[FiiO]

I was talking about the second number.

So FX15 is first gen (1) of the middle (5) of the tribrid series (FX).

Dear friend,

Thanks for the attention.
The FX15 is in higher level. So it is named FX15 instead of FX5.

Best regards

 

[cleg]

So, here is my full video about FX15, their sound, their purpose, and everything else

 

[o0genesis0o]

So, here is my full video about FX15, their sound, their purpose, and everything else

Time for my daily dose of Ukrainian accent.

 

[andjar]

Another nice review:

 

[jeromeoflaherty]

So, FiiO kindly shared a FX15 a few weeks ago and I have been listening to it while working so roughly 5-6 hours daily and comparing it with the other IEM's in my collection (some moondrops, Kiwi ears, Salnotes and the Truthear Zero Red), so I thought I would share my thoughts on this IEM.

What is in the box:​

The FX15 comes with a lovely box and a great set of accessories. The presentation of the IEM would be perfect for Valentines days :

The number of accessories within the box is also great:

The Cable especially is exceptional quality and I love the 3.5mm and 4.4mm connections on the cable.

The Eartips selection is also great - these are the main way FiiO want you to tune the sound (rather than the A/B Switch but more on the switch later), you can see recommendations in this photo:

I love the slightly smokey look to the shell, though I am not fan of the pattern on the IEM its fine. Here are a couple of close ups:

Here is the size compared to the Truthear Zero Red:

You can see the slightly 'opinated' shape compared to the truthear and I liked it - the 'ridge' in the shape fitted my ears perfectly - though that will obviously be very subjective.

Overall I you get a very premium feel from this IEM (and you should at the price) but the real star of the show with this IEM is the EST drivers - 4 per ear together with 1 DD for the bass and a single BA for the midrange. So lets get onto the sound signature.

Sound Signature​

The FX15 has a slight V-shaped signature (not a bad thing but probably not what I had been using in recent months) so it took a few days to get use to the sound, it was great (until I switch between different IEM's but more on this later). So I started my initial listening with a playlist with some 'challenging' test tracks which I thought would give me a true taste of what the 4 x EST could provide and I was not disappointed. So typical test tracks like Bjork Hunter and James Blake Limit to your Love sounded great both in bass but especially with the treble (the best I have heard I would say), I quickly settled on listening to a selection of EDM and nicely produced but 'challenging' albums like Billie Eilish debut, I also tried a series of percussive tracks where ones like Tool 's Chocolate Chip Trip and Earth Drum's by He Xun-Tian really stood out - all these were perfect matches for this IEM. I would totally recommend the default tuning on this IEM with this type of music.

But it's not all great, switching back to a more normal selection of music I did found something didn't sound right on some songs, e.g. Tracy Chapman Fast Car had a little too much bass for my liking and some tracks on Portishead Debut Album were just too much (e.g. Pedestal), I then spend a day or so switching between the FX15 and some harman tuned IEM's like the Moondrop Variations and the Truthear Zero Red (both with the Bass adapter and without) and trying to decide which I liked most with what tracks. It was very close but I did feel that the midrange on the FX15 could do with some slight adjusts in the mid-range for maybe 30% of the tracks.

I then asked FiiO could I get some measurements which they provided so I decided to graph that data with some comparisons in REW and this was very interesting, mainly because it graphed much 'worse' than it sounded - I was expecting a small increase in bass and maybe a 1db dip in the midrange (or similar) but this was the comparison graph:

Note: These are BK-5128 'raw' measurements provided by FiiO and compared with RAW measurements from the Moondrop Variation data and the Truthear Zero Red data comes from Crinkle recent BK-5128 measurements from his website https://www.crinacle.com

I then decided to see what would happen if I fixed the midrange with EQ so I lowered the mid-range and increased the mid-range to be closer to the other 2 IEM's I did not touch the Sub-Bass or the treble region and spent a few more days with the FX15 and for me this fixed the sound of this IEM for almost all types of music, obviously this is very subjective, but what I wanted from this IEM was the exceptional EST treble and the nice quality DD drivers providing excellent bass but I believe the midrange BA does need these tweaks to become a daily driver. But the default tuning does make a great experience for certain types of music as I hope I have indicated.

For those interested in a little more technical detail and some graphs I created post on ASR with more data and some of the technical details FiiO shared with me:
ASR post about the FX15

The A/B switch:​

Finally a little details on the A/B switch - effectively this turns off the EST drivers and leave the single BA driver providing everything other than the Bass, other than a quick 'demo' when I first tried the IEM, I did not find it useful. It was also hard to switch, FiiO provide a 'tool' on the handle of the brush to switch it but I could not switch it easily when wearing the FX15 - maybe someone else could assist you in a A/B 'blind test' with this switch but it seems strange - options and after a hour or so I did not bother with the switch and left it in the on position.

