In the soul of almost every man lives a boy who has not played enough in his childhood in designers and cars. Maybe, that's why the craving for devices with the possibility of customization is so strong in our souls. Naturally, headphones do not bypass this. One of the most successful companies in this field is rightly considered FLC. Having gained popularity in China by creating custom solutions, they rushed to storm the world markets with a universal tuning model FLC 8S.
Initially, the 8S was conceived as a "typical" hybrid headset with a proven circuit: a dynamic radiator on the LF + double armature on the midrange and high frequency range - a combination that makes it possible to take the best from each of the radiator types, but the FLC decided it was boring, and went ahead, making a triple system of tuning the sound. In principle, replaceable filters do not surprise us, many manufacturers already feel confident in this niche. There were also double tuning systems (at this point I recalled with a slight nostalgia how I once dreamed about headphones from Sleek Audio). FLC 8S also has 3 "organ" settings, allowing you to change the sub-bass, midbass and mid-range, complete with high. However, I will describe the details of this action below.
Does not fall behind and everything else, headphones are pleased with small ergonomic cases, high-quality assembly and replacement cable. Naturally, everything has to be paid for, so this model (the price at the time of publication of the article), however, the version with the balanced wire and the option in the red case for some reason cost 2000 rubles cheaper.
Specifications
- Emitters: 8.6 mm dynamic + twin with balanced armature
- Impedance: 11Ω
- Sensitivity: 93 dB / mW
- Frequency range: 20 Hz - 20 kHz
- Cable: interchangeable, with two-pin connector, 1,3 m
- Plug: 2.5 mm TRRS or 3.5 m TRS
- Weight: 24g
Packing and delivery kit
At first glance, the box has a feeling that the FLC itself was afraid of the price folded for these headphones, and decided to give out maximum premiums in appearance. Since for any Chinese cultivated in the fertile land of the Celestial Empire, luxury is directly associated with red and gold (communism, or something, so it affects them), then the FLC apparently hired someone with a more Western mindset. This gave fruit, the packing of the headphones is made of a very thick and reliable cardboard beige, while not yet disfigured by printing, only a minimal silver embossing with the name of the model.
The box is opened very interestingly, strongly resembling a package from Lotoo Paw Gold (I wonder who looked at who?). The top cover on the magnet opens, allowing access to the headphones, then the central part opens in different directions, showing the compartment with accessories. Under the headphones, by the way, there is still tweezers, which later on will be very useful.
All accessories are divided into two metal containers. In that less, there are all filters for tuning, fixed in special cells. In a large jar you will find nozzles made of white and gray silicone, 4 pairs of different sizes. Their main difference in stiffness, white is softer, and gray - better isolate the sound. In addition, there are a stick with a loop for cleaning sulfur, an adapter of 6.3 mm and an "aviation one" for 2 mono plugs of 3.5 mm. Still, caring manufacturers put one small piece of filters in reserve, suddenly you lose some of them (and given the size, it's simply impossible not to lose them). In this case, large filters, apparently, in the opinion of the developers, are not lost, and there are no spare parts.
Design and Convenience
The first thing that captivates when looking at these headphones is their small size. They are really very compact, and in combination with the rounded and thought-out shape of the hull this gives a very comfortable fit in almost any ears. The headphones themselves are made of very beautiful dark blue plastic with a nice drop, the performance quality is very good, no flaws in assembly and fit. I met on the Internet mention of the fact that the FLC 8S is made of aluminum, but the material of their case does not produce an impression of metal.
The soundtrack at the headphones is long, which gives quite a good, albeit not record noise insulation. Passive noise cancellation in this model is enough for all situations except, perhaps, the subway. With the right selection of attachments, headphones can be worn for a long time and with comfort.
The wire, as I said, is replaceable, standard 2-pin connectors with raised sockets are used. The complete wire is harsh and has a noticeable microphone effect, but, thanks to the BTE wearing, it actually does not affect listening to music. However, to choose a replacement cable for headphones is not a problem, even the FLC themselves offer a relatively expensive wire with a high silver content.
But, of course, the most interesting in this model is sound tuning. It is carried out by changing the filters.
The smallest filters placed on the inner side near the sound guide are responsible for the amount of sub-bass, allowing it to be changed to about ± 5 dB at a frequency below 200 Hz. Tubular filters located on the outside of the headphones are responsible for the average bass and even slightly beyond the midrange, allowing frequencies to change below 1 kHz, however, a noticeably audible difference starts somewhere below 300 Hz. Finally, the third group of filters, screwed into the sound guide, allows you to adjust the number of MF and HF, lying above 1 kHz. However, their main influence falls on the peak in the region of 7-9 kHz, being responsible for the "presence" of HF.
