase the gain to make it more listenable. The noise canceling is pretty good and the fit in my ear is really good, but the sound is very lively. I felt like by comparison, the Sony’s were dull and less dimensional if that makes sense? Overall, the denon sound really really good for wireless earbuds

These aren't gonna last you a long time, build quality is absolute a shithouse and too many quality control issues. They haven't even lasted me a month before I had to return them and get a different pair. Imo I recommend the Cambridge audio melomania m100 . Far better than this crap

I also don't think it's just me who thinks the build quality is ass, scroll up and down on the other comments of this post and you will see

Hi sandwelld. So fit and comfort are very good Pairing really well with the new samsung galaxy ?

I have all of them, apart from OnePlus. You will see that AZ100 will be the best one in the end. But, if you love bass, you will fall in love with Denon; the downside will be its size. The Pi8 is great as well, but the app... Also,I believe I must buy a memory foam ear tips for them.

I have only been able to test the DENON PerL Pro and the AZ80, I have both. The Technics are better in sound because of the clarity to hear and distinguish instruments and voices in their excellent soundstage, although the Perl Pro also offer a very good soundstage. Also ANC-wise, the AZ80s are also much better than the Denon Perl Pro's, but in transparent mode both are a bit weak. The only thing that bothers me about the AZ80s is having to press one of the two earbuds two or three times to turn the volume down and up. Another pro of the AZ80s is that you can locate the earbuds by map and by sounds.

Yes, but I would have preferred to be able to turn the volume up or down by holding down an earbud as the Denon does. The Denon does not allow you to adjust the level of the ANC or the transparent mode.

I thought it would be worth sharing my experience with these earbuds, considering how this sub helped me find these headphones in the first place. I’ve had plenty of wired monitor headphones in the past, have a 7.2.2 atmos system in the house, and have previously owned Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 and Sony WF-1000XM4. Last time around the Senn TW2 connectivity was poor (especially when active like running or biking) so as much as I love Sennheiser sound quality and stage, I was reflectant to try them again. The Sony XM4s were fine previously but were too small of a soundstage without the clarity I was looking for from a headphone so I didn’t try Sony because I wasn’t necessarily looking for that warm consumer sound. I also had to set a limit of how many headphones to go back and forth with. For my use case, I only use one pair of earbuds when I’m out of the house, work, gym, biking and occasionally at home as well. For myself audio quality and the fit is the highest priority. The differences in ANC are negligible to me to prioritize over other things, and transparency mode is also similar.  Anyways if I’m really having a conversation I’ll take the headphones out. So here’s the rankings. Audio Quality Denon : 9 Bower pi8 : 8 Bower pi7: 6.5 Technics: 6.5 Denon is the best with a wide 3d sound stage, deep bass, it really does it all. You will find details in a song you didn’t notice previously, and  most people will be surprised trying these headphones because their sound is close to wired. Honestly the pi8 were really good , balanced and very clear. Not too far behind the denons. There just wasn’t a wow factor of a wide soundstage that my previous senheissers even had, but their volume is insanely loud. The Bowers pi7 are a less clear , less powerful, less refined pi8, not bad for their price which can be less than 200 nowadays, but not audiophile at all imo at this point. The Technics sound good, lots of clarity for sure, but the sound didn’t have the depth of the other headphones.   Going back and forth they always sounded tinny vs any of the others, I am also shocked how people love these and the focus only seems to be clarity.  Maybe good for movies/ I ruled out the technics and pi7 because the sound quality wasn’t there. Fit: Pi8: 9 Denon: 7 The pi8 are light and feel great. Basically a clone of AirPods or galaxy buds, smart to have such an ergonomic design. The denons are unique, and likely initially uncomforable and big. Definitely need to tinker with all the damn eartips and wingtips, but I was able to find a good fit (not great). Initially they did irritate one of my ears, but over time I have gotten used to it. But I can’t pretend they are close to comfort of the pi8. Verdict: I went with the denons. The pi8 seem like the jack of all trades, but master of none. While their sound quality is honestly close to the denons, the denons really are special with their spacial audio and customization. It really is a joke 400 dollar pi8s don’t have Spatial Audio. As much as I wanted to convince myself the pi8s are the well rounded package especially because of the carefree airpod fit, I would always find myself going back to denons because they sound like over ear wired headphones. The fit will definitely not be for everyone. No way I was going to try the geminis after the pi8s were already too pricey imo, especially being happy with the denons for 230.  Pi8s are 400 or technics for 300 should be a crime. Good luck, ill see you all back here in 2-4 years lol (fingers crossed)

Definitely worth a try, they had the denons for 230, let us know what you think. I don’t know if you’ll think the pi8s are worth it if they re still 400, but the fit and total package might be better for you.

Not really a big ANC guy, so didn’t give much focus in comparison. I will say the denons are good not great and definitely allow for louder sounds.

Well those brilliant guys at soundguys use Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Scores to give sound scores where I used my ears and compared them to other earbuds I kept hearing about from this sub. I can’t give an opinion on their algorithm . And those guys gave the COMFORT of these denons an 8.8, so feel free to listen their review, but I think you’re right, something doesn’t add up.

I do kind of agree with you, I think just using the personalized sound, vocals don’t shine as much. When you use personalized sound and the EQ, that’s where they blow out the pi8 in my opinion. I personally do like having options to change the sound as everyone’s preferences are unique, maybe someone loves these out of box lol but I didn’t, but I think these allow someone to find their perfect preference with the depth of spacial audio.

Denons were prob a 5/6 on comfort when I first got them, so I almost stopped using them and went to very comfortable pi8s. But the sound kept pulling me back to try the denons. I think they go kind of deeper into the ear than other earbuds, which provides a great seal and sound, but causes pressure. Eventually I used the larger tip on one ear and it helped to be not so deep, and my ears got used to them. I think the comfort for me personally will max at 7.5 where’s the pi8 feel weightless and comfy. For some, the denons feel great but I’m not suprised you couldn’t tolerate the fit.

Denon PerL Pro's when they're on sale for $150-180. 😌

The Denon PerL Pro's are the best sounding buds under $200 when they're on sale. Even better than the OPBP3's.

Maybe I'm biased, but I recently bought the Denon PerL Pro's on sale for $185. They best my OPBP2's in nearly everything, better bass, output, clearity, codec support, etc. I find their personalised ear test to be better too, plus it supports aptx lossless. Even the regular aptx is better than the aac on the OPBP2's if you have a Samsung device.

I agree with the Pi8's, except, and this is big for me, they couldn't hang with my Denon PerL Pro's when it counts. OUTPUT. They can get as loud as the Denon, maybe a smidge louder, but they can't handle it. Maybe it was my pair? But they had a popping noise, aka clipping, when driven too loud. The Denon's suffer from no such thing, and have the second best sounding quality "subjective" because what they lack in the mid-range Vs. the Pi8's, they make up for in the sub bass. The highs are smooth with no harshness, and no clipping! (Disclaimer: The Pi8's only get as loud using the retransmission case. They don't get as loud when connected directly to the source. Which is another criticism of mine.) Since you don't have them on your list of tested buds, maybe you should order a pair when they are on sale for $150-$200.

I use Wavelet and use the Denon PerL Pro profile set to 25% to help with the mids. Or use the buit-in android sound profile and enable Adapt Sound set to 30 to 50 year old. But I think the Wavelet method is better.

Just make sure you run Masimo aat before you judge them too quickly. Run it three times and pick the best profile to your taste. (I try to get it close to a perfect circle.) Enable high-gain mode after. FYI: Don't use immersion mode as that reduces output. Only set it at 1 if you need more bass, otherwise: Use Wavelet instead of the built-in EQ. Enable Auto EQ and search for the Denon PerL Pro EQ profile. Adjust to 25% to help bring out the mids. I disable Spatial audio and ANC for best SQ. Since I'm on android, I turn off Volume-Limiter. Set Bluetooth MAP 1.2 and AVRCP 1.3 for best connection.

I love my Denon PerL Pro's . Big step up over the One Plus Buds Pro 2's I have. Big bold sound, and I like that I can crank up the high frequency through the app without distortions or hurting my ears.

Do they destort more in the high freq or low freq at its loudest? I like the Denon's because they don't seem to destort, especially when I EQ them to add a bit of sparkle to the top end.

Reading these AZ100 posts that keep popping up on the daily and laughing while chilling and listening to my $150 dollar PerL Pro's. 😏

They are my favorite

I have both the XM5 and DPP, the XM5 doesn't come close to the DPP. The DPP engulfs and consumes my entire head with sound, XM5 sounds like a conventional earbud playing music into your ears.

Using the Denon PerL Pro is a unique experience for me. It feels like listening to music in 3D while everything else sounds like 2D. However, for traveling or exercising, I prefer the WF-1000MX5 because it offers better battery life and ANC. I was fortunate to set up an excellent profile with the Denon PerL Pro, but I haven't been able to replicate it since. I didn't realize that your jaw position could affect the personalization. I'll have to try adjusting it a few more times.

have teh rex5's on order with my current fav being teh beoplay ex for wireless ear buds if sound quality is the most important. I would choose those over any on your list if sound quality is what you want. The active noise cancelation is terrible on them though.Not a fan at all of the denon perl pro. I will update comment when my nobile audio rex5 show up. I have yet to have any wireless earbud come close to a mid tier IEM though(again in terms of sound quality). Really like the hype 4's for bang for the buck. Sony xm5 are trash in terms of sound quality for their price.

My top Picks are 1. Technics AZ80 2. Bowers and Wilkins Pi8 3. Denon Perl Pro

I went with the Denon Pearl Pro and I'm quite happy with it.

Denon perl pro if you like more bass and depth to your music

That’s one pair I haven’t tried! I’ve had Denon PerL Pro, Technics AZ80, B&W PI5 S2 and overall I love the MTW4

Thank you for the great review. Just curious, how do they compare to the Denon PerL pro?

Thank you so much for your detailed response. I agree with you, the Denon PerL Pro sound is amazing. The fit needs to be improved.

Devialet Gemini 2 and the denon perl pro are the loudest I’ve come across.

Denon perl pro or technics AZ80.

Denon’s are heavily not talked about here and i dont know why. They should be as they are better than most of what people recommend, but the price is steep. They usually go on sale though

I was lucky enough to try these out at my local store. The Denon Perl Pro’s are such a great set. The sound quality is really amazing. You’ll have a hard time finding better options for better sound quality out there outside of these. You’ll definitely have better options for ANC, battery life and mic. But earbuds at the end of the day for me are all about the sound quality, the other stuff is just extra or sometimes better at the cost of sound quality. The immersive mode slider delivers an unbelievable amount of rumble to the bass which is so satisfying. Anyone who prefers more bass should consider these.

