[Fiberoptix]

I did own the Noble K10U for awhile, but did not find it to provide the sense of realism that I now hear from the Golds. I also thought they seemed to be rather fragile. Overall, I felt them to be overpriced for what they were. Of course that is my opinion and others may have had a different experience with them.

I did own the Noble K10U for awhile, but did not find it to provide the sense of realism that I now hear from the Golds. I also thought they seemed to be rather fragile. Overall, I felt them to be overpriced for what they were. Of course that is my opinion and others may have had a different experience with them.

The problem with the K10 is they are not great at imaging. It's like sounds are just coming at you and around you; entertaining yes, but the image is just not realistic. Depends what your'e after as the instrument tonality on the K10 is preferable (although the bass is not as good). K10 definitely does not have the razor sharp precision in defining that strong centre image and left right separation that the Flares Pro does but then I don't think it's an analytical tool (the custom version may be different). To be honest, there is very little out there that I've heard in the multi BA space that has imaging on par with the Flares Pro except maybe the Prophile 8 and they are considerably more expensive.

 

[Fiberoptix]

I have a theory that realism is a factor of impulse response (and maybe phase response). i.e. that you get fast leading edges more like in real life, like the plop of a rain drop sounds like you could reach out and touch it. I first thought about that when a police helicopter was flying nearby and when there was direct line of sight (hearing) the sound was so much more alive and real than the reflected sound off the buildings. Whilst both sounded like a real helicopter.... It suddenly occured to me that this was what was missing when listening to hifi/headphones.

I think this is also related to miniscule distortions that are introduced by drivers when reproducing sound. If you could get rid of these you are delivering a more authentic representation of the original recording (hence the various approaches in speaker design). Part of the thinking of multi-BA iem's is that mutliple BA's at the same frequency range can be configured to provide less than 100% output to reduce distortions. However, they then reproduce phase issues through cross-overs. If you think about how minute these components are and the fact they are situated in the ear for reproduction you can start to imagine that even the slightest interference from distortions and phase misalignment can introduce artefacts and inconsistencies that will deviate from a truthful reproduction. Obviously sometimes this may be desirable (i.e. tube amps) but depends what you're after. For best transparency, accurate imaging and spatial reproduction you need to stay pretty faithful to the original. This is where I think a single driver IEM and even Speaker has it's advantages over anything with a crossover in it.

 

[Arysyn]

Update on the FlaresGold shipment.

I awoke a few hours ago, checked email and saw there is a $32 customs fee from DHL, needing to pay before shipment. I paid it and waited for further confirmation, but when I called DHL to ask about it, they said it now won't be on the way for delivery until tomorrow. Fortunately their service center has it, and is located only a few miles away from where I live, so my mother is leaving here to pick it up now. I ought to have it within the hour, hopefully.

I have a few concerns though. One of which pertains to my previous FlaresPro order, which I didn't get charged the customs fee on, yet this order of the FlaresGold I did. The other concern is listed on several of the DHL confirmation emails I've been receiving, saying the product is labeled to them as "FlaresPro" I sure hope Flare Audio sent the correct item, or else this is very bad.

 

[Victorfabius]

Update on the FlaresGold shipment.

I awoke a few hours ago, checked email and saw there is a $32 customs fee from DHL, needing to pay before shipment. I paid it and waited for further confirmation, but when I called DHL to ask about it, they said it now won't be on the way for delivery until tomorrow. Fortunately their service center has it, and is located only a few miles away from where I live, so my mother is leaving here to pick it up now. I ought to have it within the hour, hopefully.

I have a few concerns though. One of which pertains to my previous FlaresPro order, which I didn't get charged the customs fee on, yet this order of the FlaresGold I did. The other concern is listed on several of the DHL confirmation emails I've been receiving, saying the product is labeled to them as "FlaresPro" I sure hope Flare Audio sent the correct item, or else this is very bad.

I had the same import duty. It’s both normal and means there is a high likelihood that it’s the correct item. Customs duties are based on the value of the item we import and the Golds are over twice the cost, three times if you do not have the code. My box was labeled Flares Pro as well. This is all nothing to worry about.

Now, if you open the box and your Golds aren’t gold, then maybe there’s a problem to worry about.

 

[Arysyn]

I had the same import duty. It’s both normal and means there is a high likelihood that it’s the correct item. Customs duties are based on the value of the item we import and the Golds are over twice the cost, three times if you do not have the code. My box was labeled Flares Pro as well. This is all nothing to worry about.

