In my opinion bluetooth has come a long way in the last couple of years and I really feel that we have reached a point where it's becoming increasingly difficult to tell the difference between a wired and a wireless connection.
Through a combination of review units being sent out and my own purchases I really shouldn't have, I appear to have amassed a rather embarrassing amount of wireless headphones. Here's the list (mostly based on my personal preferences from best downwards):-
Without a doubt these are my favourite full sized bluetooth headphones. Now I come to think of it, it's the only full sized bluetooth headphone I have in my collection currently. I love their sound character and they can go loud, feature excellent controls and go for a long time on a single charge.
Sonically to my ears they share a similar sound signature to the larger Sony counterparts. I love the active noise cancelling and I think they sound superb. It's fair to say that these are my favourite true wireless earphones at this point in time.
A very pure set of true wireless in-ear monitors which focus completely on sound quality and battery life. These sound great and have an excellent feel in the ears - the only thing that lets them down is the very stiff buttons.
Another brand which definitely focusses on what’s important in a set of bluetooth earphones - sound quality, range and battery life. The Air-X definitely hits the spot for me. The only criticism I could level at them is the tips fall off too easily because the stems are too smooth.
I know, I know, I’ve just lost some cred but to be truthful I think that they sound excellent and are ideal for listening to music in bed as you can lie on your side quite comfortably with these in.
The CF01 is a Bluetooth Adaptor which is designed to connect directly with your favourite set of mmcx enabled earphones. The electronics then simply wrap around the back of your ears Peru much out of sight. You might think that this would become somewhat cumbersome but in actual fact they feel great and are no more visible than a regular set of earphones.
The CF-01’s are made from a combination of metal and plastic which gives them a really cool futuristic - almost industrial look to them. I could easily imagine someone mistaking them for hearing aids - just really cool hearing aids that give you special powers. They feature just one multi-control button on each bud which offers the usual set of controls - nothing special there. Unfortunately you cannot control the volume from the device - that’s a shame. A short braided cable comes from the top which terminates in a really tightly fitting MMCX plug. That’s it. Just add your own favourite compatible tips and you’re good to go.
The adaptors come with a USB Type C charging case - just like you would get on many sets of TWS type earphones. The case is significantly bigger than any of those though - but for good reason - it stores your buds along with the electronics - excellent touch. To make things even better though, the lid is held in place with a button so it can resist being sprung open when attempting to hold some of the larger IEM’s out there. That’s a real nice touch. I did expect it to be somewhat fiddly getting these devices back in the case but it’s actually just as easy as any other TWS headphone out there - the magnets just help them find their place - easy peasy.
There’s really not much to say about these headphone adaptors - they just work. Bluetooth range is excellent - easily coping with the upstairs bathroom test. Connection is also rock solid - I’ve yet to experience any break ups at all and the power output is very impressive indeed. The singly button controls are reasonably easy to find and what’s nice is that you don’t affect the fit when you use them. The headphones power on and off when you remove and replace them in the case.
Battery life appears good - although I’ve not really had the chance to test this out properly yet. iBasso lists the following on the rather nice packaging:-
Bluetooth Version: Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth Coding: SBC AAC aptX
Wireless Range: 1 0 m
Speaker Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz
Output Power: 9mW@32ohm
SNR: ?98dB
Audio decoding: 24bit 192kHz
THD+N: <1% (20Hz-lOkHz ImW)
Playtime: 4.5h (adapter) + 20h (charging case)
Charging time; 1 .5h (adapter) + 2.5h (charging case)
Waterproof level: IPX5
A quick qualifier. Whilst I do consider myself to have reasonably good hearing - I’m also 57 years old and can’t kid myself that I have the ears of a 19-year old. With this in mind, I do like a flat, fairly uncoloured sound signature when critically listening (think Etymotic ER4P) but when I’m more active I do like a smidge of extra bass. I avoid using any form of EQ - not because I’m a snob or a ‘flat Earther’ - it’s just that I use both my phone and my Sony Walkman A55 MP3 player. The Sony doesn’t support eq function when using bluetooth. I tend to focus on getting the right tips - always happy to try the ones supplied with the units first but also not afraid to tip roll when necessary.
I naturally paired the CF01 with their IT00 iems and tried them out for a couple of hours. This combination sounds superb. Utterly flat and indistinguishable from a wired connection (at least from my poor, tired old ears). I then wanted to test the IT00’s using the supplied cable so I then fitted my trusty Magaosi K3 Pro IEMs to the CF01 and I haven’t looked back since. The sound quality on these adaptors is utterly remarkable. There’s no hiss, no colouration to the sound and the volume in buckets. I have to say that this pairing is like a match made in heaven - without a doubt this is one of the best sounding bluetooth headphone system I’ve ever heard.
Now don’t get me wrong. I still love my Sony’s and my Tevi’s and my Mavin’s - I suspect that I always will. The Sony’s offer much better external noise cancellation than the CF01/Magaosi Combo (from now on just referred to as the CF01). The Mavin’s and the Tevi’s are far more convenient to carry around and feature proper waterproofing and the WH1000xm2’s are just fabulous. But from a pure sound quality perspective, the CF01’s are utterly sublime. The fit is good but I wish there was a half centimeter more length to the cable which connects the electronics to the earbuds. With the IT00’s the fit is perfect but with the Magaosi’s, the cable felt just slightly too short.
I think the Magaosi K3 Pro add a slight bass ‘bloom’ to the sound - not enough to spoil the overall neutrality, just enough to give them a bit of ‘zing’. In other words, this combination isn’t ruler-flat but this is because of the buds I’m using - not the CF01’s themselves.
To be honest, there’s really nothing major to criticise with this device. There are some things I would like to have seen - for example LDAC codec support, a slightly longer cable, remote volume controls, but in many ways this is just nitpicking because they sound so damned good just as they are.
I would normally break the sound character down and discuss in detail the bass, mids and treble - but with this device it’s really pointless - it appears to be ruler flat, has great power output and basically will sound as good as whatever headphones you decide to connect to them. If you have a set of wired IEM’s which use the MMCX connector, don’t hesitate if you want to experience bluetooth sound at its best. Very highly recommended.