This and That:
"True wireless" Bluetooth in-ear, available with a graphene-coated 6 mm dynamic driver (white shells) or full-range Knowles Balanced Armature driver (red or black shells) per side.
Bluetooth 5.0 with AAC and SBC codec support; unfortunately no aptX codec support.
Carrying/charging case can be charged via USB-C or with a wireless charger (the latter only on the BA driver version).
Nice unboxing experience.
I like the charging cable’s vibrant green colour.
The black and orange charging/carrying case is much more compact than I thought and looks and feels fantastic. There’s also a colour-matched little lanyard that can be attached to it (which I have done). However, this beautiful case also comes with a trade-off, as its surface is made of glossy black plastic without any further pouch or silicone cover protection, wherefore it is highly likely also prone to scratches. There’s another thing about it that isn’t as nice – the lid: while it shuts firmly and is held in place magnetically, it feels quite loose and floppy when open, and can also easily fall shut unintentionally, which is a quite painfully loud noise (it would have been much better if its nice looking hinge were stiffer and/or had some sort of soft close mechanism so that it didn’t fall shut unintentionally this loudly).
Other than that, it holds the in-ear pieces in place nicely (through magnets), seems to be protected well against dust, and has got three nice little LED battery status indicators.
Additionally, the MTW100 also comes with a selection of no less than seven pairs of differently sized silicone tips, which is definitely commendable.
The MTW100’s earpieces look very nice as well and feature high build quality along with small LEDs that act as battery indicators when the earpieces are put back into the charging/carrying case. While the outside is made of glossy black plastic and has got built-in capacitive touch buttons, the inside is made of matte soft-touch plastic that fortunately doesn’t feel or look cheap as such surfaces sometimes do.
The nozzles are quite short.
As the nozzles are fairly short and the ear tips are rather uniquely shaped instead of oval and as the nozzles are short, too, getting an instant seal is a bit trickier than usual but manageable – while I’m able to achieve a good and constant seal, at least slightly longer nozzles would have been beneficial.
In terms of fit and size, the MTW100’s earpieces fit and are held securely in my large ears while there’s still plenty of free space around them. Comfort is decent.
- - -
The MTW100 doesn’t have any volume control; instead it’s controlled solely by the source device. What’s unfortunate, and unfortunately this is true for so many Bluetooth in-ears, is that the lowest possible volume is too loud for me personally with the devices that I have tried the in-ear with so far (BlackBerry Classic, Apple iPhone 4, Xiaomi Redmi 4A 4G, ZOTAC ZBOX CI547, Acer Chromebook 14 CB3-431), which requires me to lower the volume in the player software in addition to hving the master volume set to the lowest possible setting, which is unfortunately not possible with every player or software.
One clear flaw it has for me, something that unfortunately many Bluetooth devices suffer from, is that its voice and status notifications (beeps, “connected”, “disconnected”, etc.) are horribly loud (therefore I definitely also don’t want to ever encounter the status notifications that the battery is low).
Touching either earpiece’s touch-sensitive faceplate for three seconds and then releasing the finger enters the surrounding awareness mode that lowers the volume by ca. 6 dB and passes the environmental noise through the listener through built-in microphones. However, this is accompanied by a horribly loud beep when it is activated respectively deactivated (and the microphone-amplified exterior noise is very hissy, too, but otherwise the pass-through feature works well), so it’s something that I will clearly avoid to activate.
Playback control gestures (double-tapping etc.) work well and are accompanied by a soft, gentle beep on the corresponding side most of the time, however sometimes this beep is also horribly loud.
Unfortunately, as it seems, none of these horribly loud beeps and status notifications can be activated or attenuated, which is definitely sad and something that unfortunately many Bluetooth devices suffer from.
- - -
It seems like the right in-ear piece is the master unit as it is the one that is the last to disconnect/lose connection if the transmission signal is weak, and as covering it when the signal is weak results in a short playback interruption (happens with my ZOTAC ZBOX CI547 and Acer Chromebook 14 CB3-431, both of which seem to have weak Bluetooth antennas (the former more than the latter)).
The connection, at least with my Apple iPhone 4 (and BlackBerry Classic), is superbly stable and the in-ear pieces never lose the connection in a radius of around nine to ten metres (around eight to nine with my BlackBerry) (no dropouts or signs of unstable connection with either mobile phone).
If the transmission/connection is weak or unstable (which is the case when used with my Chromebook and ZBOX), the treble wobbles sometimes, which never happens when the signal is strong and the connection is stable (which is the case when used with my iPhone and BlackBerry – stable and correct treble reproduction).
What’s definitely nice to hear is that the hiss one can hear in quiet or silent passages of the music in a quiet environment is only very gentle and soft – nice.
