Typhoon859
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- May 12, 2010
- Posts
- 428
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- 22
That's quite the expensive alternative you're comparing them to. It's also a little bit like comparing apples and oranges in the sense that the FX850's are IEMs and the FA-003's are over-the-ear headphones, but I guess that ultimately doesn't matter in the scope of subjective experience which you are speaking from.
Well, for EDM and indeed things like Dubstep and so on, I have a pair of Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro headphones and I do prefer them over my Brainwavz HM5's (almost the same) for a great number of tracks specifically in that genre. Ultimately however, I still prefer the HM5's (but only with bass boost), even for the tracks I consider perhaps a bit more enjoyable for likely obvious reasons on the Custom One Pros, probably similar in terms of what's enhanced in the experience. I actually think it is only fair to compare the FA-003's with a bit of bass boost (+ 3-5dB, depending on the amp) because this is what further evens out their balance. They have great extension but it is somewhat rolled off. Because they are imo perfect in terms of sensitivity however, paired with an amp with decent quality bass boost, very little does better than they do. They may indeed just lack a tiny bit of balls for your instance and lack a little speed in those lower frequencies.
I felt the need to comment just to clarify one specific issue really.. Because you listen mostly to electronic music and a bit of acoustic, you're obviously biased in the value you feel these headphones have. You obviously don't hide this fact, but your description of them makes them sound kind of mellow, dull, and/or boring, and kind of gives "neutral" a bad name. If these headphones naturally had a bit more bass (in the corrective sense), somehow without affecting the other ranges, and a bit more lower attack, I would argue that nothing would shine any better than it would on these headphones. What you're missing in your observation is that indeed practically every other genre sounds impeccable on these: Rock, Metal, Jazz, Classical, Soul Music, Rhythm & Blues, Funk, etc... If I could relate this back to the Custom One Pros, aside from entirely coincidentally a metal song here and there, everything else hands down sounds better on my HM5's (with bass boost, as mentioned), including even a large percentage of Pop and EDM (though it's obvious in cases where this otherwise isn't the case). I could elaborate in detail as to what the differences are and what makes it better, but it might just be besides the point if ultimately the difference between the signature and the experience of your IEMs and the Custom One Pros (with 1 1/3 ports open in my preferred case) is completely different.
Mainly, as I said, I just wanted to get across that the HM5's/FA-003 (the Ti version likely even better) are incredibly good for more than what you give them credit for. Also, neutral and/or flat is just overall representative of a headphone's response, but it isn't at all otherwise representative of their particular strengths and weakness if getting more in detail. In other words, a "neutral" pair of headphones may ultimately actually work best vs. everything else even if for 100% just EDM. Can't say that I know of a pair off the top of my head however. The HM5's? Lol. It's just that, you hear AND feel what you're supposed to on them, and they deliver and otherwise convey a huge scope of any intended emotional impact; they lack only in the area I prior mentioned. Any headphones biased in any one particular way simply doesn't have that scope in comparison, though in your case, I guess it's all which would be necessary and therefore easier to find a solution for. Perhaps the FX850's for you fill this purpose...
