I've been listening to these FW10000 for about a week and went from being initially underwhelmed to considering them a must-try (or even must-own) for any IEM enthusiast.
I had been using a Sony IER-Z1R for the two weeks prior, but I was too curious about what the other pure Japanese titan IEM had to offer. I wanted to decide on keeping only one of the two, but now I'm inclined to keep both since they both offer something unique. While the Z1R offers an almost entirely new sound for all of my music, which new elements appearing in every listen, the FW10000 gives a familiar sound, everything sounds as I would expect, but better in quality than ever before. All sounds are just right, so pristine and natural. Basically "I didn't think music could sound like this (in a good way)" vs. "I didn't think music could sound this good".
For now, my FW10000 is getting more use.
Does anyone have experiences to share regarding eartip and cable replacements? Those are the parts I'm least happy about. The eartips that don't strain my ear canal (size M) don't provide a great seal, just barely good enough. These earphones include Spiral Dots + (which I guess are unique to them, in between the original Spiral Dots and the newer ++ ones?). I wonder how much the +s differ from the ++s.
The cable is single ended, but my amp is a TA-ZH1ES, which performs better via balanced outputs. For the time being I'm using the balanced cables from an old Z5 and the FW10000s sound significantly better (not due to balanced being inherently better than single-ended, just that my amp is better at it). Also the MMCX connectors on the stock cable feel kind of cheap for a headphone of this caliber.
I have tried different ear tips and cables such as:
Ear tips: dot ++, acoustune, final e, azla Sedna light short and azla Sedna xelastec
My best experience for fw10000 are either dot++ (cleaner sound, detail, comfort) or Sedna xelastec (better low, isolation)
In terms of cables, I’ve tried the following.
Crystal cable: dream duet, double duet
Orb: clear force ultimate 8w
Pw: 1960 2w/4w
Plussound: tricopper, trisilver
EA: leo I & II
Brise audio: yatono 4w/8w, str7 ref.
To my ears: if one looking for enhanced soundstage, increase richness/body with more warmth and more vocal presence while keeping the detail without ruining the treble (pushing it further to an unbearable point) as well as toning down the peaks, I would recommend the following:
Smooth and comfortable:
Orb: clear force ultimate 8w (copper, JPN)
Brise: str7 ref., yatono 4w (copper, JPN)
Looking for extra technicality:
Crystal: dream duet (Silver, Dutch) **deeper bass extension, further treble extension, less bass qty and overall lean to my ears)