[davidmolliere]

I like your notes and agree in large part. The Vegas are way more colored in comparison and I expect that many people would prefer the Flares over them. I fully admit to having an unhealthy obsession with the Vega's sound and have since the first time I ever heard them. It's like they were made specifically for my ears and nothing else can come close... So I'm definitely biased. That said, I totally agree that the flares are very impressive, particularly when using the BT module.

I totally understand, the Vega are unique in their tuning and you either love or hate it, if you hate it though you MUST make sure that you've based your listening on a burned in unit (yes that liquid diamond driver needs it) and a proper source (powerful DAP, Amp) otherwise you say they're crap you haven't really heard them Although I love it I find it fatiguing at times.

I'll be burning in the Flares PRO, I expect them to change over time into something even smoother and refined, we'll see.
One thing I failed to mention too, the PRO are faster than the R2Pro and by a significant margin IMHO.

Anynone has gotten their hands on the PRO spec (impedance, sensitivity...I expect similar to the R2Pro) or DAC module ?

Edit : I did some quick tip rolling with RHA Dual Density, MandarinES hybrid, Ortofon Foams and so far convinced that those "audiophiles" Flare tips have been very specifically design to make the best out of the IEM. It particularly affects soundstage and imaging but also the balance of the sound. In particular every other tips I have tested means more bass quantity (and loss of bass detail) and less "air".

 

[LuckyNat]

I'm not sure it's correct to say the BT module is balanced (unless the spec says - I've not read it). The earth / negative could easily be shared on the output internally. And the pedant in me says that if they are separate from both amp and dac, then they are differential, not balanced (balanced uses two out of phase signals and a third connection for 0v reference, differential should have a negative unrelated to the electrical earth, floating).

 

[awayeah]

I'm not sure it's correct to say the BT module is balanced (unless the spec says - I've not read it). The earth / negative could easily be shared on the output internally. And the pedant in me says that if they are separate from both amp and dac, then they are differential, not balanced (balanced uses two out of phase signals and a third connection for 0v reference, differential should have a negative unrelated to the electrical earth, floating).

I've got this message from Flare's Director:
"There is no possible adapter as the Flares Pro has balanced outputs whereas anything configured for a conventional 3 pin jack plug necessarily has a common Earth and therefore only 3 wires internally instead of the four necessary to use a balanced output. The wired adapter cable with your Flares Pro has four wires down to the jack plug, but ultimately the Earth is mingled at the pin. We did this to minimise cross talk to a far greater degree than any other manufacturer. However the balanced output from the Bluetooth is the clearly much better and the total lack of cross talk gives the incredible sound stage you experience."

 

[McCol]

@McCol iPhone 7 while it is very good audio source it's not really good for Flares. X5III isn't either. If you like those pairings you will love the good ones. Trust me

More than happy with the pairing with the Fiio. I've owned a fair few dap's and dac's in the last few years and the X5iii is for me the best bang for buck for sound and features. The Flares sound lush with it.

 

[dannyking]

Hi Guys,

I have a few questions regarding the Flares Pro, Hopefully you could answer all. I couldn't find any specific information online

1.) Does it have a jack that connects directly to an iphone and do you need to always have that dac/module stuff? Basically how does it look like when
connected to an iphone/ipod/mp3 source? A picture would be helpful if possible. Thanks

2.) Can you walk on the streets, run/workout with it? ie, is it portable?

3.) How is the durability of the cable? The cable of the R2s were pretty abysmal to be perfectly honest.

4.) Does it only work with the tips it came with? or could you use comply (which model) or other foam/ silicone tips?

5.) Is the cable/driver detachable like the R2s, and should the cable break is it easily fixable or replaceable?

Thank you so much for your answers.

 

[awayeah]

Hi Guys,

I have a few questions regarding the Flares Pro, Hopefully you could answer all. I couldn't find any specific information online

1.) Does it have a jack that connects directly to an iphone and do you need to always have that dac/module stuff? Basically how does it look like when
connected to an iphone/ipod/mp3 source? A picture would be helpful if possible. Thanks

2.) Can you walk on the streets, run/workout with it? ie, is it portable?

3.) How is the durability of the cable? The cable of the R2s were pretty abysmal to be perfectly honest.

4.) Does it only work with the tips it came with? or could you use comply (which model) or other foam/ silicone tips?

5.) Is the cable/driver detachable like the R2s, and should the cable break is it easily fixable or replaceable?

Thank you so much for your answers.

`
Please read the thread - all those question have already been answered.

1) There's normal cable with 3,5mm jack, single-ended, straight plug. Cable can be detached on splitter.
2) Yes, both splitter and bluetooth module are very light. Unfortunatelly they opted for straight jack, so given how big smartphones are right now - it's not best solution.
3) They've been on the market for 2 weeks so it's hard to tell how's durability. Craig from Flares R&D wrote me that cable strenght was one of their focus points. It's supose to be very durable. Time will tell but again - straight plug - wrong decision.
4) You can use any tips with T200 size or maybe even T400. It sounds good with Comply but it's darker, bass heavier sound compared to their "audiophile foams". INAIRS sounds ok, so does Sony new foam/silicon hybrid. Most of silicon tips won't sond good.
5) It looks that way...

 

[goodvibes]

I disagree about straight plugs ever being the wrong choice for durability. Yes, they stick out more but breakage is more common from cable strain and a straight plug will more easily pull out the socket instead of stress the connectors or wire etc. There are pluses and minuses and nothing can account for every situation but overall, it's safer.