Sound adjustment, of course, does not involve permanent changes, it is worthwhile to engage in these experiments exclusively at home, with good lighting and using tweezers. Filters are very small and any careless movement or, for example, a sudden sneeze will lead to loss. All tuning capabilities in this case are designed to adjust the sound to yourself and further use one option. In the manual, several configuration options are given, but the experiment field is clearly not limited to them.
In general, I liked the idea of tuning this model, although, of course, I would like to simplify this process a little.
Sound
The following equipment was used for listening.
- NuPrime DAC-10H and Resonessence Labs Concero HP as DAC and Amplifier
- Apple MacBook Pro Retina 2013 as a source
- Fidelia as a player
- Lotoo PAW Gold, Fiio X7 and Luxury & Precission L5Pro as portable players
- High Definition Records in Lossless-formats (Dr. Chesky The Ultimate Headphone Demonstration Disc and others)
Before listening to the headphones were warmed for 48 hours.
I do not even know how to approach the description of the sound of these headphones, taking into account the presence of 36 variants of the latter. Even if we consider that some will be quite weak, there will still be many options. Therefore, first briefly describe some of the options that I tried, and then I'll tell you about the tuning on which I stopped. The configuration of the filters I will give, indicating the colors in ascending order of frequency: sub-bass / bass / midrange.
If to say "in general", for this model two features in sound are characteristic. The first is carefully crushed frequencies from 1.5 to 7 kHz with a maximum failure of 5 kHz. It's not necessary to think about the purpose of such tuning for a long time, it is clearly a struggle with the sharpness and metallic sound characteristic for many armatures. Then there is a tuning rise from 7 to 9 kHz, as in this area there are many sounds, without which the vocals lose expressiveness. With the exception of the green filter, this peak has a moderate character and HF does not irritate. After 9 kHz there is a failure.
Gray / gray / gold. The variant exhibited at the plant is characterized by a characteristic V-shaped AFC with an emphasis on LF and HF, compensating it. Powerful, dominant bass, developing a good pressure, plus HF, compensating it. It sounds delicious, but for all this, the MF is lost.
In general, this tuning can be developed even more with options such as red / gray / green. Surprisingly, this option remains more or less listenable and on some styles such as high-quality electronic music, high-frequency highlights give a sense of volume, and a powerful bass pleases with a roar. In general, in this version, the headphones come out similar in pitch to the Phantom Master 4 from Trinity.
Gray / transparent / blue. Tuning for fans of neutrality, which is always "sawed" HF. Well suited for some instrumental music, but wherever there is vocals - it sounds too jammed.
Transparent / transparent / gold. The antipode of the previous tuning, a variant with an emphasis on vocals, voices, especially female ones - sound very nice, although the quality of the recording and the source must be flawless.
Gray / transparent / dark gray. In general, this is the version on which I stopped. Practically linear frequency response up to 1 kHz, then a small peak, a common failure for all the options and again a peak on the HF, but moderate. Maximum neutrality, minimum color, however, without care in microdetachment. So now about this option is more detailed.
LFs are very well developed, neutral and behave close to the reference ones, there is also the necessary corporeality, and the study of textures, and the separation of instruments with careful study of all the parts. Funny, I'm not a fan of a lot of sabbas, but in this case I used the middle filter, because the "bottom" in this model is very good at creating a melody base, and with a "minimal" filter it is a bit lacking. The bass is well controlled and does not climb to other frequencies, although the place of the "junction" of the radiators can still be determined by ear, it's not quite a seamless transition. However, in order to find it - you need to know where to listen, without this you are unlikely to encounter this. For the given model, by the way, the rule that for a correct bass it is necessary to pick up suitable nozzles is very true. It, however, is true for other headphones, but here it is "more accurate than usual".
Medium frequencies are surprisingly musical for the armature, there is no attempt to delve into microdetails and to bring to the fore all the smallest problems with recording, instead the emphasis is on the emotional component of music, and its headphones are very cool. The imaginary scene in this variant is slightly larger than the average in width and medium in depth, the headphones are not the most "voluminous" in pitch, but the character of the instruments and their location are close to the reference one. However, tuning with a lot of high frequency for me personally gave a large width of sound, so that the space for experiments here opens wide.
