FlaresPro/FlaresGold by Flare Audio
Mar 5, 2018 at 8:43 PM Post #421 of 1,354
My thoughts too.

They can only be a waste of money if you don't like them AND don't bother to return them within the 30 days. Then, yes, that would be a waste of money.. It's another thing of course to tie up that money for the hassle of thinking you'll not like them if it would mean saving or preventing you from getting something else - I can totally understand that of course.

There's a guy on ebay selling his Flares Pro so I asked him if he was selling them because of getting Golds (just a guess) and he said he was! He said they were superb and for the £650 with the discount (minus his £250 too when he sells the Pros) he thought they were well worth the upgrade. Didn't expand nor I want to hassle him any more than that... but still, good to hear another positive .

Just to add to my confirmation bias of course!

Interesting that his warranty card is number 004113 or something (mine 000060) Did they sell that many? Seems a fair amount to me for a small manufacturer selling direct with not that much advertising.
 
Mar 6, 2018 at 9:22 AM Post #423 of 1,354
Are we sure that the Flares Pro are an open design? I'm not convinced. I know it has the hole in the back but I'm not sure that is a vent. In all my vented DD iem's when pushing the earpiece in the canal there is never any trapping of air in the canal like there is with my closed BA design IEM's. However, with the Flares Pro there does not seem to be anywhere for the air to go (I.E. through the vent as in normal vented DD designs). Instead my canal has that 'blocked' feeling until I play with my ear to allow the air to escape. Also, I get ear fatigue just as quickly with the Flare as I do with a closed BA iem. Whereas with a vented DD IEM it takes much longer for ear fatigue to kick in.
 
Mar 6, 2018 at 10:30 AM Post #424 of 1,354
My Golds arrived earlier, a few days late but understandable due to the weather.

First thing to say is that these look and feel awesome, bigger than the normal Pro’s but still a nice fit in the ear.

Early impressions for me are very good, I’d say a clear step up from the Pro’s. More depth and stage with more air to the music. Separation is better and that bass is just so sweet, not overwhelming but just textured and full, you can feel it at times. The highs also seem smoother and more in the mix than the pro’s. One of the reasons I sold my pro’s was that they couldn’t compete with my IE800s in terms of stage and presence of the mids and highs, however early impressions here sound good to me.
 
Mar 6, 2018 at 12:02 PM Post #425 of 1,354
Are we sure that the Flares Pro are an open design? I'm not convinced. I know it has the hole in the back but I'm not sure that is a vent. In all my vented DD iem's when pushing the earpiece in the canal there is never any trapping of air in the canal like there is with my closed BA design IEM's. However, with the Flares Pro there does not seem to be anywhere for the air to go (I.E. through the vent as in normal vented DD designs). Instead my canal has that 'blocked' feeling until I play with my ear to allow the air to escape. Also, I get ear fatigue just as quickly with the Flare as I do with a closed BA iem. Whereas with a vented DD IEM it takes much longer for ear fatigue to kick in.

You're right, they're not vented from front to back. Still sealed into your ear.

What the design claims is that pressure that the driver sees in terms of having an effect on it's ability to move, is equalised. Not that air pressure either side of the iem is equalised.

This makes the movement of the driver diaphram even in pushing and pulling the air. In designs where this is not equal, the excursion that is larger will begin to push your ear drum too much in that same direction for a given loudness compared to a presure wave that is equal. It's the excessive excursion that causes hearing damage (or onset of fatigue before damage). Davies Roberts the designer says that this is also a source of perceived distortion and therefore earlier onset of perceived listening fatigue (psychoacoustic, rather than damage). Other than something moving toward you or moving away from you at a certain speed (along with dopler shift), an un-equal waveform is not a natural waveform.

I guess that it is only the immediate cavity in front of and behind the driver that determines the pressures it has to work against - the cavity's shape and size, causing resonances and back-presures. I think the air in the ear canal is probably large enough not to effect the small movement of the driver in that way, whereas a sealed rear chamber of the iem would be small enough and pressured enough by the driver (so they made it open).

I think sealing the ear canal improves low-end performance or at least means the driver has less work to do to perform well.

P.S. I think flare use "asymetric" when I say un-equal...
 
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Mar 6, 2018 at 12:13 PM Post #426 of 1,354
You're right, they're not vented from front to back. Still sealed into your ear.

What the design claims is that pressure that the driver sees in terms of having an effect on it's ability to move, is equalised. Not that air pressure either side of the iem is equalised.

