musicfreakboy
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2011
- Posts
- 6
- Likes
- 29
Thank you buddy! Am loving it both sonically and aesthetically
The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
- Thread starter Rockwell75
- Start date
If you're a fan of game stuff, check out The Megas:
https://themegas.bandcamp.com/
OG Megaman turned into rock opera albums. History Repeating Part 1 is probably my favorite of the bunch.
Could you pls name your cables? I recognise some of them but not unfamiliar with the ones on the extreme left and rightI recently rediscovered this hobby (not the hobby of listening, but the hobby of trying to find the optimal sound), after having been content with the KSE1500 and various AK DAPs in recent years... This forum has been super helpful during that process. It's of course hard to audition everything, so everyone's impressions are invaluable.
For now, I've settled on the Ragnar + FTS cable, and Odyssey + OTL cable, with an SP3000. Shout-out to @riverground for selling me the Ragnar and @Doug2507 for selling me the FTS.
Some of the things I've discovered:
- IEMs have advanced A LOT in recent years. Tri-brids weren't a thing, the last time I'd auditioned IEMs. I hadn't realized the level of performance that's now possible. It blows my mind that I can be in an airplane, or walking down the street, and hearing this kind of sound.
- Holy crap this stuff has gotten expensive!I can justify it based on the fact I can now listen to music a higher % of my time, by taking it with me (even just around the house) vs. if I had spent the money on a desktop setup or on speakers. It also helps that the wife can look at these and have no idea what they cost...
- I now understand why it can make sense to own multiple IEMs. I'm probably stating the obvious here, but there are some genres that sound far better on the Odyssey (when the bass calls for it) and some that sound far better on the Ragnar (when the layering/details are important, and the bass would get in the way). Maybe there's a perfect IEM out there that I haven't heard, but it seems like each has inherent tradeoffs and compromises. I thought I was purely into a very neutral, reference-type sound, but I now see the value of having something more colored like the Odyssey.
- The cable debate makes no sense to me. I feel it's like saying that there's no point to eating a fine restaurant, because the food doesn't actually taster better -- your brain is just tricking you, because you know you're paying more. Or that a luxury car doesn't drive any better than a Toyota -- again, it's just your brain tricking you (after all, it's impossible to do a blind comparison while driving!). I know what my ears are telling me, and the fact that others can articulate the exact same characteristics that I'm hearing (such as @Tokpakorlo 's excellent reviews of the FTS and OTL) also support the fact that the differences are real. To my ears, the FTS gives the Ragnar the extra warmth/weight that it needs, while the OTL makes the Odyssey bass all the more exceptional with respect to slam/texture (while adding some pleasing color to the mids). And of course, both have stellar technical performance with respect to detail, soundstage etc. Synergy is also a thing - I don't like the OTL as much on the Ragnar, nor do I like the FTS as much on the Odyssey (they still sound great, but they sound better with the right IEM).
At any rate, kudos to the IEM, DAP and cable designers for all the improvements they've made in recent years, and kudos to you guys for sharing your knowledge/impressions of your gear.
fejnomit
1000+ Head-Fier
Shameless plug for my Kublai Khans w/Martini cable. Truly an outstanding combo. They have become a bit redundant with the arrival of my Allegros (still being broken in but Oh My these are special - I plan to do a mini review after a few days...).
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/noble-audio-kublai-khan-w-liquid-links-martini.40004/
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/noble-audio-kublai-khan-w-liquid-links-martini.40004/
MRT-Man
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- May 24, 2005
- Posts
- 458
- Likes
- 1,528
Sure, from left to right: Ares 2 (Odyssey stock cable); PWA First Times; PWA First Times Shielded; Noble Magnus-4 (Ragnar stock cable); Eletech Ode to Laura; Effect Janus B (borrowed, not mine).Could you pls name your cables? I recognise some of them but not unfamiliar with the ones on the extreme left and right
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2011
- Posts
- 7,862
- Likes
- 46,979
Office listening, night time edition - I often bring two sets for variety! This time it’s the Kinera Nanna 2.0, a set I’ve really grown to love since finding tips that work for me, in this case Xelastec.