The upper frequency range, of course, bears the marks of the developers' decision to pin down those parts that give sharpness and remove almost everything that lies above 10 kHz. In general, their motivation is quite clear. The first pit on the AFC allows headphones to tolerate the shortcomings of recording and source, expanding the circle of connoisseurs of these headphones, and above 10 kHz there is not much useful information in the records, so there is no point especially "bothering" with this range. Despite the fact that I prefer a more even HF, in many ways, I agree with this tuning, it is better suited for much of modern music than "more neutral" versions of monitor solutions, primarily because modern music is often very badly recorded. Compression of the dynamic range, mastering for distribution in MP3 format and generally low quality of the material lead to the fact that in the HF band there is practically "nothing to catch". Of course, there are exceptions, but for them the RF FLC 8S is ample, they are normally worked, airy and have good attacks. In this case, even in the "maximum" version, HFs remain fairly balanced and do not turn into harsh ones.
For comparison, below are those several models that I had at hand and which in general can be compared with these headphones without using a turnover type "completely different" or "nothing in common." Naturally, the comparison was carried out on the "reference" tuning gray / transparent / dark gray.
Orivati Primacy . Not so long ago, Oriveti upgraded their hybrids, rumored to have improved their sound. Unfortunately, I have not heard a new version, so I'm writing about the old one. Primacy offer a slightly more smoothed sound with a more consistent feed and a bias in "musicality". The bass is slightly less biting, the resolution for the midrange is lower, but the middle itself carries more emotions. HF is approximately parity, but on bad Orivety records is slightly sharper.
Dunu DN-2000J . More neutral, more technical and more demanding hybrids. The Japanese version of the DN-2000 is characterized by a higher resolution, denser low frequencies and more vivid and well-developed HFs, however, for this one has to pay a high level of pickiness to sources and material.
Dunu DN-2002 . One of the most technical headphones, which have appeared in the last year. A more controlled bass, however, a less deep, more neutral and technical middle, better working out of HF, but without the characteristic for DN-2000J uncompromising. These headphones are less emotional and more suitable for those who are looking for monitoredness in the filing.
MEE audio Pinnacle P1 . One of the best discoveries of this year. Due to the use of a single radiator headphones have no problems with coherence and are not so critical to the output impedance of the source. On the pitch - a bit less LF quantitatively, slightly worse resolution for midrange, but much more detailed and elaborated HF. P1 - an option for those who like to listen to serious music with no less serious quality of recording.
Compatibility
These headphones are uniquely focused on quality sources of medium and higher levels. Low impedance, coupled with not the highest sensitivity, imposes a number of stringent requirements: the player must have a near-zero output impedance, be powerful enough and not make noise. In general, different smartphones and tablets are removed from the competition voluntarily. Of the available segment of the players, the headphones I liked most with Cayin N5, from the tops - with theBit OPUS # 2.
Genre model, of course, is universal, and how can it be otherwise with such variation in filing? Criticality to the quality of recording ranges from 6 to 8 points on a 10-point scale.
Traditionally, several examples
Ekseption - On Sunday They Will Kill the World . Not quite typical for Ekseption song, knocking out of their characteristic classical sound. "On Sunday, they will kill the world" - a hard, sometimes bordering hard rock composition decorated with an excellent brass section. The musical canvas is very dense and saturated, but the FLC perfectly copes with the correct transmission of this melody.
Snarky Puppy - Gø . Texas virtuosos of modern jazz like to jokingly call themselves "not singing a pop band with a craving for improvisation", but in fact, despite the variety, jazz roots are easily read in their music. Fortunately, the band's musicians do not shy away from any influences, so each of their albums is a real feast of the music of the music fan. The main thing is to find good headphones, able to convey all the many sounds that they saturate every second of their music. Here's the FLC 8S is good at it.
Meshuggah - Monstrocity . In general, it is very difficult to explain to the unprepared listener what the absolute genius of Meshshuga is. I've been unable to do this to my wife for 8 years. Indeed, at first it seems that this is how torture of people by alien invaders will sound, if you transfer them to music. But in fact Meshuggah is a genius groove, their music actually consists of absolutely inhuman rhythms breaking the brain like an industrial shredder for recycling old cars. But it is in this chaos that an amazing, bewitching beauty is born, which elevates the group to an almost unattainable level in the modern progressive metal. On a recent album, the musicians finally abandoned the programmed drums, which went to good use, replacing the cold sterility with a more live sound (if this word is generally applicable to their music). In addition, they were clearly beating the producer of the recording for each blemish, so the already excellent level of their sound became even better. Naturally, without good headphones in this hell it's better not to pop, but the FLC 8S is quite capable of this. By the way, I still very much note the track Nostrum, after his recording, Haake simply has to marry his drum set.
conclusions
Very interesting model for fans of "manual debugging." High-quality hybrid headphones, showing all the best sides of such a scheme, allow you to fine-tune the sound "for yourself", getting a really high-quality result.
The article is based on materials .
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