I was in the market for budget TWS earbuds and came across the CMF Buds 2 Pro, available for ₹ 2,700 from Zepto, and bought them.
A couple of contenders I’d shortlisted were:
- OnePlus Buds 3
- Realme Buds Air 6/7 pro (inject meme)
- Motorola Buds+
- Moondrop Space Travel 1/2 and 2 Ultra
These particular models are due to most of them having been measured by reviewers in the squig.link site. CMF Buds 2 Pro were measured by Rtings as well as by another reviewer using a B&K 5128 HATS (which provides more accurate results compared to the IEC 711 coupler).
Coming to my preferences, I tend to like the Harman curve in terms of sound signature with 1.5~2dB less treble. I’m averse to sibilance (the Ts and Sss) and hate the KZ ealier IEMs with those bellsing 30095 BAs and their starline eartips. My ears sweat a lot with IEMs, and the convenience of TWS made me try them. I was using another cheap JLab Air Pop to see if these TWS might work for me. The Fit was good, and with he included soft eartips, I was able to use them for 2 hours on a stretch. Since Rtings’ review gave me an idea of their sound signature, I EQed them using Squig.link and applied the EQ systemwide using the Wavelet app.
The only gripe with the Jlabs was the fitment not being secure, and the battery being somewhat decent.
Coming to the CMF Buds Pro 2, I used the default eartips and installed Nothing X and updated the firmware. I used Symfonium (with Navidrome), YouTube, and Feishin on PC. For regular videos on YouTube, it works just as any decent earphones should. Listening to music ranging from 2000~2020, it was very clear that these were made for bass lovers. It can’t produce sub-bass like any other eaphones, what I heard was thumping mid-bass. The squig.link measurement and sound guys’ review about the bass was on point. 10~12dB of Mid-Bassss.
I wasn’t disappointed rather happy that the measurement and my hearing have a definite correlation regarding where they deviate from my preference. I shaved off 7dB of the mid-bass, reduced the treble peak around the 13k range (which gave artificial shimmer to the cymbals). The result was this:
Another benefit of having this amount of undistorted bass is that it’s easy to EQ, whereas you can’t bring up the bass from EQing without hurting the overall signature. I didn’t touch the 500~800Hz region as it seemed to be the crossover point for the dual drivers.
With the EQ dialled in, I have used them for two months now, and I can say for the amount I paid, these are very good. Apart from he sound, the other aspects are great, be it the clean-looking app with the digital dial on the case, which I have set for volume control, ANC control and Pause/Play. Using them besides my keyboard just for the sake of controlling volume and ANC has made a great purchase for me.
ANC works great for the engine noise, or rumble and not so much with general public chatter. The fitment issue has also been solved due to the stem design and default eartips.
I’m happy with the purchase. I got more than what I had expected out of it, and now I’ll have to see how long it lasts. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them.