Zeppmeister
500+ Head-Fier
You do have a fewA study of a man that never grew up 57years old in body 18 years in head
Zeppmeister
500+ Head-Fier
I recently shared this memorial blog post for Neil Peart with a Head-fier. He said it moved him to tears, so I thought I might as well share with a wider audience. I wrote it in 2020.
wolfstar76
Headphoneus Supremus
Are you sure you have included everything in your signature? That's visually stunning!A study of a man that never grew up 57years old in body 18 years in head
wolfstar76
Headphoneus Supremus
I just finished my Fir kit tour and I am cross posting from Fir Audio thread my review here.
The products were brought to me as part of the USA leg of Fir Audio Frontier Series tour, courtesy of @Rockwell75, who initiated this tour and made similar tour possible for fellow watercoolers. We are not paid or promised any future discount by either Fir Audio or Retailors in exchange for this review. As a matter of fact, this review is totally optional in this tour. I am here to share with you my honest opinion regarding the products. I spent about a week almost full-time to demo these IEMs. Anyone who are interested in more details of the products, please check out Fir Audio’s website down below:
https://www.firaudio.com/store/in-ear-monitors
About Me
I am a relatively new audiophile who started this journey from Sennheiser HD598 and Etymotic ER4XR without any DAC/AMP from computer or iPods. I only fell in this rabbit hole after the pandemic and joined the headfi. Since then, my journey went all the way to taste different full-size headphones and IEMs and the SoCal CanJam last October was an eye-opening event for me, where I had demoed many TOTL headphones and IEMs.
Even though I usually only use IEMs with DAPs outdoors, this time I spent most of my listening time with my desktop setup at home.
The Fir Audio Frontier Series
Xenon 6 (XE6 thereafter) is the flagship of the frontier series that retails for $3,899. Krypton 5 (KR5 thereafter) is the middle offer that retails for $2,999 while Neon 4 (NE4 thereafter) is the lower end offer and retails for $2,299. All three IEMs come with custom options (Musician or Audiophile).
Before I start, however, I need to mention that I demoed XE6 last year during CanJam SoCal for a very brief time. Unfortunately, because of the short time I got and the busy environment, XE6 left me with the impression that it is a specialty IEM that the show is all about the bass. Since then, I read many reviews and impressions from our fellow headfiers. I was very surprised to learn that most of them consider XE6 a great all-rounder instead of a bass-head IEM.
The Design
Since the frontier series I received is not a retail package, I will not share my unboxing experience. Interested readers may refer to other reviews for details. I will go directly to their design and sound impressions.
Now let’s turn to the design of the frontier series. The unique technology used this time by Fir Audio is their Kinetic bass: a 10mm Kinetic Bass Dynamic Driver is used in all the three frontier IEMs. In recent years, one of the intriguing technologies used in IEMs is the bond conducting driver technology (BCD). Most famous brands that currently use BCD are Unique Melody, Empire Ears, and Fir Audio. Among the three, Unique Melody is the first to use BCD in many of their IEMs, ranging from Mest to Mason line. However, until recently the BCD used by Unique Melody only covers frequency from 500 HZ, which is very surprising since most people would guess BCD is a perfect match for bass, especially sub-bass. The only IEM from Unique Melody that has BCD also covers lower frequency is the Multiverse Mentor. Empire Ears adopt BCD with full frequency coverage, such as in their iconic Legend EVO.
Fir Audio, on the other hand, introduces BCD that only covers the bass frequency in their hybrid dynamic driver. The BCD will send the sound signal through an opening in the shell of the IEM that makes you feel the music, besides hearing the music vie the air conduction from the stem inserted in your ears. You will see the pictures of frontier IEMs with their BCD port.
I am now a firm believer of BCD technology, and I can attest that I will most likely only purchase IEMs with BCD technology since indeed it adds a magic touch to the music you are hearing (and feeling).
In terms of difference in design for the three frontier IEMs, the flagship XE6 is the only one that has an OpenDriver Electrostatic Driver for ultra highs. The low-end NE4 has only one OpenDriver Balanced Armature Driver for mids. Interestingly, all three have one BA for bass and another BA for highs (with Sound Reflector) besides the common 10mm Kinetic Bass Dynamic Driver for bass I mentioned earlier.
