DAC: ES9219C*2
AMP: THX AAA 28*2
BT: QCC5124
Outputs: 3.5mm Unbalanced, 4.4mm Balanced
Output power (balanced): 320mW@32Ω

Highlights have been written here in case you missed them:
1. Three-level audio architecture(DAC+Lowpass filter+THX);
2. The digital module and the analog module are isolated and powered separately;
3. The THX amp increases single-ended power by 88% and balanced power by 30%;
4. Bluetooth 5.1, it supports aptX adaptive, which means lower latency;
5. Integrated metal frame, making Bluetooth transmission more stable and reducing interference;
6. Supports Qi protocol wireless charging.

Next I will review it based on my own experience.
Function and operation:
After long pressing the power button to enter the menu, you can see that these functions can be adjusted directly on the BTR7, and you can also turn the page down to see other settings such as language, brightness, screen time, input priority, etc.

For me, the biggest difference from the BTR5 is that the EQ settings can be adjusted on the BTR7.
Unfortunately, there is only one user EQ. It would be better if there were multiple to suit my multiple headphones.
If you want to it as a USB DAC, the EQ won't be available(the same as the BTR5), though I prefer to use the graphic equalizers on PC, which are more precisely tuned. So the BTR7 may be better at bluetooth reception, but I'm not saying it's not good at USB decoding. It can support DSD256 decoding and MQA rendering in USB DAC mode.

This time, a charging switch is added to the side of the BTR7, which makes it more convenient to be connected to your phone via Type-C.

Those 2.5mm balanced cables prepared for the BTR5 is now going to be replaced with 4.4mm cables. The 2.5mm diameter does seem to be more fragile than the 4.4mm, so the adoption of the 4.4mm balance port will make sense.

Subjective review of the sound quality:
I'm using 6-BAs CIEMs, which are characterized by high sensitivity (I like to call them floor-noise detectors).
With all the unnecessary settings turned off, the BTR7 sounds excellent. The bass is dynamic, the highs are smooth and clear, and the resolution is good.
If the sound of the BTR5 is pale, or like a lake, then the sound of the BTR7 is vivid, or like the ocean, the waves.
And these audible improvements in sound quality over the BTR5 is why I got it and why this review appears here.

(It's my first time writing a review not for headphones, if there is something missing, please leave a comment and I will update my review. Danke!)
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Updated on July 29, the BTR7 has added the PEQ (parametric equalizer) function(available under LDAC).

As a user of many Dunu products, it's really a pleasure to review the Vulkan.


Configuration:
2* dynamic drivers with diameter of 8mm + 4* mid-high Knowles + 1* dual Supertweeter Knowles.
And my favorite switchable plugs (Dunu's quick-switch plug system is always my favorite).
According to Dunu, the two dynamics are different: One is titanium-coated, and the other is made with a structural foam cell dome suspended on an independent surround.


Design:
Its shape is very similar to the EST112(or maybe it's the same as the EST112), even the holes on the panel, which are in the same shape, are in the same position. I currently don't have an EST112 to compare, but I believe they are the same shape. With the proper weight (Vulkan: 17g, EST112 is even lighter) and excellent ergonomics design, they provide a good wearing comfort. As for the engraving design of the panel, I thought that Vulkan used a panel made of damascus steel when I saw some early leaked pictures which are unclear.

Sound:
Ever since the first time I got my ears on Dunu's headphone product (it's the Titan 1), I've always had trust in Dunu's tuning. As for the Vulkan, it's tuned to U-shaped.
Source: The Vulkan were driven by the 4.4mm balanced ports of the M11PlusESS and ZX505. Through these two machines, we can know the performance of Vulkan under low output power and sufficient power.

Bass:
The Vulkan's bass isn't as aggressive and lacking in the low-mids as the Variations, but it's full-bodied and has a nice extension, which I feel most obvious when listening to Billie Eilish's album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?, I can feel that Vulkan's bass performance is extremely fun and enjoyable for pop music. Its bass is just right for me.