This makes the movement of the driver diaphram even in pushing and pulling the air. In designs where this is not equal, the excursion that is larger will begin to push your ear drum too much in that same direction for a given loudness compared to a presure wave that is equal. It's the excessive excursion that causes hearing damage (or onset of fatigue before damage). Davies Roberts the designer says that this is also a source of perceived distortion and therefore earlier onset of perceived listening fatigue (psychoacoustic, rather than damage). Other than something moving toward you or moving away from you at a certain speed (along with dopler shift), an un-equal waveform is not a natural waveform.I

I guess that it is only the immediate cavity in front of and behind the driver that determines the pressures it has to work against - the cavity's shape and size, causing resonances and back-presures. I think the air in the ear canal is probably large enough not to effect the small movement of the driver in that way, whereas a sealed rear chamber of the iem would be small enough and pressured enough by the driver (so they made it open).

I think sealing the ear canal improves low-end performance or at least means the driver has less work to do to perform well.

I don't know the details of the venting but if I close the outside vents with my fingers with music playing, there is a definite change with the music being less expansive and airy. Clearly they are designed to enhance the sound quality.
 
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Mar 6, 2018 at 12:35 PM Post #427 of 1,354
One of the reasons I sold my pro’s was that they couldn’t compete with my IE800s in terms of stage and presence of the mids and highs, however early impressions here sound good to me.

Do you mean IE800S or IE800?

I've just moved to the Flares Pro from the R2 Pro, and to me the R2 was already better allround than my IE800. The only area the IE800 scored better was in soundstage, where it was more expansive. The Flares Pro are markedly better than the R2 Pro in that area, and I'd say better than the IE800. I've not heard the IE800S, though I can't really see that they've changed much on that (apart from hiking the price!).

Although I use a Chord Mojo also, I tested all these using a top quality DAC and decent desktop (solid state) headphone amp for my audiotioning impressions mentioned above. And that setup does show a clean pair of heels to the Mojo, and shows larger differences between the 3 IEM's.

I'd like to try the Pro Gold though!
 
Mar 6, 2018 at 1:09 PM Post #428 of 1,354
Do you mean IE800S or IE800?

I've just moved to the Flares Pro from the R2 Pro, and to me the R2 was already better allround than my IE800. The only area the IE800 scored better was in soundstage, where it was more expansive. The Flares Pro are markedly better than the R2 Pro in that area, and I'd say better than the IE800. I've not heard the IE800S, though I can't really see that they've changed much on that (apart from hiking the price!).

Although I use a Chord Mojo also, I tested all these using a top quality DAC and decent desktop (solid state) headphone amp for my audiotioning impressions mentioned above. And that setup does show a clean pair of heels to the Mojo, and shows larger differences between the 3 IEM's.

I'd like to try the Pro Gold though!

I was talking about the 800s. The old IE800 I felt were marginally better than the R2 Pro and about the same as the Flare Pro however the new IE800s is different to its older brother! More refined treble and a better soundstage, it was enough to make me sell my Flare Pro.

The golds however from my early impressions more than hold their own against the 800s. That’s using with a Chord Mojo/Poly
 
Mar 6, 2018 at 1:24 PM Post #429 of 1,354
Are we sure that the Flares Pro are an open design? I'm not convinced. I know it has the hole in the back but I'm not sure that is a vent. In all my vented DD iem's when pushing the earpiece in the canal there is never any trapping of air in the canal like there is with my closed BA design IEM's. However, with the Flares Pro there does not seem to be anywhere for the air to go (I.E. through the vent as in normal vented DD designs). Instead my canal has that 'blocked' feeling until I play with my ear to allow the air to escape. Also, I get ear fatigue just as quickly with the Flare as I do with a closed BA iem. Whereas with a vented DD IEM it takes much longer for ear fatigue to kick in.

Only a front vent can equalize pressure between your ear canal and the outside air. A rear vent can"t do that, since it"s situated behind the driver's diaphragm which seals the ear canal. Nevertheless, the rear vent plays an important role in driver damping, so it does serve a purpose.

Seems the FlarePros do have a rear vent, but no front vent. I wonder how Flare achieve their claimed pressure balance then? All the more since individual ear canals have varying shapes and sizes, and therefore present different acoustic loads to the driver.
 
Mar 6, 2018 at 2:13 PM Post #430 of 1,354
While we can endlessly discuss the engineering and design philosophy, the fact remains that to me thse are fine-sounding phones, better in fact than a number of IEM's that I have owned that were more costly than the Golds!
 
