[Floofs]

Hey, that's great!

Some notes for you. People have found it a little hard to discern which is the right and left bud. It's very easy. With the cable splitter with the FiiO logo facing away (forward) from you the left cable is the left side and right cable will be the right side. There is an "L" and "R" stamped into the stems of the buds, but they might be hard to see. The FF5 comes with 3 bags of foam covers. Bass, Balanced and Crisp (donut foams). The foams will allow you to tune the buds to your sound preference. I would start with the Balanced foams (which is what I use) and see how you like it. You can always swap to Bass or Crisp foams to match your sound prefs. The FF5 (and FF3) come with 2 plugs, 3.5mm SE and 4.4mm Balanced. That gives you some flexibility connecting to sources.

Just got the FF5s in today and love them. I just wanted to thank you again for a great recommendation. They also look really nice in person.

Also, about the LR difficulty, I noticed that there is a tiny red and blue ring right above the MMCX connector, but it is a little difficult to see. Maybe they added that recently?

I personally use a TRN TN or T2 Pro cable in MMCX (take off the ear hook shrink wrap) as they come with modular plugs and you can purchase a USB-C/lightning head for these - I have linked 1 shop on Ali that sells with the USB-C head as standard so the package as a whole would cost less but may be worth shopping around for prices.

€ 14,44 52％ Off | TRNT2 Pro16 Core Earphones Silver Plated HIFI Upgrade Cable 2.5/3.5/4.4/Type C/Lighting/QDC//MMCX/0.75/0.78 MT4 Kirin Xuanwu
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EQUfthj

I'll check this out. I might just use all the adapters I have and make it work lol

 

[Surf Monkey]

Also, about the LR difficulty, I noticed that there is a tiny red and blue ring right above the MMCX connector, but it is a little difficult to see. Maybe they added that recently?

Mine has that. It’s impossible to see outside of bright, direct light.

 

[mt877]

Just got the FF5s in today and love them. I just wanted to thank you again for a great recommendation. They also look really nice in person.

Also, about the LR difficulty, I noticed that there is a tiny red and blue ring right above the MMCX connector, but it is a little difficult to see. Maybe they added that recently?

I'm glad you like them. What are your impressions in comparison to your Senn HD58x headphones? Are you getting the open soundstage vibe? On head-fi it's funny that IEMs and headphones rule the roost in these times, but if you look at some of the early older threads many people are talking about flat head earbuds. So it's cool to go retro and enjoy the sound these latest tech earbuds are capable of today.

I have those red and blue rings as well. The rings are just slivers and not really visible once the cable is snapped in. I think FiiO was going for a certain look and visible rings would just ruin the svelte look of these buds.

And oh yeah, forgot to say... Welcome to the earbuds rabbit hole. You sure got some nice "starter" buds for your first set.

 

[imackler]

Does anyone have recommendations for the best earbuds in a MX500 shell? I think my ears are large… The Monk fits there and doesn’t move. I prefer the HD600 kind of sound, maybe like the iems UERM/GaudioNair/Andromeda, etc. thanks all!

 

[emdeevee]

Does anyone have recommendations for the best earbuds in a MX500 shell? I think my ears are large… The Monk fits there and doesn’t move. I prefer the HD600 kind of sound, maybe like the iems UERM/GaudioNair/Andromeda, etc. thanks all!

In an mx500 shell there's no question, TGXear Serratus.

 

[itwasluck]

I get home the first week of June and have plenty of gear testing to do and you know DB1 vs DB1e will be a big one!

Can't wait! Really interested to see how it does bass.

 

[povidlo]

earbuds are better than watches!

Spoiler: seating chart

business class

ff5, ff3	chaconne, e888sp	maria, dx6	cm2kti	st20, ye01
db1, lbbs	frostfall, tiandirenhe wood	pt2021, pt15	st10s gold, m2s (w/superone)	st10, m0 (w/m2s)

economy class

qian69, qian39	datura x, rosemary	tg-38s, tc200	h185, h180	ry4s+, pt52
k300, hakugei mx500	snow-lotus, ancestor	ep985, jc10	ep09, ep05	eo320, bre01jy

 

[4ceratops]

earbuds are better than watches!

Spoiler: seating chart

business class

ff5, ff3	chaconne, e888sp	maria, dx6	cm2kti	st20, ye01
db1, lbbs	frostfall, tiandirenhe wood	pt2021, pt15	st10s gold, m2s (w/superone)	st10, m0 (w/m2s)

economy class

qian69, qian39	datura x, rosemary	tg-38s, tc200	h185, h180	ry4s+, pt52
k300, hakugei mx500	snow-lotus, ancestor	ep985, jc10	ep09, ep05	eo320, bre01jy

Congratulations, it's a gorgeous box. I would love to grab it and run and run and ....