Yes when compared to mtw4’s. Amazon will have the perl pros on sale. I’ve seen them as low as 190$usd. I got mine for around the same price

Dont get the airpods pro. I was in a similar position to you 3 months ago and got them. I was severely underwhelmed. I love bass too and these just dont have what you are looking for. I took it upon myself to find the best bass and anc wireless earbuds on the market and have owned/tested 10 in the past 3 months. Best ANC? Bose QC buds. These are top of the line ANC. Second would be Sony xm5’s. Bose have a warmer sound but bass still doesn’t satisfy my needs. Best Bass? Denon Perl Pro’s. These are out of your price range but man do they pack a punch. If you love bass, you’ll be smiling from ear to ear with the Immersion mode turned up. Overall, these sound incredible as well. Everyone here loves the Technics AZ80. I actually have them on now and own them. Overall their sound is phenomenal, significantly better than the Air Pod pros, but they lack the sub bass I want even on their “superbass” setting. Both the Technics and Denon dont have the best ANC compared to Bose/Sony. The Sony XM5’s are a great middle ground. They have a warm or bass-y sound with great ANC. I thought I’d keep these until I tried the Denon’s. The Airpods Pro 2ms arent bad by any means. Their connectivity is amazing for an iphone user. They sound good too, but I needed more bass. Just my 2 cents.

I think Denon Perl Pros are better than the Technics in sound quality and ANC.

this is the most overlooked earbud on this sub and its miles ahead of technics

I agree the AZ100’s are overrated if purely based on “best sounding”. Lots of people will jump from low tier earbuds to the AZ’s and crown them as the best without trying anything else. They do a lot of things well but are not the best. The question is what exactly are you looking for? What do you value more? What music do you like? Devialet Gemini II’s, Denon Perl Pro’s, Noble Fokus Rex5 are better in sound. And if sound is the most important, than none of these even come close to IEM’s. Sony and Bose are far superior in ANC. For bassheads lots of other options such as Nothing Ears, Noble Mystique.

I’ve tried all but the jabras on your list. You are overlooking the Denon Perl Pros. The Technics and the Denon’s are in their own tier for sound quality followed by the Sonys. So keep that in mind.

Plenty of negative here. I have several true wireless, NuraTrue Pro (now Denon), Samsung Buds2 Pro, Sony WF-1000XM4, LG Tone T-90Q, and a few others. The Status Between 3ANC beat them all. So much so I have a black and bone pair.

I bought a set from Amazon which has a great price on them at the moment and I find them to have fantastic sound quality especially for the current price but are beat by just a smidgen by the Bowers Pi8 which has a grander sound to me, not sure if it's to do with the slightly larger driver size. Both great sets but Perl Pro is priced better.

I just recently got the Denon Perl Pro, huge vouch for them - incredible!!!!

Denon Perl Pro. A bit bulky but they are a comfortable fit, have excellent ANC, best sound quality I've ever had in a bud.

The Denon's sound very good but not as good as either of my B&Ws earbuds. When listening to either the Pi7s2 or Pi8 and then switching to the Denons I notice how horrible the vocals really are in the Denon's. If I judge an earbuds sound quality by how well it produces bass the Dennon's do well but so do the Pi7s2s. For overall sound quality I chose the Pi8's.

Had to go and do a back to back comparison between my Denon Perl Pros and the B&W Pi8's again. Just as I suspected, the Pi8's were brighter and the vocals were much better sounding, however the bass wasn't as powerful. The vocals on the Denon's were muted which gave the music a hollow sound which I do not like. The bass was very good but overall the Pi8's sound superior in my ears.

Bought mine at the beginning of December and they are working fine. I enjoy the sound quite a bit. I agree with the ear fit not being the best and the ANC being kind of meh. Just purchased the AZ100 buds and have been trying them out the past couple days - very very nice. I do prefer the Denons as they are louder.

One thing about the Denons I had trouble with at the start was the vey small plastic protecting the battery connectors. I wasn't able to fully remove it from the battery contact points and as a result they didn't charge at all. (I don't neve the best eyesight). Once I figured that issue out they've been fine.

Thanks for this honest and well thought through review. The fact that you agree with my own experience of the DPP may have swayed my positive opinion. As far as fit goes I agree it takes a bit of time (and hassle) to find the right combination of tips and wings (and I am dreading having find/buy replacements) but once you do they are great. Mine feel comfortable all the time never feel like they are going to fall out. Sound quality goes without saying…it’s the best by far. Thanks

Denon Perl / Perl Pro have the option to disable touch controls in the app - just set "do nothing" for all potential actions. AVIOT has a similar function. So does Samsung for the Buds series, and Sony for the WF series. Thinking about it now I'm not sure I've owned a pair of tws with touch controls from any major brand that didn't have a fairly straightforward way of disabling them.

I dont use Masimo and i have a post about correcting the eq using the poweramp EQ app. I recommend it, masimo wasnt consistent or that good for me. I personally dont judge buds by out of the box sound signature at all since it can be fixed with eq, just dynamics, accuracy, and bandwidth. Im happy with the perl pro's with alza crystal 2 tws tips (not sure if these even matter tbh), aptX lossless, and the poweramp eq settings I listed in my post

for me its the Denon Perl Pro right now. Spot on with the auto eq adjustment

Yes, you just sit around for two minutes while it analyses the response in your ears to the soundspectrum then gives you a perfect eq setting, personalized yes. [https://shop.masimo.com/en-us/content-pages/masimo-aat.html](https://shop.masimo.com/en-us/content-pages/masimo-aat.html)

Anc is average. And you definitely won't be able to side sleep with them, they're huge.

I don't know man how they do it but it works. For me at least.

Agreed. The Perl pros are awesome. And I've had many. Grado GT 220s are also good but no extras(noise cancelling, an app....)

Hmmm ones with good sound could be denon perl pro and Sennheiser mtw4/momentum sport Honestly regarding wing tips, I've kinda been indifferent. Used the liberty 3 pros but then upgraded to technics az80 after I lost them. So far have pretty similar stability with a bit less of that occasional soreness I got from the wingtips There are also things like the Jabra elite active series with the silicone covering meant to help with making them more grippy to the ear. So there are different approaches to the same things

Denon PerL Pro. Save 100$ and get one of the best, if not the best sound on tws.

I snagged a pair (used, never a problem for me), for $117, on Amazon.

Thank you so much for your review. I had been loving the AZ80 for a few months for its nautralness, clarity and wide soundstage, but your review had been in the back of my mind for a while. Could the Denon actually be better? One day I saw it on sale, took a chance and bought it, and you were right. It's better on every level. More clarity, while retaining naturalness, better imaging and a bigger, holographic soundstage. Even the bass is better, more impact and presence without being boomy. It's better than every wired headphone or earbud I've tried. I felt I owed you a thanks. Note to others: You must do the hearing test setup in the Denon app, because out of the box these sound awful, thin. After the setup, it's suddenly MAGIC.

Bose QC ultra or Denon Perl Pro. The Denon's fit better with the larger wings tips but the ANC on the Bose is top notch and the fit is still pretty good.

Never had an issue with mine and while the ANC on the Bose is better, it’s very good on the DPP. Drown out the gym music which is all I need. But any device can have issues. Just my experience.

The cracking on the Bose were fixed in the last firmware update they put out. As for the Denon’s, yea they’re big but once they’re in, they don’t stick out. For me they really lock in which is great.

I have the Sony XM5 and bought the Perl Pro on sale for £149 last week. I also bought the creative BT-W6 dongle for £49.99 to be able to take advantage of AptX Lossless with them on my S24 Ultra. The Perl Pro with the dongle using Tidal is the most incredible sound I've ever heard. The XM5s are good, but this was just total eargasm. Without the dongle however the sound from the XM5s was a tad bit better than Perl I'd say.

It’s blasphemy to say Bose sounds better. It’s just bloated and muddy, especially their flagship QC Ultra earbuds that are just a buggy mess. But the B&W Pi8 do sound better, even the Denon Perl Pro. But Bose is the only one that competes with Sony in terms of ANC. The Momentum True Wireless 4 have ok ANC, the Perl Pro’s ANC is subpar (even at their $150 sale price), and the Pi8’s ANC is only slight better than that.

I thought the DPP sounded overall better than the XM5 after taking the hearing test a couple of times. But the thing that kills me with the DPP is their lack of ANC. It’s on par with $40 Soundcore earbuds and, for their price, that’s unacceptable to me. If I can hear outside noise, I’m taken out of the music. I also wasn’t a fan of their large disc. Leaning up against a seat, a plane wall, or even laying down was uncomfortable.

Unpopular opinion: I think they’re overrated and prefer the Sony WF-1000XM5. They have better ANC, I prefer their sound signature and like Sony’s clear bass option, better mic call quality, a smaller case, and last a little longer per charge all in a (for me) more comfortable design. I tried to like the Momentum True Wireless 4. But their ANC is average, at best, and I didn’t think they were any clearer than my Sony earbuds. I preferred the Denon PerL Pro to these as well, and they’re usually on sale for $240-ish. They have the same average level of ANC as the Momentum. But their automatic tuning was something else. Still didn’t have the bass punch of the Sony (neither do the Momentum), but I preferred their clarity and sound signature over the Momentum’s. I know a lot of people here like the Momentum True Wireless 4. I just couldn’t get into them. I probably would have if I didn’t already own the XM5.

I have. The JBL Tour Pro 3, Denon PerL Pro after their acoustic measurements, B&W Pi8, Jabra Elite 10 gen 2, and even more budget-friendly options. The EX and Eleven are overpriced and provide generic warm audio. Nothing wrong with that if you want to spend the money. But their ANC is b-tier at most with an interesting and comfortable design. Nothing wrong with liking them, but there are other true wireless earbuds that sound better and have better ANC.

What device are you pairing them to? You could look at the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro if you’re on Samsung or the AirPods Pro 2 if you have an iPhone. Either one has strong ANC, though I think the APP2 have that edge, and god audio quality (I think the Galaxy Buds have the edge with that). Your ear shape looks prime for stemmed earbuds. Those never fit mine, I didn’t have any issues with the AZ80s. I would recommend the Bose QC earbuds Ultra with their fin tip, but they’re far too buggy for me to actually recommend and I will outright refuse to buy any Bose product for a while. There’s also the Denon PerL Pro. They have wing tips. ANC isn’t as good as Sony or Bose, but I enjoyed their audio quality after going through their testing. Lastly, there’s the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4. They have wing fins as well and can help stay in despite not being stemmed earbuds (like the Denon). I hate stemmed earbuds, the only pair that stayed in my ears were the B&O EX and I thought their ANC was terrible. Their app also isn’t the best. EQ’ing them is done through a “feelings” page rather than just giving you a 3-8 band EQ like most other earbud apps.

