2024-02-15 05:09:35
This time, we are posting a review of the TW-EF3A open wireless earphones released by Yamaha.
** Reviews only cover actual experiences. **
** Please note that this is written from the consumer’s perspective and cannot cover all aspects. **
** Please keep in mind that feelings and evaluation criteria are subjective. **
Recently, so many wireless earphones have been released that it is safe to say that this is the Warring States Period. Of course, most of them are released focusing on low-priced entry-level models, but compared to that, there are surprisingly few releases of mid-range or higher models.
Yamaha’s TW-EF3A, which we will introduce today, is a product that is out of the mainstream market in terms of its position, and it can be said to be different from existing mainstream products in that Yamaha released it from a company specializing in audio.
The approximate features and advantages of the product are as follows.
– Multipoint connection
– Listening Care
– Clear Voice
– Gaming Mode
In particular, the second listening care is a function that focuses on the characteristics of the human ear that make it difficult to hear at low volumes and how sounds sound differently in various listening environments, and adjusts the sound balance to suit the volume, allowing you to enjoy rich sound quality even at low volumes. .
In addition, Clear Voice is a function that reproduces human voices clearly so that you can hear them more clearly.
The product to be used this time is in ‘pink’ color. For more details on the product, please refer to the link below.
▲ TW-EF3A product introduction page on Yamaha’s official site
1. Unboxing
Surprisingly, the product arrived in an air-wrap type delivery bag rather than a small box.
Even with this package, I think it is disappointing that a large delivery bag that does not fit the size of the product was used, even though it would have been a much better choice to use cushioning material in a small box.
It is no exaggeration to say that the first impression of a product begins with its packaging. It is mainly influenced by the design of the packaging, but the overall box design of this product has a simple feel. I think it could be done with a more luxurious package design.
The package is made of thick paper, has a matte coating on the outside, and has photos of the product printed in color.
The product has a holographic sticker attached to the side, indicating that it was officially imported through Yamaha Korea.
Specifications and notations are printed on the back.
One seal is attached to the top and bottom.
2. Overview
The internal packaging is somewhat unique, with a quick manual surrounding the inside, and inside, the product is placed in a cradle made of folded paper.
The product consists of a manual, a charging USB cable, and the main body, which is further packaged in paper.
Unfortunately, there are no parts printed in Korean in the enclosed materials such as the quick guide and manual. If it were an officially released product in Korea, I wish it would have been printed in Korean.
For your reference, the Korean manual is available in PDF format on the official website. Please check at the URL below.
The cable for charging is quite short (30cm). I don’t know if it would be advantageous if the charger was right next to it, but if not, I think it could be inconvenient because the cable is short.
As with recent wireless earphones, the body doubles as a charging station and storage case, and has a design that allows the lid to be opened at the top when standing upright. The color is the same as the earphones, and the external surface finish is matte.
The lid was held in place magnetically.
There is an LED indicator at the bottom of the front, a charging port at the back, and the model name and specifications are densely printed on the bottom.
The inside is molded into a structure that matches the shape of the earphones, and there is a charging terminal inside. When the earphones are plugged in, the terminals contact each other to charge. For reference, when you first open the product, the earphone terminals are covered with a sticker to prevent discharge.
The earphones have an open structure and do not have eartips.
It is an analog button type rather than a touch type structure, with one function button on each left and right side, and an LED indicator and a hole for sound.
3. Charging, wearing and multi-pairing (call)
<충전>
For charging, a USB C type port is used, and since it receives 5V DC power input, you can use a general cell phone charger, etc.
The case’s own battery is lithium-ion, and it takes about 2 hours to fully charge, so I don’t think the charging speed is very fast.
When the case is charging, the front indicator of the case blinks white and the LED turns off when fully charged. (refer to GIF)
In the case of earphones, the indicator on the side lights up in white, and the indicator on the case responds depending on the remaining charge. Overall, I think the charging status can be easily checked.
<착용>
Appearance when wearing the product.
The color is said to be pink, but it actually looks indigo pink to the naked eye. Therefore, I think it is less noticeable and burdensome than other colors because it matches the color of the skin.
For reference, there are several colors of indigo pink, but it is judged to be the color with the lowest saturation, #FFCBB6, and some people may feel it is an apricot color.
