Standing Audio Between 3ANC
MSRP $249.00
“You possibly can add Standing Audio to the checklist of manufacturers making top-quality earbuds.”
Professionals
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Tremendous comfy
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Distinctive design
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Nice battery life
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Superb name high quality
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Highly effective sound
Cons
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Barely harsh excessive frequencies
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No put on sensors
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No hi-res Bluetooth codecs
The easiest wi-fi earbuds sometimes price between $200 to $400, with $249 (coincidentally the worth of the Apple AirPods Professional 2) being the candy spot. That is the place you discover earbuds which have all probably the most in-demand options and nice sound high quality. You doubtless know the names. We’re speaking Sony, Sennheiser, Apple, Technics, and JBL.
It’s not, nevertheless, a worth the place you’ll often discover comparatively unknown manufacturers with quick monitor data trying to go head-to-head with these family names. However don’t inform Standing Audio that. The small, under-the-radar, New York Metropolis-based firm has been constructing spectacular but inexpensive headphones and earbuds since 2014. It not too long ago launched the Between 3ANC — a set of buds that makes use of the identical triple-driver setup because the model’s fashionable Between Professional wi-fi earbuds. However because the identify suggests, it provides energetic noise cancellation (ANC).
Whereas the
Between Professional
— at $169 — had been undoubtedly consistent with Standing Audio’s more-for-less method, the Between 3 ANC price $249, and that worth raises the bar on expectations when you think about the competitors. Do they ship? Let’s test them out.
You’ve obtained to provide Standing Audio credit score for its aesthetic method to the Between 3ANC. It’s not simple to provide you with a wi-fi earbud design that concurrently makes an announcement, gives a cushty and safe match, and avoids the generic stem-based form of the AirPods, but these buds do all three.
They’re chunky and stand out from your ears, which may intrude with hats or trigger a tangle hazard for people with lengthy hair, so that you may need to maintain that in thoughts. However I discover the oblong form with its polished squares of chrome each eye-catching and minimalist, whether or not of their Bone guise (pictured) or darker Onyx.
A part of the explanation that they stick out up to now is that Standing Audio has successfully constructed them as two joined modules. One portion sits in your ear and consists of the 2 balanced armature (BA) drivers. A second, bigger portion holds the battery, dynamic driver, and the entire different components.
It might not make for the smallest buds, however it completely delivers consolation with a safe match. Each half that is available in contact together with your ear is wrapped in silicone. You get three sizes of eartips and three sizes of “fitwings” — the gasket-like sleeves that wrap the round portion of the earbuds. With a medium fitwing and the massive eartips, I used to be in a position to get a extremely comfy — and rock-solid — match. With a claimed IPX5 degree of water safety, they need to additionally be capable of deal with your runs or exercises if you happen to take care to wipe them down afterward.
Controls on the Between 3ANC are additionally break up into two parts: a single bodily button sits on prime and is used to manage ANC, voice assistant entry, and a battery life test, whereas the outer floor acts as a contact management for playback, quantity, and name administration.
It’s an excellent system — I discovered the division of capabilities intuitive — however the prime button proved difficult to make use of. It’s virtually flush to the highest of the earbud and could be very small, making it tough to click on. A single click on (ANC/transparency mode switching) is a bit awkward, however the double-click (voice assistant) and triple-click (battery) gestures proved to be fairly irritating as a result of they have to be performed in fast succession, in any other case, they are often mistaken for single-clicks.
Sadly, there’s no choice within the Between 3ANC app (iOS or Android) to customise any of the controls or gestures, so that you’ll simply should get used to them as they’re, which I finally did. Talking of the app, it will also be a bit awkward. Each time you open it, you’ll have to undergo a two-step reconnection course of to entry the earbuds’ standing and settings.
Standing Audio additionally selected to not give these earbuds put on sensors — a function that’s almost ubiquitous at this worth — so there’s no auto-pause or resume when eradicating/reinserting the earbuds.
The earbuds are simple to get out and in of their charging case — which could be charged wirelessly or by way of the included USB-C cable. The case itself is compact and fairly pocketable — in measurement and form it’s almost an identical to the Sony WF-1000XM4 — and solidly constructed, with a hinge that’s unusually strong.
Wi-fi connectivity is superb, with Bluetooth 5.2 assist plus Bluetooth Multipoint for 2 simultaneous machine connections, which labored seamlessly once I switched between gadgets. Nonetheless, not like most earbuds on this worth vary, (apart from the AirPods Professional) the Between 3ANC don’t supply any high-quality Bluetooth codecs — solely SBC and AAC.
Unusually, that is truly a step down from the Between Professional, which had Qualcomm aptX assist. Standing Audio claims that codecs like LDAC and aptX Adaptive aren’t as essential for earbud sound high quality because the drivers, amplification, and tuning and I completely agree. Nonetheless, if you happen to’ve nailed these different components as Standing Audio claims to have performed, a high-quality codec can allow you to get probably the most out of your {hardware}.