Now, if you open the box and your Golds aren’t gold, then maybe there’s a problem to worry about.

That is good to know I'm not the only person getting that labeling. I'm still waiting for my mother to return home with it. The excitement is getting to me. I sure knew I didn't want to wait until tomorrow.

 

[LuckyNat]

Great post for post #500 of this thread!

 

[Arysyn]

Well, great news! I got the FlaresGold, and they are amazing! And yes, Flare Audio fixed the treble tuning just perfectly. I would explain it here, but I'll wait to write about it in the review I'm going to start on, right now.

 

[LuckyNat]

I've been selling a few things on ebay recently, speaker cables and interconnects mostly, and so over the weekend had a couple of bits sell and finally had a payment released from PayPal for speaker cables I sold weeks ago (!) and so managed to get an order in for some Golds last night! Mine should be arriving tomorrow! Just don't expect much of a review cos I'm not great at that. Obviously I'll chime in with my opinion. I've also a day with no work tomorrow!

If I like them - I don't see why not - I think I may try re-terminating one of the cables from the two pairs of Flares for balanced. If I don't break one, I'll just use wireless for anything else and balanced for my DAPs . Any recommendations for TRRS plugs from a good source? There are some on ebay of course, look good but not sure of the metals/quality (probably no different to standard Flare Audio's plug?)

 

[Victorfabius]

Or try a pair of these:

https://vetco.net/products/mmcx-female-mmcx-female-coupler-adapter/pan-mmc-2199

US shop, but I expect that other companies will have these for worldwide use.

The trick is to get cables that don't have memory wire. Those suck.

 

[SteveKiwi]

Well, great news! I got the FlaresGold, and they are amazing! And yes, Flare Audio fixed the treble tuning just perfectly. I would explain it here, but I'll wait to write about it in the review I'm going to start on, right now.

I am really pleased for you,
It has been a long search,
Regards

Steve

 

[Arysyn]

Well, after several hours of listening, writing, editing, more writing, wearing out the stylus battery typing on the smartphone display for many hours - My poor, sad, weak Microsoft Lumia 950xl... I have written a Pre-Review and a Full Review. They can be found, here :

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/flaresgold-by-flare-audio.23024/

 

[Arysyn]

In case anyone didn't see the pre-review content formerly posted in the General Information section (I realize I made a mistake posting it there, since its connected with the item, not the review), I've edit my review to include it. At some point today, the staff edited the General Information section, so I'm not sure who read my pre-review or not, but it now is in the review area with my review. Its sort of a history leading up to my getting the FlaresGold.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/flares-gold-by-flare-audio.23024/reviews#review-20112

 

[sodesuka]

Welp, just bit the bullet on Gold. Would probably be my last purchase of anything audio for a long while as I've grown tired of keeping up with the market. Figured Gold would last me a long time as I liked R2 and Pro enough to clear out my other gears.

Now the waiting game begins, DHL usually never failed me.

 

[Arysyn]

Welp, just bit the bullet on Gold. Would probably be my last purchase of anything audio for a long while as I've grown tired of keeping up with the market. Figured Gold would last me a long time as I liked R2 and Pro enough to clear out my other gears.

Now the waiting game begins, DHL usually never failed me.

I really hope you like the Gold. Since my review, I've had lots of time listening to it while away from home at my aunt's, with the FlaresGold as my sound buffer to geting ready for her vacation. Now she's gone on it, I'm still listening to the FlaresGold.

Its as if Flare Audio found the perfect tuning balance between the R2 series and the FlaresPro. The FlaresGold refines the treble to still include the added detail the FlaresPro has over the R2 series, but without the occasional harshness of the FlaresPro. The bass seems like its a bit less than the FlaresPro, and more refined, but maybe more quantity than the R2. I really like the R2A and have nothing negative to say about it, though the treble isn't as detailed as the FlaresPro and even the FlaresGold. Again, Flare found an amazing balance in their tuning the FlaresGold, which deservedly makes the FlaresGold a top-end iem.

 

[Arysyn]

Quick mention here : I've added to my review at the end of it, my source information (Meridian Explorer2) and that I plan on updating it when I've listened through the Bluetooth function, which I'm going to try on Monday. So, an update should be on Tuesday with thorough listening results of my using the Bluetooth feature.