Congrats on making to the front page of head-fi with your review!
Never Imagined that would happen lol anyways I hope that helps F7U get more recognition, a lott more people outside the Customart family also needs to experience this iem. I am glad to see Customart F7U on Musicteck.
Thankyou for the excellent write up. This for me is the best F7U review so far. Are you gonna publish it at Twister6?Got the Fibae F7 Unlimited (F7U) in today and thought I'll post some out of the box impressions... These are my shells but the picture is courtesy of CustomArt because I'm lazy AF to click pictures right now, it being the end of day.
Fit and design - First and foremost, I must say CustomArt did a spectacular job with the design and fit. The CIEMs fit like a glove and I think TCA really nail the galaxy swirl designs in general. They are some of the best in the industry IMO. I wasted no time in choosing the same when Piotr asked for the design I'd like to go for. The CIEMs were made using my 3D scanned ear impression STL files, which is a big plus IMO because not every company accepts them (though a lot of them have started to now).
I had asked Piotr about the kind of fit they generally go for in CIEMs - a deeper-snugger 'pro' fit or a shallower-easy 'audiophile' fit. He replied asking for my preference and let me know that they generally try to shoot for somewhere in the middle but it really depends on the shape of the ear canal. With straight canals, they try for a deep fit, a shallower fit for the more curved canals and can even do a brain scratching fit if someone wants so. Lol!
For me, the shells are a reassuringly snug, mid-deep fit that is a good combo of comfort and isolation, which is perfect for casual listening as well as a monitor for my concerts which are generally an hour to 1.5 hours long and noisy AF. F7U isolates extremely well (compared to how a shallow-easy fit would) and I can't really hear the fan running at full speed in my room with them in.
Quick sound impressions - I'm actually quite fond of the original F7 and use it frequently in my daily rotation of IEMs. F7U is a significant step away from the original F7's sound signature but I quite dig the new tuning too. Where I see the original F7 as a bass boosted Diffuse Field inspired IEM with airy upper-treble, the F7U actually goes for a slightly more fun tuning, which kinda sounds like an airier version of Vision Ears VE8 with slightly more ear gain and better lower-treble to upper-treble balance and extension. Even though it sounds starkly different from the original F7, it retains its good airy upper-treble character. The first thing that struck me was F7U's upper-midrange pinna gain being significantly lower than F7's - 5dB vs 12dB of the original F7. F7U's bass boost is also around 2-3dBs more than F7's, so the bass overall comes across stronger and fuller. F7U's midrange overall sounds fuller than F7 in comparison too because of lesser pinna gain. F7U has good treble quantity balanced with its warmer lower-end FR, with airy upper-treble character that is a bit like 64 Audio A12t's.
Overall, F7U has a more fun-tuned, slightly romantic, fuller signature whereas F7 has a forward upper-midrange based cleaner and leaner signature.
Technical Performance - F7's soundstage is slightly deeper but for now the width boundary ends sound similarly wide to me in both. Maybe F7U's are a touch wider. F7U definitely has the more spaced out soundstage presentation with better separation between instruments left to right. Clarity is on par but because instruments in F7 are much more forward 'coz of 7dB more of pinna gain, they can seem more defined in the F7. But at the same time, F7 can also come across shouty/peaky to people who like their pinna gain served on the easier side of the Harman Target or Diffuse Field. Those people will definitely prefer the F7U over the F7 as it is a much easier listen. When it comes to perception of resolution truly while keeping the starkly different sounding signatures of both in mind, they are actually more or less on par once your ears have adjusted to their signatures properly. At times, one can have varied perceptions in quick back to back comparisons based on the IEM the ears have adapted to more, especially with IEMs that are so differently tuned.
Regardless, F7U takes the cake when it comes to musicality and F7 when it comes to a cleaner, more reference sound signature. Even though I found the original F7 to be quite musical too, I can definitely see it coming across leaner and slightly more clinical in comparison, especially to people who prefer a fuller lower-midrange presentation and pinna gain on the easy side.
For people wondering which is better between F7 and F7U - It's difficult to answer because they are very different sounding signatures and choice will depend on what you personally like and prefer rather than there being an outright winner. Both are very well tuned signatures in their own regard and F7U doesn't really make the F7 obsolete for me personally. I think it would've been great if CustomArt kept both F7 and F7U in their stable as options for people to choose based on the kind of signature they preferred. I'm actually kinda sad to see that the original F7 isn't an option for future buyers anymore since I still enjoy it so much and thought of it as a very capable performer in its price segment.
With that said, I think F7U is definitely more than worthy of stepping in F7's shoes, if not completely replacing it in my mind for now, and I can't wait to try it more with all my favourite albums and even more variety of music than I did today in the short span of writing these out of the box impressions. I'll be using more of F7U in rotation with all the other stuff I have in for review and will have more to say in the full review, along with several comparisons with similarly priced/performing IEMs from other brands.
Till then, I'll be happy to answer if you have any questions for me. Cheers!
