[firoze]

Thanks for the feedback and the pic James, I am glad you found the magic potion to get the best out of them

Unfortunately Audio is still a very inexact science, so getting a good sound is an balancing act, each component having to compliment the other. Its just that some components take more effort to get the best out of them, but then the sonic results can be spectacular, as with the FAD's.

What makes me want to audition and perhaps buy the FAD's is that they appeal to my purist sensibilities; and also their design philosophy - a single high quality driver in a very rigid enclosure, the emphasis on a clean impulse and transient response; rich harmonics; reproduction of low-level detail; ambiance. These things are more important to me than a flat frequency response or "neutral" sound. From what has been described about the sound of the FAD's here, they seem to be just my cup of tea...

The only concern ref the FAD's is my large ear canals - I have to use the largest size Olive Tips with my SE530's to get a proper seal. I wonder how big the FAD's metal tips are... most probably they will be too small for me and I might need to resort to using silicone tips like you do James.

Am looking forward to dfkt's impressions about the earphones....

Regards.

 

[james444]

^ My ear canals must be just as large as yours and it's the largest Olives for me too. Don't worry about that. The FADs don't sound their best with seal, so all you have to do is point their metal tips into your ear canal and let sound and air flow freely. And if you find the fit too insecure (shigzeo once called it a balancing act) the small silicons help a lot without obstructing the flow.

 

[firoze]

Quote:

Originally Posted by james444 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^ My ear canals must be just as large as yours and it's the largest Olives for me too. Don't worry about that.....

Ah, that sounds promising

Can't wait to hear them...

By the way, has anyone tried running them straight out of an iPhone 3GS? The 3GS has a much more powerful Bass than either the 2G or 3G iPhones as well as the iPods (not sure about the latest iPod Touch tho). Would be interesting to know...

 

[midoo1990]

I read this whole thread and some posts multiple times but I don't know why I am not attracted to this IEM in Any way.usually I drool over new high end IEM,but this iem doesn't cut it for me and I don't see it beautiful as some headfiers describe them to be,I don't know what special about their design.also $800 is a serious money for a universal iem,you can get a full size CAN and it will trump this iem to the ground.it is not even portable and people tend to listen to their big sized headphones in home so why should anyone buy this thing?I have no idea...

 

[KLS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by midoo1990 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I read this whole thread and some posts multiple times but I don't know why I am not attracted to this IEM in Any way.usually I drool over new high end IEM,but this iem doesn't cut it for me and I don't see it beautiful as some headfiers describe them to be,I don't know what special about their design.also $800 is a serious money for a universal iem,you can get a full size CAN and it will trump this iem to the ground.it is not even portable and people tend to listen to their big sized headphones in home so why should anyone buy this thing?I have no idea...

I was interested in the SB version, and had a chance trying all three (the SB, SS, and SC) in Yodobashi Akihabara last month. I was not sure whether those I auditioned were fully burned-in, as bass seemed to be overpowering, to my ears. Resolution was not as good as expected.

That being said, I hope that those I auditioned was not fully burned-in

I am tempted to get them everytime I read this thread. Though the dynamic version has a very heavy housing, and lacking portability, I am looking forward to BA IEMs from Final Audio.

As you stated a well-driven headphone definitely serve the purpose of home-listening better, so why spending 800 dollars on an non-portable IEM? I keep asking myself the same question, which makes me steering away from these Final Audios', and heading towards SM3 instead

 

[shigzeo]

If bass was overpowering, you may have heard a specially amped version because neither the top model nor the SS model and certainly not the plastic models are bassy. The metal models are bassier than the plastic models, but there is a very low amount of it next to other models.

I have no idea how the BA models will sound of course, but I am sure they will be closer to typical earphones as they will have to be OEM technology rather than proprietary drivers.

But, these aren't really iems - what are they? I really like them at home when I don't want to plug my ears and with my DT880 gone for a month, it is so nice to have these. The balancing act is hard of course - I think FAD thought about a certain sound and achieved it, but didn't give enough thought to other aspects of use.

 

[firoze]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KLS /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was interested in the SB version, and had a chance trying all three (the SB, SS, and SC) in Yodobashi Akihabara last month. I was not sure whether those I auditioned were fully burned-in, as bass seemed to be overpowering, to my ears.

Now that's interesting! ... FenderP and you found the Bass to be powerful (overpowering in your case), while James and Shigzeo found the bass to be lacking (except when paired with a Voyager).
That's encouraging from my point of view - maybe I too will find the bass to be 'full' without resorting to add-on devices to contour the sound.

If you could spare a few moments to answer the following questions, I'd be very grateful:

> What ear tips did you use with the earphones? Did you try the metal ones? If you used both the Silicone & metal, what differences did you find?

> Did you use your own source (iPod etc) to audition them, or was it on the shop's sound system? If it was your own source, was the EQ set to flat?

> Did u listen to any other earphones too? If so, did they sound bass heavy too?

> What sonic differences did you hear between the SB, SS & SC? Which did you prefer?

Thanks in advance...

 

[FenderP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audioqueso /img/forum/go_quote.gif Fender, it would have been worse if you went to Osaka. I thought the Yodobashi in Tokyo was big. I just visited Osaka last month, and the one there was 13 floors of electronics! The headphone section was sooooooo sweet! There were several booths with siding to block out noise. Each booth had it's own category (like all Audio Technica large headphones, all Sony IEM, etc, etc). They all had Marantz Reference CD players as the source, and a Audio Technica AT-HA60 amp. They had a bunch of CDs that you could choose from. It was really nice! I could've stayed there all day! But I was only there for a few minutes.

