FAD Final Audio Designs FI-BA-SS Mini-review/initial impressions - Page 5

Quote:

Originally Posted by KLS 

 

I thought it would be far cheaper than the air ticket if you just buy them :)

 

Lol... But I travel for free you see - its my job :)  Wish I also got the headphones for free.. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by koonhua90 

Any hearing impression yet? Seems like they have come out with something more affordable, yet still have metal housing. 

I don't think there is any currently. Might have to wait till August or September. I will be trying them once they are released next month, during my summer holidays!

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by rawrster 

KLS, but you get to audition things before you buy them. I get no such thing so it balances things out. We get to return things you get them try them :)

 

I await a comparison with these and the e-Q7 eventually :P

It is true I can always audition before purchase. But I am from suburban and to make my journey to and fro Tokyo costs me $60 (USD). So I only go to Tokyo when I have long holiday and stay in my friends place :)

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by firoze 

Lol... But I travel for free you see - its my job :)  Wish I also got the headphones for free.. :)

Then that makes sense :)

Speaking of which, where is javajive? I think he never shows up after he audiotioned the FI-BA-SS. So his search has came to an end?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by KLS 

james hope that you still have the loaner SM3 with you to do some comparison :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverkaze 

Could you please do some comparisons between SM3 and the FAD? I really want to know how the SM3 compares to it. Thanks in advance

Of course I am planning a comparison with the SM3! dfkt told me I could borrow them as long as I want. Maybe I'll throw in a few others like the e-Q7 and FX700 for a shootout when I find the time.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by firoze 

Congratulations James, glad you took the plunge!

Keep us updated on your impressions of these and do a comparison with the SB's too. 

 

Have not had any time on my hands in the last couple of months to contribute much here; but I have been enjoying the SB's tremendously in the meantime.. :)

 

Warm regards

Thanks firoze, and warm regards to you too! Yes of course I will also do a comparison with the SB's. As you know the SB's were pretty hard for me to get accustomed to. But they sure are something exceptional. In comparison the FI-BA-SS impressed me from the first moment I put them on. Sound- and design-wise they are more along the lines of other IEMs, yet they too are something special, very classy and very, very good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by james444 

 

 

Of course I am planning a comparison with the SM3! dfkt told me I could borrow them as long as I want. Maybe I'll throw in a few others like the e-Q7 and FX700 for a shootout when I find the time.
 

If you ever do that, I will be in the first 10 people to read it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverkaze 

Could you please do some comparisons between SM3 and the FAD? I really want to know how the SM3 compares to it. Thanks in advance

Yes !!! please ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by james444 

Of course I am planning a comparison with the SM3! dfkt told me I could borrow them as long as I want. Maybe I'll throw in a few others like the e-Q7 and FX700 for a shootout when I find the time.

Done!

Where is it? lol

^ Lol, I see you've found it.

So once again and this time less sophisticated, for eveyone else who's interested:

[Review] Impressions of the Final Audio Design FI-BA-SS versus the SM3, FX700 and e-Q7

k i got a chance to audition this FI-BA-SS..

i have ck10, and used to have ddm (gave my bro..)

and i dare say they are on a class of their own, easily the best iem i ever heard.

imagine a ck10 mids + extension + soundstage imaging, with ddm low freq extension, body and weight, without the weakness (hot treble of ck10 or the recessed mids and wierd soundstage of ddm..)

they dont feel like BA at all.. It sounds more like a sharpened dynamic drivers with a very balanced sound, not emphasized on any frequency.

whats really impressive is the weight of the bass the FI BA SS can give, its a heavy feel on the bass similar to DDM kinda bass, with a bit less quantity that makes it more likeable. It also have the body of sound like a dynamics, but is still a BA by itself, with BA details, sharp sound (i consider all BA to be sharp no matter how smooth it is) and quick response.

FI-BA-SS are also as ruthless as ck10, very brutal on mp3s, distortions will not go unnoticed.. best to use at least lossless with them.

if i have to point a weakness, it does have a kinda closed feel on it, not as airy or as open as ck10, or hippo VB (open back iem).

it is also so dam expensive, its not worth the price.. lol

Overall I concur with your impressions, yet I have to disagree in a few points: first of all, their bass extension isn't bad, but not really up there (or should I say down there?) with the DDMs. On a frequency sweep the Radius produce a fair rumble at 20Hz, whereas the FI-BA-SS remain dead silent. They come to life above 30Hz and things get closer as we approach 100Hz, but overall the DDMs have noticably more bass weight, though less bass clarity and definition. And this is with only loosely sealed DDMs, the way I think these sound best.

Then, concerning highs, I agree with you they aren't quite as spiky as the CK10 and their better bass texture goes a long way towards counterbalancing, but in my book they're still rather hot and less forgiving than most other IEMs I've heard. Of course there's always a tradeoff between good treble presence/extension and unwanted side-effects like sibilance, and in the end I'm definitely more pleased with the FAD's treble presentation than I was with the CK10's.

Though overall (and sadly for my wallet) there's still room for improvement, I concur with you that the FI-BA-SS are kinda in a class of their own, surpassing the e-Q7 and both Final Audio's heaven models plus all other BA based phones I've heard, including the CK10, CK100, SM3, SE530, you name it.

Oh, and of course I agree that they are **** expensive and not worth the price!

(Edit: deleted the false statement that the FI-BA-SS are MA based, they're actually vented BAs)

They better be in a class of their own at this price..although once you get to this price range you can throw price to performance ratio out the window

Maybe one day I'll own these but until then I have some decent earphones in my possession right now

Listening to the SS right now.  Just low end impressions so far.  It's quite nice but jury is still out when comparing to ES5 bass.  The ES5 is just a bit fuller w/ slightly more body I believe.  It is certainly competitive and definitely better in low end extension and deep impact than the UERM I think.  UERM bass is still nice though in a different more relaxed way.  Definitely more bass quantity than the EX1000 by a hair which makes it a bit more accurate quantity wise for me.  Definitely not a 16mm driver though but still quite nice.  Very early impressions after just a few minutes.

Gotta say, FAD is extracting every ounce of juice from that single armature.  I almost feel sorry for the poor fella.  It's like watching Lebron play 1 on 5.  Very talented but a bit of a stretch.  If you didn't upset the balance I think it could actually use another driver tbh.  Pretty impressive though.