oluvsgadgets

Anker Soundcore 3 - first impressions

Some first impressions about the new Soundcore 3. I am not sure it's worth doing another video, as I don't think it's that great with that distortion.

Update: I uploaded a new version of this video with another EQ applied to my recording which should improve the treble rendering even more. I was working on making treble appear more realistic than it was before. It is not easy to create a smooth response for all headphones because of all the individual peaks from my ears and from the HD6...

Verifying my recording method #2

It's time to verify the recording results again but this time with my new open microphones.

I made this live this time and wanted you to take part to demonstrate you what I am actually trying to achieve. I think it will be hard to get even closer. For me it would seem as if every recording generation would lose additional details, but tonality remains quite similar and mostly dependent on precisely I manage to place my monitoring headphone.

VIFA Reykjavik

No quiz this time, just those who really want one please send me a message.

Google Nest Audio vs Sony SRS-XB33

I bought a brand new DJI Pocket 2 which seemed to fix the overheating issues I had with my previous one, but the firmware which was installed was still an older version and obviously had some focusing issues because many parts of the video are not focused properly, sorry for this. Yesterday I updated it to the latest firmware and this piece of crap is again overheating after half an hour. 

I reported this to DJI and they are just sorry about that issue, what a bunch of morons.

HomePod Mini vs Echo 4 vs Nest Audio - sound demo

Just a quick video to give you a better idea about what to expect from each of these. 

I want to prepare another video putting all 3 together with either the XB33 or Sonos Play:1 for comparison. 

Apple HomePod Mini - first impressions

I had to upload this video to VIMEO due to a copyright issue. On Youtubve it's only visible in the US. all other countries are blocked, here the Youtube link for my US viewers which is higher resolution: https://youtu.be/uIg0zslIlHg

Welcome spring

Surprisingly we got some greetings from spring er winter over night and went out to enjoy the beautiful day and wanted to take you with us.

Shot with the Iphone 12 mini and Sennheiser AMBEO, edited directly within the iPhone as Premiere wasn't able to read the HEVC files.

PS. it seems I got out of memory on my phone because the last video part is missing.

JBL Charge 5 vs Anker SoundCore Motion+

Not sure if it makes any sense to keep the JBL for longer, although not a bad speaker, I simply do not think it's anything really worth buying, the Anker sounds more pleasant to me and with 2 playing in stereo they completely blow the JBL out of the water regarding power while still being cheaper.

I will just try preparing some measurements, then send the JBL back.

Earfun Free Pro - user reviews

I just got the info that all orders from from the first batched were already shipped today, thus I expect some of you to already get their units probably next week.

Thanks again for all your support and trust in me. Without you this project could have never been done. I hope that you will enjoy my tuning for the Earfun Free Pro just as much as I do.

I created a video where I would love everyone who got a unit or had the chance to listen to one to leave some short feedback or unbi...

New microphones - sound demo

Still work in progress and I will need some more time to verify consistency and if the final results are really valid for both headphones and speakers. 

The first results seem quite promising though and the self referencing compensation obviously works well for recordings of both headphones and speakers. I hear the captured sound more realistic now than what I managed before with my old microphones. 

The only drawback is an increased amount of hiss with the new micr...

Sonos Roam

Before everyone starts asking about the upcoming Sonos Roam, I had ordered one but it will be dispatched on April 20th thus still some time to go....

I won’t have the Charge 5 until then as it’s definitely not a speaker I would like to keep. It’s not bad sounding, JBL does really well usually also keeping the sound nicely unter control but it lacks this particular “soul”, it’s boring it’s too 1-dimensional and I don’t think it’s worth the price, but it would...

JBL Charge 5 - unboxing & first impressions

Please note that I was using my new microphones for this video for the very first time and just created a quick compensation afterwards which I couln't quite validate as the recording appears slightly too harsh for me. I will need to invest some more time into making my recording method more realistic. I have 3 new pairs of microphones now and will need to test which one works best and gives the most consistent results.

Earfun Free Pro tuned by me available for preorder

These preorders will be shipped around mid of April or a bit earlier if possible, all existing orders from the first batch should be shipped next Friday.

Earfun Free Pro Oluv's edition - sound demo

I am quite overwhelmed by the high demand and great feedback so far, thanks to everyone who ordered a unit or even 2 although the sale didn't start as smoothly as expected. In the meantime nearly all planned 700 units were sold. They had added further 200 units for sale which were originally reserved as backup for giveaways, reviews etc.

The first 700 units will be shipped out on March 20th, now they are planning a new batch with further units to be finished and shipped by mid of April ...

Earfun Free Pro Oluv's edition available now

More details and purchase link here: https://myearfun.com/headphones/earfun-free-pro-anc-true-wireless-earbuds-oluv-editioin?shareid=40C8877044D

UPDATE: page seems to have some issues currently, I was told not to worry, shipping is available to all countries, just let them fix the problems. 

UPDATE2: site should be working properl...

Official announcement on March 9th 9:00CET

I wanted to let you watch the video already before the official announcement to make up your mind what to expect. I am making some bold claims in this video which to some may appear like an advertisment, but actually this is how I really feel right now about this product.

I have no purchase link yet but should get it right before the official announcement at 9:00 CET. At least this is the plan. I have no idea how high the demand will really be, as I cannot predict how much people trust ...

