The soundstage rivals that of the ath ad 700's easily.  I listen to binaural recordings to get a feeling of sound stage with headphones.  The m50 fails at this while the ad700 shines.  I was surprised to hear how well the FA-011's handled them as well with much needed bass emphasis!!!
 
To test the sound stage, listen to the mp3's in my signature.  Close your eyes, be in a quiet environment, and relax when you listen to them to get maximum effect.  Let me know how it goes =P
 

I've joined team "no foam padding" with the FA-011.. it definitely opens up the mids, but not night and day in any sense.. a good mod for sure that I'd highly recommend, though.
 
Running the FA-011 through the paces with the Audinst HUD-MX1.. what a fantastic pairing!  As I stated earlier, the 011 was surprisingly decent unamped from my iPhone 4, strictly speaking on sound quality (well controlled and clear for running out of a DAP at full volume but it wasn't particularly loud or impactful).  With the Arrow it was excellent.. the MX1 takes it up another notch over the Arrow.  
 
The bass quality improvement is apparent right off the bat: tighter, quicker, and better defined.. without losing any of the irresistibly smooth punch.  Mids get pulled up in line with the treble.  Amp the FA-011 adequately and vocals sound heavenly.  Smooth but detailed, natural timbre, not forward or recessed, warm or thin.. simply in line with other the instruments in the midrange.  Treble sounds deliciously crisp and extended without a hint of sibilance.  Even in very busy, treble-heavy sequences, I heard no smearing or grain as cymbals, high pitched female vocals/samples, and other sounds were heard clearly and reproduced with an effortless quality as they coalesced.  The treble is another area I feel the MX1's synergy with the 011 becomes apparent.. I listened to some well mastered music with ridiculously crisp, sharp treble.. and I found it fatiguing after some time not because of the 011's treble shortcomings (or lack thereof), but simply cause it reproduced the treble with an accuracy, sharpness, and crispness intended in the recordings that hit the limits of my hearing.  With the MX1, the U shaped sig (more prevalent when unamped) practically disappears.. it becomes a much more balanced, even smooth curve: resembling a shape between a U- & V- curve that's heavily flattened and stretched very widely.  This is evidenced by how much clearer and more forward the mids sound, the tightening of the bass, and cleaned up treble.
 
The FA-011 has a voracious appetite when it comes to amps.. it simply LOVES power.  Typically, I never turn the MX1 past 10 o'clock with my phones.. venturing to 12 o'clock when I'm in the mood to get completely immersed in music or rock the f*ck out, but even that gets fatiguing and painful.. with the FA-011, I can approach the tick between 2 & 3 o'clock when the SPL levels become painful.. but even there, the FA-011 simply HUMS along.. bass remains tight, midrange chugs along with astonishing clarity and balance, the treble shimmers.. and the sound is simply hypnotic and immersive.
 
I'll probably hit up a craft store to get replacement padding which I'll mod to leave the driver grill uncovered but pad the area where my ears make contact with the plastic.. I don't have any discomfort with my ears touching the plastic after the foam padding was removed.. but it certainly felt cozy having some padding there.

I'm not sure what it is but, I really disagree with some of the stuff you guys are saying about these headphones. Maybe the fiio e9 doesn't mix well with them, which contradicts the claims that these need power, because I've read that the e9 has plenty of power. I've been using them amped for about a week now, and I'm not really getting that AMAZING bass that everyone is raving about. The bass only goes down to about 40hz btw. It definitely has presence in the music, but I think it's too tight and doesn't last very long at all. It also has very little impact in my opinion, at least not to the point where it makes me tap my feet when there's like a drum line or something. When I had it unamped for like two days, I actually enjoyed the mids more than I do with it amped. The amp made the mids almost as sibilant as they were with the ad700, which is a big disappointment. The highs are really nice, but I actually wish they were not as loud or prominent, because I've read that highs are generally the cause behind sibilance. The soundstage on the other hand, is actually really good. I'm not sure if the fa-011's actually have a better soundstage than the ad700's necessarily - maybe they do, I can't really tell - but for games, they're definitely much better. This is mostly due to the much fuller sound, and the fact that these are not nearly as harsh to listen to as the ad700's. The soundstage on the ad700 is good, but the piercing highs just make listening such a pain. Everything in the soundstage with the fa-011's is much more separated and defined, so actually I think I've changed my mind, I guess these do have a better soundstage than the ad700's. Overall though, from what I've read, my experience with these make them seem like they're completely different headphones. Maybe it's because of this amp. Do you guys have any recommendations for amps that work better with the fa-011's, maybe with more bass and midrange focused sound than the e9? The amp also needs to be within the same price range as the e9 

You've nailed it on the head.  Amping makes a huge difference with these headphones.  When I use my Onkyo home stereo receiver's headphone out the bass is not anything to write home about but the soundstage is good.  Perfect for video games in which I don't want a ton of bass.  When I plug the FA-011 to my Schiit Lyr these headphones really start to shine.  I don't have any recommendations at the $100 range for powerful amps but maybe somebody could comment on the $129 uDAC-2's ability to drive FA-011.  
 
