[samandhi]

So... I'm enjoying the FF3 way more than I thought I would. This is my first earbud costing more than a Monk+...which I also enjoy way more than I thought I would! Are there any Koss fans out there? In your estimation, what are the earbud parallels to both the Porta Pro and KSC75 (w/headbands)? And what is the earbud parallels to the HD650 and HD600? I hope that question makes sense... I'm trying to transition and get my bearing in the earbud world by referencing some well-known headphones.

Man! That sure is a tricky question. This is mainly because most earbuds you get today are either warm and have a really good bass presence or are boosted in the ear gain region to where they skew what might otherwise sound like the Sennys. As for Koss, I have never been a big fan of their head gear (except those free ones you used to get with mp3 players, you know the ones that go on your ears and wrap around the back of your neck?).

None of the buds I have, have many similarities to the HD650, or the HD600 other than being an audiophile (potentially) neutral listening experience. But I don't know of any that have that "house" Senny veil, and neutral bass (at the same time). The FF3 might come closest to what you are asking (except the boosted bass). The FF5 have much more air in the treble compared to the FF3. The Yinman 2.0 600 are absolutely fantastic, but they have some big bass (compared to the FF3 they are more sub bass focused and less punch), and I would call them warmer overall in tone than at least the HD600.

Having said that, the Yincrow X6 might come close (though they don't have near the imaging or separation that you would get from the HDs, just similar tuning except I think even these have more quantity of bass overall IIRC).

Keep in mind, I don't own either of those anymore, and am going by memory. I have the HD700, but it is more akin (or in between) the HD650 and the HD800.

So basically, I spent all this time typing just to tell you that I am not much help for you... LOL This is where normally our resident "has heard every bud since the dawn of buds" (@WoodyLuvr) would be able to chime in an tell you what you want to hear, but he very rarely makes an appearance on this thread nowadays.

 

[Oscarilbo]

Okay so if you'd like to buy the Fiio Bass Foams that @samandhi mentioned (or the Balanced or Crisp versions) you go to the link below which will take you to a $1 item in the Fiio AliExpress store. You click the buy now button and change the quantity to the number of individual foams you'd like to purchase so for each PAIR of foams you want you need to add TWO to the quantity (1 pair is 2, 2 pairs is 4, and so on). On the order screen there is an icon that looks like a notepad and pencil so that you can leave a note. Click on that icon and leave a note saying that you are ordering earbud foams for the FF3s and how many of those foams you want.

So hypothetically if I wanted 5 pairs of the foams I would follow the link below, change the quantity of the $1 item to 10 and click by now, then click the notepad icon and leave a note saying something like:

"I would like to purchase 10 of the bass foams for the Fiio FF3 earbuds."

If you want to purchase 5 pairs of bass foams and 5 pairs of balanced foams you would changed the quantity to 20 and the note would say something like:

"I would like to purchase 10 bass foams and 10 balanced foams for the Fiio FF3 earbuds."

So you don't need to place separate orders for the different foam types. Just explain what you want in the note. Also, for anyone curious, the FF3 foams, FF5 foams, and EM5 foams are all the same so you can follow this procedure to buy replacement foams for any of those products. For the sake of clarity I was told it would be best to just mention the FF3 foams as that's what this link was originally provided for.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. Also, if you ever need the link again check @Ronion 's signature as he has it there or ask me if you can't find it and he has removed it or something.

Link to $1 item in Fiio store:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256804093633863.html?af=85386&dp=6378_1662013148_942fa651681505937bdb672e82a29700&cn=l7inpsgt3h01zlp102lls&Afref=VigLink Inc&aff_fcid=52d62a160367480895b724dba764053b-1662013149586-03289-7M7IEmQnY&aff_fsk=7M7IEmQnY&aff_platform=link-c-tool&sk=7M7IEmQnY&aff_trace_key=52d62a160367480895b724dba764053b-1662013149586-03289-7M7IEmQnY&terminal_id=8dbeb7f3dd214f2588de027e7d15e262&afSmartRedirect=y&gatewayAdapt=4itemAdapt

Thank you so much! I would do this. In my case I guess it would be balanced foams. Thank you!

Btw, does Fiio only has one color option of these foams?

 

[samandhi]

Thank you so much! I would do this. In my case I guess it would be balanced foams. Thank you!

Btw, does Fiio only has one color option of these foams?

Yep!

 

[samandhi]

If you have any questions feel free to ask. Also, if you ever need the link again check @Ronion 's signature as he has it there or ask me if you can't find it and he has removed it or something.

Ah, apologies to you @Ronion. I forgot that you put a link in your sig for this purpose.

 

[JAnonymous5150]

Ah, apologies to you @Ronion. I forgot that you put a link in your sig for this purpose.

No worries. You know I'm always down to be helpful. I just wanted folks to know that if they ever need the link in the future and can't find my post, they can find it in his sig.

 

[waynes world]

So... I'm enjoying the FF3 way more than I thought I would. This is my first earbud costing more than a Monk+...which I also enjoy way more than I thought I would! Are there any Koss fans out there? In your estimation, what are the earbud parallels to both the Porta Pro and KSC75 (w/headbands)? And what is the earbud parallels to the HD650 and HD600? I hope that question makes sense... I'm trying to transition and get my bearing in the earbud world by referencing some well-known headphones.

You made a smart move by jumping to the FF3 so quickly! I instead took the much longer, expensive and fun route of "buy 50 types of buds" before getting the FF3's. Some of them are actually very good, but since getting the FF3's in August, at least as far as bud listening is concerned, I have been listening pretty much to them exclusively - they are that good for my ears

I also love the Koss's of which you speak (and listen to them almost daily). I'm not good at providing "earbud parallels", but based on how much I like the FF3's, I suspect they might have similar signatures. One thing I do know is that they both sound great!

