[McCol]

When you mention the AKG N5005 sounds better than the FlaresGold, do you mean the Bluetooth part or the Wired part? If you mean wired, I'm really curious about that because there is nothing I've tried with dynamic drivers that even comes close to the FlaresGold sound quality-wise. What I mean by that of course is subjective to my preferences, which is neutral bass (at most neutral, though spinrite did suggest a few songs that did bring out the bass cannons in the FlaresGold). Mid-Centric/Mid-Forward mids/vocals, Detailed Lower Treble, Spacious, 3d-like, though not harsh.

Regarding price, the most the FlaresGold should cost in my opinion, is $1,000, but I'm generally not someone to complain about price.

I’ve not tried the Bluetooth module for the N5005 as I’ve no real use for it or the module with the Flares. Despite this I do think that Bluetooth modules are a good thing for the more casual buyer of these products who will not invest in a DAC or DAP.
Wired I think the N5005 easily rival the Golds although it’s difficult to say they are better as they have totally different signatures. The N5005 are very neutral to my ears and give plenty of detail across the whole spectrum, I’d say the golds are warmer in terms of overall sound with maybe a bit more body to the sound.

I’m rotating 3 pairs of IEM at the moment, the others being the IMR R1 which are absolutely astonishing sounding earphones for the price.
I wasn’t really complaining about the price of earphones, I’ve just dropped around £800 on the Noble Kaiser on Massdrop as well as the other purchases I’ve made the last months, my point was more that all earphones at a certain price point become overpriced but we as a group of enthusiasts tend to pay the prices.

 

[Arysyn]

I’ve not tried the Bluetooth module for the N5005 as I’ve no real use for it or the module with the Flares. Despite this I do think that Bluetooth modules are a good thing for the more casual buyer of these products who will not invest in a DAC or DAP.
Wired I think the N5005 easily rival the Golds although it’s difficult to say they are better as they have totally different signatures. The N5005 are very neutral to my ears and give plenty of detail across the whole spectrum, I’d say the golds are warmer in terms of overall sound with maybe a bit more body to the sound.

I’m rotating 3 pairs of IEM at the moment, the others being the IMR R1 which are absolutely astonishing sounding earphones for the price.
I wasn’t really complaining about the price of earphones, I’ve just dropped around £800 on the Noble Kaiser on Massdrop as well as the other purchases I’ve made the last months, my point was more that all earphones at a certain price point become overpriced but we as a group of enthusiasts tend to pay the prices.

I'm going a bit offtopic here, but I can't help to think of this when seeing the model name "N5005"

Yes, this is a bit nitpicky, but I really dislike companies giving their product names random numbers. If I had no idea about all the great things of the FlaresGold, and just told by someone, "Hey, do you want a free FlaresGold, or do you want the N5005?" Without question the FlaresGold, just simply by name, again knowing nothing else of it.

Companies really should take care of giving their products names of something distinguished. I don't understand Sennheiser for the same reason. ie800, and now... the ie800s, despite having a completely different sound signature from the ie800. The "s" is suppose to represent refinement in a product from the previous iteration. Not an entirely new thing. It makes Sennheiser look lazy and unoriginal they just couldn't come up with a better name.

Flare Audio is just as guilty starting with the R2. At least now they've picked up on giving their product a proper identity with the FlaresJet, FlaresPro, and FlaresGold. That sounds far better than just some random numbering sequence.

 

[spinrite]

@Arysyn, you bet these Golds have a neutral bass but when the music calls for THE BASS, the Golds offer all of the lower registers in spades, levels of rich textures, They’re amazing! Try, Shake It, Caminando, Anywhere you want to go, by Santana preferably on Tidal.

 

[holden4th]

When my Pros finally arrive I've decided that I will need a bit more power to drive them than I currently have. At the moment I am using a Fiio E7/E9 DAC/Amp combination running out of my iMac. Now this is certainly a step up from the DAC and amp that Apple have included and you can clearly hear it.

That said, it does seem to have trouble running my Sennheiser HD580s to what I know they can sound like. The sound is OK but I have to give the volume control quite a bit of a tweak to get it to work properly. What I am trying to get the 580s to do is represent dynamics in a clear and consistent manner. What i do hear is when the sound does go low it is quieter than it should be unless I get the volume control set absolutely right. Of course this will vary for different recordings and this suggests to me that the E9 is not powerful enough to do the 580s justice.

The other issue is what has been described as the Sennheiser 'veil'. This is where the sound doesn't seem to have the full clarity that it should and this is well known for many of the cans that Sennheiser make. However, beef up the amplificatio and in the case of the 580s, this will disappear. In other words they scale up according to what's driving them.

