Can we satisfy “audiophile” on a wallet friendly budget?

Soundpeats is a solid consumer earbud brand, and I’ve had positive experiences covering their products in the past.

Their new earbud is an interesting focus for the company. The Opera series of buds are wrapping up crowd funding campaigns, and there’s a LOT of talk about audio quality and hi-res fidelity. Previous “Pro” and premium earbuds from Soundpeats have retailed as high as $120, but their main focus is on a $40-$60 consumer range.

The Opera aims to bring a bit more of the premium polish to a slightly lower cost. Aiming for an $80 MSRP (currently on early bird for $49), the Opera 3 are an interesting experiment.

A part of my conclusion at the top of this article:

We should be really excited to see how previously ‘exotic’ audio tech is now becoming more mainstream and affordable.

Design

The Opera 3 are a classy looking bud. You can tell a lot of attention has been paid to material choices and finish. Shiny copper is the main accent. The buds stand out against the sea of options I have in front of me in matte black.

I tend to not rate aesthetics that high for audio products. I don’t look at myself while I wear them, but it can be fun to use wearable technology as a fashion accent. It’s nice when geek gear can compliment someone’s style.

The buds are larger offset casings. This is my favorite style of earbud. I prefer something that “rests” in the bowl of the outer ear, and doesn’t have an arm or stalk that pushes against the side of my ear.

The eartip arms are what I would consider “medium depth”. They push into the ear canal, but aren’t deep insert like my pro IEMs. The arms are oval, but they are a little broader. Fit might be an issue for folks with smaller ears, even on the smaller ear tips. I have larger ear canals, and the big tips were instantly able to settle in and isolate well.

The earbuds feel nice. They’re built well, but the case is one area where we likely see some cost reductions. Soundpeats rates the Opera for up to 9 hours per charge. With the case and the buds, we should see between 17-20 hours total playback on LDAC with ANC on. Kicking quality down, and turning off ANC should deliver closer to 30 hours total playback in the field before you need to charge the whole set.

Those estimates gel with my experiences. I’m happy to see that even “mainstream” consumer options are arriving with solid battery life WITH ANC on.

The case is a bit on the creaky side. The lid has a light plastic feel with a bit of wobble on the hinge. It’s the only smudge on this whole experience where the Opera “feel” like their inexpensive price. The other omission for the case is wireless charging. The buds can top off reasonably fast over USB-C, but there is no support for Qi charging.

Tech

Soundpeats has a solid collection of tech on tap for this price tier. This is not an exotic tier of bud, but we should count on mainstream lifestyle features.

Bluetooth 5.3, with listed support for SBC and LDAC codecs. We’re in a surge of premium earbuds using better codecs to improve audio fidelity. Seeing LDAC well below $100 is always going to make me happy.

That signal quality matters here, where the Opera 3 employ a fun dual driver set up. A decently large 12mm Dynamic Driver is backed up with a balanced armature. This is my favorite hardware combo for fun consumer tuning. The larger driver helps flesh out richer lows, while the balanced arm can tackle mids, highs, and is distinctly articulate. Feeding that combo good data makes for a fun combo.

The Opera 3 are rated IPX4, a good level of sweat resistance, though I’m not sure I’d position these as sport buds. The focus seems to be a bit more on audio quality.

The ANC on tap is “good”. It’s very good at reducing ambient consistent sound. Walking around with traffic sounds in the distance, those distractions are minimized. This is not a “hyper isolating” ANC though, and incidental sounds come through clearly. Individual cars driving right by can be heard. The clacky keys on my keyboard can “pierce” the noise reduction.

This is a natural feel however. Folks sensitive to “stuffy ear”, should enjoy this softer ANC. I think it’s more than adequate to help cut the noise in an environment like commuting or air travel. The general purpose ANC is good for helping you listen at a lower volume, but it won’t completely isolate you.

Likewise, the passthrough is also “good”. Opening up the mics to hear what’s happening around you, there’s a slight artificial tone or air to ambient sound. Sound and direction are clear, but some audio gets a slight nudge. My computer fans feel louder through these buds than they really do with just my ears. Louder environmental sounds will be rolled off, and that can also feel a little artificial, but again, I’d prefer that over a real loud sound just hitting me right in the ear drum.