Sound:
Main wireless sources: ZOTAC ZBOX CI547, Acer Chromebook 14 CB3-431, Apple iPhone 4, BlackBerry Classic (wireless sound quality: BlackBerry ≥ iPhone > Chromebook >> ZBOX; connection stability: iPhone > BlackBerry >> ZBOX >>> Chromebook)
Largest included silicone tips.
Tonality:
Gently warm v-shape.
- - -
Compared to what would be diffuse-field flat, the bass is elevated by ca. 9.5 dB and starts to climb around 700 Hz and then reaches its climax around 100 Hz with that elevation that can be kept down until around 30 Hz, with only a small drop below that. Therefore the sub-bass extension is definitely good and not lacking.
Definitely somewhat comparable to that of my Shure SE215m+SPE, with the exception that the Shure is more elevated between 20 Hz and 200 Hz.
Also with some parallels to the Brainwavz B100, although the B100 is a bit thicker in the upper fundamental range and starts to roll off earlier in the bass (and is a little less elevated).
Additionally also with similarities to my Campfire Audio Andromeda that is however a bit thicker in the upper fundamental range and a bit less elevated between 20 Hz and 300 Hz.
- - -
The lower mids are only gently and moderately warm – the lows definitely don’t overshadow the mids and don’t spill into them by much at all.
Generally, the mids sound quite natural but are overall somewhat more on the gentler, inoffensive, darker side with the upper mids and presence range being slightly in the background wherefore voices are placed a bit more in the background instead of being intimate and gain a dark touch.
In comparison, my Shure is somewhat more present in the upper mids at 2 kHz, while my Andromeda is definitely and audibly more recessed in the upper mids and presence range. The Brainwavz, compared to the Shanling, is a bit darker in the upper mids and presence range.
- - -
There’s a small elevation around 4 kHz audible when doing sine sweeps that adds just a bit of metallicness to high notes’ timbre, but it’s ultimately only ca. 2.5 dB above neutral wherefore it is harmless and only barely noticeable on its own.
Otherwise, the highs are mostly neutral and form a mild peak between 8 kHz and 9 kHz that acts as a welcome balance to the bass elevation.
Super treble extension is good up to 12 kHz after which the level rolls off.
Compared to the Shanling, my Shure is tuned much darker in the highs. The Brainwavz is darker in the highs, too, whereas my Campfire Audio Andromeda is sharper and splashier in the upper highs, right around the edge of being sibilant, whereas the MTW100 avoids this nicely.
- - -
So yeah, tuned nicely and without any exaggeration.
Resolution:
Unfortunately the MTW100 doesn’t support the aptX codec, so its technical performance is much more dependent on the source device’s Bluetooth transmission quality (whereas I have found that the sound quality is similar from all aptX supporting sources if a receiver that supports aptX, too, is connected to any of those sources that transmit aptX).
From the mainly used sources listed above, the MTW100 performs the best when used with my BlackBerry (should be SBC codec), very closely followed by my iPhone (AAC), very closely followed by my Chromebook (should be SBC codec – would be even almost at the same level as the iPhone if the Chromebook’s signal strength were not so low which results in constant high frequency wobble), with the ZBOX (should be SBC codec) falling behind.
With the best wireless sources, there’s no to only very little compression noticeable, whereas one can notice a clearly compressed sounding bass with the worse of the sources, along with transients and treble details/separation that is somewhat on the softer side.
With the good sources, the technical performance is almost on the same level as that of a decent sounding single-BA in-ear in a comparable price range, such as the Braiwnavz B100, although the MTW100 is ultimately just slightly behind when it comes to separation sharpness and bass definition. Otherwise and generally speaking, control is good and the in-ear doesn’t smear when used with fast and complex music, shows good speech intelligibility and midrange resolution, has got a rather tight bass that is only on a bit on the softer side and doesn’t lose too much texture towards the sub-bass, and shows good, although ultimately just slightly hazy, treble separation.
Soundstage:
Just like the resolution, the soundstage depends on how well the source device’s Bluetooth transmission chip was configured and implemented for high quality audio playback, wherefore the imaging is much more diffuse than precise when used with my ZBOX, whereas the soundstage is the most precise and cleanest when used with a source with good Bluetooth implementation, such as my iPhone or BlackBerry, with whom the Shanling reproduces an imaginary soundstage that, while ultimately rather on the more compact, smaller side and a little wider than deep, places and separates instruments believably, and appears just a slight touch less clean when compared to a comparably priced non-wireless single-BA in-ear.
Conclusion:
Fantastic design, high build quality, good sound (well tuned (warm and gentle v-shape), good technical performance that’s just very slightly behind that of a comparable non-wireless in-ear (but will ultimately depend on the source device’s Bluetooth chip quality as only SBC and AAC wireless transmission codecs are supported, whereas aptX isn’t)), but unfortunately not free of some typical wireless in-ear issues (very loud status notifications/information, very loud quietest possible volume). Additional things that could be improved: charging case’s lid and nozzle length.