Mar 6, 2018 at 3:53 PM Post #431 of 1,354
I hate to ask this again, but with the coupon code expiring soon, I'm still undecided about getting the Gold. Is the treble less harsh than on the Pro? That is the only factor keeping me from getting the Gold, and if its better that would be great. For reference, what I'm looking for is in the tambourine/cymbal section of music not to be overbearing in the notes that feature it heavily, such as in "Rivers of Belief" by Enigma. The second half of that song is where I noticed the issue in the treble of the Pro, and in a few other similar songs. The Gold with its more 3d spacing might fix that, but I'd still like to know from others with it what its like.
 
Mar 6, 2018 at 4:33 PM Post #432 of 1,354
I hate to ask this again, but with the coupon code expiring soon, I'm still undecided about getting the Gold. Is the treble less harsh than on the Pro? That is the only factor keeping me from getting the Gold, and if its better that would be great. For reference, what I'm looking for is in the tambourine/cymbal section of music not to be overbearing in the notes that feature it heavily, such as in "Rivers of Belief" by Enigma. The second half of that song is where I noticed the issue in the treble of the Pro, and in a few other similar songs. The Gold with its more 3d spacing might fix that, but I'd still like to know from others with it what its like.

You ask a question that is impossible for anyone to definitively answer for you as what sounds "right" for one may well sound "wrong" to you. The 30 day return is offered to answer that question using your own ears rather than the subjective opinions of others.
 
Mar 6, 2018 at 6:33 PM Post #434 of 1,354
You ask a question that is impossible for anyone to definitively answer for you as what sounds "right" for one may well sound "wrong" to you. The 30 day return is offered to answer that question using your own ears rather than the subjective opinions of others.

Not necessarily. The question I'm asking is of a particular sound effect from the tuning, not a simple opinion-based issue, such as "Is the bass deep enough?". I can see your point if I was asking the level of harshness in the treble, but I think most here on Head-Fi have a sense of what is harsh or not. Same as when people say the vocals are or are not recessed, among using terms like "forward" and "wide soundstage". My intention purely is along that line of wanting to know if there is the same harshness of the Pro many have noted here.

Again, Not to say this treble tuning is bad. I understand its purpose is for the "live" sound Flare is going for, and thats fine for many songs. However, it "breaks" some other songs that already are tuned in this style for atmosphere. Therefore, its good to know if the followup flagship, which the Gold technically is since Flare did adjust the tuning on it. Also, when I say "breaks", I'm not meaning the same thing as "crashes", where a song might stop playing suddenly, etc., though it sure does make it difficult to listen to.

What I'm asking is, if those who have the Gold know of a heavily treble-tuned song, where is developed for the sense of heavy detail and space, among speed, notices the same harshness of the Gold as with the Pro, or if the issue has been corrected. One thing Flare could do, is to have retuned the upper treble to bring it down a bit and replace the tuning emphasis towards the mid treble and lower treble, which would bring out more detail and still have the atmospheric space on a safer level. While I know this is different, I notice this when EQ tuning and testing out the variables. Its much less risky of sibilance getting the lower treble worked out than with the upper treble.

I know I've said that alot here about the treble, offering my advice that would help an already great product be better. If I didn't listen mainly to high-treble sensitive music, I'd absolutely love the FlaresPro, and I know already how great the R2A is. If Flare could take the qualities of the R2 and the FlaresPro, but find a common ground between them on the treble, I doubt there could be a better iem. I'm wondering if Flares Gold with the retuning might be that.

The coupon lasts 60 days so plenty of time still....

Oh, I thought it was more limited than that. Very good to know though! The coupon code is the best I've ever seen on any product discount online, so if anyone is considering getting the Gold, really better not to wait long when it nears expiry. To me, I do want to get a few more opinions and reviews to be sure. I know Flare is offering the trail period, and with that it isn't much risk to me for return in general, because I loved the FlaresPro with everything, except the one issue of the upper treble response. If that has been fixed, then it'll be a keeper. I'd really rather not have to return it for the same issue though.
 
Mar 6, 2018 at 6:41 PM Post #435 of 1,354
I hate to ask this again, but with the coupon code expiring soon, I'm still undecided about getting the Gold. Is the treble less harsh than on the Pro? That is the only factor keeping me from getting the Gold, and if its better that would be great. For reference, what I'm looking for is in the tambourine/cymbal section of music not to be overbearing in the notes that feature it heavily, such as in "Rivers of Belief" by Enigma. The second half of that song is where I noticed the issue in the treble of the Pro, and in a few other similar songs. The Gold with its more 3d spacing might fix that, but I'd still like to know from others with it what its like.

For me the treble wasn’t harsh on the Pro’s but we all differ in the way we hear things. Now with that in mind I do think the treble on the Golds is more refined and more detailed than the Pro’s.
If I was you I would buy now with the code and then return if you don’t like them however I think they may suit you this time round having read your posts.
 

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