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Impressions & Loaner Tour || FEELS Pro900

post #1 of 20
11/11/11 at 10:54pm
Thread Starter 

Intro

There's not much out there about the FEELS Pro900. All I know is that the company is based in Korea and it uses the same driver as the A151 from what I've read. Thanks to Dimitri @ Musica Acoustics, I had the chance to check out the Pro900 and was pretty impressed. It costs about the same as the A151 and sounds a tad better to me which makes it a great bargain. I really liked its design as well.

 

Packaging & Accessories

Nothing fancy here, just a simple packaging with minimal accessories. I wasn't really expecting much for the price they go for. Here's are some pictures below to show you what you get:

 

Pro900-1.jpgPro900-2.jpg

 

Comfort & Isolation

Very, very comfortable and it just disappears in the ear sort of like the UE700. I had no problems what so ever with the fit or comfort with this. Isolation was decent, about good as the A151.

 

Build & Cable

With the metal housing, seems to be pretty durable. The only part that might be a problem is the articulating plastic nozzle, which can be easily popped out but is replaceable. I wasn't crazy about the cable, it tangles easily and doesn't feel all that great. The part from the y-split to the housing is a typical thin, rubbery cable and from the y-split to the plug is a flat cable. Here's a couple pictures below:

 

Pro900-5.jpgPro900-4.jpg

 

Sound

  • Treble: Crisp and had good sparkle without being harsh or aggressive. It was a tad more engaging than the A151.
  • Mids: Rendered vocals nicely, smooth and slightly forward. I felt it presented it better than the A151.
  • Bass: Surprisingly powerful for a single armature. Doesn't have the impact or rumble of dynamics but still pretty good. Slightly stronger than the bass of the A151.
  • Soundstage: Pretty average about the same as the A151. 
  • Overall: I really enjoyed the overall sound, it was full, engaging, and rendered vocals beautifully. 

 

Conclusion

I found the Pro900 surprisingly good for the price and would say it's a better bargain than the A151. The only things I preferred on the A151 over the Pro900 is the cable and accessories. It's sort of hard to find but you can pick one up @ Musica Acoustics for about $70-$80. It's a shame more people haven't tried this out and I feel like there should be more impressions about it which is the reason I plan to loan it out to interested Head-Fi'ers for their take on it. If you meet the requirements below and/or want to try it before you buy it, feel free to let me know and you can check it out yourself.

 

Requirements

  • Live in the United States
  • Trusted Head-Fi'er
  • Find out the next person's address
  • Pay to ship to the next person
  • Post impressions on this thread
  • If you break it, let me know

 

Participants

  1. kckc
  2. shotgunshane

Edited by -y0- - 11/22/11 at 1:23am
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post #2 of 20
11/11/11 at 11:23pm

 

I've been listening to the Feels Pro 900 over the weekend and here are my impressions copied straight from my blog.

First off, I would like to thank my friend -y0- for loaning me his pair of Feels Pro 900 to review. I've actually never heard of the Korean company Feels until the Feels Pro 900 recently caught my eye on the for sale forum on head-fi. I'm not even sure where to purchase these. As mentioned above, MusicaAcoustics should have these available and I think Jaben Audio Australia has them for $65. If you're in Korea, apparently these are being sold for only about $30 USD there. The Feels Pro 900 seems to be competing directly with the MEElec A151, using an identical BA driver and priced similarly.


Packaging / Accessories:  

As this is a loaner pair, I don't have the original accessories or packaging. But a quick online search shows that they really don't come with much, just 4 pairs of tips. (Please correct me if I'm wrong). That is a little disappointing.

