Best bluetooth headphones without ANC
Hello RTINGS team! I am looking for headphones with the following attributes:
- No ANC
- Bluetooth wireless
- High degree of comfort
- High score on neutral-sound profile
Put in other words, I’m looking for headphones for long casual audiophile listening sessions. I have the ATH-Mx50-BT2’s, and I appreciate their sound quality. However, their clamping force is much too high for comfort. They also have poor breathability and get uncomfortably warm after minutes. I previously had the Sony WH-1000XM4’s for several years, and the WH-1000XM3’s before that. I appreciated how comfortable they were, but their sound quality is noticeably muddier than the ATH headphones.
Most importantly, however, is that ANC is a non-starter for me. At least ANC that cannot be set to off by default. I paid a premium for the Sonys because of their ANC - which I do admit works incredibly well. However, for me and a significant, non-zero number of other people, ANC causes immense dizziness, nausea, and/or migraines.
As a side note: I would encourage RTINGS to consider this factor in its headphone recommendations, i.e., that ANC is a disadvantage for some folks when purchasing headphones. From what I’ve seen, having ANC is incorporated in RTINGS reviews as an unqualified positive, which it unfortunately is not for consumers like myself. While I truly envy those people who can use ANC in their headphones because of how far it has come and how well it works, having too much noise isolation, ANC or not, triggers nearly immediate migraines in me and others. This is not an issue particular to me, although it is possible I am especially sensitive - I have the Jabra Elite 7 Pro and adore their sound quality and physical comfort, but even with ANC turned off on those earbuds, the degree to which they prevent external sound causes dizziness that leads to migraines as well.
I would love help finding headphones that still have high sound quality and comfort without the downsides of the models I mentioned above. Form factor does not matter too much, but I would prefer over-ear. Budget is up to $600 USD. Thank you in advance your your help!
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The Aurvana Ace 2 use a new type of MEMS-based transducer tech from the company XMEMS; they are the first ones to do so, and the driver is totally unlike any other. I have been following XMEMS for over a year waiting for the first IEMs with this tech to be announced, since it is said that they measure extremely well. Evidently the physics of using the silicon of a chip as a diaphragm works out to make these the future of drivers, at least for IEMs. I really want some third party measurements to back it up. The big downside to this tech afaik is the physical size constraints/chip area costs required to get good volume, especially at lower frequencies (like normal drivers but worse). However, these are two-way and include a dynamic woofer that online reviews say is even too loud with default EQ.
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Please test LC3 codec latency on Windows
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There’s really only a bunch of marketing push and not a lot of technical reviews of the product for a product featuring technology that promises a lot, so I’m anticipating a review from my favorite reviewer :)
Edited 1 year ago: More We’ve purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
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really looking for the test result comparing with Apple Airpod pro 2 (I am iPhone 14 Pro max user). If all are better. I will sold out the airpod pro 2 and get this one . thanks first
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Hi cattboy, We currently do not have any LC3 Transmitters in our testing lab, but we are actively looking to get one. Until then, we cannot test for LC3 BT latency. Cheers, Dagobiet Why not use an LC3 dongle that comes in with the creative labs Zen Hybrid pro classic and the sxfi version, from what I understand is that those dongles(BT-L3, BT-L4) should only support the LC3 codec as well as the LC3+ codec according to Creative labs, I understand if it’s unfair to test it that way since it’s within the same brand, but at least it tests the function, and y'all get a pair headphones to make a review with if y'all find it worth it
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Why not use an LC3 dongle that comes in with the creative labs Zen Hybrid pro classic and the sxfi version, from what I understand is that those dongles(BT-L3, BT-L4) should only support the LC3 codec as well as the LC3+ codec according to Creative labs, I understand if it’s unfair to test it that way since it’s within the same brand, but at least it tests the function, and y'all get a pair headphones to make a review with if y'all find it worth it
We will buy the Zen Hybrid Pro Classic if there’s enough user interest. At the moment, it is unclear if this dongle is only compatible with that lineup or if it can be used with any compatible LC3 headphones.
Cheers, Dago
Our testers have started testing this product; is there anything specific you’re looking to see? Let us know in this thread.
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Hi cattboy, We currently do not have any LC3 Transmitters in our testing lab, but we are actively looking to get one. Until then, we cannot test for LC3 BT latency. Cheers, Dagobiet
Some are popping up around the world :) https://www.flairmesh.com/Dongle/FMA120.html
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We will buy the Zen Hybrid Pro Classic if there’s enough user interest. At the moment, it is unclear if this dongle is only compatible with that lineup or if it can be used with any compatible LC3 headphones. Cheers, Dago
Sadly the wife said no to me getting any more headphones, otherwise I’m willing to test the function myself with my dongle… If I can squeak in some without her noticing I’ll reply to this with the outcome
The full review has been posted here. Let us know what you think!
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It wasn’t available when the Aurvana Ace 2 first launched, but Creative have since launched the BT-W6 dongle, that they advertise as compatible with the Aurvana Ace 2, and supports LE Audio - in particular the low-latency GMAP profile for gaming. I’ve heard (but not from anywhere that trustworthy) the Aurvana Ace 2 supports GMAP, and I’d be really interested to see what latency looks like with the BT-W6.
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It wasn’t available when the Aurvana Ace 2 first launched, but Creative have since launched the BT-W6 dongle, that they advertise as compatible with the Aurvana Ace 2, and supports LE Audio - in particular the low-latency GMAP profile for gaming. I’ve heard (but not from anywhere that trustworthy) the Aurvana Ace 2 supports GMAP, and I’d be really interested to see what latency looks like with the BT-W6.
We ordered one. Thanks for the tip. Stay tuned!
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Update: We’ve updated the review with our measured LC3 (GMAP) latency in Bluetooth Connection.