I appreciate the story and path you’ve shared. Of course the next person could have a drastically different ear shape and things work differently.
I am curious if between these and the Apple products, is the H1 chip the H1 chip, or do other design attributes figure in more?
Oh yes, ear shapes! I know all about that, actually is why I am on the "path"
Im a (for lack of better words*LOL*) normal almost 6 foot guy.
My ears look perfectly normal *L* When earbud makers design a product made to fit perfectly in the ear or ear canal they are taking a whole population or world population and lumping everyone into one group and choosing a design that will be a good TO PERFECT fit for most people, but NOT at all everyone.
Its impossible. (gosh I learned so much in the last month alone on this subject) as even in your own head, many if not most people have a variation from one ear to the other. If the earbud maker doesn't do a best guess correctly, the earbud sales will fail, they need to be comfortable for the target customer and need to fit right for good sound, the manufacturers even need to take into account the general population will not even take the time to learn how to rotate the bud into their ear for a good sealed fit and good sound.
The reviews are a joke when it comes to sound, like in the Amazon reviews, if you see comments like "no bass" ya da ya da... its just that person didnt properly put it in his/her ear correctly.
Ear Canal Buds are tricky, which I have found out. Even your ear canal can be slightly closer to your jaw bone then other people, or even on your head from one ear to the other. This is why when some people chew gum, eat, or yawn and ear bud can come loose.
Keep in mind I am intensely researching this because I dont sit around wearing ear buds, I wear them to do things around the house and why I specifically choose "work out" earbuds/gym ear buds. There are many good ones on the market if your just sitting on a sofa but whole other ball game if you are moving around.
I have my issues in my left ear, with ear canal earbuds, working around the house, fast walking the community ect, the left ear bud will ALWAYS work itself loose.
I tired EVERYTHING. However, I found the ultimate solution ... read on ..
Earbud makers aware of this, they all know, earbuds are modeled for the general population as best they can but then there are the significant others they know their earbuds will not work with. Its why I guess its so easy to try these things out and return them. Ill do a final count, but think I have my EIGHTH earbud coming to the house in tomorrows delivery. I order only workout earbuds and wow, Im thrilled that I got it figured out.
Like I said most all earbuds will sit perfect in my right ear but my left ear they always work loose. This was most evident with the Jabra's and why I am down on this whole B.S. reviews sites, not just consumers reviews, but so called review sites.
Jabras are praised in all of them, how great they are at not falling out, coming loose ect. That is B.S. they may mean well, but just look at some consumer reviews. Go down to the 2 or 3 star reviews on Amazon. Jabra touts itself as a "workout earbud" and they are good, sound good, killer app for your phone. But that is where it ends. They are ear canal earbuds, they have no support structure such as wings or over the ear hooks so they do work loose and for me as much as I tried two of their models, all I did was hurt my ear canals cramming them in, my wife also returned hers, was hurting her ears, making them sore. This was the Jabra Eilite 75t and Jabra Active Elite 75t. We had THREE tried of them, all returned.
(gosh I type to much)
Anyway, true workout buds have wing tips or over the ear hooks and this solution will work with anyone and a godsend to people who have buds falling out all the time. I am about to send a pair of JBL Reflect Mini NC back to JBL, not working for me, in the ear canal ear bud, stays in better then the JABRAs for sure, has a great killer app for the phone too, I REALLY LIKED the sound too, amazing how small they are as well.
But I have the same issue I had with the Jabras but not as bad. My right ear stays perfect, over time, working around the house or fast walking the community, left ear starts to tilt up and lift, stays in the ear way better then Jabra but looks silly as it kind of is tilted up.
So far, to my surprise,
Bose, as far as I am concerned is one of two of the best of the best, Bose Sport Buds.
So perfected they are just AMAZING, super cushy and comfortable. Even my petite wife with small ears loves the comfort. Best of all for me, they NEVER work loose. Its really genius, they aren't small either. They work by using big ear tips that cover the ear canal instead of go in it, super soft no irritation ever. Since its not in your canal, they dont work loose by chewing or moving your jaw and have super soft wing tips to keep them in place. The sound is great, lets get this part out of the way =
the Bose app is horrible. Im shocked at, for Bose of all companies their app is so lame.
