[all999]

I'm not a bass fan by any means, and any bass an iem has must be there to serve the dynamics of the rest, but not present itself much on its own, such as thumpiness, that boomy sound of bass notes. It needs to retain itself to keeping the music from sounding thin, but thats it.

Recessed vocals are an effect to increasing space in the music. The preference seems to be in giving more space to the sound, which is fine by me, but not in compensating for the vocals. Its like being at a concert. Putting yourself further back from the stage gives you a wider sense of scope of the stage, but pushes the vocals further back.

In my preference, some space is fine, going back just enough rows that gets the effect of the whole stage. Any narrower is not a good thing. I'm not extreme enough in my liking of forward vocals to cut off the ends of stage or pushing all the instrumentals into a narrow scope just to get an in-your-face vocal presence. To me, that is too forward.

The staging needs to be placed properly and naturally, without either any artificial narrowing nor expansiveness to the instrumental positioning, nor the stage itself. When thinking of this while listening to music, I often place myself in my mind in a 3d space with visual cues to the music, trying to see how lined up to the sound I am in, and the distances in space between every detail I can hear. Vocals are the easiest to figure out spacing, then the instrumentals, and finally the space, along with the place I am in within the scene.

Again, vocal and instrumental positioning & stage space must be natural, then my position to the sound needs to be on the vocal side of the equation in where I am in terms of rows back, not placed behind for added space the way so many iems do nowadays. Anything more forward, without being too close, nor artificially moving things in, is my preference.

Thanks for your input, but I was referring to the second part of your post

 

[Arysyn]

Oh, about why Flare is making them? The reason is because of the popularity of bass-heavy, inexpensive iems being popular. That and the dreaded "V-Shaped" sound signature I really do not like. I could blame the popularity of the focus on space and 3d sound for increasing the interest in recessing vocals in favor of space, but as my previous posts notes,, there can be a good medium to it.

 

[Jackpot77]

Got these through the other day. I agree that they have a heavy bass presence, but I find the vocals more toward neutral than recessed, and detail and clarity when you get past that big bottom end is decent (and good for the price). My initial knee jerk reaction was "I like these" - not going to jump on the hype train quite yet, but I think these will be a popular model in the sub $100 space.

@Arysyn - did you go for the 1 (acrylic) or 2 (aluminium) model? Emailed Flare about the difference as I went for the 2 and they suggested Thad the 2 will have a more full bodied sound and better isolation due to the all-metal body. Just wondering which version you are listening to?

Edit: Comfort is average - they sit outside the ear, but the nozzle is long enough to get s good fit and seal. Very much designed for wearing down, so imagine they are aiming these at the non-audiophile crowd that purchased their Isolate ear protectors.

 

[Lifted Andreas]

I've been considering these for a couple of weeks now, but after reading this thread today I'm gonna pass. By the sound of it they seem to have the same issues as the cheaper RHA IEMs - bloated bass, shy midrange and rolled off highs. Not my cup of tea tbh. I really wish companies would stop with these "consumer oriented" earphones that they think we all want. When what we really want is iBasso IT01, in essence. Pushing the standards of sound quality in value!

Not sure if there's any difference between Jet1 and Jet2, apart from materials. I don't see why Flare dont specifically state the sound differences on their website, if there are any.

 

[jant71]

I bailed and cancelled pretty quick as well. Didn't think they would do it but Flare is looking for something in that range, $50 -$99, to make some money on. A nice profit maker that sells more units than the pricier stuff that makes more profit each unit but sells less. The cheap pouch, the zip lock bag they come in, no slider, etc. plus the big marketing hype are enough clues but still perhaps they may have made them sound better than cheap consumer stuff. Funny cause in today's current market there is good stuff at the price of the Jet 2. FH1, Hibiki, T2, Elecom, CH9T, etc. List is quite long now. Looks like Flare didn't try that hard just got something out there to start making some $$ off.

