Due to a silicone allergy , I can only wear the “stick open” design earbuds and had been a long time user of the Apple AirPods 2nd gen (which I preferred also to the stick open 3rd gen). (I own a lot of Apple products but could not use the AirPods Pro due to my silicone allergy and I do not own the AirPods Max but will probably get the 2nd gen Max when they are released but obviously you won’t be able to fit those in your pockets).So, one of my Apple 2nd gen air buds suddenly stopped working. I felt loathed to replace these with the same 2nd gen buds as not only are they 4 years old technology but have a now antiquated Bluetooth version and have been left in the dust with no noise cancelling refresh.This led me to explore what else was “out there” that supported this and had the latest version Bluetooth 5.2 LE and this brought me to incidentally my first ever JBL personal audio product , the Live Flex. At first I didn’t like the sound as they sounded a bit too bright and I actually returned them. But I decided to give them a second chance , as I missed them and decided to buy them again.The second time round I downloaded the JBL app which lets you use graphic equalisers to customise the sound to your preference, something Apple doesn’t let you do and which I admit is something I have always objected to in principle.Anyway, using the graphic equalisers I was able to boost the bass to 3 db and added a slight lift to the midrange (1db). I kept the treble at neutral. They no longer sound too bright and this made a huge difference. Now they are very addictive to listen to.(Note that the noise cancellation will be nowhere near as good as earbuds with silicone tips. )These also look unique. The controls on the pods are one of the best features - rather than having to tap them or squeeze them which is uncomfortable (Apple are you listening ?) , you only have to lightly touch these and you get a feedback beep, it’s almost like capacitance touch. But I have never accidentally pressed them so oversensitivity has not been an issue. Also I tend to keep noise cancellation for these on by default which is another thing I would not have thought I would do, as its potentially yet another thing like listening not as the artist intended. But ultimately you need to listen to music they way you enjoy it the most, which must be what ultimately matters. If you don’t like silicone-tipped earbuds , these are definitely worth checking out.