Liberty 4 NC Noise Cancellation

#1

I received my Liberty 4 NC today and am impressed with overall performance other than noise cancellation which tbh is virtually non-existent. If I toggle between NC and Normal in a variety of situations I notice no difference in background sound. Ambient setting actually does a better job of suppressing low tone background noise (whilst boosting treble). Given how impressed other reviewers are with the NC I can only assume these are faulty. I have a couple of pairs of Sennheiser over-ear headphone that do a good job with NC and I was expecting these to be on par but sadly not.

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#2

I donā€™t have these buds but have other Soundcore products claiming ANC and is considerably worse than other brands.

I find it suppresses bass him sounds better than treple.

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#3

Iā€™ve found the noise cancelling to be really good with my Liberty 4 NCā€™s.

Have you tried fitting the largest size ear tip? The NC improved drastically for me once I did this.

I also own the far more expensive Sony WF-1000XM4ā€™s and I would say that I would struggle to tell the NC difference between that and the Liberty 4 NCā€™s.

#4

Thanks Keith - very interesting. Iā€™m aware others are extremely impressed with the NC. I did try the largest ear buds a few days ago and the fit is better as is the NC. One of the aspects that seems a bit strange is if, for example, someone is mowing a lawn a few houses away the NC would hardly reduce the sound of the mower whereas the Transparent setting pretty much eliminates it altogether albeit with the introduction of ambient hiss. Go figure! Overall though Iā€™m pleased with the earphones.

#5

What about suppressing higher pitch noises, like children or womenā€™s voices? I find Soundcore does a better job suppressing bass (rumble, traffic, menā€™s voices) more than treple.

Iā€™ve ordered some L4NCs (light blue) using discount code before, just today shipped so Iā€™ll know myself soon.

Iā€™ve got two X10 (the beta and a unit I bought) and spent last night in a hotel with failed A/C so spent a night lying under open window on the hotel room floor on pillows with a fan on me, and the X10 was superb for that, all the external traffic and the fan noise was perfectly suppressed. Thatā€™s the X10 - not the L4NC.

I then spent the day moving on bike / train and used one-bud, the X10 hook over ear kept it where it needed to stay, not so sure the L4NC will do that good a job.

Iā€™m a fan of the X10, itā€™s not mentioned much but the hook and the IPX4 with NC is still useful.

#6

I hope you resolved this. If you havenā€™t I would double check to see if your firmware is up to date. After purchasing the Liberty 4 NC yesterday, I immediately updated to the latest firmware. I currently have the Bose QC ii earbuds. I had the xm4 earbuds (disappointed with the xm4 earbuds is an understatement with me) as a reference point as well and had too many other brands to name here. Ever since Bluetooth was in its infancy stages I was on it like most of us tech guys/enthusiasts. The noise cancelling on these is surely better than the xm4s and many others. If you change the eartips with the xm4 to silicone eartips the anc isnā€™t worth the price. Granted the Xm4s has a huge amount of smart features and thatā€™s true. I had about 3 pairs of the Xm4s, even the grey/white ones. Bose is Bose when it comes to noise cancelling for sure and they have an excellent sound signature. However, I enjoy these very much as well and the noise cancelling is no slack at all on these bad boys. The audio range on these however if youā€™re an eq guy or sound lover (the meaning of audiophile) is spectacular! I get great sound from these even without LDAC on, no lie. Definitely try contacting customer support if all else fails because I have no issues with the Liberty 4 NC earbuds at all! From 1 to 10 in reference to noise cancelling from my experience Bose is a 10 and the Liberty 4 NC are an 8.8. (I would say 9.2 but some folks might mistake it for fanboyism lol) Wishing the best!! :v:

#7

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. In the few weeks Iā€™ve had the Liberty 4 NCs I must say they have become my ā€˜go toā€™ phones. Iā€™ve got several other pairs of earbuds (all wired) and wireless over-ear NC phones (Sennheisers). I find the sheer convenience of the Liberty wireless earbuds excellent when carrying and wearing and the sound quality is more than acceptable. Perhaps my expectations for noise cancellation were too high but it isnā€™t a deal breaker and Iā€™m very satisfied overall.

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#8

I donā€™t know if this might help or if it is uncomfortable for you but try eartips that can go close to the canal. (But not to small) I have my left ear with the mediums and my right with the large eartips. Iā€™m not saying jam them in but the nc and sound quality is enhanced when doing this. I also insert them while they are in a sort of semi horizontal position and then twist them down about 15 degrees. I hope this helps. I agree, the sound is very good.

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#9

ā€œYou get what you pay forā€ seems appropriate. Iā€™ve had the Soundcore L4 NC for nearly 2 months. They have useful ANC but not brilliant. For the price I paid Ā£60 I thought overall a good value for money.

Reviews saying good ANC, my experience is different, and when I looked for comparative reviews, say against X10 Iā€™ve had for longer, which claims L4NC is better ANC, my experience is they are about the same.

Wearing them now :wink:

The surprise was they actually stay in! Iā€™ve had P2, LA2, they fell out so easily they never left the house. Hence why I kept L4NC and not returned, and Iā€™ve returned plenty of Anker over the years which disappointed.

So I recommend them. If they were Ā£60 before theyā€™ll be that again and probably hit a lower price as they drift off from being latest. Just know they lower noise, rumble mostly but not treple like voices (kids / female higher pitch arenā€™t suppressed at all). But for the price I paid Ā£60 you get wireless charging, a reasonable IP rating so donā€™t have to worry about rain, good battery life.

#10

I definitely feel you on that. The large eartips Iā€™m using with them now are the ones from the Sennheiser momentum 2. Returned those by the way, but those plugs without discomfort created a good seal. They have a crossing T as an earwax filter ( for reference)I guess. They work great and stay on the buds. You indeed caught a good deal, I paid about the same in $. The eq range on these buds are serious.

#11

How did you manage to put on the Momentum 2ā€™s ear tips on the L4NC? I feel like I need a larger ear tip (larger than the ā€˜Lā€™ ear tip included in the box) for a more comfortable fit. However, since the part where the ear tips attach has an oval shape, and the ear tips themselves are also oval-shaped, other ear tips do not fit properly on the earbuds, since they all are circular. I do manage to put them on, but they come off as soon as I take them out of my ears.