[Cajunky]

After wearing mine for a 1-2 hours for a couple nights I noticed that my ears would get a little sore. When the headphones were at rest the cups were almost touching due to the tension of the top wire bands. I decided to bend the two wire bands out to relieve some of the pressure. I flattened the arc of the wire bands so they didn't come to as much of a peak. Now at rest the head strap is almost horizontal and these are very comfortable.
 
Is anyone getting good bass response when using these with a portable amp like the CMOY BB (no Bass Boost), Etc? While I am getting decent bass and happy with the sound, as a test I plugged the FA-011s into the headphone out of my Marantz CC4000 OSE and I swear the bass had more impact and extension but still seemed balanced. I am trying to decide if the Marantz has more juice or it is just an issue of the amps sound signature. If the Marantz is a smoother darker amp then I could just be perceiving the bass as greater in quantity.
 
As a test I added a 75 Ohm adapter between the FA-011s and the CMOY BB and it did wonders. Again I don't know if I am actually getting more bass or if it is smoothing / reducing the high end so I perceive more bass.
 
I do love the bass boost feature on the CMOY BB but I feel that this only works with electronic / Hip Hop music or truly bass shy headphones like my HD570s. Actually, since getting the FA-011s I can't even listen to them without the bass boost. 
 
Do the FA-011s benefit from a desktop amp like the e9, etc.?

 

[ericp10]

Yes on the E9

 

[1eye1derweasil]

Quote:

I've been listening to them exclusively on E7/E9

^ that is probably why you aren't noticing a difference, I doubt the Fiio products can adequatly drive these cans, they are quite power hungry. Also difference will show on higher quality recordings, Flac or 320kbps. Also judging by LFF's review these phones will perform higher for certain genre's.
 
These cans really need a class A amp, thats my assumptions simply reading the sensitivity/impedance numbers
 

 

[Marximus]

I'm running mine from my E9 (out from a uDAC2), and they sound great.  Volume is slightly lower than when I've got my K601s plugged into the E9.

 

[Szadzik]

 
Quote:

^ that is probably why you aren't noticing a difference, I doubt the Fiio products can adequatly drive these cans, they are quite power hungry. Also difference will show on higher quality recordings, Flac or 320kbps. Also judging by LFF's review these phones will perform higher for certain genre's.  
These cans really need a class A amp, thats my assumptions simply reading the sensitivity/impedance numbers

I would strongly agree with this statement. I tried them and compared the sound on these hooked like this:
 
Walkman X>FA-011
Walkman X>LOD>Stepdance>FA-011
PC>Optical>HA-160D>FA-0111
 
I have to say that even though the session was quite short, I was very surprised how big the difference between these three setups was. The cans really shined hooked up to the Burson - and it has loads of power.
 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

If you think the E9 can't drive these, you're misinformed. Perhaps the sound sig doesnt match for you, but the E9 has PLENTY of power for such a headphone, lol. If I could drive my HE4 (a very inefficient Ortho) quite well with the E9 even in direct comparison to the Lyr... the E9 wouldn't have an issue with these.

Fiio naysayers aggravate me, especially when they have no firsthand experience. Christ. The E9 powers the K70x and 600ohm Beyers with no issue. I highly doubt this would even come close to stressing the E9.

 

[CryptHF]

Mmm, I'm not saying that the sound signature is bad on the E9.  I'm saying I can't really hear any obvious differences between E7/E9 versus directly out of my Auzentech Prelude.

 

[ziocomposite]

There is only one thing I can think of, your sound card is more than adequate enough to handle the Fischer's =D.  Maybe if you have a pair w/ higher ohm then you would notice a difference but not at 160ohm.  
Quote:

Mmm, I'm not saying that the sound signature is bad on the E9.  I'm saying I can't really hear any obvious differences between E7/E9 versus directly out of my Auzentech Prelude.

