Sorry they don’t sound good to you. I know this is controversial, and while I’m not fanatical about it in the least, the sound of my FDX1 units changed dramatically over time with breaking them in. The treble was harsh and the bass was weak and muddy at first. I have never had an IEM’s sound change as much as the FDX1’s sound did over time. The resolution on mine is clearly superior to my ER2.
I just have to ask, what's the "primary cabled IEM"?
How much did you pay for it? Isnt it very expensive for us europeans to use drop since it is in the US? (import fees and VAT...)So I ordered the Drop + JVC HA-FDX1 to Germany and received them a few days ago. But I am sorry to say that I regret the purchase.
Build quality and design are superb. They feel premium, the parts are machined well, the design allows great comfort with the cable worn over the ear and straight down, the cable itself feels very durable, etc.
But what's with the sound? This is worth creating a hype over? My initial impressions were really poor, so I took a few days to get adjusted, tried the different filters and also checked if I have a defective pair. But since both units are well-matched, I guess it's safe to say that there is no issue. Unless Drop pulled a sneaky on us and massively reduced the quality of the product in secret after the hype took off.
These have very poor resolution, in my opinion. The bass is bloated with little texture, poor decay and slow transients. The quantity isn't overdone at all, but the low-end lacks any kind of definition. The midrange sounds off - I have read so many impressions of how great the tonality is but the upper midrange is completely messed up - no matter which filter. Voices remain shrill, which is due to audible distortion. I installed some SpinFit which helped a bit to cut back upper mids, but the FDX1 fail to pick up multiple layers in tracks, like doubled voices. What really disappointed me, though, is the treble. It's perhaps one of the worst I heard in a while. Cymbal splashes are missing. There is no shimmer, no sense of space at all. Sadly, when swiping with a sine tone generator, I can confirm it. When I play 8 kHz or 9 kHz, I don't hear a 8 or 9 kHz tone, I hear noise. So either both my units (L+R) are defective, or Drop is doing something fishy. (Or, but that's a big maybe, people get blinded by the great build quality and a really misleading frequency response.)
This is probably the best example of why people should stop reading frequency graphs. If the drivers were up to the task, had more speed, faster decay, I am sure the tuning would work well. But I'd say all of these have clearly better sonic qualities: Etymotic ER2, Azla Horizon, Tin HiFi P1, qdc Neptune, NF Audio NA1, CCA C16, MoonDrop Kanas Pro, Reecho x Peacock Spring.
Ehmm... In Europe the MSRP includes tax, in USA it doesn't. But you have to pay it anyway. You're not paying anything you shouldn't be paying (like fees). So in Germany it's usually 19% (now it's 16% until the end of 2020) but in Denmark it's even 25%.
So here are the 4 IEMs I want to use:
I have similar complaints about the upper midrange. 4 kHz is very forward sounding to me. However, the FDX1 is the least offender in many IEMs I've tried, including the Etymotic ER-2SE and Sony MH755. In fact, I find most IEMs to be too much in this area.So I ordered the Drop + JVC HA-FDX1 to Germany and received them a few days ago. But I am sorry to say that I regret the purchase.
Build quality and design are superb. They feel premium, the parts are machined well, the design allows great comfort with the cable worn over the ear and straight down, the cable itself feels very durable, etc.
But what's with the sound? This is worth creating a hype over? My initial impressions were really poor, so I took a few days to get adjusted, tried the different filters and also checked if I have a defective pair. But since both units are well-matched, I guess it's safe to say that there is no issue. Unless Drop pulled a sneaky on us and massively reduced the quality of the product in secret after the hype took off.
These have very poor resolution, in my opinion. The bass is bloated with little texture, poor decay and slow transients. The quantity isn't overdone at all, but the low-end lacks any kind of definition. The midrange sounds off - I have read so many impressions of how great the tonality is but the upper midrange is completely messed up - no matter which filter. Voices remain shrill, which is due to audible distortion. I installed some SpinFit which helped a bit to cut back upper mids, but the FDX1 fail to pick up multiple layers in tracks, like doubled voices. What really disappointed me, though, is the treble. It's perhaps one of the worst I heard in a while. Cymbal splashes are missing. There is no shimmer, no sense of space at all. Sadly, when swiping with a sine tone generator, I can confirm it. When I play 8 kHz or 9 kHz, I don't hear a 8 or 9 kHz tone, I hear noise. So either both my units (L+R) are defective, or Drop is doing something fishy. (Or, but that's a big maybe, people get blinded by the great build quality and a really misleading frequency response.)