Another interesting design in the frontier IEMs is their Atom module that comes with your purchase. I have only tried a limited number of different filters and I think the difference is very subtle. I would suggest buyers once find your favorite filter, just stick with it and don’t constantly change the filter as it is very easy to get lost. Interested readers may find additional details in the link as follow:
https://www.firaudio.com/store/atom-xl-4pk
Essentially the Atom module give you four different types of filters that you can screw them into a tiny opening in the IEM shell. The filter will create different levels of isolation, which may impact the sound signature, especially the bass. From my personal experience, I did not find the choice of the filters fundamentally change the sound signature. In another word, you will have to carefully do an A/B test to realize the difference. Interestingly I found without filter XE6 sounds the best to me. Of course, I would not suggest any buyer to not install the filter since the filter may prevent outside dirt or moisture from invading the IEM.
Sound Impression
I will start with my sound impression for the frontier series in general. To go back to my prior impressions that XE6 being the bass-head IEM, now I totally changed my perception of frontier series IEMs that all three IEMs: XE6, KR5, and NE4 are all all-rounders, and they all belong to the best in the industry in that category.
Even though the bass in all the three frontier series IEMs is still the star of the show, rich textured and impactful, a real joy to listen to, by now means the tonality is leaning towards bass-head. I think most of the bass-heads would be really satisfied with the bass from frontier series, that’s how good the bass is without sacrifice the overall clarity and tonality. The Mids and the treble performance are also outstanding. With slightly different renditions of music, the overall tonality of the frontier series is very balanced and therefore well suited for any music genre you throw at them.
In terms of technicality, I find all three frontier IEMs very resolving with TOTL level of resolution. The sound stage and the instrument separation are again very impressive, comparable to any of the TOTL IEMs I heard. For example, the famous music hall like sound stage from Z1R fail to cast any shadow to the performance of the frontier IEMs. I intentionally mentioned those in my general impressions since I don’t think there is any significant difference among the three frontier IEMs in technical performance.
Now let’s go to the flagship: XE6. The bass and sub-bass has slightly more impact in XE6, however, the difference in bass performance among the three frontier IEMs is very, very small even though during the first day I wrongly believed XE6 has a much better bass than its two small brothers.
First, I have to say during my entire review period, I constantly bumped into the same trouble repeatedly: when I A/B test I first identified some difference in performance and then went back to confirm only to find out the difference is either very tiny or not existing at all. Since I am not a frequent reviewer, I have now gained a lot of respect for those reviewers who spent tons of time and effort to reach their conclusion: it is not an easy job.
Why did I get the impression that XE6 has a much better bass performance than KR5 or NE4 given I have the identical setup? Well, it turned out that XE6 is much less sensitive to tips than KR5 or NE4. In the beginning, I was using the same tips, which is my recent favorite tips AZLA SednaEarfit Max Standard. Without apparent misfit, I found the bass from KR5 and NE4 had much less impact than XE6, which was surprising since they all share the same bass driver.
The next day I tried a double flanged tip, and it totally changed the bass performance of KR5 and NE4. Now have to say the three IEMs have almost identical bass performance. The reason for that, I suspect, is since the port open of BCD is larger in XE6 while they are identical in KR5 and NE4. The port size, in my opinion, does not affect the bass performance in any significant way so much so that even I believe the bass from XE6 is slightly better than the other two, I cannot entirely be sure about the difference, but I am pretty sure that if you are not A/B testing, you will not find any difference.
However, buyers be aware that if you choose either KR5 or NE4, tip rolling is a must to make sure you have the full potential of bass performance released.
Now let’s turn to the mids of XE6. It is simply wonderful and full bodied. I wouldn’t say that XE6 has a W shaped frequency response curve, but the mids is not recess nor too forwarded. The beautiful mids is also shared with KR5 to some extent.
The treble of XE6, however, is very interesting. One would assume that with an additional driver for ultra-highs, the treble would be sparkling. Since I am a little sensitive to trebles, I am pleasantly surprised to find that the treble is well controlled and not fatiguing at all. There are details, lots of details, but not shouty or too bright to my ears.
To sum up the sound impression of XE6, it has a world-class bass and well-balanced tonality with a slight learning towards warm side. I would highly recommend XE6 to anyone who wants to have his or her only one end-game IEM and happily walk away from this rabbit hole.
