[AnakChan]

  If I have a friend staying in Japan, he can get to order for me? 

 

   
 
 
He`ll also have to be living here, not just visiting.  They require foreigners to show proof of residence : utility bills with matching address or something similar. (If you can believe it). 

 
Isn't that what the residence card is, which I mentioned? Or for foreigners, formerly known as the Alien Registration card. If they have that, I don't think they need to present any utility bills, etc. at least I never did with Fujiya when I bought my MH335DW.

But aside from that I have a gut feeling the buyer of the universal would have to sign that they won't export it overseas either.

 

[fiascogarcia]

Haven't read back far enough.  What is the reason for the policy against shipping out of country?  Thanks!

 

[fattycheesebeef]

Wow, that strict?! She is overseas at the moment, but her parents are in Japan. Does one need to go down personally with the documents or just order online with relevant details?

Okay, which store would I be able to pre-order a TG from, or straight from FitEar?

 

[Chodi]

  Haven't read back far enough.  What is the reason for the policy against shipping out of country?  Thanks!

Many manufacturers have problems with trans-shipping hurting their dealer base overseas. There are different solutions but the approach used by Fitear is extreme. UM are making country specific models to try to curb the same problem. In the end, there is no complete solution as this has been going on for decades. The internet has made trans-shipping a simple process. Dealers work on 40-50% margin and if they can't get that they can't stay in business. The internet has changed everything for the brick and mortar stores. 

 

[SGHLT]

So Fitear is doing that simply to protect the rice bowls of their dealers? I find that rather hard to believe. I could not buy a TG334 from their official distributor/Jaben in Singapore when I wanted to. This certainly does not allow their dealers to make anything!
 
I wonder if it is to create exclusivity, or maybe Fitear reckons it works best as a small, niche company. Whatever the case, I did manage to get my hands on a couple of Fitear IEMs and enjoy them very much. Just wish it is easier to purchase. 

 

[shotgunshane]

Wow, this silliness makes FitEar very unappealing to me for a multitude of reasons.

 

[EveTan]

  So Fitear is doing that simply to protect the rice bowls of their dealers? I find that rather hard to believe. I could not buy a TG334 from their official distributor/Jaben in Singapore when I wanted to. This certainly does not allow their dealers to make anything!
 
I wonder if it is to create exclusivity, or maybe Fitear reckons it works best as a small, niche company. Whatever the case, I did manage to get my hands on a couple of Fitear IEMs and enjoy them very much. Just wish it is easier to purchase. 

And if I recall, the creator, Suyama-san, really is doing this for fun. Not really for the business.
 
Most of their earnings come from making dental equipment. 
 
So if their incentive isn't quite for sales, it'll definitely be really hard to change the rules/we'll have to play by theirs. 

 

[nntnam]

Also, it seems that universal IEM is also not their priority . Even in Japan, acquiring one is quite hard and the waiting time could be 1 month for Parterre. For popular model like TG334, it could be 3 months, or 6, or 1 year?! However, for custom, it's only 2-3 weeks. In my case, it was less than 2 weeks.
 
Maybe it's because they don't think universal models can't deliver the best music experience?! (In one talk earlier this year, Suyama-san explained how custom is superior to universal IEM).

 

[nntnam]

BTW, has someone posted this yet? New Fitear model: Fujiya-avic's Fitear 212.
 
http://fujiya-avic.jp/products/detail85620.html

 

[CEE TEE]

Funny that they would come out with another universal when the quantities don't seem to be that high and they are so hard to get.  Not complaining though- I love my TG!334 enough to want to hear more of their IEMs.  Thanks for the link.
 
What did Suyama-san say about Customs vs. Universals? With BTG custom cable, the FitEar universals work really well for me.  Very few universals work that well for me.  Maybe that with universals, they are trying to fit smaller/standard housings that will fit the most people.  With customs, they know how much room they have to work with and that gives more flexibility on driver sizes and number of drivers/positioning.  I think they say that they have to examine existing 334 and 335 customs to assess whether they have room to even do Studio Reference (SR) mods...   

 

[AnakChan]

That's cos they're not a mass production model. It's only 30 pieces and a Fujiya Avic special collaboration sold in last weekend's Fujiya show - celebrating 30th anniversary or something like that. Meant to be the successor of  the F111. Who know about the future though.

 

[CEE TEE]

^Oh man.  Maybe I won't get a chance to hear them then!  I did notice Fujya Avic listed on the shell, which is pretty cool.
 
In other news, I may be comparing first revision TG!334 (shiny) vs. second revision (matte) soon...

 

 

[urtv]

  ^Oh man.  Maybe I won't get a chance to hear them then!  I did notice Fujya Avic listed on the shell, which is pretty cool.
 
In other news, I may be comparing first revision TG!334 (shiny) vs. second revision (matte) soon...

 

 
Are there any differences between the two? I bought a used TG334 and it turned out to be the original shiny version

 

[mtthefirst]

   
Are there any differences between the two? I bought a used TG334 and it turned out to be the original shiny version

The sound quality should be the same between old and new version. The new version come with the new faceplate with improved version of connector.

 

[thelurker]

How does one go about procuring the tg334?  I know alo audio is the NA distributor, but the tg334 are currently on backorder.  Does alo immediately sell out whenever they get a batch?  How often do they get shipments?