I've been to Osaka, but not Yodobashi there. Complain about the prices all you want, there's nothing remotely like it in the USA.

 

[FenderP]

I think everything in the chain matters. The FADs pair well with my Sony players (the NW-X1060 and the NW-A847) which definitely drive these just fine.

I did an experiment today, though. I have the FAD silicon tips (not the notched) on there normally, but tried the metal ends as well. While the sound was more "airy" with the metal tips, when I used the silicon tips, I got the bass I expected. You do lose a touch of the highs, but IMO not enough that it affects the sound in a negative way.

When I auditioned them at Yodobashi, I did it with my player as well.

I honestly haven't missed using my IE8s since getting the FADs. They'll be with me on the plane tomorrow, and I get just as much seal and isolation as I did with the IE8s, so it doesn't bother me.

 

[james444]

^ I suspected those who report good bass would be using the silicon tips. The seal brings out more bass but IME introduces smear, attenuates the highs even further and makes them sound congested.

 

[shigzeo]

^^ agree with James on this. This earphone may be harder to use whilst up and down without the silicon flanges, but sounds its best just metal. Low density foams is also quite good, but I would consider it best all metal.

I have dropped the earphone a few times now and was worried that the weight would de-anchor the cable. It hasn't. As much as I think the cable could be better, at least it isn't as weak as it looks, nor as bad as a few other earphones I have. But, a good, thick cable would be better. Something like AT or Sennheiser's HD650 cable would be great.

 

[KLS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by firoze /img/forum/go_quote.gif Now that's interesting! ... FenderP and you found the Bass to be powerful (overpowering in your case), while James and Shigzeo found the bass to be lacking (except when paired with a Voyager). That's encouraging from my point of view - maybe I too will find the bass to be 'full' without resorting to add-on devices to contour the sound. If you could spare a few moments to answer the following questions, I'd be very grateful:

Quote:

> What ear tips did you use with the earphones? Did you try the metal ones? If you used both the Silicone & metal, what differences did you find?

I tried the metal ones first, as Final Audio suggests that metal would sound best. Anyway I did try the silicones too, but I couldn't hear any differences (except that the silicones do stay better in the ears while I had to hold the housing when using the metal tips), as it was too much noise around (A Sunday's afternoon Yodobashi). However, when I auditioned them, my first impression was the overpowering bass running across to the other spectrum of frequencies. To be honest I had high hopes of them and was planning to grab them if I had a chance trying them but the sound signature (and the bass) disappoints me so I steered myself away from these.


Quote:

> Did you use your own source (iPod etc) to audition them, or was it on the shop's sound system? If it was your own source, was the EQ set to flat?

Yes I used my iPhone 3G. Musics bitrates were 256 and higher. No EQ. By the way I think many would say that iPhone is not good as source, but I prefer the sound signature of iPhone more than my Cowon D2.

Quote:

> Did u listen to any other earphones too? If so, did they sound bass heavy too?

Yes I love my IE8, and having CK10 and TF10. Even the bass of IE8 doesn't sound as overpowering as the bass of 1601SC. As I have stated in CK10 appreciation thread, I found that CK10 sounds better with my iPhone (better transperancy and more air) than my computer rig (Corda 3Move + foobar), as with my computer rig mids come too forward and overemphasized, overlapping with other frequencies. That being said, I think that CK10 + iPhone doesn't take out the full potential of CK10, as music sounds lifeless (not engaging) and soundstage is somewhat like a 2D: like a piece of flat paper stretching from left to right in your head...If you get what I mean.

Quote:

> What sonic differences did you hear between the SB, SS & SC? Which did you prefer?

I wished I had more time and a less noisy environment when I tested them, so I couldn't really tell the differences. The only thing I remember auditioning the Final Audio series is just: the overpowering bass.

This is merely my own opinion and I am just telling what my ears heard when trying those FADs, using my own source, under a noisy environment.

 

[firoze]

@KLS. Thank you so much for all that info. Makes things much clearer for me now. Am looking forward to hearing them myself and will post my impressions here.
Regards!

 

[shigzeo]

@KLS - I wonder if the store had it amped and EQ'd because these are not bassy at all when compared to their midrange. If anything, bass is rolled off. Still looking forward to more reviews in this thread - lots more!

 

[KLS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif @KLS - I wonder if the store had it amped and EQ'd because these are not bassy at all when compared to their midrange. If anything, bass is rolled off. Still looking forward to more reviews in this thread - lots more!

For your information I was using my iPhone 3G as my source for auditioning. So it might be the bad synergy between the FADs and iPhone, or those FADs didn't fully burned-in. I personally believe in burning in, as my IE8 did tighten up its bass after about 50 hours of burn-in.

Again please take into account that the place and time when I auditioned them (a crowded and noisy Yodobashi), so I might have heard thing differently. That being said, what I remember is the overpowering bass...

I am feeling sorry to write a mere 5-10 minutes impression trying those FADs, as this might confuse other readers

But, I am just describing what I heard that time.

I think I do hear thing like you because I share most of your thoughts on CK10 (after reading those impressions and opinion you wrote in other threads).