If your budget doesn't allow you to spend $3,899 before tax for XE6 but you don’t want to sacrifice too much, you are blessed. KR5 is just the IEM for you. I must admit that I must carefully take the A/B test to tell the difference between XE6 and KR5. They have almost the same bass, almost identical mids (of course they share the same driver setting in bass and mids), and only differ slightly in the treble area where XE6 is more comfortable to me and KR5 is brighter. I believe the difference between XE6 and KR5 is not even vertical, more like horizontal personal preference. As matter of fact, I know some people prefer the tuning of KR5 over XE6.
Okay, is NE4 a water down youngest brother? Well, in some way, yes since NE4 has the least of the driver count, missing one BA in the mids than KR5. As a result, the mids is slightly less full bodied. However, the tuning of the NE6 put mids a little bit more forward to compensate for this. Again, if you do not do an A/B test, NE4 has the same bass and carry the same Fir Audio house signature, you save additional $700. Therefore, not only NE4 has the best bang for the buck, but you actually do not miss that much from either KR5, or XE6.
Pairing, and Tracks Used
Finally, most of my testing is done with my desktop setting with my PC feeding to Schiit Audio Modi Multibit 2 DAC and then to Flux Audio FA-10 solid state amplifier. I briefly tried a tube amplifier without any clear benefit, so I ended up only using FA-10. Some of the tests are done with Sony NW-WM1A and Hiby RS2 R2R DAP. They all have pros and cons but eventually I found frontier IEMs benefit significantly with R2R DAC.
For DAPs, I would imagine any higher-end R2R DAPs such as Hiby RS8 or LP pro will be a much better source for XE6 and its little two brothers.
Most of the music tracks I used are FLAC format, some of the examples:
Seven nights in chicago by Adrienne Warren, Matthew Santos
Hates this and I’ll love you by Muse
Soldier by Ingrid Michaelson
Supermacy by muse
I want it all Queen The plantium collection The greatest hits 2
Represent (ft Tiny Boi) by Tiny Boi, 1-20, Jackpot
I’ll follow the sun by The beatles
Make you feel my love by Adele
Shoegaze by Alabama Shake Sound & Color 16
Go Gina by SZA Ctrl
Crazy Love (ft Fabolous) by Fabolous, Libra Scale
I’m Your Man by Enrique Iglesias
Some tracks are from YouTube, such as:
Ry Cooder - The Prodigal Son (Live in studio)
This is a great sound track to test vocal and simple instruments being perform live in studio.
Again, another great track to test bass.
Big Boi - Kill Jill ft. Killer Mike, Jeezy (Official Music Video)
Big Boi Kill Jill is a classic track for bass. The triple bass drop starts from about 1 minute.
You will be impressed by the vocals and mids in this legendary song by Dire Straits. Compared to Z1R, the beginning of the far away thunder is way more apparent in XE6, mids is clearly better in XE6.
Final Words
Okay, enough of praise for these wonderful IEMs, they are absolute in my list of IEMs to keep. However, I would only buy one depending on my budget since these three IEMs have lots of similarities.
Are there any cons? Well, not much. I do have one potential con to share though I am not sure it is the IEMs, or the sound track themselves to blame. BTW, I noticed this in my first demo during CanJam SoCal last October that in some tracks, the very low-end of the sub-bass of XE6 is lingering for too long, so much so that it dominates the music. When I have one week to do an in-depth review for the frontier IEMs, I again can find the similar experience occasionally. It is the very low frequency rumbling that decays very slowly. I would imagine that some buyers may actually prefer this sensational deep rumbling in some of their music, but for me, it becomes a little bit too much for certain tracks.
I try to figure out why this may happen and one of the potential reasons is probably the way music was recorded. My theory is that the sound engineers were using traditional monitoring headphones that do not have the magic power of BCD enhanced bass. For them to emphasize the sub-bass is to artificially boost the very low frequency in their music production so that people with regular headphones may perceive the strong sub-bass. When you are using very high-quality IEMs with BCD, such as XE6, the sub-bass may get amplified out of proportion and give the listeners the impression of too much rumbling.
