FLARE AUDIO® - Flares® Jet 2 Earphones

Bought these for my girlfriend as I was pretty positive the IEMs that came with her phone weren't doing enough justice to the blessing that listening to music is. I've been meaning to introduce her to the fascinating world of actually decent earphones and the JET 2s looked like the perfect starting point from what I've heard about them.Instead of just giving them to her and hope for the best, I thought I'd be sensible to give them a go and see if they live to the hype. Boy little did I know I was in for a treat.Disclaimer: I'm a musician and an audiophile of sorts, own multiple earphones and headphones that are dramatically more expensive than the JETs. Needless to say, I can't realistically expect to be blown away by £70 earphones if my daily driver is literally 14 times more expensive than that. In the end, the sheer cost-benefit and the lack of annoyances DID positively blow me away.To get a few of things out of the way:- Don't expect a flashy package or unnecessary add-ons. It's neatly presented, but in a simplistic way - they went all out with sound and build quality instead.- It does come with three size options of silicone tips. Those might be a tad tricky to fit into the earphones, but just hold them tight and they will eventually go through. They're surprisingly comfortable, specially coming from someone that tends to favour foam tips. Sound isolation is a lot better than expected as well for silicone.- There is no proper indication for left/right side other than different colours - I will save you a minute by telling you that blue is left and red is right.- Build quality is incredible. Its aluminium material feels premium and looks nice. Makes a lot of higher priced earphones (looking at you Shure) feel like toys.- The cable doesn't feel as premium as the earphones themselves but they nail the most important aspect of a IEM cable: they're noiseless. Move as much as you'd like and they'll never interfere with your listening experience.Now, the thing with "budget" IEMs (from my perspective I'd consider £70 a bargain, but YMMV) is that, when it comes to sound, I'm always expecting to stumble upon a particular aspect that will annoy me. I'm glad to say this never happened with those. I'd throw any song at it and the experience was never unpleasant, if not downright completely enjoyable.For example, "With You" by Tennyson. Will the trebly snare/percussion make my ears bleed? Absolutely not. They were not working as intended but also showcased the surprisingly good instrument separation the JETs have.Will the distorted synths of "First of The Year (Equinox)" by Skrillex sound shallow and one-dimensional? No, the textures were just as rich and detailed as I'd expect from more expensive earphones.Is the punchy kick drum from "Hydrogen" by M|O|O|N a saturated mess? No, they were exciting to listen to. The bass is there, but not in a way that many earphones try to shamelessly overdo as a selling point.Are the multi-layered vocals of "Fantasy" by Galimatias going to be too convoluted? No, the soundstage is more than serviceable for an IEM, even good perhaps.The list goes on, but I guess you catch my drift: These are well-balanced, very decent souding earphones. Apparently they are driven by a patent-pending technology (appropriately named as JET). I'm not sure what it does but it's probably working.Drum sounds are beautiful. The intro guitar sounds of "My Curse" by Killswitch Engage sound absolutely lush, followed by aggressively (but not offensively so) distorted guitars.I guess the best term to describe them is cozy. I never feel scared to put on a track just to find out a need to reduce the volume to mildly enjoy it.Speaking of which, the amplification is just fine for phones: Tried on a Pixel 2 and it was loud enough, almost never saturated. Much better than anything louder that you'd have to lower it down anyway to have a crisp sound.Couple them with an audio interface or, even better, a headphone amp and they scale REALLY well. They sound better than some £200-£300 headphones that way.I thoroughly recommend these.As for what my girlfriend thought when she finally tried them: "They sound really good! I can hear things that I've never heard before". And that's how a new audiophile is born.

Very solid well built. I was a bit disappointed for the sound quality. I expected a bit more because the description sounds too good to be true. But well, you pay what you get. To be fair the sound quality is great enough in this price range though.

I recently bought the Flares Jet 1 and was extremely happy with them so I thought I’d give the Jet 2’s (the upgraded pro model) a try.The major difference between the two is that the Jet 2’s are made from aluminium (as opposed to the Jet 1 which are polymer.) They are both very well constructed, light and comfortable although my preference leans towards the aluminium for the durability (plus they look very cool!) As I mentioned in my previous review of the 1’s I have a lot of trouble finding earphones that fit without falling out frequently and these stay in perfectly and comfortably (even whilst running.) Like the Jet 1’s they are beautifully packaged and look modern and ultra slick.To test the earphones I used the same tracks as I did for the Jet 1’s. First up was Quantz’ Flute Concerto In Am. As with the Jet 1’s I was immediately struck by the clarity and detail of the sound. All of the instruments sounded detailed in their own right and the timbre of the flute sounded phenomenal. Again the level of spaciousness and the reproduction of dynamics was spot on and if I closed my eyes I’d swear that I was watching a live concert. The difference I found between the two models straight away was that the midrange was more present in these ones and that the sound generally had a more light and airy quality to it than the 1’s. This was particularly evident with the strings which sounded effortlessly fluid and smooth.Next up was Bjork’s “Hunter,” a track that’s known to leave lesser quality earphones quaking in fear. I’d say that instantly the differences between the two models were more evident with this. Like the 1’s the expansiveness and spatial separation is incredible and the bass is handled very well, with none of the annoying rattling that I’ve found on most of my cheaper ‘phones. although to my ears the 2’s are not quite as bass heavy as the 1’s are. That’s not to say that the bass reproduction on these is inferior by any means, they merely give a different representation. Also the vocals on this model come out particularly clear and sparkling.I’ve been enjoying listening to a variety of different music on these for a few days now and still crack a smile every time I put these on.I absolutely love both models of these earphones and am glad to own the pair of them for different listening moods and functions.At £69 you get an extraordinary bang for your buck in terms of sound and build quality . I’ve bought a few pair of earphones in this price range from other companies before and they haven’t come close to the quality of these. I’m certainly very happy with my purchase and I’m absolutely sure that you will be too!