Custom Art Fibae 7 Unlimited
FIBAE 7 Unlimited utilizes the world’s first, patent pending, Flat Impedance design. Featuring seven drivers: Dual Sub-Low, Single Low-Mid, Dual Mid-High, and Two Top-Firing Tweeters. It is an epitome of natural sound, delivering even frequency response with immense details without fatigue. Custom Art is unlocking the potential of FIBAE 7 and removing all the limits!
Custom Art tuned FIBAE 7 Unlimited to be an even better IEM than its predecessor. They listened to feedback from customers and entrusted reviewers over the years and adjusted accordingly. They added more sub-bass, slightly reduced mids to make it less vocal-forward, and greatly improved high frequency presence by adopting an advanced crossover with a dedicated, 3D-printed special waveguide. The effect is an ultimate frequency response, smooth natural tonality, spacious and expansive soundstage.
FIBAE 7 Unlimited portrays musicality combined with balance and an ultimate extension of frequencies. FIBAE 7 Unlimited has been fully redesigned. The new updated crossover adds more headroom and improves the dynamics and transient response. With increased sensitivity, the updated F7 is easier to drive, achieving much higher loudness before distortion. This will prove incredibly beneficial especially for professional musicians on stage. Top-Of-The-Line modern sound signature, offering a balance between musicality and engagement. A perfect IEM for both musicians and audiophiles.
Flat Impedance Balanced Armature Earphone (FIBAE™) technology is world’s first, revolutionary, In-Ear Monitor design providing flat impedance and phase. By changing Balanced Armature driver character from inductive to resistive we solved one of the oldest problem in the industry – dependence on output impedance of sound source for correct earphone output. With FIBAE™ technology your earphones will always perform best from any DAP. Single and multi-driver configurations available.
IEM users beware of noise floor, even for low sensitivity models like the Solaris 2020 (94 dB SPL @ 1kHz: 6.54 mVrms). It seems this is not an uncommon issue for even the most highly regarded portable DACs including the Chord Mojo, so not really a fault, just a mismatch. It sounds great with Focal Clears, but my only use case for the RU6 is with IEMs on the go.
The Grand Maestro is an incredible IEM in many ways.
The vocal boost tuning switch changes it from a mostly balanced mids/vocals recessed sound signature, to a mids/vocals forward powerhouse. The difference is anything but subtle.
The tuning modules modify the sub bass frequency by a few decibels. Changing the sub bass opens up the head stage and allows the other frequencies to “shine” through.
This is not a dedicated bass head iem. The bass is excellent, but it doesn’t overpower. This is an IEM capable of presenting music clearly and concisely throughout the frequency range.
Grand Maestro has the best head stage I have experienced on any IEM to date. Width, height, and depth are excellent on all three axis, and, instruments, vocalists, sound effects, etc. present from all 3 dimensions of the stage.
Thus IEM is worthy of consideration.
Pros:
* Excellent sound with the Subtonic Storm.
* Delivers enough power to drive one of the most demanding IEMs in existence.
* Solid construction
* Compact form factor
* Responsive UI
* Beautiful design
Cons:
* The buttons are very easy to press by mistake, especially with the case on.
* Battery life is not very good. They advertise 5 hours in class A balanced and I'd say that's accurate.
* Can't be used as a Bluetooth DAC
* Latency in USB DAC mode (this is common to all Android DAPs)
* Gets very hot during extended listens in class A mode.
* Audio stream compatibility (with Plex). I tried watching a movie from my Plex server on this DAP and found that it had frequent stuttering and no audio. I eventually found out that audio streams with two channels would play fine, but any more than that could not.
Full review here: https://wolfhawkaudioreviews.com/2023/05/19/hiby-r6-pro-ii/
