[yilun]

Thanks, just dropped the manager a message advising him.

Actually, I translated my email to Japanese using Google translator and resent it to fitear but still got no reply..

 

[kurochin]

Is FitEar completely decided then on having their line up exclusive to Japan? I ask because not sure if I want to risk trying them out and not liking them. I went to Custom IEMs UK and the manager said he had tried emailing FitEar a while ago, however they didn't reply. I asked if he sent in Japanese and he didn't. Could this possibly be why?

 
It's not just the language barrier, but the cultural barrier. To someone looking from the outside, Japanese business practices can seem a bit weird. For example; when a Japanese company rejects your job application, they almost never ever say "Sorry, but we are not looking to hire right now". It's usually something esoteric like "Thank you for showing interest in our company. We wish you all the best in future endeavours." Most of us would go What, but that's how it's always been over there. Culture Clash 101
 
The other reason is possibly because FitEar are just sick of entertaining requests from hundreds of dealerships, so they might have decided to keep communication lines "semi-open" by remaining silent, rather than flat-out reject. That way, they could get back to whomever in a year or two with a "You contacted us XX months ago. We're ready to sell now" kinda thing. Many companies from all over the world practice this. It used to be very common before the days of social networking.
 
Oh, and Google Translate (or BabelFish or whatever) sucks when you need anything more than a phrase translated. You might have insulted them without realizing, for all you know. =P

 

[EveTan]

Also, note that Fitear has never advertised on head-fi. Heck, the first time I even heard of the brand was when Jude mentioned it in a video hailing it as the most "perfectly built" Ciems in build quality. Anakchan is also responsible for releasing such deviliciously alluring products out to the public knowledge with all those beautiful reviews. Those two, and a few other Head-fi enthusiasts are basically all we have to link Fitear with the western market. We as consumers believe we should be entitled to all, however, as I see it, this mentality does not work in this case. If their model already works, why change it? Hopefully I'm not skewed on my facts, correct me as you see fit.

 

[tranhieu]

  I think so, I emailed them couple of weeks ago and haven't got any reply so far. I was told that fitear staffs may feel uncomfortable communicating in English. 
I begin to doubt why a company with such an unfriendly attitude to customers overseas can have such a good reputation here.

It's not like they are thinking too highly of themselves (well, they do sometime), but surprisingly the number of people being able to write good English in Japan are not that many, and thus they don't want to cause further confusion by communicating in a language they're not good at.
 
There's also the fact that FitEar contracted with Jaben and other overseas distributors because FitEar Japan is for the local market only. Their act of not responding to your email can be their subtle way of saying 'sorry, please refer to our overseas distributors for information regarding FitEar products, thanks for your interest.' or something along those lines.
 
Lastly, writing mails in Japanese is a huge pain. I started taking Japanese 2 years ago yet I always refrain from writing mails in Japanese as much as possible when it comes to business matters. They have their own grammar and vocabulary system used mainly for writing mails (and other formal occasions). If you don't get the wording correctly enough, it will leave a pretty bad impression and the other party will think that you don't show enough respect. And no, they don't tell you directly you need to go back to your class and brush up on your writing more before writing another one, it's your job to figure it out. 
 
tl;dr if you want to write to FitEar, ask someone who's fluent in Japanese to translate your mail. Dealing with the Japanese requires delicacy, subtlety and your ability to read between the lines.

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

1. If you live in Japan, go to e-earphone, fujiya, other dealers or contact Fitear
2. If you live outside of Japan, go to the nearest authorized dealers if any

I find the arrangements are simple and reasonable.

 

[kurochin]

While not exactly relevant to e-mail/communication, there's also the thing that @shigzeo mentioned a few pages prior about CIEMs still being sort of a side-hobby for Suyama-FitEar. From what I've read, their main business seems to be dental-related (or maybe hearing-aids?). They initially ventured into CIEMs because the staff already had the skillsets from their original trade. I don't think anyone at FitEar expected demand for their "side-job" to be so strong, so it's not surprising that they're not over-stretching themselves too much since doing so might hurt quality and/or their core business.
 
The other thing you have to take into account is that most of the owners who post on this thread live in Japan or countries with Jabens (SG, HK, Indo, etc) or other authorized FitEar resellers. There are some exceptions like Jude who seems to get headphilematic immunity wherever he travels, or MuppetFace who has her own cartel of headphone shoppers distributed all over the world, or that Frenchman who seems to have tried every IEM out there via some method only known to the French, but for the most part it's really a group of people spread out over just a few countries.

 

[Kiats]

1. If you live in Japan, go to e-earphone, fujiya, other dealers or contact Fitear
2. If you live outside of Japan, go to the nearest authorized dealers if any

I find the arrangements are simple and reasonable.

+1. CHG has it exactly right.

 

[sutjahjo]

+1. CHG has it exactly right.

The subtleties of dealing with Japanese is complex, but like all dealing with people of different culture, we need to try to be understanding and behave accordingly.

I have my share of criticism for international big Japanese conglomerates for their Japan centric strategy which won't work well. But FitEar is an Artisanal outfit, I either try to understand others than use my own yardstick to judge others.

We have gotten so used to our consumer centric society and that moulds our expectations as a consumer. But when it comes to Artisanal outfit, be it a bespoke tailor, bespoke high end watchmaking, custom made luxury Super cars or even bespoke belt maker - we have to shift our expectations accordingly or stay with mass market luxury (not necessarily cheap, could be super expensive too).