I got some Denon Pearl Pro last week and they are out of control on sound quality.  Comfort you gotta find the right ear plug, but after 4-5 hours I need a break. I’ve yet to feel that wasn’t the case with ear buds. Look up a review on YouTube. They have a hearing test and adjust the frequencies and balance based on the results. I thought it was a gimmick but best quality I have had for the price ($200) but got mine $140 on eBay. 

I bought the following on Amazon, tested all of them (audiophile obsession level), then returned all but kept one: HiFiman Svanar Wireless Audio technica AZ80 Denon Perl Pro Edifier Stax Spirit S10 Edifier NeoBuds Pro 2 SoundPEATS Capsule 3 Pro+ SoundPEATS Air5 My top 3 were Denon Perl Pro (please go for this one and you won't be disappointed), AZ80, & Svanar Wireless (this is one of the best sounding along with the AZ80 & Denon, but the Svanar has issues with dropping on Android phones, and the battery life is dogshit)

The Svanar sounded the best out of all of them (on High Fidelity setting) However, the battery life was shockingly bad. I use it on train journeys, and the battery would last around 2 hours even when I wasn't even listening to music and just had them on. Also, on Android if you use the LDAC option then you would get these stuttering issues happening constantly. I bought 3 of these Svanars because I thought it was a hardware fault, and all 3 of them had the same issue. I wanted so bad to be able to keep the Svanar but it was problem after problem. Denon Perl Pro sounds just as good if not better, but only after you use their app so it configures it for your ears. I recently got the Gemini Devialet 2, haven't had time to test it but for some reason I am still gravitating towards the Denon Perl Pro.

I might suggest a separate column for codecs. I don't think the Denons are very comfortable. They're huge and don't have a ton of tips for the best fit in the ear canal. Do you really think that the Bose have better sound quality than most of your list? Someone else recommended Noble Fokus 5s. 5 drivers (!), personalized sound, all the codecs, aluminum case, yadda yadda. Nearly $500 though. https://nobleaudio.com/products/noble-fokus-rex5 I have no idea if they're good or not, but the specs are impressive. (They should be for the price.)

Good for you for trying but the data is pretty bad I think. For example, there's a significant difference between the Liberty 4, the Liberty 4 NC, and the 4 Pro. And I'm sure the 4NC has been recommended way more than your data show. There's also a big difference between the Denon PerL (listed) and the Perl Pro. The pro is one of the most recommended ~$300 bud here, and it's not registered in your list. Same with Nothing (which I have and I think what you've listed) vs Nothing (a) (which is cheaper but gets recommended way more. Not your fault really because the manufacturers use stupid repetitive model names, and we use abbreviations (az-80 instead of the manufacturer name, or super abbreviations like L4NC).

I don't own any of those models, but I hang around here (probably too much). I think the Sennheiser, Technics and Sony are going to be the top of the list for pure sound quality. There are some reports of really good sound quality from the Jabra. The Bose are OK, but they're better known for their amazing ANC more than their accurate sound. I think the others are probably in the next tier down (though others will probably disagree). I own the Denon PerL Pros, which I think have pretty amazing sound quality, though I don't think they're super comfortable, because they're so big. I also don't like their app. I also own the Nothing Ear (2024)s, which have really good sound quality (though not quite as amazing as my Denon's), great controls & app, and okay ANC. Once you get into the >$150 space, it really starts to depend on personal preference, I think. Others might be able to give you their take. But you can also check out other unbiased reviews. I like SoundGuys, because they at least purport to have some objective testing. (They don't really like the Denon's, though, so what do they know!) SoundGuys Sennheiser: [https://www.soundguys.com/sennheiser-momentum-true-wireless-4-review-111429/](https://www.soundguys.com/sennheiser-momentum-true-wireless-4-review-111429/) Technics: [https://www.soundguys.com/panasonic-technics-eah-az80-review-122799/](https://www.soundguys.com/panasonic-technics-eah-az80-review-122799/) Sony: [https://www.soundguys.com/sony-wf-1000xm5-review-95465/](https://www.soundguys.com/sony-wf-1000xm5-review-95465/) Bose: [https://www.soundguys.com/bose-quietcomfort-earbuds-ii-review-78**772/**](https://www.soundguys.com/bose-quietcomfort-earbuds-ii-review-78772/) Denon: [https://www.soundguys.com/denon-perl-pro-review-107641/](https://www.soundguys.com/denon-perl-pro-review-107641/) (I don't think they used custom settings when they were doing the sound quality test... it was all out of the box, which makes no sense whatsoever.) Nothing: [https://www.soundguys.com/nothing-ear-review-114404/](https://www.soundguys.com/nothing-ear-review-114404/) Jabra: [https://www.soundguys.com/jabra-elite-8-active-gen-2-review-118807/](https://www.soundguys.com/jabra-elite-8-active-gen-2-review-118807/)

\>Nothing Ear 2s Note that the Nothing Ear 2s are *older* than the "Nothing Ear" (2024) model. If you're in that price range, go for the newer model. I have the Nothing Ear (2024), and the Perl Pros. The Perls are bigger and bulkier. They fit amazingly in my left ear but not in my right, despite me trying nearly every tip and wing they provide. I haven't tried running in them yet, but I'm going to expect that they will be more likely to fall out. But I think their sound quality is a step above the Nothing's, especially when streaming Atmos content from Apple with a hires Bluetooth Codec (so only only certain Android phones). (Oh, also, the PerL Pros are more neutrally tuned. You can turn up the bass on them, but if you do it too much it will start to bleed. So if you're a basshead, I wouldn't choose the PerLs. I've *heard* that the AZ80s and the 1000S compete with the PerL in sound quality, but I haven't tried them yet myself. I understand that Bose leads the way in noise cancellation, but if you don't care about that, then the Bose has the least desirable sound quality.

Jabra Elite 10 (Get them before they're gone) Jabra Elite Active 8 Gen 2 (light, easy, excellent sound quality, and basically waterproof; no good hires codecs though, and the app is decent at best) Also get them before they're gone. The other thing about the Jabras is that the case becomes a Bluetooth transmitter for devices that aren't Bluetooth enabled. So, for example, you can use your earbuds on the in-flight entertainment systems on some airlines. (I LOVE them for travelling.) (Jabra is discontinuing their lines of wireless earbuds, which is really a shame.) Technics AZ-80 (one of the leaders in the 200-300 space; they were just made obsolete by the introduction of teh AZ-100s, so I'm expecting their price to go down even more soon) Denon PerL Pro (excellent sound quality, great integration of AptX codec, and amazing sound personalization, but blech everything else, including app and case). These were on sale during Black Friday/Christmas for $150, and for a short time Amazon had some limited stock for $99, which is absolutely insane quality for that price. Back at $200? I think I like the other options better. But be on the lookout. Nothing Ear (2024) -- stylish, comfy, squeeze controls so no accidental misclicks, great app. Sound quality is probably one rank below the Jabra, Technics, and Denon, but they're fine buds.

Head over to r/earbuds I think the best deal right now are the Denon PerL Pros at $149 on Amazon. (They were as low as $99 a few weeks ago). Amazing customized sound and great hires codec support if you're on Android. But everything else is meh compared to the other big boys--anc is relatively poor, app is weird, call quality is only ok, charging case makes it hard to get the buds out, and they may or may not be comfortable for you. But the sound quality is a tier above everything else in the $100-$150 range. Nothing Ear (2024) at $115 now on Amazon are kind of the opposite. Sound quality is very, very good but not top tier, but the case is fun (and easy to get the buds in and out) the app is amazing for customized sound EQ and features, they have squeeze stems for more accurate button control, ANC is very good (though not top tier), call quality seems about average. They're also really comfy for me but may come loose while exercising. The other top tier sound quality buds are Sennheiser Momentum4s (I have these and agree that they're amazing), Sony 1000XM-5 (some folks say these are the best far and away but others disagree) Bose QC Ultra (great ANC but Bose tuning which some people like and others don't), Technics AZ-80s (often mentioned as the best and now on sale for $200 because their next Gen buds have been teased), and OnePlus Buds Pro 3 And AirPod pros, of course,which are generally highly recommended if you have an iPhone. There are lots of reviews of those buds that you can read. Next tier down includes Soundcore Liberty 4 NC (especially for ANC) EarFun Air Pro 4 OnePlus Nord Buds 3

Denons might take a few tries making a profile that actually sounds good though. Mine have been boomy and dark. I also haven’t put a ton of effort into them, so I went back to my 3ANC and app2 for commute. I do have a pi8 coming tomorrow though! App2 actually really sound great with spinfit superfines (1025). I didn’t care for them when I first got them, but I think over the year and a half I’ve had them updates have made them sound better.

Denon perl pro

Try offing the anc see if the static still there

Btw battery only last 4 hour? Plus case!?

so confirm when listen to music cant really hear just potcast?

Denon perl pro any static when not using

Denon Perl pro is good

what's up with that? Good engineering can make a beast single dynamic driver while a bad one even with multiple drivers. Sure a planar tweeter and a dynamic driver is generally preferred if done well but the driver isn't a limiting factor here, just look at the denon perl pros, same thing.

just to let you know, not all dynamic drivers are the same and the engineering (materials, size, shape etc) sure does the difference. Modern DD are really good, easier and cheaper to manufacture than multiple drivers. You also have to keep in mind the energy usage and the challenges regarding multiple drivers in tws earbuds. Just get the best one that meets your taste without bothering too much on this topic. Just to let you know the denon perl pros (single DD) sounded better in every way than my old Oppo Enco X2 (dual driver setup).

I just got the Denon PerL Pro and I agree the sound is amazing and also about the fit, even with the biggest ear tip and wings they provide, have you found anyway to improve this?

I also paid $100 and I don’t think they are worth any more than that. I like the sound, it’s a fun listen, once it’s personalized. . But I don’t like that they sound terrible out of the box. It took several attempts to get the personalized sound to be good. Even then, while there’s a lot of horizontal depth to the sound, there isn’t much height. Live concerts sound like there were recorded in a big studio.

I agree with the OP's take on the PerL Pro's, and he rec'd them based on a $279 purchase price. Currently they are priced at $149, which is a steal for a personalized sound profile producing results comparable to a wired headset (close enough, at least, that I can use them instead of listening to wired phones via a bluetooth dac/amp).

Easy! The Denon perL pros!!

Denon Perl Pro

I agree! Denon kicks ass!

Denon Perl Pro. Best in the segment in terms of sound quality.

