[OmniscientNihilist]

So thanks to the guys from the Earbuds Round-Up https://www.head-fi.org/threads/earbuds-round-up.441400/ thread I purchased my first Earbuds – the Fiio FF3 – about 7 months ago.

Fairly, I never thought Earbuds could sound this great. And for just around 100$. I’m still impressed by them with some of my music, especially the Sound/Headstage is surprisingly big with decent enough imaging. Even better than some of my (pricier) open-back headphones.

Reason why I’m making this post now is because I just changed the foams for the first time. Before, I was using the Balanced foams which I thought were the best. But as I just put on the Crisp foams these Buds became even better. The notch in the middle of the foam really helps to bring out more details in the treble and the mids feel a bit more refined. How awesome is this?

Thanks again for promoting these buds everyone!

I have fiio ff3 and i like my fiio em5 better in every way

you have to use EQ on every headaphone to fix the sound signature

the foam tips will increase bass and decrease treble

they will also stop some ESD electric static shocks from static on your clothes, or you can spray your clothes with some water fabric softener mixture

 

[Corti]

I have fiio ff3 and i like my fiio em5 better in every way

you have to use EQ on every headaphone to fix the sound signature

the foam tips will increase bass and decrease treble

they will also stop some ESD electric static shocks from static on your clothes, or you can spray your clothes with some water fabric softener mixture

The EM5’s are also 3x the price and not even available over here anymore.

What do you mean you have to EQ every headphone to fix the sound sig? You mean all headphones you have heard did not have the right tuning for your taste? That’s hardly the headphones fault

Yes of course the foam decreases treble, that's quite intuitive. What's not intuitive is that going from Balanced to Crisp foams improves the overall sound without becoming harsh/sharper in the treble (and I'm really treble sensitive). It also doesnt feel like the Bass became any weaker after swapping.. Thats what kind of surprised me.

Fortunately, I don’t have any issues with static electrics so far.

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

The EM5’s are also 3x the price and not even available over here anymore.

You mean all headphones you have heard did not have the right tuning for your taste? That’s hardly the headphones fault

Yes of course the foam decreases treble, that's quite intuitive.

Fortunately, I don’t have any issues with static electrics so far.

ya i got the last pair of em5's on canada amazon, from a third party. they showed up on ali express for a bit but vanished. im really glad i got a pair cuz i do like them more then the ff3

ideally you want a relatively flat sound signature going into the ear. EQ is the only way to get that because you have to compensate for the physical speakers sound sig and also the personal physical fit that affects the sound sig. Most people are listening to improper sound signatures and dont even realize it. then they get used to that and it affects their ability to find the right sound sig. I recommend playing alot with the eq on any headphone and familiarize yourself with it alot.

foams also increase bass alot

you might already have fabric softener on your clothes. make sure you do because ESD shock actually ruined my ff3 and i had to order another pair

 

[Corti]

ya i got the last pair of em5's on canada amazon, from a third party. they showed up on ali express for a bit but vanished. im really glad i got a pair cuz i do like them more then the ff3

ideally you want a relatively flat sound signature going into the ear. EQ is the only way to get that because you have to compensate for the physical speakers sound sig and also the personal physical fit that affects the sound sig. Most people are listening to improper sound signatures and dont even realize it. then they get used to that and it affects their ability to find the right sound sig. I recommend playing alot with the eq on any headphone and familiarize yourself with it alot.

foams also increase bass alot

you might already have fabric softener on your clothes. make sure you do because ESD shock actually ruined my ff3 and i had to order another pair

I edited my post a little after you cited it.

But i think i get you now on the headphone sound sig problem. It's because of how headphones shoot the sound into your ears being largely affected by the ear form and head shape, while IEMs and Earbuds do not suffer from that (or to a lesser extent). That is true.

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

I edited my post a little after you cited it.

