Feel like standing in front of the PA system while put on E-prototye 🔊!!

Bass is really amazing.
make my mix really translate to any medium so far.

the new era of Flare audio ✌

I’ve been wanting to try this for the longest time. Now that it’s finally here, it didn’t disappoint.

It’s an in-ear that doesn’t make you feel like you’re wearing an in-ear. Of course you’ll feel the passive noice cancelling which is expected from any in-ear. However soon you start listening to something, the sound stage is wide as if you’re listening from an open-back headphone. I’ve confirmed this with 2 of my open-back headphone (Grado and Bayerdynamic) that I have so I can really attest to this.

As for the clarity, it is much better than ie800 in my opinion. There’s no warm or cold tone to the tuning. It has natural sound just like the way my ear normally perceived with a ton more details that I couldn’t hear with my bare ears. I love this very much.

1 drawback for me is I still have a love-hate relationship with Flare stock ear tip since the Jet. It’s a small bore ear tip which squeeze all the sounds into my ear. Some people might like it because the detail is highly enhanced but it could cause fatigue real quick. My recommendation is to pair this in-ear with Pentaconn Brass Coreir ear tip. With a wider bore and a brass insert to help clearing the sound wave, you get to experience “true to the natural hearing” performance from this earphone, the way it’s supposed to sound.

This is by far my favorite in-ear earphone period. I’d not trade it for anything else.

I want to love these, and I chose them over other products almost entirely because they are made in Sussex. However the plastic shell of each ear piece is similar in weight to milk nitrile plastic and one cracked in less than a month. This is despite me keeping them safe in the case. We’ve contacted the team for help but another month has passed with zero response. It’s a real shame, I thought I had found a brilliant company, but right now it seems they’re more concerned with selling something flashy than providing a great customer experience.

Pros: Really amazing sound for $300 (though not the most sophisticated or exotic driver); abundant bass; quite good sound stage and image for an IEM; totally enjoyable for classical, jazz, pop and blues; (an all-arounder) serious consideration if you can only have one IEM.

Cons: Elephant in the room - it's a prototype made from 3D printed resin and 'it really doesn't matter what the driver is' driver; unknown how long the resin or non-replaceable cable will last; the driver really wasn't sourced from the best bin on the bench.

TL;DR Lovely IEMs that need about 100 hours of burn-in to sound their best; however, pay attention to the fit recommendations - these are deep fitting IEMs that require smaller tips than you may be accustom to.

Some people start caring more about titanium, beryllium and 5 discreet drivers somewhere above $300, these people will likely not try or buy Flare E-Prototype. I bought an early run sample as soon as the price dropped a little from its original $400+. I was not keen on them at first, thought I wasted my money, and put them in a drawer. I pulled them out a couple of times to try aftermarket tips in hopes of saving my investment but nothing made them shine. Fast forward...

On the interwebs I found the solution was in the box. I usually need a large ear tip in my left ear and medium in my right, but I noticed while reading a white paper on the Flare’s design these were meant to go deeper in the ear canal. Mine wouldn't go deep - hence I thought I should try the smaller silicone tip pack-ins. The smallest, actually. Tiny. Somewhere between proper insertion using the smaller tips (small both L and R) and the hours I've spent listening to these IEMs they have really come alive.

On my list of “Cons” I make a note of the middle-shelf driver. Still, it is really amazing how good these sound on balance though the driver does sacrifice some detail. I am listening to a tympani right now and am enjoying the rumble but have a hard time detecting the individual impacts. There are other examples where the sound is glorious but the picky nuance isn’t rendered. I doubt you would find a $300 IEM that sounds better but with better detail, on balance.

Oh, as a bonus; I can fly with them since they are really excellent passive isolators.

I have been a fan of Flare for a long time and previously purchased a pair of their R2S in ear headphones. At the time I didn't think sound quality could get any better but now some years later they have proved me wrong.

The first thing about the E-Prototypes is their distinct look. It is hard to imagine how a 3D printed bit of plastic can create such an incredible sound, but that is exactly what they do. I also find it hard to put into written word how something sounds but words like clearness, clarity and balance all come to mind.

Since getting them I have been using them to make my own music and am getting a far better mix than I did with previous headphones. They are the closest I have come to being able to hear how something actually sounds. I have also been using them to re-listen to some of my favourite albums which has brought them to life in new ways and they make watching films on a laptop sound even better.

It is worth noting you have to get an exact fit with these. In the past I had always opted for a medium with Comply style foam tips, but with the E-Types I use the smallest bud (three are provided but work your way up). You also have to get them in the correct ears. They are colour coded to the Red goes in the Right - which is helpful for me as I always struggle with my left and right.

The only thing I have left to say is if you are thinking about getting some - do it! Your ears will be happy and so will you.

I've not been able to put these down since they've arrived. I absolutely LOVE Flare JETS and these are like them but with more clarity and depth. Full frequency range is covered and lovely clear and full sounding low end without muddying the mix in any way.

They have a great amount of level to them without a great amount of frequency change (low end changes as expected) with volume change.

Took me a little while to get the positioning/fit right. Turns out my ear canals are smaller than I thought. Once that was discovered it was a lovely comfy fit.

Flare Audio have made things of beauties.

Thank you for making my ears very happy indeed.

Great piece of kit, with only one snag - the cable is very microphonic.

