shotgunshane’s IEM (custom and universal) recommendations, favorites and classics

Yes, I did. They are good, but not great. I didn't feel like listening to them. Some iems grab my attention because of something special they do, these didn't. I know plenty that love them though.

 

Tunable to anyone's liking?
Nah, that's the hype not the reality. The flc8s is very mid-fi. Basically, it has one tuning for the drivers and you can distort around that by messing with the vents/filters. I mean, it's not terrible, but not so memorable.

 

Thank you very much. I will just stick to Noble X and get CIEM in the near future since I never tried CIEM and keen to try.

 

Well said. That's what I tried to say, but failed.

 

Ugh so my JVC mesh filter somehow got loose/torn. Its not from anything I've done as far as I know. Since I was travelling I just hoped for the best. Now it's getting worse and I'm outside the Amazon Japan 30 day return period by a few weeks. Don't know if they're eligible for the JVC warranty having been purchased in the US from Japan and don't know how long a turnaround time there is (I'm leaving again in a few weeks). Any suggestions on what to do here?

 

Personally, I don't think it's worth the effort to return IEMs just because of a torn mesh filter. From the looks of it, this filter is just for protection and has hardly any effect on sound, so you could just replace it with a single layer of teabag material.

 

Thanks. Won't the teabag affect the sound though?

 

The damping effect of a single layer is very very subtle, definitely not much stronger than that of the original mesh. You can try adding one on top of the torn mesh, to hear what kind of difference it makes... I predict it will be very subtle.

If this happened to mine, I'd remove both of the original meshes and use teabags on both sides for a perfect channel match.

 

@shotgunshane. I saw you had the VSonic VSD3s at some point. What was your thoughts on that? I remember that Lachlan liked them, so could be a nice alternative to the SE215.

 

Guess I have to just try it to and see. Might find your impressions somewhere on head-fi.

 

Thank you, that seems promising. I was only 4 pages away to get there...Apparently the New 2017 version of this has been improved.

 

So I stumbled across the FAD FIBASS on Amazon JP for super cheap (relatively) and couldn't resist the temptation to try them. The subjective "emotional" and "raw" descriptions did me in. They haven't shipped yet so I can still back out.

Can someone talk sense into me? Are they only for bright loving, treble-heads? Do they do timbre and dynamics well? Have adequate bass? Do they only shine with vocals, as Rin Choi's review seems to imply?

 

Ah, but Rin Choi doesn't have a clue. I should have never sent him my preciousss!

The FI-BA-SS are still among of my favorite IEMs, but you'll have to consider a few things to get the best out of them. They're super-sensitive, so you'll need a very low hiss source. On top of that, source synergy may vary quite widely, so try different combos if possible. Also, ime more expensive sources don't necessarily synergize better (for some odd reason I personally still like them best with my lowly SGS3). Tips and fit are of utmost importance, you'll need quite a deep fit to tame treble, which is best achieved by wearing them over-ears. Plus, get some Sony hybrid tips and cut off half of their stems, that will bring the nozzle closer to the reference plane than stock tips and imho result in you the best possible SQ.

If all that makes you think that this IEM is like a spoilt little drama queen, you're absolutely spot-on.

 

I backed out of the impulse buy so if someone wants them there's one pair of new FIBASS on Amazon JP for USD 650 eligible for Amazon global.

 

Any suggestions on a more affordable introduction to the FAD sound? I know I've been bad mouthing BAs, but judging by reviews, FAD really is able to coax some musicality from their single BA IEMs. I've always been curious to hear them.