Mids:
Vulkan's sound signature is different from what I often listen to. It tends to be U-shaped, and the sound of 1~2khz will be more than V-shaped. I was a little unaccustomed when I first turned to U-shaped from V-shaped sound, but right away I had an interesting experience with the U-shaped sound: it reminded me of midrange details that I hadn't noticed before. The image below is the equalizer settings when I listen to Vulkan.


Treble:
Maybe Dunu was trying to bring some colors, or a personality to the Vulkan's sound, its treble wasn't as smooth as what I like. There is room for improvement in the treble of Vulkan, such as smoothing the high frequency of 7~8khz. But I still can say that the Vulkan's treble detail is excellent. The 3khz peak also makes it sound just right and proper, all instruments and vocals sound as they should.


Conclusion:
When driven by the ZX505, in fact, neither the Vulkan's soundstage nor its sound signature was particularly pronounced, but when driven by the M11Plus, the Vulkan performed a very good soundstage, even though it didn't adopt the FH9's semi-open design. For someone like me - pop music lover and is looking for slightly colored iems to decorate music, the Vulkan will be a very attractive product at its price point (380bucks).

Kinera URD is probably the most beautiful iems I've ever seen

The meaning of URD:
URD is a word related to Norse mythology. URD is one of the Norn who are in charge of fate in Norse mythology, and is also known as the Dís of Death. She is the guardian of the well of fate under the Yggdrasil, which is also known as the URD's well.


Exterior:
Kinera does have made a lot of nice-looking iems, but I will give the best-looking prize to the URD.
The first time I saw the URD, I was completely attracted by how it looks. The turquoise blue and green resin seems to be lake water or possibly spring water, as mentioned before, URD is the guardian of the well of fate.
But I think its whole design should be based on lakes, spindrift and beach. Yes, you can see all the three from the URD.
Through the clear lake, you can see the cliffs layer by layer, which is very mysterious and layered. And the lake extends all the way to the side of the iems, making the iems look more gapless.


Acoustic Design:
It got 5 drivers in each side, and it's tribrid. Many hybrid iems are designed with a vent hole in the front cavity to reduce excessive bass, but the URD doesn't have this design. However, on the contrary, its bass is not much let alone excessive, and it also has a wide enough sound stage. Its no-front-holes design makes its isolation (passive noise reduction) greatly improved.


Sound:
As usual, I will use Sony's ZX505 and FiiO's M11PlusESS to test, they can simulate the performance of iems under normal power and sufficient power. The URD's sound signature is W-shaped. The bass extension is great, the mids are decent, and the highs are well-resolved and not harsh.


Bass: Thanks to the adoption of the dynamic drivers, the bass is very clear, and has a comfortable bass extension. Though the midbass is not reduced, its sound is still not buzzy or boomy. But all these feelings, I can't experience from full BAs iems. I haven't experienced such a comfortable bass response in a long time.

Midrange: Probably because the mids are mostly played by one single BA driver, it didn't impress me too much, but actually, it remains a good resolution and has the right energy so as not to interfere with other frequencies.

Highs: I was worried about its treble when I saw its frequency response graph, because it does not have a 3khz peak. But when I listened to it, all my worries disappeared: its high frequency response was so characteristic, everything is so pleasant. It's great for playing instruments, and the high resolution lets me hear details I've never experienced before. Vocals may be far at times, but everything is so comfortable: smooth and delicate.


Conclusion:
Good sound performance and unique aesthetic design, these are the reasons you should buy it. For the reason you shouldn't buy, I don't have one, oh maybe my wallet will tell me the reason, but the URD is really not that expensive at its own price, so shut up and take my money!

Configuration: One 13.6mm DD plays mids and lows + 2*60235 dual BAs play mids and highs + one 31736 dual BAs play highs. The silver cable is really thick(the cable got 224 wires!).