Summary​

FiiO new flagship IEM the FX15 has exceptional Treble response (I won't call it 'technicalities' though I believe most reviewers will call it that) and when balanced with the excellent bass this IEM provides it sounds fantastic with certain types of music, but with more mid-range focused music I think a little EQ can provide a more rounded experience. With those little midrange EQ tweaks I found the FX15 to be the best sounding IEM in my collection.

 

[llysender]

Was able to demo the FX15 yesterday and compare it to the flagship of the Berylium Era flagship FD7.

What first struck out to me as interesting is that the FX15 imaging like a pair of mini speakers within the eyes where everything is coming from the front like a wall of sound. Cable rolling only helped with the balance(I donno why but even fiios silver cables are quite warm) but didnt do much to open up the soundstage.

Overall I feel that the FX15 is very nice for "normal" 4 to 6 element music but once you start getting brickwalled 12 layer edm its when the FX15 starts showing its weakness. Interestingly all the infomation is still easily heard but it starts to layer onto each other which can make for a somewhat confusing imaging.

The other very minor issue(more of a preference really) is that ever since Fiio entered the DLC era the decay has been too extended for my tastes.

Now on to the good stuff and why Im still considering buying even with the staging issues. The FX15 is a vocal first iem that is both very detailed yet easy to listen to. Perfect to use on the go for the usual stuff deezer recomends(mostly mainstream symphonic metal). Need to compare with the TRI starshine next time I go to the store.

 

[FiiO]

Electrostatic drivers are known for their high-frequency detail reproduction, but such drivers are usually used in extremely expensive IEMs out of reach out of most audiophiles. The FiiO FX15 employs 4 electrostatic drivers per channel that not only provide exceptional ultra-high frequency extension, but are exceptionally quick and able to reproduce every last detail in your music, giving the listener a taste of true high-end audio.

 

[jeromeoflaherty]

@FiiO

Electrostatic drivers are known for their high-frequency detail reproduction, but such drivers are usually used in extremely expensive IEMs out of reach out of most audiophiles. The FiiO FX15 employs 4 electrostatic drivers per channel that not only provide exceptional ultra-high frequency extension, but are exceptionally quick and able to reproduce every last detail in your music, giving the listener a taste of true high-end audio.

Yes I would 100% agree, I thought the high-frequency was amazing on these IEM's, that combined with a quality DD included for the bass gives a tremendous sound. The midrange for me needed a bit of EQ but given is slightly V shaped sound signature will probably appeal to lots of people. Without EQ it is still a very interesting IEM for me, basically providing some nice variety in sound to the more neutral midrange focused IEM's I have in my collection. Especially with EDM and some Jazz albums I listened too.

 

[FiiO]

@FiiO

Yes I would 100% agree, I thought the high-frequency was amazing on these IEM's, that combined with a quality DD included for the bass gives a tremendous sound. The midrange for me needed a bit of EQ but given is slightly V shaped sound signature will probably appeal to lots of people. Without EQ it is still a very interesting IEM for me, basically providing some nice variety in sound to the more neutral midrange focused IEM's I have in my collection. Especially with EDM and some Jazz albums I listened too.

Dear friend,

Thanks for sharing~

Best regards

 

[llysender]

I am abit annoyed, I thought Fiio was done with 200hr burn in to get the iem to sound correct. The Fiio FX15 really needs a stupid amount of burn in to get it to open up.

 

[jeromeoflaherty]

I am abit annoyed, I thought Fiio was done with 200hr burn in to get the iem to sound correct. The Fiio FX15 really needs a stupid amount of burn in to get it to open up.

Strange I did not find that - but for my personal tastes I did apply EQ after a few days specifically around the midrange and once I did that I thought they were excellent - good DD bass - balanced midranged - detailed treble

 

[llysender]

Strange I did not find that - but for my personal tastes I did apply EQ after a few days specifically around the midrange and once I did that I thought they were excellent - good DD bass - balanced midranged - detailed treble

Oh yeah those were the case for for me as well with regards to the general tonality and detail. My biggest issue was the soundstage which new was really cramped and had so many overlapping layers.

Now everything is as it should be.

Also I should have said earlier but I'm demoing a store unit so maybe it isn't as burnt in as what my dealer says.

That being said I'm buying it. Strangely the FX15 is about as close to flat with bass tilt to my ears.

 

[Virtu Fortuna]

We reviewed the new FX15 today:

https://www.headfonia.com/fiio-fx15-review/

 

[Enther]

Fh9 vs Fx15??? Honest opinions!!!

 

[Ben86]

I am the most intersted in comparison beetween this FiiO FX15 and Kinera Nanna 2.0 Pro could someone help me with sound comparison???