The NEW Nothing Ear & Nothing Ear (a): Sound Review by an Audiophile and Audio Engineer
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 มิ.ย. 2024
- Ensure you have the best password and personal information security and health with a password manager by 1Password: go.magik.ly/ml/21qh1/ (ad)
What do audiophiles and audio engineers think about the Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a) wireless Bluetooth earbuds? I brought my friend @DMS3TV a highly respected creator and reviewer within the audiophile space, to join me, an audio engineer for live sound, mixing, and recording for over fifteen years. We share our thoughts on the @NothingTechnology Ear and Nothing Ear (a), the factors influencing what makes a good and bad earbud, what does and doesn't matter in an earbud, and more. You'll learn about audio from this discussion and first impressions review of the Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a).
Thanks to nothing for sending these units out to us early and allowing me to share this with you early. They did not sponsor this video. This video is sponsored by 1Password.
LINKS TO BUY
▶ Nothing Ear: geni.us/s6zQm
▶ Nothing Ear (a): geni.us/9loqq
*These are affiliate links
WATCH MORE
▶ Playlist of all of my audio reviews: • Sound Theory - Audio T...
▶ Best Earbuds of the Year: • The BEST Wireless Earb...
CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP
Gain access to exclusive content like custom EQ for earbuds and headphones, BTS, extra content, and more ▶ th-cam.com/users/thisistechtod...
FOLLOW
▶ Discord - myte.ch/discord
▶ Twitter - / thisistechtoday
▶ Instagram - / thisistechtoday
▶ TikTok - / thisistechtoday
▶ Facebook - / thisistechtoday
▶ Website - www.thisistechtoday.com
MY TECH
▶ Where I got my Wood Slat Walls (Get 5% OFF): myte.ch/slatwalls
▶ The Gear I use - myte.ch/kit
▶ My Amazon Storefront - myte.ch/amazon
▶ The Music I use - myte.ch/musicbed
▶ The #1 tool I use as a TH-camr - www.tubebuddy.com/thisistecht...
▶ This video is proudly edited using Blackmagic Davinci Resolve (FREE): myte.ch/davinciresolve
BUSINESS & SPONSORSHIPS ▶ business at ricebowlmedia.com
WANT TO SEND ME SOMETHING?
This is Tech Today
4261 E University Dr #30-200
Prosper TX, 75078
CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:33 Disclosure
0:46 Thanks to 1 Password for sponsoring this video #1PasswordPartner
1:57 Introductions
2:41 Thoughts on the Nothing Ear
6:54 Thoughts on the Nothing Ear (a)
9:04 How Your Ears Affect the Sound and Make it “good” or “bad”
10:38 A Mixing Engineers Perspective
12:36 Compared to audiophile Wired IEM
13:29 Which one we prefer for sound only
15:12 How much do CODECS matter?
17:34 On Audiophiles and EQ. Is it okay?
19:09 Does Driver Size Matter?
20:30 Ask us Questions!
DISCLOSURES
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I utilize affiliate links and may receive a commission from them, and at times may receive items for review from various brands. Despite that, I promise to always provide an honest & unbiased review because you deserve the best.
All sponsorships will be clearly stated because transparency, integrity, and trust are essential to me. It is also a part of FTC law. We would never accept payment from a company to make harmful content about another company. You're just upset you didn't hear what you wanted to hear.
Any discussion, comments, opinions, etc., regarding anything financial or business-related should not be construed as financial advice.
Please find out more about our ethics policy and what investments: coming soon. - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
![[TH] VCT Masters Shanghai Playoffs DAY 5 // 100T vs PRX | FUT vs TH](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/q75pv359eP4/mqdefault.jpg)
*What are your thoughts on the NEW Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a)? Thanks to Nothing for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts early!*
🔐Ensure you have the best password and personal information security and health with a password manager by 1Password: go.magik.ly/ml/21qh1/ (ad)
LINKS TO BUY
▶ Nothing Ear: geni.us/s6zQm
▶ Nothing Ear (a): geni.us/9loqq
*These are affiliate links
Go follow DMS: youtube.com/@DMS3TV
From what you said the ear a are super compelling
Looking forward to your review man
They're both super compelling!