Design: The designer may have designed the FH9 after being drunk - its design is so bold!
So FiiO provides two color schemes for the FH9: All Titanium and Black+Gold.


Unlike the titanium version, which has a subtle frosted feel, the black version has a smooth glossy shell, and its black x gold color scheme has a feeling of luxury.
You can also see its semi-open design from its panel, which is its most special design. Some people may be curious about the sound leaks of the FH9, but for real, you got no needs to worry about that.
The semi-open design of the FH9 greatly improves the soundstage and increases wearing comfort.


(The above picture is the measurement of Crinacle.)
Sound: The FH9 got a neutral to warm sound. I will use the M11PlusESS with plenty of power and the Sony ZX505 with average power for testing, just to simulate two situations. But all the tests are under 4.4mm balanced output.


Bass: The bass of the FH9 will not be like closed-back headphones, which will make you feel like your brain is shaking when listening to electro and heavy-bass songs. On the contrary, it will release the excess bass, so that you can get more comfortable bass and bigger soundstage. You might worry about its bass extension or subbass, but they are just good to me. But please note that the FH9 will show stronger dynamics under sufficient power.


Midrange: The midrange is still FiiO-ish. It maintains a decent thickness while still having the proper resolution. It is worthy of praise that the connection between the dynamic driver and the balanced armatures is smooth and flawless, I will say there are no gaps between them. Its midbass doesn't quite stick to the Harman target curve, as the latter got a pit at 250hz. That midbass will make the FH9 sound fuller and richer, But for users who prefer Moondrop's tuning, the mid-bass may be too much for them.


Treble: I like its treble! The treble of the FH9 is smooth and accurate, especially in the treble falling part, It falls off slowly rather than abruptly, so the treble retains plenty of details without being harsh. The treble part is played by the BAs, and the dual BAs in the nozzle playing the treble part above 7khz, are located closest to the ear canal, which can reduce the attenuation of the extremely high frequency, maintain high resolution, and restore the original sound.
The FH9 also comes with replaceable filters so you can use them to adjust the amount of treble. But the fly in the ointment is that when the FH9 performs some tenors, the restoration is not that strong.

Summary: The FH9 got a neutral and warm sound and its soundstage is amazing.
If you have the budget and want iems with a warm sound, then the FH9 is eligible to be on your shortlist.

It's been a while since I got the Timeless, but I haven't reviewed it.
Until today, I use a desktop amp to drive it and finally find its charm, so I decided to write a review.


Before that, I used my phone to drive it, because of seeing its parameters: impedance: 14.8 ohms, sensitivity: 104db, I thought it was a headset that can be easily driven by mobile phones, but the sound I got was not as good as expected. But today, I plugged it into the K5Pro ESS, and the sound performance of Timeless has therefore made a qualitative leap.


Appearance and Wear: The appearance of Timeless is a bit like a vinyl record, especially the CD texture on the back panel. The shell is made of aluminum alloy and the weight is very light. When I first saw its round appearance, I thought it would be very unfriendly to wear, but in actual experience, it is even more comfortable than many headsets due to its light weight and excellent design.


Sound: As mentioned above, when the Timeless is driven by a mobile or under insufficient power, the sound performance is not ideal and will be a little dry, but when it is driven by a higher power desktop amp, the overall sound has been greatly improved. The following descriptions of sound are based on when the Timeless is driven by the K5PRO ESS.


Bass: The amount of bass is very moderate and will not overwhelm the midrange or affect the treble. And it may be because the Timeless has adopted a planar-magnetic driver, Its bass texture is not like the dynamic driver or balanced armature. It has the atmosphere what the DD can provide and the sense of speed what the BA can provide.


Mids: Timeless's handling of midrange is like a model. There is an falloff at around 600Hz. This falloff can not only reduce the “blur/fat” of the midrange and increase the overall sound transparency, but it will not let us feel the lack of midrange or the thinness of the sound. But for me, the sound of 2kHz is a little bit too much, which would highlight the vocals.
This is the equalizer I adjusted for the Timeless on Foobar2000.


