[barondla]

The original Flare R2* are also picky about tips. Haven't tried Spinfits. My best non foams are the Auvio. They have a very wide bore. Used to be sold at Radio Shack, when there was a Radio Shack. A few monts ago saw them on their website, but they weren't called Auvio. Now named Replace It Ear Bud Tips. S,M,L in a pack for ~$6. When they were in Auvio packaging, you could get all one size in a pack. These are also used by many Trinity Audio listeners. Me included. Might work for you.

 

[majo123]

The original Flare R2* are also picky about tips. Haven't tried Spinfits. My best non foams are the Auvio. They have a very wide bore. Used to be sold at Radio Shack, when there was a Radio Shack. A few monts ago saw them on their website, but they weren't called Auvio. Now named Replace It Ear Bud Tips. S,M,L in a pack for ~$6. When they were in Auvio packaging, you could get all one size in a pack. These are also used by many Trinity Audio listeners. Me included. Might work for you.

I have just been on a tip hunt ...like most of us I have millions so I will experiment further, I have just found some trinity foams and inairs which seem a bit more delicate as in the way there manufactured.
Will post in a bit.

 

[Arysyn]

Most users here seem to contradict that opinion about U shape. I find with any iem the frequency respons changes depending on how they're pushed into my ears. Same with normal speakers and how close you're sitting to
the rear wall - not helpful to get hung up on small frequency response differences because it is possible it's nothing to do with the equipment but environment.

Is the hifiman re800 tuning for different markets a confirmed fact from hifiman? Again, there can be cultural differences in expectation and the equipment they choose to listen to everyday. That in turn influences judgement of what is neutral and therefore judgement of something's deviation from neutral. E.g. if you like something with prominent midrange and call that 'neutral' because it sounds right to you, then something flat will then be thought to be U shaped..

That also happens with each individual so your neutral and my neutral may be completely different. My flat may be your U shaped, maybe the next person's prominent mids.

I would just go for them and use the 30 day return option! A rare thing for a manufacturer to offer I think?

The issue going on with the HiFiMan RE800 basically goes like this :

I joined Head-Fi several months ago after an audio enthusiast friend of mine recommended this site to me for doing research into audio and available iem earphones hoping to find one that matches my preference. However, I didn't post until recently, when after many months of reading, learning, and ultimately finding out what my preferred sound signature is, that I searched though dozens, maybe even hundreds of audio frequency response graphs, usually finding either three type of common dynamic driver measurements.,when suddenly I found a rare alternative measurement posted by Head-Fi moderator, Brooko, of the HiFiMan RE800.

The common measurement types I've seen of Dynamic Driver iem earphones, are u or v shaped, the downward sloping ones with lots of bass, and the neutral bass and mid variety that slope way down in treble. Whereas, the HiFiMan RE800 actually is quite different and much more closely resembles my preference where the bass and mids are mostly neutral , but the treble rises above both, rather than sinks. This at least according to Brooko's graph. Although as his profile shows him to be in New Zealand, in the Asia Pacific area, its possible his has different tuning.

He and some others have mentioned hearing a treble spike, which his graph shows, but I've listened to cymbals on it several times, yet I cannot hear any treble spike with the cymbals actually sounding weak to me, whereas the vocals just are not present enough, being recessed a bit by the bass, though not in any major way.

Still, I suspect there is a different tuning being sold to customers in the U.S. where I'm in. Unless I got an updated tuning model ff global retail. While I doubt this is happening with the FlaresPro, I'm wondering what may be different with the FlaresPro he reviewed in contrast with what others have been saying about it .

 

[barondla]

@Arysyn no idea if IEMs are tuned differently for various countries. Some highend speakers are. Dave Wilson of Wilson Audio explained it once. European rooms are smaller than US and usually not wood. This meant way too much bass that was almost impossible for the owner to correct. So same speaker model tuned for different counties.

With earphones it would be more a matter of taste? Interesting.

 

[majo123]

Ok...i have tried , inairs, trinity foams, some wide bore that came off of some dunus and various others that I have acquired over time....first of all I think for me (small ear canals) that insertion is one of the key factors, these need to go deep, if not then for me they sound thin and vocals don't seem present so anything like normal foams just don't sit deep enough in my ear canal.
Secondly they need not to be too thick silicone as bass becomes boomy.
The stock silicone are the wrong shape in my eyes to achieve seal , at least that's what I think is causing the thin sound from them.
The purple spin fits are the closest I have come to the audiophile foam and I will be keeping them on , I don't think there's much in it to my ears I'm getting the lovely balanced sound that i think I'm getting from the audiophile foams without keyhole surgery to remove, a bit more plugnplay.
I will say I'm not a believer in any one type of tip, it's what ever works with the particular iem or you so if it works for you then great.
Oh and the cable does have a lot of memory.. but I am very pleased with these iems

