[ryanjsoo]

Received the Fibae ME a few days ago, reporting in with a few impressions. I let Piotr handle the design and they turned out better than I could've hoped for (blue is my favourite colour, I'm sensing psionic vibes from Piotr). As always, the fit and finish is superb. These are easily among the best custom IEMs I've had experience with, smoothly formed and perfectly comfortable (I've had several customs made with the same moulds and these are the most comfortable of the bunch).

Coming from more balanced earphones, the ME sounded pretty darn bassy but with adjustment, I'm enjoying it more and more. Bass isn't quite DD-like in its impact, but its extension very much surprised me as did its very natural decay and richly textured notes. Drums, in particular, really stand out to me, delivered with solidity without missing the finer nuances, and this is all the while maintaining clear, lush mids and air up top. Its midrange and high-end are both recessed by comparison, but they're never drowned out or muffled. In fact, due to a gradual climb into the upper-midrange, mids are actually quite clear, well compensating for their fuller low-end without assuming an unnatural character. This is no doubt aided by terrific treble extension; resolution and background detail have always impressed me on Custom Art's previous earphones and the ME exemplifies this more than the 2 and 3 despite being less balanced in its tuning. In short, amazing work again Piotr! I'm looking forward to taking more photos and testing them with a wider variety of music approaching my full review. I hope more get a chance to experience the ME now that they've made their way back onto Massdrop.

 

[PinkyPowers]

Well said, Ryan. I agree wholeheartedly. You'd think that much bass would muddy the waters, and obscure the vocals, yet Piotr tuned the ME so well, you hear everything clearly.

 

[squirrelman]

@piotrus-g If I order a Fibae Massdrop Edition through Massdrop is there any way I can pay extra to you afterwards and get one of the fancy custom designs like the nebula?

 

[kubig123]

Knowing this was going to be a punchy ciem, I was particular surprised by the treble extension and the overall transparency and resolution, i just wish it would be a tad warmer.

 

[Kagelou]

David,
I would say they look about right. I don't think more flush would be possible without the cable plug pushing against your temple which would make the IEM unseal.

The design was created by our team based on the picture @Mayth sent us

I see, it looks beautiful.

Noticed that the the ME are back up on MassDrop! Much earlier than I expected, but a good surprise indeed!
I will probably join the drop tomorrow morning JST, but for design and ear impression checkup, should I PM you here or shoot an email to info@thecustomart.com?

 

[Deezel177]

I see, it looks beautiful.

Noticed that the the ME are back up on MassDrop! Much earlier than I expected, but a good surprise indeed!
I will probably join the drop tomorrow morning JST, but for design and ear impression checkup, should I PM you here or shoot an email to info@thecustomart.com?

I'd recommend e-mailing Custom Art directly. That way, both Piotr and his colleagues can read, reply to and catalog your requests. They're probably the most responsive CIEM company in the industry (as long as you message them according to their time zone ), so I'm sure you'll have no worries.

 

[Chapbass]

Alright, so I still haven't made my first CIEM purchase, despite posting on this page that I would like a year ago. That said, I'm still planning on it, and now I see that the FIBAE massdrop is out.

I went to e-earphone last year, tried out the music one, music two, and ei.3 I thought I was going to love the ei.3, but it ended up being my least favorite. I LOVED the music two. Music one was nice, but two was just awesome. I use some shure SE215's now and have loved them for years, but I liked the solid upgrade the music two's provided over these.

Now I'm looking at the FIBAE line...was really thinking FIBAE2, but that was before the 3 and the massdrop came out. Now I'm leaning towards the 3 it seems, as those highs seem like they could be good.

I'm having trouble finding a lot of info on the massdrop edition. I'm curious as to how the numbers would score on the quantity/quality graphs that are on all of the products on the customart website. Seems like those are more for bassheads?

Furthermore, I'm not a big fan of the "IEM sticking out of your ears" look that I saw with the big 8 driver offerings from some other vendors (I tried the 1964 ears ones at e-earphone). How big are the massdrop IEMs? Do they look flush-ish? Any other opinions?

 

[Deezel177]

Alright, so I still haven't made my first CIEM purchase, despite posting on this page that I would like a year ago. That said, I'm still planning on it, and now I see that the FIBAE massdrop is out.

I went to e-earphone last year, tried out the music one, music two, and ei.3 I thought I was going to love the ei.3, but it ended up being my least favorite. I LOVED the music two. Music one was nice, but two was just awesome. I use some shure SE215's now and have loved them for years, but I liked the solid upgrade the music two's provided over these.

