[o0genesis0o]

That’s not a good sign. The FF3 are the best built buds I’ve had…

@JAnonymous5150, is it okay if a rescind my vote for my 130Be as my one bud? I think I want my FF3.

I can gladly dispose that 130BE for you

 

[Ronion]

I can gladly dispose that 130BE for you

It sucks. I wouldn’t want to part with either of them. If I were forced to have only one, I’d probably put the other in a ziplock and swallow it. Just saying

 

[rkw]

I did not realize that cable length made a difference.

In pro audio, it is not unusual for a cable run to be 100 meters at a concert venue, and balanced cables are critical for a clean signal.

 

[JAnonymous5150]

@JAnonymous5150, is it okay if a rescind my vote for my 130Be as my one bud? I think I want my FF3.

Just this once I'll let you change your pick. Now you need to mail me the rest of your buds and start listening to just the FF3s. And just to make sure you don't go making anymore buds on the downlow you better go ahead and include all your DIY supplies as well. Shall I PM you my address?

Seriously though, the FF3s are definitely a solid pick for a one and only bud. If I had to have only one, I could certainly be very happy with them filling the role.

Luckily for me and my curiosity that's not necessary as of yet!

 

[sofastreamer]

the ff3 has something magical in its soundstage. I listen to them exclusively since i got them and had not a single moment,where i wanted to grab my 1k Planars. i know the planars are more resolving, effortless and have much better bass texture and extension, but i would loose soundstage,
once i would switch and i do not want to trade this in in favor of better technicalitys. I am owning the em5 as well and it is the better bud from a technical standpoint, but its midbass bump kills it for me in comparison to the ff3.

actually i am thinking of beeing done with hifi, since i got the ff3.

 

[o0genesis0o]

You'll be happy to hear that we are taking tomorrow off so I will be reviewing the Asura 3.0FEs first thing. Obviously, I won't have the Megatron yet, but at least you'll get the part of that review you've been waiting for the longest.

Thanks mate. Eager to hear how it compares to FF3.

In regards to the gear, I'm lucky enough to have an informal business relationship with a hifi/headphone shop near me so the owner pretty regularly gets me steep discounts and sometimes even shoots me some free gear. Bless him for that! If it wasn't for the discount, I wouldn't have purchased the N8ii and would have gone with something less expensive instead. The flagship DAP market is very overpriced for what it offers these days versus the portable dac options and even the highly competitive mid priced DAP market which is definitely where the sweet spot is for buying new IMO.

I remember when I paid for the Andromeda, I told the guys at my local hifi store that "I can't believe I'm paying this much for a pair of earphones". They replied cheerfully that the U12t is still around, "see you very soon". The price of these audio toys are insanely high. My colleague told me that my hobby is such a "rich people hobby" after I explained to him different finer points of audio chain. So, it's kind of refreshing when hearing something like FF3. So good sound at such a good price. High hope for FF5.

 

[sofastreamer]

to me it is the sum of comfort, good enough resolution, tonality, out of head experience and physical sub bass impact, that makes them unique and somehow manages to tick all the boxes for me. if anything, for the ff5 i wish a little more precise imaging and separation. everything else is in my sweet spot already.

 

[syazwaned]

I don't know, but with how well he laid out the atep by step process for the build it seems like it would be relatively easy to assemble for yourself. Based on his description and what I know about planars, I think I'll probably always prefer dynamic driver based buds, but I'm going to order the supplies and assemble my own version just to satisfy my curiosity.

If you want to wait until the supplies arrive and I get around to doing the build I can let you know how difficult it is in practice.

Thanks, appreciate it. I cannot dive into DIT world that much, not because I don't like it, because I have ape hands that destroy everything I touched!

 

[silverszi]

Thanks, appreciate it. I cannot dive into DIT world that much, not because I don't like it, because I have ape hands that destroy everything I touched!

did you build your own pc or do you not have a desktop?

