Flare Audio R1 Headphones

Mr Vicarious

New Head-Fier
I bought these (at £150) expecting much but was shocked by how far they fell short of even competency.

They are very uncomfortable, badly designed and the sound is really nothing special. Whatever I did I couldn't get them to sit flush on my ears so that only the top third of each ear cup would rest properly on my ears, the lower part would stick out away from my ears in a most unnerving fashion - remarkable! - I've never had that happen in a headphone - the effect was actually comical! After struggling with them for a while I finally managed to get a decent seal on my ears by forcibly pinning them down, readying them for an audio evaluation. But by that stage they had become instruments of torture as the steel headband - very thinly covered by bit of ineffectual padding - had started to sink its way into my skull. I had endure quite a bit of pain in order get an idea of this headphone's audio abilities.
 
The sound is basic, by that I mean you get music reproduction at a most rudimentary level - music just blares out at you with little or no finesse; very shallow sound-stage, bright, big but crude sounding and unnatural. I didn't spend too much time listening to these for the above reasons so I leave the audio evaluation at that, and to be honest, I felt that it didn't deserve more time spent on it than was necessary.  

Don't be blinded by the science bit - a typical marketing trick - namely the "DSV (Dual Sided VortexTM) technology" and the "SpaceTM technology" (patent-pending no less), these have a sound reminiscent of below par £70-£80 headphones and no more (I'm thinking Grado headphones which they most resemble and which you're better off buying). At £150-£700 (yes, the price has varied or varies that wildly, currently £500 (!) as I write) it's ridiculously bad value for money. It's this exorbitant and outrageous price that Flare Audio are asking for this headphone that prompted me to write this review; if this had been a £50 headphone my expectations would have been low enough not be bothered too much by its sheer awfulness. I think most, if not all other headphone manufacturers would be embarrassed to release such an ill-conceived and badly executed product. I just hope for their own sake Flare Audio recall these headphones, goes back to the drawing board and design a headphone fit for public consumption.
 

Needless to say they were packed up and sent back pretty quickly.
drbluenewmexico
Mr Vicarious
Mr Vicarious
@Takeanidea Sorry to be boring, but the Sennheiser HD600 are still my favourite. Although having said that, I recently had the Hifiman HE400S and was very impressed with them. The only reason why I didn't keep them was that although initially very comfortable, the ear pads irritated my skin and also, being so thick, caused heat to build up round my ears quite quickly. But generally, like a lot of people, I rate them very highly.
gandhisfist
gandhisfist
Also have a pair of these.  I wouldn't say the sound isn't special, I think its very special.  It's special in how bad it truly is, I keep it around to keep myself in check and give myself a good laugh once in a while.  It's really amazing to realize your brain is adjusting to a sound as its doing it with the Flare R1, truly a very interesting experience to be conscious of that adjustment as its happening.

Psalmanazar

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Nil
Cons: Sound, comfort, fit, weight, price.
The Flare Audio R1's cups are made of metal. The shiny and chrome circles can be polished clean and gleam in the light. Sliding freely along two nails, they must be pressed against your ears for the headphone does not clamp at all. This is the least comfortable full-size headphone I have ever used. Maybe you're supposed to nail it down to your head, Hellraiser-style. The Flares are from the vortex.
 
The R1 sounds like you're stuck six feet underground while the band plays fifty yards away. It's what Jimmy Hoffa hears and he's dead. Cheap headphones like the Koss KSC75, PortaPros, and the Apple Earbuds with the slit out-resolve it. This headphone is only worth its weight in scrap. There is nothing positive about it. You can't even watch Youtube with it. I would rather listen to elevator music over a rotary telephone while on hold. Whoever designed these should be forced to buy back every single unit, smelt them down, and lower himself into the molten metal like Arnold Schwarzenegger at the end of Terminator 2
LuckyNat
LuckyNat
How do you get £750???  I thought they were £450 rrp and regularly much less.
 
Seems a pretty unhelpful review to be honest - you don't say what you use them with and your experience sounds a lot like a very fussy headphone being driven very poorly by whatever you used.
 
Other reviews did find them tilted in frequency response (again that can be matching issues with a headphone that doesn't match much!) but they reported some unique positives too.
 
Also they sorted out the headband and clamping with the Mk II which was launched immediately, with the Mk I being more a test model - sounds like you got one of the Mk Is somehow.
Danthrax
Danthrax
LuckyNat go look at the screwing FR graph it has no bass it has no treble. It's a headphone designed for 60year olds with more money than audible frequencies in their ears. It's a terrible headphone made to be a massive money grab because they know the head-fi hype machine will get fools to buy it. http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/FlareAudioReferenceR1.pdf Here look at that epic turd. It gets outperformed by $10 chinese OEM drivers. Beats aren't even this screwing s**t.
Gondwana
Gondwana
"Cast it into the fire! Destroy it!"
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