[Pianist]

Quote:

Okay, Help a relative newbie out. I feel like I'm not getting the full experience of these IEMs.
 
I got a pair a few days ago. They were used and very burned in, so there's no issue there.
 
I find the bass unimpressive. It's just there, it doesn't reach out and grab you. I am NOT a basshead, I just like it stronger. I've tried a number of tips and some help a bit, but overall I find the bass a bit of a disappointment.
 
I find that while on some tunes, the volume is fine, on a lot of the stuff I listen to, I can't get it loud enough to really enjoy. Is that an impedence issue? I play through a motorola photon smartphone.
 
I replaced the tips with medium silicone tips which are my size, but I feel like I am still not getting the full power of these babies. What is the preferred alternatives?
 
I find a slight imbalance in the sound, with the right ear coming in just a tad smaller than the left. Maybe this is a cleaning issue. How best to do so?
 
I'd also like to replace the filters. Is it easy to find replacement filters? I haven't had luck yet.
 
So help me out. If this is just the way they are, I'm more than willing to resell them and try something else, most likely the ACK-70s of the BA-200s. I just find the overall musical presentation kind of unexciting, in a nutshell.  But I'd really appreciate some feedback before I do. Given how well liked they are here, I must be missing something. I want to give them every shot and I'm willing to go the extra mile.
 
Thanks in advance,
 
MrMonte.

 
FXT90s have a lot of bass - they are ~10-15 db north of neutral down there. However, these IEMs also require a good seal to allow one to hear their full bass response. Without a proper seal, they sound thin and weak, like you described. Try different tips and maybe try fitting the IEMs deeper into your ears. I find the bass to be excessive on the FXT90s sometimes.
 
Regarding your volume issues, I am quite puzzled by them. FXT90 is very sensitive and should get plenty loud enough out of pretty much any source. I think your problem may be the fit - once you get that seal and a proper bass response, you probably won't need to turn the volume up as much.

 

[MrMonte]

Quote:

So sorry you're not a fan, Mr Monte! I miss them already! Like the others stated, this definitely sounds like a tip issue to me. I remember fitting and insertion being a bit tricky when I first got these too, but I think I got used to them after so long that I forgot about it. Give some foam core tips a try, like suggested in here, I ended up with single flange for the FXT90s, but there's so much variance in fit from person to person that foam might be better for you. It does sometimes have a tendency to diffuse the high end, but you may not notice any of that either. Best of luck!

actually, these are REALLY coming on strong. See my next post...

 

[MrMonte]

Quote:

 
FXT90s have a lot of bass - they are ~10-15 db north of neutral down there. However, these IEMs also require a good seal to allow one to hear their full bass response. Without a proper seal, they sound thin and weak, like you described. Try different tips and maybe try fitting the IEMs deeper into your ears. I find the bass to be excessive on the FXT90s sometimes.
 
Regarding your volume issues, I am quite puzzled by them. FXT90 is very sensitive and should get plenty loud enough out of pretty much any source. I think your problem may be the fit - once you get that seal and a proper bass response, you probably won't need to turn the volume up as much.

Well, I took the advice of some here and decided to give these a bit more time. Or maybe the IEMs heard my complaints and decided to toughen up. Anyway, for the metro ride home I put some foam tips on these bad boys AND, just as important, I stopped switching them around with other IEMs AND I decided to just enjoy them and stop analyzing them. Given some time to play - just 10 or 15 minutes, mind you - my ears got attenuated, the IEMs found some power, and, thanks to a really strong seal, the bass came out big time. These are really, really strong IEMs! I clearly wrote too soon. I should have called my prior post "first impressions" and then come back in a week or so, or just skipped the post altogether. 
 
Anyway, I feel like I'm on the right track with these now and think they'll get better and better. As many here have said, it IS about the seal with these guys. So tell me: what is THE best foam tip I can get? Do I try the home made route, described so eloquently above and with proper homage to South Park? What's on the market? 
 
I would also love some advice on getting new filters for these and cleaning them. I think with a little attention, these could be awesome. 
 
Note: I listened to "Enter Sandman" about three times in a row. That song has so much power...then a little Patsy Cline...yeah, that's the way I roll. Even threw in a little Susie Boguss before finishing with some Sparks...then noticed some subtle brush work in the background of one of Linda Ronstadt's Spanish language songs that I never heard before...then that beautiful opening chord of Tumbling Dice...oh yeah

 

[Free167]

I'm on the bandwagon ... got the champagne-colored version for HK$950 (~ US$120) yesterday. Had to turn up the volume for my iPod Nano just a little (I was using Denon AH-560R). Initial impression is good but I think I have to give it a week of burn-in under normal usage

 

[FrequencyBlue]

Well, got my pair today, right channel has driver flex and good fit, but the left one is just shallow. So in the end the sound is more louder to the right... Is the a way to fix the shallow fit? 
But I will say that I like the sound these IEMs reproduce, gonna give them more listen and have a A/Bing with my she3580 just to see how much improvement I get
 
Edit: so far I am having more frustation than excitement. While I was changing the tips, the housing of the left ear goes off, not completely but a little bit. Was about to return them, but I decided to glue it back (and potentially damage the drivers and void the warranty, what a great quality control/assurance you got there JVC). And while I am getting paranoid, the shallow fit and uneven sound/volumn really drives me mad. Sigh... too much for the first impression 

 

[FrequencyBlue]

https://www.meelec.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=TipSet10-M11-BK-MEE
 
please dont tell me I have to buy the shot bi-flanges altogether with everything else...

