Of all the headphones I thought of getting as an upgrade from my previous pair, I did not expect them to be from FiiO.
I have been disappointed with many headphones for the last few years. Many sound harsh and thin, don’t provide much detail, or don’t fit me. I have used speakers for high resolution listening, but I live in an apartment, so I needed a high end solution that I could also afford. I am very sensitive to sibilance, which is usually the case for cheaper headphones.
The spec sheet for these headphones, and reported frequency responses from the community would lead you to believe these to have a brash, or tinny sound at first impression.
The first moment I put these on, they fit perfect. I use the large tips, and have made a spacer to improve the comfort a bit more as pictured. It’s rare that a headphone works for me right out of the box, but these do.
The first impression of sound I got was, “wow, these sound like they cost a lot of money!” There was absolutely no sibilance or tinnines. The midrange is forward, but in a way that makes vocals “louder”, and “natural”. It’s like listening to a master project and mixing the vocal channel to be slightly louder. The character of the sound doesn’t t change, it’s just more forward in the mix, without affecting the qualities of the other channels.
I also listen in a sound treated room, and these headphones reflect that. I personally like the tonality for the kind of music I listen to, but I know it won’t work for everyone. These headphones sound like there is nothing between your eardrum and the drivers. There is no darkness or muffle for me.
I must point out the most controversial feature that has everyone questioning these headphones. The 2kHz peak. This peak greatly improves the resolving power of the headphones at lower listening levels. If you plan on long listening sessions at lower volumes, these headphones are much more practical as they can make parts of the music more easily discernible. At higher volumes, anything over 86dB, the practicality of this frequency response becomes a detriment. The headphones maintain their resolution and quality at higher levels, but it sounds like it would be too easy to cause hearing damage.
It’s strange, because this peak could be a technical issue, or it could be a defining feature. These headphones overcome their technical limitation by simply being extremely high resolution and high quality. This frequency response would never pass with using less capable drivers. It does pass here though.
Another point to make is how sensitive BA driver headphones can be when changing ear tips. You should never place your finger on the eartip as to cover it making a seal while pressing down to fit the eartip on the stem. There is a picture on the eartips package showing the user to turn the eartip inside out to prevent this mistake. It should be noted that placing foam tips on is more difficult as you have to be careful not to press them on without completely covering the opening.
These are absolutely, without doubt, the best sounding headphones/speakers I have ever heard. The fact that they fit properly is a huge plus. I still can’t listen at louder volumes with these, but I have tried an EQ app on my PC. It solved the issue. I used -4dB at 2.1kHz, and -1dB at 1kHz. It did not change the tonality or character of the headphones at all, it just brought down the vocal track.
These have more resolving power than any speaker I’ve ever heard, and the bass goes lower than any subwoofer I’ve ever heard. I had a moment of rethinking the physics of sound as I tried wrapping my head around what is possible with such a tiny auditory solution.
For this reason alone, I will just have to accept using an EQ. I am kind of a purist in terms of, “if headphones/speakers absolutely need EQ to be usable, they need to be engineered or built better”. The FiiO FH5 don’t break this idea, they are plenty usable and are still the best thing I’ve ever heard without any EQ. EQ can greatly expand the listening levels and genres of the headphones.
FiiO, if you see this, pleas make a small MFi lightning to 3.5mm like your i1, but have an app that can reprogram the firmware to allow users to EQ parametric headphones. Example of this feature would be the Jaybird Run. This would give an unbeatable portable listening experience for cost for people with iPhones streaming Apple Music or Spotify.
Thanks to FiiO, I now have great looking and sounding headphones I can enjoy music with without disturbing my neighbors.
I listen to Romanian pop, Russian pop,
K-pop, EDM, Christian pop, vocals, acoustic, and very little country, R&B. I don’t listen to classical, jazz, hip/hop, raggae, classical, classic rock, rock, metal.
I will list some artists I enjoyed with these. They are not ideal for these headphones specifically, but I hope it will give the idea of what kind of personal listening taste works well with these headphones. I also listen to most Eurovision songs. There is so much more, but this is just a small sample.
The First Station, Elena Temnikova, Amna, Artik & Asti, TamerlanAlena, Yulianna Karaulova, Vanotek, Andra(Romanian Singer).
I also want to note that the screen covering the bore has been reported by the community as not affecting the sound if removed. This was a big selling point for me because I have had many pairs of headphones that have this simply fall out rendering the headphones not usable. I expect to use these a lot, and that cover is always the first point of failure in a headphone for me.
Final Verdict: highly resolving headphones with excellent instrument separation and control. Be cautious and listen responsibly as it might be easy to cause hearing damage.