Now I know that the 'veil' issue won't apply to the Flares but based on listening to my R2As that they don't drive as well as many iems. Once again, I have to adjust the volume carefully. I'd put the Flares on the same level as the Senns as far as driveability goes.

So what DAC/AMP combo should I look at getting for my soon to arrive Pros? My budget is limited - maybe $400 max. I don't want to use the E7 as a DAC as it is only USB powered when you separate it from the E9 and any electrical noise from Mac will affect the SQ.

 

[Arysyn]

@Arysyn, you bet these Golds have a neutral bass but when the music calls for THE BASS, the Golds offer all of the lower registers in spades, levels of rich textures, They’re amazing! Try, Shake It, Caminando, Anywhere you want to go, by Santana preferably on Tidal.

I was genuinely shocked by the bass in some of the songs you posted earlier, spinrite. Made my very thankful the FlaresGold didn't do that in the songs I generally listen to.

Also to holden - generally I try to be helpful with suggestions, but I'm really not sure which amp/dac in particular would be best for you. Although I'd recommend against what I typically go for with light bass sources, because you're going to need something with more warmth to help minimize the harshness of the treble. So, perhaps ask around for something that might reduce treble/increase warmth.

 

[spinrite]

@Arysyn, appreciating the wired version right now more there is a slight difference. Seems more airy, wider, less congested to the music then wireless. The wireless has its merits, i’m not knocking it, it’s pretty close. For convenience mobile use it’ll be my main choice otherwise sitting relaxing to my collection i’m running wired.

Arysyn, want get your opinion on a lossless music service that operates differently from all the rest. It community supported. There’s a yearly subscription fee of $99 to access all the content. It’s at this link:

murfie.com

 

[Jonathan Dunham]

So what DAC/AMP combo should I look at getting for my soon to arrive Pros? My budget is limited - maybe $400 max. I don't want to use the E7 as a DAC as it is only USB powered when you separate it from the E9 and any electrical noise from Mac will affect the SQ.

Holden4th, I’m pleased you’ve questioned your playback set-up as actually I’m a bit shocked on this thread that people seem to use or have multiple high end IEM’s with only budget sources!

I’ve been using Pro’s too for a while now, after listening to a number of other competitors and having owned the previous R2 as well as IE800’s etc.

I have a Chord Mojo as a better than average source and is portable. And you will probably find one of those under your budget. That sounds nice and great with the Pro’s. But as you already have portable gear, why not get a small mains only desktop set up? That could easily give you better sound quality than the Mojo.

For example if you’re in the US, you can get a Schiit Vali 2 amp with a Modi Multibit for $400. That’s a terrific sounding combo and would work well from the Mac. Or a used USB DAC (older Schiit or similar) with the Massdrop Cavalli Hybrid amp, that’s a giant killer for the price, I’ve just got one and it’s playing side by side with $1000 desktop amps very nicely.

 

[majo123]

Ok so i have come to the decision to sell my flarespro, the tizz or fizz or whatever it's been called is ruining my enjoyment on an otherwise awesome iem but i do want to point out that it is not always prevelant or noticeable and I think that maybe because i own other iems that are just doing the vocals/higher mids more smoothly i.e better that I'm noticing it more when I go back to them.
I'm still not certain if it is tuning or a design fault or still just a driver fault in fact I wish I could test another pair to see if it's still there but they will probably be gone by Monday as i have interest already.
Hope you all still enjoy your pros and golds

 

[Arysyn]

@Arysyn, appreciating the wired version right now more there is a slight difference. Seems more airy, wider, less congested to the music then wireless. The wireless has its merits, i’m not knocking it, it’s pretty close. For convenience mobile use it’ll be my main choice otherwise sitting relaxing to my collection i’m running wired.

Arysyn, want get your opinion on a lossless music service that operates differently from all the rest. It community supported. There’s a yearly subscription fee of $99 to access all the content. It’s at this link:

murfie.com

hi spinrite,

Ugh! I'd never heard of that murfie site before, but how awful! $100 for a year and all it gets you is 12 albums. Should I be reminded of this :



I was just a kid back then, so please forgive me when I say this atrocious statement... I use to cry whenever seeing that commercial. Although now I might cry at the sight of it for very different reasons knowing how thankful I am never to have bought into that scheme.

murfie looks to be that exact same thing, only an online version of Columbia House. Plus 30% commission for selling music that gets paid back to murfie. Wow! ...

I feel better paying JayZ and Sprint.