Very good discussion Brandon, Currently I'm on a 7day trip review of Nothing Ear 2 on my channel. And I noticed timbre is a bit different for me, especially on those snares.
DMS explained it beautifully, I will tag this one on the review for viewers.
Thanks again
these two dudes dropped great knowledge about tws and audio like candy and thought we wouldn't notice.
Haha, it was all part of the plan. 😝
Super insightful chat Brandon! Excited for the launch ☺
So glad you enjoyed it! Wanted to make it more informative. Super stoked about it as well!
So confusing!
Awesome to see you review these early
So stoked to be able to do this! Thanks for watching and being a part of what made this possible! Please share it with others.
I always bought earphones thinking that the LDAC on the more expensive ones don't matter, but the first time I actually got a Sony Linkbuds S and tried out Apple Music lossless with it, I was kinda blown away. I was hearing and noticing new things like the different instruments in songs that I had listened to for years and never noticed before. Could never go back to Spotify after that. It wasn't quite night and day but more like night and twilight for sure though. It is that much more richer and fuller and clearer, that's the only way I can express what it sounds like. A couple of my friends had very similar experiences after I made them try it out as well. So, IMO you should give it a try before deciding if it matters to you or not. Happy listening to everyone :)
This was amazing. Kudos for doing this.
Man I'm so excited for these!
Same!
The volume is dropping when i use advance EQ
I like the format of the video, as I feel I learned more about audio. Not sure the details have me convinced to buy, as I care about play time, water proofing, ANC and passthrough more.
Glad you learned something! That was the hope. I wish I could have talked about that, but I could only talk about the sound. Will cover that along with tests in the review.
Thank you for this dialogue. I agree that this video may be a useful technical resource in the future.
I sure hope so! I wanted to address a lot of misconceptions that are out there regarding consumer audio that I see a lot regarding driver size and codecs amongst other things.
Love these! You learn a lot in very little time, you guys make it very interesting.
So glad we were able to be interesting! Thanks for watching, dude!
The graph of the new Ear is looking really good. My biggest complaints with the tuning of the Ear (2) were that the bass is too boomy and the treble is too shrill.
My listening preference is a bit flatter than what the stock Ear (2) offers, so I reduced the mid-bass and peaks in the treble region.
Side note, I also agree with DMS' statement about using EQ when the device allows the profile to be saved onboard.
Sounds like the Ear will be the right choice for ya! Yes, he’s spot on.
Great collab video!
Thank you!!
I literally bought the Ear 2, two weeks ago -_-
I have returned them and got the Ear on the way, lol -- interesting to check out the improvements.
Great to hear audio is an improvement over my Ear (2), even if it's slight. I always preferred the Ear 2 over every other device for it's audio quality and eq. I'm hoping we have touch controls for volume like Apple and much improved transparency (why is transparency mode overlooked!) as I am hoping to upgrade to make my fav wireless buds even better
Yeah! I have a lot of tests I’m working on for the full review, so we’ll see!
If the battery life is improved from ear (2) I could totally see myself making the jump to ear or ear (a)
Yes, that was an area that bothered me a lot in the prior model.
Man…I wanted to hear about the anc🫤 and drastic eq shift between modes on all nothing models
and cmf models so far…I really hope this is fixed it’s a major oversight
ooh now I gotta dig more into the nothing ears!
On a side note, have you tried the Creative Labs Aurvana Ace 2? It is a hybrid of an xMEMs solid state driver and a 10mm dynamic driver, and it has the best tuning and sound quality I've ever heard from a wireless.
My Nothings come apart at the stem seam in hot weather here in SE Texas.
Then I bought the $55 on sale Earfun Air Pro 3's and was blown away..
Nothing has Nothing on these. ANC is about the same but I don't need it because at 60% volume I can't hear anything, that 60% on my Earfun's are the same for my Nothings at 85% volume plus I get 9+ hours of great Audio.
How do the (a) compare to the ear 2? The ear 2 are at the same price right now thanks to discounts, so I wonder which ones would be the best deal.
Hello sir,what is the best sounding earbuds under 200$?so far im torn between nothing ear(the new one) and the status between 3anc
exccited glad to hear the sound isnt worse and is actually better
I definitely like them more!
Can you please help me Should I go with ear(a) or ear(2)?