SO what I did was I used the App to get up the earbuds all set up the way I wanted AND updated the earbud firmware. Then deleted the app from my iPhone. I can use the iPhone equalizer to control the Bose, they are so good, I just leave it in the "Flat" setting.
So this Bose is #2 on my list of keepers, only a newcomer can possibly knock it off the list. They really sound great, never, ever come loose and super comfortable. I suspect they will stay as my #2 keeper but Thursday will be interesting..
What I am saying is anyone can use the Bose Sport Buds and better then most will have a perfect fit which equals perfect sound compared to a regular earbud. Really amazing and these are most likely one of my two keepers. (keep in mind I still have another being delivered tomorrow (JayBird)
Which brings me to #1 mentioning it last because I can address the H1 chip at the same time. Ok, one thing for sure, as stated I am looking for a total of two earbuds for me personally and actually my wife will be also buying a new one in the coming weeks.
This one is a keeper for sure and has been since the day it arrived. Its no secret in here that I have become an Apple person, I used to hate the company for over 20 years until I started using their products 3 years ago *LOL* I found out, they work well.
Which takes me to the PowerBeats Pro (apple owned), WOW, its an over the ear earbud that works perfect for me, super design, class act, hugs the head, super comfortable, super secure feeling too. Sound is great to amazing, keeping in mind these are Bluetooth devices.
Its a no brainer, killer construction, works flawlessly, brainless set up. Looks like it is custom built for your head shape.
Its my #1 and I am keeping it and OMG I NEVER imagined I would want to use earbuds for phone calls. I mean, to me its about the music but wow, phone calls are amazing on the Powerbeats, I dont need to hold the phone anymore, can walk around and do whatever I want.
People other end dont even know I am using them.
However with that said, remember, the fit? Well, being the Powerbeats is almost custom molded to your head, gosh almost like a work of art the fit will not work for everyone. It will depend on your head but if it does wow, it is great, you will never return them, if it doesn't, no loss, just return them. They dont work for my wife, petite and smaller head I guess, the way its molded makes them to large for her.
Best all around for all heads would be the Bose Sport Buds as long as you dont mind them looking so large. Again, if you don't have any issues with earbuds in your ear canals you can use anything and with that said I would put the JBL Reflect Mini NC at the top of the list if only looking to spend around $100. Gosh I love the sound and the app. Once in a while I would get a little bluetooth stutter or all of a sudden one earbud cut out but always simple to get back, it was rare but was on my mind as a possible issue.
Ok, now the H1 chip in it. I HAVE NO CLUE what all the fuss is about. Ill have to read up on it, I was so focused on fit. All I keep reading is H1, H1, H1, blah, blah, blah. This is where the so called "Professional" review sites show their true colors, many, not all by any means have no idea what they are talking about, al you need is a website and people flock to it like they are an authority, not true.
I see reviews where the Apple product is touted as seamless to learn into your phone and when compared to a non H1 chip they say it takes extra "effort" Do you know what that "extra" effort is? It means you have to open up your bluetooth settings on your phone and tap to install.
Wow, geez, dont get me wrong, its cool that an apple product just pops up on your main screen, but "extra" effort? Ummm .. no as far as I am concerned.
Ok, so what else about this H1 I have to learn, haven't had time but that time is coming now. I do understand the sound should be better though in real life I haven't noticed better. Apple is/has come out with cool audio stuff though, HD and most all earbuds have ACC something Andriod has issues with but not Apple. Plus they came out with this Spacial Audio for their Apple branded earbud, not sure if that includes their Beats branded stuff ... but I haven't read up on it so in the dark, fit was most important right now.
Like I say, #1 on my list and I am keeping is the PowerBeats Pros so that is a positive statement for Apple. There is to me, one big negative to Apple and Beats earbuds. There is no App for their products on Apple devices because its already all integrated with the phone, sounds great right? Yeah, maybe so and I am ok with it but to me its truly stupid that Apple does not have a quality "slide" built in equalizer. I guess they assume the public is too stupid to use one, so you have a set selection of like what must be 20 different preset EQ settings. Like I said, I keep it turned off anyway but is a bit of a turn off for me.
(omg did it take me a long time to write this, no time to proof) *L*