Fir Audio Thread - Discussion and Impressions

[aminus]

Hi Bogdan, any idea when they would be available in Hong Kong? Also with the universal models, would they be available with 2-pin, esp when hobbyists tend to have existing cable collections and might like to cable roll. thx

To my knowledge there is a 2pin to Fircon converter somewhere.

 

[chungjun]

Subscribed.

Well FiR Audio you certainly have my attention, my first brush with you is the ATOM modules.

Let's see what you have up your sleeve!

 

[John2e]

Sorry forgot to answer your question - I believe FiRcon is standard on their universals, so yeah, I suppose so haha. It comes with an included adapter though, so that should be fine. I generally find one cable I enjoy with a certain set of IEMs and stick to that, I don't tend to rotate cables too much

Regarding the 2 pin convertor, it appears as though one will be available for purchase.

 

[bogdan belonozhko]

Hi Bogdan, any idea when they would be available in Hong Kong? Also with the universal models, would they be available with 2-pin, esp when hobbyists tend to have existing cable collections and might like to cable roll. thx

It’s going to be very soon in Hong Kong. We are expected to showcase at the HK A/V show next month. This would be a great opportunity to be the the first to audition them.
Regarding 2 pin. This has been a difficult and challenging question for us. We are very aware that the audiophile community has a lot of cables in the 2 pin configuration, however we also want to offer the 3 year warranty that is heavily based on using RCX. Since we are serving pro audio and audiophiles this is where the choice was difficult. Pro audio can’t ditch the 2 pin fast enough so there’s no issues with RCX there. The biggest concern for using 2 pin is there is no way we could warranty it for 3 years. We do have the desire to have a 2 pin version but it wouldn’t be a fiscally responsible decision, therefore wouldn’t help us or the customer. Right now our solution is to offer an adapter at small cost and the idea is once you find the cable pairing we are working with aftermarket cable vendors to be able to stock and terminate RCX. If not we will terminate the cable at a very reasonable cost ourselves. The adaptor is probably not a practical long term solution but useful for auditioning cables. These decisions are based on the principle of offering something that will last for the customer even if it seems like a more difficult route at the moment. The easy road is not in our character, we thrive on pushing forward and improving.

 

[aminus]

It’s going to be very soon in Hong Kong. We are expected to showcase at the HK A/V show next month. This would be a great opportunity to be the the first to audition them.
Regarding 2 pin. This has been a difficult and challenging question for us. We are very aware that the audiophile community has a lot of cables in the 2 pin configuration, however we also want to offer the 3 year warranty that is heavily based on using RCX. Since we are serving pro audio and audiophiles this is where the choice was difficult. Pro audio can’t ditch the 2 pin fast enough so there’s no issues with RCX there. The biggest concern for using 2 pin is there is no way we could warranty it for 3 years. We do have the desire to have a 2 pin version but it wouldn’t be a fiscally responsible decision, therefore wouldn’t help us or the customer. Right now our solution is to offer an adapter at small cost and the idea is once you find the cable pairing we are working with aftermarket cable vendors to be able to stock and terminate RCX. If not we will terminate the cable at a very reasonable cost ourselves. The adaptor is probably not a practical long term solution but useful for auditioning cables. These decisions are based on the principle of offering something that will last for the customer even if it seems like a more difficult route at the moment. The easy road is not in our character, we thrive on pushing forward and improving.

So I assume Fircon is being called RCX now? Interesting.

 

[mvvRAZ]

Today will be one hell of a day. My M5, A18t by FiR, U18t and Noir are with the DHL Delivery courier so only a few hours left.... *nervous anticipation grows*

The first to be listened to will definitely be the M5, then the A18t by FiR as those two I haven't listened to yet and I am absolutely dying to hear.... will be posting impressions in a few hours!!!! Can't wait

 

[mvvRAZ]

Ok so I’ve had them for some 30 minutes... I’ll go in more detail and a full review later but this is very likely the best overall IEM I’ve listened to... a two least I can’t think of anything I’ve enjoyed more and that has impressed me as much when it comes to soundstage and detail retreival