 

[silverszi]

I don't know, but with how well he laid out the atep by step process for the build it seems like it would be relatively easy to assemble for yourself. Based on his description and what I know about planars, I think I'll probably always prefer dynamic driver based buds, but I'm going to order the supplies and assemble my own version just to satisfy my curiosity.

planar bud diy? damn
is there even that many 15.4mm planar drivers?

 

[syazwaned]

did you build your own pc or do you not have a desktop?

dont have a desktop

 

[yaps66]

The FF3s don't look cheap at all IMO. I think they're actually quite classy, one might even say beautiful, in appearance.

As for the planar driver thing, I wasn't specifically talking about bass. I really enjoy the bass on my Letshuoer S12s for example and have been considering purchasing the CA Supermoons as well because in the brief session I was able to demo them for they demonstrated great bass and resolution. Also consider that I own the DCA Stealths (and their little bro the Aeon X Closed) which are an absolutely fantastic set of headphones.

That said, smaller planar drivers tend to have a decay that is too quick for my liking in that it sounds unnatural to me. Also, the note weight and timbre is very difficult to get right on the smaller planars as well. The S12s ultimately seem to solve these problems best of all the planar based IEMs I have tried with the HookX coming in second. With larger planar drivers, especially those in closed back cups, this problem seems to completely disappear when handled right. In open back full size planar headphones some manage to conquer the issue to varying degrees or entirely.

Regardless, I have never heard the decay and note weight issue exist on the same level in full sized headphones as I have in various IEMs with the small planar drivers. I don't know what the cause would be or if it's something inherent to the driver tech itself. My guess is that the problems will exist to a greater degree in the earbud form factor than it does in the IEMs I have tried, but I'm not sure which is why I am curious and will be giving it a shot. Overall though, I think small DDs have such a wonderfully natural timbre, note weight, and decay that similarly sized planars often struggle to recreate in my experience thus far.

I hope that clarified and made a bit of sense. If not, oh well. I did my best lol!

I too am interested in the Supermoon's even though they seem to be only in ciem option. Have heard so many good things about them!

 

[yaps66]

BTW, i got to try my Ucotechs on a VE Megatron that an acquaintance of my bassist came by to show off and I ended up ordering one because it synergized so nicely with them. For $50 it seems like a can't miss proposition. I paid for it early this afternoon and AliExpress says it's already headed to their distribution center only 10 hours later. That's pretty damn quick for AE!

In other news, the owner of a hifi shop I frequent finally came through with a Cayin N8ii that he offered to sell me at the promotional rate that Cayin allows distributors to sell a very limited number at. I should have it on Saturday if I'm lucky or Monday if I'm not and after all the good things I have read I can't wait to see how it performs as an additional option to my Kann Alpha in DAP situations. When I demoed it, I did so with my Aiwa HP-V99s which were the only premium level buds I had at the time (late April) and it sounded very musical and well controlled at the same time. The bass on the HP-V99s can kind of get away from some sources. I'm hoping it will become the TOTL warmer, more musical counterweight to the often quite exacting and technical sounding Kann Alpha that some buds just don't play well with.

And last, but not least if you'd like to hear an album that shows off the power of the FF3s and their technical capabilities at the same time might I suggest all you FF3 owners out there take a listen to Tom Morello's The Atlas Underground Flood album. If you have more time the entire The Atlas Underground series by Morello is great, but the Flood installment is my favorite for showing off the FF3s exception agility and control for a driver that comes across with that much power and authority. After you guys get a chance to listen let me know what you think!

Edit: Typos because bug thumbs, small keyboard. Drummer caveman goes grrrr!

The N8ii is special. I like it very much.

 

[BCool]

planar bud diy? damn
is there even that many 15.4mm planar drivers?

I don't know about 15.4mm, but 14.2mm are easily found on Aliexpress, as well as 12mm and 10mm. Pricey though, they tend to run at over $100/pair.

 

[o0genesis0o]

I don't know about 15.4mm, but 14.2mm are easily found on Aliexpress, as well as 12mm and 10mm. Pricey though, they tend to run at over $100/pair.

These ones? They are so expensive.