The products were brought to me as part of the USA leg of Fir Audio Frontier Series tour, courtesy of @Rockwell75, who initiated this tour and made similar tour possible for fellow watercoolers. We are not paid or promised any future discount by either Fir Audio or Retailors in exchange for this review. As a matter of fact, this review is totally optional in this tour. I am here to share with you my honest opinion regarding the products. I spent about a week almost full-time to demo these IEMs. Anyone who are interested in more details of the products, please check out Fir Audio’s website down below:
https://www.firaudio.com/store/in-ear-monitors
About Me
I am a relatively new audiophile who started this journey from Sennheiser HD598 and Etymotic ER4XR without any DAC/AMP from computer or iPods. I only fell in this rabbit hole after the pandemic and joined the headfi. Since then, my journey went all the way to taste different full-size headphones and IEMs and the SoCal CanJam last October was an eye-opening event for me, where I had demoed many TOTL headphones and IEMs.
Even though I usually only use IEMs with DAPs outdoors, this time I spent most of my listening time with my desktop setup at home.
The Fir Audio Frontier Series
Xenon 6 (XE6 thereafter) is the flagship of the frontier series that retails for $3,899. Krypton 5 (KR5 thereafter) is the middle offer that retails for $2,999 while Neon 4 (NE4 thereafter) is the lower end offer and retails for $2,299. All three IEMs come with custom options (Musician or Audiophile).
Before I start, however, I need to mention that I demoed XE6 last year during CanJam SoCal for a very brief time. Unfortunately, because of the short time I got and the busy environment, XE6 left me with the impression that it is a specialty IEM that the show is all about the bass. Since then, I read many reviews and impressions from our fellow headfiers. I was very surprised to learn that most of them consider XE6 a great all-rounder instead of a bass-head IEM.
The Design
Since the frontier series I received is not a retail package, I will not share my unboxing experience. Interested readers may refer to other reviews for details. I will go directly to their design and sound impressions.
Now let’s turn to the design of the frontier series. The unique technology used this time by Fir Audio is their Kinetic bass: a 10mm Kinetic Bass Dynamic Driver is used in all the three frontier IEMs. In recent years, one of the intriguing technologies used in IEMs is the bond conducting driver technology (BCD). Most famous brands that currently use BCD are Unique Melody, Empire Ears, and Fir Audio. Among the three, Unique Melody is the first to use BCD in many of their IEMs, ranging from Mest to Mason line. However, until recently the BCD used by Unique Melody only covers frequency from 500 HZ, which is very surprising since most people would guess BCD is a perfect match for bass, especially sub-bass. The only IEM from Unique Melody that has BCD also covers lower frequency is the Multiverse Mentor. Empire Ears adopt BCD with full frequency coverage, such as in their iconic Legend EVO.
Fir Audio, on the other hand, introduces BCD that only covers the bass frequency in their hybrid dynamic driver. The BCD will send the sound signal through an opening in the shell of the IEM that makes you feel the music, besides hearing the music vie the air conduction from the stem inserted in your ears. You will see the pictures of frontier IEMs with their BCD port.
I am now a firm believer of BCD technology, and I can attest that I will most likely only purchase IEMs with BCD technology since indeed it adds a magic touch to the music you are hearing (and feeling).
In terms of difference in design for the three frontier IEMs, the flagship XE6 is the only one that has an OpenDriver Electrostatic Driver for ultra highs. The low-end NE4 has only one OpenDriver Balanced Armature Driver for mids. Interestingly, all three have one BA for bass and another BA for highs (with Sound Reflector) besides the common 10mm Kinetic Bass Dynamic Driver for bass I mentioned earlier.
Another interesting design in the frontier IEMs is their Atom module that comes with your purchase. I have only tried a limited number of different filters and I think the difference is very subtle. I would suggest buyers once find your favorite filter, just stick with it and don’t constantly change the filter as it is very easy to get lost. Interested readers may find additional details in the link as follow:
https://www.firaudio.com/store/atom-xl-4pk
Essentially the Atom module give you four different types of filters that you can screw them into a tiny opening in the IEM shell. The filter will create different levels of isolation, which may impact the sound signature, especially the bass. From my personal experience, I did not find the choice of the filters fundamentally change the sound signature. In another word, you will have to carefully do an A/B test to realize the difference. Interestingly I found without filter XE6 sounds the best to me. Of course, I would not suggest any buyer to not install the filter since the filter may prevent outside dirt or moisture from invading the IEM.
Sound Impression
I will start with my sound impression for the frontier series in general. To go back to my prior impressions that XE6 being the bass-head IEM, now I totally changed my perception of frontier series IEMs that all three IEMs: XE6, KR5, and NE4 are all all-rounders, and they all belong to the best in the industry in that category.