 

[awayeah]

I disagree about straight plugs ever being the wrong choice for durability. Yes, they stick out more but breakage is more common from cable strain and a straight plug will more easily pull out the socket instead of stress the connectors or wire etc. There are pluses and minuses and nothing can account for every situation but overall, it's safer.

No it's not. I've never broken an anlged jack and striaght jacks breaks almost all the time. It's not about cable strain it's about it sticking out ouf pocket. I'm extremely careful and pedantic about my stuff but it's unavoidable to not break a straight jack while walking and using phone that sits in front packet of trousers. Straight jack is good for home/office use but IEMs are by definition mobile product and most often used as I've described. There's no point in disagreeing. Besides straight plug does not pull out of the socket more easily (unless you meant by itself) - it's equally easy to unplug straight or angled jack unless you pull it out by cable (which really isn't wise).

 

[davidmolliere]

I've got this message from Flare's Director:
"There is no possible adapter as the Flares Pro has balanced outputs whereas anything configured for a conventional 3 pin jack plug necessarily has a common Earth and therefore only 3 wires internally instead of the four necessary to use a balanced output. The wired adapter cable with your Flares Pro has four wires down to the jack plug, but ultimately the Earth is mingled at the pin. We did this to minimise cross talk to a far greater degree than any other manufacturer. However the balanced output from the Bluetooth is the clearly much better and the total lack of cross talk gives the incredible sound stage you experience."

Thanks for clarifying, and that's consistent with what is stated on the product page btw

I have had a long late night session, with the BT module... maybe it's burn in or that I was going through various genre a bit more but I did find them a bit too bright (the upper mids in particular) with the audiophile tips on some tracks with a slight hint of sibilance. This being said I wouldn't trust any impressions before at least breaking the 100 hours burn-in, although I don't remember the R2 Pro requiring a lot of it, dynamic drivers always benefit from it I think it will smoothen and get more refined yet. In the meantime I did some further tip rolling, foams do tame things a little.

I am quite impressed by the detail retrieval and resolution but I think those might benefit from a different source, for my taste (I am probably biased by listening a lot to the Vega and the Elear). I'll give another shot to the DX200, probably order the new amp2 module as from what I have read it's more organic than amp1.

 

[LuckyNat]

I've got this message from Flare's Director:
"There is no possible adapter as the Flares Pro has balanced outputs whereas anything configured for a conventional 3 pin jack plug necessarily has a common Earth and therefore only 3 wires internally instead of the four necessary to use a balanced output. The wired adapter cable with your Flares Pro has four wires down to the jack plug, but ultimately the Earth is mingled at the pin. We did this to minimise cross talk to a far greater degree than any other manufacturer. However the balanced output from the Bluetooth is the clearly much better and the total lack of cross talk gives the incredible sound stage you experience."

That's great to know!

 

[McCol]

No it's not. I've never broken an anlged jack and striaght jacks breaks almost all the time. It's not about cable strain it's about it sticking out ouf pocket. I'm extremely careful and pedantic about my stuff but it's unavoidable to not break a straight jack while walking and using phone that sits in front packet of trousers. Straight jack is good for home/office use but IEMs are by definition mobile product and most often used as I've described. There's no point in disagreeing. Besides straight plug does not pull out of the socket more easily (unless you meant by itself) - it's equally easy to unplug straight or angled jack unless you pull it out by cable (which really isn't wise).

This is of course just your own personal experience and opinion.

I have never had a broken jack on a straight although have had a couple of loose connection issues on angled jacks. Not the fault of the jack - just one of those things. I could say 'no pint in disagreeing' but I won't as it's just my experience.

Anyway back to the Flares Pro's. These are awesome, the more I listen the more I think Flare have hit a sweet spot with pricing and sound relative to that price point. Amazing value and sound for what you are paying.

 

[dannyking]

This is of course just your own personal experience and opinion.

I have never had a broken jack on a straight although have had a couple of loose connection issues on angled jacks. Not the fault of the jack - just one of those things. I could say 'no pint in disagreeing' but I won't as it's just my experience.

You have never had a broken jack on a straight??? REALLY!! Did you have any of the old Flare R2s? If you did, how were you able to achieve such an unimaginable feat.

 

[McCol]

You have never had a broken jack on a straight??? REALLY!! Did you have any of the old Flare R2s? If you did, how were you able to achieve such an unimaginable feat.

Got the R2pro and nope hasn't broken so far for me!

 

[dannyking]

Got the R2pro and nope hasn't broken so far for me!

Wow! Impressive....How do these compare to the R2pro in your honest opinion? Have you heard/had other iems like shure SE846, Senn IE800,....how does the Flare pros compare to them? Thanks

 

[McCol]

Wow! Impressive....How do these compare to the R2pro in your honest opinion? Have you heard/had other iems like shure SE846, Senn IE800,....how does the Flare pros compare to them? Thanks

They are a clear step above the R2Pro in my honest opinion, more of everything with bigger soundstage and more clarity, better cables as well.

I've not owned the Shure SE846 but I have owned the IE800, AKG K3003 and currently own the Fidue Sirius.

From memory the Flares are for me the better iem, I say this because I never felt there was much between the IE800 and the R2Pro, so much so that I sold the IE800 and kept the R2. Wouldn't like to compare with the AKG as I've not heard them for over a year and not had time to compare to my Sirius but will do.

I do think that these Flares are punching well above their £350 price.