Highs: Very standard, sehr gut. The treble resolution is even as good as the Variations(Moondrop) which adopted EST drivers for the treble. Because there's a reasonable falloff at 6kHz, the Timeless will not produce too much sibilance. But the curve of the treble part is not very smooth, which means its distortion control is not very good, so is its sound. I hope the next product from the 7Hz can be improved.


Conclusions: On the premise of having a device that can provide enough power for it, this headset must be recommended for purchase. But the problem of unsmooth treble, I’m not sure whether this is a probability problem or a common problem, because I have seen Crin's graph which shows a similar phenomena. It will be worth looking forward to if this problem can be solved in future versions/products.

Moondrop has always been a company pursuing Harman Target Curve, and so is their Variations.

There's a small hole on the back panel of Variations, which should be designed for its DD. It is a three-way design with three channels at the sound outlet, each channel is responsible for bass, mids and treble. The shell is frosted and it feels good to the touch, but it looks a bit rough (like CIEMs that has not been completely processed).


The Variations uses 0.78 connectors. I like 0.78 connectors for it seems to get a longer life span than mmcx.


It uses a translucent cavity, we can vaguely see the BAs, DD, ESTs and transformer for the ESTs. The BAs for mids is from Softears.


Like the FiiO and Dunu, Moondrop also uses replaceable plugs (2.5, 3.5 and 4.4). Among the three brands, I think Dunu’s design is the best, strong but easy to replace; FiiO’s design is as strong as Dunu, but it needs a little bit strength to replace; Moondrop didn't use a strong locking structure like the FiiO and Dunu, so if it was made into a straight type, the plug and the cable would be easy to separate from each other.
But when it comes to price, the Dunu's cable, which is best-designed, is also the most expensive, while Moondrop's gets a more afforadable price (for me). Although the design of the plug is not so good, Moondrop's cable has a shielding design (that is, the coaxial structure Moondrop calls), and it's light in weight, not very thick, which is very suitable for portability. So I bought another one for my CIEM.



Sound:
Bass: The Variations compared to Moondrop's previous products (such as the A8), the bass has been greatly increased, but the overall style is still very close to the HRTF. Lowering the spl at 200-600hz can well avoid the feeling of dull or boomy, but this will make songs with male vocal and drum beats less pleasant. There is a 10dB increase in spl from 200hz to 20hz, which guarantees a good sub bass.

Mids: The Variations is too referenced to the HRTF, and the mids is fallingoff too much, resulting in a thinner overall sound. This is the biggest weakness of the Variations.

Treble: Lowering the spl of 6-7kHz also alleviates the problem of sibilance sound. Maybe because of the participation of EST drivers, Variations's treble is a little harsh, but the resolution is nice.

The Dunu Titan 1 is my first, in a real sense, HiFi headphones, my preference of the Dunu has started from then on. And the price of Dunu's Titan series has always been in the range that I can afford, so I have bought the Titan1, Titan3 and Titan5.

But when the Titan 6 was released, I haven’t been attracted by it. One was that its appearance was not that attractive, and the other was because its sound was no longer what it used to be. But just this month(Dec. 2021), the Titan S attracted me deeply, with a mechanical appearance, a reasonable price and a neutral sound.


Appearance:
In fact, when I saw the word Titan, I thought of the Nvidia GTX Titan X. I think that the appearance of the Titan S may be a bit of a reference to the Titan X. At first glance, Titan S is angular, but in actual wear, there is no discomfort at all. Due to the compact cavity and light weight, coupled with good ergonomic design, it is more comfortable than ALO Andromeda which also has an angular appearance.

I think Titan S looks good in every way.



Sound:
The sound of Titan S is tasteless and neutural. You can't find its serious shortcomings, and neither can you tell its very outstanding points. After HRTF's compensation, it will show a very flat frequency response graph. Anyway, I will introduce its sound briefly.

