[mobbaddict]

I have never had the RE400 sound anything other than a shouty obnoxious mess. I don’t hear the RE400 sounding anything like the FA except in bass quantity. I am not discounting your experience or judgment at all. Many laud the RE400. It goes to show you the subjectiveness of IEMs.

Have you tried them with black tips? It's probably obvious for many but I find that IEMs are extremely sensitive to tips choice which can dramatically change the experience.

Edit: I want to add that the timbre on the FA1 is absolutely fantastic now. Dynamics may have a slight edge there but BA are perfectly competent at reproducing faithful timbre.

 

[H T T]

I spent hours tip rolling with the RE400. I tried the black double flange tips, but to no avail. The black double flange tips are my go-to with the RE600s v.2. Perhaps strangely, I enjoy the RE600s v.2 but abhor the RE400.

I haven’t tried the Hifiman black double flange tips on the FA1 yet. I will give them a try. Thanks for the “tip”.

 

[mobbaddict]

I spent hours tip rolling with the RE400. I tried the black double flange tips, but to no avail. The black double flange tips are my go-to with the RE600s v.2. Perhaps strangely, I enjoy the RE600s v.2 but abhor the RE400.

I haven’t tried the Hifiman black double flange tips on the FA1 yet. I will give them a try. Thanks for the “tip”.

Lol I see. Well, hope you like the FA1 with those tips. They sound really to my tastes this way, even with no EQ. Some might find them a bit shouty in the midrange maybe, but less so than the white tips' treble.

 

[mobbaddict]

The FA1 work pretty well with the largest black tips of the RE400 as well. Very nice bass and a much darker tone than the stock white tips while keeping a high level of transparency and a very open soundstage. Quite impressive for a single BA. Sounds pretty much as good as the kilobucks multi BA I've heard. I will have to compare them with my Stax SR-003 when I'm back home because they are very reminiscent of the Stax with these tips.

 

[mobbaddict]

The FA1 seem to like extra added power. I've been using them out of my Google pixel 3a so far and was pretty satisfied, but I recently bought one of the Meizu DACs for Android (the non pro version) and it does add extra warmth to the bottom. The mid-range seems to be more full-bodied now and I can totally enjoy them with no EQ. Funny these are not popular, this is one of my best purchases in over 10 years. I think I will only upgrade these when planar IEMs reach that level of neutrality, otherwise I see no point spending money on sidegrades.

 

[Hpersona]

The FA1 seem to like extra added power. I've been using them out of my Google pixel 3a so far and was pretty satisfied, but I recently bought one of the Meizu DACs for Android (the non pro version) and it does add extra warmth to the bottom. The mid-range seems to be more full-bodied now and I can totally enjoy them with no EQ. Funny these are not popular, this is one of my best purchases in over 10 years. I think I will only upgrade these when planar IEMs reach that level of neutrality, otherwise I see no point spending money on sidegrades.

I was wondering if I should buy a DAC for it. I really like the speed, clarity and resolution on this set (It is definitely from 2x 3x price tire range). But I really love to have a bit thicker and fuller sound with more sub-bass at the end of the day. Now I can see you get a better results in those areas with a basic DAC I'm starting to think of it more seriously!

Just if you have to specify the amount of difference between your DAC and phone by percentage how much would it be overall (approximately of course)?

 

[mobbaddict]

I was wondering if I should buy a DAC for it. I really like the speed, clarity and resolution on this set (It is definitely from 2x 3x price tire range). But I really love to have a bit thicker and fuller sound with more sub-bass at the end of the day. Now I can see you get a better results in those areas with a basic DAC I'm starting to think of it more seriously!

Just if you have to specify the amount of difference between your DAC and phone by percentage how much would it be overall (approximately of course)?

Honestly the difference is very subtle, I need to switch between the dac and the headphone out to make sure I'm not imagining things. But I do think it adds extra warmth, like 10-20% in the bass and lower midrange. Given the price of something like the Meizu, I think it's worth giving it a shot and testing for a while, which is what I intend to do. Definitely don't spend crazy money on this.

The biggest upgrade I did on the FA1 was the changing the tips though, none of the stock tips were satisfying IMO. I just used the tips I was using with the RE400 and it worked for me. I wouldn't change much on the sound I'm hearing now.

 

[544592]

Still one of my favourite IEM's, and at £75, a bargain.

I loved them with Spinfit CP100's but I've now settled with Sennheiser IE100 Pro Medium Silicone tips (with the foam removed from them. They just sound a tad more natural without losing any detail.

The little Creative SXFI Amp drives them well with no EQ required and a solid bass response to boot.