Introduction
I have been into music world for about 15 years. At first I picked up mostly pop, and that was during the golden era of boy-bands like: NSynce, Boyzone, Backstreet boys, Westlife, the Moffatts,… you name them. After one or 2 years later I was so much into Hip-hop, RnB. Later on, high-school, I started playing the guitar in order to impress a girl in class. Since then, I was so much into Metal music, I did play in a local band and we covered bands like: As I lay dying, Parkway Drive, August Burns Red, Metallica, … as well as writing our own songs. As for my main job, I studied mecha-tronics, which part of it is electronics, therefore, I have quite amount of knowledge about electronic signals.
So, my point is that, I have been listening to a wide variety of music, a kind of a play-for-fun musician, and electronics engineer, I hope my review will somewhat make sense to you.
Before I start, please be aware that I believe most headphones reviews are subjective because the ability to sense the music is different from people to people. Believe me, I have a friend who cannot tell the different between $2 and $1000 headphones while listening to them. Even, when you are using the same headphones, the bass will sound different between having the ear-tips well-fitted or loose in your ears. You can try that by yourself and will realize the different right away.
Finally, I believe you need to have a baseline to do the review, at least for the audiophile beginners (the targeted market of FH1) because they have not tried much headphones, they got no idea what is good or bad, then by reviewing like “I think the low is rumble”, “The mid is clean”, etc will not actually do any good to them. Therefore, in this review, I will review with KZ ZST (the same 1 + 1 hybrid), and review with KZ ZS10 (1+4 hybrid) to see is it true that more is best? And will point out some example so that you can try out yourself.
Equipments
-Player: PC, Xiaomi A1 with USB Audio Player Pro
-DAC: FiiO Q1 Mark II
-Amp: FiiO A3
-IEMs: FiiO FH1 (With RC-MMCXB cable), KZ ZST (With KZ upgrade cable), KZ ZS10 (With KZ Upgrade cable)
-Eartips: acoustune aet08, spinfit cp240 twin blade
-Cable: FiiO L17 to connect DAC and AMP
-iFi ear buddy
Album
-2002 - Aerosmith - O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits [SACD DSF]
-Eluveitie - Evocation II - Pantheon (2017) Hi-Res 24 bit
-Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms (1985) 2014 SHM-SACD-DFF
-Parkway Drive - Reverence (2018) [24bit Hi-Res]
Package, Accessories, Design and build quality
Thanks to previous reviewers, you can pretty much see what is inside the package.
For aesthetic purpose, I think the cable is a bit boring with the black color. The RC-MMCXB with transparent color is more awesome in my opinion (But of course no complain about it because black will suit most people)
Technical Specifications:
Type: Hybrid In-Ear
Drivers per Side: 2 (1x dynamic driver, 1x Balanced Armature (Knowles 33518))
Frequency Response: 20 Hz – 40 kHz
Impedance: 26 Ohms
Sensitivity: 106 dB/mW
Maximum Input Power: 100 mW
Detachable Cables: Yes, MMCX
Available Colours: Black, Blue, Green, Red
Fit, Isolation, and comfort
I am an average Asian male, and I think FiiO is kind of targeting Asian Market, that is why the housing size and shape is very comfortable. Even so, I am sure it will fit Western users as well, and the comfy will surely be there, but it will look a bit too small on the big ears, and losing the coolness of the wearing (I meant we do wear earphones as a jewelry as well, for aesthetic purpose of course). But the comfy is top-notch.
You can say that because it house only 2 drivers, other IEM with more drivers will surely bigger and less comfortable. That is partly true, of course bigger housing will be heavier, bigger and less comfortable. But comparing with ZST (the same 2 drivers IEM), or other 1 driver cheap Chinese-made, none can beat FH1. My work mostly relate to doing research, therefore, I often wear phone 8 hours continuously when working, and I sometimes forgot that I am wearing FH1. In conclusion, FH1 is a very comfortable piece of iem, especially for those who wants to sleep with them on.
