[elektrosteve]

 
Quote:

open design

 
The PFE232 isn´t open.

 

[dfkt]

 

[pavoo]

@dfkt
 
damn dat was nice pic u got there, but it is too pricey for full time student like me
 
gonna stick with my trusted RE2

 

[james444]

I think a meet is overdue

 

[dfkt]

You're in for a surprise. They certainly sound better than the prototypes you heard. For me, they might already be right up there with the SM3 for my personal taste. Knowing you (a bit), I believe you might prefer the 232 to the SM3. Treble is insane on the 232, a whole new level - comparisons with the FI-BA-SS are in order.

 

[wilzc]

Quote:

You're in for a surprise. They certainly sound better than the prototypes you heard. For me, they might already be right up there with the SM3 for my personal taste. Knowing you (a bit), I believe you might prefer the 232 to the SM3. Treble is insane on the 232, a whole new level - comparisons with the FI-BA-SS are in order.

Fark me silly!!
 
I WANT IT!!..  but 500??
 
I'll rather spend on the MDR ex1000.. although these look far more comfy and portable
 
 
I'll just wait for major price drop
 
 
 
edit: hope they fixed the cable problem. I know they're replaceable, but nobody wants to replace them every half a year

 

[chi2]

Quote:

PFE 112 is nothing "full range"! It lacks subbass and treble extension. I doubt two drivers will be enough.
 

PFE 1xx reach 16.5 kHz. Westone 3 and 4 don't even exeed 14kHz. Only Westone 2 has comparable treble extension. In the bass PFE 1xx goes down as low as 30 Hz with very minor drop in spl. Its bass response is linear, not deliberately pushed.

 

[goodvibes]

Quote:

Do they come with new/different tips or are those somethimg you added. Sounds like you think they're competitive, even at that price.

 

 

[dfkt]

It's the same PFE tips as before, just black instead of grey. The ear guides are black now as well, which is an improvement - since the transparent ones turned an ugly yellow over time.

 

[mvw2]

Interesting about the price.  While I don't consider cost to equal the number of drivers, I do scale value off the physical value and performance.  $500 is a realm you don't really want to be in unless you can seriously back it up with a godly device.  It's not the problem of just being good.  It's the problem of competing against every single product on the market and believing your product is better than everyone else's...or at least sit on par with and either offer a unique sound or a sound that's slightly better than the very specific other high end products in that market with a similar signature.  
 
The physical package also becomes an important factor.  High cost requires high value.  This means they at least need to design an elegant earphone, possibly out of metal or at least a non-cheap feeling material.  They need the fit and finish to be very good.  They need to offer a nice carrying case that is also well built and stylish.  They need to offer a slew of accessories including many tip choices so that any high paying customer can find a good fit right out of the box without having to instead buy or use hardware from somewhere else just to make this $500 product work.  Unfortunately cosmetics becomes a big issue once you get to a high level product.  It's a whole different realm from a still budget minded $150 price point.  I'm quite curious how it might fair.  
 
I'm also very curious how the price may very likely drop in time and how well or poorly resale will be.  One huge problem is most of this market is hard-pressed to pay over $300 for most anything, and one can buy 99.9% of the products out there in used condition for under $300.  Unfortunately, new still does need to compete with used as well, and if resale is high you get the same few already sold products changing hands between consumers rather then these consumers buying another new one.  Higher price certainly enforces this behavior too.  So...it will be quite interesting. This isn't to say that they are way out of line.  They are competing with products like Shure's SE535 which is also priced around the $500 mark new.

 

[alphaphoenix]

Speaking of Shure, the photo dfkt supplied, for a split second, I though I was looking at the Shure SE530 with the shape and color combo scheme.  I'm with mvw2 with the challenge of adding perceived value for the PFE232 debut price.  They should look at what Monster has provided with their Turbine Pro and Tribute line and ensure the PFE232 doesn't suffer from the infamous quality issues and inconsistencies.  I for one will wait for the price to drop considerably or snag one in the forsale forums.

 

[robm321]

Same general package for $500? Ouch! I'll pass. I was a big fan of the original PFE because it was a great value. I think this could be a marketing failure unless it sounds spectacular.
 
I do wish Audeo luck. I am a fan, but I have a renewed relationship with my old Ety ER4 which is both neutral and extremely detailed. This would have to beat the Ety at a minimum to justify the $ in my view. 

 

[mvw2]

Well, I'm not sure if there will be much for quality issues.  They've been working on this for a while now.  However, I not happy about seeing zero strain reliefs.  Hopefully such a design choice won't warrant any issues from prolonged use.  Phonak isn't exactly new to the market and has at least been in the hearing aid market for some time (60 years).  I'm sure they don't take a $500 product lightly.  I'm just curious how it will fit into this market.  A premium price product is a little harder to generate sales than a budget minded product.  They just won't see the same kind of demand that they see from the single driver models.  Hopefully they padded the price enough to generate the profit margin they seek from what may be a low volume item.  If the profit margin isn't there, we may not see more like this.  Business is only about money, so they do need to make the package work for the company in whatever way they can.  We end consumers may scoff at the price tag, but supply and demand is pretty basic.  It's not about selling the most or selling at the greatest markup.  It's about the right mix of markup and sales that yields the greatest overall profit.  Is $500 that point?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  At the very least from a business standpoint high initial sales values are there for the early adopters, the people who would buy it right when it came out regardless of price.  However after that, they would need to tune it to the market but also compete against possible resale through the used market of those earlier sales.  It's a bit different than the hearing aid market where people are buying a product out of shear need.  This is a hobby with finicky people and a LOT of competition.  Companies like Shure and Sennheiser have gotten it to work, so we'll see.  Hopefully their R&D and market research was done well enough to make this a hit.  They certainly have the name recognition and clout to pull it off as long as the product blows people away in build and sound and can compete strongly with the other top tier devices.  Can they do it?  Here's to hoping...

 

[Inks]

It doesn't look very promising for the price imo, neither build nor presentation seem to stand out.
 
The Sleek SA7 is supposedly going to be sold at 400$ and to me the overall build and engineering is overall more appealing. Problem is, who knows when that's going to be released. But still, for the price it's competing against budget customs and serious upcoming BAs like the Sony XBA-4 and CK100pro.

 

[dfkt]

Quote:

However, I not happy about seeing zero strain reliefs.  Hopefully such a design choice won't warrant any issues from prolonged use.

The rough looking part of the 3.5mm plug is soft rubber, molded to the cable, and the connectors at the ear pieces are soft as well. It looks like it will last. The cable is the same as the v2 PFE, which I find quite nice.