Fidue A73 Hybrid Monitor Earphones with universal single button remote and microphone

 
http://www.fidue.com/content/view?brand=fidue_en&item=81&core=news
 
Fidue have been active for some years now and they seem to have release great quality products / earphones.  Personally, I have tested two of their models:  the A71 and the A73.  I will review the latter here.  The Fidue A73 is a solid offering in the 120.00-150.00 price range and the “Reference Level” classification by Fidue is right on.
 
About me:
I am an avid fan of music (many style, but a lot of rock) and headphones/earphones.  I am not an audiophile, but I have a quest to find the best headphone/earphone for my tastes and I like to test new gear a lot.  I owned / tried more than 120 headphones / earphones so my ears are pretty trained, even though I am not a graph fan or as qualified as other more technical listeners.  I rely on my ears, my gut and my pleasure to move forward.  I just hope to help other people find nice gems that will suit their taste and their budget.  Enjoy!
 
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I read really good reviews on the A73, so I decided to give it a go when I saw a nice deal.  I had high expectations for this hybrid / dual driver earphone, and I was / am not disappointed.  Up to now, after about 60-70 hours of burn in, listening and some tip rolling, I can say that these are a keeper, and probably my favorite so far.  And I tried a lot, and got rid of most of them…  It’s a solid iem that delivers a lot for the price.
 



 

 
Specs
·         Drivers : Armature & 10 mm Dynamic
·         Rated Impedance : 20 Ω
·         Frequency Range : 13 Hz ~ 27,000 kHz
·         Sensitivity : 107 dB
·         Rated Input Power : 20 mW
·         Plug : 3.5 mm, Gold-Plated
·         Cable : 1.3 m Silver-plated OFC cable
·         Built-in universal mic and remote
Accessories
·         Fidue hard shell carrying case
·         3 sets of Silicone Ear Tips (S M L)
·         1 set of Silicone Ear Tips – double flange
·         1 Shirt Clip
·         1 ear hook
 
 

 
 
The A73 comes in the hard and classy Fidue black box where you can see the green Fidue logo and the picture of the earphone itself.  Box is nice Premium quality and all is well packed and clean.  Fits with the price range and more.  Basic accessories, but efficient and pro presentation.
 
Built:

1. Housings:  The housings are fairly small and comfortable (smaller and more comfy than Shure SE215 and Westone 1 and W40, for example) and are made from the fusion of silver aluminium (on the outside) and hard transparent deep red (on the inside).  A really nice touch, stylish and classy looking.  They are solid, sturdy.
2. Cable:  The cable has standard good thickness, with good strain-reliefs.  It does not tangle easily (or at all) and provides basically no microphonics since the A73 is meant to be worn over the ear.  Great quality as it is a 108 Core hi-end silver-plated OFC cable.

 
 
Functionality
 
The A73 is equipped with a microphone and remote that provides clear phone calls option with most devices, and audio player + volume control.
 
Ergonomics / Fit / Microphonics / Isolation
 
The housings are on the small size and lightweight, so easy to insert and really comfortable.   They are meant to be worn over the ear, which I prefer.    Isolation is ok, depends on the tips I use, but they are not really for deep insertion, so isolation is not their strongest point, but I don’t need them to be.  Still, my work is noisy (open space and a lot of people) and I don’t really hear anything when they are plugged in.
 
Sound Review
 
I tested the Fidue A73 with my iPod Classic 160gb unamped, and then amped with the Fiio A3.   Also, I tested it on my Asus laptop amplified with the Nuforce U-DAC 3.
 
I usually test the earphones activating the shuffle on my iPod so I hear a variety of music that can go from Diana Krall to Rage Against the Machine, as well as from Depeche Mode to In Flames.
 
The A73 are pretty easy to drive out of any device, but like/prefer the little upgrade in sound provided by the Fiio A3 (and with the bass boost activated).
 
The A73 sound lively with a very nice detailed sound that benefit from the dual drivers.  The dynamic driver presents a nice wide but balanced bass and the balanced armature driver gives the presentation a cutting egde precise blend of highs and mids.  I would say it’s slightly U-shaped, but not by much, and the detail retrieval is awesome.  One of the best I have heard so far. 
 
They required some serious tip rolling for me to find the right sound.  I ended up using the medium stock silicon Brainwavz tips.  JVC Medium Spiral Dots were ok, but it seems the highs were more piercing and I was having a hard time listening to them in the morning (when my ears are not awaken yet) or at night (when tired).  With the Brainwavz tips, it cuts just slightly the highs and bump the lows a bit, keeping the midrange intact and it hits the sweet spot for me.
 
Stereo imaging is really good, and instrument separation is awesome.  Soundstage is really nice.  I would say wide, but not that deep.
 