I would give Cambridge melomania M100 a HM at least. $119, and I’ve heard they are better than Technics AZ80 As for the best - I haven’t tried many earbuds, so I can’t do comparisons. I own the Denon Perl’s, and I’ve loved them for a little more than a year. I haven’t felt a need to upgrade since I got them

I’ve had the Denon Perl’s since January 2024 . I actually found the fit to be better with the larger wingtips included in the package. With the default wingtips, the right side always seemed to feel loose 

I have the Denon Perls. They do give a notification when your battery dips under 20%. The voice prompt says “Battery Low.” 

1. AZ80 My personal favourite for sound, it's very balanced but when you select the dynamic preset, they really comes to life with amazing bass whilst not muddying up the mids. LDAC allows for really good quality. ANC is good, the fit and comfort is good, the case size is good. I don't personally use transparency or call that often. 2. (Potentially) Gemini II I haven't tried these but people I trust say these sound better than the AZ80. 3. Denon PerL Pro A lot of people rank these number 1. I really like the sound on these, its got a really nice dynamic sound but there's a bit of a white noise that made me rank them lower. But that's a personal thing. You may find these no. 1. Fit and comfort wasn't that great for me because of the size, but that's subjective. 4. Status Between 3ANC Very good punchy sound, the tripple driver setup works really well. I found the comfort to be amazing too. ANC wasn't the best but still okay. I for some reason preferred the AZ80s sound overall so I went with those, but I would have been happy with these as my daily too. 5. Momentum 4 I was most excited for these, as I have the Momentum 4 over ear cans. I have their wired open back headphones too, so I'm a bit of a sennheiser fanboy. But these didn't impress me as much as the others. The sound quality is amazing, specially the vocals and its pretty dynamic. But even after the sound personalisation, I just couldn't get it to be as punchy is I'd like it to be. ANC was good but the case was also too big to comfortably fit in my pocket. 6. Nothing Ear Yet to try but heard a lot of good reviews, specially for the price

I currently have the AZ80 and Momentum 4, Liberty 3 pro, Linkbuds S Had PerL pro, Elite 10, Status 3anc, Pi7 S2 Tried a friends Nothings Ear (2024) and they have insane amount of bass compared to the rest! AZ80 with superbass preset gives me some mega clean bass. Momentum 4 can be personalised to give you a decent bass, not as bassy as momentum 3. Liberty 3 pro has more bass amount than both above, the subbass rumble is impressive. PerL pro and 3anc has slamming bass.

Pi7 s2 sounds great, on par with momentums for me. AZ80 and PerL Pro felt more dynamic and clear to my ears. Lack of EQ and comfort issues made me return them. I'm a b&w fan as iove my PX8, I expected these to be better. They should have improved the drivers from pi7 to pi7 s2 to be more competitive. Don't get me wrong, they're among the top.

All 3 pairs of sennheiser tw3 left ear bud went out they sent the tw4 as replacement under warranty, 3 months later same issue. I gave up on sennheiser and got some denon perl pros. So far very happy with my choice.

Love my perl pros.

Just got my perl pro today, love them so far. They practically clip into my ear. The sound is great too

AZ100 is the winner under 300. Denon Perl Pro has great sound but the anc is mediocre.

If you're only aiming for sound quality the best are Denon Perl Pro (best for bass) the pi8 (the best balance and mids) AZ100 (best for details) and the Gemini 2 (best overall but more expensive and subjectively the best because of their unique sound). If money is tight i'd go for the Denons, the difference in price with the others is way bigger than the difference in sound quality.

Had them for a few months and the case no longer shows battery level, multipairing won't work well, lasts 3 hours at most... Soundwise they were a bargain for 150 but yeah, too many qc issues.

If you can, do go to the shops to try them out first before buying. I was really into getting the Denon pearl pro a few months ago but they won't fit comfortably in my ears. After trying the rest of my list in the shop, I got myself Technics AZ100 and am in love with them ever since.

Between 3ANC are by far the best wireless earbuds I've ever had. My backups are the Denon PerL Pro 961 Both are quite affordable

I bought some and they sound very good. I wish more cell phones had apt x lossless.

Status audio 3ANC look no further. OnePlus buds pro are very good too. Sony xm5 are okay but lacked the bass I wanted. Denon perl pro also sound very good too but bulky. 3anc are just my fave. I got a few people to make the switch to them and they love them. They also got a status eq app too. This is all for audio quality. I never used nc at all. I know airpods had best transparency mode though

I bought these for $229 on Amazon and picked the installment zero interest so net net I spent $50 to try these out.  Does anyone find that they can tune these BETTER on EQ than the Massimo calibration? I actually prefer a brighter sound but apparently the algorithm believes that I prefer DARK.  Despite my ear specifications..my brain likes bright Highs.  Who can comment?

Denon PerL Pro! I'm using them daily. Love them. Zero regrets, highly recommend!

Can you tell me what EQ you did to your Pearl Pro? My MTW4 feels much clearer and deeper sounding, my Pearl Pro has a wider sound stage and more bass but they kind of sound little bit muddy, less crisp and deep.

Would you give preference to the MTW4 for sound? I bought the Pearl Pro's because so many people have been praising them lately. MTW4 definitely sounds much better for rock and vocal songs, I compared bark at the moon, sweet child of mine, boulevard obd and the voices and guitars sounds much deeper and more crisp. The times I prefere the Pearl Pro's is for some very rave/ bass heavy songs like some boris brechja and the im good blue remix from guetta but I feel overall the MTW4 sounds better. The only thing the MTW4 lacks is that wide sound stage feeling you have on the Pearl Pro and the ease of volume increase as I almost max the volume on the MTW4. When turning of immersion do you set it to -3 or can you actually disable it completely?

See my posts and comments. I have spoken to Master & Dynamic MW09, Denon Perl Pro, Bowers & Wilkins, Beoplay EX, Technics AZ80.... Have not tried the Devialet Gemini II. Best sound quality is the Denon Perl Pro. Most people who know sound agree. But, many also say the Devialet are even better. Problem for me is I can't use ANC because it makes me sick and you can’t turn off ANC on the Gemini II, so I never bothered to try them. Note that I ended up going with the MW09 because it ranked second in sound quality but had other features that made it worthwhile like battery life, comfort, etc.

If you get dizzy or nauseous from active noise canceling, as do I, then you need to make sure that whatever earbuds you get can turn off anc completely (both listening to music and making phone calls). Many great earbuds don't do that for some reason. Take a look at my post and comment history or just reply if there are earbuds you're looking at and want to check. I tried out probably 18 different pairs. If you want the best sound, and need anc turned off, the Denon Perl Pro is the best. However, they're pretty heavy and don't stay in super well if you're doing a lot of moving around. While I loved the Denons I ended up going with Master & Dynamic MW09 for the better comfort and fit while still having awesome sound. I do listen to some heavy music and the Denons really did have the best punch and clarity but the MW09 not far behind. Saw recommendations of Oneplus Buds 3, and IMO they didn't sound good at all. Fwiw I'm a former pro sound engineer, turned UX designer.

It was an unfair review. With the Denons you MUST do the sound test and persoalized sound in order for them to sound good. I don't know why Denon did it like that but out of the box they sound like garbage. Then all of a sudden...boom...beautiful sound once you do the test. Sound Guys didn't do the test in order to keep it "fair" with all the other brands, which I get but it's also unfair since the Denons are intended to be used with the sound test. Denon even says so.

EDIT: took out some inflammatory language about other reviewers. Context: -Using ANC makes me sick so all earbuds have been tested with ANC off. -I tried out the: B&O Beoplay EX, B&W pi7 s2, Jlab Epic Lab Edition, Status Between 3anc, Beats Studio Buds Plus, Airpods 3rd Gen, Airpods Pro 2, Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, Nothing Ear 2024, Oneplus Buds 3, Technics AZ80, JBL Live Pro 2, JBL Live Beam 3, JBL Tour Pro 2, Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2, Sony XM5, Huawei Freebuds Pro 3, Sennheiser MTW4. The Perl Pro is my favorite of all of them. There could have been other favorites like the AZ80 where you can't switch off ANC during phone calls or the XM5 where it just didn't fit well enough to get a good seal and get all the bass. So these sorts of things that might not affect others did affect me. I bought the Perl Pro on sale from Amazon for $279. -Master & Dynamic MW09 are arriving Sunday and they're hopefully the last pair I'll try out. Now for the review. Best Features: Sound quality. I tried out a dozen premium earbuds and these sound the best to me. Of course you do need to do the sound optimization test otherwise they sound like trash. Strange. But yeah, do the test and they sound amazing. I did it three times so that I could compare and pick my favorite tuning. They'll be slightly different depending on if you moved a little, breathed heavily and created some space in your ear, etc. After the test, I did a little extra tweaking with the EQ to bring out more of the highs. Everything you hear about the sound stage in these is true. Nothing else that I tried comes close. Very immersive. I listen to a variety of genres of music. Nigerian Afro Beat, hard rock, Classical, New Grass, hip hop, soul, classic rock, EDM electronic, jazz, reggae..... All sound great on the Perl Pro. Juicy bass, beautiful vocals, pretty treble, etc etc. ***Note that I think many earbud reviewers do not have refined ears for speaking to sound quality. I do appreciate that some will show you the frequency response, or even play music through the buds and record that for you. But those things don't really tell you how they sound in your ears. Of course sound aesthetics are fairly subjective by nature, but I do trust my ears to be able to be at least a little more objective. ***Note that when you switch between sound profiles from the tests on the Perl Pro, ANC is automatically turned on (in case you had it off). So you should go back and turn it off again if that's how you listen. App and Controls. I love that the gestures are fully customizable. Can't believe how many premium buds don't let use customize how you change volume, trigger voice assistant, etc. Multipoint works great with my iPhone, personal Macbook, and work Macbook. The app is generally laid out well and easy to understand how to do what you want to do. The buds are responsive to the touch and it's easy to perform the gestures. One thing missing from the app is an exact readout of the case battery life. Mid Features: Mic quality. The mic is decent. The voice comes through clearly to the other person but the tone is not as natural sounding as others. Holds up reasonably well during my walk and talk meetings outside. ***Note that you can't always trust the mic tests that you hear on YouTube or on Soundguys website. They're usually not recording an actual phone call. Bluetooth mic audio over the phone is treated differently than, say, if you record into the Voice Memo app. So you should call a few different people who have a variety of cell providers to get an accurate representation. Best if you can record the call directly. Eartips and wings You get a decent amount of silicone eartip sizes, plus one medium Comply foam. You also get two different fittings that help hold the buds in your ears, one of which had a longer piece of material sticking out and the other one is shorter. Other earbuds did offer many more options is the box though. Poor Features: Battery life. As other reviewers have noted, battery life isn't as good as what the manufacturer claims, both on the buds themselves and the case. Weight / Size. These things are bulky and heavy. Due to the weight downwards on the bottom rim of my inside ear area, it can hurt a little after wearing for more than an hour. So I sometimes take the buds out briefly. Not a big deal though. I'm guessing they're so big and heavy because of premium electronics that make them sound so good? But I don't really know. And because of the size they look a bit silly in your ears. The case is slightly bigger than I'd like it to be. Creates a bulge in my pocket and makes it a little harder to get my phone out of the same pocket. Nice Touches: -When you tap the buds to perform a gesture, you hear a beep to let you know the tap has been registered. And when you do a Double or triple touch, the beep increases in pitch with each subsequent tap. This is sooo helpful. -When you put the buds on a voice says, "Welcome back." In my head I always say, "thank you" hahaha. And you can even adjust the voice volume in the app. Deciding Factors: -I'm a musician and former sound engineer so sound quality matters a lot to me. -I use earbuds a lot for calls, both work and personal. So they need to at least sound decent. -Need to be able to turn off ANC completely, both for calls and listening to media. -They need to not hurt my ears because of the fit. These did hurt a bit but not enough to be a real problem. -They need to be comfortable enough in my pocket. While the Perl Pro case is a little bulky, they're not nearly as bad as the Sennheiser MTW4. -ETA: They need to have no "hiss". Multiple buds, like the Between 3anc suffer from this problem, like you hear the circuitry of the earbuds and they make a hiss when activated. -They need to sync perfectly when watching videos. Some buds hit all the other marks but audio video was out of sync and that kills it for me since I watch a lot on my phone. Feel free to ask any questions! And I hope this little review helps you on your earbuds journey.

