[LuckyNat]

The R2 housings (don't know about the Flares series with their extra engraving on the sides) were made locally to Flare Audio. I remember this either from a video, or some promotional text to do with the Kickstarter. I would imagine that the whole concept to design process will start with "what resources do we have right now?" and so a local CNC milling company will influence the path they take (as well as a catalogue of audio parts).

Looking at that facebook video I posted, the rear rubber/plastic insert appears to be all of Flare's design and is part of hand-assembly. If the cable goes through it, it has to be made by the company who make the cables and threaded through before the jack plug is moulded on. I'd have thought the cable is first soldered to the driver (by machine?), then all the moudlings put on afterwards.

It's funny isn't it.. all the talk of the smoothness and design of the metal housing and then there's quite a big bit of rubber/plastic in there that looks to get in the way, covering up the insides of the housing! Shape and size of the enclosure is perhaps more important than the claims of the smoothness... perhaps?

One thing I noticed with the Pro 2HD (which I've now returned - I did like them, and kind of thought they have more detail in the midrange, but slight decrease of detail in the treble instead compared to Gold. Plus err... could do with the money back for a mini financial venture) is that the driver is fully up against the throat of the front flare. On the Gold, Pro 2 and Pro , there is a small distance between the driver and the front opening. I wonder if that tiny change makes a difference, coupling to the front opening.

Personally, if I were to mod a pair, I'd mod the Pro 2 because of the design of the front opening.. although to do so just feels a little more risky due to the higher price and because it's new. I wonder if the difference in the front jet/flare design is responsible for the harsher treble of the Pro.. The Pro has a straight bit first before it flares out.. I wonder if that is responsible for the peak, a resonance in that part of the opening?

 

[LuckyNat]

Yes the back ring simply unscrews like they did on the R2, you can see that on my previous pic. That is what holds the driver and cable assembly in place. It’s very nicely machined and I can see no reason why it can’t be taken off repeatedly.

Did you have to use a pair of pliers (with a soft covering)? I can't turn them by hand...

 

[Jonathan Dunham]

The R2 housings (don't know about the Flares series with their extra engraving on the sides) were made locally to Flare Audio. I remember this either from a video, or some promotional text to do with the Kickstarter. I would imagine that the whole concept to design process will start with "what resources do we have right now?" and so a local CNC milling company will influence the path they take (as well as a catalogue of audio parts).

Looking at that facebook video I posted, the rear rubber/plastic insert appears to be all of Flare's design and is part of hand-assembly. If the cable goes through it, it has to be made by the company who make the cables and threaded through before the jack plug is moulded on. I'd have thought the cable is first soldered to the driver (by machine?), then all the moudlings put on afterwards.

It's funny isn't it.. all the talk of the smoothness and design of the metal housing and then there's quite a big bit of rubber/plastic in there that looks to get in the way, covering up the insides of the housing! Shape and size of the enclosure is perhaps more important than the claims of the smoothness... perhaps?

One thing I noticed with the Pro 2HD (which I've now returned - I did like them, and kind of thought they have more detail in the midrange, but slight decrease of detail in the treble instead compared to Gold. Plus err... could do with the money back for a mini financial venture) is that the driver is fully up against the throat of the front flare. On the Gold, Pro 2 and Pro , there is a small distance between the driver and the front opening. I wonder if that tiny change makes a difference, coupling to the front opening.

Personally, if I were to mod a pair, I'd mod the Pro 2 because of the design of the front opening.. although to do so just feels a little more risky due to the higher price and because it's new. I wonder if the difference in the front jet/flare design is responsible for the harsher treble of the Pro.. The Pro has a straight bit first before it flares out.. I wonder if that is responsible for the peak, a resonance in that part of the opening?

I'd agree with you regarding the rubber/plastic rear assembly, that does have quite a lot of sharp edges. But I stand by my earlier comment that as the rear of the driver is mostly blocked off, the shape and size of the rear has much less impact on the balance of the IEM.

Its the front of the enclosure that will do most of work on the balance. Hence why I think that taking the grill off is worth trying. And then as you say modifying the shape and finish on the front aperture too.

I'm intrigued by your thoughts about driver distance from the front aperture, between the 4 models. I've only seen and had the Pro and the Gold not the others. Can you show via a drawing perhaps the differences between the Gold and the Pro, or via some close up photos?

