Ausounds - AU Stream Hybrid True Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds - Black

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• Rated 3 out of 5 stars

  Good ANC won't impact SQ but hard to recommend

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 25 Contributor

  Based on the marketing materials, Ausounds supposedly prioritized sound quality (and a few other functions) with an ANC solution that is supposed to have little to no impact on sound. At least in that respect, I can report that Ausounds was *definitely* successful--there is such a minuscule impact on sound reproduction and quality with ANC running that I was hard-pressed to tell the difference on all sorts of music genres (pop, metal, alternative, instrumental) save for the most complex, over-produced, multi-layered songs in an absolutely dead-quiet listening environment. If you need some unobtrusive true wireless buds to deaden the din of a busy office or public transit commute, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how well the ANC solution DOES NOT get in the way of the music! Unboxing greeted me with a quality-minded presentation—some foam insulation on the underside of the lid protected the case and buds while the fitted cardboard mini-box underneath held the cable and extra eartips next to the quick-start guide, manual, and warranty card. Three silicone eartip sizes are included; as was usual for me after auditioning multiple pairs of wireless and true-wireless buds, I found the medium tips to be ideal so I imagine whatever size tip you normally use will apply here as well. The slightly sculpted ends of the mostly flat touch-sensitive surfaces make it easy to feel for the “sweet spot” to register a tap/touch command without needing to fumble around for the controls—responsiveness was spot-on with taps and holds mostly registering as they should (more on that later) during the week prior to this review. As for the product itself, you do get a lot of pretty cool features and capabilities in a svelte little package. The case has a magnetic cover and rear USB-C port charging port (excellent!), and there is a stubby USB-A to USB-C cable included in the box. The case also supports wireless quick-charging with a 4-segment LED display indicating charge level. The buds are BT 5.0 which offers some advantages for battery life and dual-play options on supported BT 5.0-capable sound sources. BT range was outstanding but obviously depended on the source; I walked a full 65 feet from my iPhone 12, outside my office, across the living room, and through the kitchen before the first dropout; I could only move about 25 feet from my FiiO X7 II before the buds cut out completely; my old iPod Nano struggled to maintain connection when carried in my pocket but the connection was stable when I moved it up to an armband holster. The buds are rated IPX5 for light water & sweat resistance. They do not feature any kind of rubberized skirting, fins, or other anatomically shaped bulbs or arms to help hold them in place inside the various folds of the outer ear. Instead, you are supposed to rotate the bean-shaped buds either forward or rearward until you get a snug fit nestled outside the ear canal. I was skeptical as to how well they’d hold up to a vigorous workout so I ran with them 2-3 miles every day for about a week. I was surprised that only one time did I notice the right bud feeling like it was just starting to shift out of place—definitely on par and even a bit better than other workout-oriented buds I’ve used over the years. However, my daughter has VERY tiny ears and couldn’t really get them to fit securely because they lack any kind of apparatus to help hold the buds in place, so keep that in mind if your ear anatomy is somewhat on the smallish side. The AU Stream Hybrids support voice assistant activation and offer three types of sound modes during playback—ANC on, ANC off, and the obligatory hear-through that uses the built-in mics to help with situational awareness of the world around you while still pumping audio through the buds. As is becoming more common these days, you can operate either bud independently as well as in stereo mode which is helpful if you intend to use the buds to serve double duty for music/video playback and taking/making single-eared phone calls. Switching from stereo to full mono is as simple as putting one of the buds back in the case and the changeover is automatic; going from mono to stereo is just as seamless once the second bud is out of the case. Thankfully, the buds offer many spoken feedback cues rather than beeps and tones so you know what’s going on when you power up the buds, connect to a source, or change ANC settings. But not everything was “summit-fi” awesome. Sound quality was mostly very good—highs and female vocals were clear without a hint of harshness or sounding sibilant. Imaging was actually decent for in-ear buds with L/R separation just slightly outside the head. Mids were lively and detailed enough to pick out individual instruments from a crowd; mid-bass and transient response was also good though the buds struggled to produce a really thick, thumpy low end (which is certainly not impossible for good, IEM-style buds). Don’t get me wrong, they do sound very nice; but compared against my higher-end, non-ANC buds revealed what I can only describe as a bit of a listless, overly neutral, or even “veiled,” sound signature in comparison. I suppose I should give the Ausounds the benefit of the doubt and call them more “polite” or “laid back”—but that’s typically not what I’m after when I pull out a pair of buds for a workout or commute. If I’m after neutrality for critical music listening, I’ll use a high-quality DAP, a dedicated headphone amp, and some really nice open-backed, over-the-ear headphones—but for a commute or workout or discreet jams at the office where the wireless features and ANC are the primary draws, I’m looking for something that’s lively and engaging and “fun” to listen to, rather than something a bit more tame and sedate. These sort of get there, but I feel like they are the kind of buds that are begging for a companion app to customize the sound signature (there is none). And sadly, despite the fact that they are BT 5.0-capable (i.e. higher bandwidth), they do not support higher quality codecs like aptX or aptX HD, which feels like a missed opportunity to elevate their potential beyond the competition. So…sound quality on its own is definitely listenable and enjoyable, but it isn’t what I would consider top-tier given the premium these buds currently command--YMMV. Mic quality for phone calls was pretty good with callers telling me I was reasonably clear while out for a walk with the dog. ANC was decent, very similar to some other mid-fi ANC buds, but nothing approaching the likes of Sony or Bose-caliber noise reduction. They’ll definitely help quiet out car and bus rides, or fan and A/C noise, but they’ll only take the edge off the sounds of things like clicky keyboards or a loud restaurant—they certainly won’t ensconce your head in a bubble of near-black silence if that’s what you’re hoping for. But again, the ANC solution they do provide manages to give you a decent cut in ambient noise without impacting the music underneath which is definitely no small feat. I personally did not notice any tell-tale ANC hiss, so that was definitely a plus. Usability did take an even bigger hit in my book, however. For one, there are no onboard volume controls so you’d better have your phone or DAP in your hands, or have settled on a normalized volume for your playlist before you start your run, because you can’t adjust the volume on the fly through any of the touch controls. And because the control scheme had to be largely duplicated between buds to allow either to be used independently, there are certain things you can’t do like change the ANC setting while you’re in the middle of a call because the control you’d hold down for 3 seconds to switch modes will disconnect the caller first (hold for 2 seconds)! Pairing and reconnects also didn’t always work as advertised. First, I had some difficulty getting the buds into pairing mode if one bud was already connected to a different device. Now, you’re supposed to be able to hold the bud controls down for 8 seconds to enter pairing mode—but…NOPE, often times they would simply cycle through a new ANC setting (3 second hold) and then shut off after about 5 seconds. BTW, “power-off” using the touch controls is an undocumented function because nowhere in the manual does it say you can manually turn off the buds! Worse still, when I was troubleshooting a pairing problem with my FiiO DAP, I wanted to try resetting the pairing record only to discover that the pairing memory reset procedures were different between the included instruction manual and the same manual online…but neither seemed to work to clear the memory or put the buds into pairing mode, and the online manual referred to a “base button” on the charging case that for the life of me I cannot even find! Oh, and unlike virtually every other BT headphone or earbud, the pairing mode here is signified by blue flashes rather than alternating the red and blue LEDs (it has both); the fact that entering pairing mode isn’t accompanied by a voice prompt wasn’t helpful, either. During my time with the AU Stream Hybrids, I came to regard them as a pricey “backup” pair of true wireless earbuds. Yes, I’ll be keeping them because they offer good, but definitely not excellent, sound quality (at least to my ears); and they feature decent, but not exceptional ANC--perfect for the gym or car when pristine sound quality isn't as big a concern. Again, that ANC does not sacrifice the sound quality you do get, which is definitely a distinction worth noting. But my experience also revealed some dodgy usability issues, and the lack of onboard volume controls, or even a companion app to help personalize the sound profile, make me question the value proposition of these buds for someone else given what similarly priced competitors can do for even better sound quality, and what some budget-priced competitors can do with similar quality ANC.

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  Posted 5 years ago by WyldeBlue

• Rated 3 out of 5 stars

  Great Sound, Lacking Features!

