About Me
To get started, let me tell you a little about myself.
I’m a gigging musician (lead guitar/backup vocals), an audio forensic analyst, a novice sound engineer, and an avid music lover with a wide taste in music. Being an audio forensic analyst is a plus I find when reviewing audio products simple because I know what bad audio sounds like and usually know how to correct it. My experience allows me to be familiar with the limitations of my own ears and the equipment I’m using.
For the consumers, my perspective for all my IEM reviews will be based on these things. I won’t sugar coat things or make things sound better than they are. I’m just like you and I want good value for the money I pay for any product.
To the manufacturers, I’ll always give you an option to respond to any concerns such as quality that I have during my review. I’ll contact you directly and will do so before my review is published. I want to provide an honest and tangible review for your prospective customers without being unfair to you as a manufacturer.
I’ll always be fair and my review will be based on my perspective and my experience.
Now on to the important stuff.
About the product/expectations
I received these on loan during a Fiio Review Tour. I really had no expectations going into this except that I believed the F9 Pro would be a competitor in the $150 price range.
Build/Design
The F9 Pro is built like a tank, metal housing is plus. The cables seem to be good quality, but there was no non-mic 3.5mm cable available.
Comfort/Fit
After using them for a few days the comfort is very good. The shape of them seems very similar to the Shure SE IEM's and they seat in my ears very similar. Because the housing is metal, they are a bit heavy and when used as a stage monitor, you may have to reseat them after a few songs. Overall they're a good fit.
Sound
The sound on these is outstanding. For the price point that these come in at, most manufacturers are going to have a hard time beating the F9 Pro.
The lows are clear and tight with a very natural decay. I didn't find any inbalances here and the low end extension resolves well below 20hz. The bottom end never gets in the way of the mids and has enough punch that even bass heads will like these. However the low end seems very balanced and not overly emphasized.
The mids are are very good with a natural feel. Vocals shine through very well and the mids contribute to a beautifully balanced sound stage. Great separation and ability to resolve different instruments. The mids may sit just a hair behind the high's depending on the source but are still very present and balanced.
The highs are clear and detailed. No harshness or sibilance that I could detect, very natural sounding with a bit of extension that contributes to the overall clarity of the sound and helps to widen the sound stage. very balanced sounding.
Compared to UE900s, I found the F9 Pro to have a very similar soundstage, but with more clarity and less low end emphasis. The low end of the F9 Pro seemed to be almost as abundant as the UE900s but with more resolution. The mids and high end was very similar but the F9 Pro had a bit more high end extension which helped to put the F9 Pro just a slight edge on the UE900's for clarity.
I compared these to the Primo8 and found that the F9 Pro had a more balanced sound, but like the Primo8 depended on the source. The Primo8 sounds very good when using my Samsung Note 8 straight, but the F9 Pro needed a bit more power than my phone could provide I believe. I coupled the Fiio A3 with my phone and the F9 Pro blossomed into one of the best sounding IEM's that I've had the pleasure of using and easily outperformed the Primo8 in everything except mids which is where the Primo8 really shines.
Based on my findings, I felt these were possibly a top choice IEM for anyone looking for a balanced sound.
Isolation
Isolation was good but could have been a little better. I used the provided tips and all of them seemed to seal very good for me. I then used a cheaper "Kinden" foam tip for the majority of my testing due to being able to get a great seal for me.
Value
I hesitate when trying to gauge value in any product unless there are issues with build quality or the product is just an outstanding value. Based on the $139 price tag as of the time of this review, I would rank the F9 Pro at the top in this price range. I haven't heard anything that will beat them as of yet.
Conclusion
The Fiio F9 Pro is an outstanding IEM and you would be hard pressed to find another IEM that does as well in this price range. The overall balanced sound, the soundstage and resolution of the F9 Pro is outstanding and I truly believe that is an understatement. The fact that they give you a very well made hard case a decent soft case along with 2 cables (1 3.5mm mic cable, 1 2.5mm balanced cable) and a host of 4 different types of ear tips make these an exceptional value but all of that is overshadowed by the sound quality. Fiio hit a home run with the F9 Pro.
