new headphones: phonak audeo pfe 122 (rip futuresonics)
Well my FutureSonics finally died a couple months ago. Not sure I ever did end up writing about them, but they were great. Very warm, very very spacious. Easy to listen to. Good detail, but not the best. A bit too much rolloff on the highs, esp cymbal crashes. Still, for all around listening, you get detail from jazz and classical and enough presence and power from rock and pop.
Anyway, after several years (4 or 5 maybe) they disintegrated on the tube one day, necessitating a replacement. Not one to replace like for like, I set about my research and finally settled on Phonak. It was that or Sennheiser IE80s. That's the problem with IEMs, can't really try before you buy. Still don't know when the Sennheisers sound like, I'm sure they are great though. So there was much debating with myself for maybe two days, then I finally just had a beer and bought them online.
I was not convinced at first. Then a friend said, "New headphones are always a big adjustment," and I thought she was spot on. So now after trying both filters on different musics (grey=flat/detail & black=V/bass) and doing a lot of listening over the past month or so, I can confirm they are great. Very different from my FutureSonics. These, being armature types, are detailed and crisp. A harder listen, but at the same time loads better than my old Shures. I've settled into the black filters because they are a bit less harsh, give more bass presence, and work with more genres of music. (Sometimes you do need to feel it)
So what are they like? As I say, very detailed. The separation is great, and the soundstage is incredible. Frequency response blows FS out of the water. No rolloff in the treble at all. And the clarity in the bass is nothing short of stunning. It clear but light with the grey filters; with the black ones you really get the presence but it doesn't overpower anything else. You do, however, lose some of the detail in the mids with the blacks in. The fit is more comfortable than any I've owned before, and I get a great seal with the silicone tips whereas with the Shures and FS I had to use foam.
The perfect IEMs? Not quite, though I'm not sure they exist. I love them though; I hear everything and get a great listening experience. I do wonder what those Sennheisers are like.
Anyway, after several years (4 or 5 maybe) they disintegrated on the tube one day, necessitating a replacement. Not one to replace like for like, I set about my research and finally settled on Phonak. It was that or Sennheiser IE80s. That's the problem with IEMs, can't really try before you buy. Still don't know when the Sennheisers sound like, I'm sure they are great though. So there was much debating with myself for maybe two days, then I finally just had a beer and bought them online.
I was not convinced at first. Then a friend said, "New headphones are always a big adjustment," and I thought she was spot on. So now after trying both filters on different musics (grey=flat/detail & black=V/bass) and doing a lot of listening over the past month or so, I can confirm they are great. Very different from my FutureSonics. These, being armature types, are detailed and crisp. A harder listen, but at the same time loads better than my old Shures. I've settled into the black filters because they are a bit less harsh, give more bass presence, and work with more genres of music. (Sometimes you do need to feel it)
So what are they like? As I say, very detailed. The separation is great, and the soundstage is incredible. Frequency response blows FS out of the water. No rolloff in the treble at all. And the clarity in the bass is nothing short of stunning. It clear but light with the grey filters; with the black ones you really get the presence but it doesn't overpower anything else. You do, however, lose some of the detail in the mids with the blacks in. The fit is more comfortable than any I've owned before, and I get a great seal with the silicone tips whereas with the Shures and FS I had to use foam.
The perfect IEMs? Not quite, though I'm not sure they exist. I love them though; I hear everything and get a great listening experience. I do wonder what those Sennheisers are like.