Yeah, the FI-BA-SS is pretty f'ing amazing to my ears....

Why?  The FAD SS already does that.  Though I think there is a slight lack of refinement to it's signature that begs for another driver but overall it's pretty amazing.  It sounds like it's trying too hard in the low end for one.

Really? I thought the low end on the FIBASS is nothing short of amazing. Well. Maybe they can do with a little more extension as the bass is mainly mid-bass focused, but they sound so natural and effortless.

Nice Chris.  I'd be curious on your impressions versus the UERM and PRM demos too.

Okay, I should say a little something to compare the 3MAX with the UERM and PRM demos.
First, it's really the more bass-and-mids-neutral 2MAX that should go up against these, but what the heck.

For the UERM AND PRM, maybe I should compare them to each other first. The PRM tuning system has been massively overhyped by Jude and soon by Average_Joe. I guess if they sent me a free set maybe I'd overhype them, too? Seriously, though, totally not worth $2000 to play with three knobs. Make your own joke, but think about this: If you flew down to Tennessee, you could go to Dale Lott over at Aurisonics and he would take a hearing test and you'd listen to your music via demos and tell him what you wanted more or less of. He'd hand-tune a set of his hybrid AS-2's for you--a much, much more sophisticated method than the three-knobs and, depending on airfare, you might actually end up paying less.

Okay, so other than Jude getting angry I cock-blocked his hype for the PRM on hf, he and I actually heard the earphones pretty similarly. Even the UE rep I talked to admitted that the PRM is smoother and corrects a bit of roughness the UERM has. Listen to a lot of jangly, microtone-based music (sitars) like I do and you'll hear it. It's minor, the UERM is very nice, the PRM is a small step up. Anyway, I liked the PRM and without the lame three knobs, it'd be a great ciem at $1000.

The 3MAX has a lift in the vocal range, it comes down a little in the sibilant range and there's a little bump in the "air" upper treble range. That should be the same with the 2MAX as well. It's a stage monitor sound to bring the vocals up in the mix so you can follow how the lead singer mangles the beat through the crowd noise. I'd say it can also tend to be a bit piercing if you listen loud (not sibilant, just a lady is really hitting her notes). It's well extended and mostly a very nice treble if you get that it has that vocal boost and is meant to be turned down as it's basically a hearing-preservation tool for musicians disguised as a high-end ciem.

It's a little smoother than the UERM, slightly less fatiguing, but I don't think they are for the same audience at all.

Thanks to the extra bass driver, there's another little lift below, giving the mids some added warmth and the bass comes up nicely. I really liked how the mid and sub bass come together. Versus the UERM, it's a warmer, richer, but still natural sound neatly balanced by the rise in the lower treble / vocal range. I thought the UERM did well with bass, could have used more in the sub-bass. The 3MAX isn't far from that, just warmer with a boost that's not overdone and a little more extension.