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Mathcmput

Sony LinkBuds S vs WF-1000XM4 vs AirPods Pro?

Headphones - Wireless/Portable

Sony LinkBuds S: worthwhile if you have WF-1000XM4?

This new Sony ANC TWS earbuds released today catches my eyes.

I have AirPods Pro and WF-1000XM4 at the moment. I mainly use WF-1000XM4 daily and AirPods Pro only for phone calls or rarely for other usage.

One thing noticeable about the new LinkBuds S is how small and light they are. Yes the WF-1000XM4 are great but kinda on the bulkier and heavier side especially compared to AirPods Pro. Rarely the WF-1000XM4 get kinda uncomfortable or leave sores in my ears , which might be due to its heaviness or not sanitizing the earbuds daily.

Also the ANC is godly on the WF-1000XM4, good enough to make loud road intersections and public transit rides completely silent (below your music).

One thing I don’t like about the WF-1000XM4 is the bass can get bloated. Set Clear bass to -3 and it’s kinda bloated, reduce to -4 and there’s no bass anymore. I’ve also reduced the low mids to -3 but sounds like it doesn’t get as flat as AirPods Pro do. Clear bass at -3 is too much bass and -4 is too little bass.

With that being said, if the LinkBuds S are like a slightly worse WF-1000xm4, except smaller, lighter, less stronger ANC and less bass heavy… I might be interested in a new daily driver replacement.

Any opinions or is it too early to tell due to early reviews? I might just buy it from Amazon who has returns on headphones unlike most other retailers.

Posted May 18, 2022, 6:41 PM UTC

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dimesian225Ω•

The impression I get from people who have used the Linkbuds is that the sound is a lot worse than regular buds which makes sense as they have a big hole through them. They buy them for the situational awareness, the lower sound quality is acceptable for their needs.

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MathcmputOP•

Oof, this must be Sony's terrible naming scheme striking again. The "LinkBuds S" were just announced today, which seems like a successor to regular LinkBuds.

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dimesian225Ω•

Sorry I thought it was a typo.

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dimesian225Ω•

I don't get why they're calling it LinkBuds S, it seems to be a compact wf-xm4, maybe the hole in the driver thing is not the defining characteristic of the product line. If you get them, turn off the DSEE upscaling feature, it eats a big chunk of battery runtime for no discernable benefit to my cloth ears.

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WaterBear9244•

it actually stands for Linkbuds S^(hhhhhhh)

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MeasurementOk1654•

I actually did a mod which involved changing the default foam filter in the xm4 to a filter with a much lower density, which makes the bass less bloated, highs became more sparkly and micro details like guitar strums can be heard. I now can hear the difference between LDAC and AAC, and with DSEE upscaling the my audio files are a bit closer to wired high-res.

But you're right, without the mod both bluetooth codecs and DSEE on/off sounds the same.

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dimesian225Ω•

I notice the difference with LDAC, I leave it off if I'm not going to be paying full attention to the music, I can half listen with AAC just as well. Its interesting that you hear a difference with DSEE, most of what I listen to is streamed cd quality off Qobuz, I suspect that it might be wasted on my ears. Are you referring to the black foam type thing in the nozzle?

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mcjasonb4Ω•

What tips are you using on your XM4? Changing from the foam to a silicone tip like the Spinfit tips will change the sound and may make them sound closer to your preference.

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2ndGenSaltDispenser3Ω•

From early reviews, yes, it looks like the Linkbuds S is a smaller and lighter XM4 with worse ANC and battery life. For sound quality, I'd wait for somebody to actually measure the Linkbuds S before making a decision.

Speaking of the XM4, I didn't really find the bass to be bloated at all (at least with Azla Xelastec tips). What EQ settings are you using?

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MathcmputOP•

With some early reviews claiming the ANC is actually worse than AirPods Pro, now I’m conflicted. I am using clear bass -3, 400 -3, and 6.3k +1 while everything else flat.

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2ndGenSaltDispenser3Ω•

Yeah, I'd definitely wait a bit. Maybe you could wait for the Soundguys review to come out; they measure the frequency response and ANC performance.

For the XM4, try -1 at 400, +2 at 2.5k, +4 at 6.3k, then adjust clear bass to suit your preference.

2
HealthInfoMan•

I was ready to buy them, but a few features are missing;

  • Wireless charging
  • Multipoint connect
  • Using the subpar V1 chip instead of the superior QN1 leading to the degraded performance of ANC and transparency mode

Really missing the mark with this one at this price point.

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MathcmputOP•

No Multipoint is very annoying. Isn’t V1 the one used in WF-1000XM4 though? Not sure if WH headphones have a different chip like QN1

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HealthInfoMan•

You're right. That isn't so bad then.

The reviews show that it falls short of the WF1000XM4 and Airpod Pros in the ANC and Ambient modes. Just trying to understand why. Is it less quality parts in terms of speakers and microphones or more on the software side of things?

Really want to get them but the price point is a little challenging with the features available. I'm all for the size and fit though.

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OrdinaryAppointment6•

Just got a set of the Linkbuds S and I’m coming from the xm3s I’m gonna e honest the xm3 sound wayyy better

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