On mine, I'm very happy to experiment on the enclosure shape and can easily machine them, taking out some material. Obviously I can't put anything back though, in case the Gold (or 2HD) is smaller than the Pro! I can move the driver position too, from what you're saying possibly towards the rear might be beneficial.

 

[Jonathan Dunham]

Did you have to use a pair of pliers (with a soft covering)? I can't turn them by hand...

Yes, I used pliers to get them started. I used a bit of strong sticky tape and then the pliers don't scratch the enclosure, and give them better grip too.

I think Flare used some kind type Loctite or something on the threads, unless its the same glue that holds the cable in place on the white plastic part. Once you've taken it off once, you can do it up by hand easily, but still tighten it right down, so the driver is held in place properly.

 

[barondla]

Yes, I used pliers to get them started. I used a bit of strong sticky tape and then the pliers don't scratch the enclosure, and give them better grip too.

I think Flare used some kind type Loctite or something on the threads, unless its the same glue that holds the cable in place on the white plastic part. Once you've taken it off once, you can do it up by hand easily, but still tighten it right down, so the driver is held in place properly.

Unscrewing the original series messed with the bass balance and ideally had to be recalibrated by machine. Plus, too tight would ruin dynamics and even tighter would damage driver. Are these newer models different in this respect? Might be prudent to use feeler gauge to measure screw cap's position before experimenting.

 

[Jonathan Dunham]

Unscrewing the original series messed with the bass balance and ideally had to be recalibrated by machine. Plus, too tight would ruin dynamics and even tighter would damage driver. Are these newer models different in this respect? Might be prudent to use feeler gauge to measure screw cap's position before experimenting.

Yes very different. If you look at my pics you'll see that there's a rubber mount either side of the driver, and the enclosure is clearly designed and machined so that the end cap screws in fully to support the driver in a very fixed position. So no need for feeler gauges or anything like that.

 

[LuckyNat]

Unscrewing the original series messed with the bass balance and ideally had to be recalibrated by machine. Plus, too tight would ruin dynamics and even tighter would damage driver. Are these newer models different in this respect? Might be prudent to use feeler gauge to measure screw cap's position before experimenting.

From memory, i think the rear wasnt fully sealed on the R2s with a slight loss where the cable exits. Tightening the end cap too much then sealed the end and probably meant the driver couldn't move as well due to the air being unable to compress behind it. With these open backed Flares, it's unlikely to make too much of a difference. Once the end is on tight, whilst you can make it tighter, it won't actually be moving or reducing the volume within the chamber, just compressing the screw thread (which could in theory make a housing stiffer? Probably not on this scale..).

 

[mochill]

Should be getting my r2 titanium today , also got a Sony z5 today as well

 

[LuckyNat]

Enjoy them! Whenever I go back to them, it's like a smooth, relaxing breath of fresh air.. like opening a window and getting a nice breeze through. And for me they're so comfortable compared to anything else..
The latest Flares Pro range have more detail though.

 

[leetoe]

Hello friends, I hope this is the right place to post about the flare pro 2hd's. I got a couple of questions about these monitors as the pro 2hds are my first TOTL device and I'm fairly new in the audiophile world.

The audio devices I used before purchasing the pro 2hds from lower to high end are: sound magic e10, advanced sound model 3 and Sennheiser 598s.

Soundwise to me the pro 2hd's sound very similar to the model 3's, the bass and detail seemed better on the pro 2hds but I was expecting a bigger wow factor from the big difference in price. It seems to me I might not be using the best source for the pro 2hds and probably not experiencing the best these have to offer. For my listening I used the BT module and connected it to my phone to use with Spotify and flac files. Does anyone have recommendations for helping me make the most of this device? The review of the pro 2hds mentioned something about a tube amp making the sound more fun, which model of tube amp work best with this iem? Any other pro tips with these?

Thanks for the help

 

[mochill]

 

[sodesuka]

Hello friends, I hope this is the right place to post about the flare pro 2hd's. I got a couple of questions about these monitors as the pro 2hds are my first TOTL device and I'm fairly new in the audiophile world.

The audio devices I used before purchasing the pro 2hds from lower to high end are: sound magic e10, advanced sound model 3 and Sennheiser 598s.

