Yamaha TW-E3A

In a crowded market, these stand out for a number of reasons! – I already have three other headphones. I have planar magnetic for critical listening, studio headphones for my work and noise-cancelling headphones for the gym and travel. I needed a pair of buds for the gym because my NC over the earphones are too bulky and not really compatible with exercise (they fall off and they're not good with sweat). I went to JB HI FI and found myself in a veritable sea of true wireless buds. Every brand seems to have several models and there's even a true-wireless version of my NC cans in the same colour. I've always respected Yamaha for their musical instruments and audio products because they are of the highest quality possible for the price. I spotted a very small Yamaha display midst all the other brands and had a look. I needed some waterproofing (IPX5) tick! Excellent build quality tick! and USB-C because micro USB is a deal-breaker in 2020 - tick! So I took a 'risk' (not really with Yamaha) and bought the most basic model - TW-E3A in black. I took them home and I'm loving it. Firstly, they fit perfectly and feel so comfortable I hardly realise I have them on. I changed the medium silicone buds they ship with to the next size up and they seal perfectly. The sound quality is what you expect from Yamaha. They do not have bloated bass like some of their competition, they have a classic flat frequency response, but with a surprisingly wide sound stage. There is no audible distortion either. The bass is musical, the notes on some of my reference songs played with TIDAL on highest settings, meant the dymanics of the notes in the lower frequencies bend, swell and decay just like they should. Very impressive. The midrange is simply clear and defined, with just a touch of warmth. This is the audio recipe I expected from a company like Yamaha and makes for the most pleasurable listening. I'm enjoying them, they're absolutely worth it for the price I paid (under 150). I think that once word gets out these things will sell like toilet paper did in April 2020. As a final testimony to how much I like these, is that instead of my usual morning routine of coffee on the front step with the dog, my Astell and Kern audio player and my Auduze planar magnetics, I chose to use my phone with bluetooth and my new Yammy earbuds. Oh, and unlike other brands they support APTX and a range of other high-res codecs! Noice. I highly recommend these.