The Titan S can be easily driven by mobile phones, but after changing to a balanced output device, the sound will be still greatly improved.

Bass: There are not many basses. The Titan S may not be able to cope with some pop, rock and metal tracks with heavy bass. But fortunately, after blocking the pressure balance hole, the subbass has been significantly improved. After boosting the sub bass, the sound of Titan S is much closer to the Harman target curve, but the disadvantage of the bass boosting is that the mids will be relatively reduced, resulting in a dry sound. I still don't know the diameter of its drivers, I don't think they have large diaphragms because its bass texture is audibly not as good as my FD3. It is difficult for smaller size drivers to bring a large sound stage.

Mids: Mids are actually very standard, moderate and a little thin, it will not cause the vocals to change tones or affect the bass and treble.

Treble: Very standard Harman tuning, though the falloff of 6kHz is too much, resulting reducing a part of sound details, and the overall sound will be slightly darker, the falloff still brings benefits, which is that the Titan S can well suppress the sibilance for most vocals, making vocals harmonious. The treble resolution of the Titan S is also good at its price range.



Conclusion:
In terms of overall performance, the Titan S is at the forefront of the its price range. I thought the Dunu had forgotten the entry-level market when I saw that they were updating mid-to-high level products such as the Zen series, but didn't see the release of any entry-level products. The appearance of Titan S ignited entry-level audiophiles.
The Titan S is suitable for: entry-level audiophiles, users have limited budget, users who use mobile phone to drive it, users who like a more flat sound.
Not suitable for: users who expect too much (for example, want to spend 80 dollars to get 100 dollars sound).
After all, it is a product I highly recommend to buy (within 80 US dollars).


One more funny fact, after the pressure balance hole is blocked, the overall sound style of the Titan S is very close to Moondrop-Variations. Of course, the sound quality of it is inferior to the Variations.

Sony has two headsets that I am most impressed with. One is the MDR-EX1000, and the other is the XBA-Z5. The Z5 is a BA+DD hybrid headset released in 2014. It was Sony's flagship product at the time, but the price was only about 500 USD. Indeed, its price does not seem to be "flagship-ish" enough, but I think the Z5 is almost the most "conscientious" or "being real" iem of the flagship portable market.

A few years ago, in our country, if we mentioned the flagship in-ear monitors, we would usually think of SE846, K3003, Xelento, etc. Indeed, the first thing most people notice when distinguishing flagship products from entry products is the price. The prices of the three aforementioned headsets were all above 1,000 USD in our country when they were released. In the eyes of a group of people who define performance by price, the Z5 is simply not worthy of the title of flagship at its price.

In addition, the Z5 has a shape similar to a USB flash drive, which is easy to cause discomfort to wear, and it is really unsightly to wear. Maybe passers-by will cast strange eyes when you going out and wearing it. But such a design is because that the Z5 has adopted a large dynamic driver. The sound quality improvement brought by the large dynamic driver is absolute, which also shows that Sony at the time had a strong pursuit of sound quality and was willing to compromise other aspects for sound quality.

Due to the adoption of large-diameter dynamic drivers, the sound of the Z5 is very characteristic. First of all, the uniqueness of the Z5 as a flagship is that it does not have the obvious "head effect" like most in-ear monitors. The longitudinal soundstage of the Z5 also makes me feel very comfortable. This feeling can be obtained from the EX1000 which also adopts large-diameter dynamic drivers.

But it must not any manufacturer can make a sound as good as EX1000 and Z5 by the adoption of large dynamic drivers. Soon after Duna launched the DK3001, I purchased the DK3001 because of my missing the sound of the Z5. Although the sound quality of the DK3001 is not bad, it is not as good as the Z5 in terms of the connection between the dynamic driver and the balanced armature, or the size of the soundstage. The vocal is full of charm on the Z5 when listening pop songs, and the distance feeling of the vocal is very appropriate. The female vocal is sweet, while the male vocal is magnetic. One thing I like the most on the Z5 is its treatment of treble: it makes a roll off at 6~7kHz, which reduces the chance of harsh or discordant sound, while keeping it rich in treble details.