For Isolation, maybe I am wrong but in my opinion, I think in the end of the day, it is the design of the eartips that create good isolation. FH1 come-along eartips design is good, and isolation is good as well. Comparing with the pair of Acoustune aet 08 tips, I actually see no difference in sound, isolation, fitness because the shape is quite similar (basic shape). However, changing to spinfit twin blade, they fit tighter (of course will be less comfy) therefore, more isolation but not good for sleeping. To conclude, I actually think eartips do not really make significant change in sound quality, but they will improve fitness, isolation and/ or effect the comfy.
Bass
FH1 is no doubt a basshead’s choice. If you are a metal-music player like me, you will be very fond of and very picky in the bass. We want the pressured-bass sound, tight sound, and fast.
1. Sub-bass: that is what I called pressured-bass sound above. If you have ever been to a live concert yourself, and stand near the speakers (and Speakers are good enough), you will feel the pressure on your chest (Or if you play loud music in your room, you will see the loose door, or glasses window will start to rumble)…But you will NOT get that feeling with earphones (not any earphones on Earth can create that effect on you), but you have to learn to feel the sub-bass in another way. I know it feel kind of strange at first if you are used to listening to music on through speakers already. So, what if would feel like on IEM, take out a pillow, and rest your ear on it, then pad on the pillow, you will hear the “burff”, “ burff” sound, and like something padding on your ear drum. Sub-bass will feel like that, but at lower frequency. And FH1 can create that effect impressively.
2. Mid-bass: with FH1, very tight, and fast enough to keep up with Parkway Drive’s drummer.
Now, compare to KZ ZST and KZ ZS10, those KZ I think their bass is softer, however, with FiiO Q1 Mark II and A3 bass boost, I do actually can get those pressure effect described above. But at times they are just not tight and bleed a bit into vocal mid-range.
So, is this bass suitable only for metal music à No, not really. Actually with pop, hip-hop, RnB, FH1 does shine as well since they can well-isolate with the mid-range of other musical instruments. So, my thump up for the FH1 bass.
Mid
Mid is the main part that we notice throughout a song. You can sometimes pay attention to the bass, sometimes pay attention to the treble. But just “sometimes”, most of the time we spend our focus on the mid. So, if you are a photography just like me, you will be familiar with the terms “ambient”, normally, ambient is the warm light, we like the warmth tone as well. Take out some cheap earphones, listen to it, and listen to FH1, you will understand what I meant by “warm”. The tone is thick, fat and like people said “music to my ear”. And this range is not being invaded by the bass or the treble.
You one immediate example, try the song Mama Kin of Aerosmith, around 2:30, you will hear a series of pattern, end of each patterns there will be a “crash symbal” sound. With KZ ZST, and even KZ ZS10, the crash cymbal is submerged. But you can hear the details on FH1. So, we got the winner here.
Treble
Very clean indeed, I hear no sand. However, seems a bit weak comparing to the bass and mid. However, the details are protected. For this reason, I am eagerly looking forward to the release of the FH5 and hoping that with more BA drivers will handle the treble better. However, songs in which the drums do not overwhelmed with the bass, you can hear very clear detail of other instruments like flute, violin,… Please try out Eluveitie band, they are very creative in combining many instruments.
Soundstage
1 word: neutral. If you try the album of Eluveitie I mentioned above, close your eyes, you can hear the waves, the wind, but it doesn’t create the feeling you being in the middle of the area. However, with KZ ZS10, I can tell very good soundstage, I feel like being submerge with the atmosphere. For this, hopefully the new FH5 will impress me.
Final Words
If you are on the verge of the audiophile world. I absolutely suggest this IEM. Why you ask? The sound is a bit bass-oriented, and because bass is the most fun and easy to recognize, it will not disappoint you. I guess this is the reason FiiO making bigger Dynamic driver and aim for bass-oriented rather than V-shaped, most beginner will looking for the bass power to start with. When you have built up your listening skills, you will be able to yourself judge other earphones, and choose the one suits your need. As the elders often said: “you need to start it right!”. If you think that other low budget IEMs are fine because you couldn’t hear the difference anyway, you are on the path of ruining your audiophile life, your ear will not being improved, and days by days you will be discouraged and start spending more and more money on gears hoping for some miracle to happen.
