@feverfive and
@Tanalasta you guys did not disappoint LOL!
@bluestorm1992 no worries, appreciate you inquiring. It's not a big deal, not like I'm going to do anything with that piece. It's a creative way to pay tribute to the natural materials used and it's nice of UM to include this.
Sooooo, the sound, had a few hours to listen today. I've owned mostly every TOTL in the last three years and these are the ones that take the most time to form an opinion on so far. Right out of the box, I love them, but I want to give meaningful impressions rather than just "buy them" or "don't buy them." Maybe it's the bone conductor driver, or maybe it's that I've owned every iteration of Mason before these, but these are very special to my ears. I should mention that I own the Traillii as well and I see that as a common comparison here, but I haven't done a lot of A/B between those yet. My time has been spent understanding the sound from these, and a little bit of comparison with the Mason V3+ and Phanes cable (which I am selling for one third the price of FS, you should buy it, end of of shameless plug).
In comparison to V3+, I hear the FS being more neutral, more reference with a little more air in the entire signature. Every note is effortless and light on its feet, but there is also a physicality from the BCD that makes you almost
feel certain notes. I chatted with
@aaf evo about this and echo his thoughts in that you can feel the air in the voices. Hard to describe and it is very much not a gimmick, but a welcome addition to an incredibly-tuned IEM. On the V3+ side, I hear a denser, weightier note that sounds a touch more natural, only in that it's timbre is thicker. There is no unnaturalness (is that a word? autocorrect let it pass...) in the FS, but the V3+ is a warmer and thicker sound. Bass is a little fuller and mids a tad denser, but treble is more sparkly, airy and extended on FS. FS also has that special sauce where you can feel the notes and that's the biggest difference between them.
I love bass and I could use a touch more sub-bass with FS, but I suppose that was a conscious tuning decision that the engineers made. It's a fast, tight bass, with an emphasis on mid-bass, but the BCD adds a sensation of actual air being moved not unlike a dynamic driver. Pretty damn cool! Into the mids, there is precision, clarity and space that are absolutely top notch. Agree with
@aaf evo that vocals are the star of the show, and wow do some female vocals really sing. I need way, way more time to fully understand and appreciate this, but listening to Dua Lipa and having the feeling that she's here in my room with me is worth the price of entry (despite my wife's disagreement on this topic). Really special vocals without question. Highs are sparkly, airy and smooth all at the same time. They don't have the wet and thick texture of estats that I've heard in recent flagships, but the treble is fast, precise and again light on its feet. I love it, and find this to be a very strong point. Adding in the BCD, you both feel and hear the precision that enters your ears. Quantity-wise, I cannot imagine these will offend many treble-sensitive people, but treble is present and prominent at times. I personally love it (and could tolerate plenty more), but I would say these are right in the ideal range for most listeners.
Stage is incredibly hard for me to gauge or compare, especially against Traillii. I think the BCD adding in this extra dimension of sound makes this not sound like a traditional IEM, so it's hard for me to measure axis depth. I will say this: songs sound VAST to my ears. Whether it's the texture from the BCD or the 12BAs doing their thing with proper tuning I don't know, but I never felt like this was an "intimate" presentation at all. It's different from Traillii's insane out of head experience, but it's no smaller in my opinion. Burn me at the stake if needed on that one.
Comfort is good for me. They're on the large side, but they totally fit inside my ears. The Erlkonig was virtually unwearable for me, where these are incredibly comfortable. I know the cable is top notch from SQ perspective, but darn it's a little more stiff than I would like. We'll see if I get used to it, and hopefully I do because it's way too nice of a cable to sit in a drawer.
That's about it - feel free to ask for any specifics. Cheers friends,
-Collin-
P.S. I forgot to give a big shoutout to Andrew at
@MusicTeck for stellar service, communication and information. Been dealing with MusicTeck for years now and have nothing but positive experiences.