Tribit Stormbox Pro - playlist

Strangers - Roosevelt

Calling - QUIN

Room Service - Chromeo

Friday Night (feat. Regina Troupe) [Newurbanjazz Remix] - Bob Baldwin

Stand Up - Will Downing

Your Smile - Will Downing

Raptor - Jeff Lorber Fusion

Caught Up (feat. Phony Ppl) - VanJess

Beautiful Life - Pink Sweat$

Lov-Lov-Love (feat. Incognito) - Mario Biondi

Summertime (feat. Noel McKoy & Opolopo) [Opolopo Radio Edit] - Yam Who?

Lady (Hear M...

Tribit Stormbox Pro - soundcheck

Not necessary to comment anything

Coming soon...

Just ordered one as some already asked about it, stay tuned.

Also coming up next is the Tribit Stormbox Pro which finally arrived after being stuck at the customs for 3 months. Just finished shooting with it and hope to post it tomorrow.

First “review” of the Earfun Free Pro Oluv’s edition

Of course not a real review but a while back I had sent a unit to a friend of mine who is musician. So far no one else heard it (apart from my 8 year old son who likes it as well).

I thought I would post our chat here (removing the non relevant parts)

The 2 giveaway units were dispatched today to the winners. I hope to get some additional feedback from them as well.

Earfun Free Pro vs Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro

I will release this video next week to the public but wanted to let you watch it already before. This video is part of my "contract" with Earfun, the follow up video will be the introduction of the Oluv's edition. 

I didn't bash either of them, which I usually would do, as both sound really crappy to me out of the box with a way too boomy sound and simply being too colored overall. The Anker with its default settings sounds even harsher, but can be improved a bit through the Soundc...

DOSS Soundbox XL 1.1 vs 2.1 & Google Nest Audio

I bought the latest version of the Doss Soundbox XL based on a recommendation but in the end it turned out to sound worse then the previous versions. I also wanted to feature the Google Nest Audio which became our daily speaker playing webradio stations the whole day in our kitchen. 

Give away surprise

Update: We already have 2 winners, congrats to Matthias and David!

My first idol was Jean Michel Jarre for those who didn't know.

Sony WF-1000XM3 EQ settings

I was asked to post my personal EQ settings for the Sony WF-1000XM3. To be honest I haven’t used it anymore since I started working on the Earfun, but the most important factor for me to improve the sound was swapping tips. I get better results with the Sony MH1 tips, probably due to a more shallow insertion, as the MH1 tips are longer overall, but this changes the treble response for the better, at least for me. With the original WF-1000XM3 tips I get some ringing with treble which sounds ...

Coming soon...

It's becoming more and more precise therefore I wanted to post a teaser of the upcoming Earfun site which should go online within the next week (the text is not by me btw). 

The whole process was quite an odyssey so far and it cost me lots of time and nerves to get it done, besides Earfun was really patient with me as they offered me enough time and freedom to really bring everything to perfection. Tuning took lots of time as I was not trying to adjust the sound to some particular ...

Who the fuck is Sean Olive?

It took me lots of time to shoot this video, prepapring the audio samples properly, syncing them etc. while it's so easy to bash someone's work with a quick facebook post:

https://www.facebook.com/sean.olive/posts/10225519830084082

I wanted to make this video public but a friend told me I was too contentious. Please let me know your thoughts and maybe one could post a link to the vi...

Radsone ES100 - EQ settings

I should have posted this way before, as I wanted to share my EQ settings I did for some of my headphones, 

Here you can find my setting for the HD560S, HE4XX and the SHP9500. I also included the setting for Sundara 2020 I used in my previous video. Also the HD560S and HE4XX were played with exactly these settings in that video.

I had many more but the ES100 only allows to save 4 user presets, so those were the ones I used most lately, otherwise I'd need to overwrite one of t...

Hifiman Sundara 2020 - after midnight playlist

Stand Up - Will Downing

Undone - Raquel Rodriguez

The Shapeshifter - JD73 & JD73's ElecTrio

Almost Home (feat. J3PO & Dana Hawkins) - Evan Marien

Gravitate - Oscar Jerome

Completely Yours - Patrick Bradley

Cantaloupe Island (Dj Meme Remix) - Mario Biondi

Harlock the Brave (Dog) - Alberto Parmegiani & Soul Hunters

Toothpick - Daniel Weiss

Better Than I Imagined (feat. H.E.R. & Meshell Ndegeocello) - Rober...

Hifiman Sundara 2020 revision - after midnight listening session

This was my first approach of the self-referencing compensation method I already mentioned before and I am actually really stunned by the results, at least the first part sounds extremely realistic when listened over the reference headphone, which in my case was the HD600 with Sonarworks profile. You should hear exactly how the Sundara sounds, if you listen over the same headphone or at least one which gives a similar frequency response when equalized with Sonarworks.

Unfortunately over...

Hifiman Sundara - 2020 revision

As I have no fully working microphones, I wanted to make a quick video comparing the new 2020 revision against the old Sundara which I reviewed some time ago. 

It is definitely an improvement, but still way too harsh overall at least for my taste.

I will try to prepare a listening session for the next days before returning the Sundara 2020 and I hoping that at least one of my in-ear mics will be still working.