Now I'm looking at the FIBAE line...was really thinking FIBAE2, but that was before the 3 and the massdrop came out. Now I'm leaning towards the 3 it seems, as those highs seem like they could be good.

I'm having trouble finding a lot of info on the massdrop edition. I'm curious as to how the numbers would score on the quantity/quality graphs that are on all of the products on the customart website. Seems like those are more for bassheads?

Furthermore, I'm not a big fan of the "IEM sticking out of your ears" look that I saw with the big 8 driver offerings from some other vendors (I tried the 1964 ears ones at e-earphone). How big are the massdrop IEMs? Do they look flush-ish? Any other opinions?

The FIBAE 2 is essentially the Music Two with more bass. The FIBAE ME is like a matured version of the FIBAE 2, with greater dynamic performance, treble extension, background blackness, imaging precision, etc. But, the ME is bassier than the FIBAE 2 (despite being more resolving, funnily enough, at the same time), so that's something you should keep in mind. @ryanjsoo now has both, so he can definitely compare the two.

 

[Chapbass]

The FIBAE 2 is essentially the Music Two with more bass. The FIBAE ME is like a matured version of the FIBAE 2, with greater dynamic performance, treble extension, background blackness, imaging precision, etc. But, the ME is bassier than the FIBAE 2 (despite being more resolving, funnily enough, at the same time), so that's something you should keep in mind. @ryanjsoo now has both, so he can definitely compare the two.

Interesting. Besides price, anything that the ME doesn't do better than either the 2 or the 3?

 

[tienbasse]

I'm having trouble finding a lot of info on the massdrop edition. (...) Seems like those are more for bassheads?

Yes, they are definitely very bassy, very much L-shape which means you will still get clear mids and treble. Bass extension is phenomenal, this is most obvious when listening to drum decay, you really FEEL the drums in addition to hearing them.

Furthermore, I'm not a big fan of the "IEM sticking out of your ears" look that I saw with the big 8 driver offerings from some other vendors (I tried the 1964 ears ones at e-earphone). How big are the massdrop IEMs? Do they look flush-ish? Any other opinions?

They are not very thin, but still smaller than Noble K10 universal for example.
The universal Fibae are quite small in my opinion, they barely protude from my ear conchas, although slightly more than my Fidue Sirius for instance.
Please look at this picture, you'll get an idea of how small they can be (universal is as small as they can get):

 

[Chapbass]

Yes, they are definitely very bassy, very much L-shape which means you will still get clear mids and treble. Bass extension is phenomenal, this is most obvious when listening to drum decay, you really FEEL the drums in addition to hearing them.

They are not very thin, but still smaller than Noble K10 universal for example.
The universal Fibae is quite small in my opinion, they barely protude from my ear conchas, although slightly more than my Fidue Sirius for instance.
Please look at this picture, you'll get an idea of how small they can be (universal is as small as they can get):

Cool, those are the FIBAE ME? I'm assuming the less drivers the smaller size, per the usual.

 

[tienbasse]

Cool, those are the FIBAE ME? I'm assuming the less drivers the smaller size, per the usual.

Yes, and yes, although BAs designed for sub-bass and bass are usually bigger than the ones for mids/treble.

 

[Deezel177]

Interesting. Besides price, anything that the ME doesn't do better than either the 2 or the 3?

The FIBAE 3 has a more open stage and a more prominent delivery of detail, but that comes at the compromise of stage solidity, naturalness in tone and articulation around 5kHz. So, it's pretty much fair game.

 

[ryanjsoo]

Interesting. Besides price, anything that the ME doesn't do better than either the 2 or the 3?

Definitely agree with Dan, the ME isn't as balanced 2 and I would say the 3 is more transparent. I prefer the 2's tuning most as it's not too bassy, but still full and engaging. It's a U to gentle V, perhaps a hair too warm to nitpick. The 3 provides a nice alternative, and almost the antithesis to the ME, with the ME being warm, smooth and bass focussed, the 3 being brighter, thinner and more revealing. That said, both are well-considered for what they are, it's just down to preference what style of sound you prefer. I still find the ME to be the most resolving of all of them, it simply has the best end to end extension and resolution.

Seeing universals for the 2 and 3, they are absolutely minute, both will provide a very low-profile fit that one could sleep on. I'm unsure about the ME, the pic above looks larger than the lower models so that will be more up to individual ear anatomy. Perhaps someone can post a uni ME with another IEM for reference?

 

[rantng]

Don't have the ME and I'm guessing CustomArt's universals have changed a bit, but here's pics of my universal 8.2 next to the Campfire Jupiter. As you can see, these are impossibly small. Still don't know how Piotr does it. Perhaps @tienbasse could post a pic next to another IEM.