 

[Kiats]

The subtleties of dealing with Japanese is complex, but like all dealing with people of different culture, we need to try to be understanding and behave accordingly.

I have my share of criticism for international big Japanese conglomerates for their Japan centric strategy which won't work well. But FitEar is an Artisanal outfit, I either try to understand others than use my own yardstick to judge others.

We have gotten so used to our consumer centric society and that moulds our expectations as a consumer. But when it comes to Artisanal outfit, be it a bespoke tailor, bespoke high end watchmaking, custom made luxury Super cars or even bespoke belt maker - we have to shift our expectations accordingly or stay with mass market luxury (not necessarily cheap, could be super expensive too).

Wholeheartedly agreed! With artisans, the sense of entitlement that society today seems to breed has no real place. If we wish to partake in the magic they weave, we play along with their rules. If anyone is not comfortable with them, then mayhaps one should look to more industrial and mass market providers. For those who are blessed with patience, enjoy the magic and bliss!

 

[3nenbgumi]

^^ I have to totally agree with what tranhieu said above. When it comes to dealing with Japanese, subtlety is really the name of the game. Japanese's culture is one where people just say the first half of a sentence and leave it to the other party to figure out the rest. So instead of flat out rejecting you of something, what they will say is just "Sorry, that's a bit..." and expect you to fill in the blank. They also demand a high degree of respect and appreciation for both the products and the creators of them which partly explains the reason why they would not expand their business overseas any time soon since they're obviously happy with what they are doing and not desperately chasing after revenues or profits for that matter. For the more business oriented aspect of their operation, Jaben is there for anyone who's interested in their offerings.

 

[frekedech]

Just tried this new fitear yesterday. First impression sounds neutral-ish from top to bottom. Somehow I feel it has faster bass decay compared to TG334. Better treble extensions too, even to the C435 (i bet Jaben's Singapore 435 demo unit has issue, sounds worst among 334, 335 and this new fitear). 
 
The vocal is not as polished as 334 though. But take note this is not a finalized product yet. A little discussion with Jaben folks, we have an assumption this could be based on triple driver 333, attributed by its flat sound sig and smaller housing. No official details from Fitear yet. 
 
Personally I kinda like it! Good balanced sound which needs a little tweak on vocal clarity and it fits better than TG334 in my ears. 
One can only have a dream that this new universal will be packed in Gatling/Gundam housing. Then Fitear will have a winner.

 

[nntnam]

^ Thanks for the impression. Sounds like this fitear will replace the TG334 to become their top universal. Any ideas how many drivers there are in this earphone?

 

[TheLastDevil]

  ^ Thanks for the impression. Sounds like this fitear will replace the TG334 to become their top universal. Any ideas how many drivers there are in this earphone?

 
I have tried the "fitear" prototype 2 days ago @ Jaben Singapore. Like what frekedech said, as compared with the TG334, the staging is not as wide, highs and mids are slightly more forward, as I suspect this is a 3 driver design (Unknown just yet) and the new "fitear" carries sound bores similar to the F111 & Parterre, which is differently from the TG334's 3-way acryllic-titanium bore design. 
I may be spoiled by the sound of my TG334. I find that the timbre and staging is much more realistic and natural on the TG334. Nevertheless the "fitear" is a very beautiful neutral piece of art.
 
For some reasons, I doubt that the "fitear" will be the "new" flagship universal of FitEar. It's just a personal intuition, just saying.

 

[designmaniac]

  I think so, I emailed them couple of weeks ago and haven't got any reply so far. I was told that fitear staffs may feel uncomfortable communicating in English. 
I begin to doubt why a company with such an unfriendly attitude to customers overseas can have such a good reputation here.

Yilun, luckily for FitEar their reputation rests solely on the outstanding quality of their products, and I think their reticence to fully engage with "external" markets at the moment has nothing to do with any supposed "unfriendliness" but rather a genuine anxiety and difficulty in conversing in English - if you know anything about cultural difference and "face" you'd guess this - as well as a genuine concern to maintain the quality of their products. And hey they also - as somebody else said here previously - have a captive market at home of nearly 127 million so how many customers do you need?  And even more than that they have Jaben doing their distribution, and these guys, at least in my experience in Singapore, are incredible! You could not assure this level of customer service if you even tried to do it yourself. The guys in Singapore are AMAZING and I would recommend anyone wanting to audition any of their gear, and can't deal with going to Tokyo or conversing in Japanese, should do themselves a favour and fly to Singapore. Best consumer experience of my entire life! Claire you ROCK!!!!

 

[sutjahjo]

Yilun, luckily for FitEar their reputation rests solely on the outstanding quality of their products, and I think their reticence to fully engage with "external" markets at the moment has nothing to do with any supposed "unfriendliness" but rather a genuine anxiety and difficulty in conversing in English - if you know anything about cultural difference and "face" you'd guess this - as well as a genuine concern to maintain the quality of their products. And hey they also - as somebody else said here previously - have a captive market at home of nearly 127 million so how many customers do you need?  And even more than that they have Jaben doing their distribution, and these guys, at least in my experience in Singapore, are incredible! You could not assure this level of customer service if you even tried to do it yourself. The guys in Singapore are AMAZING and I would recommend anyone wanting to audition any of their gear, and can't deal with going to Tokyo or conversing in Japanese, should do themselves a favour and fly to Singapore. Best consumer experience of my entire life! Claire you ROCK!!!!

I couldn't have said it better!