[rantng]

Upon reading the early impressions I thought this was going to be an 8.2 update, but to hear that the FIBAE Black does compete with the 8.2 in some ways, but at this price is amazing! This will complement my universal 8.2. And thank you Piotr for the extended pre-sale pricing during all this Black Friday craziness. I’m going to say it, Piotr turned BF backwards...as in FB for FIBAE Black. (Yeah I know, I’m sorry).

 

[shinbojan]

I listen to stuff like prog-metal, metalcore mostly and Blacks have been my daily driver for past almost 3months - to me they are ideal for those genres and would pick them over F2.

Ok, I'm sold. I suppose that black metal will sound awful .
Btw, you guys have a great scene - Riverside, Behemoth, Vader, Mgla, Tides from Nebula.

 

[piotrus-g]

Hum... I still really enjoy my FIBAE 3 with Metalcore, so this sounds interesting, saw The Amity Affliction and Our Last Night recently

Nice man!! I'm going to see Bury Tomorrow and Cane Hill in 5days in Warsaw. Cane Hill is such an incredible and talented band... I will admit that I used "Singing in the Swamp" as one of the test song on FIBAE Black - the intro riff part sounds amazing on them.

 

[piotrus-g]

Ok, I'm sold. I suppose that black metal will sound awful .
Btw, you guys have a great scene - Riverside, Behemoth, Vader, Mgla, Tides from Nebula.

Behemoth and Tides both proudly endorsed by Custom Art

 

[jago]

Just put my order in! Can't wait!

 

[megabigeye]

Wow. I have to say, after reading the first couple impressions I was assuming the Black was going to be a flagship 'phone for a flagship price. Normally when that's the case I lose interest and skim impressions at most. For some reason, though, I decided to continue reading them all anyway. $369 till New Year's?! Holy... wow... I'm just... Yeesh.
I'm definitely interested. This comes right as I'm looking to get a new pair of "end game" IEMs.

I do have a few questions, though.
There was some talk about sub-bass roll-off as well as some congestion in the mids. Are these in any way deal breakers (which is how I started to read it after I knew the price)? Or are they just minor niggles on an otherwise flagship 'phone (which is how I read it before I knew the price)? I have to say, keeping the price a secret till the last moment was a genius stroke. It's amazing how much price influences bias.
Would you call these all-arounders, or are they better for specific genres?
Also, I'm looking for something generally on a par with my DT 1990 and a bit better than the HD 650, but really not (too much) better than either-- I don't want my at home 'phones to be overshadowed, but I don't want to feel like I'm listening to something lesser when I go out. I want end game IEMs and I want the DT 1990 to continue to be my at-home end game. Do the people that have heard the Black think it'd fill that role (extra points if you're familiar with the DT 1990)?

I'm sure I'll have more questions, but let's start with the basics.

 

[Deezel177]

Wow. I have to say, after reading the first couple impressions I was assuming the Black was going to be a flagship 'phone for a flagship price. Normally when that's the case I lose interest and skim impressions at most. For some reason, though, I decided to continue reading them all anyway. $369 till New Year's?! Holy... wow... I'm just... Yeesh.
I'm definitely interested. This comes right as I'm looking to get a new pair of "end game" IEMs.

I do have a few questions, though.
There was some talk about sub-bass roll-off as well as some congestion in the mids. Are these in any way deal breakers (which is how I started to read it after I knew the price)? Or are they just minor niggles on an otherwise flagship 'phone (which is how I read it before I knew the price)? I have to say, keeping the price a secret till the last moment was a genius stroke. It's amazing how much price influences bias.
Would you call these all-arounders, or are they better for specific genres?
Also, I'm looking for something generally on a par with my DT 1990 and a bit better than the HD 650, but really not (too much) better than either-- I don't want my at home 'phones to be overshadowed, but I don't want to feel like I'm listening to something lesser when I go out. I want end game IEMs and I want the DT 1990 to continue to be my at-home end game. Do the people that have heard the Black think it'd fill that role (extra points if you're familiar with the DT 1990)?

I'm sure I'll have more questions, but let's start with the basics.

Unless you really crave sub-bass, they're definitely minor niggles. In my experience, if you can find a quality cable (not even one that boosts sub-bass; just any with superior cross-talk performance than the Plastics One cable), the sub-bass extension is definitely there - it just needs to be unlocked. Some may prefer the upper-mids as they are because they make instruments seem large and lively. I only suggested the dip as it unlocked more separation at the cost of this liveliness. But, I'm speaking from a recording engineer's perspective, so take that as you will. I have the original DT990s and they have a lot more energy at the extremes. They rumble more sub-bass-wise and are crisper up top. The Black is better balanced and mid-focused. Comparing performance between IEMs and headphones is practically impossible, but I'll say that you won't miss much technicality-wise to those two. In fact, I think the Black has a blacker background and better separation than the HD650, but that's muddy waters, so I'll leave it at the previous sentence.

 

[rawrster]

I was definitely expecting a higher price tag and a shorter introductory price period after all the posts by those who had the review unit.

The posts makes the signature would be similar to an se846 type signature except with more treble? I don't need massive amounts of bass so the fact that these won't be bass heavy is a positive sign for me. My only question would be towards the treble. Would that be the weakness for this earphone and would it be a deal breaker for any potential buyers? I've typically sold or returned earphones with smoothed out trebles (just about every Shure earphone I've owned).

I would probably look at a universal version and possibly custom tips later depending on fit. I have a Sony zx300a balanced so have a decent source to pair it with.