The Sennheiser‘s have a giant case that will not fit in your pocket nicely. I don’t know if that’s a factor or not. And to me their sound is overly warm and a bit subdued sounding, and the microphone quality is not great. The Denon’s are the best sounding of the bunch. But they’re not that comfortable and will fall out during exercise. The Bowers and Wilkins have surprisingly poor sound. they are great for certain genres of music that are more bass heavy but for something like rock music they sound like trash. I saw you mention banging Olsen in another comment. They don’t sound great to me either and are hit or miss as far as the fit, depending on your ear shape. that leaves the Sony‘s and techniques. If you have the capability, I would buy them both, try them out, and return the one that you don’t like best. Between noise canceling, sound, quality, mic quality, fit, the battery, etc. they each have their pros and cons, but end up stacking up fairly equal. I had a problem with the Sony‘s in that they would not make a perfect seal in my ears, and I’ve seen other people mention that as well, so that could be a factor. You will absolutely see a difference in sound quality and noise canceling if you’re able to achieve a perfect seal. In the end, after trying out 20 earbuds, I kept the Master & Dynamic MW09. But they’re sold out everywhere now. If you want to pursue those, check out my review in my post history.

The xm5 battery case is awful. I had to charge it daily otherwise I wouldn’t be able to listen to anything. I had many a frustrating day where I needed headphones for sensory overload only to find the case dead. They also have annoying connection issues where they wouldn’t connect when I took them out of the case, and I’d have to put them back in and take them out again. Gave them up for a pair of Denon PerL Pros. ANC is pretty decent on those, but the sound quality is vastly superior, and the case stays charged for days.

Just got the Denon Perl Pro's a couple hours ago. Coming from MTW3's these things sound fucking amazing. the white ones are $119 on Amazon right now.

fair warning thought they're very big so if that's a concern you might wanna look elsewhere.

I had to experiment with tips. I also turn off Immersion for most of my listening (except movie watching). Would recommend giving Divinus Velvet wide bore, or Dunu S&S a try; run AAT each time you change tips as well, as that will change the correction. Then in the EQ I adjust mids and treble to add more energy to taste and actually scale back the bass -1-2db if it’s needed. The best approach with the Perl Pros is to use both AAT as a corrective parametric EQ and then use multiband for fine tuning to preferences. Edit: to be fair, I still run the MTW4 most of the time. It still sounds excellent, especially with metal, hip hop, EDM and other genres that work well with a more V-shaped tuning.

Good clarification. I have Immersion set to +0, so technically at baseline. If I had to guess, Immersion is just a simple low shelf filter, so at 0 it should have no impact on the frequency response. I do think the Perl Pros have a more clear and detailed tuning, with better staging and slightly better imaging to my ear, but I have the same sentiment as you. While there are aspects of the tuning that are objectively better, I still prefer the sound, the warmth and the energy, of the MTW4. It just has more of a soul, to put it bluntly. That said, if I’m watching movies, it’s the Perl Pros with Immersion on, almost every time.

I would always go for a dedicated TWS like the Denon Perl Pro, Technics AZ80, or Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4, with the Creative BT-W5 before any of the “gaming earbuds.” Of your list, I’ve either owned or tested many of these and the VR P10 is the best bang for your buck of all of them. The additional dongle feature works very well; I have one for all of my devices, and switching is easy. Sony’s buds do work well with their platform (and the Portal), but they are simply too pricey for the quality of the tuning and feature set. The only other option I would consider is Steelseries, just given the access to a very wide database of EQ profiles; you’ll likely find one that works for you, and Steelseries has done a genuinely decent job at emulating a parametric EQ in their Sonar app.

The best buds are the iFi Go Pods with a pair of dedicated IEMs. I'm running them with the Theiaudio Hype 4 For traditional earbuds, my personal ranking list: Technics AZ80 > Denon Perl Pro > Sennheiser Momentum TW 4 (w/ Sound Personalization) > Sony Linkbuds S > AirPods Pro 2 > Sony XM5 > Galaxy Buds2 Pro > Beats Studio Buds+/Beats Fit Pro > Powerbeats Pro I end up daily driving the Momentum 4s most days, just given their ANC/Transparency is competitive with other sets, and the app is fairly solid. Sound quality alone, toss up between the AZ80 and Perl Pro.

This is marketing and brand reach doing what it does best. There are plenty of brands doing great things in the market that aren't getting a lot of attention. JLAB's Epic Lab earbuds were fantastic; JBL, Moondrop, Nothing Ear, SoundPeats, numerous other brands tested very well against the top of my list, which consisted of the Denon Perl Pro, Technics AZ80, Sennheiser True Wireless Momentum 4, Sony XM5, AirPods Pro, B&W Pi7 S2 and Pi8. I have the AZ100s on the way, and I'm sure they'll occupy one of those top spots. It's important to note, however, that many of these brands do not need to push as many units to remain successful. At the economies of scale companies like Sony, Sennheiser, and Bose are operating at, the investment into their production, distribution, customer service, and operations pipelines is immense. They are likely expecting to sell tens of thousands of units, to the thousands that other brands need to turn a profit. And while you may see those more prolific brands everywhere, don't forget the communities of people on social media platforms that regularly market and recommend the opposing brands. They're not as common, but that's to be expected and will remain that way by nature. In other words, while the popular brands may be ubiquitous, that is by design. It doesn't mean opposing manufacturers are on a downward trajectory. This was the assumption when Jabra cancelled its TWS ANC lineup, and that may have been part of the decision, but Jabra had other, more profitable interests and chose to constrain their business goals around those interests because there was more opportunity there. As someone that's tested dozens of ANC earbuds (and has a wide ranging collection of dedicated, wired IEMs), I have very few biases when it comes to competing brands. If it works well, I'll use the thing. I have no qualms recommending a pair of Soundcore VR P10s, right alongside top-tier TWS sets if I think it fits the individual's use case. Recently, I took a long flight overseas and left all the other major TWS brands behind and took a cheap pair of PortaPros and a $20 pair of Aliexpress stem-style earbuds with me. Everyone else on the plane was wearing AirPods.

Sony and Bose are still the leads if ANC is your main priority. However, they are much further down the list if you're prioritizing sound quality/tuning. My current list consists of the Denon Perl Pros, Technics AZ100s/AZ80s, Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4, Bowers & Wilkins Pi8, and a few other budget options. The Devialet Gemini II and Noble Audio Rex5 are both pricier sets, but the Gemini II -- while it's an excellent sounding earbud -- had several issues that held it back for me. The deal breaker in my case was latency, which was quite high even for a TWS. The Rex5 is the best earbud Noble has put out thus far, but they need to make improvements to their app and overall user experience. My current rotation looks something like the AZ100s, MTW4 and Denon Perl Pro, as each provides a good overall balance of battery life, sound quality, and features. The AZ100s have excellent ANC, that gets close to competing with Sony and Bose, but is a slight downgrade in some areas of the frequency response compared to the AZ80s. The battery life is excellent, however, which makes them a contender as my main travel earbud. The Denon Perl Pros with AAT can be one of the best sounding buds on the market, but AAT can be hit or miss for some and is very tip dependent -- and I do suggest you change the tips, to something like the Dunu S&S. The Perl Pros also offer an EQ over the top of the AAT correction, which is a nice touch. I still reach for the MTW4 a lot of the time as well; with Sound Personalization it is still one of the best sounding earbuds on the market, with very solid ANC and transparency. I was not as sold on the Pi8, although I found the "case as transmitter" feature much more useful than I originally thought. I preferred the bass response of the Pi7 S2. In general the Pi8 feels a bit safer, and a bit more boring, for lack of a better word. It is still an excellent sounding earbud if you prefer a more balanced, more neutral tuning that prioritizes clarity and detail. I tend to lean towards warmth and energy, and so it didn't quite make the top of my list. TLDR; if money is no object, buy a BT dongle DAC/Amp or ifi Go Pods/FiiO BT ear hooks and a pair of dedicated IEMs. For now, this market is still juggling a "winner" and you'll be hard pressed to decide what is the best for the price -- no matter if it comes at a premium.

Sound: Sennheiser's Momentum lineup, Denon Perl Pros, Technics AZ80/AZ100, and B&W Pi8, in that order (taking into account Sound Personalization and AAT are being used). Everything else on the market, from the typical brands, falls below that line -- APP2, XM5, Bose QC Ultra, etc. Longevity, having tested dozens of these sets, the AirPods Pros are likely to outlast most of the other brands (my first and second gens are still charging well without any discernible issues). I've had battery and charging issues with the XM4s and XM5s, Sennheiser's MTW3 (MTW4 hasn't been on the market long enough to know whether there are any battery longevity issues); Denon is already showing serious battery degradation issues; Technics are in the charging issue camp as well (one or both earbuds often do not charge and need to be reseated often, similar to the Sony's); Pi8 has intermittent connectivity issues. The list goes on. There are outliers like the JLAB Epic Lab Edition, which have excellent battery life and seem to hold up well over time. Surprisingly, these are some of the best sounding and longest lasting buds on the market, for sometimes half the price of competitors. It can't compete with the top brands on tuning, but it gets damn close for the price. At some point, chasing sound quality (and longevity) begs the question, should you just sacrifice wireless connectivity and choose a traditional IEM? Despite owning most of the current premium earbud lineup, I find myself recommending and often daily driving the Epic Labs -- just due to the convenience of the battery life alone. And if that battery starts to degrade, there's enough overhead where I could still potentially get a good amount of time out of them before the issues are untenable.