 

Build Quality / Appearance / Cable: 

The Feels Pro 900 uses a metal housing and looks to be built quite well. There is a silver ring around the middle of the black housing and a metal spike sticking out from the back. Although I have mixed feelings for the spike in the back, I like the way these look. The most special quality, though not the first to do this, is the rotating nozzle that can be angled in all directions for a better fit. The rotating nozzle is made of plastic and coloured blue and red indicating left and right. The rotating nozzle piece does raise concern of long-term durability, but they are replaceable if they do break. The cable is flat from the plug to the y-split and very thin from there to the earphones. Overall the cable isn't that great and tangles quite easily. The straight plug also seems to be extra long and sticks out quite a bit, which can be bothersome and more susceptible to accidents. Microphonics are existent when worn cable down, but decreases significantly when worn behind the ears.

 

Comfort / Isolation: 

They're fairly small and very comfortable when worn cable down or behind the ears. However, isolation is only average and could be better.

 

Sound:  

The Feels Pro 900 possesses all the typical traits of a balanced armature driver. It has speed and clarity, but lacks the kind of bass impact found in dynamic drivers. With only a single balanced armature, I expected it to struggle while trying to cover the entire frequency range, but the driver does a fairly good job. Overall, it has a  detailed, accurate and transparent sound.

Lows: Bass has good impact but as I have already mentioned, it cannot match the depth and power of similarly priced dynamics. This doesn't mean the Feels Pro 900 is lacking in bass though. Bass is fast and tight with a very short decay time - think of it as quick jabs, you'll definitely feel the impact but it doesn't last very long. You definitely won't get that low end rumble though. Texture and detail is also good, but the Feels Pro 900 lacks a bit of extension into the sub-bass.

Mids: The mids are not forward like Shures, but it is fairly forward. It has the clarity, detail and smoothness that makes vocals sound great. Guitars also sound very good, only that it doesn't nearly have enough bite and and texture. I wouldn't call the mids dry, but just a tiny lush. 

Treble: High end extension was better than I expected. The treble was quick and light, but can sound thicker than normal sometimes. Again, detail retrieval is good but there doesn't seem to be a lot of sparkle. 

Soundstage: Soundstage is average. Presentation wise, the Feels Pro 900 is pretty intimate and seats you in the first couple rows.  

 

Summary: 

The Feels Pro 900 is a nice little gem from Korea. Given how little I knew about them, they were certainly a pleasant surprise. Not only were they extremely comfortable, they also produced an accurate sound that competes very well with other top earphones in its price range of around $70. For those of you who can find these for apparently $30, they are a steal. 

 


Edited by kckc - 11/21/11 at 12:23pm
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post #3 of 20
11/11/11 at 11:41pm

Dimitri told me  Feels were available already for order about a month ago .smile.gif

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post #4 of 20
11/12/11 at 12:00am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by yello131 View Post

Dimitri told me  Feels were available already for order about a month ago .smile.gif

 

I misread the email, the price will be confirmed next week. Good place to get it regardless. biggrin.gif
 

 


Edited by -y0- - 11/12/11 at 2:43am
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post #5 of 20
11/14/11 at 1:08am

nice, looking forward to the impressions

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post #6 of 20
11/20/11 at 3:05am

I received them 2 days ago and should have my impressions up in the next day or two.

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post #7 of 20
11/20/11 at 10:31am

So, what, do i get a loaner pair? wink.gif

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post #8 of 20
11/20/11 at 9:57pm

I've had this one for a while, and I can say that this has to be one  of the best sounding, best value single BA IEM out there.

 

What impressed me the most, is how comfortable this is, you will forget that you have them on, and when you are using this at night lying on your bed, you can sleep sideways and not have a a feeling that something is in your ear, amazing, the level of comfort is just unbelievable (and yes it sounds very good too)

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post #9 of 20
11/21/11 at 12:24pm

Updated 2nd post with my impressions biggrin.gif
They will be on their way to shotgunshane tomorrow.

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post #10 of 20
11/21/11 at 6:38pm

I would love to get these in the states for around the price that the A151 goes for, $30 is like a dream.  I love my A151's, and if I can get an A151 driver with even more high end sparkle I am in for a pair for my classical music addiction. 

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post #11 of 20
11/21/11 at 9:57pm

wow, thanks for the review kckc. You made it harder for me to wait till i got to Korea, in Korea they are only around 30 bucks!!