 

[Arysyn]

Ok so i have come to the decision to sell my flarespro, the tizz or fizz or whatever it's been called is ruining my enjoyment on an otherwise awesome iem but i do want to point out that it is not always prevelant or noticeable and I think that maybe because i own other iems that are just doing the vocals/higher mids more smoothly i.e better that I'm noticing it more when I go back to them.
I'm still not certain if it is tuning or a design fault or still just a driver fault in fact I wish I could test another pair to see if it's still there but they will probably be gone by Monday as i have interest already.
Hope you all still enjoy your pros and golds

Yep, that fizzy tizzy harsh metallic tinge of the FlaresPro will ruin the music it affects.

You could still get the FlaresGold, majo. Its much much better than the FlaresPro.

 

[majo123]

Yep, that fizzy tizzy harsh metallic tinge of the FlaresPro will ruin the music it affects.

You could still get the FlaresGold, majo. Its much much better than the FlaresPro.

If they were a bit cheaper I would possibly consider but I just don't spend that much on iems as I mostly use on the go and am a notorious iem serial killer.
Maybe if they drop in price in the future .

 

[McCol]

Holden4th, I’m pleased you’ve questioned your playback set-up as actually I’m a bit shocked on this thread that people seem to use or have multiple high end IEM’s with only budget sources!

I’ve been using Pro’s too for a while now, after listening to a number of other competitors and having owned the previous R2 as well as IE800’s etc.

I have a Chord Mojo as a better than average source and is portable. And you will probably find one of those under your budget. That sounds nice and great with the Pro’s. But as you already have portable gear, why not get a small mains only desktop set up? That could easily give you better sound quality than the Mojo.

For example if you’re in the US, you can get a Schiit Vali 2 amp with a Modi Multibit for $400. That’s a terrific sounding combo and would work well from the Mac. Or a used USB DAC (older Schiit or similar) with the Massdrop Cavalli Hybrid amp, that’s a giant killer for the price, I’ve just got one and it’s playing side by side with $1000 desktop amps very nicely.

Having nice high end sources for playback is nice but not entirely essential, I’ve used smartphones in the past that have had reasonable dac chips and it’s only really power to drive ear/headphones that lets them down.
Even though I own reasonable gear I could make do with a phone and most of my earphones, there is a lot of snobbery and elitism on head-fi in regards to equipment. Of course source makes a difference but I’ve had dac/amp setups that have added nothing to what I was already getting from the phone.

 

[Arysyn]

Having nice high end sources for playback is nice but not entirely essential, I’ve used smartphones in the past that have had reasonable dac chips and it’s only really power to drive ear/headphones that lets them down.
Even though I own reasonable gear I could make do with a phone and most of my earphones, there is a lot of snobbery and elitism on head-fi in regards to equipment. Of course source makes a difference but I’ve had dac/amp setups that have added nothing to what I was already getting from the phone.

Nothing against the Schiit company, which appears to make some very nice high quality products, but I often wonder whenever I see an article headlined on the front page of Head-Fi "Schiit Happens, Volume ..." I wonder why they get such heavenly-like promotions as though they sell equipment of biblical proportions, that they even have a book with regular chapter references on the main page of Head-Fi. To me, I think that is arrogance. Why does a company that makes amps and dacs need a book dedicated to them? Besides, shouldn't it be spelled "Schitt" or "Schiitt"? The two 't's at the end would help.

 

[barondla]

Nothing against the Schiit company, which appears to make some very nice high quality products, but I often wonder whenever I see an article headlined on the front page of Head-Fi "Schiit Happens, Volume ..." I wonder why they get such heavenly-like promotions as though they sell equipment of biblical proportions, that they even have a book with regular chapter references on the main page of Head-Fi. To me, I think that is arrogance. Why does a company that makes amps and dacs need a book dedicated to them? Besides, shouldn't it be spelled "Schitt" or "Schiitt"? The two 't's at the end would help.

It isn't really a book dedicated to them. It is chapters written by co founder Jason Stoddard. Jason covers every bit of the hi fi business from advertising to design to manufacture. He writes about choices they have to make to bring a new product to market. He relates problems they have encountered. He once built a great amplifier but neglected to design it so it could be mass produced. It had to be redesigned numerous times for all the parts to fit in the case and be easy to assemble.

Schiit also asks customers what they think about new product ideas. They even tell people pros & cons of building their ideas.

I have a business degree and wish this had been available at the time. It is an education and well worth reading. Highly recommended. A
Head-Fi member actually put the "chapters" into book form. Believe it has now been published in hard copy. Check it out.

 

[Oublie]

If they were a bit cheaper I would possibly consider but I just don't spend that much on iems as I mostly use on the go and am a notorious iem serial killer.
Maybe if they drop in price in the future .

I have the Jet 2 fully wired aluminium baby brothers to the pro if like me your an iem killer they are worth a listen for the price. No fancy Bluetooth etc but OK. I would say the the cable is insanely microphonic and not replaceable which is a real shame. They do have phenomenally good bass and very comfortable to wear for long periods.