Even though the bass in all the three frontier series IEMs is still the star of the show, rich textured and impactful, a real joy to listen to, by now means the tonality is leaning towards bass-head. I think most of the bass-heads would be really satisfied with the bass from frontier series, that’s how good the bass is without sacrifice the overall clarity and tonality. The Mids and the treble performance are also outstanding. With slightly different renditions of music, the overall tonality of the frontier series is very balanced and therefore well suited for any music genre you throw at them.
In terms of technicality, I find all three frontier IEMs very resolving with TOTL level of resolution. The sound stage and the instrument separation are again very impressive, comparable to any of the TOTL IEMs I heard. For example, the famous music hall like sound stage from Z1R fail to cast any shadow to the performance of the frontier IEMs. I intentionally mentioned those in my general impressions since I don’t think there is any significant difference among the three frontier IEMs in technical performance.
Now let’s go to the flagship: XE6. The bass and sub-bass has slightly more impact in XE6, however, the difference in bass performance among the three frontier IEMs is very, very small even though during the first day I wrongly believed XE6 has a much better bass than its two small brothers.
First, I have to say during my entire review period, I constantly bumped into the same trouble repeatedly: when I A/B test I first identified some difference in performance and then went back to confirm only to find out the difference is either very tiny or not existing at all. Since I am not a frequent reviewer, I have now gained a lot of respect for those reviewers who spent tons of time and effort to reach their conclusion: it is not an easy job.
Why did I get the impression that XE6 has a much better bass performance than KR5 or NE4 given I have the identical setup? Well, it turned out that XE6 is much less sensitive to tips than KR5 or NE4. In the beginning, I was using the same tips, which is my recent favorite tips AZLA SednaEarfit Max Standard. Without apparent misfit, I found the bass from KR5 and NE4 had much less impact than XE6, which was surprising since they all share the same bass driver.
The next day I tried a double flanged tip, and it totally changed the bass performance of KR5 and NE4. Now have to say the three IEMs have almost identical bass performance. The reason for that, I suspect, is since the port open of BCD is larger in XE6 while they are identical in KR5 and NE4. The port size, in my opinion, does not affect the bass performance in any significant way so much so that even I believe the bass from XE6 is slightly better than the other two, I cannot entirely be sure about the difference, but I am pretty sure that if you are not A/B testing, you will not find any difference.
However, buyers be aware that if you choose either KR5 or NE4, tip rolling is a must to make sure you have the full potential of bass performance released.
Now let’s turn to the mids of XE6. It is simply wonderful and full bodied. I wouldn’t say that XE6 has a W shaped frequency response curve, but the mids is not recess nor too forwarded. The beautiful mids is also shared with KR5 to some extent.
The treble of XE6, however, is very interesting. One would assume that with an additional driver for ultra-highs, the treble would be sparkling. Since I am a little sensitive to trebles, I am pleasantly surprised to find that the treble is well controlled and not fatiguing at all. There are details, lots of details, but not shouty or too bright to my ears.
To sum up the sound impression of XE6, it has a world-class bass and well-balanced tonality with a slight learning towards warm side. I would highly recommend XE6 to anyone who wants to have his or her only one end-game IEM and happily walk away from this rabbit hole.
If your budget doesn't allow you to spend $3,899 before tax for XE6 but you don’t want to sacrifice too much, you are blessed. KR5 is just the IEM for you. I must admit that I must carefully take the A/B test to tell the difference between XE6 and KR5. They have almost the same bass, almost identical mids (of course they share the same driver setting in bass and mids), and only differ slightly in the treble area where XE6 is more comfortable to me and KR5 is brighter. I believe the difference between XE6 and KR5 is not even vertical, more like horizontal personal preference. As matter of fact, I know some people prefer the tuning of KR5 over XE6.
Okay, is NE4 a water down youngest brother? Well, in some way, yes since NE4 has the least of the driver count, missing one BA in the mids than KR5. As a result, the mids is slightly less full bodied. However, the tuning of the NE6 put mids a little bit more forward to compensate for this. Again, if you do not do an A/B test, NE4 has the same bass and carry the same Fir Audio house signature, you save additional $700. Therefore, not only NE4 has the best bang for the buck, but you actually do not miss that much from either KR5, or XE6.
