Ok, I've got a pair of R2PROs a few days ago and I've been putting quite a few hours into trying different tips, playing with fit, etc...
Out of the 100+ IEMs I've tried, these are probably the most tricky ones to assess, since their sound varies a lot with tips and insertion depth. Heck, they can even
tilt inside the ear canal, due to their diminutive size... meaning, that even with the same tips and insertion depth, two consecutive insertions won't necessarily yield the same sonic results.
So, here's my humble 2c on how they sound at best:
- Fairly well-balanced from deep bass throughout the midrange, but with a pronounced 6-8kHz spikiness on top.
And here's my humble 2c on how they sound most of the time:
- A little boomy, due to slight upper bass elevation
- Oddly skewed in the mids, due to a noticeable 1.5kHz dip followed by a 2kHz resonance
- Very laid-back in lower treble (guitars lack bite, cymbals sound subdued)
- Spiky and mildly sibilant in the 6-8kHz range
At the risk of me eating my words later on (in case I discover the "magic fit"),
so far these are interestingly different in some way, but no threat to top-tiers in my book.
Update: after several more days with the R2PROs and persistent efforts to get to the bottom of my issues, I need to retract that statement and put things into perspective:
"The R2PROs are amazing IEMs and offer top-tier sound quality, provided their end cap is properly sealed and their nozzle is properly damped."
Let me explain...
1. End cap seal
Edit 8/17/15 further findings + Variable Bass Mod: http://www.head-fi.org/t/766183/flare-audio-r2pro-kickstarter-campaign/1905#post_11842307
(Hope
djworx.com don't mind me borrowing some of their excellent pictures)
From this picture with the cable running through an O-ring, one can assume that the R2PRO's rear end is meant to be sealed.
However, looking at this picture left me wondering, does this construction really seal off the housing reliably?
It all started, when I realized that the slight bass boominess I mentioned earlier seemed to be a bit stronger in the left channel than the right one. I decided to run a
low frequency test, which consists of a sweeping sine tone from 10Hz to 200Hz, and to my dismay the test tone didn't sound perfectly centered, but was clearly panned towards the left side.
Since the same test worked perfectly with other IEMs, I knew the R2PRO had to be the culprit, either due to a driver mismatch or because of some disparity in airflow. I opened the end cap on the right side by just 1mm and repeated the test: sure enough, now the test tone sounded centered and I heard the boominess from both sides. Now I knew for certain, that for some reason the left side hadn't been properly sealed.
I checked the left end cap, but it didn't seem loose or something. So I unscrewed the cap, took a look inside and found the O-ring askew. I used a tiny watchmaker's screwdriver to correct its position, put the cap back on and repeated the test. All in all, it took me several tries until the sine sweep finally gave me a perfectly centered signal across the entire bass range and all boominess was gone.
Now, before you run and try this with your own unit, a word of caution: these phones have obviously not been designed to be opened up and closed repeatedly. That metal end cap squashes down on the unprotected cable sheath, and my left side cable looks already pretty worn as a result. So, if you experience channel imbalance in bass on your unit, it's probably better to contact the manufacturer than try to fix it yourself.
2. Nozzle damping
While reassessing the persistant sibilance and spikiness in the 6-8kHz region with most tips, I noticed that the included Complys gave me by far the most benign results in that regard. I wondered whether Comply's wax guard was (partly) responsible for that...
... and decided to add a layer of damping material to the Sony hybrid tips (this is known as the "teabag mod" or "cloth mod").
Cut a small rectangle (about 8x16mm) out of a common tea bag:
Fold the piece in half and place the square over the nozzle. Hold it with your fingertip as you put the tip on:
The result should look like this on the inside:
The result should look like this from the outside:
Congrats, you're done!
3. Conclusion
My pair of R2PROs have given me more than one headache during the last few days. Their varying sound quality with different tips and seal kept puzzling me and somehow mirrored the differing impressions and opinions I've come across in this thread. Now, I don't claim to have found a universally valid explanation for all R2PRO woes, but at least regarding my particular issues, I think I've come to pretty solid conclusions:
- Properly sealed and damped R2PROs sound outstanding and close to neutral, with only a slight bass boost, a tad laid-back upper mids and a mild 6-8kHz emphasis.
- If you're using the included Comply tips and your R2PRO's end caps are properly sealed, you're likely hearing these phones at their best.
- If your R2PROs pass the low frequency test with perfectly centered bass and no boominess, their end caps are properly sealed.
- If you're using tips without a wax-guard, your R2PROs might exhibit some treble harshness and sibilance.
- In that case, the "teabag mod" will mitigate these treble issues and increase perceived treble quality.
Last not least, big thanks
@LCfiner and
@Idsynchrono_24, whose posts have been very helpful to narrow down the issues.
I've spent some more time with the R2Pro and I continue to be very impressed. The sound is right up there with the best TOTL universals that I've heard, imo. The evenness of tone, clear mids, bass tightness and power, coherent imaging and forward soundstage are all excellent.
I've had IEMs that had WIDER soundstage (1p2 and Senn IE800) but those had issues with tonality. 1p2 had a noticeably recessed midrange (too much for my taste) and the IE800 have a bit too much of a V shape sound (although mids are more prominent than on 1p2). cymbals can sound papery and light. bass can be a bit too much on the IE800. The R2pro does not have those issues. Treble is smooth and cymbals have bite and clarity, but also weight. Bass digs deep and has a slight midbass kick but never feels like it intrudes on the mids.
For fun, I tried comparing these to the Kef M200. A midrange IEM that I've liked since I first got them and always thought they punched above their weight. I always thought those had pretty natural tone and great soundstage and bass. But compared to the R2Pro, they sound very shouty in the mids and the bass is way, way overblown. It's almost like an assault on the ears when listening to them right next to the R2pro. The funny thing is that I don't remember feeling this down on the M200 when comparing them against the IE800. But against the flares, they sound very unnatural.
Against other good, sub $1k IEMs that I've owned like the UE900 and Heir 4ai, there's no real contest. these flares have much better mids, much more impactful bass and more clarity and "realness" to the sound.
And I love the slightly forward projected soundstage. It's very unique for IEM, I think. it's not very wide but I love how it feels like voices are slightly in front of me and there is no "3 blob" soundstage. it's a coherent stage spanning from left to right smoothly, just slightly in front of the middle of my head.
Just listened to those two test tracks. no noticeable sibilance on the first. very tiny amount on the second. Maybe I’m more tolerant of it?
to give my baseline: My test track is Matt Costa’s “Wash Away”. can’t find a youtube version that isn’t compressed and garbage. i have the track on iTunes match. incredibly sibilant all the way through with nearly every “sss” sound.
"Float downsssstream”…
Very, very sibilant on headphones that have pronounced 6 to 8k peaks. On the r2pro, almost no sibilance. sounds decent. i find the song to be hard to listen to on some headphones like Grados.
that was my test and the reason why i felt the sibilance was well under control compared to other headphones I’ve had. (recent example: RHA M750i. that one was painful! had to return it after 2 days. all sibilant and peaky. nothing at all like the flares)
very weird. I haven't given James' tracks a listen yet to comment, but I do hear hints of sibilance crop up on certain tracks. Flare said that fiddling with the end cap can sort of screw with the FR. No clue whether there's any truth to that, but I guess it's an element of QC to sort of ruminate on