An audiophile here watching this video with the ear2, confused for a bit when hearing about the "ear". I use PEQ on the ear2 to mimick the sound of other IEMs, and this is the main reason why I chose the ear2, glad to hear that they are keeping this. Great collab video with DMS! Hope to see more in the future.
Glad you enjoyed the video!
hows the fit and comfort in both ear and ear(a)?
also did it comes with spare ear tips?
and can we change it to different ear tips?
loves the video, and thank you so much for bringing DMS for share his perspective
It's pretty much the same size and fit as the prior Ear and Ear (2).
Here's an unboxing of the (a) which is the same as the Ear. th-cam.com/users/shortsiKmNY-qRqOg
Glad you enjoyed it!
I felt the sound on the. Nothing ear 2 was fine. The parts they needed to improve were anc and transparency mode...
Guess we'll have to see. The Ear has even better sound, IMO.
Agree. Oddly enough I find that the ANC actually improves audio but is completely useless as ANC.
I'm hoping the size of the Ear is marginally smaller than the Ear(2). They ever so slightly hurt my ears after some time. Versus the Airpod Pros, which fit perfectly for me.
Bit weird naming scheme.. Ear(1), ear(2) , ear, ear(a).. Why not ear(3)?
Because marketing
They decided to drop the numbers for the earbuds. My guess is it won't be updated yearly anymore so they dropped the number to make it less confusing down the line with their other products
ear(ear)
They've made Nothing Phone 2a, a cheaper version of Nothing Phone,. Easy guess why Nothing ear (a)...
Pixel buds (a) nothing ears (a) inspired by pixel
Hi guys, thanks for the video. Very interesting and love the technical explanations.
I had the nothing ear (1) and I am now deciding whether I should buy the air pods pro 2 or the Nothing ear 2024 using an iPhone.
And my big 3 priorities are sound quality, call quality in wind and ANC. Since apple wins the ANC and Nothing with the call quality it’s all about the sound.
Now apparently the air pods pro 2 have a clearer & crisper sound and thus are better BUT I thought I can change that with the EQ on tje Nothing ear.
Or is this a technical issue and the air pods are really better in sound quality?
Would highly appreciate your input.
Hey....Which is better...new Nothing Ear or Oppo Enco X2.... since both are under same price range....by better i mean in Sound Quality....since main Job of the TWS is sound.
I hope your guys tested these on Android to actually hear the upgraded codex. As Apple only supports AAC and SBC only, so these benefits only appear on the Android operating system. Fairly different audio experience entirely between the two different operating systems. This is even more apparent in the higher end of wireless earbuds.
It was tested using the OnePlus 12. Still, watch the section on codecs.
Sir, what is ur thought on buying Nothing Ear 2 over latest Nothing Ear??
Is it worth buying Ear 2 now or shall I need to wait for the launch of new Ear ?
*The new naming convention change is a HUGE mistake - and here is why* ...Marketing goals aside, what happens when people are googling to buy this earphone? They are going to get both the 1st generation and the 3rd generation in their results. This is an SEO nightmare and an e-commerce fail big time. And yes, the 1st generation is still availble for sale in many places.
*Should we EQ with IEMs?* - If you are using wired IEM, but only have a couple, and always use it on the same device, then it sounds like EQ is totolly a thing to do right?
What is the best EQ for ear a ?
Ive used all of nothings audio products apart from the neckband pro. For me personally i didnt see a huge difference from ear 1 to ear 2. I also think the noise cancelling on NE2 isnt great at all. However the products i honestly think have delivered the most value for money is the CMF buds and buds pro. Ive actually managed to pull very good sound from both. For me personally i was able to get very close indeed to the NE2 quality. The ones that shocked me most was the CMF buds. The noise cancelling on any nothing product in my view isnt that great, so it only really boils down to sound quality. When you consider how much the CMF buds are, its crazy. So im hoping that all lessons learned, we get even better quality from the new Nothing ear and NEa. Im not an audio snob at all but the Nothing X app really does need a little more work as ive had to use a good quality EQ app to really make all the Nothing audio products pop and tame some of their weaknesses.
I never thought you'd make a video about nothing
I've made some already on their phone and included them in my best of earbuds. What makes you say that?
