[ianmedium]

Oh, that sounds great Paul. I wish you were in Van, you could have a good long listen to them with the TU-05. Now you have given me another album to check out!

 

[cooperpwc]

Actually, Ian, Alice In Chains is not at all a typical band for my taste in music but a friend gave it to me and I am enjoying it through the PF IX. (It seems that some of these groups are at their best when they do an acoustic best of. The song "Over Now" is very cool.)
 
I might be in Vancouver in the next month or two for a visit. It would be fun to meet...  

 

[ianmedium]

Paul, that will be wonderful, I would love to meet up. I have a nice quiet coffee shop near me, I can bring the amp along for you to listen to!

 

[cooperpwc]

It could happen. I'm waiting to see how certain business matters unfold.  

 

[zilch0md]

Another candidate for PFs...
 
Gustavo Santaolalla's Iguazu, from the OST of The Insider
 

 

[james444]

Quote:

Another candidate for PFs...
 
Gustavo Santaolalla's Iguazu, from the OST of The Insider

 
Thanks, sounds great! And, for some reason, reminds me of this:
 

 

[zilch0md]

Wow!  Now that's a performance that deserves to be seen in addition to being heard!   The last 1/3 of that video was really sweet.
 
It's possible I'm simply ignorant of a very common technique, but I'm impressed with how he bounces his bow on the strings at precisely the desired tempo.  Very cool!
 
Mike

 

[SoundFreaq]

Nice musical recommendations, guys!

And man. Am I jealous of Paul maybe being able to heart the TU-5!!

Edit: ironic pun typo left : )

 

[ianmedium]

Nice musical recommendations, guys!

And man. Am I jealous of Paul maybe being able to heart the TU-5!!

Edit: ironic pun typo left : )

Hey, its only a short flight to Van you know !

 

[allbald]

Guys -- I already have the FI-BA-SS.
 
Now I am thinking about the Piano Forte X (FI-DC1602SC-C).  Can someone tell me about it's sound signature -- why is it more than the FI-BI-SS?  I assume it would be warmer, maybe more rolled of treble -- but I am curious how it compares.
 
Either that or maybe get a FitEar 334 for something different.  Love the 'SSs.  They are awesome.

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

Guys -- I already have the FI-BA-SS.
 
Now I am thinking about the Piano Forte X (FI-DC1602SC-C).  Can someone tell me about it's sound signature -- why is it more than the FI-BI-SS?  I assume it would be warmer, maybe more rolled of treble -- but I am curious how it compares.
 
Either that or maybe get a FitEar 334 for something different.  Love the 'SSs.  They are awesome.

 
The PFs and FI-BA-SS are about as different sounding as you can get in my humble opinion. Night and day.
 
I'll be perfectly frank: for the majority of people I suspect the PF-X is not worth its $2.5k price tag. That's not to say I regret buying it, but that the difference between it and the PF-IX which costs less than half the price of the X isn't really worth it in my opinion unless you're looking to collect them or psychologically have to have "the best." The PF-IX is more balanced sounding, whereas the PF-X is the most rolled-off and warm sounding of a series of earphones that is already rolled-off and warm sounding.
 
I'm not trying to hate on the PFs or anything. I'm very fond of them. However I'm just adding a bit of counter-balance to this thread, as some of the impressions lately have been overwhelmingly glowing for these. I don't begrudge people their newfound love, and it actually warms my heart to see stuff like this get recognition. I'm a fan of Final. Heck, I have a Final Audio tattoo.
 
I've always maintained Final's stuff should be judged more on the criteria of functional artwork. That being said, I still strongly feel that the Piano Fortes are about as niche / specialty / weird-sounding as you can get and are by no means whatsoever "natural" sounding. Of course that's a wholly subjective assessment, and you might find they sound as natural as the dickens. If at all possible, try to audition these ahead of time or buy them from someone who will let you return them for a full refund if you don't like their sound.

 

[psygeist]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuppetFace /img/forum/go_quote.gif

 Heck, I have a Final Audio tattoo.
 

Show me the tattoo.

 

[allbald]

Thanks MF.  I was really curious about them.  Based on my tastes (I tend to like neutral/transparent with as much extension as possible, but still like the wow factor ), I think I will continue to stick to the FI-BA-SS.  Actually the whole point would to get a different sound signature to try if I got something in addition to these.
 
FitEar is the other thing I am considered since it is considered transparent with more bass (but supposedly not well controlled).  Not sure.  Any opinions from those who have heard both the FI-BA-SS and the FitEars on the differences?
 
Also, what are good separate desktop DAC and Amp setups for these?  I know other have suggested the Violetrc, Ear HP4(?).  I was thinking about the Ayre QB9 for the DAC.

 

[ianmedium]

MF,

Can you define why they sound weird?

I ask as so many comment them as odd sounding and yet only yesterday I was listening to my ety ER4S and then these and to these ears they have more in common than not.

What I feel is odd with them is, like the ER4 they do not distort or for want of a better word "bugger up" the sound like so many of the popular headphones hear do.

For instance things like so many of the mullti driver iems to me mess with the sound, they smear, and make almost a characature of the sound and yet it measures well so folks say they are accurate!

For me the most telling thing as concerning the IX being called natural has been not my ears but those of friends who are not into headphones but are either musicians, recording engineers, or simply folks with great stereos.. To a man and woman each have said to their ears these sound the most natural to listening to the real thing.

I have no doubt they would measure badly but this is where I move away from tyle hertsens opinions. He is adamant that if it measures bad it will sound bad.. I just wonder how much live music he listens to as I have had the opposite thing happen so many times, heck, for me the iems that get plaudits the most here for being most realistic, the JH's to me are some of the most unrealistic in terms of relating a live musical experience be it studio or concert.

I spend a fair amount of time listening to artist perform live in studio, I tend to stick to my ety,s for monitoring playback of the sessions and truly the PF's are more alike than not to those. I guess the biggest difference being increases in sound stage, ability to dig deeper into the mix for detail and speed, those to my ears go to the PF's

If this were just me then I would be seriously worried about my perception of sound but again, it is not, people who are respected in the recording industry and folks who I know who are long time higher end audiophiles feel exactly the same as me.
and when I give them my LCD's in comparison, headphones they have heard and loved before as I have they find them harsh and not life like at all!
This goes against everything headfi holds dear I know but there it is!

 

[allbald]

What I feel is odd with them is, like the ER4 they do not distort or for want of a better word "bugger up" the sound like so many of the popular headphones hear do.

 

 
I have had ety's for a long time and this is interesting.  However, some others have mentioned the PFs have some horn speaker qualities.  If that is the case then I can understand why people might think they sound odd.  Those types of speakers create very strong reactions regardless of how accurate the horn speaker is.  If the PFs are anything like that then I can see it.