The best in ear earphones I have ever had. The sound quality is superb & they are very comfortable. Have has Bose before but these are far better & would not swap them

Brilliant sound quality, fast delivery. Would recommend to any music lover

When my old earbuds stopped working I searched the internet and ended buying the E prototype by flare audio, and I’m glad I did my old pair were shure se 525 and were great but these E prototype earbuds have opened up the palate of sounds that I have never heard before using other earbuds what a revelation it also makes the music sound clearer somehow and the separation is amazing all in all I’m very happy with them

I bought these for my son while they were on offer.
He has been absolutely blown away by the clarity and refinement of these headphones!
Especially for the price I paid, these are phenomenal headphones.

Great! Very good sound.

Absolutely amazing depth and clarity!!

So ... had these since December 2024 - treated myself for Christmas after reading reviews and deciding to bite the bullet - as they are not cheap !!!

Legitimately I use these once a week as I walk to a location each Saturday (so less than 30 times)

Sound quality is amazing and all they say that they are in terms of hearing sounds you never heard before - and yet I now have only one headphone working with constantly intermittent crackling - which is severely disappointing for a product that costs so much and has been used so little ...

Dissapointed in the physical quality of this product when the job it does when working is amazing - Maybe this was a "Friday afternoon" product and I just got a DUFF one ...

But yes - it' s left me dissapointed that it's essentially failed after so little use ...

Absolut mega Sound aber nach nicht mal 2 Monaten Kabelbruch ...

I own several sets of headphones/earphones ands these are by far the best sounding earphones I've ever experienced. The separation of instruments and lack of distortion adds a ton of space and clarity into the mix and allows the listener to track individual melodies that often get lost in the mix. Crisp yet controlled and never harsh-sounding highs, and if you love bass these things are monsters, but never overpowering. If you're on the fence about buying a set of these, just do it. There's no way you'll regret it.
Music I've listened to for years reveals a ton of new detail never heard before. It makes you want to shut the world out and revisit old classics as well as clamouring for new music to 'put the E-Prototype to the test'.

Great company too. I recently had an issue (mine, not theirs) and they went over and above what I would have expected in terms of customer service.
Fantastic product, fantastic company. Buy a set or miss out!
Long live ears!

Flare's genius in the concept of these headphones is evident. They do indeed do something with the sound that un-scrambles how my brain interprets the music.
On the other hand, the only average driver and a few ergonomics issues (microphonic and non-detachable cable, capricious insertion position and resulting driver flex) prevent me from rating the E-Prototypes with 5 stars.
Sure they are prototypes, but one wonders, why not release a proper version for these promising peace of tech after many years on the market now?

I've tried these over the weeks on various equipment & different file formats but I have to admit they are very poor for the amount of money they cost. I've used them with DACS & headphone amps but I just don't get the sound the many other reviewers hear. I would say they are below my Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear Headphones which cost a fraction of the price of these. I will be sending them back ASAP.

My main problem with these is, that they really pit an emphasis, and in my opinion, too much of it, on low frequencies.
I bought these to mix music on the road, mainly metal, and unfortunately I can't really make it work. The low end is too overpowering, and all the reference tracks I know, and love, and heard over a hundred different systems just don't sound right.
I will keep trying them, however, on different things. Maybe I'll find an application.
I do like the stereo image they put out. They sound really wide, and the detailing is not too bad either. The case is nice as well. The cables seem fine, but only time will tell how they will keep up with wear and tear.
I have to say, I only got the silicone tips, and I'm not the biggest fan of the fit. They protrude a bit much from the ears, and on the side of haptics, the 3D printed plastic doesn't win any prices as well.
I am sorry if all this sounds very negative. I don't hate these, but i must say, I am a little disappointed, and feel like I was oversold on these, and they don't work for the application I bought them for, so you know, bummer.

It’s an interesting experience. I thought the sound would be fuller, it seems a little thin but spatially is definitely comparable to over-ears. I can imagine mixing with these would be far superior to any other earphone.

Completely understand everyone’s thoughts on the rubbing of the earphone cable. It should definitely be cabled with a material that causes less disruption.

I’m still in my first few weeks experiencing the earphones properly so haven’t done side by side comparisons, but in summary since I got them heavily reduced I’m satisfied, it I’d have paid RRP this would be a lesser rating, still a worthwhile experiment!

These are my first tech product from FLARE (I have most passive devices). Got them for my partner. Will be getting a pair for myself. Extraordinary!

I have listened to hifi since the early 1970’s. (My final year physics project was looking at the frequency response of the human ear). Currently I have a fairly hi end hifi system.
A number of years ago I purchased their R2 (cannot remember which model) and were very impressed with them. Along the way I have purchased a number of IEM’s costing up to £500.
I purchased a set of e-prototypes a few weeks ago and in truth they left all my other sets of IEM’s for dead.
In detail the deep and mid base extend well beyond any other IEM’s I have heard, and made a good fist of organ music. They also made the snap of drums on rock music very real. The truth is that they work extremely well across the whole frequency spectrum. You are able to hear the leading edge on cymbals and vocals, especially female.
Comfort is excellent once one has fitted with the correct size of tips.
The only downside is that stereo imaging is average but I haven’t heard better from other in ear monitors
Caveat:- I used these headphones plugged into an IPad, a very good mini dac (Ifi go) which plugs into an iPad, and finally a A&K Kann cube which is a very powerful digital audio player (dap) and each time the sound made a substantial improvement. In truth I only listen to them on my dap.
]So if you want to enjoy these at their best buy a dap
Their concept of how it works seems valid and I intend to buy their new immerse listening device to hopefully improve my experience in listening to my hifi.
Ps I have bought and paid for both my IEM’s