  • Top 500 Contributor
  • Tech Insider Network Member

  Ausounds - AU Stream Hybrid True Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds - Black provides great sound quality in its effort to complete with and play in the big league brands. Offering great sound quality and compact design, it lacks some of the basic feature that have become synonymous with wireless earbud. I found this set of earbuds to offer great sound quality, good range, and good volume. I do, however, disagree with the numerous 5 start ratings available for this product. I found the features very limited, user experience difficult to work, and there is no app available on the Apple App Store which is almost the basic essential for any earbud on the market. The lack of app makes me question the ability to update any firmware for future OS updates on phones or other Bluetooth products. Additionally, the instructions are very limited with something akin to poorly written instruction from overseas for a knockoff product. I found the charging case to be good, however, it is slippery due to the all plastic design. The charger case works good, stores a charge so that the earbuds can be charged on the go without needing a plug in. I found the earbuds themselves to be slippery as well, fully smooth plastic, and I almost dropped them several times pull them out of the case. They were also uncomfortable after extended use causing my ears to hurt due to the pressure on the ear structure. This does seem to happen with other earbuds I have tried, but for the price point I expected them to be more comfortable over the longhaul. PROS - While unfamiliar with AUSounds brand, I felt that they produced great sound quality, range, and volume - USB-C and Wireless charging - Cord and additional ear plug sizes included - Smaller than similar charging case makes for easy on the go or in your pocket - 4 LED indicator lights let you know when you are fully charged - Good packaging makes this product seem premium out of the box CONS - Plastic all around/Slippery - Uncomfortable after long periods of use - No Smartphone App - Limited instruction - User interface is difficult to learn/setup with limited instruction and no app The sound quality make these earbud worth the price for some people. Others may find the price to be high considering other options within the same price point.

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  Posted 5 years ago by IronHorseGPS

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Excellent sound and compact form

  • Top 500 Contributor
  • Tech Insider Network Member

  These AU-Stream Hybrid earbuds are an excellent fit and feel for a premium sound experience. In the box you get the left/right earbuds, the charging case, a USB-C cable and ear tips for maximum comfort and fit. They're not too bulky or cumbersome, and they slide into your ear quite well and stay in place for a snug fit without having to worry about them being loose or falling out. The ear tips are key to choose for your anatomy and to ensure you have a snug fit for the best sound quality and experience. Right out of the box it feels like a nice premium earbud and charging case. I was able to get the earbuds paired up with my Apple iPhone XR within a few seconds, as these are Bluetooth Type 5.0. The case is compact enough to hold the earbuds without being oversized. These earbuds offer Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) which really helps to block out the world around me so I can focus on my phone calls or media enjoyment. You can turn the ANC on or off depending on what your preference is in a given situation. Also available is the option to have "monitor" mode which allows you to be aware of the surrounding situations and people around you. These earbuds have touch controls which takes a bit of learning to know what each touch/tap can do. Fortunately there is a provided user guide within that describes the interactions. Touch controls will benefit you in order to answer/end call, play/pause music, previous/next track, ANC toggle mode, activate your device's voice assistant, and enter into pairing mode. The feature that is most glaringly missing here is volume control, which I feel is a must have in true wireless earbuds. These are also IPX5 waterproof for minor water spray and sweat proof. The charging case is also fantastic for rapid wireless charging on a QI charging pad, so you have the option of wireless charge or USB-C charging. Fully charged earbuds within 1.5 hours is a big win for those days when you're on the go. A 15 minute charge will get you 3 hours of music playback. Total battery life with a fully charged case will give you up to 25 hours of total battery life. When it comes to sound quality, you are getting sound delivered to you from a 9mm AU Titanium Driver that keeps this small earbud nice and lightweight. The sound quality for music, podcasts, and phone calls has a great balanced range to it. The bass sounds adequate and the high treble notes sound clear and crisp. These are a premium sound experience for everyday use for just about everyone. PRO: Sound quality is excellent Fit and form feels nice in ear Charging case has QI rapid charge capability Active Noise Cancellation CON: Lacking volume controls on earbuds

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  Posted 5 years ago by JKinSYR