This is a repost, but is still relevant. Sony and Bose are still the leads if ANC is your main priority. However, they are much further down the list if you're prioritizing sound quality/tuning. My current rotation consists of the Denon Perl Pros, Technics AZ100s/AZ80s, Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4, Bowers & Wilkins Pi8, and a few other budget options (JLab Epic Lab, Beats Fit Pros, etc.). The Devialet Gemini II and Noble Audio Rex5 are both pricier sets, but the Gemini II -- while it's an excellent sounding earbud -- had several issues that held it back for me. The deal breaker in my case was latency, which was quite high even for a TWS. The Rex5 is the best earbud Noble has put out thus far, but they need to make improvements to their app and overall user experience. My current rotation looks something like the AZ100s, MTW4 and Denon Perl Pro, as each provides a good overall balance of battery life, sound quality, and features. The AZ100s have excellent ANC, that gets close to competing with Sony and Bose, but is a slight downgrade in some areas of the frequency response compared to the AZ80s. The battery life is excellent, however, which makes them a contender as my main travel earbud. The Denon Perl Pros with AAT can be one of the best sounding buds on the market, but AAT can be hit or miss for some and is very tip dependent -- and I do suggest you change the tips, to something like the Dunu S&S. The Perl Pros also offer an EQ over the top of the AAT correction, which is a nice touch. I still reach for the MTW4 a lot of the time as well; with Sound Personalization it is still one of the best sounding earbuds on the market, with very solid ANC and transparency. The new Smart Control Plus app finally allows you to disable ANC, which was the only real weak point of this set. I was not as sold on the Pi8, although I found the "case as transmitter" feature much more useful than I assumed it would be. I preferred the bass response of the Pi7 S2. In general the Pi8 feels a bit safer, and a bit more boring, for lack of a better word. It is still an excellent sounding earbud if you prefer a more balanced, more neutral tuning that prioritizes clarity and detail. I tend to lean towards warmth and energy, and so it didn't quite make the top of my list. If you’re a neutral plus bass boost lover, it doesn’t get much better than the Pi8 in this price range. TL;DR: For now, this market is still juggling a "winner" and you'll be hard pressed to decide what is the “best” for the price -- no matter if it comes at a premium. Of all the major brands, I lean heavily toward the MTW4, Denon Perl Pro, AZ100 (unless you enjoy metal/rock, then replace this with the AZ80), and the Pi8, in that specific order. If you want a more budget conscious set, you can often find the JLab Epic Lab for half the price of the aforementioned brands, and it’s a set that’s not recommended enough. Excellent sound quality and decent ANC for the price.

Yeah, then Perl Pro or MTW4 are the best options. Make sure you run AAT with the Perls and Sound Personalization with the MTW4 for the best sound quality. Both are considerably more powerful than the basic multi-band EQ, and Perl Pro lets you use EQ on top of AAT correction.

Yes, BW Pi8, Technics EAH-AZ80E or Denon PerL Pro would be my alternative choice.

Big Denon Perl Pro fan.

I love my Perl Pros. I also really like the B&O Ex but they sorley lacked noise cancellation and mediating wind noise. The newer B&O Elevens are now out and, apparently, they're better here. Great sounding earbuds. That said, when I say in a B&W equipped Volvo, I had never heard anything like it before. Beyond exceptional sound. I can only imagine the quality of their earbuds too.

Just ordered. I’ll give em a shot. If you think they really do outperform the Pi8, it’s at least worth try 👍🏼

Good feedback, my Perl Pros are being delivered tomorrow and looking forward to a head to head comparison. Many have suggested these, and I’m all for it! Thanks for your feedback! 👍🏼

SON OF A BITCH! These are fn fantastic headphones. Damnit, looks like I’m not done yet. Bravo recommendation. Perl Pro’s are LEGIT! I’ll test all the features I’m checking out this week, but the music quality is absurd!

In terms of music and bass control, absolutely. Transparency, calls, voice isolation, the AZ-100 is still far better. Music though, Denon wins big time. May even be better than the B&W but that’s what I’m working on currently.

I too used to think that BT anything but good atleast in SQ. Hence I gave up on spending money on it & lived with a Jabra h85 fullsize can which is musical if not hifi. And I had & still have some cheap $15 BT neckband earbuds for riding EUCs. That was then & this is now. Then I saw a Denon PerL Pro on a Prime Day deal & said, why not. Its an easy return if it don't float my boat. Well it blew me away. The soundstage, the imaging, the separation, the clarity, the transparency, the details, the sweet vocals & the airy highs that just stop short of sibilance. O & the bass. Everything is so articulate that I can almost zoom in on any instrument & follow it. 1st time ever I thought this is almost, if not as good as a very decent wired fullsize headphone powered with an equivalent amp/dac. Not saying the DPP is the end all & be all but man, I'm impressed. That said, iems/buds are very personal as fit & comfort is everything. Alls I can say is if the stock tips float your boat, try comply foamies. There's others but I havent tried so no idea. Far's inexpensive buds go, for $35-$40, the Soundpeat engine4 SQ is bang for buck but it does not have ANC & its mike isnt anything to write home about. I say start here & maybe you'll see the world in a different light. Goodluck

Have a buncha TWS buds mainly cos its starting to be a bad ̶a̶d̶d̶i̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ habit but nothing has beaten the Denons...yet. As mentioned by other/s, soundstage, imagine & separation are best of the best. Clarity & transparency are also up there with the best. The only weakness (if one can call it that) is the bass, not in quantity but in quality ie. its not as resolving & as textured as I'd like. But its there & there in spades. IMO ofcos

Love my Denon Perl Pro for pure SQ so much so I feel alot of my material isnt good enough. As DD buds for work, calls & such, its below average due to its form & bulk. Have a LG Tonefree FP8 I use as DD. Its decent in ANC, transparency & mic. SQ is ok ie.acceptable but nothing to write home about. Just got in a Roseselsa earfree i5 with factory foamies. A bit spicy in upper mids & ever so slightly bass deficient (in quantity but not quality) but both are easily managed with some EQ'ing. With the foamies, its fit & comfort is leagues above most inears I've used. SQ isnt on par with the DPPs but overall, its good to excellent. ANC is average tho. But the fit & comfort trumps all others & now, its my fav DD. So much so that if I can only have one, I'd choose the Roseselsa i5 > DPPs. Best of all, its only \~$60. IMO ofcos All that said, in your OP stated choices, I'd go Technics if SQ is my prime motivator

Only got the DPP's last mth & I agree with everything you wrote about it. Havent tried any of the other so I'll take your word for them. And yes, I was shocked at how good the DPP sound & 1st thing I thought was dang, these buds are as good as a solid midfi fullsize open headphones ala Senn HD600/650 driven by an equivalent balanced amp

Picked up the Denon PerL Pro on Prime Day (big sale ofcos 😅). I'm lucky that it fits me decently well & relatively comfortably. With the right Masimo AAT tuning, the DPPs sounds amazing. Soundstage is as wide as anything out there (nevermind buds) with great air & separation. I can almost discern all the instruments playing as if hearing each individually. Clarity & transparency is next level. Bass is articulate & slams hard. Every improvement upstream is discernable. Far's phone qualities, I've not done much on it as I've other daily drivers for such. These DPPs are purely for my audio addiction fix. Tho I'm curious about the rest of the best, I am very satisfied with the DPP. Fact that I could return but choose to keep it says everything.

I had the denon and sent them back because no matter what I tried I could not get a good fit on my right ear and I kept failing the sound setup mode/fit test. Had them for a really good price but just could not get it to work for me - plus they look like you've got dinner plates in your ears!

When tuned to your ears, the Denon Perl Pro have no equal for sound stage and dynamic range. ANC isn't what it could be.(like my Sony 1000XMF or Liberty Pro 4 which are both excellent)

Denon Perl Pro's are pretty amazing with my phone/Ally but the MTW4's paired with a proper up to date BT adapter is chef's kiss. I got the BT-W6 that came out few months ago to experience the Momentum's aptX Lossless quality.

I use Sennheiser MTW4 and Denon Perl Pro's for all my WFH meetings for their amazing static free ANC capabilities.

Perl Pro & MTW4 will give you the best sound quality.

yeah, me too. I listen hard rock/metal and imo they sound better with eq rather than aat. I've tried many times to do the calibration but every time it's just too dark and scooped (v shaped).

I already made a comment on this recently, but these shits are anything but reliable. Do not buy them. I'm on my 3rd pair of these and every single time the left earbud randomly dies and is no longer functional. I'm stuck with having just the right earbud and that's it. I don't even have the energy or motivation to go and ask for a replacement for the 4th time, I'll just suck it up to me falling for scummy advertising and never buy anything from Denon again.

I listen to mostly older metal 80-00's and got the Denon perl pro's a week ago and put 30-40 hours worth of listening and they've been great for the genre. Did pick up some spinfit omni tips for them and have had no issues with fit(other than getting the tips on the nozzle, apparently there's another tip that fits more easily by the name of divinus velvet wide bore that I may end up buying) or comfort. Sound separation has been immaculate and the buds don't buckle or get distorted or muddy at higher volumes. I usually listen at 2-3 ticks under full volume. Only downside for your use is I'm not sure they'd be the best for gym use, but I did take them out running a few times, and slipped and fell on some black ice, and didn't have any problems with the buds jarring loose or popping out when I ate shit

Not on your list but I love my Denon Perl Pro and they're on a crazy sale right now on Amazon. They are a bit larger than the others though and, based the options listed, I'd go with the AZ80 or Momentums.

I use Denon Perl Pro and would absolutely purchase them again based on my experience thus far.

If money is no object and sound quality is a priority I'd go even a category higher; B&O BeoPlay EX B&W Pi7 S2 Denon PerL Pro You do hit diminishing returns when it comes to sound quality but these do sound a step above the rest, alongside the Momentum True Wireless 4 and the Technics AZ80. I wouldn't trust Medium for earbud reviews since it's a blog site; I personally really like Aaron X Loud N Wireless's site[Aaron X Loud N Wireless's site](https://www.loudnwireless.com/), because he posts his binaural recordings of earbuds using the same track and allows for side by side comparisons on his website. Provided that OP already has a pair of earbuds, they can then compare the different pairs of earbuds for differences in tuning and tonality.

