Thanks a ton for this measured insight-filled review. As ever. Makes my purchase-decision easier. Just one request: Can you play this genre-blending exploratory metal number: https://songwhip.com/thy-catafalque/vadak-az-atvaltozas-ritusai One thirds of heavy riffing (THAt you can fast forward if you aren't into these things!) segues into synths and strings, with violin & sax solos and measured lilting vocals, before culminating in a furious black metal finish … Does the F1 Pro hold up to the speeds and the exploratory alleys midway with sonic pleasing ability if not brilliance? Post your review, I am inclined to get this for such kind of metal-music moods. If the speed holds up and resolution with a good soundstage then I am in. In case you aren't inclined to listen to such songs, it's fine; no worries. your review more or less has done the job for me. Now to wait for the local seller to stock this in 2 weeks as promised; else will order from overseas.

Incidentally, that above number is wonderfully placed in the album (vadak), as it's followed by this gentle floating vocal swirl: https://songwhip.com/thy-catafalque/zuzmara

@Singaravelan sheesh, what a music. I'm ... confused Anyhow, the double pedalling in the first part of the piece sounds very fun. F1 Pro follows the fast bass without any blurriness. I also like how the guitar comes very close to the left and right ears comparing to the rest of the mix. In the second section when the violin comes, there is good depth. Instruments are position in all 3 dimensions. There was no treble harshness, but you might find the cymbals a bit subdued.

One of my concern is that everything seems a bit tightly packed on the stage in the first part. It might be due to the mix and mastering technique. Out of curiousity, I took my U12T out for a comparison. The gap in the stereo imaging prowess is quite substantial, to my ears (which match the difference between 3/5 and 5/5 as I wrote in the review.) On the plus side, F1 Pro does double pedaling better.

Oops! I missed this in the flood of notifications; had reacted to something in watercooler and was flooded; need to know how to mute notifications from threads. Should have checked this page directly, as I did now. And apologies for the ear-assault from that music, but thanks a ton Every day or so, i enjoy some metal to obliterate everything out from the bone-conduction canals Very interesting, how F1Pro handles that number. Congestion eh, which is what I get, expectedly so, from Fan2s as the mid-bass is so saccharinely thick that there is not enough space when the music is fast. But the Aful p8s do it pretty well; wanted something with a more visceral bass for these stuff. Thought since planars are supposedly speedy, clean as in not tend not to dwell too much on the posthumous life of individual notes, abruptly abandoning them. Thought might do the job for metal-riffy-growls. U12T ... hmmm (btw, the watercooler thread had me peeking lecherously at 4000$+ items).

As an aside, did pull out my Titan S after a long while and had a go with it at that number. But before anything, I got to say this about the Titan S: there is a wonderful sanitised silence in the soundscape by the absence of the bloomy reverbs that go on with other IEMs, and always is a great palette cleanser. Stayed with it for a while last evening. Titan S, as ever, is great with percussions, even with speed, even soundstage with that number is pretty decent, but the bass thumps are more like watching a silent movie: you see everything, but can't experience that aural sensation viscerally. Not that bass isn't there, pretty good thwacks, just that lingering aftermath isn't. Which is fine with many music. Anyways, I am meandering. Thanks for the review and the comment. Will think about it.

The F1 Pro does a pretty good job with the bass line. No problem there. Most IEM would get clogged up by the busy first section anyway.

I guess that's the case with iems (in the budget to mid at least) just heard the number on the senns hd660 S2: plays it puurfectly. Because of my usage style, I tend to criminally underuse the S2 cans. Should change that this year.

F1 Pro from $99, add $1 to get Cyan cable
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It is now in effect and available for use.
This code ends at 23:59 Pacific Time on the 7th.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/1005006228604236.html

can you please share the link on your iem ranking with the most important perf/$ ratio ? thanks