[ianmedium]

Just a note on non Stainless Steel models of FAD's I noticed that after a few hours wearing my Heaven S's the other day that my ears felt a little tender. It seems the gold plating is not that thick as even with gentle use ( I baby my stuff) I noticed that some of the plating has rubbed off and where it has the brass is exposed. Now, that is not an issue unless, like me you have base metal allergies!

It is an easy solve I have found, just a dab of clear nail polish left to cure hard sorts out the issue with no sonic effects. I thought it worth pointing out to any one who has the same sort of allergic reaction to me.. Save up for the SS or piano forte IX instead

 

[RefoColin]

Quote:

Just a note on non Stainless Steel models of FAD's I noticed that after a few hours wearing my Heaven S's the other day that my ears felt a little tender. It seems the gold plating is not that thick as even with gentle use ( I baby my stuff) I noticed that some of the plating has rubbed off and where it has the brass is exposed. Now, that is not an issue unless, like me you have base metal allergies!
It is an easy solve I have found, just a dab of clear nail polish left to cure hard sorts out the issue with no sonic effects. I thought it worth pointing out to any one who has the same sort of allergic reaction to me.. Save up for the SS or piano forte IX instead

It's a good idea
But would it looks ugly when the layer of nail polish has been rubbed off? Cause this may happen in a few weeks, or even a few days...

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

I've been doing a lot of shooting lately, so I decided to slap this together.
 
I didn't spend a lot of time on it, and I took it with an ancient, small sensor (1/2.5") camera, so the image quality isn't stellar, but I lit it decently...

 ​

 
Beautiful!
 
Now find yourself a model and transect her / him with a vertical mirror image...

 

[SpringBiscuit]

Quote:

I've been doing a lot of shooting lately, so I decided to slap this together.
 
I didn't spend a lot of time on it, and I took it with an ancient, small sensor (1/2.5") camera, so the image quality isn't stellar, but I lit it decently...
 

 ​

​

Good picture you having there!!

 

[tomscy2000]

Quote:

  Now find yourself a model and transect her / him with a vertical mirror image...

 
I've done it with a self-portrait of myself before; it looked weird, but it didn't look creepy --- is that a good or bad thing?
 
So, according to certain sources, the Heaven VI is more akin to the original prototype of the Heaven IV, but with the chrome copper plating. I guess the BAM mechanism is different from model to model, but each model has the same driver --- which leads me to think about how I can possibly mod my Heaven IV to sound different...

 

[ianmedium]

A question for folks with the IX. What, if any in your experience is needed in terms of burn in? I am almost there in getting these

 

[music_4321]

I am personally very, very sceptical about burn-in, and I attribute the 'miraculous' effects of it to several aspects—apart from placebo—most people are not aware of. I think that if there are any real (measurable) changes, they are so small that they are pretty much imperceptible. I still give most of my phones 3-6 hours' bur-in at most, though.

In the case of the PF IXs, I see it more as discovering AND adapting to the sound. But that may still not guarantee you will ultimately fully enjoy / love these phones.

 

[ianmedium]

thats great, thank you. I have been fortunate over the years, whenever I have let my heart rule my head on anything it has always been the best choice historically... I made this choice from my heart

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

A question for folks with the IX. What, if any in your experience is needed in terms of burn in? I am almost there in getting these

 
Quote:

I am personally very, very sceptical about burn-in, and I attribute the 'miraculous' effects of it to several aspects—apart from placebo—most people are not aware of. I think that if there are any real (measurable) changes, they are so small that they are pretty much imperceptible. I still give most of my phones 3-6 hours' bur-in at most, though.

In the case of the PF IXs, I see it more as discovering AND adapting to the sound. But that may still not guarantee you will ultimately fully enjoy / love these phones.

 
With the PF IX, I also did not think tat there was any burn-in change.
 
However speaking more generally of the possibility of burn-in, my 600 ohm Manufactur Beyer DT880 sounded like a small cardboard box on my head when I first plugged it into my then Millet Hybrid. I was shocked. Within about 10 hours the sound stage had opened up massively and suddenly I owned good headphones. There may or may not have been improvements after that (I believe that there were) but the first ten hours was not  at all subtle. It was not just brain-burn. 
 