Since it is an open product, there may be differences in fit. In the case of the closed type, the size of the ear tip can be changed to fit the size of the wearer’s ear canal (outside the ear canal), while the open type is mounted only on the housing itself and is one size, so it is greatly affected by the size of the auricle outside the ear canal.
After wearing it myself, I felt that it might be a bit stressful for people with small ears.
When worn, functions and remaining battery level are announced by voice, which I felt was a typical Japanese woman’s English pronunciation.
<멀티페어링(통화)>
This product supports multi-pairing. For example, to use both a PC and a smartphone, pair the earphones with the PC first, then press the function button on both sides of the earphones for 3 seconds to switch to pairing mode, then pair with the smartphone. When using the earphones on a PC, you will receive an alarm or a phone call on the smartphone. This is a function that automatically switches to a smartphone when .
In fact, when a call came in while playing a game on a PC, the switch was smooth, and when a notification came, the switch was also smooth, so I was able to not miss a call or message. Conversely, returning to the PC was automatically and smoothly converted without any particular problems.
Personally, I felt that the call quality was pretty clear and there was very little discomfort, so when listening through the EF3A, it felt like talking directly on a cell phone. The listener said that although it was not far away, it felt a bit distant, but the quality was also said to be decent.
Please note that the manual (page 26) states that clear voice and gaming mode are not supported during calls.
4. Pitch and gaming
※ The test environment is indoors using wireless Wi-Fi, a wireless keyboard, and a wireless mouse. ※
<클리어 보이스(Clear Voice)>
This product is equipped with a function called Clear Voice, which increases the bandwidth of the voice to make conversations and vocals easier to hear, and is turned off by default. To activate this, press the function button on the right unit. It has a structure that toggles ON and OFF each time you press it.
It is much easier to determine the inverse experience of a function or feature when not in use, so we first conducted a pitch test with it turned on.
※ We select songs that are easy to personally test, regardless of trends or genres. ※
Billie Eilish – bad guy (Official Music Video)
A song that is easy to test the separation and resolution of the bass and vocal parts.
The unique bass sound at the beginning does not have a deep, voluminous feel, but on the contrary, it is not muddy or distorted and drowned out by surrounding sounds.
It feels like the bass and vocal areas are well separated, and the details in the vocal area are vivid, so you can feel the texture well.
[온스테이지2.0] Inalchi – The Tiger Comes Down (with Ambiguous Dance Company)
A song featuring a total of 5 vocalists.
The expression of the bass and kick that continuously flows in the background is weak, but it does not feel empty. The details of the vocals are well preserved, and two male vocals are added in the background around 1:15, but they are not buried at this time.
Overall, the resolution is not bad and is well balanced, but as it is an open type, the staging feeling is somewhat narrow.
Dynamic Duo, ZICO, B.I, Jay Park, CHANGMO & Jessi ‘Smoke Remix’ Lyrics | ShadowByYoongi
Remix version by Dynamic Duo Smoke. The raps of each rapper are the main feature.
As expected, the vocal details in this song are not bad. However, since the vocal area is the main area, if you listen to it for a long time, the high notes feel a little rough.
Why Don’t You Do Right – Peggy Lee/Amy Irving cover ft. Sarah Gibson
A video covering Peggy Lee’s song from Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
In particular, the moist texture of the vocals can be felt well, and the background instruments are separated well. In particular, in the case of parts using the brush stick, there is no clumping and it feels like they are right in front of the vocals.
Peggy Lee – Fever (Official Video)
A song with impressive finger snaps and vocals. Basically, the vocals sound pretty clean, and the finger snaps in the background, the bass, and the drums in between are all well separated without being drowned out.
Cello suites JS Bach / Marc Coppey
The unique heaviness of the cello and the feeling of resonating in the hall are well preserved. The unique texture of string instruments can be clearly felt, and the lingering sound that spreads through the hall at the end is well expressed.
Collection of classic high-quality songs (Sori Shop Tube)
When it comes to Yamaha, I personally think that classical music goes well with it, and while listening to various classical songs, the mid-range sounds clean and refreshing. Personally, I feel like there is nothing lacking.