@@ThisIsTechTodaysorry about that sir it is because I can I couldn't find a video about nothing in ur channel
Is it possible to tune the nothing ear eq to match other in ears such as Airpods or Samsung? Or at least achieve similar sound?
With the advanced EQ, you're more capable of doing so than most other earbuds. I can't say you can match it, but you have a better tool to get there.
I really need the definitive review for Nothing Ear and Ear (a) 😅
In 30 minutes 😝
@@ThisIsTechToday thank you so much!
Need some opinion from this ear a looks like it does everything like ear. But if u can suggest any reason to choose ear over ear a what it can be.? Bcuz in video it's mentioned that even in sound ear a is better straight out of box, I just need some help to decide.
We didn’t say that. It varies depending on person. I like the ear more. The ear also has wireless charging and the advanced EQ.
@@ThisIsTechToday yeah as u say now, wrong choice of words from my end. But this time the video is ACE
"there are some wild bassheads out there. you know who you are"
me, looking at my element mk2 with a +30 on the 40hz bass gain option: 👀
Does not compute lol
I'm a bass guy. I would love to test the bass boost.
I think it does it really well without destroying the rest of the frequency range like other earbuds do.
Nothing is by far my favourite electronic company at the moment.
Yeah, I love their aesthetic and how they're listening to their community.
Which is better air pods pro 2 or new nothing ear 2024 ?? Please reply
I have both and to be fair the nothing ear app alone is enough, not to mention the price. The new Ear are phenomenal, the sound quality is out of this world and they look the business. You will not be disappointed at all. I am not sure what genre you listen to but the Ear can handle everything with such clarity.
$100 on the website and they come in yellow. Very compelling coupled with the video knowledge.
how it sound compare Technics AZ80 to Nothing EAR?
Is the ANC and transparency as good as Airpods Pro 2??
We will see in my review. The disclaimer said I can’t talk about that.
20:30 is it better than OPPO Enco Air 3 Pro??
I didn’t find the Oppo to be tuned very well, and was overly scooped but had tons of Codec support. But again, tuning > codecs.
Can u give ur Advance EQ Configurations for the Ear
I don’t have one yet.
@@ThisIsTechToday I am really looking forward to it as well :)
is the ear and ear a better then ear 2?
I think so!
do SKULLCANDY CRUSHER ANC 2
Great video! I wonder how the Ear (a) compares with the Ear (2), because probably we can find them on similar prices.
Maybe the EQ and sound profiling are great features that tops the Ear (a) new tuning?
The graphs should show ya the frequency response at least. I'm working on a comparison of all three.
@@ThisIsTechToday Great! Looking forward to it.
Latency?
(I want to be able to do live interviews with any earpods.)
DMS was wearing the Ear (2) for this interview and didn't have issues.
@@ThisIsTechToday, latency is measured in milliseconds, not with an adjective.
@@ThisIsTechToday , was DMS monitoring his own speech with them?
Only thing worse than hearing others to talk not in sync id to hear yourself with small delay.
Try for example use the pods to montor audio of videocamera.
Cause of its similar price, are the Ear 2 clearly better than the Ear A?
I like that the Ear 2 has wireless charging and advanced EQ. That matters more to me. The batter life and the color is what makes the A compelling.
Just return my nothing ear 2 cause the background noise reduction didnt work when on a call. Other end could hear my kids.b
Expected price range for the a ?
Not sure if you watched the video…lol
😅
@@ThisIsTechTodayyou beeped it man 😂😂😂
excited asf
Same!
Which Blutooth Codec Does The Nothing Ear support???
they mentioned in the video they support LDAC and LDHC codec but the other genius dude said codecs really don't matter that much. that's new knowledge to me, but gotta take the nerds word for it. and he might be right cause LHDC is suitable for applications like gaming and video streaming more rather than music quality.
ps: calling him nerd is actually a compliment.
How is the ANC and Transparency?
This early look only covers the sound. I cannot talk about ANC and transparency.
Nothing is ridiculous with these rollouts
I actually think it benefits you because they are able to highlight a video that provides a deeper dive into the sound without getting drowned out. There’s a lot in this video that I don’t think you’ll hear in most review videos.
@@ThisIsTechTodayI don’t disagree with you at all. I’m just talking in general about how buying likes to trickle details out like they are Area 51 or something 😅
I think your statements are somewhat contradicting.
