Balanced AND academic review. It seems, FF5 is worth the hype. How does it compare with RW-2000?

@Rudymish I don't have that earbuds to compare, sorry. Though I have little doubt about the quality of that RW series, based on impressions from other earbuds veterans.

Quite the thorough review. Thanks!

This review is fantastic. I just got my pair yesterday. Agree fully with everything you said. I also have the EM5s have you compared both? To me the EM5s are very similar to the HD600s i own and these FF5 seem like it might be like the hd800.( referring to the wonderful resolving soundstage of the ff5) I plan on pairing these with the ibasso dx170 DAP which comes next week. Thoughts?

@AMCLA I’m glad you enjoy the review and find it matching your experience. I have not seen or heard the EM5, unfortunately. I have received conflicting impressions of those earbuds so I am quite curious. Would write an article if I manage to come across one someday.

DX170 should does a wonderful job with FF5. DX170 + FF5 + a good IEM and I think you are done for the portable / transportable listening gear (though for us in this hobby, it’s never the end)

"(though for us in this hobby, it’s never the end)" truer words have never been spoken. lol. so growing up i had the shure ec2 and then got the shure 215. wore them all the time. I don't know what happened but at some point i just start to have a lot of irritation with IEM's :-/ at every desk i have Bose wired sound sports (neon green) because I love the sound for general audio and zoom/VR applications and the world is still open. for early bluetooth i tried various headsets but they were never loud enough and then the airpods original came out and luckily they fit my ears. (obviously no comparison to higher end options) but for what they are I very much enjoy the airpods and now airpods 3. Anyway, reason for bringing this up, what do you recommend for IEM's cause part of me would love a pair and maybe i just haven't found the right tips yet. When the audiophile bug bit me I pretty much stuck with over the ear until the fiio EM5s.

1. First setup was SenHD600 with a Hifiman Supermini DAP
2. Then went through various dongle phases (zerdda ikko/ddhifitc44b lol
3. Then i bought the Ifi xcan which I think is a fun little device. And i thought all would be well. (until i convinced myself i should go down the planar magnetic rabbit hole)
4. That lead me to the Hifiman Aryas V2 paired with a ifi Diablo cause i like the portability/power. (until i convinced myself you should have a portable setup to take with you places)

5. That lead me to the hiby r3pro saber paired with the fiio em5s. (and truly that was a nice pairing except the interface of the hiby is really weird and buggy. (So I convinced myself you need a dap that has a better interface)
6. So I was gonna get the ibasso DX320 but it really ended up being too expensive because I saw it 1. has not really being necessary cause i have the diablo which really sound wonderful. So i went with the DX170 which arrives next week (and convinced myself well the EM5s they don't have a removable cable so if your out and get a short what will you do(lol) so hence the FF5(which really just blow my mind).
So anyway, if you made it this far in my audiophilic rambling I am grateful, but knowing sort of my journey through this, any advice on IEM's would be appreciated.

@AMCLA Monarch Mk2 is always a safe choice, sonic wise. The only concern is that it might be too large for some ears. The current crop of mid-fi IEMs are pretty good. I’m enjoying AFUL Performance 5 at the moment. It looks like Monarch, but way smaller. At the moment, it’s the IEM that I can recommend without having to provide many “only if …” Two other options that I like are JD7 (already review) and FH15 (reviewing).

IMHO, the only point of an IEM is isolation, and we usually have to trade off some aspects of sound quality and price for isolation. What I look for is something with the most favourable trade-off.

You're awesome. Thanks Look forward to your thoughts on the FH15.

Gonna have to agree to disagree on your comment about the FF3 as I feel it has the special sauce that the FF5 lacks, but, as I knew it would be, your review is exemplary and I actually agree with quite a bit of it. I think we essentially hear the same things in the FF5, I'm just not as enchanted by them. All that aside, you write some of the most thorough and balanced reviews around and this is another great one.

FWIW, I'm going on record and saying that @o0genesis0o is my favorite reviewer. You can thank me later now that I've just made your career.