Review: Fischer Audio FA-003 - a neutral champ!

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ikarios said:

Gah, the more I read this thread the more interested i become... but these things honestly look quite hideous to me. I know what look they're going for with the soft-touch plastic/rubber, but for some reason it just all looks wrong... they also look monstrously large (that might just be the deep-looking pads...)  can someone post a pic of either the FA-002 or the FA-003 on their heads?

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I might be willing to post a pic of me wearing the headphones.  You may have to wait a little while though... If I were you - I would just place an order now that way you are not left out waiting for the next shipment after this one. I can imagine these headphones becoming very popular on Head-Fi once more people have heard these headphones and spread the good word around (which means more out of stock scenarios for those just getting on board). I am really excited to try these, because I have always wanted a nice pair of closed headphones. All the other closed phones I have tried since joining Head-Fi I have not been impressed with their entire sound (Beyer, Denon). A closed headphone without any terrible flaw in its frequency such as far too bright or boomy bass with recessed mids would be great, especially at this price point. 

Ahhh! Don't say that Philimon! I just ordered a Beyer 770 600 ohm instead of these because I wanted to go with something that had a good established reputation over a new fairly unknown/unrated can. I want to wait on these until more reviews are in iow.
 
If I'm unsatisfied with the 770's for some reason though these will still be a potential substitute, especially if the general consensus of many more users is positive.

Ethan,
 
Any update on when you will have these in inventory?

i'm surprised no one talks about these anymore. i was interested in hearing more reviews before i made any move to get them

There are no new reviews, because there are no new FA003s available/in stock to purchase. Apparently there is some sort of hold up at the factory, and no indication of when they WILL be shipped out. 
 
I am still anticipating purchasing a set, but in the meantime I am going to pick up an HD600. I prefer open headphones anyway, but it was FA003s lower price and supposed similarity to HD600 that made me want one of these first.

oh thats really surprising. i thought by now fischer audio would have gotten more out. i guess not

They have, they are en route. My shipment should arrive Monday or Tuesday.

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pratt said:

If I'm unsatisfied with the 770's for some reason though these will still be a potential substitute, especially if the general consensus of many more users is positive.

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UPDATE: I AM somewhat unsatisfied with the 770's, the mids are just too recessed. The treble can also be hard/glarey/metallicy. Bass is good in quantity (I wouldn't want anymore) but somewhat loose, boomy, undefined.
 
So while the 770's are a competent can, especially as I don't use them much (just during quiet time when I have to), I would like to try something better for around the same price and sell the 770's.
 
Whether or not the 003's are better (somehow I suspect they are) I will wait to see with more user reviews and maybe even hopefully a comparison between them and the 770's. That would be nice!

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ethan961 said:

They have, they are en route. My shipment should arrive Monday or Tuesday.

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Nice! I am looking forward to hearing them. I contacted LFF to see if his opinion on these headphones have changed since his initial review, but he says they have not changed at all. He also stated that he really does see these as simply a much cheaper priced closed version of the HD600. 

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philimon said:

Nice! I am looking forward to hearing them. I contacted LFF to see if his opinion on these headphones have changed since his initial review, but he says they have not changed at all. He also stated that he really does see these as simply a much cheaper priced closed version of the HD600. 

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Indeed they haven't. I LOVE...repeat...LOVE the FA-003's and to a slightly lesser degree, the FA-002. When it comes to full size cans, both the FA-003 and FA--002 are always within arms reach. They are awesome for double checking critical mastering files. They are awesome for simple music enjoyment as well. During the time that has elapsed, only one other full size headphone has impressed as much but the review is pending on that one.

Who wants picture with FA on the head:
 

 

 
 Enjoy!

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m00hk00h said:

 
I will probably ask Yoga at the IFA how much change there really has been or if it is the exact same headphone. Would be good to know as Fischer has a whole lot of other Yoga-made head- and earphones in their repertoire.
 
m00h

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Totally forgot about that.
Fischer does not alter the headphone in any way. It's the same thing that I have at home with the difference that mine says "Yoga" instead of "Fischer".
 
And I would consider the FA-003 to be even better then the FA-002 which has a very warm and dull sound.
Still think that the FA-003 is not a great headphone though. Midfi at best, but I repeat myself...
 
m00h

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m00hk00h said:

Totally forgot about that.

Fischer does not alter the headphone in any way. It's the same thing that I have at home with the difference that mine says "Yoga" instead of "Fischer".
 
And I would consider the FA-003 to be even better then the FA-002 which has a very warm and dull sound.
Still think that the FA-003 is not a great headphone though. Midfi at best, but I repeat myself...
 
m00h

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The actual headphone frame is the same. Fischer uses their own drivers though.
 

No they don't, according to Yoga. And they must know, they are producing them for Fischer. Along with many other of the head- and earphones in the Fischer lineup. And Fischer is not the only OEM costumer (and not the only one claiming to have have changed something).
The Berlin based company Teufel for example has Yoga headphones (and is considering taking the the phones we are talking right now into the lineup). They call the "over the ear" model AC 9050 and when it was first announced they claimed that Teufel engineers had it changed after their instructions. But when I asked Yoga they told me all they changed was the color. And when I was finally able to hear it, it was clear to me that it sounded just like my CD98 did which I got directly from Yoga.
 
And even they didn't tell me anything there would still be "common sense":
It's almost impossible to make a headphone sound good if you don't develop it as a whole from the beginning. Just taking the cups of some manufacturer (and I know for a fact that Yoga wouldn't sell the cups alone) and trying to put in your own drivers is more work then actually doing it all by yourself. And even if Fischer removes the innards it brings up lot's of other questions:
Where do the new drivers come from? They can't come out of nowhere. I really doubt they have the knowledge to develop and manufacture them themselves because then they would be able to build the whole thing themselves. And where would they exchange the drivers anyways? They would need room and personnel to do that.
Finally take a look at the technical data. This alone is more then a clue. How high are the chances that Fischer's drivers (if there are any) have the same specs as the ones from Yoga?
And even if they were considering buying the drivers from somewhere else they could as well have stayed with the Yoga ones in the first place because it would spare them the place and the personnel to change the drivers.
 
And that's what they did. According to Yoga.
Anything else would also have been very uneconomical.
 
This got a little longer then I expected it to be in the first place. But I felt like I had to explain myself.
Fischer is "just" another OEM reseller. Not that this is bad or something. Equation showed how it's done and Fischer seems to do a good job, too.
I have no problem with that.
 
m00h

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m00hk00h said:

And I would consider the FA-003 to be even better then the FA-002 which has a very warm and dull sound.
Still think that the FA-003 is not a great headphone though. Midfi at best, but I repeat myself...
 
m00h

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m00hk00h,
 
What is your opinion of the FA003 vs Sennheiser HD580/600/650 series? Assuming of course that your Yoga model is the same as the Fischer branded version.
 
Your explanation for why FA would not bother retooling the Yoga with different drivers makes sense (or common sense - same technical data on the drivers!). Perhaps they could have tweaked the drivers and claimed it was different/new?.