[goodvibes]

Yup and I'm not hating on them. I can understand why folks like them. Clarity, speed, bass etc. Just saying this horse isn't for that course.

 

[Arysyn]

I listened to these last night and it's always there, just spotlighted on certain recordings. Top end sounds a bit metallic to me. He had some tips on them that restricted the highs a bit (spinfit duals) and that mitigated the issue somewhat but also gave them too much lower mid color. When I threw some single flange spinfits on them, it was always noticeable. It's a sound that many like but it's not for me. I couldn't live with B2s or Jays either and both were popular so as usual ymmv. Here, you have more bass that those but the top is still a bit much to my ear. I gave Arysyn my re00s and I think he'll be happier with those. Nice meeting you.

Same here, goodvibes.

The RE-00 is basically the good aspects of the RE-800 and the FlaresPro in an iem, without the slight basshump and recessed vocals of the RE-800 and without the metallic noise of the FlaresPro. Thing is, the FlaresPro already fixes the issues with the RE-800, yet while several people complained of the treble spike on the RE-800, I never heard that. Although, I do hear it on the FlaresPro.

I think in my case and those perhaps who share some areas of whatever my hearing profile is, quick treble spikes may not be an issue for us, but extended treble humps are. Then certainly there are those with the opposite sense of hearing, which I'm beginning to believe are the hearing properties of those at Flare Audio who so far are having difficulty pinpointing this issue.

I wrote a long email to Flare Audio this morning, and I'm very confident they'll respond to me soon. Regardless of everything that is going on, I still have alot of respect for Flare Audio, and there is no doubt in my mind they care about their business and customers.

The only trouble I'm having with the concept of the FlaresPro in light of the various issues reported in this thread, including the metallic fizz issue I've been reporting here, is why Flare Audio would make such a great mostly neutral/reference iem, then tune the upper treble higher with an extended bump.

They have stated wanting the FlaresPro to have a "live" sound, but this could have been accomplished with less risk of sibilance and other negative treble side effects by focusing on the lower treble region. While I've never listened to their older iems, I've seen some frequency response graphs of them that appear to have a flat/neutral bass, mids, and a bit in the lower treble, then drop off from there quite a bit. Perhaps live the sound by bringing more of the treble into neutral territory, but not risk raising the treble beyond that, especially the upper treble.

I listened to the Prophile 8 last night which does not have the metallic tinge. Actually, the Prophile 8 sounded rather good to me overall. I also listened to the Campfire Audio Andromeda, which that one I did hear a metallic tinge to, one very similar to the FlaresPro.

The frequency response graph of the Andromeda with the extended upper treble can be found on a search using Google to one of the websites Head-Fi competes with, so I won't link to there from here. However, its pretty close in tonality to the FlaresPro in the upper treble region, which makes me wonder why they'd tune these in such a way to make certain music pretty much unlistenable on them.

 

[goodvibes]

Andros with the tips you used on the Flares would not have that level of the same issue. Remember that you only listened to them briefly with the shorter, wider bore tips and the tips you use on the flares does restrict the highs a bit. For me, the Andro is in the acceptable range and they have some other special attributes.

We need to be careful looking at graphs because they vary greatly from one rig to another. I think the graph from crinicle's thread represents it pretty accurately

but enough of the Andro...
Whether the Flares work for an individual or not has everything to do with what quantity of high frequency one likes or can accept. The rest of the phone is quite good.

 

[Arysyn]

Sometimes I wonder why these frequency response graphs do vary quite a bit.

Such as HiFlight, who made a graph of the FlaresPro frequency response :

Compared with the official graph :

I believe both graphs are accurate, as I've stated here many times.

However, Flare Audio has admitted to me the design of their FlaresPro product is designed to adapt to different music, meaning the bass, mids, and treble seen on one graph may not be accurate for all music.

My guess though from my experience is HiFlight's graph seems to match music that does not present the metallic sound in the upper treble, whereas the extension in the upper treble bump indicates where instruments in that region are being played, with the FlaresPro bringing that more forward.

That shows where the flaw in the FlaresPro could be. While its essentially handling everything right, there is that bit of extension in the upper treble being bumped up, where Flare Audio's graph is showing.