 

[mvvRAZ]

Ok, here are my preliminary impressions of the M5, somewhat as a comparison to the U18t and Noirte by 64

To begin with, I first spoke to Bogdan when he approached me with an offer to reshell my broken A18t. After a disagreement with 64 I sent them to him, and as we spoke over the repair he told me a lot about his company and product. Normally I prefer companies that have already established themselves in the market and matured, but my conversations with Bogdan gave me a lot of confidence in both the company and their product, so I decided to take that leap

As a stand-alone product, at the price point of 2700USD, the M5 has the most refined sound I’ve heard in the audio industry, hands down. The estat is what I love most about it - it is intense, it is sharp, it is beautiful and it makes me drool every time I listen to a violin. I have never heard Florence + the machine - Stand by me sound as good as it does on the M5. Overall I’d say these are quite neutral, with a hint of brightness. The bass is extremely textured and when necessary can take center stage, but for the most part I haven’t found it to be excessive or key to the presentation of the music. The mids are would be what’s most impressive about the M5, especially female vocals, if it wasn’t for those highs that I keep going back to. The soundstage is big, comparable to the 18, though not quite at the level of the Noir. The two channels are extremely separated and the imaging is excellent - I can tell exactly where each instrument is with deadly precision - i put on an old soul recording and you can clearly hear that the singer is standing up while the piano’s sound is coming from lower below.

The M5 is very coherent, quite possibly the most coherent tribrid I’ve listened to. Nothing from Empire comes close, Jomo sounds like it costs a third of the M5, the Khan sounds great but still nothing close in terms of overall coherency. The Elysium is one of my favourite, but both the lows and the mids work better on the M5

Are they unconditionally better at everything I give them than both the U18t and the Noir? I wouldn’t say so. For one, because both the other two are absolutely excellent IEMs (the Noir is quite controversial but imho a lot of the criticism is unfounded). The U18t performs better than the M5 on purely instrumental jazz tracks, where it’s sharpness gives a really lifelike presentation and makes you feel like you’re then and there listening to the music yourself. The moment you introduce vocals to the equation the M5 takes the lead, but on instruments and instruments alone (see Dave Brubeck - Take Five), the U18t remains my all time favourite

The Noir feels a bit better on rock/trap/hip hop/rap, as it’s bass is somewhat more in quantity and similarly exceptional in quality. It is also smoother than the M5, which once again boosts how good the more modern bassier tracks sound, but makes it fall really far behind the FiR when I give it a live jazz recording, or older, classic rock, where I really crave that unforgiving and sharper nature of the M5 and U18t.

I made the mistake of asking for a really short cable for the M5, so I can’t currently take it out and about, but getting an extender has become priority #1. Overall the M5 has quickly and conclusively become my favourite piece of gear.

I will soon be writing up a full review, that won’t be based on so many comparisons as I’d like to avoid posting this one in other platforms and threads, but yeah, the M5 is a pure masterpiece

 

[aminus]

The shells are polished now? Huh, the previous units were matte metal. Wasn't expecting that.

 

[helljudgement]

Hi All, I am treading carefully with offering support to customers on head-fi since we are not official sponsors but I can state this for everyone to see. Anyone who's been in contact with us about a potential purchase in the last couple months we've been very transparent about the coming price increase. (esp NAMM) When we launched we didn't have a distribution/dealer network in place, the pricing reflected that. The increase is to help cover the margins for distributors and dealers specifically in Asia since that's where they will hit stores first internationally. We don't stand to make anything more with this increase, its to allow dealers to carry the product and have it more available to potential buyers over seas. It will also allow us to have some domestic dealers like live production companies so pro musicians can have better access to our product as well. I will agree with the statement that these are still a great competitive value over competition even with the new prices. No other brand offers custom tubeless let alone under $2,200 price point.