Lows / Mids / Treble
 
Bass hits pretty deep but it’s not invasive.  I find it to be nicely balanced between the sub and mid bass.  Unamped, it’s pretty good, but most of the times, I discovered I like to switch on the bass boost on the Fiio A3 to give it some additional body.  As mentioned, bass is not invasive on other frequencies, but it gives a nice warmth to the ensemble that I miss on some higher end iems (like the Westone W40).  It’s precise and fast enough.
 
Midrange is detailed and clear, just a tad below bass and treble.  The amount of detail is impressive and vocals sound clear, clearer than most iems I tried up to now.  Clarity is present on all types of recordings and styles.
 
The treble extension is impressive and helps provide an awesome precision.  Impressive, but for people sensitive to surgical precision treble, you may want to tame these with tip rolling or EQ.    It could be fatiguing, but once I found my sweet spot with the right eartips and set up, the A73 are my top go to iems for critical and fun listening.
 
Comparisons
 
Fidue A73 vs Fidue A71
 
The A71 is the « little brother » of the A73, in terms of price range.  Except for the brand, I don’t find much similarities between both.  The A71 is more impactful, with mid bass and mids up front, and a more recessed, but still detailed treble.  They have a nice construction, but A73 is better, more comfortable.  Both are meant to be worn over the ear, but A73 wins on all fronts:  Comfort, ease of use, sound quality, etc.  A71 was a nice try, but I never was able to appreciate any of it, even though I would understand why people would really like it.  Not my type of impactful sound.  I prefer the more balance + detail + fun (with great bass) sound of the A73.
 
Fidue A73 vs LZ A2S
 
Working both with dual drivers, one dynamic and one balanced armature, these delivers a good fight in their respective price range, but A73 shows why Fidue is getting known as a strong and steady quality brand, and why it costs a few bucks (or sometimes twice the price) more to get an efficient high quality product.  I like the A2S sound, it has a nice warmth to hit, a bit hollow though, but the detailing and precision of the A73 is just way up there.
 
Fidue A73 vs RHA MA750
 
Comparison between these two great iems, in the same price range, is interesting.  I really like the RHA MA750:  Tough build, easy to use and wear over the ear, great warm sound.  They have similarities, but there was something a bit off with the MA750.  Mid-high frequencies?  They are both great iems in the 120-150 price range, but I find the A73 more precise, subtle, and providing better and more even level of precision.  Probably the dual drivers that gives the A73 the edge to be superior.
 
 
Conclusion
 
Through all the earphones I tried and used, the Fidue A73 keep coming on top of my list.  I appreciate a lot of earphones, like a lot, but love only a few and the A73 is one of them.  Great job from the Fidue team for such a great quality product overall.
 
In the price range, IMHO, I think they deliver as promised.   They offer great (awesome!) value and quality.
 
They are comfy enough to relax and even sleep with them, but I also use them to walk, run or train without problem.  Great versatile earphones.

FIDUE A73 REVIEW

Firstly I would like to thank Michael Lin from FIDUE for giving me this sample to review. I am not affiliated with any people inside FIDUE so this is not on promotion purpose. This is a full product (not a pre production), so it’s full of its accessories and final packaging. This review is done after having over 50hrs of burn-in and small changes were noted. Usually balances armatures are not prone to burn-in, but it might have worked to either my subjective assessment and to the driver.

 

This review is a full subjective assessment which might differ one another. My Favorite IEMs are the lineups of Final Audio Design Heaven series and I also enjoy other IEMs as my daily driver. Those IEMs are Ultimate Ears 700, Shure 215 SPE, JH5 CIEM, and big brother of A73, A83.

 
Here’s the tech specification of FIDUE A73

Driver : Dual hybrid (10mm Exclusive Woofer Dynamic + single BA)

Frequency : 13-27,000 Hz

Impedance : 20 Ohm

Sensitivity : 107dB

Max input power : 20mW

Distortion : <1%

Plug : 3.5mm stereo, Gold plated

Cable length : 1.3m

Sensitivity of mic : -42 +- 3dB

S/N ratio of mic : >55dB

 
BUILD QUALITY:

At first these may not seem like they're well built especially the plastic housing part. It’s combination between plastic and metal with brushed nickel or aluminum finish. After longer period of use, this IEM feels solid and the cable quality is good. Designs are always a preference thing, but in my opinion these looks nice.

 

FITTING

This IEM gives very comfortable fitting. It’s easily worn and get the best fitting although it must be worn over ear. Once it’s plugged on ear, it’s hardly for normal use to get the IEM to loose from your ear (I tried to shake my head tho, and it’s not moving). It differs with the A83 which is hard to get the right fit, depends on the eartips used and somehow A83 is uncomfortable, at least for my ears.

