Sound Analysis.

I analyzed TWS800 sound performance paired up with my Galaxy S9, Hiby R3 Pro, and A&K SR25 while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”.  From my experience with RE800, their dynamic driver needed at least a few days of continuous burn in, so I didn’t jump to any conclusion until a few days of listening.  And as I continued to listen more, I noticed the soundstage opening up and the sound becoming more transparent.

Like with many other universal IEMs, eartips selection is crucial not just for comfort and secure fit, but because of sound variation due to seal and insertion depth.  Thus, please pay close attention to select the right pair of eartips.  Personally, I found eartips with a narrower bore opening to yield more clarity and better retrieval of details.

TWS800 tuning has a balanced sound signature with a clear and natural tonality and a rather good retrieval of details for this type of tuning.  Not exactly analytical or micro-detailed, but natural organic details.  Nothing stands out as exaggerated, you will not hear elevated bass or recessed mids or extra treble spikes, typical of other TWS or similarly priced IEMs.  I’m hearing just a nicely done non-fatigue natural detailed tonality which I was able to enjoy during extended listening sessions.

The technical performance is not bad either.  Though the layering of instruments and vocals is average since treble airiness is a bit reserved, the overall clarity and resolution was decent for TWS wireless pair of IEMs.  Also, soundstage is wide, for sure above average, opening up even more after burn in, though I found it to have more depth than width.  Nothing is congested and instruments and vocals have a relatively accurate positioning.

In more details, I hear bass to be articulate with a good sub-bass extension and deep rumble which comes out to play when called upon (like Iggy’s Black Widow).  Mid-bass is fast and punchy with a good control and without spilling into mids (works great with any genre).  Lower mids have above neutral body, giving the sound its natural tonality (vocals sound natural and soulful).  Upper mids/vocals are transparent, natural, detailed – not too smooth or warm, and at the same time not too cold or analytical.  Treble is well defined, natural, detailed, without any offensive peaks or harshness.  Perhaps, treble is not too airy or super extended at the top end, but still well balanced with mids.

Comparison.

Since I don’t have too many TWS iems, it is hard to think of the best comparison.  I have tried a number of TWS before, especially back when I attended CanJam NYC early this year, but I’m not a fan of A/B comparison by memory.  What made sense to me is to compare TWS800 to its wired sibling RE800 gold/silver since they share the same driver tech.

TWS bass is a happy medium between RE800 gold and silver, more mid-bass punch and deeper sub-bass rumble than Gold, but not as elevated and with a better control and articulation than Silver.  TWS mids have more body and sound more natural, not as lean and cold as Gold/Silver mids & vocals.  Plus, TWS mids are not as distant and out of your head like in Gold/Silver, instead they bring you closer to the music, closer to the singer/performer.  TWS treble has a good definition, though not as crisp and resolving as Silver and definitely more natural and less fatigue than Gold treble.  The main difference is that Silver has a more V-shaped sound signature while Gold is more mid-forward due to its neutral bass.  In contrast, TWS600 has a perfectly balanced W-shaped sound sig with even emphasis on lows, mids, and highs.

Source pair up.

When it comes to wireless earphones and headphones, and especially TWS, many often forget that it doesn’t matter what DAC or amp your source has.  None of this matter because your source will digitally encode and transmit the sound and TWS earphones will decode and drive the transducer inside the shell.  Here, what important is the codec being used and protocols being supported.  And relative to TWS800, built-in amplifier Hifiman implemented.  In theory, everything should work the same, but I did find some variations with sources I tested.  Here is a run-down.

The following sources have been tested and verified to be able to control remotely the playback (Plays/Pause/Skip) and the volume (raise up/down).  Plus, they all yielded a similar sound with a wide soundstage and relatively transparent detailed tonality while paired up using AAC codec (the highest supported by TWS800):

• Samsung Galaxy S9
• Hiby R8
• Hiby R3 Pro
• Cayin N6ii
• Cayin N3 Pro
• A&K SP2000 SS
• A&K SR25
• Shanling M0

The sources below don’t support AAC (but do support aptX and LDAC), so I was only able to pair up using SBC codec.  In each of these pair ups, I was still able to hear a wide soundstage, but the sound was a little less transparent, even a little warmer, but still relatively detailed.  Playback and volume were supported and worked without a problem as well.

• Sony WM1Z
• Lotoo LPGT
• Lotoo PAW6k
• Hidizs AP80 Pro

One surprise was iBasso DAPs, MAX and DX160, both paired up using AAC codec with MAX having wide soundstage and transparent detailed sound while DX160 having a narrower soundstage and warmer sound.  The actual surprise was me being able to control volume remotely, but I couldn’t control their Play/Pause/Skip functionality, like that protocol wasn’t even supported.

Conclusion.

I’m not going to pretend to be TWS expert, but I have tested a handful of true wireless stereo earphones and found manufacturers trying too hard to appeal more to consumer crowd by either pushing a bloated bass, or having a v-shaped tuning with enhanced bass and treble, and not paying as much attention to tonality balance or overall resolution.  Some manufacturers “enhance” their TWS releases with higher end drivers, but they are driving it directly from Bluetooth chipset, not using amplifier, thus limiting audio tuning capability.

What impressed me with TWS800 is that Hifiman put in effort to make it look and sound like an audiophile quality IEM, not another consumer TWS to use while exercising or binge-watching shows on your phone.  This TWS has a balanced signature with a good level of natural clarity and smooth retrieval of details without too much coloring.  Just noticed, Hifiman already have it listed for $299.  For this price it is a rather good sounding IEM to begin with, and TWS is just a cherry on top.