Overall, I felt like the focus was on the vocals due to the clear voice and mid-range tendency. The resolution was not bad, showing good separation without clumping together. Even when the volume was lowered, it seemed like they were trying to keep the vocal as much as possible, and they were trying to maintain overall balance even when the volume was increased. In particular, the vocals didn’t recede, so it didn’t feel stuffy.
However, the bass part was not deep and had a tendency to lose a bit of punch due to the lack of volume, and when listening to songs or videos with strong high notes for a long time with Clear Voice turned on, I felt a bit tired.
Afterwards, when I turned off Clear Voice and listened to the same song, I could feel the voice area receding by half a half and becoming flat. The difference was better than I expected. Personally, I feel that users who prefer mid-to-low sounds may have different preferences.
<게이밍 모드(Gaming Mode)>
This product has a gaming mode. The name appears to be gaming, but it appears to be a feature that reduces latency found in other products. To do this, press the function key on the right unit three times to toggle it like clear voice, and the default is OFF.
When I watched the video of the player playing the drums with gaming mode turned on, I got a feel for the difference between the off state and the on state. Due to the nature of percussion instruments, it is easy to determine the synchronization between the video of the player playing and the sound made when playing.
When I turned off gaming mode, I thought, ‘As expected, slow sync is inevitable due to the nature of Bluetooth,’ but when I turned it on, I felt like the latency was decreasing. Of course, it is difficult to give numerical values since I do not have professional measuring equipment, but it is something that can be felt in reality, and personally, I did not feel that the latency was very inconvenient in gaming mode.
However, please note that due to the technical characteristics of this mode, which uses a short buffer, there may be symptoms such as short bursts due to interference from surrounding signals.
5. Conclusion
“Clear Voice function for voice range”
“Clear and clear call quality”
“Convenient multipoint pairing function”
“Maintain balance at low or high volumes with the Listening Care function”
“You can reduce latency with Gaming Mode.”
The Yamaha TW-EF3A I used this time is a wireless earphone featuring Clear Voice and Listening Care.
Clear Voice is a function that increases the bandwidth of the voice to make conversations and vocals easier to hear. During actual use, I felt that it made the sound in the voice range stand out regardless of whether it was music, video, or a game.
In particular, in the case of high tones such as female vocals, the details felt more vivid and the transmission was also excellent. As a result of experiencing the backlash with clear voice turned off, the voice area definitely moved behind the backlash and felt flat overall.
As it is a company specializing in sound, the tuning is also different from the popular devices, but the overall balance is good, and there is no distortion caused by excessive tuning or a hollow sound, so it feels different from the popular devices in many ways.
In terms of style, it is basically a type with a flat feel and a slight emphasis on the mid and high tones, and the bass is judged to be somewhat light, with the lows cut and not deep. I feel that users with a mid-to-low-pitched tone may have some likes or dislikes in terms of punchiness and volume, but on the other hand, I feel that users with a mid-to-mid-pitched tone would prefer it for its clean, non-suffocating feel.
It was especially impressive when listening to classical music.
For the control part, analog buttons were used instead of touch, and I was personally satisfied with them because they caused fewer malfunctions than the touch method. Additionally, I liked that the product control method was intuitive and not overly complicated.
In terms of fit, it has all the pros and cons of the open type. It has less of a stuffy feeling and does not collect moisture due to the seal. However, unlike the closed type where the size can be adjusted according to the ear tip, the housing is of a single size, so if the outer ear canal area is small, it may feel a little tight. I think you can feel it.
As for the latency characteristic of Bluetooth, the latency has been reduced to a level that can be felt since it supports Gaming Mode. For example, it was easy to tell by looking at a video to check if the sync was correct or a video of a player playing a percussion instrument such as a beopgo, but other than when the sync was sensitive when gaming mode was turned on, it felt like there was no major inconvenience.
However, in the case of gaming mode, it was disappointing that when not in use, it did not stay turned on when stored in the case and taken out again.
– The Korean part is not included in the manual.
– Short charging cable (30cm)
– If you disconnect, store, and then reconnect, Clear Voice will remain on/off, but gaming mode will always be turned off.
+ Clear call quality
+ Clear voice function allows the voice range to be heard clearly without being pushed back
+ Listening care technology maintains details even when the volume is high or low
+ Gaming mode support can lower latency
+ Simple and clean design
This review was written with product support from Yamaha Music Korea.
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