 

[Jackpot77]

I've been emailing their customer supe support about the Jet models, and they provided the below in response to my enquiry regarding what sort of tuning they were aiming for:

"JET uses 10mm drivers which means that we are able to extend sub bass down much further compared to the tiny 5mm drivers in R2. This gives the initial impression that there is a lot more bass in JET but in actual fact the sound is just going a lot deeper into subsonic frequencies. If you play Jet at lower volumes and with all types of music you will hear the exact same sound signature that makes Flare technology unique (no audible resonances with balance and incredible detail). When bass is there in a track it is powerful but when there is no bass in a track there is no mud or muffle that you get from traditional bass heavy earphones/headphones masking detail. With JET you are also able to pump up the volume way beyond what R2 was capable of and this makes JET both audiophile and mass consumer appealing.

JET is our entry level product and the key reason for its existence is to entice non-audiophile people to start listening to true sound quality. Once people are aware of our unique sound they start to become audiophiles and this is why we developed JET. Flare’s unique sound will never change and our recent flagship Flares GOLD demonstrates our intention to lead the world into a new era of sound quality. Having a full product range that suits all tastes and at all price points is incredibly important to Flare. We formed Flare to change the way the world listens to music and that will always remain our number 1 goal."

I can verify that these are actually very good for low level listening, and there is plenty of clarity that can be heard, despite the high level of bass in most of my tracks. I still think it's a little overcooked for my personal preferences, but it isn't a disaster. It carries an impact that rivals some of the best DDs I've heard, and dogs incredibly deep - if they had just taken a few dB off the bass (mainly in the midbass) then I think this would have been very highly regarded in the budget audiophile bracket. As it is, EQ makes these more palatable for that crowd, and I can see them getting some traction with the consumer market. The lack of chin slider is also a consumer move, as these are definitely not designed for over ear wear, and the inline mic would make Thad difficult anyway.

 

[jant71]

Actually convincing me more the other way with what they wrote back to you.

More marketing speak: "true sound quality", "lead the world into a new era of SQ", and "change the way the world listens" is pushing towards less believable.

And what? Pretty much saying ignore the impressions cause they are wrong. The fact is they seem more bassy than they are because they go lower. Thanks for telling us what we should hear "in actual fact". Kind of insulting the impressions so far that say they have too much midbass. Guess you guys are wrong and you can't tell midbass from subbass.

Glad I got my refund. Lost some respect for Flare as well. Think overpriced Flare Gold and the Flare Jet are pretty much money grabs wrapped in marketing and don't like where they are headed.

 

[Ultrainferno]

Today Nathan aka @shigzeo aka Mr. Ohm Image reviews the Flare Audio JET 1 and 2 and states that Flare Audio gets the needs of portable listeners.
https://www.headfonia.com/review-flare-audio-jet-1-2/

 

[SOULSIK]

New take on the flare audio

 

[harry501501]

Anyone heard Jet 3?

 

[harry501501]

Their marketing speak reminds me of Pump Audio... another British company that focused on bass... they came thru on that promise but failed miserably with everything else lol

 

[Dobrescu George]

My review on Jet 2 is live now

https://www.audiophile-heaven.com/2019/05/the-odd-ones-flares-jet-2-iems-review.html

 

[harry501501]

Managed to get a cheap pair of the JET 1 for £10 on eBay used. They are horrible sounding lol. They are also one of the worst built earphones I've got in my entire collection. They are so uncomfortable and so hard to find a good tip for. When I eventually did find something that seemed to do them 'justice' I found bass as there only redeeming quality. Mids and treble were peaky and just 'weirdly tuned'. I can't offer any opinion on the other models so they might be better sounding, but I'd stay clear of the JET 1.

 

[Louis8ball]

The Jet 2 actually DO have a compatible foam product which works well with them, since it is also made by the same company. With this said, at this point it is hard to beat the sound from the Jet 2. Yes, I know I have resurrected a dead thread here. I don't really give 2 craps about that. Think what you want. But the Jet 2 item is worth a buy (and it doesn't cost nearly what it did back when this thread first began).