 

ISOLATION

Same with other Hybrid IEMs, this A73 have vent for the dynamic driver which will somehow reduce the isolation.

 

ACCESSORIES

Leather case, 3 pairs of eartips SML, 1 pair biflange eartips, shirtclip.

 

SOUND

At first chance of trying this A73 (unburnt), the thought that came out was “seriously? It can easily outperform any IEMs Sub 200$”. The presentation of the sound is somehow can be said: CRISP. From low end until the high frequency it feels so crispy with slightly boosted in treble. Compared to A83, it feels more calm, not as aggressive as A83, but somehow the soundsig of A73 has more fun.

 
Here’s the song that I usually use to compare HeadGears, and also the songs that I listen everyday might be similar to these genre:

Assimilation - Olivia Ong

Somewhere - Jackie Evancho Ft. Barbra Streisand

Angel - Jackie Evancho

Great Big Storm - Nate Ruess

Some Nights - Fun

What I Did For Love - Josh Groban

American Eulogy - Green Day

Ink - Coldplay

Austin - Blake Shelton

 
LOWS:

The Bass, especially from the dynamic driver can bring enough quantity without overboomy. It can be brought into the fast paced bass and has great attack and impact. The presentation of the bass is forward, present, and lush without overwhelming the other part.

In one thought: very accurate bass

 

MIDS:

What I expect from IEM with balance armature driver is sophisticated mids. And it is what A73 brings and presents. The mids, especially vocal, brings a bodied sound signature with clear impression. It is somehow rich in the low-mid and a little dry in the upper-mid. Maybe for some, it will be too droughty. The mids dont come across as lush as some high end IEMs ($500<), but still presents clean and clear, vocals both male and female are detailed, pianos and guitars still have power and crunch, acoustic guitars have great body and decay. The separation is world class and the detail is superb.

 
HIGHS

For bright sound signature lovers, this A73 will be your favourite. The presentation of the highs is very extend and sparky. After 50 hours of burn in, there is no presence of sibilance. High part also oftenly used by people to compare the resolution and detail of a head gear. The detail of the highs is even better than the lows and mids, as I said that it brings crispy impression. It’s not just crispy, but every detail and every instrumental in the music can be presented clearly and accurate. Although from my explanation it might seems that the highs can be too harsh and can be fatiguing for us, the fact is there is no harsh at all in letter S. I can say that it’s one of the best highs that I ever use.


 
CONCLUSION

+ : Superb sound quality, fitting, Imaging, build quality

- : No chin slider (same with old batch of A83)

Overall, FIDUE brings new level in Sub $200. Any other manufacturer can hardly beat this IEM especially if they try to use the same sound signature. The soundstage also airy and brings top notch imaging. One last thing: FIDUE A73 is one of the best for me in the price range of under $500. About my experience about this product, FIDUE give a very good service to the customer and brings change to the product based on what customers want.

