[FiiO]

Does this work well with very sensitive IEMs like the Andromeda?

I think yes. Buy you could have a try in the local store first: https://www.fiio.com/wheretobuy

Here is a sharing from other user:

Looks beautiful, but alas - hiss with the Andromedas is pretty bad, mainly because there is an easily audible crackling noise interspersed with the hiss on whichever side is connected to the phone.

Best regards

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 4 The mystery of QCC3020 noise floor reduction

We have received a lot of feedback from the UTWS1 users saying that its noise floor is kinda large. Since it does not include earphones, the noise floor would be rather obvious when being matched with some low-impedance yet high-sensitivity earphone units.
In fact, we realized this problem when we developed our true wireless earbuds, the FW1 and EW1. The reason is that Qualcomm QCC3020 is a highly integrated chip with the DAC and amplifier inside. So it has small power consumption yet a high level of integration.
After all, TWS earbuds are highly integrated products, which are particularly sensitive to volume and power consumption. Qualcomm's design has reasons.
However, for those who focus more on sound quality, or for those who are more sensitive to the noise floor, it would be annoying if the device comes with an obvious noise floor. Inside the UTWS1, the noise floor has nothing to do with volume. Because it applied digital volume adjustment which was performed before digital to analog (DA) conversion and power amplification, the noise floor caused by hardware circuits such as DA conversion and power amplification will not be affected by the previous digital volume adjustment.
Therefore, during the development of the UTWS3, the most important design goal is to reduce the noise floor, at least ensuring no obvious noise floor for most headphones in addition to increasing the power and reducing distortion.
To achieve this goal, FiiO engineers added an additional amp chip, so that the QCC3020 will only be responsible for Bluetooth decoding and DA conversion while being free from amplifying analog signals.
In this way, the working conditions of the QCC3020 have been improved due to less load on it, and we can also add a two-level filter circuit to further reduce the noise. Especially the filter in front of the headphone amplifier chip TPA6140, which is not directly connected to earphones, can be made better without leading to overlarge output impedance.
After the above-mentioned processing, the noise floor of the UTWS3 is reduced to 8uV even when the volume is at the maximum level. It is already at the same level as that of a professional HiFi portable music player.
More importantly, the volume adjustment of the UTWS3 is completed by an analog volume circuit inside the TPA6140. Therefore, the noise floor generated by the QCC3020 can be controlled by its volume. The higher the volume, the greater the noise floor of the UTWS3 (only 8uV at the maximum). Generally, such a high volume is rarely used when we listen to music. This also means that at low volume, the noise floor of the UTWS3 will be at about 3 or 4uV.
This is the UTWS3's mystery on noise floor optimization. This victory has also been appreciated and recognized by many users. Clearly, the greater advantage of an independent amp chip built-in is driven capacity improvement, distortion and output impedance reduction. If you are a user of UTWS1 and UTWS3, I believe the clearest difference that you can immediately feel between them is the noise floor.
The attached picture is a simple comparison of the internal circuit architecture between the UTWS1 and UTWS3.

 

[BlazdiqFoods]

Dear friend,

Currently, LDAC is not support in TWS headset. And we will report to the engineer for assessing the APTX-LL support.

Best regards

Will the assessing the APTX-LL be a firmware upgrade or is a hardware limited?

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 5 UTWS3-probably the only app-controlled TWS ear hooks

Mobile digital enthusiasts may know the biggest difference between iOS and Android system is that iOS is a closed system with limited user defined options, while Android is an open system with more options available for users.
In the process of making products, we often encounter some problems and be in a dilemma, because there are no perfect answers to some problems which are related to using habits and preferences. In addition, it is more troublesome to achieve some complicated designs for a device like the UTWS3 without a display and with only one button.
Fortunately, we developed it ourselves this time, so users have the option of operating ways and making some advanced settings for the UTWS3 based on their habits through the FiiO Control app, which greatly improves the convenience. Here is a brief introduction with attached drawings.

Figure 1: connect the UTWS3 to FiiO Control app through Bluetooth, and then tap the UTWS3 on the app. This is the first page we can see. As shown in the picture, there is the remaining battery displaying for the left and right channels (Limited by Qualcomm chip, the remaining battery will not be completely accurate, so this is just for reference.). The following 3 pictures are 3 sets of button function schemes. And the fourth is the power saving shutdown option. All these designs are based on user habits and preferences.

Figures 2, 3, and 4 are the introduction of different button function schemes. Tap the question mark corresponding to each option (in Figure 1) to enter the menu. The reason why we designed it in this way is that there is only one button on the UTWS3 which would be shared with many functions. However, everyone has their preferred operating habits. We provide these options so that they can choose their frequently-used ways the same as their other TWS earphones, all for users.