I suppose the same could be said in regards to the Andromeda. Again though, I can't link the graph I'm referring to here, because its from a site I heard was "blacklisted" from mention here, nor do I want to copy it to upload here without giving proper credit, which means I'd have to mention the site anyways.

A Google search will show it very quickly though, and there are some differences from Crinnacle's graph. Both may be very accurate, and since its true I didn't listen to the Andromeda for long, I can't give an in-depth observation, though I did want to mention hearing the treble similarities with the FlaresPro for what I did hear from them.

It could very well be a different issue behind the Andromeda than what is going on with the FlaresPro, but I still think the graphs may be on to something with that upper treble area. At least when Flare Audio reads this thread, perhaps they will consider looking into the treble more, because it does pose an issue in certain music.

Putting aside that for a moment though, I've read throughout Head-Fi and other sites where one of the biggest complaints in audio, is treble sibilance and a hot treble in general. People seem much more sensitive to treble than bass, which always has been the opposite for me where I've preferred treble over bass by a huge margin. I've even been a bit harsh when referencing bass fans in my conversations with treble fans. Yet, I'm now beginning to understand the other side to it, understanding how treble can really make listening to certain music pretty uncomfortable, whereas it really takes alot of bass, and not just bass alone, but badly implemented bass to ruin a listening experience.

 

[dannyking]

Hi guys,
Would anyone know how the Flares pro compare to the shures Se846? Thanks

 

[Magick Man]

Okay, this IS odd. I just received the 2nd set of Flares Pro today and, side by side, the new ones sound metallic compared to the first set (which are a couple weeks old and have ~50 hours on them). It's pretty noticeable. I'm going to let the second set break-in overnight (they arrived this morning and they have ~7 hours on them so far) and I'll continue the comparison.

 

[SteveKiwi]

Hi guys,
Would anyone know how the Flares pro compare to the shures Se846? Thanks

Hi I have both. It's a personal opinion but I feel the Flares are better in all ways.
They have deeper bass, the treble is better defined (and noticiable to some as being too hot - but not for me but you have to bear in mind I'm 63 so high frequencies get lost, so for me they are perfect). The mids are perhaps not as good as the SE 846 but they are still good.

The soundstage on the Flares is both wider and also has more depth.

Don't get me wrong I love the SE 846 but I love the Flares more

 

[holden4th]

I'm sitting on the sidelines and reading everything with great interest. From what I can gather so far, the bluetooth connection seems to be the best way to get best sound quality. I like the idea of having my phone or device connecting wirelessly to the Flares.

I use Apple devices (iPad Pro and iPhone 7) and on the website they are saying that their BT module is version 4.1 with APT-X connectivity. My understanding is that iDevices don't recognise APT-X and this raises connection issues. Will my Apple devices be able to connect and if so will it be inferior SQ? Do any of you Flares PRO owners use it with with an iPad or iPhone and how does it sound unwired compared to wired? I can also connect the PROs to my Fiio E9/E7 combo which is attached to my iMac. Your thoughts on sound quality would be appreciated.

 

[majo123]

I'm sitting on the sidelines and reading everything with great interest. From what I can gather so far, the bluetooth connection seems to be the best way to get best sound quality. I like the idea of having my phone or device connecting wirelessly to the Flares.

I use Apple devices (iPad Pro and iPhone 7) and on the website they are saying that their BT module is version 4.1 with APT-X connectivity. My understanding is that iDevices don't recognise APT-X and this raises connection issues. Will my Apple devices be able to connect and if so will it be inferior SQ? Do any of you Flares PRO owners use it with with an iPad or iPhone and how does it sound unwired compared to wired? I can also connect the PROs to my Fiio E9/E7 combo which is attached to my iMac. Your thoughts on sound quality would be appreciated.

I only use my flarespro wired either with mojo or opus1.
I'm no fan of bluetooth and i think from my personal experience wired is far better, I also have fiio x7 which is how I tried the Bluetooth.

 

[Bananiq]

OK I guess its about a time to jump on the train.....GBP / EUR starts to increase

 

[Arysyn]

Okay, this IS odd. I just received the 2nd set of Flares Pro today and, side by side, the new ones sound metallic compared to the first set (which are a couple weeks old and have ~50 hours on them). It's pretty noticeable. I'm going to let the second set break-in overnight (they arrived this morning and they have ~7 hours on them so far) and I'll continue the comparison.