I have been into music world for about 15 years. At first I picked up mostly pop, and that was during the golden era of boy-bands like: NSynce, Boyzone, Backstreet boys, Westlife, the Moffatts,… you name them. After one or 2 years later I was so much into Hip-hop, RnB. Later on, high-school, I started playing the guitar in order to impress a girl in class. Since then, I was so much into Metal music, I did play in a local band and we covered bands like: As I lay dying, Parkway Drive, August Burns Red, Metallica, … as well as writing our own songs. As for my main job, I studied mecha-tronics, which part of it is electronics, therefore, I have quite amount of knowledge about electronic signals.
So, my point is that, I have been listening to a wide variety of music, a kind of a play-for-fun musician, and electronics engineer, I hope my review will somewhat make sense to you.
Before I start, please be aware that I believe most headphones reviews are subjective because the ability to sense the music is different from people to people. Believe me, I have a friend who cannot tell the different between $2 and $1000 headphones while listening to them. Even, when you are using the same headphones, the bass will sound different between having the ear-tips well-fitted or loose in your ears. You can try that by yourself and will realize the different right away.
Finally, I believe you need to have a baseline to do the review, at least for the audiophile beginners (the targeted market of FH1) because they have not tried much headphones, they got no idea what is good or bad, then by reviewing like “I think the low is rumble”, “The mid is clean”, etc will not actually do any good to them. Therefore, in this review, I will review with KZ ZST (the same 1 + 1 hybrid), and review with KZ ZS10 (1+4 hybrid) to see is it true that more is best? And will point out some example so that you can try out yourself.
Equipments
-Player: PC, Xiaomi A1 with USB Audio Player Pro
-DAC: FiiO Q1 Mark II
-Amp: FiiO A3
-IEMs: FiiO FH1 (With RC-MMCXB cable), KZ ZST (With KZ upgrade cable), KZ ZS10 (With KZ Upgrade cable)
-Eartips: acoustune aet08, spinfit cp240 twin blade
-Cable: FiiO L17 to connect DAC and AMP
-iFi ear buddy
Album
-2002 - Aerosmith - O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits [SACD DSF]
-Eluveitie - Evocation II - Pantheon (2017) Hi-Res 24 bit
-Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms (1985) 2014 SHM-SACD-DFF
-Parkway Drive - Reverence (2018) [24bit Hi-Res]
Package, Accessories, Design and build quality
Thanks to previous reviewers, you can pretty much see what is inside the package.
For aesthetic purpose, I think the cable is a bit boring with the black color. The RC-MMCXB with transparent color is more awesome in my opinion (But of course no complain about it because black will suit most people)
Technical Specifications:
Type: Hybrid In-Ear
Drivers per Side: 2 (1x dynamic driver, 1x Balanced Armature (Knowles 33518))
Frequency Response: 20 Hz – 40 kHz
Impedance: 26 Ohms
Sensitivity: 106 dB/mW
Maximum Input Power: 100 mW
Detachable Cables: Yes, MMCX
Available Colours: Black, Blue, Green, Red
Fit, Isolation, and comfort
I am an average Asian male, and I think FiiO is kind of targeting Asian Market, that is why the housing size and shape is very comfortable. Even so, I am sure it will fit Western users as well, and the comfy will surely be there, but it will look a bit too small on the big ears, and losing the coolness of the wearing (I meant we do wear earphones as a jewelry as well, for aesthetic purpose of course). But the comfy is top-notch.
You can say that because it house only 2 drivers, other IEM with more drivers will surely bigger and less comfortable. That is partly true, of course bigger housing will be heavier, bigger and less comfortable. But comparing with ZST (the same 2 drivers IEM), or other 1 driver cheap Chinese-made, none can beat FH1. My work mostly relate to doing research, therefore, I often wear phone 8 hours continuously when working, and I sometimes forgot that I am wearing FH1. In conclusion, FH1 is a very comfortable piece of iem, especially for those who wants to sleep with them on.