Figure 5 is the audio settings. It is easy to understand, so I will not give more words to it. Since TWS ear hooks do not include earphone units, the sensitivity will be varied among different earphone units, thus leading to different Bluetooth volume, prompt volume and phone call volume. Moreover, we have received feedback from our users when we were developing Bluetooth amplifiers that each user has different needs on the volume. Therefore, we made it open for users themselves. The volume of tones can even be set to 0 when being familiar enough with it.

Figure 6 shows the Equalizer settings, which you might be very familiar with. You can do some sound adjustments and adaptations according to your earphone style.

Figure 7 is the product description, which actually functions as an electronic manual. Since paper manuals are easy to lose, we prepared a built-in instruction. This does make sense.

Figure 8 is the settings menu of the UTWS3. After entering this page, we can see some uncommon operation options. I think the most practical function here is Custom device name. I have two pairs of UTWS3, and I put them in different places. Sometimes when I make connections to one of them, the same name of the 2 pairs would confuse the mobile phone when making connections or operation. However, with the renaming function, the 2 pairs of UTWS3 can be easily distinguished. For me, I named the one JamesUTWS1 and the other JamesUTWS2. I think it is kind of a big move. Probably some people do not need this function, but it is better than nothing.

In addition, the last thing I want for you is the OTA (Over-the-Air) upgrade! Due to technical limitations, the UTWS3's OTA upgrade uses BLE mode to transfer the firmware to the ear hooks. Therefore, the transmission speed is slow, and the left and right channels of the UTWS3 need to be upgraded separately, which would be rather complicated. There is an upgrade instruction with graphics on the OTA menu if you need it.

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 6 A little case matters much

The UTWS1 has much to be improved. In terms of personal experience, most of the problems are caused by the absence of a charging case. Therefore, we managed to design a charging case for the UTWS3 this time, which really makes sense.

1. Charging issue: A dual-head cable is required to participate in the charging process of the UTWS1. We have to open the protection lid of the ear hook and insert the charging cable. While for the UTWS3, you just need to put the ear hooks into the charging case, and it can soon be charged. It is really a big progress.

2. Turn on and off: For the UTWS1, we have to manually turn it on even 2 times because the 2 ear hooks are separate. When finishing using it, we need to turn it off manually. This caused a lot of inconvenience and bad using experience. No matter wearing it on ears or holding it in hands, it is troublesome to turn it on and off. While for the UTWS3, we can just open the charging case lid to turn it on and close the lid to turn it off, getting away from worries about startup and shutdown.

3. Pairing and clearing pairing: For the UTWS1, we need to independently operate the 2 ear hooks at the same time when pairing and clearing pairing records. This time, we specially designed a multifunction button on the charging case for the UTWS3, so that when we operate it, such as pairing, clearing pairing, restoring to factory mode, we only need to press the button of the charging case.

We used a Type C port instead of a Micro USB for the UTWS3. With charging displaying and ear hook storage, the charging case can power the ear hooks. Metal material for the top lid of the case will be more attractive with a better texture, but I personally think it is ok for that.

Regarding the size of the case that you are concerned about, we designed it with a rather large size to ensure that some larger earbuds can be included. The ear hooks themselves also need to take up some space. So the size issue is currently no solution.

The attached picture is a simple comparison between the UTWS1 and UTWS3. You can take a look at it.

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 7 HiFi True Wireless Prospect

Previously when the MP3 just came to the market, it applied dozens of chips with an extremely complicated internal circuit. As time went by, the trend of integration popularized gradually. The most extreme case was that a chip undertook all the functions. However, the latter portable HiFi MP3s, started to divide from each other, using independent chips for the processor, internal storage, DAC and amp part. The most extreme case was that a DAC chip was matched by hundreds of resistors.

Now let's go back to TWS earbuds. Several years ago, I once used the earliest TWS earbuds, Samsung's Icon X which included many chips. As Airpods popularized TWS technology to a climax, the current TWS solution has evolved to a single-chip one. Even if there is only one chip in the earbuds, the truth proves that there are still many chances to separate these chips.

So when will it be the right moment to see a separating trend? As TWS products rapidly rule the market, it becomes easier for audiophiles to accept this new type of product. After all, who would like to say no to the great portability of TWS technology? The exception occurs just when some common TWS earbuds are not qualified enough to cater to these audiophiles' fastidiousness.

So what limits the sound quality of TWS? To summarize, the sound quality of TWS is roughly determined by three aspects.

1. Transmission format. At present, the ordinary Bluetooth audio transmission format has moved on to LDAC. According to the feedback from the market and users in recent years, specifications of high bit rate, high sampling rate/high bit depth represented by LDAC are not a bottleneck anymore. After all, CD formats can only go to 44.1KHz/16Bit.

Currently, TWS only supports aptX. For the better-quality LHDC, it has not yet been tested when being applied to TWS products. And it is left aside by most of the products in the market. But at least we can know that this codec has a great chance to be carried on TWS in the future.