Fidue A73: just pure value
I received the fidues in October as part of the Australian tour. Despite life having caught up with me because I evidently was not able to escape quickly enough, I did manage to take pictures and make several notes on this before handing them back. I tried this for a week or 2, while also letting other people who happened to hang out with me try them out. After a short road trip where my friend used this IEM for a few days, he loved the IEMs so much that he ended up purchasing the fidue A73. Do note that I received the a65 as well, but wasn’t as impressed with them since they didn’t have as much highs as I liked.
A little about me
Personally, I am a person who tends to gravitate to high end equipment, but have recently started looking at the low-mid end segments of the IEM world, since I have come to the conclusion that I have had my head stuck up in the clouds for too long. While I love trying new equipment, the equipment I end up buying tends to be little. This might be due to my lack of a decent income, or because I have very high standards, honestly I am not sure. However, one thing I am very sure of, since I have a rather limited budget, whatever I tend to buy or recommend are things I love, instead of hyping the regular item. While I believe sound quality to be extremely important, I also highly value ergonomics, and love things that look beautiful as well.
Ergonomics
I personally feel that fidue did a great job in terms of designing this IEM. While not perfect, it really is very good for the price.
Starting off with the shape of the Fidue A73, I personally like the obvious over-ear shape of the iem, along with the lack of memory wire on this. Having no memory wire built into the IEM allowed for an unimpeded experience when putting on or taking off the IEM, which is something I loved. The relatively smooth wire also allowed for long uses without any discomfort in my ear or on the ear, while the shape allowed the IEM to easily stick inside my ears, which seems to be a problem for me for certain IEMs which aren’t shaped very ergonomically. This IEM falling out issue has been a huge problem for me, forcing me to end up not being able to use the Fitear range of IEMs, as well as the a65, for long periods of time since they would just fall out randomly.  The y split on the A73 is also a very beautiful custom made one, instead of some of the cheap rubber shrink tubes that are common among smaller companies nowadays.
However, there were several other features I disliked. Despite being very ergonomic overall, I was disappointed that there was no chin slider built into the IEM. I am assuming that it was a design choice to sacrifice this to make space for the microphone remote, since having both would make the user look a bit funny, but since I don’t use that feature, I would just like to point that out. The unit also features a very nice overmold and good strain relief on the various weak points on its cable instead of having a removable cable. This is both a good thing and a bad thing since non-removable cables allow for the user to not worry about swapping cables, and is quite common among low-mid end IEMs, but I am very clumsy and that is definitely an issue for me.  The ear tips are also quite hard, and are not something I would use if I were to buy this IEM.
Several users have pointed out that the straight plug is an issue, but I personally feel that it is not a big deal and is something that is quite common in all types of IEMs, from cheap to expensive.
Sound
A relatively recent trend that I am seeing is low-mid tier IEMs are starting to become genre masters, while high end IEMs are starting to venture into excelling in certain types of music, while being adequate in others. This is something I wholly support, since it can easily be assumed that high end IEM purchasers have enough disposable income to purchase multiple great IEMs, allowing them to have a good balanced set.
The Fidue A73 follows this trend with its hybrid design. This means that it possesses the bass of a dynamic driver, in combination with the details that balanced armature drivers have. The tuning that the A73 has adds onto this with a very slight bass lift, warm mids and smooth, crisp highs. Not much seems to be overdone to my ears. Since it is inoffensive in various segments of sound, it plays well with all genres of music. Let me break this down in further detail.
Treble
Treble for this IEM is not super elevated. There appears to be a nice spike in upper treble that gives the appearance of an open and detailed sound. The spike is a small one, since the A73 is not fatiguing in any sense of the word, allowing the use of it for long hours without needing to stop. There is also no sibilance detected, with no harsh sounds relating to the letter S or cymbal crashes.
Mids
The midrange is something I found to be of particular interest, with a nice combination of warmth and resolution. There is a sense that the upper midrange is brought forward, giving a sense that vocals are put in the Center stage on most of the tracks I tried. This made the voices sound very natural and beautiful. This is coming from a person who owns a Noble Audio K10, which has one of the most beautiful mids that I have ever heard (while it is not on the same level as the K10, the fidue A73 is very good indeed).
Bass
The bass on the A73 is quite nice indeed. This is probably due to the dynamic driver that is contained in the A73. The bass I heard was forward and present, in good balance with the music that was played with no problems with speed, while also not having any problems with being slow. 
Imaging
The A73 is an open sounding IEM. I did not feel very out of place with this IEM, despite being used to the soundstage that my higher end IEMs usually presented. This is probably due in part to the way the highs are tuned.
Scaling
I tried this IEM with several sources, namely the iPhone 6+, the Calyx M, the Resonessence Labs Concero HP and the Cozoy Aegis (with computer and iPhone). I personally felt that the A73 excelled as a portable audio source. I thought the pairing with the iPhone 6+ was good, but lacked a bit amplification. Adding the Cozoy Aegis to the equation aided this by quite a bit by giving the needed amplification into the fidue A73. The Calyx M pushed this even further, with its good DAC. However, it didn’t seem to scale any further than this. It must be said that at that point, the effects of diminishing returns have set in long ago, and most of the target market of this IEM would probably not be investing into gear past the budget of the Cozoy Aegis, which meant that it was more than adequate.
Packaging
The packaging on this IEM was pretty good, with a box, some normal silicone eartips (S/M/L), a set of double flange eartips, a removable shirt clip and a hard carrying case. This, in my opinion, is adequate, but quite sparse. Personally, I would get some aftermarket eartips for this IEM, which would be a cheap upgrade that would probably be easy for most users (my friend who ended up buying this IEM prefers foam tips with this).
Looks
This IEM seems to have been made to look iconic. With its red and grey colour scheme, it is slightly different from the usual black and/or silver that is commonplace in the IEM world. However, some people would find this cheap and not classy like what the silver and/or black scheme tends to invoke. Additionally, I personally felt that the A73’s plastic housing was not cut particularly accurately and this contributes to the slightly cheap look of this IEM.

 

 

 

 
Conclusion
In conclusion, I came out of this tour being thoroughly impressed by this IEM. This was one of the few revelations that I’ve had in the audio world, where a low or mid –tier IEM or source has impressed me thoroughly. The last time I have felt this was the Hifiman RE400, which had quite the amazing reputation. I can thoroughly recommend this to anyone who is looking for an IEM in this budget. With the price, it is also quite the entry into the audio world and the fact that I didn’t influence my friend in his decision made the abilities of the fidue quite amazing indeed.