Pioneer Rayz

I received these EarPods and after a good bit of use in the gym, around the house, and on the phone, I'm convinced they are just what I was looking for: a high quality, lightning port connected, noise cancelling ear pods that were durable enough for the gym but nice enough for an airplane. I rate them five stars!!! Overall: Great ear pods for all functions. Durable construction, great sound, and the right mix of simplicity of use and ability to customize. Packaging and Setup: The ear pods arrive in a well designed and attractive "iPhone looking" box (see my picture), and come with multiple sets of ear inserts (s/m/l with spares!). There is no case included, which would be nice for a pair of ear pods at this price point, but not a bid deal for me. The Pioneer Rayz have very easy-to-read and easier-to-follow setup instructions...yes, setup instructions...as in plug them in, hit a button to calibrate, and start using them! The noise cancelling function is easily calibrated, taking only a few seconds, and automatically adjusts to ambient noise (a house with kids, an airplane, a gym, etc). THIS is a major plus: easy and near instantaneous calibration on-demand with push of a button. There is also an awesome app that allows you to customize many options, including an equalizer, Siri controls, and play/pause options. Finally, they have a customizable "smart button" that you can program to any function. These come in two options: with or without a charging port. I opted for the Rayz without one, simply because I'm typically not in a situation where I am both charging and talking often, but I can see many situations where that would be beneficial. A few more thoughts: 1. I'm impressed by the "feel" of the buttons and the thickness of the cords. Well built. 2. The "automatic pause" function is an awesome one. In summary: I would buy them again and will get another pair for my wife.

I know a thing or two about good sound, having dabbled in the audiophile hobby for 30+ years. I am not a snob however, and can't justify dropping $300 on a pair of headphones much less earbuds. Let me tell you, these Pioneer RAYZ sound out-of-this-world good!! A couple of points of advice, if you do get these: 1) they do need some "burn in" time. Out of the box they sound a little dull, so play some pink noise or music tracks through them for at least 8 hours before making any judgments. 2) The noise canceling (more on that below) detracts a little from the overall sound. I thought they sounded great before I realized this, but when I listened with noise canceling off, that's when I realized how special these buds are. They are very well balanced, not overly bassy, not shrill, and just the right amount of midrange in-between. Suffice to say, the DAC/amp is far superior to the Apple dongle. I don't think my DragonFly red would sound any better, if these were regular 3.5mm connectable. Now about the noise cancellation. It works, but don't expect Bose level isolation. They are apparently designed to let voices through, but in my opinion voices get through a little too easily. I wish the software would allow you to fine tune the level of noise cancellation but it doesn't. As for the iphone app, it's solid. Easy to navigate, clearly labeled, etc. If you are looking for lightning connected in-ears with top notch sound quality and some degree of noise cancelling, there really is no other choice but these. Even if there was, I doubt the others would be better than RAYZ.

These are exactly what I have wanted for years.Many of the ear buds that come with the Apple IPODS are totally useless .The ones from Apple fall out all of the time and the sound is very mediocre at best.The ones offered by Bose are rather huge and from the past reviews seem to be continually breaking .So for many years I have used a pair of old Sony (open air) that are at least 20 or more years old.The problem with those is you can hear everything that is going on around you.That is why they are called open air type.Good when walking in traffic and hearing everything that is going on around you so you don't have a accident But when you are at the Mall Of America the most noisy place in the world it is almost impossible to hear the music that is on your player.So far these sound great and are so easy to setup.Love the custom EQ that you can set up.So much better then the presets in my Apple 128 gig Ipod.Also nice to be able to pause,skip, & adjust volume ,etc when the IPOD is in my shirt pocket. Just this week I was really able to give these a real complete work out at the Minnesota State Fair & MOA .The amount of noise cancellation is simply amazing.I have custom made earplugs I use all of the time for riding motorcycles and loud concerts.These are just like using the ear plugs,except now you do not hear noise but very clear and full dynamic audio.I was at the MOA today for at least 2 1/2 hours and totally enjoyed my music player without any distracting noise.When I paused my player and turned off the noise cancelling I was totally blown away by all of the noise around me. I see other people with these huge attention getting noise cancelling full headsets on which look totally ridiculous.And then there is me with these tiny earbuds accomplishing the very same thing or better.The amount of power these small earbuds take is not even noticeable .I was able to listen to my IPOD for at least 6 to 8 hours at the fair before I had to recharge my music player.