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twitchblade said:

I'm not sure what it is but, I really disagree with some of the stuff you guys are saying about these headphones. 

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WNBC, thanks for the reply and acknowledgment that the bass is not necessarily as good as everyone says it is. To me, there just isn't enough bass to make music immersive or involving. I don't even listen to bassy music.
 
I looked at that uDAC-2, but it's also a dac and I need to use my asus xonar d1 as a source because I need dolby headphone for gaming. Although, I haven't even tried these headphones with dolby headphone yet, their soundstage with gaming is just so good I haven't felt the need. I'm looking for just an amp.
 
One question though, did the bass really get good with the Schiit Lyr? Did it also tame the highs? Just wondering.

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twitchblade said:

I've been using them amped for about a week now, and I'm not really getting that AMAZING bass that everyone is raving about. The bass only goes down to about 40hz btw. It definitely has presence in the music, but I think it's too tight and doesn't last very long at all. It also has very little impact in my opinion, at least not to the point where it makes me tap my feet when there's like a drum line or something. 

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Uh oh, that doesn't sound right. 40hz? There's definitely something wrong. The E9 SHOULD be able to properly amp it though. But maybe WNBC is right. However, I got great sound (and definitely quality bass below 40 hz) out of my portable AMP3 amp, which the E9 should still demolish. There's no huge mid-bass hump which might be why you think it lacks impact, but the bass is still pretty overwhelming.

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rymd said:

Uh oh, that doesn't sound right. 40hz? There's definitely something wrong. The E9 SHOULD be able to properly amp it though. But maybe WNBC is right. However, I got great sound (and definitely quality bass below 40 hz) out of my portable AMP3 amp, which the E9 should still demolish. There's no huge mid-bass hump which might be why you think it lacks impact, but the bass is still pretty overwhelming.

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I just tested some sine wave tones and the lowest I was able to go was 30hz, which was just a quiet hum. I said 40hz because it actually has decent volume at that frequency. You say that you were able to get bass below 40hz, but how do you know for sure? Did you test it with sin waves or something? It has allot more bass that the ad700, which is pretty much bass-less, but it's definetely not prominent to the point where it's "overwhelming". I've even tried listening to some bassy music - some random dubstep garbage off of youtube - and still, not much bass. Although I can hear it, it's just a low hum.

Thanks, those mp3's (especially the 2nd one) helped me notice the difference between my Ultrasones and these Fischers.  Some binurals (say virtual haircut and Ultrasone demo cd) don't seem to have enough space in the recordings to really fool my ears.  Also, is it just me, or does the sounds in binurals always sound either come from the sides, behind me or above, I almost never get that "center channel" sound except from some.
 
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ziocomposite said:

The soundstage rivals that of the ath ad 700's easily.  I listen to binaural recordings to get a feeling of sound stage with headphones.  The m50 fails at this while the ad700 shines.  I was surprised to hear how well the FA-011's handled them as well with much needed bass emphasis!!!
 
To test the sound stage, listen to the mp3's in my signature.  Close your eyes, be in a quiet environment, and relax when you listen to them to get maximum effect.  Let me know how it goes =P
 

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flybpr said:

Hi guys, I have a few questions I'm hoping you can answer...
 
Between the -011 and the -003, which would you recommend to be used for mainly rock/alternative/jazz? Whichever I decide on will be my only headphones.  
 
Something like the Mav D1 should be enough to power either of these, right?
 
Thanks

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The D1 will work fine for both, better for the 003 (require less power)
 
I own both now, and have gotten a good feel for them each in their own right, I'd say the 003 is superior hands down, and is amazing for jazz
 
The 011 is good for Jazz...but the 003 is better I also find it more useful as an all purpose headphone
 

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1eye1derweasil said:

The D1 will work fine for both, better for the 003 (require less power)
 
I own both now, and have gotten a good feel for them each in their own right, I'd say the 003 is superior hands down, and is amazing for jazz
 
The 011 is good for Jazz...but the 003 is better I also find it more useful as an all purpose headphone
 

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Thanks, that's where I'm going to go I think.
 