Hey, thanks! I'll publish the full review with comparisons with other IEMs on Twister6 after I'm done testing and comparing it extensively.
Great! Looking forward to it.
Thank you for detailed initial impressions!Got the Fibae F7 Unlimited (F7U) in today and thought I'll post some out of the box impressions... These are my shells but the picture is courtesy of CustomArt because I'm lazy AF to click pictures right now, it being the end of day.
Fit and design - First and foremost, I must say CustomArt did a spectacular job with the design and fit. The CIEMs fit like a glove and I think TCA really nail the galaxy swirl designs in general. They are some of the best in the industry IMO. I wasted no time in choosing the same when Piotr asked for the design I'd like to go for. The CIEMs were made using my 3D scanned ear impression STL files, which is a big plus IMO because not every company accepts them (though a lot of them have started to now).
I had asked Piotr about the kind of fit they generally go for in CIEMs - a deeper-snugger 'pro' fit or a shallower-easy 'audiophile' fit. He replied asking for my preference and let me know that they generally try to shoot for somewhere in the middle but it really depends on the shape of the ear canal. With straight canals, they try for a deep fit, a shallower fit for the more curved canals and can even do a brain scratching fit if someone wants so. Lol!
For me, the shells are a reassuringly snug, mid-deep fit that is a good combo of comfort and isolation, which is perfect for casual listening as well as a monitor for my concerts which are generally an hour to 1.5 hours long and noisy AF. F7U isolates extremely well (compared to how a shallow-easy fit would) and I can't really hear the fan running at full speed in my room with them in.
Quick sound impressions - I'm actually quite fond of the original F7 and use it frequently in my daily rotation of IEMs. F7U is a significant step away from the original F7's sound signature but I quite dig the new tuning too. Where I see the original F7 as a bass boosted Diffuse Field inspired IEM with airy upper-treble, the F7U actually goes for a slightly more fun tuning, which kinda sounds like an airier version of Vision Ears VE8 with slightly more ear gain and better lower-treble to upper-treble balance and extension. Even though it sounds starkly different from the original F7, it retains its good airy upper-treble character. The first thing that struck me was F7U's upper-midrange pinna gain being significantly lower than F7's - 5dB vs 12dB of the original F7. F7U's bass boost is also around 2-3dBs more than F7's, so the bass overall comes across stronger and fuller. F7U's midrange overall sounds fuller than F7 in comparison too because of lesser pinna gain. F7U has good treble quantity balanced with its warmer lower-end FR, with airy upper-treble character that is a bit like 64 Audio A12t's.
Overall, F7U has a more fun-tuned, slightly romantic, fuller signature whereas F7 has a forward upper-midrange based cleaner and leaner signature.
Technical Performance - F7's soundstage is slightly deeper but for now the width boundary ends sound similarly wide to me in both. Maybe F7U's are a touch wider. F7U definitely has the more spaced out soundstage presentation with better separation between instruments left to right. Clarity is on par but because instruments in F7 are much more forward 'coz of 7dB more of pinna gain, they can seem more defined in the F7. But at the same time, F7 can also come across shouty/peaky to people who like their pinna gain served on the easier side of the Harman Target or Diffuse Field. Those people will definitely prefer the F7U over the F7 as it is a much easier listen. When it comes to perception of resolution truly while keeping the starkly different sounding signatures of both in mind, they are actually more or less on par once your ears have adjusted to their signatures properly. At times, one can have varied perceptions in quick back to back comparisons based on the IEM the ears have adapted to more, especially with IEMs that are so differently tuned.
Regardless, F7U takes the cake when it comes to musicality and F7 when it comes to a cleaner, more reference sound signature. Even though I found the original F7 to be quite musical too, I can definitely see it coming across leaner and slightly more clinical in comparison, especially to people who prefer a fuller lower-midrange presentation and pinna gain on the easy side.
For people wondering which is better between F7 and F7U - It's difficult to answer because they are very different sounding signatures and choice will depend on what you personally like and prefer rather than there being an outright winner. Both are very well tuned signatures in their own regard and F7U doesn't really make the F7 obsolete for me personally. I think it would've been great if CustomArt kept both F7 and F7U in their stable as options for people to choose based on the kind of signature they preferred. I'm actually kinda sad to see that the original F7 isn't an option for future buyers anymore since I still enjoy it so much and thought of it as a very capable performer in its price segment.
With that said, I think F7U is definitely more than worthy of stepping in F7's shoes, if not completely replacing it in my mind for now, and I can't wait to try it more with all my favourite albums and even more variety of music than I did today in the short span of writing these out of the box impressions. I'll be using more of F7U in rotation with all the other stuff I have in for review and will have more to say in the full review, along with several comparisons with similarly priced/performing IEMs from other brands.
Till then, I'll be happy to answer if you have any questions for me. Cheers!
Thanks for the impressions. Sometimes the applications require a bit less bass - like monitoring vocals - and a bit more clarity over pure sense of engagement.