For Isolation, maybe I am wrong but in my opinion, I think in the end of the day, it is the design of the eartips that create good isolation. FH1 come-along eartips design is good, and isolation is good as well. Comparing with the pair of Acoustune aet 08 tips, I actually see no difference in sound, isolation, fitness because the shape is quite similar (basic shape). However, changing to spinfit twin blade, they fit tighter (of course will be less comfy) therefore, more isolation but not good for sleeping. To conclude, I actually think eartips do not really make significant change in sound quality, but they will improve fitness, isolation and/ or effect the comfy.
Bass
FH1 is no doubt a basshead’s choice. If you are a metal-music player like me, you will be very fond of and very picky in the bass. We want the pressured-bass sound, tight sound, and fast.
1. Sub-bass: that is what I called pressured-bass sound above. If you have ever been to a live concert yourself, and stand near the speakers (and Speakers are good enough), you will feel the pressure on your chest (Or if you play loud music in your room, you will see the loose door, or glasses window will start to rumble)…But you will NOT get that feeling with earphones (not any earphones on Earth can create that effect on you), but you have to learn to feel the sub-bass in another way. I know it feel kind of strange at first if you are used to listening to music on through speakers already. So, what if would feel like on IEM, take out a pillow, and rest your ear on it, then pad on the pillow, you will hear the “burff”, “ burff” sound, and like something padding on your ear drum. Sub-bass will feel like that, but at lower frequency. And FH1 can create that effect impressively.
2. Mid-bass: with FH1, very tight, and fast enough to keep up with Parkway Drive’s drummer.
Now, compare to KZ ZST and KZ ZS10, those KZ I think their bass is softer, however, with FiiO Q1 Mark II and A3 bass boost, I do actually can get those pressure effect described above. But at times they are just not tight and bleed a bit into vocal mid-range.
So, is this bass suitable only for metal music à No, not really. Actually with pop, hip-hop, RnB, FH1 does shine as well since they can well-isolate with the mid-range of other musical instruments. So, my thump up for the FH1 bass.
Mid
Mid is the main part that we notice throughout a song. You can sometimes pay attention to the bass, sometimes pay attention to the treble. But just “sometimes”, most of the time we spend our focus on the mid. So, if you are a photography just like me, you will be familiar with the terms “ambient”, normally, ambient is the warm light, we like the warmth tone as well. Take out some cheap earphones, listen to it, and listen to FH1, you will understand what I meant by “warm”. The tone is thick, fat and like people said “music to my ear”. And this range is not being invaded by the bass or the treble.
You one immediate example, try the song Mama Kin of Aerosmith, around 2:30, you will hear a series of pattern, end of each patterns there will be a “crash symbal” sound. With KZ ZST, and even KZ ZS10, the crash cymbal is submerged. But you can hear the details on FH1. So, we got the winner here.
Treble
Very clean indeed, I hear no sand. However, seems a bit weak comparing to the bass and mid. However, the details are protected. For this reason, I am eagerly looking forward to the release of the FH5 and hoping that with more BA drivers will handle the treble better. However, songs in which the drums do not overwhelmed with the bass, you can hear very clear detail of other instruments like flute, violin,… Please try out Eluveitie band, they are very creative in combining many instruments.
Soundstage
1 word: neutral. If you try the album of Eluveitie I mentioned above, close your eyes, you can hear the waves, the wind, but it doesn’t create the feeling you being in the middle of the area. However, with KZ ZS10, I can tell very good soundstage, I feel like being submerge with the atmosphere. For this, hopefully the new FH5 will impress me.
Final Words
If you are on the verge of the audiophile world. I absolutely suggest this IEM. Why you ask? The sound is a bit bass-oriented, and because bass is the most fun and easy to recognize, it will not disappoint you. I guess this is the reason FiiO making bigger Dynamic driver and aim for bass-oriented rather than V-shaped, most beginner will looking for the bass power to start with. When you have built up your listening skills, you will be able to yourself judge other earphones, and choose the one suits your need. As the elders often said: “you need to start it right!”. If you think that other low budget IEMs are fine because you couldn’t hear the difference anyway, you are on the path of ruining your audiophile life, your ear will not being improved, and days by days you will be discouraged and start spending more and more money on gears hoping for some miracle to happen.