Hi. I bought a set of TW3 earbuds in January and they revolutionised my music listening. As well as giving great depth to new music I've been listening to, I've been compelled to go back through older albums I've loved for years and years or decades and relisten. I'm always jaw to the floor over how much these songs, that I love with all my nostolagiac heart, have been hiding so much of their depth behind the wall of shitty audio equipment I've been using my entire life.

It's been an absolute game changer for me.

I needed to get my old set replaced as i had started suffering from what I found after searching is not an uncommon issue (left ear bud making a robotic whistle, noticeablely lower volume relative to the right bud, and ridiculous distortion). Anyway Amazon sent out replacement TW3's within 24hr, and a courrier to collect the old set the day after. Tickety boo!

Now I did see more than a few people saying that what functionality the firmware update brought, which I did enjoy, they also noticed a downgrade in audio clarity at higher volumes from the update, or in some instances flat out not even being able to reach the same volume that they had before.

For me I AM absolutely noticing a massive difference in audio quality and volume since I've had these replacements, and I'm wondering whether it's more that these are a freshly working pair of amazing earbuds, that have just replaced a pair that were broken, or if there is something to the fact that the FW update did something to accidentally NERF the raw power of the un-updated buds?

I am, in no way, shape, or form an audiophile. I would never have described myself as such, so I am totally aware that I have tons and tons to learn and understand when it comes to even the most basic things concerning audio. I don't know even the most basic nomenclature to express myself in this field, I barely grasp the concept of bass... Mid and treble, I have no concept of at all other than what it makes the music sound like when i mess about with EQ in the app etc. So please. Be gentle with me haha.

Ultimately I love these ear buds, they're absolutely amazing and I can't stop making my friends listen to stuff on them, even when I'm playing just 320kbps MP3 files, it leaves people gagging for more.

I just want to know, am I hobbling the audio output of these badboys by updating the firmware? I really would like the functionality and the variance of the in app options back, but I'm having such a blast with these badboys straight outta the case that I'm hesitant to do something that I won't be able to reverse.

Thanks for any input!