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Final Audio Design + Earbud = FI-DC1550M1

post #1 of 11
11/5/10 at 12:45pm
Thread Starter 

The Tokyo Headphone Festival is always a place for interesting product developments and new releases. One of the more unexpected pre-release models is from Final Audio Design, now well-established as a producer of premium-priced IEMs. Their new earphones, which utilize a variant of the 16mm drivers of the FI-DC1601 series, is housed in a traditional earbud design with a "tip" similar to the type used on Sony's MDR-ED21LP. No release date has been announced, but a Japanese retailer's blog expects the price to be under ¥5000.

 

 

FADbuds.jpg

Final Audio Design's new earbuds (from AV Watch)

 

 

秋のヘッドホン祭 2010【STAX/オルトフォン他編】 -AV Watch

＜ヘッドホン祭＞ファイナルオーディオデザイン、20万円モデルと同等ドライバー搭載の安価な新モデル - Phile-web


Edited by kjk1281 - 11/5/10 at 12:46pm
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post #2 of 11
11/5/10 at 1:53pm

They look nice in the blue. Based on just price you can't tell, are they cheaper than usual(for them) because they are not that great or since they are buds? Also wonder if those tip caps can come off.

 

This(from the first link) looks interesting as well...

9W.jpg

 

Personally, I would like an OK1 replacement that is easier to drive(like the TM5) and has more ergonomic, angled screw-on canal tubes. 

 

I was just out using my HDDS buds and they will be hard to beat. I am very jaded towards buds based on my Gigabeat buds being free and my HDDS ~$15 and performing quite well. Hard to shell out $200+  and chance only little improvement. 


Edited by jant71 - 11/5/10 at 1:55pm
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post #3 of 11
11/5/10 at 4:53pm

Seems like an interesting design on those FAD's. The cable seems to be the same as the one used on the A1. (Ie: Not great.) I don't know how they can fit that in the ear though - a 16mm driver could be fairly uncomfortable for some people's ears. The only company I know who used a 16mm driver is Sony, who vertically mounted the driver. The DDM with 15mm drivers is also vertically mounted. I have a pair of Audio Technica CKS70 with a 12.5mm driver, and my old EX85 with a 13.5 mm drivers in the same shape as the FAD's, and I suspect that is the safe limit for the size of the housing for most people.

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post #4 of 11
11/5/10 at 7:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by a_recording View Post

Seems like an interesting design on those FAD's. The cable seems to be the same as the one used on the A1. (Ie: Not great.) I don't know how they can fit that in the ear though - a 16mm driver could be fairly uncomfortable for some people's ears. The only company I know who used a 16mm driver is Sony, who vertically mounted the driver. The DDM with 15mm drivers is also vertically mounted. I have a pair of Audio Technica CKS70 with a 12.5mm driver, and my old EX85 with a 13.5 mm drivers in the same shape as the FAD's, and I suspect that is the safe limit for the size of the housing for most people.

 

Below is FAD older model costing about 300USD  housing 13.5 mm Dynamic drivers. The new model comes in similar shape then this old one but with 16mm driver.. interesting!
 

FI-DI .jpg

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post #5 of 11
11/5/10 at 8:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jant71 View Post

They look nice in the blue. Based on just price you can't tell, are they cheaper than usual(for them) because they are not that great or since they are buds? Also wonder if those tip caps can come off.

 

This(from the first link) looks interesting as well...

[M.I. Labs earbuds]

 

Personally, I would like an OK1 replacement that is easier to drive(like the TM5) and has more ergonomic, angled screw-on canal tubes. 

 

I was just out using my HDDS buds and they will be hard to beat. I am very jaded towards buds based on my Gigabeat buds being free and my HDDS ~$15 and performing quite well. Hard to shell out $200+  and chance only little improvement. 


Those actually are quite interesting.  They seem to be engineered by M.I. Labs, a spin-off of Sony created by that company's co-founder, the late Masaru Ibuka.  They seem to primarily develop and research products for health and medicine, but it seems they're working on some acoustics technologies as well.

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post #6 of 11
11/25/10 at 6:48pm
Thread Starter 

UPDATE: According to FUJIYA AVIC's official Twitter, FAD's new earbuds are now known as the FI-DC1550M1, or alternatively, the PIANO FORTE II.  They will be released towards the end of this month and into the beginning of December, and available in three colors at a price of around ¥3280.  As the product number suggests, these new earbuds utilize a 15.5mm driver, as opposed to the 16mm driver as reported earlier.  A scan of a promotional pamphlet can be found at the following link.

 

ファイナルオーディオの新作PIANO FORTE II on Twitpic


Edited by kjk1281 - 11/25/10 at 6:49pm
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post #7 of 11
11/26/10 at 2:49am

Quite an unbelievable price coming from the company that produced the most expensive IEMs.

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post #8 of 11
11/27/10 at 4:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kjk1281 View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by jant71 View Post

They look nice in the blue. Based on just price you can't tell, are they cheaper than usual(for them) because they are not that great or since they are buds? Also wonder if those tip caps can come off.

 

This(from the first link) looks interesting as well...

[M.I. Labs earbuds]

 

Personally, I would like an OK1 replacement that is easier to drive(like the TM5) and has more ergonomic, angled screw-on canal tubes. 

 

I was just out using my HDDS buds and they will be hard to beat. I am very jaded towards buds based on my Gigabeat buds being free and my HDDS ~$15 and performing quite well. Hard to shell out $200+  and chance only little improvement. 


Those actually are quite interesting.  They seem to be engineered by M.I. Labs, a spin-off of Sony created by that company's co-founder, the late Masaru Ibuka.  They seem to primarily develop and research products for health and medicine, but it seems they're working on some acoustics technologies as well.

 

Additional information:

brand: Ninewave NW-studio PRO

website: http://9wave.jp/
 

 

sorry TS for off-topic :D

 

o0540040510839422325.jpg


Edited by a_tumiwa - 11/27/10 at 5:00am
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post #9 of 11
11/27/10 at 2:55pm
Thread Starter 

Final Audio Design's official page: Piano Forte Ⅱ シリーズイヤホン - final-audio-design

Again, I hope they're half as good as some people are making these out to be, though it might be hard to complain at ~$35.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by a_tumiwa View Post

Additional information:

brand: Ninewave NW-studio PRO

website: http://9wave.jp/
 

 

sorry TS for off-topic :D


Thanks for the link!  And as long as we're talking about earbuds, we're not off-topic. smile.gif

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post #10 of 11
11/27/10 at 7:00pm

considering japanese always-marked-up price and the low price tag... I won't have my hopes too high for this. tho the driver size seems to be promising something out of them.

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post #11 of 11
12/19/10 at 10:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kjk1281 View Post

...Their new earphones, which utilize a variant of the 16mm drivers of the FI-DC1601 series...

 

 

what exactly do you mean by "a variant"? is it known how the variation in the drivers would affect sound quality (all other factors being equal)? i mean, i know you can't really expect sub-$100 earbuds to sound as good as several hundred $ IEMs, especially from the same company, so what are the differences, aside from the housing?

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