 

[HiFlight]

The issue going on with the HiFiMan RE800 basically goes like this :

I joined Head-Fi several months ago after an audio enthusiast friend of mine recommended this site to me for doing research into audio and available iem earphones hoping to find one that matches my preference. However, I didn't post until recently, when after many months of reading, learning, and ultimately finding out what my preferred sound signature is, that I searched though dozens, maybe even hundreds of audio frequency response graphs, usually finding either three type of common dynamic driver measurements.,when suddenly I found a rare alternative measurement posted by Head-Fi moderator, Brooko, of the HiFiMan RE800.

The common measurement types I've seen of Dynamic Driver iem earphones, are u or v shaped, the downward sloping ones with lots of bass, and the neutral bass and mid variety that slope way down in treble. Whereas, the HiFiMan RE800 actually is quite different and much more closely resembles my preference where the bass and mids are mostly neutral , but the treble rises above both, rather than sinks. This at least according to Brooko's graph. Although as his profile shows him to be in New Zealand, in the Asia Pacific area, its possible his has different tuning.

He and some others have mentioned hearing a treble spike, which his graph shows, but I've listened to cymbals on it several times, yet I cannot hear any treble spike with the cymbals actually sounding weak to me, whereas the vocals just are not present enough, being recessed a bit by the bass, though not in any major way.

Still, I suspect there is a different tuning being sold to customers in the U.S. where I'm in. Unless I got an updated tuning model ff global retail. While I doubt this is happening with the FlaresPro, I'm wondering what may be different with the FlaresPro he reviewed in contrast with what others have been saying about it .

I think the varied impressions can be easily explained by the fact that all of us hear the same device with differing results because of differences in auditory acuity and physical differences in the makeup of our external and internal auditory physiology.

 

[LuckyNat]

So many times I've been to people's homes to listen to their hifi and they describe the sound as one thing like neutral and I hear the opposite , like it blasting my ears out with treble to the point it was almost painful (that guy I suspect was loosing his high frequency hearing somewhat!).

 

[barondla]

I would call the original Flare relatively neutral. A little dark. Don't think they could help that. The old drivers rolled off the highs some. Were not as airy as real life.

 

[barondla]

Not to change subjects but, is it possible to change the name of this thread slightly? At the time everyone thought Flare would make these new Flares a Kickstarter. They went a different route and could be a little confusing to people. Should Kickstarter be edited out of the thread name?

 

[HiFlight]

What was the sound of those orange (I'd say yellow ) tips? Am listening to them now.

they only just stay in place so for once are hardly pushed into my ears (normally I go quite deep) and everything is more open sounding, but bass is no longer there in the same way, lacking which could in part account for the shifted perception of openness. The brain deals in relatives after all.

@Hifilight The 3 dimensionalness of your thunder recording though was amazing. The rain at the end as it was slowing down sounded like it was landing 1m in front of me and downwards. Was that just on your zoom recorder with standard in build mics? If so I need to get out field recording myself. I've an olympus to try, else I should fix up my DPA mics to use with my old HiMD minidisc.

No, the internal mics don't work so well for binaural recording. I use a mic that looks quite similar to a pair of earbuds but have quite high quality mics built into them. I have owned them for about 12 years and they continue to work very well. Only problem is to remember to keep the head still while recording is in progress.

 

[barondla]

@HiFlight how do the new Flares sound vs the Cardas EM8513? Both are full range dynamic drivers.

 

[majo123]

Has anyone seen skints opinion of the flares on the canjam review , there's definitely some very positive feed back out there

 

[HiFlight]

@HiFlight how do the new Flares sound vs the Cardas EM8513? Both are full range dynamic drivers.

They are somewhat similar in that both are very non-fatiguing and have excellent instrumental and vocal timbre, however the EM8513 has more high-frequency roll-off than do the Flares. My feeling is that if one likes the sound of the Cardas, they will likely also enjoy the Flares.
Despite the highs being rolled off, I still enjoy the expansive soundstage and overall musical presentation of the EM8513.

 

[Arysyn]

Not to change subjects but, is it possible to change the name of this thread slightly? At the time everyone thought Flare would make these new Flares a Kickstarter. They went a different route and could be a little confusing to people. Should Kickstarter be edited out of the thread name?

I thought about starting a new thread for FlaresPro. Would those here posting about the new product be okay with posting about it there, if I were to create it?

 

[majo123]

I thought about starting a new thread for FlaresPro. Would those here posting about the new product be okay with posting about it there, if I were to create it?

Go for it.