 
Edit:
 
From what I remember the Auz. Prelude was made so it could also handle any cans with options for low/high ohm cans.  =\

 

[matbhuvi]

Well..i have Xonar STX. FA-011 does sound well straight out of the headphone jack. But, through HA-02, the sound is bit more livelier with better rounded bass. I do notice the difference. My iPhone 3GS can drive the phones to very high volume straight through headphone jack. But, it quickly looses the details and i couldn't wait to remove them from my head. The mids are more prominent in STX than in HA-02. But the overall presentation is more beautiful in HA-02. I would be mighty pleased if only the upper mids are bit more forward. Mine did not have the hole cut in the center. I would give it some time to settle before experimenting.

 

[1eye1derweasil]

Quote:

If you think the E9 can't drive these, you're misinformed. Perhaps the sound sig doesnt match for you, but the E9 has PLENTY of power for such a headphone, lol. If I could drive my HE4 (a very inefficient Ortho) quite well with the E9 even in direct comparison to the Lyr... the E9 wouldn't have an issue with these.

Fiio naysayers aggravate me, especially when they have no firsthand experience. Christ. The E9 powers the K70x and 600ohm Beyers with no issue. I highly doubt this would even come close to stressing the E9.

 
The E9 can power anything, but so can an ipod 

I said it couldn't DRIVE them adequately. It doesn't mean it powers them poorly. Just not as good as a Class A amp will
 
Just trying to answer CryptHF's question, no need to get aggressive 
 
Also ziocomposite reaffirmed that these cans would mate BETTER (not ONLY) with a different amp
 
I have fiio experience, and I found the e9 lacking (personal preference) 
 

 

[rymd]

I thought the FA-011 was very easy to drive adequately even though it needs more volume than most headphones. I got the best sound by maxing out a powerful portable player.  I'm sure even a cmoy could drive these well.

 

[Cajunky]

Sorry guys... premature judgement on the bass output through the CMOY BB. I decided to let them burn in for another 24 hours ( I am at about 75 total) and I have to say that these have some amazing bass (without bass boost). I am going to reserve any additional comment until I get a good 150-200 hours on these cans. I might still look into a desktop amp... E9 or maybe a Schitt or Little Dot but for now my current setup is great. Ignorance is truly bliss and then the upgrade bug bites...
 
Sad Note: Involuntary Window Mod
 
I had these burning in on a shelf and my 2 1/2 year old climbed up and got a hold of these for a 15 seconds. He managed to push both of the gold bands on the cups inwards until they snapped. Luckily nothing internal was damaged and I have an email in to Dmitry at GD-Audiobase to see if I can get my hands on some new gold bands. While I wait for his reply I decided to use the broken pieces as a template and cut a couple of clear plastic bands as replacements. Also, does anyone know if any other earpads fit on these cans? I was thinking of trying to order an extra set so that years down the road if they discontinue the model I will have a fresh set of earpads.
 

 

[ziocomposite]

Ouch >_< lol, window mod.  I'm not going to really know until my 011 comes in but these are very similar to the turtle beach HPA2
 
http://store.turtlebeach.com/images/view.aspx?productId=176  Picture of HPA2
 
http://store.turtlebeach.com/hpa2earcushioneach.aspx  
 
I have the HPA2 so when I get my 011, I'll see if the similarity between the two goes to the pads as well.

 

[Marximus]

Quote:

Ouch >_< lol, window mod.  I'm not going to really know until my 011 comes in but these are very similar to the turtle beach HPA2
 
http://store.turtlebeach.com/images/view.aspx?productId=176  Picture of HPA2
 
http://store.turtlebeach.com/hpa2earcushioneach.aspx  
 
I have the HPA2 so when I get my 011, I'll see if the similarity between the two goes to the pads as well.

 
That's an interesting prospect.  I think it's been confirmed that these are very similar in model.  I'm interested in the pads themselves, though, because I've found the Fischer pads to be too shallow for comfort.  I wonder if the HPA2 pads are deeper....
 
 

 

[ziocomposite]

The HPA2 is too shallow to my liking so I did a mod with them:  youtube video with originator of mod
 

 
 
See if this works with your fa-011's and if it does, hopefully does not change the sound quality for the worse =)