CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Lobby => IEM Measurements => Topic started by: Marvey on January 23, 2013, 07:32:56 AM
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Also discussed here: http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,742.msg17030.html#msg17030 (http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,742.msg17030.html#msg17030)
(http://www.changstar.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=757.0;attach=2865;image)
Subjective Impressions pre-measurement - this time with the bare metal tips:
- Bandwidth limited.
- Piece of shit.
- WTF!
- Huh?
- Amazing (how something could be so bad)
Nominate to Wall of Shame / Walkin' the Plank?
This is the kind of shit that pisses me off. Only because it gives nwavguy and minions ammunition that high-end = colored rip-off gear. The tonal coloration is not pleasant. It is simply low-fidelity. Although from HF, we all know that low-fidelity may be pleasant sounding to a few.
FYI: per all other IEM measurements on this site, there is a cutoff after 9kHz.
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Burst Decays.
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:-00
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Sonove's results: http://sonove.angry.jp/finalaudiodesign_FlDC1601SB.html (http://sonove.angry.jp/finalaudiodesign_FlDC1601SB.html) (Just found out Sonove measured the same thing - I run a slightly different compensation curve, but results are consistent with his.)
Alternate subjective impressions from HF: http://www.head-fi.org/t/458719/wow-the-final-audio-design-fi-dc1601sb-also-known-as-dont-go-to-yodobashi-lol (http://www.head-fi.org/t/458719/wow-the-final-audio-design-fi-dc1601sb-also-known-as-dont-go-to-yodobashi-lol)
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Harmonic Distortion.
Bass distortion does make these things much warmer than the FR graph by itself would indicate. Higher order distortion is relatively low. Midrange distortion is actually decent/good.
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How do you make something so bad? p:0
and LOL @ the 'best IEMs I've ever heard' impressions.
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Definitively walk the plank
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Questions on the measurements:
- Clearly they were tuned to sound like... something. The low frequency roll off starting at 100hz is exactly where the distortion measurements start to build up towards a peak. Is there anything from the marketing copy that states what they exactly the designers were going for?
- Is that drop between 1 and 2khz audible?
- Do they really just roll off off at 4.5khz? It's ridiculous to have something that's that limited.
- I read on some descriptions of a similarly shaped FAD product that they were supposed to "equalize ear pressure" or something. Do they even seal properly to begin with?
Anyway... walk the plank
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Questions on the measurements:
- Clearly they were tuned to sound like... something. The low frequency roll off starting at 100hz is exactly where the distortion measurements start to build up towards a peak. Is there anything from the marketing copy that states what they exactly the designers were going for?
- Is that drop between 1 and 2khz audible?
- Do they really just roll off off at 4.5khz? It's ridiculous to have something that's that limited.
- I read on some descriptions of a similarly shaped FAD product that they were supposed to "equalize ear pressure" or something. Do they even seal properly to begin with?
Anyway... walk the plank
Answers below:
- No idea on the literature, but clearly FAD does go for a certain colored sound. This is the reason why I gave the FAD Piano Forte VIII a "pass", or didn't feel the need to make harsh comment on it. I can understand the PF8's weirdness. (Actually, I can't, but I'm just saying so to be nice.) This IEM however is simply a really really really bad bandwidth limited product. It's on another level of bad. I cannot turn on my Dale Carnegie nice-speak mode to stop myself from saying this is really a huge
poo poo poo
- Drop between 1 and 2kHz was inaudible to me.
- Yes, these do start rolling off that early! That is from the upper midrange. In fact, all we hear is upper bass to midrange!
- These are ported and sit somewhat loosely with the metal tips. I don't think they are supposed to totally seal.
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Trying to picture how these would sound, but from the measurements and description seems to me that the target coloration here is the analog telephone line p:8
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Same thought 'bike. Telephone.
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Yes. But the very old lines before digital compression - when telephone sets were all owned by AT&T. Thinking '70s here, so not all people will know. Modern wireless phones with compressed signals sound nothing like how phones did in the '70s.
Again, it's much warmer sounding than the FR would indicate.
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Hah, I actually like the way these sound. I totally understand why others think they suck. You may not remember, but I told you I didn't think you'd like these a while back purrin lol.
Not to keep parroting myself, but FAD did have a specific sound in mind when they made these. They wanted them to sound like really old horn speakers. They did a better job on their successors, the 1602 (aka "Piano Fortes"). Those who are trying to imagine how they sound... telephone line is kind of accurate in a way.
It doesn't help that the fit on these is atrocious and screws up the sound even more.
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I think FAD gimped this one too much. The FP VIII is a much better interpretation (or perhaps evolution?) I assume they based these on horn speakers of the 1910 and 20s before stuff started getting really good by the 40s (Altec VoTT, etc.)