[CL14715]

I guess I’ll clarify since ya know.. sh!tz tough on Headfi. I was pleasantly surprised by the new beats fit pro in conjunction with apples spatial audio. It’s a formidable solution for on the go and activities where wired sound sources won’t cut it. It’s not the best thing in the world but they made a fairly large leap in performance this time around. If you don’t want to try it then by all means good. I don’t care. It was just a suggestion since as @HiFiHawaii808 has demonstrated, beats past products haven’t created a stellar reputation. Which means most wouldn’t even try them but will spend the same $200 on AirPods. Not knowing the beats are actually decent and may work better for you this time around.

 

[RTodd]

Not sure why you’d eat the burgers if you won’t eat the steak. Probably comes from the same place.

Your making me hungry, not for McDonalds though.

 

[CL14715]

Your making me hungry, not for McDonalds though.

Yea I don’t eat that McDonald’s garbage. I might get myself a good prime steak though.

 

[davidmolliere]

I was looking forward to this but I received Alambic Ears Mentawai today (5way, 1DD, 7BA and 4EST)

For those who don't know this small french brand, Alambic Ears (HF thread) is Fred's second venture along with Alambic Surf Boards (@Aldo40 has quite the reputation of building superb long boards btw). Those who surf guessed it, Fred has named his IEMs after... surf spots (Noosa, Bali, Mavericks, Mundaka and now Mentawai).

Posted quick impressions (quote below) for the curious and I think it's punching above its price point with a distinctive tuning is an interesting entry into the segment especially for deep, powerful bass lovers. I am going to do some A/B with EXT on that chapter.

@ian91 had them first and wrote some comparison to the Traillii as well.

So, first impressions of Mentawai after a couple of hours - I figure things are going to settle as the DD burn is - but still, I always value first impressions.
Those are from FiiO M17 in desktop mode so a pretty powerful and clean source.

If you remember my Mundaka review when I wrote "Think of Mundaka as a good excuse to satisfy your inner basshead without compromising your audiophile backbone" ?
Well, Mentawai takes this philosophy all the way to flagship level and I could write "Think of Mentawai as the flagship that will wow your audiophile aspirations while not forgetting to satisfy your inner basshead".

Mentawai features a highly engaging tuning like the Mundaka but with the technicalities of the more neutral Noosa. The stage is not the widest but stands out by its excellent height and depth, it's very balanced and more circle shaped than elliptical. Don't expect stadium like stage on the other hand, Mentawai features big, bold instruments size (yet separation is excellent) and as we'll see a tad forward midrange (especially in the vocal range) but for this kind of signature it's as good as it gets.

Bass are powerful consistent with the house sound of Alambic Ears. Like the Mundaka tis is a bass that commands your attention with a lot of power. As far as bass is concerned, the Mentawai means business! They slam with authority and give a spotlight to the bass line and in that sense it's a very rhythmic IEM deeply grounded with excellent sub bass. It does so with a snappy attack and a natural decay both granting a good sense of speed but also a realistic and very "tactile" feel with its rich textures. To me it's a bit faster and agile than the Mundaka making it even more versatile in its ability to handle all genres.

Mids is where Mentawai departs from the Mundaka : while it's also a full engaging midrange smooth and natural, it's also a more mature midrange (as it should). First, there is a tad more bite to instruments building on the lively nature on Mundaka. Second, Mentawai features significantly better separation. This shows on larger ensembles where imaging is greatly enhanced from Mundaka. Third, Mentawai - as a flagship should - has the ability to convey a lot more nuances with its 7 drivers and has a more accurate timbre to instruments although there is a clear warm hue to its mids it's more on the side of naturalness. This makes it overall more versatile and more suited to acoustic genres than the Mundaka.

Last but not least, the treble brings the same balance to its signature that the Mundaka did with its treble given its powerful thunderous bass but this is where it really gains its flagship status. 4 EST is state of the art setup these days and it clearly bring Mentawai the air, the resolution and imaging precision that I have come to expect but where the Mentawai shines is that it combines this qualities with an energetic lower treble that has excellent note weight. This clearly shows on piano notes where the weight and impact and a tad longer decay of notes is more akin to the best BA than pure EST and I suspect something is going on there with the BAs. For all their greatness even 4 EST setup don't reach the best BA in terms of note weight in lower treble. This has gotten better but not to the point of reaching this kind of lower treble. Note that energy and weight must not be confused with any treble hotness for there are no offending peaks in the Mentawai signature. Not that there was any in the Mundaka or Noosa either, but Fred clearly push both the upper mids and lower treble to more energetic brand.

Despite this very engaging brand of sound between the bass sheer power, tad forward mids with good bite and energetic lower treble the Mentawai remains smooth at all times. It won't be a relaxed listen though those babies command your attention!

 

[ian91]

I was looking forward to this but I received Alambic Ears Mentawai today (5way, 1DD, 7BA and 4EST)



For those who don't know this small french brand, Alambic Ears (HF thread) is Fred's second venture along with Alambic Surf Boards (@Aldo40 has quite the reputation of building superb long boards btw). Those who surf guessed it, Fred has named his IEMs after... surf spots (Noosa, Bali, Mavericks, Mundaka and now Mentawai).

Posted quick impressions (quote below) for the curious and I think it's punching above its price point with a distinctive tuning is an interesting entry into the segment especially for deep, powerful bass lovers. I am going to do some A/B with EXT on that chapter.

@ian91 had them first and wrote some comparison to the Traillii as well.

