[batracom]

I’ve been testing these iems with the mojo, mojo 2, h2, hiby r6, r3, cayin n5ii, opus 3, and some cheap dsdn daps.

my impression is that it does well with the h2 and mojo 2, and also with the hiby r6.

i’m thinking of picking up the cayin n8ii, and i “imagine” it will be a good fit based on reviews of the dap.

but no matter what i listen to, it seems to be best, at least to my old and weak ears, with specific types of music. Anything that is a small band, less than 10 instruments, lead vocals, and backup vocals. Anything more complex and it seems to have trouble keeping up.

electronica, rock, hip hop, rap, small ensemble classical, up to quintet jazz, are where the 10k’s seem to do well. In fact, the fewer the instruments, the better it sounds. The timber that so many have commented on is exceptional.

i particularly love how a variety of percussion instruments and deeper resonant instruments, like cellos, sound.
one of my favs with these iems, is norah jones. Spectacularly musical and resonant, love these for her distinctive sound.

where it seems to be weak, at least compared to something like the kse1200, is in symphonies, orchestral music, some big band jazz. For this type of music, the 10k’s fair no better than a lot of inexpensive iems and headphones i own. Too much blending, at least to me.

all in all, these are excellent iems, and i look forward to years of listening enjoyment.

Could you please confirm such impressions on the FW10000 if you still use them? My primary use with them would be symphonic/large orchestral, so I would only consider them if they can deliver on that front. I recently tried the IE900 but they didn’t really deliver there, they felt rather congested with inadequate separation. Is that what you mean by “too much blending”?
Would be very grateful if @Scuba Devils and others with recent experience of the FW10000 could offer their opinions on this specific aspect, and comparison with IE900 and other single DD IEMS, or even IEMS with characteristics suited for classical, such as the Symphonium Helios. Thanks!

 

[Umwelt]

Could you please confirm such impressions on the FW10000 if you still use them? My primary use with them would be symphonic/large orchestral, so I would only consider them if they can deliver on that front. I recently tried the IE900 but they didn’t really deliver there, they felt rather congested with inadequate separation. Is that what you mean by “too much blending”?
Would be very grateful if @Scuba Devils and others with recent experience of the FW10000 could offer their opinions on this specific aspect, and comparison with IE900 and other single DD IEMS, or even IEMS with characteristics suited for classical, such as the Symphonium Helios. Thanks!

I'd say these are not optimal for symphony and large orchestra music especially if you're prioritizing separation and soundstage. Each instrument will sound absolutely beautiful, probably more than what you can hear in any other IEM, but it will also feel "intimate" to put it nicely and "congested" to put it harshly. As far as IEMs go, a Final A8000 would be my recommendation given your specific priorities. That said, I'd rather use these even for this kind of music, the tuning is just too good (whereas I've never been a fan of Final tuning).

 

[batracom]

I'd say these are not optimal for symphony and large orchestra music especially if you're prioritizing separation and soundstage. Each instrument will sound absolutely beautiful, probably more than what you can hear in any other IEM, but it will also feel "intimate" to put it nicely and "congested" to put it harshly. As far as IEMs go, a Final A8000 would be my recommendation given your specific priorities. That said, I'd rather use these even for this kind of music, the tuning is just too good (whereas I've never been a fan of Final tuning).

Thanks, this was very helpful. Perhaps I should try a different beast altogether, like a Helios or another multi BA IEM to achieve separation and avoid congestion. The IE900 was a disappointment in this regard, I felt the details were somewhat too mashed together. The A8000 could be an option, but the pricing is a bit outside my league…

 

[ddlo]

Thanks, this was very helpful. Perhaps I should try a different beast altogether, like a Helios or another multi BA IEM to achieve separation and avoid congestion. The IE900 was a disappointment in this regard, I felt the details were somewhat too mashed together. The A8000 could be an option, but the pricing is a bit outside my league…

not sure if my experience will be helpful - i don't listen to symphony and large orchestra music very often but if ie900 doesn't cut it for you on soundstage and separation, probably most iems can't do better. i got the final x dita ver. SK of A8000 and didn't find it excel in soundstage. the best performers for that in my experience are kse1200 and sony justear. but i don't often see people using them for symphony and large orchestra music i do quite a bit of listening on the with ensemble playlist lately which combines japanese singers with acoustic instruments (still they're played in a fairly small room and don't have a really big soundstage per se). i enjoyed the music 100% with these 2 iems

 

[batracom]

not sure if my experience will be helpful - i don't listen to symphony and large orchestra music very often but if ie900 doesn't cut it for you on soundstage and separation, probably most iems can't do better. i got the final x dita ver. SK of A8000 and didn't find it excel in soundstage. the best performers for that in my experience are kse1200 and sony justear. but i don't often see people using them for symphony and large orchestra music i do quite a bit of listening on the with ensemble playlist lately which combines japanese singers with acoustic instruments (still they're played in a fairly small room and don't have a really big soundstage per se). i enjoyed the music 100% with these 2 iems

Thanks - I actually have both the IE800 and IE800S. For all their sins, they sounded more airy to me with respect to the IE900. The latter was fuller, but also sounded more congested. This is why I am on the lookout for a single DD driver IEM, which could surpass the IE900.

