[mrscotchguy]

 
Mine came in Monday!

 
Initial impressions while sitting in the FedEx parking lot...  I just could not wait the extra day second delivery attempt.  I was impressed how good it sounded on my Droid4.
 
After some burn in and adjusting my ears to listening, this is what I've noticed.  The sound is way more laid back than I was expecting.  The highs are pretty smooth and delicate compared to what I am used to.  I do not notice any harshness that others mentioned.  The bass is great, maybe even too big for me.  I found I am not used to hearing this much bass hit at lower volumes.  The lowend doesn't seem artificially bloated, just copious.  So far, my only real complaint coming from modded T50rps, the mids jsut aren't where I would like them to be.  Primarily male vocals tend to be a bit "boring".  That's the best way I can put it.  I look forward to listening to them throughout the burn-in period.  I do hope the mids will open up a bit with some time.
 
As for the unit itself, Billy from Noisy Motel picked mine out for me.  The grain doesn't pop like mrbigsby's (http://www.head-fi.org/t/653161/review-fischer-audio-fa-011-new-rev3), however, I am still happy because my two cups match almost indentically!  There are a couple super tiny little flaws in the the wood, but that's to be expected.  It does not detract from the headphones and honestly, nearly no one but myself will ever notice it.

 

[mrbigsby]

congrats man, i know from your posts how excited youve been for these. Dont worry too much about the sound, i wasnt overly impressed either until i plugged them into some serious power. You also need higher quality files. For some reason this is one of those headphones that needs to be wined and dined to shine. After some burn in they do even out far more. All limitations considered a $169 set of open woodies that sound this nice are great for any collection, mine are on a stand in the living room  

 

[Drsparis]

Just received mine from NoisyMotel this week and I have to say they sound amazing. They make my Ms1000's sound so ... flat? less fun anyway . And artificially airy. Does anyone have any experience with the PanAm with these pair of wonderful headphones?

 

[mrscotchguy]

Quote:

congrats man, i know from your posts how excited youve been for these. Dont worry too much about the sound, i wasnt overly impressed either until i plugged them into some serious power. You also need higher quality files. For some reason this is one of those headphones that needs to be wined and dined to shine. After some burn in they do even out far more. All limitations considered a $169 set of open woodies that sound this nice are great for any collection, mine are on a stand in the living room  

 
Thank you, I have been wanting a pair for years now.  I am super happy with my pair.  After I feel they are sufficiently burned I may have to do the tissue mod for comfort in those long listening sessions.  Someone brought to my attention with my HD580, I had been positioning them improperly on my head.  Is there a "correct" angle for the best performance with my FA-011?
 
If that doesn't make sense I can draw up some photos.  

 

[Carlsan]

These available in the states at all?

 

[Carlsan]

Top Dog is actually about $20 cheaper with shipping and total charges. Could be the exchange rate as well.
 
But I do like what you posted earlier about Noisy Motel and the customer service. Considering that Fisher Audio has been known to send out defective or not very good cans (of the same model type) then perhaps having someone look at them and check them before shipping is not a bad idea.

 

[mrbigsby]

Musica acoustics is in japan i believe. 
 
If you end up going with Noisy Motel, if Billy is too busy to manage it (he usually makes the time), im happy to help you select a pair. Im there next week, or this week, depending where you are on the date line. Going to pick up my C5!

 

[mrscotchguy]

Quote:

Musica acoustics is in japan i believe. 
 
If you end up going with Noisy Motel, if Billy is too busy to manage it (he usually makes the time), im happy to help you select a pair. Im there next week, or this week, depending where you are on the date line. Going to pick up my C5!

What a guy! You'll be happy to demo em for hours too 

?!
 
Impression #2
So a little more burn-in has started to show some positives.  I noticed the bass seems slightly tighter and less boomy.  Additionally, the vocal and instrumental separation is truly impressive.  Songs where the same voice is recorded at separate times and later combined (octaves, harmonies, etc) are clearly recognizable.  Instrument's spacial positioning is becoming more pronounced as well.  My theory on burn-in is that part of the magic is the actual driver, and mostly just learning to listen to the new HP.  The pads are not nearly as stiff; I am finding the most comfortable position on my head.  All these factors help me to "get more" out of my FA-011 than I did a week before on arrival.
 