 

[Chapbass]

Man, these FIBAE Blacks are what I've been waiting for I think. I've posted here a few times and haven't been able to pull the trigger, but these new ones seem right up my alley...and my bonus check comes next week . I'll be placing an order in a few days!

Congrats on what looks like an incredibly successful new product!

 

[Deezel177]

I was definitely expecting a higher price tag and a shorter introductory price period after all the posts by those who had the review unit.

The posts makes the signature would be similar to an se846 type signature except with more treble? I don't need massive amounts of bass so the fact that these won't be bass heavy is a positive sign for me. My only question would be towards the treble. Would that be the weakness for this earphone and would it be a deal breaker for any potential buyers? I've typically sold or returned earphones with smoothed out trebles (just about every Shure earphone I've owned).

I would probably look at a universal version and possibly custom tips later depending on fit. I have a Sony zx300a balanced so have a decent source to pair it with.

They most definitely won't be as rolled-off as Shure's in-ears, but they aren't the sparkliest things you'll hear either. Even if the Black is warmer in tone, you won't hear the side-effects that typically accompany a rolled-off treble; an overtly rich mid-bass, a congested stage, hazy separation, etc. The Black may not sound super crisp, but they will sound very clean.

 

[Blommen]

They most definitely won't be as rolled-off as Shure's in-ears, but they aren't the sparkliest things you'll hear either. Even if the Black is warmer in tone, you won't hear the side-effects that typically accompany a rolled-off treble; an overtly rich mid-bass, a congested stage, hazy separation, etc. The Black may not sound super crisp, but they will sound very clean.

OK Daniel, you being the local "iem lexicon" , how does it fare with a simple ares II?

 

[piotrus-g]

Wow. I have to say, after reading the first couple impressions I was assuming the Black was going to be a flagship 'phone for a flagship price. Normally when that's the case I lose interest and skim impressions at most. For some reason, though, I decided to continue reading them all anyway. $369 till New Year's?! Holy... wow... I'm just... Yeesh.
I'm definitely interested. This comes right as I'm looking to get a new pair of "end game" IEMs.

I do have a few questions, though.
There was some talk about sub-bass roll-off as well as some congestion in the mids. Are these in any way deal breakers (which is how I started to read it after I knew the price)? Or are they just minor niggles on an otherwise flagship 'phone (which is how I read it before I knew the price)? I have to say, keeping the price a secret till the last moment was a genius stroke. It's amazing how much price influences bias.
Would you call these all-arounders, or are they better for specific genres?
Also, I'm looking for something generally on a par with my DT 1990 and a bit better than the HD 650, but really not (too much) better than either-- I don't want my at home 'phones to be overshadowed, but I don't want to feel like I'm listening to something lesser when I go out. I want end game IEMs and I want the DT 1990 to continue to be my at-home end game. Do the people that have heard the Black think it'd fill that role (extra points if you're familiar with the DT 1990)?

I'm sure I'll have more questions, but let's start with the basics.

I think you might want to consider FIBAE4 coming in January. It has boost at the sub-bass and highest highs so it might be closer to DT's sound

I was definitely expecting a higher price tag and a shorter introductory price period after all the posts by those who had the review unit.

The posts makes the signature would be similar to an se846 type signature except with more treble? I don't need massive amounts of bass so the fact that these won't be bass heavy is a positive sign for me. My only question would be towards the treble. Would that be the weakness for this earphone and would it be a deal breaker for any potential buyers? I've typically sold or returned earphones with smoothed out trebles (just about every Shure earphone I've owned).

I would probably look at a universal version and possibly custom tips later depending on fit. I have a Sony zx300a balanced so have a decent source to pair it with.

Honestly I think SE846 is quite far away from signature we were shooting for with Blacks. The Black has very Etymotic-sounding highs, Blacks are just sweeter in timbre, from my experience with SE846 its treble is much more rolled off.

Man, these FIBAE Blacks are what I've been waiting for I think. I've posted here a few times and haven't been able to pull the trigger, but these new ones seem right up my alley...and my bonus check comes next week . I'll be placing an order in a few days!

Congrats on what looks like an incredibly successful new product!

Awesome! Thanks!

 

[linux4ever]

This guy @piotrus-g is tempting with more and more releases. Can somebody please restrain this guy?

I'm just hoping that in one year we will get a FIBAE Harmony. All the awesomeness of FIBAE and FIBAE Black that pushes Harmony 8.2 to even more higher levels.

 

[Chapbass]

Actually before pulling the trigger I will ask my same question one more time now that the blacks are out (just to be 100% sure):

As someone who has only tested the music one, music two, and ei3, and thought that the music one was pretty good, the music two was awesome (and improved on the one in every way), and was very excited about the ei3 but was disappointed in it (because it was too dark, highs were not crisp enough for me), and someone who currently uses the Shure SE215 (but isn't married to that sound signature, as I said i loved the music two)....

Fibae 2, 3, or black? Leaning black, but curious to see if theres a dissenting opinion. Before the black I was heavily leaning F2.

 

[Chapbass]

Oof, just read the reviews from Deezel...yep, thinking FIBAE black based on this line: "Besides being a tad brighter in tone, the FIBAE 3 has crisper transients and thinner notes. This is because of its upper-treble lift and its subdued mid-bass. The prototype has a much fuller, richer low-end, which gives its instruments a thicker, bolder profile."

That sounds really like what I want, something with crisp highs but solid lows.