This review is going to be about the Fiio F1 IEM, which is my second IEM that I have used that is wired. My first being the Nuforce HEM 2. The F1's are small and does not stick out that much unlike the HEM2 and feels more comfortable in my ear because of that. As the HEM 2 is against the rear of my ear while touching the it, pictures explain it better.
Usually the IEM's have markings on them to tell you which side go into which ear. Which I realize I had it on wrong as the Right side had the control pod, The R on the casing was hard to see and can be easy missed. Either putting it on the casing brighter or putting it on the cable would had made it more easier even go as far as putting red and white colors on the bottom of it would have also helped. The cabling feels really good, the only minor thing is the cable while is good it can not be removed but that not really a deal breaker at the price these IEM's are going for.
Fiio packs the F1 inside a soft foam insert, with a small carrying case next to it, which also where the other size ear-tips are located. They come in Small, Medium and large, they felt very comfortable in my ears while being made from plastic. They fit really well inside my ear's including staying on the IEM when i remove the Fiio F1, which was a big problem for me on the HEM 2 where the tips ended up coming off the IEMs. Lucky the they stay on the F1's which makes me very happy.
When you connect the Fiio F1 to a smart phone the volume control box can be used to raise or lower the volume by pressing the + and – buttons which are on the outer edge's, and accept calls when you press the middle button between the volume buttons, that same button also pause and resume the songs when you press it normally. The mic is also located inside the same spot. I didn't have issues pressing the buttons with my fat fingers and I did not make a mistaking the hit buttons.
Setup
For the source I will be using an LG leon smart phone, The Fiio F1 and the Nuforce HEM 2 with the mobile cable will be compared to each other.
Fiio F1 EM
It sounds really good even from my smart phone, I did not have any issues with it. Even when I was moving around they did not come out of my ears. I find the highs to be very smooth, no brightness any where, with very good details. Lows have very nice impact that is not too much nor one noted. Voices sound as you are in the front row as they are on stage. Sounds like the audio is outside of your head with very good imaging, nice separation as I have no problems hearing the different instruments and the different singers in the songs, including the location.
Nuforce HEM 2 IEM
In comparison to the F1 the audio to be more detailed, You could hear every thing a lot more the exact way it sound including being clear. Some songs didn’t work out with it as they was too bright, while others had a bit of brightness. This wasn't an issue on the Fiio F1 at all. The voice performance was very good as the singer came off as being directly In front as if there in your face, as they are talking into your forehead or above your eyes which is creepy. Which why I like the way it sound on the F1 no creepiness added.
But the Bass and drums was very accurate with the bass hitting a very tinny bit hard. Over all sounded very neutral to me. The sound was also outside of my head like the F1 was. But the sound imaging was small which I found the F1 to do a better job at. The separation was just as good as the F1.
Conclusion
The Fiio F1 is much more comfortable to my ears over the HEM2 when using the Comfy ear tip’s, even when the plastic ones are used since they no longer stay on the HEM2 and slips off the IEMs. The ear tips on the F1 doesn’t pop out your ear like the HEM 2’s does. The isolation on the F1 is much better then it is on the HEM 2, even the comfit tips doesn’t isolate that well for me on the HEM2’s. While being uncomfortable plus after awhile the memory foam tips makes my ears hurt.
I still enjoyed the HEM2’s but honestly I enjoy the Fiio F1’s much more due to it’s sound signature in compared to the HEM2’s Neutral and more detailed sound signature and vocal performance which I disliked. The Fiio F1 let me sit back and enjoy my music, where the HEM2 doesn’t do that.
The Fiio F1’s control box was better design and gives you more options. All the mobile cable does for the HEM2 is stop and play the songs, There's no volume control or call answering which makes the cable useless for smart phone usage, might as well not even include the cable.
The low’s on the Fiio F1’s was very good to me with the impact to them, which I loved, I never used Iem’s that had this much of a bass, even my the HEM2 didn’t have this kind of a bass. Music was much more enjoyable then it was on the HEM2 as performed like it would do good in monitoring for song producing.
Over all both the F1 did a very good job in my songs, I ended up liking it more then the Nuforce HEM2’s to the point that the Nuforce’s will be sitting in my closet. With Fiio F1’s taking over the helm.