I have been disappointed with many headphones for the last few years. Many sound harsh and thin, don’t provide much detail, or don’t fit me. I have used speakers for high resolution listening, but I live in an apartment, so I needed a high end solution that I could also afford. I am very sensitive to sibilance, which is usually the case for cheaper headphones.
The spec sheet for these headphones, and reported frequency responses from the community would lead you to believe these to have a brash, or tinny sound at first impression.
The first moment I put these on, they fit perfect. I use the large tips, and have made a spacer to improve the comfort a bit more as pictured. It’s rare that a headphone works for me right out of the box, but these do.
The first impression of sound I got was, “wow, these sound like they cost a lot of money!” There was absolutely no sibilance or tinnines. The midrange is forward, but in a way that makes vocals “louder”, and “natural”. It’s like listening to a master project and mixing the vocal channel to be slightly louder. The character of the sound doesn’t t change, it’s just more forward in the mix, without affecting the qualities of the other channels.
I also listen in a sound treated room, and these headphones reflect that. I personally like the tonality for the kind of music I listen to, but I know it won’t work for everyone. These headphones sound like there is nothing between your eardrum and the drivers. There is no darkness or muffle for me.
I must point out the most controversial feature that has everyone questioning these headphones. The 2kHz peak. This peak greatly improves the resolving power of the headphones at lower listening levels. If you plan on long listening sessions at lower volumes, these headphones are much more practical as they can make parts of the music more easily discernible. At higher volumes, anything over 86dB, the practicality of this frequency response becomes a detriment. The headphones maintain their resolution and quality at higher levels, but it sounds like it would be too easy to cause hearing damage.
It’s strange, because this peak could be a technical issue, or it could be a defining feature. These headphones overcome their technical limitation by simply being extremely high resolution and high quality. This frequency response would never pass with using less capable drivers. It does pass here though.
Another point to make is how sensitive BA driver headphones can be when changing ear tips. You should never place your finger on the eartip as to cover it making a seal while pressing down to fit the eartip on the stem. There is a picture on the eartips package showing the user to turn the eartip inside out to prevent this mistake. It should be noted that placing foam tips on is more difficult as you have to be careful not to press them on without completely covering the opening.
These are absolutely, without doubt, the best sounding headphones/speakers I have ever heard. The fact that they fit properly is a huge plus. I still can’t listen at louder volumes with these, but I have tried an EQ app on my PC. It solved the issue. I used -4dB at 2.1kHz, and -1dB at 1kHz. It did not change the tonality or character of the headphones at all, it just brought down the vocal track.
These have more resolving power than any speaker I’ve ever heard, and the bass goes lower than any subwoofer I’ve ever heard. I had a moment of rethinking the physics of sound as I tried wrapping my head around what is possible with such a tiny auditory solution.
For this reason alone, I will just have to accept using an EQ. I am kind of a purist in terms of, “if headphones/speakers absolutely need EQ to be usable, they need to be engineered or built better”. The FiiO FH5 don’t break this idea, they are plenty usable and are still the best thing I’ve ever heard without any EQ. EQ can greatly expand the listening levels and genres of the headphones.
FiiO, if you see this, pleas make a small MFi lightning to 3.5mm like your i1, but have an app that can reprogram the firmware to allow users to EQ parametric headphones. Example of this feature would be the Jaybird Run. This would give an unbeatable portable listening experience for cost for people with iPhones streaming Apple Music or Spotify.
Thanks to FiiO, I now have great looking and sounding headphones I can enjoy music with without disturbing my neighbors.
I listen to Romanian pop, Russian pop,
K-pop, EDM, Christian pop, vocals, acoustic, and very little country, R&B. I don’t listen to classical, jazz, hip/hop, raggae, classical, classic rock, rock, metal.
I will list some artists I enjoyed with these. They are not ideal for these headphones specifically, but I hope it will give the idea of what kind of personal listening taste works well with these headphones. I also listen to most Eurovision songs. There is so much more, but this is just a small sample.
The First Station, Elena Temnikova, Amna, Artik & Asti, TamerlanAlena, Yulianna Karaulova, Vanotek, Andra(Romanian Singer).
I also want to note that the screen covering the bore has been reported by the community as not affecting the sound if removed. This was a big selling point for me because I have had many pairs of headphones that have this simply fall out rendering the headphones not usable. I expect to use these a lot, and that cover is always the first point of failure in a headphone for me.
Final Verdict: highly resolving headphones with excellent instrument separation and control. Be cautious and listen responsibly as it might be easy to cause hearing damage.
