[ianmedium]

Thanks for the detailed reply. I sure appreciate it. I sure wish I could demo.
The Heaven VI has caught my eye as an introduction to FAD. Looking forward to more impressions from MF. How would it compare to a full blast custom like the JH13?

If you were here in Vancouver I would have loved you to have a good long listen to my pair. They are not for everyone thats for sure. I took the chance based upon Paul's experience as I have learned over time that he and I have similar tastes in sound. Yet again it proved to be a wise choice trusting his ears!

As to the JH's I have only heard the 16 and that was with universal tips so it was not really a fair test. I will say what I said a while ago on this thread though. For me the PF's represent a grown up, mature sound, one that does not have to prove anything nor wants to, the JH though is immature to my ears, it tries to impress with HiFi bells and whistles and in the short term that is fine but what I heard was not enough, even taking into account the limitations of the universal tips to make me want to buy them.

I guess for me the JH's are like an American Idol singer singing an aria from an opera, the PF's are like Callas singing the same aria!

 

[SoundFreaq]

ian, I sure wish I were closer to Vancouver! I am dying to hear the PF. It could possibly be my dream earphone. I've read most of this thread now. I completely imagine it being something I don't enjoy either. The ES5 made me a fan of mids, but as a reformed (reforming) bass-head, I still love me my bass. This is what scares me. 
 
Will you do me a favor? Listen to this on your PF and tell me if this works for you, or if it's just not what the PF is meant to do. I understand my English Concert Baroque recordings will be nothing short of amazing, but if the PF can work well with this, I would be amazed. 
 

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

 
 
Listen to this on your PF and tell me if this works for you
 

 
Wow!! This sounds ridiculously good on the PF. The percussion is just so natural, and the PF's open sound works wonders here. 
 
I think you'd be very pleased if you got a pair of your own

 

[SoundFreaq]

You guys are going to murder my wallet. 

 
I've finished this thread - I am in agony. God, I wish I could demo them. 
 
Edit: I like the way you talk about the percussion. How does the bass render. Some of it gets pretty low. Can you hear it? How's the texture of the bass? I bet the mids are to die for. 

 

[ianmedium]

ian, I sure wish I were closer to Vancouver! I am dying to hear the PF. It could possibly be my dream earphone. I've read most of this thread now. I completely imagine it being something I don't enjoy either. The ES5 made me a fan of mids, but as a reformed (reforming) bass-head, I still love me my bass. This is what scares me. 

Will you do me a favor? Listen to this on your PF and tell me if this works for you, or if it's just not what the PF is meant to do. I understand my English Concert Baroque recordings will be nothing short of amazing, but if the PF can work well with this, I would be amazed. 

So, to give it a fair go I downloaded a lossless album, converted to Wav and am listening on my regular set up. I listened through my freebie go vibe dac right out of my computer to the youtube link you gave. The drums sounded thin that way.

Now through my set up with full resolution file there is a marked difference. There is more echo and spaciousness with the intro alarm sound and then when the drums kick in they are deeper and more defined. If feels much more rhythmic with the full rez file and on my set up. Then the synths kick in and it reminds me of JMJ in the sonic scape rendered, sort of lifts one above the drums into another realm, almost transcendental.

But man, that drum beat grooves and the texture of the drums are wonderful, really gets your feet tapping. Switching to the LCD's it feels the track gains an almost artificial bass line, also the track sounds a little muddier.

You can really feel the tightness of the drum skins (please tell me they are real drums for they sound so! ) as stick hits skin. The use of synths feels very string like to me.

For my ears this track is made for the PF's but you have to make sure of file quality as the PF's really pick up the limitations of a a poor dac and file! Hope that helps, Oh, and thanks for introducing me to a new group, listening to the rest of the album I love it!

 

[ianmedium]

just saw you posted before I did, it goes deep but not deep like my LCD's, you feel it in the LCD's more. However you don't feel the bass decay like you do with the PF's and I would rather have the decay as that tells me more musically than just whoompf!

 

[ianmedium]

OK, I take back what I said about bass! One of the things you will learn about the PF's are they are very dependent on volume. Each track requires a volume adjustment i find, just did that and there is plenty of bass and oh boy do those drums snap! Crisp, crisp, crisp. When the bass line plays with volume correctly adjusted you not only get depth and decay but gobs of texture!

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

You guys are going to murder my wallet. 

 
I've finished this thread - I am in agony. God, I wish I could demo them. 
 
Edit: I like the way you talk about the percussion. How does the bass render. Some of it gets pretty low. Can you hear it? How's the texture of the bass? I bet the mids are to die for. 

 
As you know, the design doesn't use tips so the lowest of bass won't come through unless it's boosted in the recording. However, the texturing of the sound is so damn good with this track that I just bought the entire album to listen to while studying. 
 
As for percussion, I'm of the opinion that the GR07 is the king of drums, but there's just no competition here when it comes to the PF's openness. The two are quite similar in tonal reproduction of the drums, but the PF just Usain Bolts the GR07 when it comes to the sense of space. This makes detail just jump out at you from all over the place.
 
The main tradeoff (there's always one) is that the GR07 digs deeper to produce rumble that the PF can't touch, but it's a fair price to pay.
 
 
Yes, you NEED to hear these. I'm sending you a PM right now to see what steps you can take to do so.
 
 
 
 
Edit:
 
Good God, where has this album been all my life?!

 

[ianmedium]

eke, I agree with you on the Bass aspect, its only as deep as the recording which is why it feels artificial on the LCD's. Oh and i agree on the album!!

 

[SoundFreaq]

Wow guys thanks so much for your responses and work to try and convey the PF to me.
 
Oh, and the composer, The Flashbulb is a friend of mine. His name is Benn Jordan, and he is my favorite composer. His albums are diverse and interesting. 
 
What is special about Reunion is that he played most of the instruments live himself, and sequenced it and recorded it with analogue tape and used zero computers in the making. He's one of the most brilliant and creative people making music today in my opinion, Reunion is special. 

 

[SoundFreaq]

Ian, you're talking about source has me wonder if the PF will work out of an iPhone ok. I really need for it to be usable with portable devices. 
 
Oh, and yes, the drums are real of course. 

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

Ian, you're talking about source has me wonder if the PF will work out of an iPhone ok. I really need for it to be usable with portable devices. 
 
Oh, and yes, the drums are real of course. 

 
Oh, you were planning to use them out and about?
 
The iphone is more than adequate, but it's the PF that is incompatible with the outdoors. It's large and  heavy, and is prone to falling out or the ears if you lean your head a little too far in one direction. Isolation is also ZERO.
 
Other than that, it's perfect  

 

[SoundFreaq]

I understand that. I just want the option of reaching for the iPhone and not toting a bunch of equipment to bed.

So glad you guys are enjoying Reunion. Always happy to turn people on to The Flashbulb!

 

[ianmedium]

Just listened out of my 1st gen iTouch and it surprisingly sounded great, not as good as my full set up but I was pleasantly surprised at the sound quality out of the touch!

 

[SoundFreaq]

Great to know! That's all I need. 
 
Would you describe the midrange as lush and enveloping? Melt in your seat? Or just super refined in its naturalness? 
 
I suspect the highs are natural, with a dash if sparkle? 
 
I think the PF is something I have to hear. I am hoping to be able to demo it and hear the artistry of the PF and determine if it's right for me. If demo isn't available, I may just have to pull the trigger.