Haven't purchased another tws since getting the DPP. Just don't see the point, soundstage and rave-like-sound presentation is ridiculous and everything else kinda sounds boring in comparison.

Recently, I was testing tws earbuds, and the best picks are (;tldr) Technics AZ80, Denon Perl Pro or Devialet Gemini II. More detailed read: (remember, with headphones everyting is individual and based only on my own impressions, YMMV) Sony WF-1000XM5 – comfortable, excellent ANC, but the sound is very weak, with huge bass bleed into the mids; everything is muffled, and nothing has changed at Sony. I honestly don't understand what people see in the XM line. Bang & Olufsen EX – ANC is poor, almost as if it weren't there, despite the positive reviews online. I'm disappointed with the sound. They probably would have been fine a few years ago, but now there are cheaper and better headphones on the market. The price includes the B&O tax. Nothing Ear (2) 2024 – Big surprise. Cheap price, sounds better than Sony or B&O, they doesn't resonate when walking, ANC is okay (70% of Sony's), comfortable, great app, good connectivity, looks great. The sound is slightly V-shaped, but it doesn't lack clarity, brilliance, and balance. Galaxy Buds Pro - Harman tuning, overall disappointed with them. I expected a lot more for the money with AKG and Samsung's background. ANC is okay, the sound is very dry and clear, but they are comfortable. They are the kind of AirPods for Samsung users who will be satisfied with a fairly boring sound, but otherwise not much. Perfect for audiobooks and podcasts. Sennheiser Momentum TWS4 – I had a lot of faith in them, but I'm disappointed. Weak ANC, not great tuning, but above all, they sit very strangely in the ear, and I've tried many aftermarket earpieces. The sound is nothing special; even "Nothing" is much better. Technics AZ80 - Fantastic!! I wouldn’t hesitate to call them “audiophile TWS headphones.” The ANC is decent; they are comfortable, don’t resonate when walking or running, the app is very detailed, and the sound is simply brilliant. They play the entire spectrum of details, and they are fun. A great buy with a mature sound, almost like wired headphones, and they have a great soundstage. Given the LDAC, these are the best. Denon Perl Pro - My favorites in the sound department, but they are far from "the best" in everything else. They look crazy, but in fact, they are comfortable; you just have these sorts of plates on your ears ("in front of your ears"). But the sound is uncompromisingly perfect. The whole spectrum of details; they are fun, musical, and they have excellent technology for custom tuning with regard to hearing defects and the shape of the ear. It is phenomenal and it really works. It's not that strict neutral hi-fi, but rather a fun hi-fi that gets you moving and has body. Buts? Cheap charging box, they don't suit everyone (short stems), ANC is weak, passthrough is bad, but you'll forgive them everything once you start listening to them. They have such an effect that when you start playing songs on shuffle from a selection of your 1000 favorite tracks, a song you've already heard a hundred times and you don't really enjoy it anymore, you'll let it play because it will simply be fun again through these. Devialet Gemini II—I'll refer to the Denon Perl Pro as they have a lot in common. It's actually really hard to choose between them. If the Denon Perl Pro are a 9.5/10 to me sonically, then these are a 9/10 (the 10/10 goes to Technics if you don't listen purely to EDM and want that juicy low end). They are actually great, dense, tunable, fun, with a lot of details. They are diminished a bit by codecs, and that's a shame, but in the end, it doesn't matter to a lot of people. The reason they are not 10 out of 10 is purely because the Perl Pro simply has a little extra "magic" and they lack the clarity of Technics. With Perl Pros, I don't know if it's the technology compensating for age, hearing quality, and ear shape, but Denon's have mojo; these are "just great." But I was just talking about sound for now. Where the Denon's ANC is 5/10, the Devialet's are, without exaggeration, at the level of the best on the market. Plus, they add technology to deal with impact sounds and wind, and both work perfectly. And without negative pressure or unpleasant feelings. For me, Devialet simply has the TOP ANC on the market at the level of Sony, Bose, or Apple. The same goes for passthrough; it's like you don't have headphones on, really cool. Furthermore, the build quality is great, they're "small," they're comfortable to wear, there are numerous settings in the app, and they're easy to control - Geminis can justify its high price. I would get Technics if you can and want to use the LDAC codec and play your music at high bitrates. Also, they are not that bass-heavy; they sound almost analytical but fun nonetheless with an excellent soundstage. The Perl Pros are just magical, but they have their quirks. The Devialets are the "whole frickin' package" minus the codecs, so they will be absolutely fine with Spotify but they lack the magic of the Perl Pros or the sound quality of Technics. Edit: grammar

Because the Denon PerL Pro still exist. Haven’t heard anything better (yet).

1. Denon Perl Pro 2. Status Between 3ANC 3. Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 Based off sound quality. Devialet Gemini II also a worthy mention.

I have the opposite experience, tried both the Denon and B&W, heard SO MUCH good here on Reddit about the Denon, I wanted them to be good. My first focus is sound quality, the rest is optional. And when I tried them it was a total let down, not great but not bad, that's all. The sound is lacking detail. Maybe good for the price, but that's it. I wasn't expecting anything with the B&W, but I was astonished by the sound, especially about the global restitution and the details. Bass is good, treble is smooth and not hard at all like people are saying. I also tried the Hifiman which for me had the best overall sound, but they had issues with Bluetooth while walking, impossible to use when moving. So I kept the B&W. If that helps anyone, I use at home the Dan Clark E3 with preamp and amp.

Easily to most debated topic in bluetooth right now ....Denon vs pi8s vs Az80...for me the pi8s have no equal in sound and comfort for me. However the Denon perl Pro are just under them and with their new price of $149..it is easily the best choice of them all now if you can take advantage of the price deduction now. But at their orginal price of $350...the Az80 at $280 was the best purchase. The Az80, while 3rd in sound, has the sound that is still amazing in timbre and at the cost to performance ratio,  represented a better value when all were new. Overall I still don't believe any bluetooth earphone is worth more than $300, let alone the overpriced cost of $399 for the PI8. I regret buying them still today becauee they don't live up to the cost-performance over the denon or az80. They have battery issues and the features work at a basic level at best. But again if all you asking is who is the top and best in sound regardless of margin of advantage it had over the other, the PI8 are it. Just be ready to spend the money and get issues with the battery life and charging sync consistency( You can find you earbuds only at 80% aftrt having them charging in the csse for 2 days) .  For those interested: Sound= 1. pi8:10 2. Denon perl Pro: 9.7 3. AZ80: 8.8  My overall score though with features, cost, and performance trust as of today 1. Denon perl Pro $149 2. AZ80 $260 3. PI8 $399

That's a loaded question. Cost focused options (no order)  1. Earfun Air pro 4 ( 50 hours total in battery with over 8 per listening charge, very rich sound, comfort is just like all airpods like shaped earphone, good ANC, good phone call quality and under $100. 2. Bose 2nd Gen QC with over 10 per charge, greatest ANC, amazing hear thru, good phone call quality, and good sound, good fit under $180 3. Denon perl pro.. Will get you at least 5 hours of battery life, decent ANC, decent phone call quality, but the best sound quality under $250, could argue higher. Under $180 If you don't care about prices.  1. Az100 easily!  Beast battery life, good comfort, nice ANC, good hear thru, one of very best timbre, mid range, and bass quality out there. A very nice phone quality with the best ANC phone call noise block ever seen in the world. 3 device connection,. Amazing app and pen point touch control that can customized.. $299 one of the world's greatest dependable, zero problem devices in Bluetooth.  2. Noble Rex5... One of the best complete range audio experience you can get. Comfort a little on the chucky side but still nice for me, ANC is OK, hear thru is OK, but the phone call quality is one of the very best. ...can be a little tricky to get the perfect sound for some people due to the 3 level EQ system. You have to know what you are doing to get the best. But once you do... Its hard to beat it's sound $449  Honorable mention:  3. PI8'S.. They are Kryptonite and the sun at the same time. I would suggest this hands down as the best period in sound and comfort. But because they have horrible ANC and bad phone call quality I don't think this fits your list. But if just sound and comfort.. They are "inevitable"! Oh.. They have a battery drainage issue if you don't used them regularly they drain every day of none use. But omg, I can't stop picking them up to listen to my music. 

I own/have owned about a dozen mid to high end TWS buds over the last 4-5ish years. Here's my list: - Nothing Ear (2024) - OnePlus Buds Pro 3 - Denon PerL Pro - Devialet Gemini 2 - Sennheiser Momentum TW 4 - Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro (old but gold)

Soundpeat pearl pros you can get them for 23 bucks on Amazon with a discount code. I'm really enjoying my set, I'm also waiting for my baseus mc1 to show up.

Have tried a lot IMO DEFINITELY the best for budget are the Denon, those are unbeatable for the price. Went for the Gemini nonetheless as they sounded the best for me

Audio quality and sound wise — Aviot TE-ZX1 / PNK, or Noble FoKus Pro, Prestige, or the new REX5. PerL Pro's are a gem *__if__* you are lucky enough to get a good fit, and tune the personalised sound profile in a vacuum/airtight space - I found doing it in my car worked perfectly for an accurate, most neutral to my ear tuning.

i use the equalizer built into poweramp. i have not found an app yet that helped much, and most of them are total crap

i just bought them at that price. i have sony 1000mx5's but was looking for something that sounded good but didn't mean carrying $300 worth of earbuds all the time.

Absolutely, but it's critical to get the fit right with their fit test and then personalize your sound profile. I actually had to turn the bass down it's so strong and I'm a pretty critical listener. But if you get them at Amazon, you can always return them so you're not taking that much of a chance at that price. P.s. I only use foam tips and these fit me better without the included wings.

p.p.s. they DO look like dinner plates in your ear but they are very comfortable, possibly because the disc rest on a different part of the ear (they are also heavier but i don't notice it) but i just tell myself that's where the amazing bass comes from :o)

Between my wife and I, we have Airpods Pro, Perl Pros, Status Audio, Bose QuietComfort, and Sony XM4 earbuds. All of them are good at SOMETHING it just depends on what priorities are. My favorite ones for travel are the Sony (Bose for my wife) -- their ANC seems to work the best. Airpod Pro are great for general usage, features, usability, but ANC isn't as good IMO. My daily drivers are the Denon Perl Pro which I got for half price as a trade show special. Incredible sound quality, decent ANC (But worse passthrough than others).

