When I first heard about SAN Sound, I honestly thought they’d be “just another earbud company.” You know the drill: a slick-looking pair of wireless earbuds, a marketing pitch that promises something “revolutionary,” and a price tag that puts them in the same conversation as the usual suspects like Bose, Sony, or Apple’s AirPods Pro. We’ve all seen it before, and usually they fall into the same trap with decent features, average sound, and very little reason to switch from the brands that currently dominate the market.
But after spending real time with SAN Sounds’ Quantum and Faction Edition earbuds, plus a quick demo of their Sanwear GT gaming earbuds at Pax West, I walked away amazed that this company isn’t here to simply copy the big names. They’re carving out their own lane, and it’s clear they’re building around one thing: sound quality. The team has the drive and innovation to keep improving, and they’re already challenging brands with decades of head start.
The Company Behind the Buds
SAN Sound is only about three years old, but they’re not exactly amateurs. CEO David Leung is an audio engineer with over 20 years of industry experience, including time at a company that worked on Beats by Dr. Dre. Instead of chasing gimmicks or feature overload, they focused on refining the fundamentals: clarity, spatial audio, and universal compatibility.
That last one is worth calling out. While a lot of brands push high-resolution codecs like LDAC or aptX Adaptive, they decided to stick with AAC and SBC. At first glance, that sounds like a step back, especially for the audiophile crowd. But when you think about it, it makes sense. AAC and SBC are universally supported, which means these buds deliver consistent quality across pretty much any device: iOS, Android, PC, or console. No fiddling with codec compatibility, no weird drops in quality depending on the platform.
Something important about SAN Sound: they want their products to sound great for everyone, not just people running the latest Android phones with codec toggles hidden in developer menus or iOS with their specific finicky sound configurations. It’s a practical approach that everyone can access to the best quality their earbuds can produce.
Built for Ears
Quantum and Faction Edition don’t reinvent the wheel with design, but they nail the fundamentals. Both are lightweight, compact, and built for your ears. During few hours of listening, I didn’t feel that sore, the “I need to take these out” pressure that bulkier buds usually give. That alone makes them stand out from some of the bigger-name competitors.
The Quantum carries a slightly more premium build with tighter seams and a higher-end finish, but Faction Edition also doesn’t feel like a downgrade. Both share the same matte coating that shrugs off smudges and fingerprints, and the fit is secure enough for workouts without ever feeling jammed in. The nozzle angle and ear tip design spread the pressure evenly.
Sound Quality – Quantum & Faction
This is where SAN Sound earns its price tag. Both Quantum’s and Faction’s tuning focuses on three things: balance, detail retrieval, and spatial audio.
- Mids: Vocals are forward without sounding artificially boosted. In test tracks, I caught subtle breaths and natural room reverb that most consumer earbuds flatten out. Acoustic guitars carry the right amount of body without bloating into the low end.
- Bass: Controlled and textured. It doesn’t slam like bass-heavy brands (looking at you, Skullcandy), but it extends deep enough to give cinematic scores and EDM the weight they deserve without smearing into the mids.
- Treble: Crisp and clean. Hi-hats and cymbals sparkle without hiss or fatigue, even during marathon sessions. There’s extension up top without the harshness that plagues cheaper drivers.
What really stands out is the soundstage. SAN Sound calls it spatial sound, and it’s no exaggeration. Instruments sit in defined positions, with actual depth.
Watching Arcane (the Jinx vs. Sevika fight), the background hums and atmospheric details wrapped around me instead of collapsing into a flat stereo image. You can hear the clinks in Sevika’s mechanical arm, the subtle glass shatter, even the squish of a ketchup packet on the floor. Details like these normally vanish into the mix on Bose or AirPods but here, they’re right in the pocket.
Now you can change the profile in the SAN Apps, but a small gripe I had was the app is not fully refined or flush out, but it worked for the most part, hopefully they will develop more on the app side.
Fighting Games Today, FPS Advantage Tomorrow
SAN Sound also had me try out their SANWEAR GT, which is their gaming-focused earbud. I wore it while playing Street Fighter 6, which obviously isn’t the type of game where positional audio makes or breaks the experience. That said, the team talked at length about how GT really shines in FPS titles thanks to its ability to separate depth and direction. The idea is that footsteps, reloads, and environmental cues aren’t just “somewhere to the left or right” but placed with precision giving competitive players the kind of audio advantage you usually only get with over-ear headsets.
Quantum, on the other hand, is clearly designed more for movies and music. That’s where its tuning excels: wide staging, detail retrieval, and a clean, balanced presentation that makes soundtracks and vocals feel alive. You can absolutely use Quantum for gaming; it doesn’t distort or collapse when things get chaotic, but I’ll admit I didn’t spend much time testing it in that setting. From my limited exposure, it’s not lacking, but I can’t speak confidently on how it stacks up in FPS games. Movies and music, though? That’s where it earns its flagship status.
Price Check: Are They Worth It?
Here’s where it becomes an interesting value discussion.
- Quantum ($249) goes head-to-head with AirPods Pro, Sony WF-1000XM5, and Bose QC Earbuds II. On paper, it looks like it’s missing the fight no ANC, no multipoint, no wireless charging. But in practice, Quantum punches back with sound quality that rivals or outpaces those competitors. If you care about how your music and movies sound over feature checklists, Quantum makes its case.
- Faction Edition ($279) takes that philosophy even further. It’s more expensive, yes, but its 2nd Gen Hyper-Dynamic Drivers and insane spatial precision put it in a different class. This is the earbud for people who want to push beyond “good” audio into “reference-level” detail retrieval and staging.
For everyday buyers, $279 is steep price. But audiophiles and sound purists will appreciate that they are not charging you for gimmicks, they’re charging for engineering. Though if it were me, I do prefer the Quantum more as I feel that is the sweet spot, and close to the intricate sound and tiny details when I watched Arcane.
All Around Sound
SAN Sound isn’t trying to be Apple, Bose, or Sony they’re carving their own space. Instead of building earbuds packed with every possible feature, they’ve doubled down on the one thing that matters most: sound.
Quantum is for movie buffs and music lovers who want detail and staging that most mainstream buds can’t deliver. Faction Edition is the step-up option for those who want everything they can squeeze out of in-ear drivers. It’s pricier, but the acoustic payoff is undeniable.
Sanwear GT proves the company is serious about gaming, though Quantum and Faction Edition are clearly tuned more for media than competitive play.
At three years old, SAN Sound is already competing with legacy brands and in some cases, surpassing them in raw fidelity. If ANC, app features, and ecosystem perks matter more to you, stick with Sony or Apple. But if you’re chasing audio that pulls you deeper into music, movies, or even games, SAN Sound has planted its flag.
