[reallynotareview]

Great reviews, mate. The thumbnails look more and more stylish and professional.

Thank you!

 

[redrich2000]

Fir kit is very sadly on it's way to @tombrisbane

 

[redrich2000]

I have very sadly just sent the Fir Audio kit on to @xjaynine

All three of these IEMs are fantastic. My daily drivers is the Sony IER-M9. When I signed up for the tour I was hoping to discover some serious diminishing returns and come away feeling really good about the M9. It didn’t work out that way.

I was using a Hiby R6 2020 with them and used all my own tips (Azla Xelastic).


Build Quality/Aesthetics

Not much to say here. The build quality is excellent. I’m not a huge fan of shiny metal myself but they feel very solid and the inlays are a beautiful touch. The cables are good but unremarkable (in a good way). I didn’t use any of the included tips or accessories. Fit-wise, they were pretty good. They're not overly large. I did find the angle of the cable guide made getting a seal on one-side a tiny bit tricky. But I think that was mostly because my ear canal is slightly larger on that side. They were comfortable to wear for long periods.


Sound Quality

All three of these Fir Audio IEMs are a big upgrade over the M9. The Xenon 6 in particular absolutely blew me away. I’ve not been quite so floored since I first demo’d the Hifiman HE1000 V2 years ago. The detail retrieval is mind-blowing. This is my first experience with an IEM with an electret driver and it is amazing. The texture and micro-detailing is incredible.

All three sound more similar than different, there is a clear Fir house sound. They have big bass but they’re not what I would call dark. I guess you’d call them warm with bass emphasis. The bone conduction bass is legit, visceral and deep.

Like others on the tour, I didn’t play with the tuning modules. If I owned any of these I think I definitely would to tame the bass down a bit.

The Neon 4s adopt the house sound, big bass that can be boomy at times. Warm midrange and smooth treble. Excellent detail and resolution, a noticable step up from the M9. Similar overall tuning to the M9 but with more bass. One of the other participants described them as a more raw expression of the house sound. I'd agree with that. I think that comes from a smaller soundstage and so more intimate presentation, only relative to the other two though, they are very refined in general.

The Kyrpton 5s are very slightly the odd one out of the three. They have wider soundstage and better separation and space to the 4s so are a bit less agressive and intimate. But they are more of a V-shape tuning. They retain the big bass like the other two but have more treble presence that I found a touch hot/glary at times. They were probably my least favourite of the three.

As I’ve said, the Xenon 6 absolutely floored me. No question my favourite of the three. The are true to the house sound, huge visceral bass, warm midrange and smooth treble. There's great detail across the spectrum but the treble especially had an incredible lightness, detail and extension.

Widest soundstage of the three. Utterly incredible detail retrieval and resolution and especially micro detail and fine textures. I keep some chesky recorded stuff for using when testing like this and sense of realism, of the space in the recording venue the Xenon 6 is able to reproduce is amazing.

What I’d call a guilty pleasure tuning, not neutral but very enjoyable. I didn’t mind the bass most of the time. I listen mostly to music that doesn't emphasise bass (indie/post rock/jazz). I listen to some dubstep and the bass was a bit much with those styles for me. I think bassheads would love it, there is a physicality to the bass that you don’t get without that bone conduction driver. The midrange is warm and smooth with incredible detail. The treble is so light, beautifully textured and well extended.

Thanks to @Damz87 and Minidisc for making this happen.

I have just finished my time with the second Fir Audio tour with the Radon 6. I've replied to my review of the original tour. At the time of the first tour, the Fir IEMs were my first experience with summit-fi gear. Since that original tour I've had the fortune thanks to @Damz87 to try several more, notable the Vision Ears Phonix and Ext and Mest Mkiii. None of those impressed me as much as the XE6. The EXT had equivalent technical performance but not the tonality I prefer.