Pairing, and Tracks Used
Finally, most of my testing is done with my desktop setting with my PC feeding to Schiit Audio Modi Multibit 2 DAC and then to Flux Audio FA-10 solid state amplifier. I briefly tried a tube amplifier without any clear benefit, so I ended up only using FA-10. Some of the tests are done with Sony NW-WM1A and Hiby RS2 R2R DAP. They all have pros and cons but eventually I found frontier IEMs benefit significantly with R2R DAC.
For DAPs, I would imagine any higher-end R2R DAPs such as Hiby RS8 or LP pro will be a much better source for XE6 and its little two brothers.
Most of the music tracks I used are FLAC format, some of the examples:
Seven nights in chicago by Adrienne Warren, Matthew Santos
Hates this and I’ll love you by Muse
Soldier by Ingrid Michaelson
Supermacy by muse
I want it all Queen The plantium collection The greatest hits 2
Represent (ft Tiny Boi) by Tiny Boi, 1-20, Jackpot
I’ll follow the sun by The beatles
Make you feel my love by Adele
Shoegaze by Alabama Shake Sound & Color 16
Go Gina by SZA Ctrl
Crazy Love (ft Fabolous) by Fabolous, Libra Scale
I’m Your Man by Enrique Iglesias
Some tracks are from YouTube, such as:
Ry Cooder - The Prodigal Son (Live in studio)
This is a great sound track to test vocal and simple instruments being perform live in studio.
LAUGE & AES DANA - Aerochord (Apsis Edit)
Great EDM to test bass and sub-bass. The rumble of sub bass is huge when called for.
Jazz Variants · O-Zone Percussion Group O-Zone Percussion Group: Bamba (La)Again, another great track to test bass.
Big Boi - Kill Jill ft. Killer Mike, Jeezy (Official Music Video)
Big Boi Kill Jill is a classic track for bass. The triple bass drop starts from about 1 minute.
Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms SACD Convert
You will be impressed by the vocals and mids in this legendary song by Dire Straits. Compared to Z1R, the beginning of the far away thunder is way more apparent in XE6, mids is clearly better in XE6.
Final Words
Okay, enough of praise for these wonderful IEMs, they are absolute in my list of IEMs to keep. However, I would only buy one depending on my budget since these three IEMs have lots of similarities.
Are there any cons? Well, not much. I do have one potential con to share though I am not sure it is the IEMs, or the sound track themselves to blame. BTW, I noticed this in my first demo during CanJam SoCal last October that in some tracks, the very low-end of the sub-bass of XE6 is lingering for too long, so much so that it dominates the music. When I have one week to do an in-depth review for the frontier IEMs, I again can find the similar experience occasionally. It is the very low frequency rumbling that decays very slowly. I would imagine that some buyers may actually prefer this sensational deep rumbling in some of their music, but for me, it becomes a little bit too much for certain tracks.
I try to figure out why this may happen and one of the potential reasons is probably the way music was recorded. My theory is that the sound engineers were using traditional monitoring headphones that do not have the magic power of BCD enhanced bass. For them to emphasize the sub-bass is to artificially boost the very low frequency in their music production so that people with regular headphones may perceive the strong sub-bass. When you are using very high-quality IEMs with BCD, such as XE6, the sub-bass may get amplified out of proportion and give the listeners the impression of too much rumbling.
MaxwellDemon
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2010
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I have been traveling around in Argentina and got to visit the famous opera house, Teatre Colon, and its Golden Halls. Of course, I also brought my own golden halls with me to appreciate some music... 
Love the design on the right shell!Hear hear! My bae for the day (actually the last week)! New found love for the bird on the M2!
PeacockObscura
1000+ Head-Fier
Beautiful words, well written.
briantrinh86
100+ Head-Fier
guys, i have the xe6 for sale on classified. hit me pm if u are interested.
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/fir-xe6.40017/
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/fir-xe6.40017/
Amadeo Nospherathu
Headphoneus Supremus
Picked a set up very cheap and from what I've read they have a unique sound signature and that intrigued me as I've recently been a little bored of the ubiquitous Harmon signature. Plus I lost my case for the Advar and these were so cheap it was worth it for the case
Just because the case)
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