The product sounds pretty cool so I tried it out. Turns out this product is hot garbage. I was originally looking for an item that I could walk around with without taking the ear pieces out and this is not the item. The auto pause feature did not work at all. The special features of the earphones are just not good. I think this item was not ready to hit the market yet because not many items today do what these pair of earphones do.

Product is functionally great. Especially the auto mute function while in conference calls etc is great. And the NC is amazing for a device which requires no charging. I own almost all the Bose QC products and it's near comparable to QC20i. Build quality is suspect though. The plastic appears non durable. A thin crack has started on one of the ear buds and I hope that doesn’t spread. Wonder how the customer service is. If I hear from them will inform.

Above average noise cancellation for in-ear (vs over ear). Very good sound quality when combined with noise cancellation results in very good to excellent sound quality. Great selection of earbud attachments - 5 in all help you find a good fit. The app will test the fit of each earbud to help you make the best selection. I like the control unit - provides volume up and volume down. The center button has dual functionality for audio and phone. For audio, it has pause (one click), go forward one file/song (two clicks) and go backward one file/song (three clicks). For incoming calls, the center button picks up the call and hangs up the call. I have made and received phone calls with these. The people I'm talking to say it's good sound quality, and they can hear/understand me. And of course, being able to plug this into my iPhone XR Lightning cable jack directly without having to use a dongle is a big plus. I got this Black Friday 2018 for $69.95, it's usually in the $80-$100 range. If it was $69.95 or less all the time, I'd probably give it 5 stars. In general, recommend.

Purchased last Fall, I stopped using them this Spring. The lightning connector becomes loose over time. I wore them walking to and from work. No jogging or heavy activity. They were stored in a cloth bag between uses, The sound started cutting out occasionally after a couple month's use. After a few weeks more, the sound would cut out with the slightest movement of the iPhone (putting it in a vest pocket, for instance). Then the Rayz would not work at all unless the lightning connector was inserted with one side up (the lightning connector should operate properly no matter which side is up). Recently it became impossible to listen to a complete pod cast while walking. If your purchase is intended for only a few months, the Rayz are OK. Sound is fine. Noise cancellation is fine. The fit is as problematic as any earbud in this price range. But don't be surprised when they stop working altogether after a few months.

I have to say, I did not expect these to be as good as they are, but they are absolutely fantastic. SOUND Very pleasantly surprised. Keep in mind, because these play via lightning connection, they have extensive app control, including a 5-band EQ. Bass is excellent. Without adjustment, it's full with convincing impact ("emotional"). Mids are good and don't sound recessed. Highs are good as well, however a slight downward adjustment in the 8kHz region is warranted to combat a slightly metallic characteristic. Overall, they EQ well and sound great. ANC Many headphones have a "calibration" feature to maximize the effect, however, I never notice a difference. The Rayz, however, are a completely different story. When calibrating, these improved the ANC significantly, probably by about 50%. As with many in-ear ANC units, it does not get rid of mid-to-high pitched noises, however, it does a good job with low frequency rumbling. Anything beyond that, you'll need to go with an over-ear model, such as the Bose QC35 or Sony 1000X(M2 or M3). BUILD A little on the plastic side and the wires, although "good", at this price, should have been perhaps braided and tangle resistant. As noted, the earbuds themselves are plastic, which make them light and allow for a secure fit, but a little more premium material in this area would have been a nice touch. All-in-all, there's nothing bad and it's just nit picking. FEATURES There are flat out numerous features you'd find on many over-ear headphones. Hear-thru (surrounding environment), programmable smart button, proximity sensors (pause music when removed from ear), "Hey Siri" feature without pressing a button, firmware updates, and more. At this price point, I don't think there is anything else that sounds this good and is this feature rich. Great job, Pioneer!