So this IEM experience was quite the journey. I’d seen Flipears on Musicteck’s site for a few weeks and what little I read about them whet my appetite to get one in the stable. I decided to contact Andrew and picked up the Zurq. Upon opening the box I was immediately STUNNED by the level of detail and craftsmanship Flipears put into their IEMs. When i first looked they were green….so i figured no biggie, Andrew sent me the wrong color but this looks cool too! Then they got jostled a bit and be damned if they weren’t reddish orange! Not to mention, it wasn’t just the outside of the shell that had this amazing effect. The inside of the IEM is finished with the same beautiful effect. Outstanding job Flipears!!
Insanely cool, right?! I hurriedly released them from the sweet presentation box and put them in my ears. I couldn’t WAIT to hear these things. I plugged into my trusty Sony WM1AM2 and quickly navigated to my sweet audition playlist. (I know you have one too haha). What I heard was…..really awful. Unbelievably shouty, almost to the point of screaming. I quickly turned the volume way down. Still, this set sounded shrill, without definition and just a terrible mess. I could NOT believe it. I notched that the nozzle is very unique. Very deep, it creates a chamber where all the sound goes before it shoots through your tips and into your ears. I threw every tip I had it. Nothing helped.
I grabbed the laptop and did a little reading. I see this IEM’s sensitivity is 116db!! Let’s see what gain level I have the sony set to. HIGH? Yep! Let’s turn that bad boy down to low. Immediately it made a huge difference. The vast majority of the shouty vocals and upper mids were tamed. Now I could actually listen to and enjoy this set! Bass is VISCERAL. It slams like Hulk Hogan and digs deep like a Bobcat. Among the most physical bass slam I’ve ever heard. Maybe the number one. And the quality of the bass is excellent. It’s not just going BOOM BOOM. It’s very well textured with no bloat at all. I was really excited! Lower mids were much better too with male vocals no longer seemingly coming through a bullhorn I was starting to really enjoy this one. Upper mids were still a little hot for my taste so i switched over to the Earman Colibre. Things got even better.
So, take heed. This iem DOES NOT love power. There is no need for anything but low gain and pretty low volume levels. I found them best on low gain on the Colibre with spinfit XL Omni. Penon Lacquer were also a nice matchup. In the end the upper mids were just a TAD too much for my ears but this iem is an absolute beast. You just have to find the right synergy.
View attachment P6241461.jpeg
Flipears obviously has something big time going here. Check them out! The Artha and the Aurora are warmer options up the lineup.
Did I mention that bass? Whew!
Insanely cool, right?! I hurriedly released them from the sweet presentation box and put them in my ears. I couldn’t WAIT to hear these things. I plugged into my trusty Sony WM1AM2 and quickly navigated to my sweet audition playlist. (I know you have one too haha). What I heard was…..really awful. Unbelievably shouty, almost to the point of screaming. I quickly turned the volume way down. Still, this set sounded shrill, without definition and just a terrible mess. I could NOT believe it. I notched that the nozzle is very unique. Very deep, it creates a chamber where all the sound goes before it shoots through your tips and into your ears. I threw every tip I had it. Nothing helped.
I grabbed the laptop and did a little reading. I see this IEM’s sensitivity is 116db!! Let’s see what gain level I have the sony set to. HIGH? Yep! Let’s turn that bad boy down to low. Immediately it made a huge difference. The vast majority of the shouty vocals and upper mids were tamed. Now I could actually listen to and enjoy this set! Bass is VISCERAL. It slams like Hulk Hogan and digs deep like a Bobcat. Among the most physical bass slam I’ve ever heard. Maybe the number one. And the quality of the bass is excellent. It’s not just going BOOM BOOM. It’s very well textured with no bloat at all. I was really excited! Lower mids were much better too with male vocals no longer seemingly coming through a bullhorn I was starting to really enjoy this one. Upper mids were still a little hot for my taste so i switched over to the Earman Colibre. Things got even better.
So, take heed. This iem DOES NOT love power. There is no need for anything but low gain and pretty low volume levels. I found them best on low gain on the Colibre with spinfit XL Omni. Penon Lacquer were also a nice matchup. In the end the upper mids were just a TAD too much for my ears but this iem is an absolute beast. You just have to find the right synergy.
View attachment P6241461.jpeg
Flipears obviously has something big time going here. Check them out! The Artha and the Aurora are warmer options up the lineup.
Did I mention that bass? Whew!
Silantr0
Nice review! Definitely agreed that when I first auditioned them, they were quite shouty when I set my player's gain to high as well. Lowering the gain definitely gave me a more pleasant experience with this set 