That was my formative experience on burn-in with one other headphone...

 

[ianmedium]

Thanks Paul. I think what I will do is just leave them playing while I am out seeing clients the day I get them that way it should take care of any minor things. I am hoping they will be here on Friday!

 

[cooperpwc]

Wow, Ian. You are going for it!
 
I really don't think that you have to burn in the PF IX. Just listen and enjoy.

 

[ianmedium]

Wow, Ian. You are going for it!

I really don't think that you have to burn in the PF IX. Just listen and enjoy.

Yeah Paul, I have gone past the point of no return with this. I am perfectly happy never to buy another full sized set of phones as I really love what my LCD's do but to be honest the way I live my life I listen far more to IEM's so having three or four to mix it up a bit seems a good idea. I love my Ety ER4S's and heavens and reading what you have written as well as others I get a feeling with this one I will have the Holy trinity for me. I have no desire for customs to be honest, I like the flexibility of non customs.

I also have always had a soft spot for Japanese esoterica ever since spending an extended period of time in the far north of Japan many years ago. I have very fond memories of staying with an old friend and his family, his dad was a newspaper owner so was quite well off and remember listening to his incredible HiFi system and Stax headphones for hours on end. The FAD's bring back those memories to some extent!

 

[ianmedium]

Piano Forte IX's in the house! They arrived about twenty minutes ago. Firstly, Much more comfortable than I thought they would be, in fact I can see me wearing these for many hours with no discomfort. Secondly, they don't go in far, in fact with my ears they sort of just place in but they don't feel that they would fall out easily. Having said that they have zero sealing so these are definitely quiet place phones.

I can see what everyone means that they are not for everyone but they most certainly are for me. I have been looking for this all my headphone life! It took only three songs to realize that I am not missing a thing but gaining a great deal. I don't think I have ever heard brushes on drum skins like this before, shimmer, sparkle, warmth, detail, transparency and very very emotionally engaging. I totally get the horn speaker analogy. Once again, these are not for everyone but boy if you get to try them go for it.


Why do I have a feeling my LCD's are going to gather dust now. Jazz.. wonderful. Steve Earls tribute album to Townes Van Zandt is just so heart wrenching listening through these, so much more emotion than i have heard before and I thought the LCD's were the kings of that!

So far the only thing I don't like them with is Tools Lateralus album but who knows, that may change as I get used to the sonic signature of these.

To something the other end of the spectrum, Rene Flemings dark hope album, endlessly. I love Rene, she wears her heart on her sleeve and through these phones that is even more evident.

Then Floyds Wall album, Mother, There is a lightness to the intro guitar, one can really feel the strumming of the strings and the delicate hand involved.. Love it, just love it!


Will write more later this weekend after I have gone through more music but thank you to all the folks who have purchased these and who have shared their thoughts. I am really grateful to you, my gut feeling about what you have written was spot on. Expensive, yes, but worth every penny as far as I am concerned.

Biggest surprise is the comfort, I just don't feel these in my ears!

Oh yes would agree as well that these give an almost mono feel to the sound. Strings are just sublime with them!

 

[cooperpwc]

Ian, that's great!  

 
Busy morning; don't have time for much comment right now but I am glad that they fit you. As I have speculated before, some headphones are 'one size fits all' whereas the Piano Fortes may be closer to 'one size fits the few'.    
 
They certainly fit me. The PF IX is the most comfortable headphones that I have ever worn bar none. It disappears in my ears and I have this amazing soundstage emerging out of nowhere.

 

[ianmedium]

Thanks Paul, it is wonderful and i am having the same experiences that you had when you got yours. Do yours fit in solidly or do they sort of just sit there. Mine don't fit behind the tragus (the little bit in front of the ear entrance that sticks out) like on the models in the pictures but it does not effect the sound. In fact I pressed it in a little thinking it would go deeper and the sound was not as good.

I just played some Paul Simon, hearts and bones, Oh my! I think I am going to have a late night here!