So far these have me scratching my head, I want to love them but they don't seem to be doing it for me. First the bass on these just seem to much for me. Second the mids on these just seem to recessed as well as just to thin, I was hoping the bass would calm down a bit and even these out but I'm not sure if that's going to happen. If I do happen to return these is there someone that can point me in the right direction in terms of what I'm looking for? I really love my R2S's because I guess they seem more flat than these with very tame bass as well as resolving and spacious so these don't seem like an upgrade to me. I have been to rolling like a mad man but to no avail so maybe these aren't for me?
Wow again!
As dannyking and I are trading, he's getting my spare Meridian Explorer2 while I'm getting his Flare R2A. It seems the consensus is the R2A has less bass and more forward mids/vocals than the FlaresPro does. This was not an issue for me with the FlaresPro, as I thought the bass was just fine, since I'm one of the most bass-hating people on the planet, and I equally dislike recessed vocals. Getting the bass and the vocals just right, is more important to me than the treble., so long as the upper treble isn't bright.
I'm still in communication with Flare Audio, and I'm thinking there's got to be some variation in the tuning, something that isn't right which is happening in the sound. I've been testing the Massdrop HifiMan RE-00 I got from goodvibes a few weeks ago. In comparison with the FlaresPro, there is less bass by default, though there are vents that can be adjusted by the use of specially modified toothpicks, something I forgot to mention to Flare about possibly looking into bass adjustment on the venting in the back. The design of the FlaresPro offers a great way that could be implemented, maybe better the one on the RE-00.
After listening to the RE-00, I don't understand why HiFiMan didn't stick to that tuning, and just work on upgrading the design through more expensive models. Its the only earphone I've seen from hundreds of FR graphs that has a below neutral bass that goes upwards to the mids/vocals, deliberately moving the mids/vocals more forward than the bass.
Note, it does not have a negative effect on stage. This is where the FlaresPro does something wrong and I can see why some people may think the FlaresPro sounds recessed. While to my hearing, the FlaresPro tunes the mids/vocals just right, those who listen for a higher area of lower treble may deem them recessed.
That is because for some reason, Flare Audio tuned to enhance the upper treble, not the lower treble. I don't see this often, and its one thing I actually do like about V-Shaped sound, being the treble side of the V, rather than the bass side. Then to make sure that the mids/vocals are not recessed. Even plenty of V-Shaped sound signatures tune out the upper treble.
To me and possibly of good number of others, though it can depend on the type of music listened to, that the FlaresPro sadly will ruin many of our listening sessions. Music that takes alot of use in the treble range, particularly upper treble, will find their music sounding as if within a particular track, that song will have layers of its music sounding as if its competing against each other, rather than playing in cohesion.
I finally realized that was an underlying issue to what brought up the area in the music taking advantage of the upper treble region, forcing itself to be more forward than the other areas of the music playing a part in the treble range, sounding as they were "losing out", to that one area most prominent in the treble, causing the metallic tinge that can sound fizzy/hissy like its spitting at you like a snake proclaiming its victory against you as you realize you've been bitten badly by it, and now its deadly snake venom making its way through you, as you are left feeling shameful for being seduced by the alluring bass, mids/vocals on the FlaresPro that left you feeling tricked into that ravenous upper treble range that led you to the snake pit of slithering doom.
Well, that may be a bit too dramatic, but it gets the point across. The upper treble range is something I've found in my experience with the FlaresPro is something better left to tame that beast, and rather focus on enhancing the beauty of sound which lower treble audio can provide. I don't even blame Flare Audio for doing this mistaken focus on the upper range treble. They wanted the FlaresPro to be different, they took that risk, but they obviously understand that not everyone is going to like the results.
For me, I mostly love the results of the FlaresPro, except for the upper treble. If they were to reduce that and take on an even 5dB (max) increase in the upper mids/lower treble, stopping at around 5k then dropping down to neutral/flat for the remainder of the presentation, I believe the treble would sound just fine, with that upper mid/lower treble beauty firmly in place.
I'm going to have another redesign of my ideal sound signature FR graph done soon to reflect this. I think it will show the best representation of my thoughts on audio to date.The RE-00 gets very close to this, especially in the way the mids are above the bass line and the enhanced presence in the lower treble. It also does not put the layers of sound in the treble at odds with each other. Everything is cohesive and clear, sounding wonderfully.
I'm looking forward to receiving the R2A and writing a thorough comparative impression here between the R2A and the FlaresPro, adding along the RE-00 to the mix.