Nonetheless, superior codecs or not, the Between 3ANC sound nice. They’ve strong full-frequency copy. The low finish has a resonant high quality that jogs my memory quite a lot of the WF-1000XM4 — it exhibits up with a presence you may really feel, however solely when known as upon to take action. Transients are dealt with with precision — drum hits are snappy and rapid-fire bass line licks (assume Flea’s handiwork on the Pink Scorching Chili Peppers’ cowl of Larger Floor) could be appreciated in all of their element. One of many advantages of Standing Audio’s triple driver system is that there’s little in the way in which of muddying between frequencies. On tracks the place deep bass coexists with higher mids and highs — Billie Eilish’s Dangerous Man being an ideal instance — these parts are effortlessly overlaid, letting you hear every aspect clearly.
If there’s one space that wants enchancment, it’s a bent for the manufacturing unit tuning to drive the excessive frequencies a bit too onerous. On the one hand, this provides podcasts and different spoken phrase content material further vitality and intelligibility, however then again, it creates noticeable sibilance and harshness. If it bothers you, you should use the companion app to dial issues again. This course of takes some persistence. Not like the multiband equalizers in different apps, you may’t hear your changes in real-time as you progress the sliders — it’s good to hit the apply modifications button every time — which is a bit annoying. Fortunately, when you arrive at a combination you want, it can save you your system for subsequent time.
As a lot as I loved listening to the Between 3ANC, I nonetheless desire the sound of its closest opponents, the $249 Technics EAH-AZ60M2 (which sounds virtually an identical to the EAH-AZ60) and the $249 Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3.
Noise cancellation on the Between 3ANC can be excellent — higher than the Momentum True Wi-fi 3, and roughly on par with the Jabra Elite 7 Professional. It’s particularly good at making a hush in busy environments like eating places, workplaces, or city streets, the place quite a lot of frequencies must be suppressed. It’s rather less efficient when coping with a single droning sound like a loud fan or a vacuum. Nonetheless, provided that that is Standing Audio’s first set of ANC earbuds, the outcomes are spectacular.
Transparency mode can be very succesful, however the stability of amplification is a bit aggressive — it introduces a little bit of background noise that isn’t there whenever you take away the buds. However if you happen to’re attempting to listen to the world round you or have a dialog, it’s greater than prepared for these duties — simply don’t count on an Apple AirPods Professional 2 degree of efficiency, regardless of the matching worth.
Name high quality is wonderful. The environmental noise canceling on the six microphones is so sturdy, it virtually completely erases background sounds — even pretty loud ones. The one draw back is that the system typically has hassle distinguishing between these undesirable sounds and your voice. This implies there could also be occasions when your caller can’t fairly hear you, however as a result of they will’t hear these different sounds both, they might assume your cell connection is at fault.
Actually, that is solely going to be a difficulty on the uncommon event when a dump truck passes by. The remainder of the time, whether or not indoors or outdoors, the Between 3ANC give your voice an virtually studio-like copy. Plus, you may activate the transparency mode throughout a name if you wish to hear your individual voice extra clearly.
One other benefit to the Between 3ANC’s giant physique that juts out of your ear, is there’s plenty of room for a giant battery, and Standing Audio takes benefit of it. They provide eight hours of playtime and that’s with ANC on, which handily beats the AirPods Professional 2 (six hours), Jabra Elite 7 Professional (7.5 hours), and Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 (6.5 hours). In reality, the Between 3ANC are neck and neck with the Sony WF-1000XM4, on ANC and non-ANC longevity (8 and 12 hours respectively) plus charging case capability (two full expenses), giving the Betweens 24 or 36 hours of whole play time.
Usually, that is the place I difficulty a caveat and say that these occasions are based mostly on 50% quantity ranges, which you’ll doubtless need to exceed. However I discovered that fifty% quantity was all I wanted, particularly with ANC turned on.
It’s onerous to not be impressed by what Standing Audio has achieved with the Between 3ANC. At $249, they will’t keep away from comparisons to the largest and greatest manufacturers within the enterprise, and but, for probably the most half, they arrive away from that comparability very favorably.
Their design, whereas supremely comfy and safe, gained’t be for everybody, and I believe they cease simply shy of providing the sort of sound high quality I’ve gotten used to from Sennheiser, Technics, and Sony. There are additionally a number of lacking extras like put on sensors and superior codecs and the app may use some tweaks to make it extra user-friendly.
Nonetheless, with succesful ANC and transparency modes, superior name high quality, and top-flight battery life, the Between 3ANC are completely price contemplating as you make your subsequent wi-fi earbuds alternative.
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