I had two nitpicks with the XE6. Firstly, I was not a fan of the gold colour, a bit too blingy for my taste. Secondly, while super fun, the bass was a little more than what I consider natural. I still called them my if-i-win-lotto IEMs though. Helpfully however, Fir Audio apparently got wind of my thoughts and set about rectifying those with the result: Radon 6...

Build/Aesthetics: Beautiful understated matte black replaces the gold bling. Fit and comfort is perfect. Build quality is superb.

Cable: Since the first Fir tour I've gotten more into cables and bought the Effect Audio Xmas cable (Cadmus/Ares combo). So I compared the stock cable with that. The stock cable is superb. Very light and thin, much better ergonomics that the EA cable. Sound quality-wise, I think the two were pretty close in terms of technical performance. The EA cable brings a little more bite and leading edge emphasis (from the silver-plated cadmus wires?). The stock RN6 cable is pure silver and little smoother. My preference for synergy was the stock cable.

Sound Quality: I was listening via a Chord Mojo2/Poly, using Azla Xelatic tips. Overal tonality is the XE6 with a little less bass, quantity and more airy, lighter presentation. It's still nicely warm but more balanced overall. Technical performance is superb, equal to the other IEMs in the price range I've head (albeit that's not very many).

Bass: The bass is definitely dialled down from the XE6, however less than I was expecting given what I had read, it's unmistakably a kinetic bass module. The bass on the RN6 is pretty much perfect to me. I'm not a bass-head though so YMMV. The bass is deep, full, clean and beautifully detailed. Very even down the sub-bass.

Mids: The mids are warm and beautifully detailed. Lighter and more airy or less aggressive than the XE6. The slight reduction in the bass makes the upper mids slightly more present than the XE6, slightly more bite.

Treble: Superb. Very detailed, extended. Amazing reproduction of fine texture and detail in the higher frequencies. The overall tuning makes the RN6 slightly less forgiving that the XE6, a little more care in source/cable selection may be necessary.

Conclusion: These are the best IEMs I've heard. For me a perfect balance of warm, natural and balanced tonality with exceptional technical performance. If I had the budget for these I would buy them immediately.

 

[redrich2000]

The Hiby R6 Pro and Yvain have arrived with me with all contents confirmed.

 

[reallynotareview]

EA Fusion 1 on its way to @jaydoc1

 

[jaydoc1]

EA Fusion 1 on its way to @jaydoc1

EA Fusion arrived today safe & sound - am looking forward to comparing this to my Code23 cable,
Cheers, JD

 

[grumpy213]

Scarlet Mini review up here. Shout out to @reallynotareview for lending his personal unit for review and to @Damz87 for arranging it!

Maestro Mini review to go up soon (shout out to @tfaduh) and then both will be shipped off to @Neweymatt tomorrow!

 

[Neweymatt]

Posted my 7th Acoustics Supernova review/impressions here

 

[Damz87]

SIMGOT EA1000 Tour commencing this week if you haven't already, feel free to sign up below!

 

[grumpy213]

SIMGOT EA1000 Tour commencing this week if you haven't already, feel free to sign up below!

Keen to see if Sim lives up to the name

 

[redrich2000]

The Hiby R6 Pro 2 and Yvain are on their way to @tombrisbane

 

[o0genesis0o]

SIMGOT EA1000 Tour commencing this week if you haven't already, feel free to sign up below!

Count me in! Can’t wait to hear the Chifi that won Bosk’s heart

 

[reallynotareview]

Hi all,

Just sharing my impressions on the Effect Audio Fusion 1. Wishing all of you a great weekend ahead!

 

[grumpy213]

Bruddas, Code 24 and Code 24C reviews posted and impressions posted to the EA thread.

I await more in the future to feast my earholes on.

Off to @tombrisbane on Monday!

 

[Damz87]

Excited to announce we have a range of Eletech Cables coming soon to tour Australia!

Please comment below if you’d like to join this tour and experience the amazing Eletech cable product range (specific models touring to be announced soon)

A huge thanks to @Eric Chong for supporting the Aussie Head-fi crew!