This is probably the best example of why people should stop reading frequency graphs. If the drivers were up to the task, had more speed, faster decay, I am sure the tuning would work well. But I'd say all of these have clearly better sonic qualities: Etymotic ER2, Azla Horizon, Tin HiFi P1, qdc Neptune, NF Audio NA1, CCA C16, MoonDrop Kanas Pro, Reecho x Peacock Spring.
Agreed. These guys made me a believer in both burn in and cable rolling, although burn in doesn't actually help most of the time. FDX1 is the exception, not the rule.Burn in for certain.. Throw on a different cable/ SPC thicker the better. You will be surprised. Give it some time. Initial listen is not the best. I wasn't floored by them either. It took an aftermarket cable and a good beat down before they sounded correct for me.
Carbon based dynamics. Beat them down good. They need it.
Penon Orbit with the FDX1
That, and your experience with other TOTL IEMs makes you a very serious voice in these forums.
I'm using Azla Sedna Earfit Lights, which come in sizes down to 10.4mm. Final Audio E Tips also work well, and their smalls are 10mm, I believe. Spinfit CP-155 and 500 should work, too, and have 10.5mm and 10mm smalls.
Any updates on this? This makes me nervous, just ordered a pair hopefully they're in the good batch. If not I can return them but I was hoping to take them on a trip.Thank you all for the comments and also the private messages! It really shows that Head-Fi is a great community.
So I finally managed to measure my IEM and it actually looks like they are below average quality. I held back with my reply I wanted to post yesterday, but it still holds true so I have hidden it in a spoiler tag. More insights will follow later.
So, a few more hours later, I am done with A/B-testing and experimenting. I like the JVC Spiral Dots and bought myself a few when I was in Japan. But in this case, they are not the best fit, at least for me. I receive a better tonality with SpinFit (not sure which, but they have an orange stem) and AZLA Sedna EarTips. The latter are also a stunning visual match.
But, my complaints remain. I found the comparison with NF Audio NA1 extremely interesting, because I had the same complaints with those. The upper midrange is overdone and it hurts timbre, realism, 3D rendering, soundstage depth, etc.. Somehow, when using the Lotoo PAW S1 and Chord Mojo, the NA1 has the tighter bass and more precise treble. At 169$, this should be a closer call. (If you are not familiar with them, I featured them here: https://www.klauseulenbach.de/category/blog/nf-audio/)
And I also find the AZLA Horizon to be a little bit more capable in all categories. Kanas Pro are the IEMs that are much better tuned, though. They sound richer and more vivid.
The JVC really bring out the tech kid in me because the design is just awesome. I really love the cable, too! But then again, switching from A18t or A8000 to the FXD1 results in a blurry mess that lacks all sonic qualities I search for when I want to get lost in music. The realism isn't there one bit. And because of that shrillness in the midrange, it makes it difficult for me to enjoy them for casual listening too. Just my impressions.
I averaged 6 measurements (3 left, 3 right) with the green filter and it matches my impressions. Usually, my coupler picks up a more accurate treble than Crin's coupler and it usually shows in a higher sound pressure too. But not this time. The treble takes a dive and 6-10 kHz are at least 5 dB lower. This makes the 4 kHz region even more so prominent. But that by itself isn't the issue.
The THD is through the roof. I usually don't share THD measurements because my sound card for the input has quite some noise and to be fair I would have to carefully match every IEM to the same volume. But at listening volume, I measure 3,42% THD at 4,2 kHz and 2,4% at 8,3 kHz which is definitely higher than what I usually measure (A18t and A8000 are consistently below 0,5% with my setup). This could possibly explain what I am hearing.
However, I don't think my pair is defective. Left and right were carefully matched. I actually think Drop is saving some money and allowing a higher tolerance for quality control - which definitely brings down the price noticeably. (That's basically the main difference between ER3 and ER4.) I guess I just got unlucky.
All said, I don't want this pair and I don't want to sell it to anyone I know either. I will open a case with Drop and see if I have any luck returning them, even if it costs me shipping (again). Anyway, thanks again for your help, guys!