I can appreciate some of the criticisms, where folks are looking for “the best” performance regardless of price, but I feel the cost of these buds is appropriately on display. If it’s a product focusing on fidelity, you don’t want exaggerated ANC at lower costs. That would adversely affect the sound of the audio you were listening to. “Audophile” is part headphone, and part listening environment. Sound quality won’t mean much in the worst listening environments.

The companion app is straightforward.

There are options for ANC and pass-through. There are presets for EQ, with a user custom 10 band. There’s a button to check for firmware updates, and you can send a message to Soundpeats for support.

That’s about it. That’s the whole app.

These buds aren’t premium expensive. We’re not going to get the more advanced ear-test tuning customization. There is no in-ear detection.

The bulk of the money you spend is going to support a dual driver earbud with LDAC.

Sound Quality

And you can hear that. This is a bright and lively consumer sound.

I mentioned this is my favorite hardware combo. I really like a good hybrid dual driver.

There’s a specific feel to the articulation of audio, attacks on strings are nice crisp. I enjoy the sound we get on vocalists, especially catching the unique tremor of each voice. Using two different kinds of drivers like this, we get a little more “room” to position instruments. Tuning two drivers in an inexpensive earbuds can be a challenge, but I think the “Soundpeats Classic” preset (the out of the box tuning) is a really good start.

Lows are bouncy, but these are not skull-rumblers on stock settings. Listening to ‘JU$T’ from Run The Jewels, we get a sharp crisp pulse on the intro bass pops, but the decay is TIGHTLY reigned in. This gives us a LOT of space for mids and vocals to come in. The lows aren’t rolling over our mids. Guitar distortion on rock and grunge comes in nice and buzzy.

For bass heads, there is a preset for maximizing lows, but I feel it’s a little sloppy. It’s FAT, but I don’t love how wide it gets. On drum machine tracks, you lose the separation between notes, and bass gets foggy, just saturating the track. Or funk bass on Daft Punk, it’s just a puddle of constant lows, not a clearly defined play between guitar and kickdrum. It’s too boomy.

I would HIGHLY recommend tuning your own EQ if you want a thicc-er sound.

I was VERY happy living in the Soundpeats Classic setting for most of my listening. The snarl of guitars on Prince’s ‘Lets Go Crazy’, the rhythm guitar on ‘North Side Gal’ by JD McPherson, the play between guitar and bass on ‘Killing in the Name Of’ from RATM. It’s that area, that articulation that really tickles my ear. I feel that’s where a track really becomes distinct, and I liked what the Opera 3 could do here.

The weak spot for me, highs are a touch bright for my tastes. The rimshots on ‘You Got Me’ by The Roots make me blink. They’re piercing. Ditto REALLY loud and aggressively mixed pop like ‘WTF’ from OK GO, the “shimmer” starts to get brittle, and it’s a little unpleasant. I personally did not enjoy Soundpeats “treble” EQ setting.

I ultimately dialed in a light roll off to highs in the custom EQ, and these earbuds respond really well to that kind of tuning.

The Wrap Up

That’s what makes me smile here.

There’s a claim. The Opera are looking to offer “Audiophile on a Budget”. These are not “everything and the kitchen sink” expensive earbuds. The money you spend is going to a specific focus.

In the world of Bluetooth audio, and true wireless in particular, the “health” of a market depends on the competitive choices we have access to. In cabled audio, we’re RICH with different options and solutions earbuds. Single driver, dual, triple, quad, exotic materials, different cables. A consumer can REALLY dial in a specific sound that appeals to them.

True wireless earbuds are entering a more mature tier now. TWS sales are plateauing, and now we enter a phase where companies can differentiate more. My “idea” of Soundpeats as a brand was very practical.

“They make good all-rounder consumer buds for a good price.”

The Opera are a critical step for the company. I think it’s exciting to see a manufacturer try to specialize, try to compete on price, and get most of this right.

I hope other folks find that exciting too.

Soundpeats sent these my way to test drive and share my thoughts. This post is not sponsored in any way, and the company had no input or influence over my editorial or review process. If you would like more info on the Opera 3, please consider checking out the Opera 3 Kickstarter page.