Product Review Of FiiO Products ---From James
Chapter Seven: EM3
Today's story is our second product in 2016, which is a niche product of FiiO and HiFi industry, the open earbuds EM3.
The prototype of the EM3 is the included earbuds we developed for the M3 player. Because many people prefer the loose sound performance and wide sound field of open earbuds. Mainly because its structure had caused such sound characteristics. So many people who had bought the M3 suggested us to separately sell the EM3.
Therefore, we made some optimization for its sound performance, mainly focusing on the voice coil improvement based on user needs on the HiFi market. Correspondingly, the impedance has been increased and the sensitivity has been reduced. What this means is improved resolution ability as a result of reduced distortion, so the sound performance has been significantly improved.
By the way, we think that the open earbuds have both pros and cons. The pros of it include:
1. It is comfortable to wear. It does not need silicone ear tips to enter into the ear canal. So as long as the auricle is not too small, it will be more comfortable to wear open earbuds than in-ear monitors. Therefore, many people like to listen to music with open earbuds while sleeping.
2. The sound field is large. Because open earbuds, unlike in-ear monitors, is not as close to the eardrum. Therefore, the sound field will be relatively larger. In addition, it is not sealed, so the sound performs half-openly. There is little tension from the air vibration caused by sound transmission. What this means for actual listening is a more relaxed sound performance.
3. Once the open earbuds are put on, the ear canal is not sealed. So the low-frequency energy will leak and thus cause weaker bass performance. And for the high frequency, since the open earbuds generally use a single dynamic driver, it is difficult to achieve very good resolution and extension. Instead, these characteristics highlight the mid frequency. So it would be more suitable to use open earbuds for vocals and pop music listening.
The cons of the open earbuds include:
1. The tightness is worse, which results in weaker bass performance.
2. The size of the open earbuds is fixed, unlike in-ear monitors which can use different sizes of silicone ear tips to suit different ears. So for some people, it would cause discomfort to wear the open earbuds.
3. Since it is not soundproof, external noise will be introduced into the ear, resulting in a decrease in definition, SNR and sound density. Especially when it is outdoors. In other words, in-ear monitors are able to catch more details than open earbuds for a same track.
In consequence, with the development of modern technology, the whole process from recording to playback is pursuing higher resolution, separation, and wider frequency response. Under this circumstance, the market for open earbuds is getting smaller. The overseas market even gives it up gradually.
But for us, we did not give up. Because there are always old users urging us for the new open earbuds EM5. And we have been working on it. You can look forward to this interesting and personalized product.
