This and That:
Included are a sturdy carry case with metal snap hooks, a chin/neck slider, a shirt clip, one charging cable, three pairs of silicone loops called "Earwings" that remind me of those of my BlackBerry WS-430 earbuds, and no less than five pairs of silicone tips as well as one pair of foam tips.
The in-ears are larger than most wired models due to the integrated batteries.
The shells are mainly made of black soft-touch plastic - something I don't really like or find premium, even though Anker used decent material. The silicone earhooks are firmly integrated and neither replaceable nor adjustable.
Large an easy to read side indicators.
Soft and supple, however somewhat sticky cable.
Only average noise isolation.
Anyway - the three buttons work as you know them from most Bluetooth devices (by the way, their pressure point is quite firm, but defined): the in-ears can be switched on and off by a long press on the middle button, which is accompanied by a powerful, thumpy bass jingle, while a short press on the same button serves to pause and resume playback. You can skip tracks by pressing and holding the volume buttons.
Unfortunately, the volume control gives me reason for criticism - on iOS and Apple devices it is synced and corresponds to the 16 standard steps, but unfortunately the steps can't be fine-tuned manually via slider and the initial volume is definitely too high for me personally as a person who listens to music at quiet to moderate volume levels.
Unfortunately, the volume control gives me reason for criticism - on iOS and Apple devices it is synced and corresponds to the 16 standard steps, but unfortunately the steps can't be fine-tuned manually via slider and the initial volume is definitely too high for me personally as a person who listens to music at a moderate volume.
On Android devices, the volume control is also synced to the Android system volume steps. Again, the initial volume is definitely too loud for me. It's interesting, however, that unlike the Apple devices, the initial volume can be reduced directly on the Android devices by two further, much more pleasant (although also too widely spread) steps. But since you have to use the playback device every time, the wireless advantage becomes relatively obsolete.
Only on my Acer laptop is it possible to set the Windows system volume as the upper limit, which allows a reasonable volume control with a low start value.
Personal conclusion: Due to the too loud lowest volume setting when used with mobile source devices, the SoundBuds Curve in-ears have already failed for me personally.
Sound:
As source device I mainly used my Apple iPhone 4 (wireless AAC codec).
For listening I used the largest included silicone tips in combination with the largest Earwings.
As far as hiss is concerned, the SoundBuds Curve perform well - in a very quiet environment with paused playback/empty audio files, only some very quiet background hiss is noticeable, which is so low, however, that it can no longer be heard even with quiet music playback with my PC.
Tonality:
Killer bass. What the power-on jingle already announced proves to be true in the tonal tuning of the in-ear - it has a thick, heavily accentuated bass range. This is countered by an evenly rising increase of the upper treble. Therefore one finds exactly what one expects for the price and the application as a sports in-ear: a consumer-oriented, bass-heavy v-shape tuning.
But wait - because even if this tonal orientation is clearly exaggerated from a hi-fi point of view, especially in the bass range, it still turns out to be cleverly implemented. The way the v-shaped tuning was implemented, I strongly suspect that it is not only due to the properties of the driver, but also to a well done DSP implementation.
The bass range starts to rise slowly at 700 Hz and peaks at 50 Hz, while the level below is kept constant down to the deep sub-bass cellar.
The extent of the boost is a good 20 dB (!) in the sub-bass and 15 dB in the upper bass. Logically, this is not natural or balanced, but very powerful and definitely target-oriented. To be frank, I am a little fascinated, because even if the fundamental range is not spared from a strong thickening due to the general intensity of the bass emphasis and even though low male voices gain fullness accordingly, the vocal range never loses its presence, which would not have been possible to such an extent without the skilful and evenly increasing implementation of the emphasis.
Yes, I dare to say it, the midrange seems quite natural. Not just in relation to the price, but even in general. Apart from the thickening of low male voices, there is no colouration, and even this fullness sounds more natural due to the even incline of the bass compared to some other budget in-ears.
From 1 to 3 kHz, the upper midrange is pleasantly neutral, which means that brighter voices are reproduced correctly and without any colouration or emphasis. From 3 kHz onwards, the level of the treble rises steadily and surprisingly smoothly (no sudden dips or peaks) towards 8 kHz, and remains at this level up to over 15 kHz. By the way, the treble is emphasised by about 4 dB.
So, as one can see, the implementation of the bass and treble boost is surprisingly even and in a way that the midrange is largely left uncoloured and remains tonally correct (except for some lower midrange fullness), so that voices do not drown. The type as well as the uniformity of the elevations and where they take place suggest a good DSP implementation - tonal deficiencies of the acoustic driver implementation were ironed out and the linearised frequency response was then adjusted to the intended target curve, in this case a bass-heavy v-shape tuning. Compliments to Anker, because even if the tuning is definitely too extreme for hi-fi demands in the bass, it is still well done.
And if my assumption is wrong and the tuning is achieved without any DSP adjustments: even more respect for tuning and implementing the dynamic driver like this, as even though it is clearly overdone for hi-fi standards, the midrange is much, much better than that of most other sub-$100 in-ears with a very strong bass emphasis.
Interim conclusion: Definitely not Hi-Fi, but really good implementation of a target-group oriented, powerful bass-heavy consumer v-shape tuning, where the mids don't "drown".
Resolution:
The detail resolution turns out to be unexpectedly good and is definitely in no way inferior to average $50 models like the Shozy x AAW Hibiki or SoundMAGIC E10, quite the opposite actually, the Anker even outperforms the latter in terms of detail resolution as well as bass speed, and almost reaches the performance of models in the $100 range, such as my Shure SE215m+SPE, that, however, ultimately has the tighter, faster bass and the cleaner note separation (as well as gentler tuning in comparison).
Compared to the Hibiki, which performs a little better in terms of bass tightness, the SoundBuds Curve even have a slightly higher midrange and treble resolution and are also more realistically tuned in the midrange and treble.
The only weakness of the SoundBuds Curve in-ears is that their bass is relatively soft and somewhat undefined. However, given the very powerful boost, this is not too surprising and is still quite acceptable for the price.
Soundstage:
Spatially, the SoundBuds Curve play rather oval, thus offering a little more width than depth in stage reproduction.
As far as width is concerned, the in-ears are quite decent and represent an upper average for vented dynamic driver in-ears with an expansion just a little wider than the base of my ears.
When it comes to spatial precision, the in-ears are also neat and offer a space that is less diffuse than that of the SoundMAGIC E10, but definitely not nearly as precise as the Fidue A65.
Conclusion:
Heavily consumer-oriented tuning with a really heavy bass emphasis. v-shaped. Natural mids. Target group-oriented tuning that is done really well for what it aims for. I suspect it's done using clever DSP corrections that correct the driver's weaknesses (if not, and if the tuning is achieved the traditional way: applause). Surprisingly good resolution for the price even though the bass is quite soft.
Still a failed product from my point of view as the lowest possible volume setting is already on the loud side.