 

[MrMonte]

Quote:

Well, got my pair today, right channel has driver flex and good fit, but the left one is just shallow. So in the end the sound is more louder to the right... Is the a way to fix the shallow fit? 
But I will say that I like the sound these IEMs reproduce, gonna give them more listen and have a A/Bing with my she3580 just to see how much improvement I get
 
Edit: so far I am having more frustation than excitement. While I was changing the tips, the housing of the left ear goes off, not completely but a little bit. Was about to return them, but I decided to glue it back (and potentially damage the drivers and void the warranty, what a great quality control/assurance you got there JVC). And while I am getting paranoid, the shallow fit and uneven sound/volumn really drives me mad. Sigh... too much for the first impression 

I too noticed the probelm with the uneven sound volume. Finding the right tips with good isolation helps, but yeah, it seemed to experience the problem again this morning. Odd.
 
Looking forward to seeing your further impressions.

 

[FrequencyBlue]

Quote:

I too noticed the probelm with the uneven sound volume. Finding the right tips with good isolation helps, but yeah, it seemed to experience the problem again this morning. Odd.
 
Looking forward to seeing your further impressions.

well, before coming to the conclusion that my pair is a defected one, I think I will try different tips, even though it's hard for me to buy/try new tips. I will also ask a local audiophile to check my pair and see if he has the same fit problem...
 
update: I put on the large tips to see if there's any difference, and guess what? The right earpiece still manage to create some sealing while the left one once again failed to do so. I think It's because of the nozzle or the housing, and I going to return them and ask for warranty. Here goes the bigger problem, I have a middleman who bought these in japan and send them to me. Not sure if they are willing to warrant my pair....

 

[MrMonte]

Quote:

well, before coming to the conclusion that my pair is a defected one, I think I will try different tips, even though it's hard for me to buy/try new tips. I will also ask a local audiophile to check my pair and see if he has the same fit problem...
 
update: I put on the large tips to see if there's any difference, and guess what? The right earpiece still manage to create some sealing while the left one once again failed to do so. I think It's because of the nozzle or the housing, and I going to return them and ask for warranty. Here goes the bigger problem, I have a middleman who bought these in japan and send them to me. Not sure if they are willing to warrant my pair....

maybe the problem is your uneven ears? Are they still under warranty??

 
In all seriousness though, I didn't get good sound isolation and really great sound from these until I tried some knock off hybrid tips which came with some V-Sonics I recently purchased (the ones with the plastic tubes within a silicon shell). I don't like foam tips as they change the sound too much for me. But the hybrids (I believe that's what the experts here call them, but you have my description if I got that wrong) worked great. Just me though.
 
May not be a tip issue though. Besides the volume problem, I sometimes feel that the right ear is a little louder than the left. Good sound overall thoug, in my view.

 

[FrequencyBlue]

I dont think my ears are uneven. I have the SHE3580s and they fit well for me
I tried doing the over-the-ear wearing style and switch channels, which means the left earpiece now go to my right ear, and not so surprising, It didnt fit and wouldnt create a seal. On the other hand, the right earpiece goes to my left ear still fit in well.
 
I will take your suggestion and try different tips as the last resort. If nothing changes, these IEMs will have to go...

 

[dfrost]

I have good luck with MEElec short double flange tips from the M11+ set, which are quite reasonably priced.

 

[Free167]

Maybe you can also try the Sony replacement tips, I had good experience with those.  But my stock FXT-90 tips work just fine.  I even tried the Denon tips from my Denon IEMs, those also work.

 

[jiasai1986]

Hi everyone,
 
Bought fxt90 3 weeks ago. ....At first was planning to buy Shure SE215 limited edition( I have done a lot of survey and read reviews on SE215 ). Then the seller let me tried SE 215 and FXT 90 and make comparison. On the same day itself, i bought FXT 90. The reason was this IEM just make me excited.  I believe in my ears. At first really i was determined to buy SE215, but this headset just change my mind immediately after listening to it. 
 
FXT 90 bassy but the bass is accurate. THe clarity is the thing that give me fun.
 
I used this  http://www.jlabaudio.com/burn.php  to burn in my headset. Is this recommended? 

 

[Lifted Andreas]

Hi everyone,

Bought fxt90 3 weeks ago. ....At first was planning to buy Shure SE215 limited edition( I have done a lot of survey and read reviews on SE215 ). Then the seller let me tried SE 215 and FXT 90 and make comparison. On the same day itself, i bought FXT 90. The reason was this IEM just make me excited.  I believe in my ears. At first really i was determined to buy SE215, but this headset just change my mind immediately after listening to it. 

FXT 90
 bassy but the bass is accurate. THe clarity is the thing that give me fun.


I used this  
http://www.jlabaudio.com/burn.php
  to burn in my headset. Is this recommended? 

You're better off just playing fast paced and bassy music through them at 75% volume than using any of those sinus sweeping witchcraft things.

 

[ninogui]

Just play on looping you regular listened music on a slightly elevated (if possible, if not no probl) equalization on all available bands and a slightly elevated sound volume
 
sine waves and such although good for testing will not mimic all the sub frequencies regular music has playing on a given moment so it will not be an ideal burn in process