To get started, let me tell you a little about myself.
I’m a gigging musician (lead guitar/backup vocals), an audio forensic analyst, a novice sound engineer, and an avid music lover with a wide taste in music. Being an audio forensic analyst is a plus I find when reviewing audio products simple because I know what bad audio sounds like and usually know how to correct it. My experience allows me to be familiar with the limitations of my own ears and the equipment I’m using.
For the consumers, my perspective for all my IEM reviews will be based on these things. I won’t sugar coat things or make things sound better than they are. I’m just like you and I want good value for the money I pay for any product.
To the manufacturers, I’ll always give you an option to respond to any concerns such as quality that I have during my review. I’ll contact you directly and will do so before my review is published. I want to provide an honest and tangible review for your prospective customers without being unfair to you as a manufacturer.
I’ll always be fair and my review will be based on my perspective and my experience.
Now on to the important stuff.
About the product/expectations
I received these on loan during a Fiio Review Tour. I really had no expectations going into this except that I believed the F9 Pro would be a competitor in the $150 price range.
Build/Design
The F9 Pro is built like a tank, metal housing is plus. The cables seem to be good quality, but there was no non-mic 3.5mm cable available.
Comfort/Fit
After using them for a few days the comfort is very good. The shape of them seems very similar to the Shure SE IEM's and they seat in my ears very similar. Because the housing is metal, they are a bit heavy and when used as a stage monitor, you may have to reseat them after a few songs. Overall they're a good fit.
Sound
The sound on these is outstanding. For the price point that these come in at, most manufacturers are going to have a hard time beating the F9 Pro.
The lows are clear and tight with a very natural decay. I didn't find any inbalances here and the low end extension resolves well below 20hz. The bottom end never gets in the way of the mids and has enough punch that even bass heads will like these. However the low end seems very balanced and not overly emphasized.
The mids are are very good with a natural feel. Vocals shine through very well and the mids contribute to a beautifully balanced sound stage. Great separation and ability to resolve different instruments. The mids may sit just a hair behind the high's depending on the source but are still very present and balanced.
The highs are clear and detailed. No harshness or sibilance that I could detect, very natural sounding with a bit of extension that contributes to the overall clarity of the sound and helps to widen the sound stage. very balanced sounding.
Compared to UE900s, I found the F9 Pro to have a very similar soundstage, but with more clarity and less low end emphasis. The low end of the F9 Pro seemed to be almost as abundant as the UE900s but with more resolution. The mids and high end was very similar but the F9 Pro had a bit more high end extension which helped to put the F9 Pro just a slight edge on the UE900's for clarity.
I compared these to the Primo8 and found that the F9 Pro had a more balanced sound, but like the Primo8 depended on the source. The Primo8 sounds very good when using my Samsung Note 8 straight, but the F9 Pro needed a bit more power than my phone could provide I believe. I coupled the Fiio A3 with my phone and the F9 Pro blossomed into one of the best sounding IEM's that I've had the pleasure of using and easily outperformed the Primo8 in everything except mids which is where the Primo8 really shines.
Based on my findings, I felt these were possibly a top choice IEM for anyone looking for a balanced sound.
Isolation
Isolation was good but could have been a little better. I used the provided tips and all of them seemed to seal very good for me. I then used a cheaper "Kinden" foam tip for the majority of my testing due to being able to get a great seal for me.
Value
I hesitate when trying to gauge value in any product unless there are issues with build quality or the product is just an outstanding value. Based on the $139 price tag as of the time of this review, I would rank the F9 Pro at the top in this price range. I haven't heard anything that will beat them as of yet.
Conclusion
The Fiio F9 Pro is an outstanding IEM and you would be hard pressed to find another IEM that does as well in this price range. The overall balanced sound, the soundstage and resolution of the F9 Pro is outstanding and I truly believe that is an understatement. The fact that they give you a very well made hard case a decent soft case along with 2 cables (1 3.5mm mic cable, 1 2.5mm balanced cable) and a host of 4 different types of ear tips make these an exceptional value but all of that is overshadowed by the sound quality. Fiio hit a home run with the F9 Pro.