I have a feeling a lot of pirates might view Final as peddlers of snake oil.

The trick to understanding them is to realize they're a design studio first and foremost, and they're producing functional art rather than audio equipment.

I think their balanced armature earphones are actually pretty damn good, but the SB is probably the most obnoxiously tuned of the bunch (too much tizziness). Their Piano Forte line on the other hand isn't meant to be an audiophile product. It's a novelty item purposefully---painstakingly---tuned to sound like vintage horn speaker equipment. Sort of in keeping with fads---har har---in Japan where you go to cafes themed around speakeasies or film noir.

The mission statement of EFF is pretty much "to seek out and destroy shitty headphones." With that in mind, I think FAD is kind of occupying an entirely different dimension (unlike Ultrasone, they don't really try to pass themselves off as an audiophile company) and thus deserve neither the praise nor the ire of pirates.

To that end, the only place I could see a successful FAD thread here is in the Treasure Island. A few pirates seemed to really like the new fullsized headphones FAD presented at RMAF however, so who knows?

FAD is for real, no doubt.  The SS is the best single armature out there and makes the ER4S sound like an unresolving ibud.  I hope to have a 1601 for review at some point.

Very curious to see what you think of the 1601. It's... unique, that's for sure. (Personally, I love it).

I would actually like to hear more about the FAD stuff.

I would actually like to hear more about the FAD stuff.

Well, I'd be the person to ask. I think I'm the biggest FAD freak on head-fi, and I own just about everything they've ever released save for their ridiculous 200k horn speaker system. I even have a tattoo of their company logo on my ankle haha.

Basically their lineup is divided into two main categories: dynamics and BAs. The latter are more stereotypical audiophile gear, comparable to other stuff in their price bracket but going for more of a fancy / luxury vibe, while the former dynamics are engineered to be really weird. TBH I really don't think you'd like most of their weirder stuff, though you like the W3000ANV, so maybe I'm wrong in assuming that. Their Piano Forte line is my personal favorite, but damn, it's just really "out there." Like the most mid centric earphones you'll ever hear. I almost thought my pair was defective or broken at first lol. I've since come to love them, but they aren't hi fi.

I think most pirates would be offended over the prospect of paying $2000 for lo fi gear. Unlike a lot of other companies however, Final is purposefully going for that and fully admits to it.

It's a novelty item purposefully---painstakingly---tuned to sound like vintage horn speaker equipment. Sort of in keeping with fads---har har---in Japan where you go to cafes themed around speakeasies or film noir.

I've got the Heaven S, C, and IV here to audition (courtesy of Inks).. and I wasn't entirely blown away with what I heard.  But like you said, the sound needs to be put into perspective.. and your description does that quite nicely.  Their phones seem more about creating a certain 'environment' as far as sound than accurately presenting music.

I tend to look at phones less in relation to their competition and more on their own terms and cohesiveness, regardless of accuracy and evenness.  The FAD are definitely pleasing and unique in that sense.. but they're quite picky with genres and recording quality, IME so far.

Micentricity.. on steroids.. is about right.  It's a double edged (pirate?) sword, there.  I still haven't made up my mind on them.. but they're unique for sure.