2. Acoustic part (the driver, cavity design, etc.). Traditional TWS products, whether it is a single driver, 1 balanced armature+1 dynamic driver, or 2 balanced armature+1 dynamic driver earphones, have relatively small cavity compared to HiFi class earphones due to their size design. The diameter of most dynamic drivers is 6mm. So there will be sound quality differences. However, things have changed since the emergence of TWS earhooks like the UTWS3. At this time, all the limitations were gone. As long as the connectors of the earphones are MMCX or standard 0.78mm, they can be connected to the UTWS3, immediately turning into TWS earphones.

3. Circuit part (Bluetooth receiving processing, digital signal processing, digital-to-analog conversion (DA) analog amplifier circuit, etc.). For most general TWS products, an integrated chip takes the responsibility for all the functions of this part. While for the UTWS3, there are two independent chips instead of one: the QCC 3020 is responsible for Bluetooth reception, signal processing and DA conversion, while the other chip with better performance is for the single-end of the analog amplifier circuit.

Of course, the circuit part has more room for development. In the future, there will probably be independent DAC chips for the DAC part. So will the Bluetooth receiving processing, digital signal processing (DSP or FPGA or dedicated chips), DA conversion, and analog amplification parts. In this way, there will not be much difference between earbuds and current HIFI players, except the driven capacity that is limited by power consumption and battery of the TWS products.

In conclusion, the UTWS1 has kicked out 2 limitations while the UTWS3 has further kicked out the third in addition to the 2. I hope that with the advancement of technology, by the time that the UTWS9 comes to the world, it will be such a true wireless earhook: at least supporting the high-definition Bluetooth codec LDAC without any acoustic restrictions, and using a high-performance independent DAC chip and amp chip.

Let's work hard together and look forward to it!

 

[FiiO]

Chapter 8 Story Finale-all for our users


I have no idea if you have noticed our first generation, the UTWS1, unlike other models of FiiO, was only sold at our own Tmall store. Few of our sales agents had taken it. There are 2 main reasons. First, it is an OEM product, and many improvements have been made to the original design, resulting in high procurement costs. Second, it was mainly designed for our own earphones at the time, so we tried to give our old earphone users a user-friendly price. As a result, it would be unprofitable if the agents sold it.

Although the price of UTWS3 has increased a lot this time, frankly speaking, it is totally worthy of a friend price. The cost increase mainly comes from the charging box, modules of the case and the ear hooks, and well as many circuit configurations adding such as the amp circuit (dual microphones and other changes). If we follow the usual pricing rules of players and earphones, its price would be higher.

However, as we know, the TWS market is basically polarized. One polarization is TWS products from mobile phone brands such as Apple, Xiaomi, and Huawei, are able to make huge profits with substantial sales volumes thanks to advantages of the brand channels and other aspects,

Commonly, the profit of a TWS ear hook exceeds the profit of a mobile phone (without considering the income of pre-installed apps). The other is some counterfeit TWS consumer goods have been made at a cheap price, which would be unreasonable if they have an over-expensive price than those from big brands and even excluded earphone units.

Therefore, we have rethought it over and over again before we gave it the pricing. First of all, this price should be more acceptable to consumers. Secondly, the UTWS3 will be able to bring some profits to our sales agents. Finally, if we sell more than 20,000 units, we can recover all R&D costs.

Up to now, the serial stories of the UTWS3 are over. The factory is still in a rush to produce it. If you like products like the UTWS3 as much as I do, why not share your stories, feelings and views with us. What we care about is if you like it instead of money and profit. We really hope you like our products and you can have a great time with them. Thank you so much for your support.

 

[vkvedam]

Anymore impressions guys?

 

[FiiO]

Anymore impressions guys?

You could read more review from: https://www.fiio.com/utws3_reviews

Best regards

 

[zeissiez]

How many bands available in the EQ ?

 

[FiiO]

How many bands available in the EQ ?

5 bands.

Best regards

 

[XeNoNF50]

Dear friend,

Currently, LDAC is not support in TWS headset. And we will report to the engineer for assessing the APTX-LL support.

Best regards

Create a version with LDAC and you will sell more than you can manufacture

 

[FiiO]

Create a version with LDAC and you will sell more than you can manufacture

I hope this Bluetooth codec will be supported in TWS device soon as well.

 

[alt99]

I hope this Bluetooth codec will be supported in TWS device soon as well.

Looking forward to ldac or lhdc version, btw I have been using utws3 for few months and happy with the product except the charging contact issue, sometimes it didn't charge and a wireless charging approach would be much better.

 

[FiiO]

Looking forward to ldac or lhdc version, btw I have been using utws3 for few months and happy with the product except the charging contact issue, sometimes it didn't charge and a wireless charging approach would be much better.

Thanks for your feedback. We will report your feedback to the engineer. As for the issue with charging, if the issue still happens frequently, you could try to contact your seller or support@fiio.com for help.

Best regards