But i think i get you now on the headphone sound sig problem. It's because of how headphones shoot the sound into your ears being largely affected by the ear form and head shape, while IEMs and Earbuds do not suffer from that (or to a lesser extent). That is true.

original classic style earbuds (which is what the fiio: ff3, ff5, em3, and em5 are) tend to all suffer from too much treble and not enough bass

the foams can really help even that out on any original classic style buds

the bass tubes on the fiio ones help too

i have the balanced foams on my em5's and i still had to eq the sub bass up a bit, but also eq'd the rest of the bass down a tiny bit, and the place in between the mids and treble down a chunk. a few other small tweaks too

 

[Corti]

I will just play around a little more with them. I simply did not expect the sound to become "better" across the entire freq. spectrum. after swapping the foam Bal. to Crisp ..
I was merely expecting for the sound to skew towards becoming brighter (which I usually don't like). Maybe it's b/c the mids are more refined now, maybe I'm also imagining things.
Here's to getting positively surprised. Whatever the reason may be.

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

I will just play around a little more with them. I simply did not expect the sound to become "better" across the entire freq. spectrum. after swapping the foam Bal. to Crisp ..
I was merely expecting for the sound to skew towards becoming brighter (which I usually don't like). Maybe it's b/c the mids are more refined now, maybe I'm also imagining things.
Here's to getting positively surprised. Whatever the reason may be.

the sound sig on the fiio ff3 and em5 both drop off on the sub bass

as to be expected from a classic style earbud

but it can just be eq'd up a bit

the sub bass on the wired apple earpods drops off so heavilly it cant be fixed wtih any amount of eq. It's speaker literally cannot physically do any of that sound frequency. the more you eq up the sub bass on it the quieter everything else gets yet still no sub bass

 

[monsieurfromag3]

I will just play around a little more with them. I simply did not expect the sound to become "better" across the entire freq. spectrum. after swapping the foam Bal. to Crisp ..
I was merely expecting for the sound to skew towards becoming brighter (which I usually don't like). Maybe it's b/c the mids are more refined now, maybe I'm also imagining things.
Here's to getting positively surprised. Whatever the reason may be.

Totally agree.
I had a Balanced foam drop from a bud in the street so tried to wear them « naked » so to speak - turns out it was a lucky accident! Rarely the case whenever « naked » is the result of an accident
The entire response improved. The Crisp foams give that same sig, with better comfort and less slippage. I am now an earbud convert, want to get the new Dunu Alpha and some TGX.
I am expecting the 2.5mm cable termination, should land next week so I can try the FF3 balanced from the Qudelix.

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

Totally agree.
I had a Balanced foam drop from a bud in the street so tried to wear them « naked » so to speak - turns out it was a lucky accident! Rarely the case whenever « naked » is the result of an accident
The entire response improved. The Crisp foams give that same sig, with better comfort and less slippage. I am now an earbud convert, want to get the new Dunu Alpha and some TGX.
I am expecting the 2.5mm cable termination, should land next week so I can try the FF3 balanced from the Qudelix.

even with the balanced foams on my fiio em5 i still had to eq the sub bass up a bit and the 3khz (female overtones on hiby mseb eq) down

 

[Corti]

Totally agree.
I had a Balanced foam drop from a bud in the street so tried to wear them « naked » so to speak - turns out it was a lucky accident! Rarely the case whenever « naked » is the result of an accident
The entire response improved. The Crisp foams give that same sig, with better comfort and less slippage. I am now an earbud convert, want to get the new Dunu Alpha and some TGX.
I am expecting the 2.5mm cable termination, should land next week so I can try the FF3 balanced from the Qudelix.

