Sudio Sweden has launched their new 2022 flagship true wireless earbuds. The Sudio E2 is the latest generation of the best-selling Sudio Ett model and retails in Singapore at S$189 with 3-year warranty. It’s a great price considering the Sudio E2 comes with ANC, Transparency Sound, a new Dirac Virtuo Spatial Audio mode by Dirac, and supports wireless charging. During this early bird launch period, every order from the Sudio website comes with a free Sudio Ladd+ wireless charger. On top of that, receive an additional 15% discount on total bill at checkout when you apply the promo code “musicphotolife15“. Four colours are available: Chalk, Electric Grey, Black and Jade. For my review, I chose Grey because the pink metal accent looks electrifying.
Update 1 Apr 2022: Sudio has launched a smartphone app to support EQ adjustment and ANC control. Read on to the section on app review.
Currently, Sudio has four models in the true-wireless product line. The Sudio T-series (Tolv, T2) are pebble-shaped, the Sudio NIO is the on-ear open-fit AirPods-inspired design, the Sudio Fem is a short-stem design, and the Sudio E-series (Ett, E2) is the long-stem design. The Sudio E2 operation is identical to the T2 – tap once on either earbud to play-pause, tap twice to skip foward (right earbud) or backward (left earbud), tap three times to adjust volume up (right earbud) or down (left earbud). For ANC and Transparency, press-hold the right earbud. The Sudio E2 has a new feature, Spatial Audio which can be toggled by press-hold the left earbud. The Spatial Audio can be enabled with any ANC mode.
Battery life is 6.5 hours with ANC and Spatial Audio disabled, 5.5 hours with ANC, and 4.5 hours with ANC and Spatial Audio. The charging case adds up to 30 hours. A 10-min quick charge extends listening time by 2 hours. The earbuds have water protection rating of IPX4.
Sudio products have been tuned for general consumers, so while they do not sound audiophile-accurate, there is something enjoyable about the tuning. On the Sudio E2, you will be able to enjoy music with treble clarity, upper midrange openness, moderate mid-bass intensity, tight-punchy kick-bass, and satisfying sub-bass rumble. The mid- to high frequency instruments are mixed close and wide at eye-level, while the lower frequency tones are presented towards the floor, and this separation achieve the bass rumble without affecting the clarity.
With the Dirac Virtuo Spatial Audio enabled, it simulates a pair of stereo speakers in front of you. As result, the sound source is moved to an elevated front about a meter away, producing an out-of-head frontal audio. The treble clarity is increased, the percussions turn out crispier, midrange is recessed, mid-bass turns slightly less boomy but lower bass remains seismic. Comparing with the LG TONE FREE FP9 Meridian EQ, the Dirac Virtuo Spatial Audio presents audio a little cleaner and less echoey. The instruments are less close, giving more instrumental space. The simulation on the Sudio E2 is more realistic. Compared to the Creative Super X-Fi, the Sudio E2 the sound source is coming only from the front and does not have any room reflection effect at the sides or the back of the head.
Compared to the Sudio T2, the Sudio E2 treble is more toned down, which to me is less harsh and more balanced, offering a more rounded chesty vocal performance. The Sudio E2 sub-bass also sounds less intensive, tuned with a fuller mid-bass. Sudio T2 frequency response is quite extreme at both ends, which makes music sound very detailed, transparent, with deep bass. The Sudio E2 reduces the extremity but still achieves an overall exciting sound. I definitely prefer the E2 for its less excessive V-shaped tuning. I also like that the voice prompts reads the ANC mode instead of sound effects. Under the transparency mode, the ambient sound is louder than T2.
The ANC quality is close to the Sudio T2. Though the low-frequency rumbles are reduced, you can still hear the high-frequency hissing sounds in an airplane cabin. If you play music over it, the ANC should be adequate, but if you want ANC even for no-music, you might need to pay a bit more for premium earbuds like the Technics AZ60, which reduces overall cabin sound effectively, leaving only very quiet engine hissing sound.
In the Transparency mode, the Sudio E2 amplifies the ambient sound a little more than the Sudio T2, but it still sounds natural and not artificially amplified. So when you enable it during music playback mode, the surrounding sound will not overpower the music except for very loud noises like road traffic or someone shouting.
On call quality, the Sudio E2 uses 3 mics on each earbud to capture voices better with midrange clarity. When call is connected, the Transparency mode is enabled automatically, but this feature cannot be disabled if user prefers not to hear the surrounding during calls. Comparatively, the Sudio T2 sounds more bright, harsh, and contains a little more background noise. Sudio claims the Sudio E2 comes with VividVoice technology to isolate your voice from the surrounding. During controlled test, I find that the Sudio E2 is able to mask the background noises reasonably well and when I speak up, the other caller can hear me over the muted background noise. It is slightly better than the Sudio T2, although perhaps one reason could be the bright tuning of the Sudio T2 which lets me hear more background noises.
Sudio App (updated 1 Apr 2022)
There is now a Sudio smartphone app that works with Sudio E2 and Sudio T2. With the app, users can update firmware, control ANC, Transparency, Spatial Audio (which also can be selected from the earbuds).
In addition, the app comes with preset EQ profiles which you can select for your liking.
You can even go through a hearing test to let Sudio recommend your personal sound profile. Or you can manually adjust the 6-band EQ and save as a new profile.
When going through the hearing test, I’m not sure whether I should tap the response button the moment I hear the test tone faintly or if I should hear it when it is loud enough. It seems when I respond with the “most sensitive” approach, the recommended profile under-compensates the EQ curve, which means my ears are over-sensitive. What impresses me is that I actually like the Sudio-recommended tuning profile. It sounded the most neutral and takes away all the characteristics which I described above. Listening to my Personal Sound Profile, the bass is tamed with substance, midrange is full and warm not bloated, treble is clear not overly bright.
Verdict
The Sudio E2 is the new flagship product which comes with the company’s most-advanced features like Hybrid ANC, Transparency mode, VividVoice, and wireless charging. The new Dirac Spatial Audio feature improves the listening experience favourably and differentiates from many other competitive true wireless earbuds. It also comes with smartphone app to customise EQ so you can make the earbuds sound the way you like.
The retail price of S$189 is lower than previous generations but may still be a little stretched compared to established brands like Sennheiser whose entry level CX True Wireless is at similar price point and it comes with other features like companion smartphone app for user customisation and aptX audio codec for better wireless audio quality.
To sweeten the deal during the initial launch, every purchase will receive a free Sudio Ladd+ wireless charger worth S$69. Plus, enjoy 15% discount using promo code “musicphotolife15” on all orders. So these additional price offers should make the Sudio E2 much more attractive.