 

[JAnonymous5150]

So... I'm enjoying the FF3 way more than I thought I would. This is my first earbud costing more than a Monk+...which I also enjoy way more than I thought I would! Are there any Koss fans out there? In your estimation, what are the earbud parallels to both the Porta Pro and KSC75 (w/headbands)? And what is the earbud parallels to the HD650 and HD600? I hope that question makes sense... I'm trying to transition and get my bearing in the earbud world by referencing some well-known headphones.

I totally agree with @waynes world . You made a great decision jumping right to the FF3s. I have a pretty sizeable collection of nice buds and the FF3s are one of my favorites. They're always fun to listen to while still offering solid technical, timbral, and tonal performance for almost any music/audio you plan on checking out. They are one of the few buds that I have come across that I can put on when I'm in any mood and not regret it. With many of my buds I have to be in the mood for them, but I'm pretty much always in the mood for the FF3s.

Well played, sir!

 

[JAnonymous5150]

So... I'm enjoying the FF3 way more than I thought I would. This is my first earbud costing more than a Monk+...which I also enjoy way more than I thought I would! Are there any Koss fans out there? In your estimation, what are the earbud parallels to both the Porta Pro and KSC75 (w/headbands)? And what is the earbud parallels to the HD650 and HD600? I hope that question makes sense... I'm trying to transition and get my bearing in the earbud world by referencing some well-known headphones.

Okay, so the closest buds that I have heard to the HD650s are my Ucotech ES-P1s. That said, they are a bit bassier and a touch less warm, not to mention expensive and hard to come by. I have heard that since Covid restrictions have relaxed Ucotech has started selling the ES-P1s through Amazon again (they were cancelling orders before).

 

[baskingshark]

Okay, so the closest buds that I have heard to the HD650s are my Ucotech ES-P1s. That said, they are a bit bassier and a touch less warm, not to mention expensive and hard to come by. I have heard that since Covid restrictions have relaxed Ucotech has started selling the ES-P1s through Amazon again (they were cancelling orders before).

Ucotech is a Korean brand?

I see they recently released some IEMs (https://ucotech1.wixsite.com/mysite/products), though didn't dare to try them as they have non-detachable cables and are quite pricey compared to CHIFI. Interestingly, they have a few other earbuds in their stable, wow wonder how Korea-FI compares to Japan-FI and ChiFI.

 

[davjac84]

Mine is estimated for Feb 19 Can't wait.

Yay, we gonna be RW-3000 bros

 

[samandhi]

Okay, so the closest buds that I have heard to the HD650s are my Ucotech ES-P1s. That said, they are a bit bassier and a touch less warm, not to mention expensive and hard to come by. I have heard that since Covid restrictions have relaxed Ucotech has started selling the ES-P1s through Amazon again (they were cancelling orders before).

Nice! I was a victim of this "cancelation" (I REALLY wanted to try these at that point). I think this was nigh on two years gone now. They canceled my order, then messaged me on Amazon to ask if I was sure I wanted them. When I replied I did, they directed me to their website to order them. So, I did, and they cancelled that order too, and emailed me to reply back to them if I was sure I wanted them (because of the potential delays with COVID) to which I replied yes. The only problem is that they marked my email as spam, so I got an "undelivered marked as spam" response from the web server. I tried 3 more times and even used a different email address to no affect. Finally, I just gave up, and that is when I bought the Chaconne instead......

This is the story I was going to tell you once before when you mentioned getting a pair for your ole' lady, but I think we both got busy... LOL

And now for something completely different:

Spoiler: Monty Python

First, this song just gets my juices going (the whole album does it for me actually): Accept - Too Mean To Die - Zombie Apocalypse. This is probably one of my favorite albums from them in years. These guys sound just fantastic and at the top of their game still (especially at their age), and production value for this type of music (in this day and age) is VERY well done. Just some good old-fashioned metal. Secondly, because of the bass reproduction that these buds have, this album sounds amazing on both the FF3 and the Yinman 2.0 600.

 

[samandhi]

Ucotech is a Korean brand?

I see they recently released some IEMs (https://ucotech1.wixsite.com/mysite/products), though didn't dare to try them as they have non-detachable cables and are quite pricey compared to CHIFI. Interestingly, they have a few other earbuds in their stable, wow wonder how Korea-FI compares to Japan-FI and ChiFI.

Yep, they are indeed. I saw they had multiple buds on their site, and honestly, they all look like pretty high quality.

 

[DBaldock9]

Anyone get experience with Lrey Portable Earbuds? Some of them look amazing. Im curious the tuning.

When I contacted them on Facebook, wanting to order a set that was on sale for ~$20 - they said they use Federal Express for shipping, and that the cost to ship to Houston, TX would be about 3x the price of the earbuds. So, I didn't place the order.

 

[s2kphile]

When I contacted them on Facebook, wanting to order a set that was on sale for ~$20 - they said they use Federal Express for shipping, and that the cost to ship to Houston, TX would be about 3x the price of the earbuds. So, I didn't place the order.

I got a quote for their whole lineup and shipping was $62. Not bad if you plan to buy more than 1 earbud.

 

[JAnonymous5150]

Ucotech is a Korean brand?

I see they recently released some IEMs (https://ucotech1.wixsite.com/mysite/products), though didn't dare to try them as they have non-detachable cables and are quite pricey compared to CHIFI. Interestingly, they have a few other earbuds in their stable, wow wonder how Korea-FI compares to Japan-FI and ChiFI.

Yup, they are Korean. I'm actually planning to order a couple of their other buds, but I'm going to wait until I have a decent break coming up from my travels to do it. The ES-P1s are one of my favorite earbuds in my collection. Beautiful, very high quality build, and super easy to listen to.