[saldsald]

These Furutech knockoff plugs...

 

[gadgetgod]

These Furutech knockoff plugs...

I am not sure whether these are knockoff or originals, but the quality feels really good.

 

[saldsald]

I am not sure whether these are knockoff or originals, but the quality feels really good.

Yes they are, Furutech only have Rhodium plated plugs and the barrel is larger. I am sure they may sound good but it's better for a company not to ship with knockoff parts.

 

[gadgetgod]

Yes they are, Furutech only have Rhodium plated plugs and the barrel is larger. I am sure they may sound good but it's better for a company not to ship with knockoff parts.

Definitely man, this is kind of disappointment considering the price of the products.

 

[Harias]

I Went In Blind With These 1300$ IEMs, & The Result is Here!!

Hello Friends,

I hope you all are well and doing great. Today, I am going to share a story, this post might get a little long, but please bear with me because I have a lot to say. So this started earlier last month with Ace Bee sending me his unit of D’s Audio F-Heart. D’s Audio is a boutique IEM store from Hong Kong, and I don’t know how Ace Bee got a hang of this person through Instagram. So he sent the unit to me to make a graph and have a short listen as well. I was literally sold when I listened to the F-Heart. The timbre, the tone of that IEM sounded so phenomenally good that I was like, man get me one of these as well. So we planned and he asked me to look at his Instagram page to see all his offerings. There I checked out the Fire Phoenix, the pair instantly grabbed my attention with its crazy glittery look and pattern. I asked about the pricing and it was somewhat over my budget priced at 1300$(luckily the reviewer’s discount got it close to 1000$), So Ace Bee then helped me with the payment as well, and after a wait of around 20-22 days(with 12 days at customs in Delhi), the Fire Phoenix landed in my hands.

I got this unit about 2 weeks back, and I have been listening to it on and off ever since then. The maker asks for 1000 hours of burn-in, but I thought of giving it around 200, currently, I am at 50 hours mark with 15-20 hours of actual listening and about 30 hours of just pure burn-in on a player overnight. So these are basically my initial impressions of the pair, they may or may not change after the burn-in period is done(I desire to give 200 hours). Let’s begin with the impressions.

Disclaimer before I begin:-

I am in no way associated with D’s Audio, I just loved the F-Heart and went in blind for the Fire Phoenix thinking if the guy can do such beautiful tuning with a 500$ IEM, I wonder what he can do with his single DD flagship. Well, actually the Fire Phoenix is a sub-flagship featuring an 11mm JVC DLC driver. There’s also a Dark Phoenix priced at around 1700$ that features an 11mm JVC Wooden Dome Driver. I bought the unit with my own money, D’s was kind to offer me a discount and I got the pair for close to 1000$. My opinions might be biased by my own listening preferences.

Package, Design, and Build:-

You just get a simple package with two sets of Acoustune ear tips and a round earphone case with a D’s logo on the front. The pair comes with his own crafted cable, this cable is called SL.02 something. The cable is soft and really handy, I chose a 4.4mm termination. The pair itself is stunning to look at. The shell was completely hand-painted, it looks and feels quite awesome. But let me tell you, the shell size is a little bigger in size. So fit might be a concern if you have smaller ears. For me, no issues as such. Although I had to do some tip-rolling to get perfect comfort and fit. There’s some driver flex on the right side as well. I found my peace with Azla Sedna Earfit Light, Feaulle Lates H570, and Softears UC tips. Once you get the perfect combination, the pair fits like a charm.

Driving The Fire Phoenix:-

TBH I was having a fantastic time with the HiBy R6 Pro II and Fire Phoenix, until recently my friend sent me his Astell&Kern PA10 for an audition. PA10 for all those who don’t know is a portable amplifier, and by god how drastically it has improved the performance of the Fire Phoenix. From a good sounding set on the R6 Pro II, I have an excellent sounding one on the R6Pro II+PA10. Don’t worry, the pair sounds phenomenal directly from the DAP as well, R6 Pro II and Aune M1p both are excellent combinations.

Personally, I have now bought a PA10 for myself after auditioning, the goodness of AKM’s flagship on the R6 Pro II and the pure Class A output of the PA10 makes the Fire Phoenix shine with all her glory!!

Sound Impressions:-

Here’s a graph of the Fire Phoenix that I made earlier when I got the unit.