Thing is really, initially I was only looking for something to listen to podcasts and have something more practical than headphones for outside use. And I thought there were only IEMs (which i cannot wear, my ear canal fights them off like crazy) and I thought Earbuds have become remnants of the past. But far from it. Really glad i entered the earbuds game now. But I don't think i will "convert" from hps to buds, i mostly listen to heavy subbass electro and techno, where the FF3s just don't hold a candle against my Full-size Basscannons.

edit: lol, now i have this picture in my mind how an FF3 lights a candle and the Denon AH-D7200 just blows it out

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

Thing is really, initially I was only looking for something to listen to podcasts and have something more practical than headphones for outside use. And I thought there were only IEMs (which i cannot wear, my ear canal fights them off like crazy) and I thought Earbuds have become remnants of the past. But far from it. Really glad i entered the earbuds game now. But I don't think i will "convert" from hps to buds, i mostly listen to heavy subbass electro and techno, where the FF3s just don't hold a candle against my Full-size Basscannons.

edit: lol, now i have this picture in my mind how an FF3 lights a candle and the Denon AH-D7200 just blows it out

ALSO CHECKOUT the MOOndrop chaconne https://moondroplab.com/en/products/chaconne

 

[monsieurfromag3]

Thing is really, initially I was only looking for something to listen to podcasts and have something more practical than headphones for outside use. And I thought there were only IEMs (which i cannot wear, my ear canal fights them off like crazy) and I thought Earbuds have become remnants of the past. But far from it. Really glad i entered the earbuds game now. But I don't think i will "convert" from hps to buds, i mostly listen to heavy subbass electro and techno, where the FF3s just don't hold a candle against my Full-size Basscannons.

edit: lol, now i have this picture in my mind how an FF3 lights a candle and the Denon AH-D7200 just blows it out

Yeah I got mine for dog walks, figured it would be an inexpensive way to get decent sound and hear the surroundings. I didn’t expect such quality! I agree bass is good but not on the level of my IMR iems for instance - they have a model literally called the Bass Cannon!
I was going to ask what headphones you use, so I guess I have my answer, nice closed-back Denon cans. Among open-back hps though, not that many give much more/better bass than the FF3 though. And definitely far above this price point!

 

[Corti]

Since I’m not native-english speaker I had to look up where the “hold a candle” analogy came from..
It refers to an apprentice (being inferior) holding a candle, so that the more experienced person can see better and do the professional work. Then I realized if the Denon just blew out the candle, which FF3 was holding, both would lose, since both couldn’t see anymore
I guess the pointe or “punch line” of it is that it is needed to keep both.

Yeah I got mine for dog walks, figured it would be an inexpensive way to get decent sound and hear the surroundings. I didn’t expect such quality! I agree bass is good but not on the level of my IMR iems for instance - they have a model literally called the Bass Cannon!
I was going to ask what headphones you use, so I guess I have my answer, nice closed-back Denon cans. Among open-back hps though, not that many give much more/better bass than the FF3 though. And definitely far above this price point!

I was also surprised how well one can hear surroundings with the FF3s on. First inspection, I thought they were closed-back. Only later I discovered that they have slits on the back (which apparently make them open/semi-open). They do block some lower frequencies from outside but let much of upper frequencies in, making you hear your surroundings even more clearly than without the Buds on (albeit at a reduced overall volume).

Regarding the Bass of these, well they have a tasteful Bass-response (‘specially for Buds) no doubt and yes, even better than some open-back headphones, though for me I find the Bass on the AT R70x a bit better but not by a lot. And of course the AT's are more than 3x the price.

Do you have any other Earbud recommendations under, say, 200$?

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

I thought they were closed-back. Only later I discovered that they have slits on the back (which apparently make them open/semi-open).

those are just bass ports, it allows air to move behind the speaker which makes it easier for the speaker to move and produce bass

the em5 and ff5 have them too

but the ff5 also has a totally open back

 

[Corti]

those are just bass ports, it allows air to move behind the speaker which makes it easier for the speaker to move and produce bass

the em5 and ff5 have them too

but the ff5 also has a totally open back

So the FF3s are closed-back then, and the sound leakage comes only from the front of the driver?
Does this mean when i switched from Bal to Crisp foams, they now leak even more sounds to the outside?