Either way, that’s how marketing works. It wouldn’t happen it didn’t work.
no spatial audio support???
Nope. Not a deal breaker for me as I don't use it.
I'm probably not that interested in these new Nothing earphones on a personal level since I'm an APP2 user and am mostly happy with its sound quality and feature set (the advanced EQ on the Ear sounds like a pretty nice feature though), but wanna say I appreciate that you brought DMS on to do some talking about audio science. I don't read the literature or anything, but have been keeping tabs on the audiophile hobby long enough that I understand in a basic sense what HRTF is, how to read frequency response measurements, and how to EQ the gear that I own, and I'm glad you two talked about some of that stuff for a good portion of the video so hopefully some of your viewers come away learning something new here.
Nobody cares
Jk
The volume is dropping when i use advance EQ
Same with my ear 2
ily
haha, thanks.
Which is better for bassheads?
I think the Ear (a) leans more towards a more bassy sound.
Will there be a phone 3 in 2024?
I don't know, but it seems like that would be the trend with their release dates.
How the compare with OnePlus buds 3
I like the Ear's more.
Anyone here that has a good preset in wavelet for the ear (a)?
Moondrop won me over. Too many QC issues with Nothing also
What model of moondrop are you referring to?
@@elazar1333 I own the Kato and Golden Ages
Plz bring the HEADPHONES 😅
I know, right?
I can't even tell how many times I tried to swipe that hair from my phone's screen, then finally realising it's on his laptop screen...
Cats, man.
@@ThisIsTechTodaywhen will the full review be ready?
Thanks!
Nothing ear or Ear(a)?
Depends on what you like! I like the Ear.
@@ThisIsTechTodaywhat do i like?
Advanced eq lowers the overall volume for me significantly, hate it.
Are you cutting a lot? That happens with all EQ if you’re cutting as you’re attenuating down.
Nope, just touching the eq bands lowers the volume significantly
Not to be sarcastic, but why can’t you just use the volume to turn it up? It’s not that big of a deal.
The max volume of the phone/mac is reached but volume is low, specifically for watching videos not listening to music, i use the other circular EQ instead, still gives me some control and affects the max volume a little less, the 2 EQ presets supplied by default have way higher max volume levels, this reminds me of my Audeze Penrose EQ, it lowers the volume to prevent clipping i think
Interesting. I haven’t had a need to hit the max volume. That would start damaging your hearing for extended use at those volumes. That makes me concerned about your ears.
Why tf is there literally no 11- 13k
Measurement rigs have issues around there and above.
@@ThisIsTechToday issues, yes I acknowledge? Totally no response, that seems suspect. I believe the measurements are done by DMS? I went back and checked his other item measurements, none of them seem to have such a pronounced dip (or more accurately, a complete lack of response) in the air region.
No one in the hearing aid industry cares about sound like these guys. Sad and frustrating
I do
Hope we can at least fill in some gaps where we can!
we want oneplus buds pro 2
if you want audiopile quality and fully fine tuned oneplus buds pro 2 is the best
I thought they were worse than the first ones.
brother i have tuned fully balanced bass mids and treble and they are outstanding even bose,apple,sony,bowers and willkins cant even come close. and they have best soundstage out of all the earbuds including denon perl pro....... you should defenitely test them out and give your honest review
i tuned them with sound id and hey melody app,
thanks for your reply
I still don’t like them as much as the first. Sorry. That’s my honest review.
Nothing more annoying and irritating than people who treat their audience as dumb people, it’s so condescending and rude! You’re not all that, stop treating the audience like idiots
The naming is horrendous... What are we going to call it? Nothing Ear (2024)?
just Nothing Ear
it will be like Airpods
Nothing Ear gen.3 (2024)
next
gen.4 (202..??)
Genuinely don't understand how people can't understand the name. They're likely divorcing from the yearly release schedule, so just like Apple they'll have Ear as their latest product, and maybe Ear (3rd gen) if they need to refer to an older version. Looks cleaner and removes the yearly expectation.
This is exactly what is going on. They want you to feel confident you can buy something and use it for a long-time without worrying or feeling like you need to upgrade every year. They're finally at a mature spot where they have things figured out and sorted so they don't need to iterate as much.