The Z5's bass is like a benchmark for me. Even with a 3.5mm single-ended plug, the Z5's sound is very balanced and has a high degree of stereo separation. The bass volume is moderate for me, the sub bass is excellent, and has a very fast response.

The Z5 is an excellent headset with Sony's characteristics. The Z5's performance is by no means inferior to those more expensive than it, and claims to flageship or high-end in-ear monitors, for example, the three aforementioned headsets which I have listened all of them before. Except for the K3003 which may be able to compete with the Z5 (although the sound of the K3003 is not balanced at all), I don't think the overall sound of other headsets is better than the Z5.

Pushing the time to 2019, Sony released its new generation of flagship in-ear BA+DD hybrid headset: IER-Z1R. Perhaps the high pricing of the IER series is Sony's compromise on the phenomenon that "defining performance by price" and the current high-priced portable earphones.

I have a trial of each Anole product of qdc, yes I am very like this series of products.

Design:
Qdc has always been excellent in the volume control of the Universal iems, and the previous models like qdc3, Neptune have a wearing experience that is almost not lost to CIEMs. The V14 has 14 drivers(on one side), which is a large number, but its volume is still controlled at an excellent level.

Configuration:
14 drivers on one side (10 BA drivers + 4 EST drivers), which is a luxry configuration. And this kind of configuration is enough to allow V14 to stand in the first echelon of similar products for a long time. In particular, the newly customized bass balanced armature makes the V14's ultra-low frequency performance better than the previous flagship balanced armature earphones, achieving a new breakthrough.

Sound:
I listened the V14 in standard mode. Although the V14 is only with BA drivers + EST drivers, the sound of it gives me the feeling that it combines the relaxed sound of dynamic drivers, the detailed image of balanced armatures, and the extension of treble of the electrostatic drivers.

Bass: V14 has a deep sub bass with excellent elasticity and will not be boomy. When performing some electronic music and rock music, the image is very clear and audible, with a lots of details.

Mids: The mids of V14 is with a high density. Its mids is very clear and natural. Especially when I listened the songs of playing an instrument, every small details are replayed very well, and I was feeling like, the scene was in my mind.

Treble: V14's trebel control is very strong. Under standard mode, I can feel that under qdc's tunning, the EST drivers output a bright but not irritating treble. It provides a air sense of sound.

Conclusion:
QDC V14 must have become the strongest iems of qdc currently(excluding qdc's luxury product: Blue Dragon). Considering the position of qdc in China's iems industry, it is not an exaggeration to call the V14 the strongest iems made in China.

I have always been a fan of Final. I‘ve owned E3000, Heaven IV and I like its design and sound color/style.
For the A8000, due to its high price, I have high expectations for it, but the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. The sound of the A8000 really can't allow me to give it a high score.

Memers and guests who have read my previous post will know that I have heard and compared FD7 with Zen Pro. The former is a pure beryllium diaphragm earphone priced at only 1/3 of the price of A8000, and the latter is a pure metal diaphragm earphone priced at half the price of A8000, but in fact, the sound impression of these two earphones is better than A8000.

The treble tunning of the A8000 is like a headset designed for audiophiles with hearing loss problem (the treble is harsh). But its mids and bass get a hign density and are very natural, and that is the "pure Final-lous sound". There is a word in our country to describe Final's sound: sense of palace---listening to Final's headphones is like being in a palace.

Originally posted at FiiO’s FD series share the same driver? & FD7 brief review
Recently, I saw a rumor on the Internet that FD3 and FD5 are using the same drivers. I also have such doubts, so, keen to explore the truth, I borrowed an FD5 and an FD7 from the headset store to compare them together, and in order to distinguish FD3 from FD5 from the front, I also borrowed a black FD3Pro.