I keep getting excited while listening, the bass impact keeps impressing me more each session.  The only other cans that I've had an opportunity to listen to that gave me this type of tight yet full bass was a well driven HE-6.  I am not claiming they are even in the same league, but even a well driven HE-500 didn't have this tight of low end.  I am looking forward to the next local meet to compare these next to more upper tiers.
 
To balance my impression, I must include the not so good. I find listening to most male vocals to be flat (not neutral, but just plain).  There is no sparkle or grab.  I do notice most of the female vocals seem to be just fine, it's just the this small chunk of the the FR spectrum that seems off (or my pair is just sexist!).  Forgive my bad explanation.  I am hoping it gets better.  But an easy fix for this is to just stick to all instrumental music and mostly female artists while listening with the FA-011.

 

[Kamiru]

I just got my pair and they sound absolutely amazing, they are really comfortable too! the only small downside is that my ears get a bit sweaty when wearing the headphones...

Oh and I have one question, does anyone know if the 'AUNE T1 24bit/96kHz Tube Amplifier USB Decoder &6N11' is good to power the fa-011?

 

[mrbigsby]

Id imagine it would be great, ive never heard it behave badly in any pairing so far (heard it three times). Last night i got my C5, and it is a little picky with pairing once you toggle bass boost as the bass boost is so extreme. I must say that the BEST pairing for this (better than with my WA7), was the JDS labs C5> Fischer FA-011. It was bought out high notes and details i never knew they had!!!! great chemistry between them- something new for me. 
 
EDIT: Powers FA011 perfectly, i had weird midi settings going on, now corrected.
 
im going to expand on this in my review.
 
 
***correction, in an iphone theres HEAPS of power to spare, its just with the laptops that they are a bit meek. Then again its a portable amp, so in portabile use it excels!***

 

[ilikepooters]

Quote:

Yes, mill or chisel out the square milled corners of the wooden cup or alternatively use some like thin Dynaxorb and dampen it, dual entry balanced XLR cabling. From my experience my FA-011 did not pair well with the Lyr at all.

 
What sort of damping materials could i use that are available in the UK? That stuff Lawton Audio uses on the Denon's looks like it would do the job, where can i get me some of that?
 
Many thanks.

 

[DefQon]

Quote:

 
What sort of damping materials could i use that are available in the UK? That stuff Lawton Audio uses on the Denon's looks like it would do the job, where can i get me some of that?
 
Many thanks.

I've used Dynamat and a few other experimentation's with foil and leather. Silver sided one though, markl has used them to tune the Denon D2/5/7k range. It really varies but I'm seriously of thinking of picking a new one up after I get my ass down to Prahan to audition the new ones with Billy from Noisy Motel and bigsby, dedicating my current one to just modding. Time is an absolute ass-O.

 

[ilikepooters]

I've re-cabled my FA-011.
 
I stole the stock cable from my HE5-LE, so now my FA-011's are dual entry and terminated in 4 pin XLR for balanced goodness 

 
I don't have any balanced outputs so i'm only using them with the adaptor, but they sound great so far, still sibilant on the Lyr but not to the extent they were before, treble is still a bit tizzy.
 
I don't think i did bad for my first job at soldering.
 
Here's a couple pics...
 

 


 
Glad to be rid of that horrid curly single entry cable.

 

[Nevtendo]

oops double post

 

[Nevtendo]

Any mods for these to tame the harsh sibilance? i have the original version with the maroon/mahogany coloured wood and curly cable.
 
Ever since plugging them into my Lyr they sound like a bright, sibilant mess, sounded so much better poorly amped through my maverick D1.
 

I put on a spare pair of Shure SRH440 earcups on them. Theyre more comfortable and with the mesh inside the cup it sort of got rid of the simbilance for me. However I think it muddied everything. I cut out the mesh and it still seems kind of muddy, maybe its in my head. I just can't stand the stock earcups it irritates my ear. If there are better mods out there let me know.