 

Alright fine, I didn't test it with sine waves, so I don't know for sure. I listen to electronic music with sweeps that go down to ~30hz and I could hear those lows just fine although there may be too much emphasis at around 50-80hz. Random dubstep off youtube has no sub bass. And 30 hz is supposed to be a low hum... something you feel more than hear. What's your standard for "amazing bass"? 
 
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twitchblade said:

 
I just tested some sine wave tones and the lowest I was able to go was 30hz, which was just a quiet hum. I said 40hz because it actually has decent volume at that frequency. You say that you were able to get bass below 40hz, but how do you know for sure? Did you test it with sin waves or something? It has allot more bass that the ad700, which is pretty much bass-less, but it's definetely not prominent to the point where it's "overwhelming". I've even tried listening to some bassy music - some random dubstep garbage off of youtube - and still, not much bass. Although I can hear it, it's just a low hum.

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Quote:

rymd said:

Alright fine, I didn't test it with sine waves, so I don't know for sure. I listen to electronic music with sweeps that go down to ~30hz and I could hear those lows just fine although there may be too much emphasis at around 50-80hz. Random dubstep off youtube has no sub bass. And 30 hz is supposed to be a low hum... something you feel more than hear. What's your standard for "amazing bass"? 
 


 

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I know sub bass is more feeling than actual sound. That's why I said these have almost no impact. At 30hz it's literally what I said, a quiet hum. Which means almost no feeling of vibration. I've heard bass frequencies 90hz and below on actual speakers, and I know what it should actually sound like. I'm not at all saying that these little open headphones should in any way be compared to full sized speakers, but people keep saying that they have amazing bass or crazy/really good bass. I'm pretty sure a quiet hum at 30hz doesn't qualify as amazing bass. The sub bass frequencies from these headphones are only heard and BARELY felt, and the bass in general is pretty low in quantity. The bass is so tight that it causes an inaccurate under exaggerated quantity of bass, and it has almost no impact, so it's not like you could call it punchy. This is my experience through the e9 basically. 
 
 

Quote:

twitchblade said:

I know sub bass is more feeling than actual sound. That's why I said these have almost no impact. At 30hz it's literally what I said, a quiet hum. Which means almost no feeling of vibration. I've heard bass frequencies 90hz and below on actual speakers, and I know what it should actually sound like. I'm not at all saying that these little open headphones should in any way be compared to full sized speakers, but people keep saying that they have amazing bass or crazy/really good bass. I'm pretty sure a quiet hum at 30hz doesn't qualify as amazing bass. The sub bass frequencies from these headphones are only heard and BARELY felt, and the bass in general is pretty low in quantity. The bass is so tight that it causes an inaccurate under exaggerated quantity of bass, and it has almost no impact, so it's not like you could call it punchy. This is my experience through the e9 basically. 
 
 

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Headphones are about creating natural and clear sound, very few (even bass heavy cans) are going to create an "impact" because impact is not usually in the recording itself, but superficially added by the speaker system. Most speakers have a low frequency "hump" which creates that feeling of impact, however it comes at a price of accuracy and usually drowns out the lower frequencies, meaning a mortar and a distant rumble of thunder will sound the same (when in reality they are very very different)
 
I'm generalizing and speaking only of consumer speakers. There is a good chance that the e9 can't properly handle the FA011 (most likely) but also that one or more of your components could be having an issue, or worst of all - these headphones are simply not to your taste. 
 

Impact has a inverse relationship to compression.
 
More compression used in the recording process = less impact heard in the listening process.
 
Less compression used in the recording process = more impact heard in the listening process.
 
These days most recordings use heavy compression.
 
Nice article on Compression.
http://www.humbuckermusic.com/comex.html
 

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dynobot said:

Impact has a inverse relationship to compression.
 
More compression used in the recording process = less impact heard in the listening process.
 
Less compression used in the recording process = more impact heard in the listening process.
 
These days most recordings use heavy compression.
 
Nice article on Compression.
http://www.humbuckermusic.com/comex.html
 

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What does that have to do with anything? Are you posting in the wrong thread or something?
 
Btw, if for some reason you did mean to post that, I use FLAC files for all of my music. When the FLAC files are playing, I can see that that the bitrate is over 1100kb/s most of the time, so I know they're not fakes. It has nothing to do with my music files. I've heard the songs I have a million times on tons of different equipment, and I know how they should sound.