[a_recording]

I think we're all a little curious.
 
I'm still loving my pair of A1's. They can almost be a little too hot sometimes but by and large they have such fun energy, especially for violins. And the porting does seem to contribute towards a more open sound.
 

 

[goodvibes]

"Yashima has had and has no business relationship with Final Audio Design."  
 
This may put it to rest. The above is part of a response in an email directly from Yashima elec. I believe Yashima is the only known maker of MAs.
 
I want to make it very clear that I don't think this has any reflection on quality or sound differences between the products in question and that the reviews regarding sound and use on the products are just as valid regardless of what's actually inside. I don't think it should take any shine off of the FAD products which I haven't heard.

 

[Inks]

Could be simply denying it because they have some sort of confidentiality agreement. 

 

[goodvibes]

LOL. They didn't deny doing business with Ortofon and Grado which were also in my email to them. I don't think it's needed to reprint the entire response. The part relative to this is right there in black and white. A confidentiality agreement will get no response or a no comment in a reply. That's a denial of business. There's a huge difference but believe what you like. It seems lots want then to be MAs and I don't really understand why.

You shouldn't care what's in it when it comes time to buy. It sure wouldn't affect my decision if I liked the way they sounded. 

 

[james444]

Quote:

I find it dubious to predict what's in a product by the way it sounds. As things get very good, they should all sound closer to the ideal.

 
Quote:

"Yashima has had and has no business relationship with Final Audio Design." 

 
Well I wasn't predicting I was assuming, based on A/B listening. People expect to get a good idea of sound signatures from a review and I was saying that the FAD's and Ortofon's sound signatures were so close that they might be using the same drivers just with different tuning. Thanks to your investigations it now turns out they aren't, since the Ortofons use Yashima drivers and the FADs don't. I stand corrected and will adapt my review upon adding the e-Q5.
 
As for the part about all very good things sounding close, I don't think so. Just read through a random forum thread and you'll realize there'll never be one ideal sound signature that everybody is gravitating towards. Even the top tier universals I've heard sounded generally much more different than alike. IE8, FX700, SE530, CK10, CK100, SM3, e-Q7... none of these are particularly close to each other. They're all very good, they have few weaknesses, yet their sound signatures are still easily distinguishable.
 
On the other hand the FADs and Ortofons are much more similar than any two of the other top tiers. At least to my ears. I hope there's nothing dubious about that.

 

[Inks]

Don't really want them to be MAs, but I trust James' word that they sound like the Ortofons and tend to move a lot of air. Both of which wouldn't be possible by simply venting a BA driver, there are many vented BAs that seem to just sound like the standard BA model. Matter of fact, the fact that venting will help a standard BA driver is up for debate and most likely doesn't bring any benefit. 

 

[goodvibes]

Sleek has been doing it for years and they're even tunable. Shure 315s are now vented. 530s have always used vented woofers into the sealed shell. It's nothing new and an accepted way of tuning. These companies don't do it for marketing or because they're clueless. FAD appears to have raised the bar with a custom unit made specifically for their tune and are being appropriately commended for it. James, though assuming them to be MA has not been adamant about it and either of us could have been mistaken. He thought the sig indicated so, along with one of the acronyms used to describe their loading. It's easy to lose a bit in translation. I also very much trust and believe James but none of us are infalible and this isn't about picking sides. We're just trying to get it right.
 
James, I do think it was useful to describe the FADs as sounding like MAs for those that have some familiarity but like anything else, I bet you could easily make a crappy MA too. Fortunately we haven't heard one of those as all that have been made are for premium type products and like the vented BA FADs, appear to be successes.

 
The problem with ideals is that ours may be different but I still believe in things sounding more similar as they become better. It's just that better needs to be the same target. I bet JH13s and ES5s which have a very specific audience sound more similar than different. You pointed out a number of different sounding yet VG IEMs. 4 are BAs so it's not just what's used that makes them so.

 

[Anouk]

Hi, I just bought a pair of fad sb from Shigzeo (Thanks for that by the way!). I am pretty impatient to find out how they will sound. I only have the iphone 4 a ssource at the moment but am also considering getting an ibasso d12 mainly for use with the ocmputer because I dont think the iphone will get much benefit from it. But that will have to wait till januari because my budget isnt that big nowadays. Even so I really want to hear some of my favourite songs through them right away. Greetings, Anouk,

 

[Anouk]

Hi everyone
Today I unpacked my final audio design sb iems (thanks Shigzeo for selling them to me and such quick shipment).
I found the contents of the box a bit meager, a hardshell case for the iems, the iems themselves and some really squishy tips. I do suppose but am not sure that the ones that are already installed are midsize silicon @shig?
I have no issue with fit or wearing them over the ear. The cable seems a bit nice albeit more microphoinic then the one on the jvc fx700. Weight is not an issue although the seal might not be 100 procent ideal (it does not seem to be significantly better hten the jvcfx700 and that one is ported).
I have not listened to a lot of music yet but I notice that this phone is less harsh then the jvc and that the midrange is more to my liking. I just dream away while hearing Jeff buckly, that voice is just the way I like it. Soundstage is of course less then the jvc but they dont give me a closed feeling like some other iems can do. I will have to listen more to them but for now I am very positive.
Greetings, Anouk,

 

[Anouk]

Hi, I notice that the fad sb hisses a lot with my ibasso d12. I guess it has either a strange impedance or a really high sensitivity. The jvc does not have any hiss. Greetings, Anouk,

 

[james444]

^ The FADs have both, only 16 ohms impedance and pretty high 112db sensitivity, so a bit of hiss is almost unavoidable. Make sure you have your iBasso on low gain. As for sound signature, they are definitely more balanced than the FX700 with sealing tips, nevertheless I slightly prefer the JVC's natural timbre with acoustic instruments. But then again, the SBs timbre is almost on eye level with the FX700.

 

[dfkt]

The SB is a weird thing indeed. With my Rockboxed Clip+ it gets some noise, warbling, and sine sweeps after some time of listening (sort of like bad FM reception or a mismatched opamp in an amp sounds). When I unplug and replug the SB, all is well for a few minutes, then it starts again. No other phone does that.

 

[james444]

Sine sweeps? I haven't heard anything like this with the FADs.

You sure don't have a radio ham living nearby? I had one and when he fired up his equipment, some of my phones would suddenly start singing all by themselves.

 

[dfkt]

No, I've been using the Clip+ with the SB on the go as well, not just at home. I know the Clip+ inside and out, with dozens of different IEMs - none ever has shown such behavior (the FI-BA-SS didn't either). The Clip+ does active impedance matching with connected phones, maybe something in the SB's driver is not to its liking? There's no such issue with the J3 or R0, who don't match impedances.

 

[james444]

Wow, that's really strange! And quite a coincidence that I've only used the SB with my i9 and R0, not with the Fuze that would presumably cause the same behavior.