I suggest contacting Flare Audio about this. They are definitely looking into this matter, not ignoring it or writing it off like some companies might. Flare Audio is doing a great job following up on things.

I'm going to be sending my pair back to Flare Audio for inspection. The FlaresPro is great in many ways, but if the set anyone has is really metallic sounding to where it makes listening difficult, I really don't think this is normal and should be looked at by Flare Audio to see what can be done about it.

If its a defect, then it probably can be fixed. I'm not so sure it is though, or rather it could be there is a tuning difference between sets, as I suspected with the HiFiMan RE-800, but at least with the FlaresPro, FlareAudio is investigating this issue on their iem.

Again, while it could be different, I'm suspecting there is an issue in the upper treble where FlareAudio tuned to produce the "live sound" and some sets may have this tuning right, while others may be just a bit off and too hot where this metallic sound is being produced in various levels, depending on the set.

I respect Flare Audio, especially making an iem as good as he FlaresPro is in other areas of the sound, but if it were my decision, I'd have the upper treble either completely flat, or under, then work on tuning the lower treble instead for that added spaciousness. Or have smaller peaks in the upper treble that are not extended.

The HiFiMan RE-00 I got from goodvibes has a peak in the upper treble that while it gets a bit forward, it doesn't interfere in the other sound, nor produce a fizz to the sound I blame on the extended nature of the upper treble the FlaresPro, or certain sets of the FlaresPro, overdoes.

Instead, the RE-00 concentrates more on the lower treble area I mentioned is a safer tuning from sibilance. A flat, neutral bass tuning through to the mids like the FlaresPro features or a lower inclining bass up to the mids like the RE-00 has, combined with an enhanced lower treble flattening out mid treble, then lowering out in the high treble really is the way to go, in my opinion.

It'll be interesting what results in this. I'm hoping after I send my set back to Flare Audio they can find out the exact specific problem, even if it differs from my theory, and can correct it somehow. If its an inevitable side effect in the live sound though, then Flare Audio mentioned they'll refund me on it.

Of course I'll accept that offer, but I'd still really like to have a FlaresPro that doesn't have this issue, and pushes the upper treble back a bit so that this doesn't happen. I'm leery of getting a current replacement though, rather have them find out the problem and correct it. Not sure that can happen though.

 

[Midgetguy]

Hey guys,

I just got an email from them saying something about some sort of deal regarding the R2A exchange offer. I don't have mine anymore, but I was still curious just to see what it was. Problem is that their email is apparently images and all the images are broken links so I literally have some margin bars, an address to return to, and no other info. Anyone seen the email and could tell me what it was about? I'm just curious.

 

[dannyking]

Hey guys,

I just got an email from them saying something about some sort of deal regarding the R2A exchange offer. I don't have mine anymore, but I was still curious just to see what it was. Problem is that their email is apparently images and all the images are broken links so I literally have some margin bars, an address to return to, and no other info. Anyone seen the email and could tell me what it was about? I'm just curious.

I'm curious about this too if anyone has an answer.

 

[LazerBear]

I'm curious about this too if anyone has an answer.

It's just a bunch of images of the Flares Pro, nothing of significance. My guess is a discount offer for customers who Kickstarted the original Flares back in the day.

EDIT: this is the text of the email:

Dear Valued Backer,

Please keep an eye on your email account for an exciting offer - just for you - on our new FLARES® PRO Earphones..

 

[Midgetguy]

It's just a bunch of images of the Flares Pro, nothing of significance. My guess is a discount offer for customers who Kickstarted the original Flares back in the day.

EDIT: this is the text of the email:

Dear Valued Backer,

Please keep an eye on your email account for an exciting offer - just for you - on our new FLARES® PRO Earphones..

Oh no, not that one. I meant I got an actual email from the Team Flare email address. The KS Flare email was what you mentioned, but I also got one directly from Flare around the same time that's just a bunch of broken image links and a return address. It was in my junk mail box, dunno if anyone else saw theirs?