Grell TWS-1 earbuds make good sound accessible
TL; DR
- The Grell TWS-1 uses Active Noise Canceling (ANC) to intelligently dampen background noise.
- The earbuds use Bluetooth 5.2 and support AAC, aptX, LHDC and more for high quality wireless audio.
- The Grell TWS-1 will go on pre-sale this month for $ 199.99.
Former Sennheiser Chief Headphone Engineer Axel Grell has retired from the steadfast audio company to bring the Grell TWS-1 to market. Positioning themselves against products like the Apple AirPods Pro and Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro, these true wireless noise-canceling earbuds appeal to busy audiophiles.
Each earbud contains a 10mm dynamic driver, which is unusually large for a pair of true wireless earbuds. Although we don’t yet know what the Grell TWS-1 sound like, we can look at the frequency response of other Axel Grell productions such as the Sennheiser HD 650 to get an idea of the sound profile of the TWS-1. In the free SoundID app, anyone can tinker with a parametric equalizer to fine-tune the frequency response. In addition, the earbuds support stereo and mono listening, keeping listeners aware of their surroundings when needed, and low-noise microphones transmit clear sound that is equally suitable for face-to-face calls and conference meetings.
Round glass plates act as touchpads so listeners can control playback, volume and incoming calls. While glass seems like a tricky material choice, listeners will be comfortable knowing that these have an IPX4 water resistance rating. While these aren’t billed as exercise earbuds, anyone can sweat while wearing these earbuds without any problems.
Bluetooth 5.2 offers a wireless range of 50 m and the earphones have multi-point connectivity. The TWS-1 supports a number of Bluetooth codecs (SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive and LHDC). No matter what operating system your smartphone is using, the TWS-1 delivers consistent, high quality audio signals to your ears.
See: The best true wireless noise-canceling headphones
Grell Audio combines Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) with its own Noise Annoyance (NAR) technology. Conventional ANC attenuates low-frequency ambient noise as much as possible, but still allows high-frequency noise to pass through. NAR uses auditory masking when a loud sound makes a relatively quiet one difficult, to its advantage: it attenuates low-frequency sounds a bit while deliberately keeping them loud enough to mask high-pitched sounds. While the Grell TWS-1 doesn’t have the most technically impressive ANC, they should offer more even noise attenuation.
When the ANC is switched on, the earphones offer six hours of playtime, with the USB-C housing a total of 28 hours. When ANC is turned off, the total battery life increases to almost 35 hours.
The Axel Grell TWS-1 will be pre-ordered through the company’s website earlier this month and will retail for $ 199.99. After the pre-sale, the earbuds will be available on Drop.com, formerly Massdrop.