The pair sounds slamming, literally slamming in the lower end. Mid-bass has a bombastic presentation. Sub-bass rumble is also quite thunderous and strong. Mid-bass has a little boom in bass-heavy tracks but nothing to worry about. Lower-mids are recessed, but they have good clarity even with such a strong lower end. Upper mids are forwarded especially in the vocals, but they don’t sound sharp or harsh by any means. Vocals actually feel quite lively and have a properly textured finish. They actually sound beautiful with a rich and lush tone to them. Timbre and tone on the Fire Phoenix is simply top-notch, the pair sounds natural by all means. Treble is crisp yet it isn’t sharp or snappy. With the AKM’s velvet AK4499 magic, the notes are well-rounded and sound fantastic.

Tone & Timbre of the Fire Phoenix deserves a standing ovation, I mean it just feels lively, and to the point. It feels natural and organic in all its glory. I mean, it’s super hard to find flaws with the tonality and the timbre of the pair. It sounds rich and I mean, just get the gist man, it sounds phenomenal. Multi-Driver hybrids might have some added micro-details, but for most of the 1000$ IEMs I have heard to date, the Fire Phoenix has to be among the best and the most natural timbre.

Technical Performance of the Fire-Phoenix is again superb but it lacks some micro-details imo. Soundstage is really massive, it starts closer to the listener and goes far and beyond. I might say this is probably one of the widest sounding IEMs I have heard to date. Separation and layering is also quite solid in terms of performance. Well, this is all good, now let’s move ahead to some of the things I think might not be so good with the Fire Phoenix.

For starters, the bass is heavy. Like for people who don’t like a lot of bass, they might not like the signature of the Fire Phoenix. It is heavy, it is hard-hitting, and it is probably slamming with all the wits. For Bass-Heavy tracks there’s a little boom in the mid-bass as well. Secondly, the treble might use some more crispiness. I would have loved some added sharpness and that would have made this my perfect pair. Also the micro-details could be improved a bit. Well, let me share a surprise now, With the PA10, the aforementioned issues are almost disappeared. With the added clean and precise amplification by PA10, the pair shows more control yet visceral bass response, and better crispiness in the treble region as well.

Final Words:-

I have enjoyed the likes of Thieaudio Monarch MK2, Unique Melody Mest MK2, and many other pairs that are priced around the 1000$ price bracket. Coming from a boutique brand, with unique looks, and a single dd, the sound of the Fire Phoenix definitely deserves praise. I went in blind just believing the guy thinking Man he has made a fantastic pair in the form of F-Heart at 500$, at 1300$ he will do something big, and yes the Fire Phoenix sounds big. I won’t lie, I was feared to my core since the day the payment was made. It was like spending around 1,00,000 Indian rupees that too blindly, but in the end it feels all worth it!!

If you are here till the end, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule, may you have a good day ahead!!

Thanks for the detailed review, Bro

 

[Redcarmoose]

Black and white set is 1000 while the custom one that I want is 150 more. I am not so sure if I need the custom set, but hard to say. But for a little bit more it might be the way to go.

Honestly, reviews take a ton of time and typically we get almost nothing for them. I really enjoy your opinions on the Penon and am seriously thinking about getting one, but I have a lot of money at headphones.com so I'll probably get an Monrack MK 3, and am getting the 7th Acoustics Supernova. So it's hard to say. Selling the Dunu SA 6 mk 2 as I use the P8, the Quintet, and Meteor mostly. (Meteor's base is fatiguing at times, but fun.)
Ok, so is the 10th Aniversary a daily driver impressive set for you?

Well, that's the thing. It is so well rounded, offers decent noise occlusion, and plays all my musical genres correctly. Do I play it more than the Quintet, yes.......but I only got the 10th Anniversary 7 days ago, but I'm pretty sure it will get most of my ear time. Why, well simply comfort and bass performance, I'm still throughly enchanted by how the bass detail is? It's thick yet fast and agile, I know this seems wild to say but it's true. A little less bass than the ISN EST50, but more than the Globe. The other thing is I have not tried all the cables yet. I still need to try the Solar and Totem cables with it, but they were not included in my review cable selection due to being a little out of balance on cable price. Also the Totem (normally) does better with full BA sets in my opinion. Still there are no absolutes in the cable testing world, so who knows.......other Hybrids are great with the Totem? But more than is it my daily driver, it's that I'm not done turning over rocks...........to see what is underneath.

 

[Barndoor]

Penon should be promoted because they are what Head-Fi is about, only they offer better bang-for-the-buck and are even getting better at IEM production.

I have no problem with you or Penon and my comment was as much about the action towards AmericanSpirit as it was Penon.
Would you disclose the $ value of free items and discounts that you have been given you over the last couple of years, and by who, for the purposes of full transparency?

 

[o0genesis0o]

While liking their products very much, I don't like how the maker wants to control you for reviews. Pushy at times. Not interested in you comparing to better brands, even if it's a nice reference. Got bad aftertaste after ISN NEO 5. My talk with Chi from Penon after he had shipped the discounted review IEM, was not that nice tbh and I had regret immediately.