FiiO’s FD series iems remind me of another series of products from a famous brand: Sony’s EX series. FD3, FD5 and FD7 are just like EX600, EX800st and EX1000 ---their products of the same series have similar appearances, similar drivers, and similar sound tuning, but their pricing ranges are very different. Sony's EX1000 used to be the most distinctive iem I have ever heard.(Original Image on crinacle.com)


Back to FiiO’s FD series, when I borrowed them, the first thing I did was to remove the sound tube and check the drivers. I did not unexpectedly find that the three earphone drivers are indeed different. The diaphragm of FD3's dynamic drivers has the lowest transparency, and I can see the red coil; from the FD5, I can see the beryllium-coated dome diaphragm like a mirror. Its transparency is lower than that of the FD3 drivers, which may be related to the amount of beryllium-coated. And the structure is different, more differences I found on FiiO’s official website: the texture of FD5’s diaphragm and FD3’s are also different; and the FD7 diaphragm has the lowest-transparency diaphragm, which seems to be opaque. And the diaphragm surface, which does look like a piece of metal, does not have the same smoothness as the FD3’s and


Of course, the difference between their drivers is not convincing in terms of appearance alone. For me, I am not willing to look at the various words in the advertisement. Its sound determines whether I will choose it. So I tested them with non-professional equipment. I have used the same sound tube (black), the same ear tips, and the same cable (the original FD7 cable) to test them.


It can be seen that the sound between them is indeed different, and this difference is not obtained by low-level tuning techniques such as damping in the sound tubes. They do change the drivers. It is commendable that FiiO's earphone products have extremely high quality control, and the left and right ears match extremely well. Speaking of the sound, the actual experience of the differences between these three earphones is more impressive than the measurements below. When I switch to FD3 after listening to FD7, I can immediately feel that the bass of FD3 is not as tight as FD7, and the treble is brighter than FD7 (the fact is that I prefer the treble of FD3). Yes, the pure beryllium drivers brings a softer sound to the FD7.


So can fd7 become a thunderous product like ex1000? I would say my answer first, I think it can. The first earphone in my memory that uses pure beryllium diaphragm is the Final a8000, but it is a pity that its price has reached 1999 USD, which is unaffordable for an average worker like me who are not rich enough, so it is a pity , I was not lucky enough to try this earphone. But the price of FiiO FD7 is less than one-third of the price of final a8000, and at the launch event, the slogan of "Young People's First Truly Pure Beryllium Earphone" even appeared on the screen. Because I haven't listened to a8000, I can only guess the sound differences between it and FD7 based on the frequency response diagram: the overall sound style is similar, but the bass of FD7 may be less than A8000, the resolution of a8000 may not be as good as FD7 as the very high frequency part of a8000 is lower than FD7. Of course, it is just a guess. Similar frequency response diagrams may have different sense of hearing. But if I pay more than three times the price, but only get a small difference in sound, even a higher price may be exchanged for weaker resolution, which will be really surprising to me.(Original Image on crinacle.com)


During this time, another new product also attracted me, Dunu Zen Pro. It has a round shape appearance similar to the FiiO FD series, a pure metal diaphragm driver, also, similar to FD7. Dunu claims the Zen Pro to be the "most worth buying earphone within ten thousand yuan" (Although Dunu may have this confidence, I don’t think it’s a good idea to say so).


Compared with FD7, Zen Pro has a richer bass, provides a stronger sense of atmosphere, closer vocals, and is more suitable for popular songs. The sound of FD7 is more flat, because it has a softer bass, I will not feel the mids and treble overwhelmed by the bass. In short, the Zen Pro sound is warmer, and the FD7 is colder and flatter, and their sound quality is comparable and are all very good, however, the price of Zen Pro is too high (Zen Pro=FD7+discounted FD5), and it does not support replacing of the sound tube, even if I used to be a fan of Dunu (from Titan1 to DK3001), it also dispelled my desire to buy.