Soundwise to me the pro 2hd's sound very similar to the model 3's, the bass and detail seemed better on the pro 2hds but I was expecting a bigger wow factor from the big difference in price. It seems to me I might not be using the best source for the pro 2hds and probably not experiencing the best these have to offer. For my listening I used the BT module and connected it to my phone to use with Spotify and flac files. Does anyone have recommendations for helping me make the most of this device? The review of the pro 2hds mentioned something about a tube amp making the sound more fun, which model of tube amp work best with this iem? Any other pro tips with these?

Thanks for the help

IMO, Flares lines are very very tips dependent, moreso than pretty much any other IEMs I have ever tried/owned. The included foam tips should give you close to ideal sound from them but most silicone tips would make them sound like they're lacking bass.

 

[Jonathan Dunham]

Hello friends, I hope this is the right place to post about the flare pro 2hd's. I got a couple of questions about these monitors as the pro 2hds are my first TOTL device and I'm fairly new in the audiophile world.

The audio devices I used before purchasing the pro 2hds from lower to high end are: sound magic e10, advanced sound model 3 and Sennheiser 598s.

Soundwise to me the pro 2hd's sound very similar to the model 3's, the bass and detail seemed better on the pro 2hds but I was expecting a bigger wow factor from the big difference in price. It seems to me I might not be using the best source for the pro 2hds and probably not experiencing the best these have to offer. For my listening I used the BT module and connected it to my phone to use with Spotify and flac files. Does anyone have recommendations for helping me make the most of this device? The review of the pro 2hds mentioned something about a tube amp making the sound more fun, which model of tube amp work best with this iem? Any other pro tips with these?

Thanks for the help

Hi leetoe, I can’t help directly with your comparisons to the 2HD, since I only have the Flares Pro now (and tried the Gold too for a while). But I have had the E10 in the past and use HD800’s on my desktop system as my over ear headphones.

What I can say is that the driver and BT module is the same for all the Flares Pro models. And they do need a fair bit of power as they are not very efficient (much less than the E10 for sure). So whilst the BT module does an admiral job and is useful as a portable device, if it’s absolute sound quality you’re after, you’ll not be hearing the 2HD’s at their best with that, despite what Flare might say or possibly a few others here. The simple fact is that it’s quite easy to improve on the BT module for SQ but it’s not going to be as portable.

I use my Pro’s with a Chord Mojo/Poly on the move, driven by my phone (FLAC files) and it sounds notably better than the BT module.

I’ve also used them with a few different tube amps on my desktop system which has a high end DAC, as well as my First Watt amp which is the best headphone amp I’ve ever heard. The Pro’s obviously sound even better with all those! So whilst using a $10K system with the Pro’s is total overkill and irrelevant for day to day listening, I do know how they sound with a top end source.

In terms of your comparisons though, you are discovering the classic law of diminishing returns. It’s a fact that beyond a certain point you have to spend considerably more to get very small increment in sound quality. Only you can decide whether those additional costs are worth it or not!

 

[AudioJunki3]

Hello friends, I hope this is the right place to post about the flare pro 2hd's. I got a couple of questions about these monitors as the pro 2hds are my first TOTL device and I'm fairly new in the audiophile world.

The audio devices I used before purchasing the pro 2hds from lower to high end are: sound magic e10, advanced sound model 3 and Sennheiser 598s.

Soundwise to me the pro 2hd's sound very similar to the model 3's, the bass and detail seemed better on the pro 2hds but I was expecting a bigger wow factor from the big difference in price. It seems to me I might not be using the best source for the pro 2hds and probably not experiencing the best these have to offer. For my listening I used the BT module and connected it to my phone to use with Spotify and flac files. Does anyone have recommendations for helping me make the most of this device? The review of the pro 2hds mentioned something about a tube amp making the sound more fun, which model of tube amp work best with this iem? Any other pro tips with these?

Thanks for the help

Hey!

I use my Flares 2HD with the Fiio BTR3, sound sgreat IMO and it's actually about the same size as the Flares one. Not too expensive either, I compared it to my Fiio M6 too, not really much of a difference which was disappointing, which is why I'm now selling the M6.

 

[Lacas]

Pro 2HD would have better bass rendition and details without the boosted mid bass like the Be, they would also have better defined highs with caveats of possibly being too much for those sensitive to higher frequencies, but I personally like my highs on my electronic while others may prefer the midbass boost on Be. So YMMV (I thought Be sounded 'sweet' compared to Flares line but too small of a soundstage for my liking, hence I sold mine long time ago).

Thanks for the thorough answer
Is the Flare 2HD a good match with the Chord Mojo?