Wow! The Final Audio Design FI-DC1601SB (also known as "Don't go to Yodobashi" lol) - Page 13

Thanks for the useful info, I will put it to good use.
Kind Regards

Shigzeo, another question...
Since I am prepared to spend $800 in the SS if I find I like it, then another option comes to mind... spending a couple of hundred more for the JH13 Pro. Since you have heard both, which one of them do you prefer?

that is a hard call. In some ways, neither are worth it. In others, both are worthy. The JH13Pro is a more neutral earphone, but both are hard to drive. To the get JH13Pro's 'real' frequency response, you will need an amp which can push them properly: ALO Rx, Shadow, ostensibly the Pico as I have not tried it.

If not, you will lose bass response and lose channel separation, two things which the JH13Pro can do very well. There are other problems: distortion. The 1601 series isn't as hard to 'drive' in that sense, but it favours a bassy amp. The Voyager and 1601 is a more hifi listen than the JH13Pro - not studio or professional like, but the most pleasing earphone for certain tastes.

My tastes prefers the 1601 for: incredible (eerie) listening and better layering. Keep in mind, that is with the Voyager or a good home amp.

The JH13Pro is hands-down more practical - there is no point of comparison between the two. But, when push comes to shove, I prefer the SS and Voyager to the JH13Pro. I want to go hear the SB version too to see if it and the Voyager have synergy, though James hinted that they do. If so, I reckon that combo will really be for some, a bargain.

Again, the JH13Pro is ever so much more practical: it can be used in doors or outdoors. but, I like using the 1601 as a home headphone - it does what I want. If you want portable, I cannot really suggest the 1601 unless it means just taking it to office and home. It sounds like a headphone and works like a headphone: music comes in and goes out and it needs a beefy sounding amp to sound best.

I have a $1k in my possesion now and contemplating between this iem or a nice headphone like jvc dx1000 and a tube amp,I looked at price japan but the charge will be $937 which I think is insane.this is very hard,I will wait till someone hates them and put it for sale in the FS forum

Well, I hope you get a chance to listen to them first. There is SQ aplenty to be had, but it should be stressed that these are not neutral! Caveats aside, I think this is simply stunning.

I think I will wait for my ck10 to arrive and then decide if I need anything better for trance,ambient and house,they should be here sometime next week.

I second the opinion that the Voyager/1601 combo sounds incredible, or like your wife put it "better than live music". Even so, I wouldn't say it's more hifi than other top IEMs, at least not by audiophile standards (that favor accuracy above all else). If anything I'd call it a fancy sound processing system to impress your girlfriend/wife/friends ... or yourself.

For my part, I haven't heard the SS version, and your favorable review suggests that its unamped performance might be better than the SB's. The Voyager however is a giant step up for the SB, so much that for anyone contemplating to buy the SB version I'd strongly recommend getting the Voyager too.

Thanks for the detailed reply Shigzeo.
I have read both your reveiws throughly.. I do realize that the FAD's aren't neutral but I don't mind that. From what u describe, I think the SB or SS would be closer to my tastes than the JH13Pro. Anyway I'll take a listen and decide. Hope I get to audition them properly at the shope tho..
Many thanks!

Thanks for the detailed reply Shigzeo.
I have read both your reveiws throughly.. I do realize that the FAD's aren't neutral but I don't mind that. From what u describe, I think the SB or SS would be closer to my tastes than the JH13Pro. Anyway I'll take a listen and decide. Hope I get to audition them properly at the shops tho..
Many thanks!

Again, I only wish you could hear them with the Voyager or another amp which hoists up the bottom end a bit. In the shop, you will get a lot of sound coming in and many not get as good an idea of their sound. I hope you enjoy the crazy mad large electronics' shops though - they are great places to try out a lot of good headphones. My first brush with all of Audio Technica's high end was in Yodobashi or Biccamera - the two always seem the same to me.

@ James - by 'hifi' I mean 'not-neutral'. I find that most HiFi listening (and indeed Audiophile listening) to be non-neutral. People get used to listening to a pair of headphones improperly driven so often that neutral is more a buzzword than anything. For engineering and studio work, that word takes on its more proper definition, the same reason why the professional Sensaphonics 2X-s is driven pretty well even Stephen from any audio output while hifi products like JH, FE and the like are driven even Stephen from specific amps.

The audiophile world gets on without proper stuff because it is about the sound, not about the balancing act.

I used a highest-quality EQ to recreate something resembling the frequency response the screenshot posted earlier in this thread. Used Phonak PFE with grey filters to listen to it, it's the closest to a flat ER-4 response I have. Definitely not my cup of tea at all...

^ Now all that's missing is a photoshopped picture of the Phonaks to prove the 1601 are really abominable.

I mainly posted the EQ settings so anyone interested can easily recreate them with any other parametric EQ. It sure is an interesting tweak you won't hear very often. It doesn't really have anything to do with the PFE or ER4, it's just that those flat phones are the easiest to recreate the frequency contours of other phones with.

Indeed, they work very well with EQ. I wonder how much the PFE sounds like the 1601 like that since its balanced armature driver and driver housing are much different.

The JH13 also scales very well. Some people are using it with very expensive home rigs with excellent reports (Woo Audio 6, Beta 22, . If you compare the 1601 + Voyager vs. JH13 with a decent portable amp (like the RX) isn't an unfair comparison?