I have no doubt that their IEMs are great, given how even my extremely nitpicky friend loves them. However, my personal experience as a reviewer and story from others reflect your experience.

The most influence that other manufacturers puts on me was to delay the review until the launch day. Some tries to skip the review queue to get their product review out on time, which is understandable. Nothing is like our Hk retailer.

Monarch MKIII Available again right now!!!

Link: https://www.linsoul.com/products/thieaudio-monarch-mkiii?sca_ref=4032745.r9Te5WuMYp

That Odin-like design is yummy!

I’ll probably wait for local hifi store to stock the Monarch III for a demo. No more funds to buy

Who knows, maybe they finally, truely give all the IEMs at the upper echelons a run for their money. I look forward for that a lot.

---

Btw, howdy folks, have you ever heard of this very niche IEM called “Moondrop Variations” /s

This is the best Moondrop I have ever had the pleasure to try. Moondrop should have listened to their Variations again before tuning Blessing 3.

Of course, it’s a moondrop, so don’t expect superb stage depth.

Edit: this is how you do a proper sub-bass focused tuning. Such an interesting bass response. So tactile and physical, yet clean and “fast”.

 

[helloh3adfi]

Wow, they came down on him like a ton of bricks. I'm sure HiFiGuides forum will welcome him without those chains...

He already opened a Night Oblivion thread there. Not posting the link as my post might be deleted, but on the other hand could be anyway.

 

[Redcarmoose]

I have no problem with you or Penon and my comment was as much about the action towards AmericanSpirit as it was Penon.
Would you disclose the $ value of free items and discounts that you have been given you over the last couple of years, and by who, for the purposes of full transparency?

Sure, the amount is zero. All the given IEMs I have belong to the manufacturers (who made them) and they are in my possession for comparison and review purposes. They can be retrieved at any moment. Over the years I have also spent my own funds for amplifiers, DAPs and IEMs/headphones, just like the rest of us.

 

[helloh3adfi]

Sure, the amount is zero. All the given IEMs I have belong to the manufacturers (who made them) and they are in my possession for comparison and review purposes. They can be retrieved at any moment.

Were they retrieved after the reviews?

 

[Redcarmoose]

Were they retrieved after the reviews?

How would I compare them, then?

 

[domq422]

I've held off for a while posting this here as I feared it may have some repercussions but screw it. It seems that Penon has been up-charging on a lot of "their" cables and sometimes the mark-up is absolutely ridiculous. I can't sit here and read various reviews anymore swearing by the 'magic' in these cables.

I'm sure Penon make fantastic cables, I've held and used a few of them over the years. However, it seems that their wholesaler is on AliX and you can usually pick up the same cables with a lack of Penon branding, different hardware, or a different outer color for a lot less. Ever since I found this store, shown to me by another thread contributor (thank you, you know who you are), I haven't looked back.
Song Ying Brand Wholesale Base Store
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mPLCLZ8

 

[DynamicEars]

I have no doubt that their IEMs are great, given how even my extremely nitpicky friend loves them. However, my personal experience as a reviewer and story from others reflect your experience.

The most influence that other manufacturers puts on me was to delay the review until the launch day. Some tries to skip the review queue to get their product review out on time, which is understandable. Nothing is like our Hk retailer.



That Odin-like design is yummy!

I’ll probably wait for local hifi store to stock the Monarch III for a demo. No more funds to buy

Who knows, maybe they finally, truely give all the IEMs at the upper echelons a run for their money. I look forward for that a lot.

---

Btw, howdy folks, have you ever heard of this very niche IEM called “Moondrop Variations” /s

This is the best Moondrop I have ever had the pleasure to try. Moondrop should have listened to their Variations again before tuning Blessing 3.

Of course, it’s a moondrop, so don’t expect superb stage depth.

Edit: this is how you do a proper sub-bass focused tuning. Such an interesting bass response. So tactile and physical, yet clean and “fast”.

Variations is great midfi, that is what the clean bass without bass bleed define, Clean 150hz but strike with bold subbass, delicious, but quality can be better. The real caveat is thin and shouty mids from my memory, and small to medium soundstage also was the deal breaker for me. The bass is better than their S8 though

 

[saldsald]

Variations is great midfi, that is what the clean bass without bass bleed define, Clean 150hz but strike with bold subbass, delicious, but quality can be better. The real caveat is thin and shouty mids from my memory, and small to medium soundstage also was the deal breaker for me. The bass is better than their S8 though

I agree the mids are quite poorly done and resolution is not too different from a good single DD.