Thanks for taking your time to explain the reasons for price increase. I feel it is important to know what we are paying extras for and I appreciate your willingness to share. Whilst I understand why you prefer not to provide support thru forums like head-fi the pricing details should be easily available for potential buyers. I would have no issues at all if these details are available on Firadio's webpage.
Personally I don't frequent this website as much as I used to and I've only gotten to know your products thru the local communities and trade shows so the only source of information I get is thru your official webpage. Nevertheless I do appreciate your honesty.

This one I feel is very important to respond to as well, The early adopters are not prototypes. We did private testing with groups of people very early this year but anyone who has purchased through music sanctuary or direct has gotten the production models. It took a little time to setup distribution margins and price was driven after those negotiations. We are very confident in the new RCX and Shell build style and are very grateful to the early adopters who took a chance on a new brand. We are already collecting testimonials from Live users and are being further reassured that the difficult but much needed design improvements to in ear monitors is going to be very well received. For those who use them on a daily basis in the field it makes a world of difference.

It is good to know that a company such as yours is constantly striving to improve itself to deliver better sounding and more durable product out to the consumers. Making a v2 or v3 variant of a same model is not uncommon in this industry however having variations with product tuning isn't necessarily a good thing especially if said product has just been released months ago.

Perhaps prototype isn't the right word to use as you and others has stated it is a production model but knowing that a product I just bought already has a v1.1 with an improved tuning and build quality can make it feel like I'm losing out as an early adopter. Hopefully you can understand where the frustration is coming from.

 

[John2e]

How do I really feel about these? As they say in the comic books"Nuff Said".... https://www.head-fi.org/threads/64-audio-u18t-sold.911773/#post-15088176

 

[mvvRAZ]

How do I really feel about these? As they say in the comic books"Nuff Said".... https://www.head-fi.org/threads/64-audio-u18t-sold.911773/#post-15088176

ooof that's a big jump

I've been listening to the M5 with the Noirte and the U18t on the side for the past two days.... It's positioned quite nicely between the two in terms of sound signature and presentation, having the tubeless smoothness of the Noir and the detail of the U18t. But after spending a little longer with the U18t today that harshness is just something I can't let go of, I love it - I have never heard an IEM that performs instruments that good

The Noir is even smoother than the M5 which really gives me a woah feeling on certain tracks, but it's proper niche given my bright preferences

Extremely happy with the M5 and loving it more every day - I stand by my original assessment that this is the best all rounder I've heard at any price point, couldn't recommend it enough

 

[eldss]

Had been wondering if Fir had a thread and just came across this one. I'm hoping to receive my M4s in the next week or two. I auditioned their M2, M3 and M4 and I was very impressed with all of them. Wish I would have listened to the M5s, but the M4s hit the spot for me. I'm coming from the A12ts which are absolutely fantastic, but when it comes to engaging you with the music, the M4s take you to another level.

 

[John2e]

Had been wondering if Fir had a thread and just came across this one. I'm hoping to receive my M4s in the next week or two. I auditioned their M2, M3 and M4 and I was very impressed with all of them. Wish I would have listened to the M5s, but the M4s hit the spot for me. I'm coming from the A12ts which are absolutely fantastic, but when it comes to engaging you with the music, the M4s take you to another level.

Exactly

There is something intangible that causes an emotional connection. I wasn't getting that with the U18t's. It sounded great and very involving but for ME it came across as sterile and analytical. I wasn't busting out with an air guitar solo much with the U18t's. With the M5's I am toe tappin and booty wagging. YMMV

I listen to mostly Rock and my observations are based on Rock.

 

[mvvRAZ]

Had been wondering if Fir had a thread and just came across this one. I'm hoping to receive my M4s in the next week or two. I auditioned their M2, M3 and M4 and I was very impressed with all of them. Wish I would have listened to the M5s, but the M4s hit the spot for me. I'm coming from the A12ts which are absolutely fantastic, but when it comes to engaging you with the music, the M4s take you to another level.

Yeah if sterile and analytical isn’t your cup of tea then the M4 will be far superior to the 12

FiR has managed to pull off fun and analytical in one IEM which is hands down insane - haven’t heard anything like it

Best all rounder I’m telling you haha