Denon Perl Pro has a perfect sound. The best of the ear buds around that price range. Second up is the jabra elite 10 (gen2).

I wanted to like the Denons, but, those damn things just wont stay in my ears, regardless of the 6 or so different tips I tried, so I tried the PI8's and low and behold, mind boggling sound, and they stay put in my ears.. AZ 80's are solid, premium buds, but sound wise, the B&W PI8 and the Denons pearl pros definitely sound better

you have to tweak the Denon's sound and then they will blow you away; their OOB soundstage is poor

very few, if any premium buds, play great out of the box, so if you dont tweak them, you are missing out on alot of their premium sounds

good sound, lousy fit

Today I got the Soundcore Liberty 5 and Denon PerL Pro earbuds, spent an hour setting the Soundcore up and massively disappointed, tweaked the settings, auto setup and manual setups, just not enough volume, no decent bass, played around with all settings, sending them straight back As for the Denon PerL Pro, I love them! Spent a bit of time setting these up also and WOW!! huge sound! plenty of volume and the overall audio quality is incredible, for £155 brand new, (reduced from £299 🇬🇧) I’ll be keeping these for sure! The apps okay but not as good as other companies apps I find using LARGE size Comply Isolation Plus TX-500 memory foam tips work best for all my earbuds, I just don’t get a decent seal with all the various supplied Silicon type, anybody else find this? It’s all about the “seal” Still waiting for the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 to arrive later today, looking forward to testing these! after all the testing so far, I just want to try the remaining 2 pairs next week (to make up my mind) the Technics AZ100’s and the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EX After this, I’ll make my decision.. don’t think I’ve missed any out? 🤷🏻‍♂️😉

>Best Earbuds for Music and Calls I've reviewed most of the TWS Earbuds in your list and added some of the new models and some not listed (Denon and HUAWEI ) that are best in their respective class. Here's my subjective scoring for Music and Calls in a dynamic loud noise environment (feel free to listen to the links provided for Calls): Technics EAH-AZ80 Music: 8.5/10 [Calls: 7/10](https://youtu.be/gjlv-buNT14?t=302) Sony WF-1000XM5 Music: 8.5/10 [Calls: 4/10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8z4mGaPpco&t=269s) Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II Music: 7/10 [Calls: 4/10](https://youtu.be/hx2EfAhO1dg?t=170) Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Music: 7.5/10 [Calls: 4/10](https://youtu.be/d8z4mGaPpco?t=351) Jabra Elite 10 Music: 8/10 [Calls: 7.5/10](https://youtu.be/N3p4eAM6KhY?t=344) Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) Music: 8/10 [Calls: 7/10](https://youtu.be/F6hzX8pYYuk?t=302) Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 Music: N/A Calls: N/A Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro Music: 8/10 [Calls: 6/10](https://youtu.be/Xthq08rrXCI?t=294) Beats Fit Pro Music: N/A Calls: N/A HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 3 Music: 8/10 [**Calls: 10/10**](https://youtu.be/HSKp21z5XtU?t=365) Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 Music: 8.5/10 [Calls: 6.5/10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjlv-buNT14&t=270s) Denon PerL Pro **Music: 9/10** [Calls: 7/10](https://youtu.be/8gRPinbf7EY?t=354) NOTHING ear 2024\* Music: 8.5/10 [Calls: 7.5/10](https://youtu.be/HSKp21z5XtU?t=336) \*Edit: Added 2024-06-21

While Music Sound Quality is subjective and I'm definitely not an audiophile, the scores I listed above are not based on default setting. For example, the Denon PerL Pro with Default setting would be 6/10. After performing Masimo AAT Personalized tuning, it would go up to 8.5/10. Then after some other adjustments with Bass and ProEQ it would go to 9/10. Similarly, with HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 3, the Default setting would be 7/10. Then after performing 10 Band EQ adjustment to my liking, at most it would be 8/10. Cheers!

Throwing the Denon PerL Pro out there. Incredible soundstage and bass for earbuds but the ANC is lacking.

I own the Perlo pro and Az80 the Perl pro are bassier and definitely louder, but Az80 instrumental and voice separation is amazing Perl pro sound good but when I try both the az80 brings out some amazing details that I'd never noticed before on the perls I'm using both the Az80 voice and midrange shines I love both though

Just got them yesterday and was very excited to try them for my morning subway ride and typical crowded office workspace. Sadly, the ANC is either defective on mine or simply very very subpar compared to my previous Sony XM4. I can hear chatter in the office and keyboard clacking sound. In the subway I could easily hear the conversations happening next to me with 'peaceful instrumental' music on at what would have been regular volume. It doesn't seem to be a fit issue as ironically, without ANC turned on they appear to be blocking environmental sound better than my Sony XM4. While sound quality is superior specficially on the Highs, ANC seems to be a complete bust, not just 'not as good' as most reviews stated ... to me anyways. Very very disappointed and I've gone through too many IEMs and other headphones over the past 25+ years. For someone working in a very quiet environment they maybe be good as they have a better than average sound signature (very subjective) at their price range on sale (260$ CAD so 170$ USD for the Pros)

No, with transparency mode it gets incredibly loud, as it should. It's just very limited anc. Been using them since, maybe not as bad as initially described but definitely a weak anc for otherwise good sounding and comfortable earbuds. 

Vile just got them and they are so bad. Why would you recommend this scam product 😂 now ima have to return them tomorrow on my lunch break 💀 fu lol

I have trust issues from yall. The pear are vile 😭

Only with devices that support aptX Adaptive or aptX Lossless. They sounded like cheap earbuds with my Samsung Galaxy phone in comparison while using them with my old Sony Xperia phone. Later additional edit: The sound was also cramped in the middle and couldn't use the app when using the Sennheiser BTD 600 bluetooth dongle.

Update: I just read my problem is a Samsung issue, not an aptX issue. Also, I may have bought the wrong BT dongle for my phone. I have sent everything back for a refund, so I cannot test other BT dongles.

They sound much better with Adaptive, like night and day. You can (maybe) better buy the not-Pro version for the same sound when your phone only has aptX Classic. Those are much cheaper.

Yes, with Adaptive they sound much clearer and the soundstage sound much wider. Looking at the list of different, the non Pro version is not an alternative option I see.

how is everybody so positive about the Perl Pro's... i just got them because of everybody telling them they are great. But they suck soooooo hard. The sound quality is so much worse than my old TW2's from sennheiser. The soundstage is crap, the high end sounds cheap. The low end sounds too punchy, mostly cheap earbuds do this. A good earbud is crystal clear linear sound with extreme wide soundstage. This is soooooo crap.

Yes the Perl Pros. Massive discounts. Sound is excellent when personalised.

Honestly can't believe the Perl Pro still gets love. I had 3 of them 2 I sent back because of defective and the 3rd collects dust as I use my nothing ear a more. The fit just doesn't feel right, its heavy after an hour of use so who cares about battery life, things look massive in your ears, may as well get some over ears for comfort. I know its anecdotal, but AZ100s should absolutely have topped this list compared to a Denon Perl Pro

Dennon Perl Pro. So realistic sounding. I have run the profile over and over in different environments and used the equalizer to get the right tuning. They are now amazing.

One thing to know is that sound is subjective. All the ones you a re looking at are competitive with one another in the higher end consumer segment. The momentums might be a good choice for your music needs as they are a bass forward earbud with good sound. I love the Technics but the fit might not be the most comfortable for everyone. I can tell you this the AZ 80 earbuds are not the most comfortable for my ears BUT I have used more comfortable earbuds. Also the Perl Pro are comparable imo for sound but I had the experience and have seen a lot of people says they are uncomfortable. As for the Sony they are decent but the others produce a better sound profile. The best thing to do if you are able to is look at some reviews YouTube. If you want some good sources I can help with that. Also try the others if you can and return what you don't like. Unfortunately it's a big trial and error type situation especially with fit. One thing that will help with the fit is some eartips from Spinfit. I've found that I've gotten better sound and fit from earbud using theor eartips. Hope this helps some

Hard to beat those 4nc in this particular question. With eq, they have massive bass. They have some of the most solid anc. They have ldac and good tuning for audio quality. If your more of a Harman curve person, try to Galaxy buds 2 pro and buds fe. If that doesn't do ya, go straight to the perl pro. If that doesn't do ya, grab a fiio wireless kit and start trying iems

I got some Denon pearls and they sound great. Stay in my ear when running and keep a lot of the noise out.

I have been lured into the Pearls from reviews on reddit, and I am not impressed. My go to earbuds before was Soundcore Liberty Pro 3. But at some point they only lasted 1 hour after a recharge, which wasn't enough. So I looked reviews etc and was intrigued by the Pearls. But as I said, I'm not impressed. They are okay, but that's it. Overall sound is on par with my old ones. Noise cancellation is not better. They talk too much, and some of the tap stuff are not just as great imo. Double tap you actually need to be quite fast. That's just annoying. Also, the fit is just not as good. And I've tried every tip. Compared to the Soundcores they fall out way too easily. So, they are not bad per se, but I would really want another pair of Soundcores if I could repick.

Regular Denon PerLs are insanely good sounding too. Just a tad less bass than the pros but this bass is a woofer anyways

The only time I've noticed when they kinda crap out persay is like in heavy heavy traffic (let's say walking the streets of a busy city with lots of lights, electronics etc) they'll sort of cut in and out idky but the sound alone I don't mind it lmaoo. Not sure if the pro model does this but if not just go for those as I believe they're on sale rn

I've had these buds for about 2 years and they're actually very good and sound wise they slap. The three audio EQ modes actually work and the bass mode will really improve the bass texture. I use the Denon PerLs as my go to but these are always in my bag when going to work. Id recommend getting final audio type 3 tips for them, I have both the TWS and the standard black & clear version tips and they both fit fine. Another plus with these buds is that since the nozzle stem is longer like a traditional earbud you can get some great aftermarket tips and really play around with them more.

I've been here for a minute and these are good options but some are better than others by leagues. I'd never compare the Bose to the denon perls. I think the sonys and Panasonic are worse than perls but way better than the Bose also.

Sounds like I'd like em if I didn't have perls. I like the hearing test they have with Massimo or however you spell it. I put a 10 band eq over to make it even more full and I have an adapter(creative btw6)to boost the signal for 24bit 96. I couldn't improve. Do you use stock tips? I use azla xlastics, and foams when I'm in a noisy environment. The sound funnels into your ears more uniform, good for the surround sound of the pros

I'd be interested to know your thoughts on the status between 3nc since I also bought the Denon perLs and agreed with everything you said. I had them before replacing them with the Denons after a washing machine mishap as I would honestly consider them one of the best sound for pound earbuds I've tried (note I am in no way a sound engineer)