 

YAY!!

 

link to the shopping site (basically the Amazon equivalent in Korea, its the place i even can be confident with CX300 II, so no fakes)


Edited by sulkoudai - 11/21/11 at 9:59pm
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post #12 of 20
11/28/11 at 3:49pm

The Feels Pro900 arrived today.  Pleasant first impressions for a low budget armature.  Overall I like the design with flat cable below the Y, articulating nozzles and rear housing spikes that scream the 80's.  Good looking phones.  If these can be had as cheap or cheaper than the similar Meelec offering, that's a very nice deal.

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post #13 of 20
11/28/11 at 9:48pm

well...soon or later sellers from Korea will start shipping them internationally for 30 bucks...hopefully.

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post #14 of 20
11/29/11 at 4:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sulkoudai View Post

well...soon or later sellers from Korea will start shipping them internationally for 30 bucks...hopefully.


Korean nor Japanese local shops are allowed to ship earphones abroad. At least that is what Dimitri from MA has told me.

If there is a company like Musica Acoustics.com in Korea,  which acts like a export Shop then yes there will be a way to get Feels for a bit cheaper then from MusicaAcoustics, considering MA has to import all the way from Korea to Japan to resell to us for 70 buks. Still not bad price for Feels900 in my opinion.

 

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post #15 of 20
12/1/11 at 7:01am

 

Thanks to –y0- for giving me the opportunity to listen to these.

 

I have no idea how the stock tips would be, since on a loaner tour they aren’t included.  I like the idea of coloring the nozzles to distinguish right and left.  Besides the nozzles being articulating, they are also bulbous at the end.  Basically this unique feature means that no tip that you try is going to affect the sound from these, other than seal, which affects bass.  Since the nozzle is bulbous, you have to use wider bore tips, however the sound hole at the end of the ball shaped nozzle is much smaller.  This is an ingenious  design, assuming the nozzle opening gives you the best sound for the phones.

 

The cable is decent below the Y split.  It is flat and tangle free.  However above the Y split is thin and rubbery, which tangles quite easily and is annoying.  Aesthetically the Feels housings look great and I love the 80’s metal looking spike that protrudes from the back.  Very fun looking.

 

The overall tuning of the Pro900 is very pleasing.  Most single armatures I’ve heard, albeit much more expensive offerings are tuned much, much brighter and detail oriented.  The Pro900 are tuned towards lows and mids with a non-fatiguing treble presence, which while lacking in detail retrieval, makes for a more musical approach.

 

The bass punch is pretty good for a BA phone, especially single armature.  It doesn’t extend very deep and is mostly mid bass oriented, with a little bit of sub bass, but has very good punch and presence in the overall sound.  In contrast the Soundmagic E10 dynamic driver has more/bigger bass emphasis and extends quite a bit deeper with more texture and rumble.   Drums hit with more authority on the E10.

 

The midrange is pushed forward of neutral and makes for an intimate vocal.  These isn’t mid bass bleed into the midrange but the Pro900 definitely carries a thicker and slightly warm, dynamic driver type of note.  This thicker and warmer note does tend to gloss and smooth over smaller details but helps provide the pleasant and musical tone I mentioned earlier.

 

Treble is somewhat laid back but more sparkle than the E10.  There seems to be an upper mid range peak, similar to the Shure SE420, that can be edgy and fatiguing at higher volumes but isn’t an issue at normal listening levels.  In contrast the E10 has a much smoother transition from upper mids into the treble.  I have no trouble distinguishing cymbal crashes and rides.

 

Soundstage is average in width, and as I find with most BA based phones, there isn’t much depth and is overall a 2D presentation, placing you close to the stage.  Instrument separation is not really strong point due to the thicker note and warm presentation but it helps with instrument realism, which is pretty good.

 

Overall I like the thicker note, warm and intimate vocal and musical presentation.  I think $80 might be a stretch but if you can find them closer to $50, they would represent a very good value.  They are small, comfortable, look great and seem to be built well.

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