 

[Surf Monkey]

earbuds are better than watches!

HERESY!

 

[samandhi]

Just got the FF5s in today and love them.

Congrats on your new shiny!

I would be interested in hearing more in depth impressions once you have had some time with them.

earbuds are better than watches!

Spoiler: seating chart

business class

ff5, ff3	chaconne, e888sp	maria, dx6	cm2kti	st20, ye01
db1, lbbs	frostfall, tiandirenhe wood	pt2021, pt15	st10s gold, m2s (w/superone)	st10, m0 (w/m2s)

economy class

qian69, qian39	datura x, rosemary	tg-38s, tc200	h185, h180	ry4s+, pt52
k300, hakugei mx500	snow-lotus, ancestor	ep985, jc10	ep09, ep05	eo320, bre01jy

WOW! You got most all of the big names in there. Great collection! (your poor wallet )

 

[yaps66]

HERESY!

Nice! The Seiko Presage is such a classic!

 

[itwasluck]

earbuds are better than watches!

Spoiler: seating chart

business class

ff5, ff3	chaconne, e888sp	maria, dx6	cm2kti	st20, ye01
db1, lbbs	frostfall, tiandirenhe wood	pt2021, pt15	st10s gold, m2s (w/superone)	st10, m0 (w/m2s)

economy class

qian69, qian39	datura x, rosemary	tg-38s, tc200	h185, h180	ry4s+, pt52
k300, hakugei mx500	snow-lotus, ancestor	ep985, jc10	ep09, ep05	eo320, bre01jy

Funny you say that, this is the exact one I use for my watches XD But seeing my recent earbud purchase habit, I might need another one!

 

[Floofs]

I'm glad you like them. What are your impressions in comparison to your Senn HD58x headphones? Are you getting the open soundstage vibe? On head-fi it's funny that IEMs and headphones rule the roost in these times, but if you look at some of the early older threads many people are talking about flat head earbuds. So it's cool to go retro and enjoy the sound these latest tech earbuds are capable of today.

I have those red and blue rings as well. The rings are just slivers and not really visible once the cable is snapped in. I think FiiO was going for a certain look and visible rings would just ruin the svelte look of these buds.

And oh yeah, forgot to say... Welcome to the earbuds rabbit hole. You sure got some nice "starter" buds for your first set.

Quick Impressions:

I started using the silicone, but it was leaning toward harsh in some songs.
I like the balanced foams much more

Bass is stronger than expected (everyone said flat heads have no bass). It sounds tight and I like it. Maybe not a ton of sub bass, but it works for me.

VS HD58x:
High treble is boosted compared to HDs.
Low treble / high mids are pulled back a bit.
Overall I'd say the HDs are warmer and the FF5s are clearer.
Soundstage didn't seem as wide as HDs, but the separation between the instruments was a little more defined I think due to the higher clarity

It was a little hard to A/B test these since the impedance is so different.

And about the rabbit hole... I've had to get better about spreading out my purchases now that I have 2 kids lol Maybe you'll see me post again in about a year to see what's new

 

[samandhi]

Quick Impressions:

I started using the silicone, but it was leaning toward harsh in some songs.
I like the balanced foams much more

Bass is stronger than expected (everyone said flat heads have no bass). It sounds tight and I like it. Maybe not a ton of sub bass, but it works for me.

VS HD58x:
High treble is boosted compared to HDs.
Low treble / high mids are pulled back a bit.
Overall I'd say the HDs are warmer and the FF5s are clearer.
Soundstage didn't seem as wide as HDs, but the separation between the instruments was a little more defined I think due to the higher clarity

It was a little hard to A/B test these since the impedance is so different.

And about the rabbit hole... I've had to get better about spreading out my purchases now that I have 2 kids lol Maybe you'll see me post again in about a year to see what's new

Thanks for sharing your impressions on these.

It is indeed hard to A/B, but I also think that the TOTL contemporary buds are so much like open back headphones it is almost "natural" to do a comparison (though the impedance difference does indeed create issues).

 

[h8uthemost]

@h8uthemost do let us know what you end up with for your jazz listening?!

I surely will! I'm looking at rikubuds right now. But it looks like I'm gonna have to get a little.portable Amp/dac to really get into what I want. I'm l looking at the btr3k since it's under $60 and has a 2.5mm balanced option.

I'll keep you guys updated.