After USPS messed up yesterday, I was finally able to get my FX-700 this afternoon. Like what some have said, the provided tips is hidden from you...
The packaging is nice, very minimalist. Only the necessary stuff are included, and there's virtually no plastic part. First thing when I saw the earphone, I was like wow...even though I'm Asian (~170cm), the cable was too short even for me. But they did include the extender cable as the saving grace. Those who are taller should watch out...maybe like measuring their upper torso and waist length first
Size by side, the FX-700 (without extender cable) is a good 20-30 cm shorter than IE8 cable. The cable before the spliter(I dont know how you call that, the part of cable before it is split into 2) is quite a bit thicker than the cable on IE8, but good thing is they are not as stiff as shure's cable. Overall, the cable is much like IE8 cable slick cable. The strain relief is kinda long though. The plug is a straight plug, gold plated (JVC specified on the box, 24K plated)
I have been listening to my IE8 for quite some time, it's pretty good now after a lot of hours burning in (if you believe). I had been skeptical about my tip modding, thinking that it may be psychoacoustic effect, so last night I tried putting the Sony Hybrid directly on the nozzle. Well, the sound wasn't that good. It was too warm, and mid-bass become too apparent, I'd even say it became muddy. I wonder if that's how IE8 got infamous...changing back to my modded long tips, it was completely different. The vocals came through, and it was less warm.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Tips given with the FX-700 includes some medium and large size silicone, with medium and large foam. The foam looks pretty much like the foam given together with the IE8.
The seal, bad. Downright bad. Sealed is like no seal. If you consider IE8's isolation as bad, the FX-700 is even worst.
Then again, it will make up with its sound. I am not gonna comment a lot on the sound here, but I will try to write a comparison between the Miles Davis vs IE8 vs FX-700 when my final exams over. If I can find the other friend to lent me his TF10, that will be a 4-way comparison.
Ok, to the sound itself. Biting clarity and transparency. It's the type that screams for attention. The whole presentation tends to be on the warm side(just a tad warm), but as far as I can remember, it's not as warm as the MD on the mids. And definitely not as warm as IE8. With the IE8, certain vocals that has lower frequencies become unclear and at times, unnatural to me due to the mid-bass hump. It just became so thick. Not with the FX-700 though.
The bass is tighter and much faster on FX-700. It does not linger as long as in the case of IE8, which is actually good. The bass on IE8 can sometimes overshadow/overpower the rest of spectrum. I could never listen to trance and rock properly on IE8, but the FX-700 does it. Clarity and transparency screams on it.
I typically like to pay attention to string instruments on music. The FX-700 has shorter but more natural reverb, but on IE8 it seems more pleasant to me due to longer reverb. It's more natural on FX-700 though. The FX-700 presents it with such bite and edge to them.
The highs on FX-700 seems just a bit harsh to me new out of box, but I believe it will change for the better once I listen to it longer. If you want to compare the IE8 and FX-700 new out of box, I'd say the FX-700 is a notch above in terms of clarity. The high and mid is more prominent on FX-700, which is actually more balanced.
Soundstage on IE8, is huge and FX-700 is slightly behind it. Then again, the plastic shell of IE8 makes the soundstage weird, almost synthetic like. I wonder how it would be if they have designed them using metals, like what Final Audio did. The FX has very good imaging ability, on par, if not better than IE8. The clarity makes it easier to pick things up anyway. On IE8, the vocals is in the music, which in real life situation, means that the lead singer is nearer to the band playing music. On the FX, the vocals come through, which means the vocals has more priority, which is how it's supposed to be for me.
If you ask me whether I will sell my IE8, I'd say no. I have yet to hear another IEM that match the smoothness of IE8. It just does not give you fatigue. Not that the FX-700 gives you fatigue, just that sometimes when I rest, I prefer the music to be laid back and relaxing.
I need to listen to more songs to give more impression, where I will compare MD/FX/IE8 using some of my classical/orchestral collection.
In short, IE8 is like a wife, slightly plump and voluptuous, and wife is always very nice and gentle to you. But wife sometimes like to keep things from you. Still, the wife does everything almost right, and does it in her own way. She's good in her way.
FX-700, on the other hand, is like a young slim sexy girl, she's the mistress. She wears transparent clothes, and doesn't hide things from you. She craves your attention. Yet, mistress sometimes will complain a bit. If you don't give her what she wants, then she will give you the face. Maybe as time goes, she will love you more, and you will have tamed her by then.
Using another analogy, IE8 is like a fat dark furred grizzly bear, while the FX-700 is like a leopard, light and swift. Both are strong, albeit different.
As I listen more to it, the clarity grows on me....it's addictive in some magical way. Pardon me if there's any grammar or structure mistake, I am on a rush to eargasm with my mistress, or in a more refined way of calling it, aural bliss.
EDIT:
After listening for a few hours, I found that the isolation without music playing sucks, as sound comes in through vents all over the housing. But once the music plays, it helps a lot to stop the outside noise from coming in