To add a disclaimer, these Traillii comparisons were from memory but I've since seen they are also echo'ed by another Mentawai/Traillii user on another forum.

Mentawai stands apart and on its own two feet with a highly physical and expressive sound. What matters most for me is instrument timbre and in that respect I think it hits a home run imo.

 

[riverground]

I thought they already did 2 years ago, Final EVA2020 series TWS?

This was a collab with the Anime Evangelion. I'm not sure where the new ZE series will fall in their TWS lineup though (but it is gonna be a bit cheaper according to a website I saw pricing it at 1280HKD which is roughly around 165USD).

Even though I am a huge EVA fan, I much prefer the new textured design haha. The coating is apparently similar to that of high-end mirrorless cameras.

And I did a bit more digging and Final actually "revealed" it back in September for the Fujiya Avic Autumn Headphone Festival.

The sound is a mixture of the E3000 and the A4000 according to Final.

 

[jwbrent]

This was a collab with the Anime Evangelion. I'm not sure where the new ZE series will fall in their TWS lineup though (but it is gonna be a bit cheaper according to a website I saw pricing it at 1280HKD which is roughly around 165USD).

Even though I am a huge EVA fan, I much prefer the new textured design haha. The coating is apparently similar to that of high-end mirrorless cameras.

And I did a bit more digging and Final actually "revealed" it back in September for the Fujiya Avic Autumn Headphone Festival.

The sound is a mixture of the E3000 and the A4000 according to Final.

Same finish that’s used on the D8000 and Pro.

 

[normie610]

I guess I’ll clarify since ya know.. sh!tz tough on Headfi. I was pleasantly surprised by the new beats fit pro in conjunction with apples spatial audio. It’s a formidable solution for on the go and activities where wired sound sources won’t cut it. It’s not the best thing in the world but they made a fairly large leap in performance this time around. If you don’t want to try it then by all means good. I don’t care. It was just a suggestion since as @HiFiHawaii808 has demonstrated, beats past products haven’t created a stellar reputation. Which means most wouldn’t even try them but will spend the same $200 on AirPods. Not knowing the beats are actually decent and may work better for you this time around.

Actually I tried to search for reviews and comparisons vs. APP, and it seems that the reviews mentioned its sound quality is a bit better than APP. Interesting.

 

[CL14715]

Actually I tried to search for reviews and comparisons vs. APP, and it seems that the reviews mentioned its sound quality is a bit better than APP. Interesting.

I agree with that. Which means I’m assuming apple has something better in the works for the AirPods Pro next gen. The bass on the beats fit pro is better than many high end IEM’s.

 

[subguy812]

I agree with that. Which means I’m assuming apple has something better in the works for the AirPods Pro next gen. The bass on the beats fit pro is better than many high end IEM’s.

You know better than to try to give props to anything outside of this crowds norm. If you were "someone" else and had said that they would all be like lemmings jumping off the cliff and 10 or so would be bought and sold again all in the same week.

 

[CL14715]

You know better than to try to give props to anything outside of this crowds norm. If you were "someone" else and had said that they would all be like lemmings jumping off the cliff and 10 or so would be bought and sold again all in the same week.

Yea, silly me. I just thought since Dean Vang of all people was impressed by them after I said hey give these a shot, that maybe, just maybe, they were worth $200 of wireless enjoyment. Ehh, but I digress.

 

[Deezel177]

I guess I’ll clarify since ya know.. sh!tz tough on Headfi. I was pleasantly surprised by the new beats fit pro in conjunction with apples spatial audio. It’s a formidable solution for on the go and activities where wired sound sources won’t cut it. It’s not the best thing in the world but they made a fairly large leap in performance this time around. If you don’t want to try it then by all means good. I don’t care. It was just a suggestion since as @HiFiHawaii808 has demonstrated, beats past products haven’t created a stellar reputation. Which means most wouldn’t even try them but will spend the same $200 on AirPods. Not knowing the beats are actually decent and may work better for you this time around.

I’ve tried a couple of the new Beats headphones, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised, to be fair. I remember trying the Studio or Pro (I believe?) years ago, and I found it too bassy for me. But, the more recent models were a lot more balanced and likeable. Considering the fact that Apple own them now and how good the AirPods sound, I wouldn’t be surprised if they sound just as good (if not better).

Also, don’t feel like you have to add a disclaimer before talking about anything that isn’t a $3000 flagship here. As I said on another thread, the title is just a title. I hope that remains true for everyone.

 

[discord]

Those with iPhones, give the beats fit pro a go with spatial audio enabled. Best TWS by a landslide for me.

Been wanting to try these after hearing all the reviews. The AirPods Pro don't work for my ears but the Beats Fit Pro look like they will and are quite secure.

 

[gLer]

Beats, like you say, are let down by their reputation. Same as Tidal and other 'mainstream' products. Considering you're talking about a $200 pair of TWS IEMs I see no reason to judge them by the same criteria we judge our kilobucks. FWIW the $300 Sony XM4 is probably my favourite all-round IEM of all time. I'll wear it even when I have access to better stuff, because it's just so light, comfy, convenient and smooth sounding. Never have to worry about SQ with these. Just yesterday I found a new use case for them too - paired them up with my Samsung QLED TV and voila, personal sound, great quality, no delay, volume control with the remote or by touch. Wireless has come of age, and it's far, far cheaper than the prices we've been paying for our crack co***** boutique IEMs.

 

[Deezel177]

FiR Audio just unveiled their new line of IEMs. 'Certainly on the more premium side, $-per-driver-wise. Let's see how they stack up against the latest crop of flagships.