 

[Umwelt]

i got the final x dita ver. SK of A8000 and didn't find it excel in soundstage.

This one is remarkably different from the original A8000 in several ways including this one I would say. I'd go as far as to say that this collab ruined the impressive technicalities of the A8000 in exchange for giving it a really cool aesthetic and a somewhat interesting tuning.

I have heard good things about the KSE1200 in this regard as well, though I've never tried them myself as I don't want to deal with their special stat setup.

 

[tekkster]

I'd say these are not optimal for symphony and large orchestra music especially if you're prioritizing separation and soundstage. Each instrument will sound absolutely beautiful, probably more than what you can hear in any other IEM, but it will also feel "intimate" to put it nicely and "congested" to put it harshly. As far as IEMs go, a Final A8000 would be my recommendation given your specific priorities. That said, I'd rather use these even for this kind of music, the tuning is just too good (whereas I've never been a fan of Final tuning).

Yep, I would agree.
These IEMs are all about timbre, not about detail retrieval.
They're very old school in that sense. In the 80's and 90's, while there are a few exceptions, the holy grail was getting the right resonance out of headphones for truly sublime timbre for listening to classical music. It didn't translate to large orchestras, but for smaller ensembles, those specialized hard woods used for cups commanded big $$$ to help translate timbre. Or sound stage. That was the other golden goal.
We've come a long way since then. While timbre remains nice to have, transients (fast attack and clean decay), minute dynamics, and sound separation are viable in ways that headphones from decades ago just can't match. Well, electrostats could get closer, but gave up so much else in that effort.

If the 10K was available in the 80's, it would have been legendary, iconic, and would be a prized possession.

For for symphonies, orchestras, really complex instrument combinations, it just can't keep up with the fast transient, miniscule dynamics deltas, and sound separation that today's best IEMs and headphones can provide.
And though I might get flamed for this, the $25 CCA NRA is much better at those key characteristics than the 10K can achieve.

I won't sell these. I'll keep them for those times when timbre matters more (e.g. cello solos, viola solos, trios and quartets that don't have percussion). In a rather limited sub-sub-niche, these headphones are stunning and hard to beat. Are they worth $2K? Even $1K? 35 years ago, for sure, not so much today, I think.

 

[ddlo]

i just listened to my newly acquired svanar last few days. today i swapped with luun duna, DC Ti and fw10000 for the same collection of songs (all pop music). my experience once again reaffirmed my fondness for fww - it's simply the very best iem for my taste (i only found kse1200 better than fww) and the genre of music i enjoying. in spite of the price difference, fww is more enjoyable than duna and DC Ti (just for the sound performance). detail retrievals are not as good as ragnar and bass is quite a bit weaker than XE6 or legend X yet the music played from fww are the most enjoyable to my ears. it's really a gem for pop music (tg334 is another great iem for j-pop despite it's technicality can't match with today's best).

 

[netyaroze]

What tips would people recommend? The second biggest Spiral dots that came with it are the best fit I could get but it's not perfect

 

[nycdoi]

What tips would people recommend? The second biggest Spiral dots that came with it are the best fit I could get but it's not perfect

Try custom one . Granted they are not as open as spiral dot but i also couldnt stand the fit of spiral dots..

 

[netyaroze]

Try custom one . Granted they are not as open as spiral dot but i also couldnt stand the fit of spiral dots..

Custom tips are new to me but looks like the endgame option, they are covering the vents right? how much does that alter the sound?

 

[nycdoi]

Custom tips are new to me but looks like the endgame option, they are covering the vents right? how much does that alter the sound?

smaller soundstage and a bit less airy. If you have final type E tips. They sound similar.

 

[truongmusic]

i sold and bought it back - jvc fw10000. and this is the 2nd time I own it. The sound quality of the fw10000 is amazing. and it beat out the vision ear phonix, fir xenon6, as the only iem I had to keep. The best thing about it comes from the “timbre” - it is extremely natural and lively. Violins, cellos and string instruments perform enchantingly. and the mid range of the fw10000 is number 1 in my heart. Although the fw10k's low range does not have unparalleled speed, it can reproduce many details of the drum sound, and the intensity of the percussion sounds becomes very balanced. The high range of 10k leans a bit towards lowtreble, so the sound will be a bit bright and a bit tense. So to improve that, I chose dreamduet crystal cable. It makes the sound more refined and balanced.

 

[audionewbi]

So, in your book Dream Duet, is the right cable for it? I'm still with stock cable.

 

[truongmusic]

So, in your book Dream Duet, is the right cable for it? I'm still with stock cable.

dreamduet cable improves the quality of details, it makes the sound details subtle and reveals more microdetails without changing the timbre of the IEM. You can't find better cable on the market