[Duncan]

I don't find them bright Houseitems - have you tried them with as large a foam tip as you can fit in your ears? - I use the InAir Large tips (from Amazon) - and find them very effective, more so than the Complys I've been buying up until that point...

 

[Houseitems]

@Duncan...I don't want to do that sir because I didn't feel the need to with my EX1G1...
I have done an exact like for like comparison including taking the earbuds from my EX1G1 and played the same songs for the same duration using the same portable equipment at the same settings... I prefer my original EX1G1 and likely will look elsewhere for my upgrade if things don't improve, which I'm really hoping will happen.

Would you consider this a fair approach?

 

[Duncan]

No right or wrong answer there...

There is always, in my mind, a need for manipulation (tip rolling), going back to my overplayed car comparisons, it is like having a standard Ford Focus, upgrading to the RS, and expecting the first cars tyres to run exactly the same as the low profile alloys on the more costly variant.

Although your bad thoughts have (hence the good thing about comparisons), told me that I wouldn't like the 1st gen, as they would be too dark / muffled for my taste.

I hope with extended listening you'll get a feel for them, either way, your opinions are great in this fledgling thread

 

[Houseitems]

Thanks Duncan... It'd be interesting to hear what others say.... Staying with the car analogy... I have a performance modified MX5 (mk3) which I'll equate with the Xiaomi triple drivers. My firend has a Porsche Boxster. My Mx5 beats the Boxster on all fronts (handling, flat out speed, cost of maintenance etc.). My friend keeps reminding me that given all that, his car is a Porsche... He is welcome to it and loads of people will buy the Boxster regardless. I wouldn't. At almost three times price differential I simply cant' justify it. Remember these Fiios are almost 3 times the price of the Xiaomi....

We'll see.... I'll likely get a refund and use the cash towards the X5G3 when Fiio sort out a decent stacking kit for it with the A5 (I had the stacking kit for my current X5 and the build quality was appalling).. Three sets later I gave up and bought a toughlve case that holds both units but lack the wow factor of the stacking kit.

Speak soon Duncan and thanks for allowing opinions to be aired freely... Good to see..

 

[Duncan]

I must say that these are definitely not commuter friendly, for out in the garden, or having a walk, you could get away with using them, but on a train, they leak sound both in and out in equal measures...

So long as you bear that in mind, and are considerate, they have a great SQ for the price of admission

 

[shuto77]

I must say that these are definitely not commuter friendly, for out in the garden, or having a walk, you could get away with using them, but on a train, they leak sound both in and out in equal measures...

So long as you bear that in mind, and are considerate, they have a great SQ for the price of admission

Hey, @duncan, have you heard the EX1, or any of the Titan series? I'm curious how close this one is to the Titan 3, or the 1More Triple Driver.

 

[Duncan]

Hey, @duncan, have you heard the EX1, or any of the Titan series? I'm curious how close this one is to the Titan 3, or the 1More Triple Driver.

I only have the 1More, haven't heard the others...

They are quite different, that has to be said - I like them for different things.

 

[Nicz]

Any of you guys having issues with this headphones? Every time I rotate the jack while plugged into my phone with music playing, it would stop and launch Google Now, pause the music and sometimes would adjust the volume. Now I don't have volume control. My phone is Axon 7, I don't have any issues with other headphones. Should I return it?

 

[Houseitems]

Update: I returned these. My search for a worthy upgrade from my EX1 mk1 continues... Might see if I can audition the Dunu Titan 3s

 

[Havre]

Delete

 

[Trunks159]

So do they not sound better? The EX1 (1st gen) is one of my favorite headphones, and I'd be interested in hearing about its successor.

 

[mochill]

want to try these

 

[Zildon]

Hi, I am getting these tomorrow. I have sold my Shure 315s for these and I am looking forward to the hearing the soundstage and treble which I think the 315 dont perfom so well in.

 

[Trunks159]

Hi, I am getting these tomorrow. I have sold my Shure 315s for these and I am looking forward to the hearing the soundstage and treble which I think the 315 dont perfom so well in.

You're leaving me here in suspense!

 

[Havre]

Bought these a couple of months ago to use with my X5-3rd. My primary headset is a B&W P7, but wanted something more portable as a supplement. Haven´t really had a proper set of earbuds for some years now so I decided to buy the EX1-2nd to see if I could get used to earbuds again - thinking I would upgrade them if I did. Also I wanted inline controls that worked. Unfortunately they don´t (for me at least). I can pause the music and I can jump to the next song when the player isn´t locked, but I can´t change the volume. Annoying. But that is IMO the only real negative about these.

The sound is probably slightly bright, but to me they are not too bright. I can listen to these for hours without fatigue. Take the RHA T20 in comparison which I just can´t. The T20 sounds better (which they should considering they are 3-4x the price), but they are so bright I get tired after 10-15 minutes. So unless you know you are more sensitive to bright sounding headsets than the average listener I don´t think brightness is going to be a problem. My guess most will find them neutral. As I also have spent quite a lot of time listening to the RHA T10 I would say they sound remarkable similar to the EX1-2nd. Now I don´t think the T10 is very good at all considering its price level, but as it is more or less 3x the cost of EX1-2nd I would argue the Fiio earbuds are excellent value. They should probably meet in the middle somewhere above 120USD (I still haven´t found a 100-140USD earbuds I have liked more than the EX1-2nd).

For classical music they aren´t excellent. They just can´t portray the subtleties in the music as the more sophisticated earbuds can (I found the T20 absolutely brilliant for classical music). For basically everything between Eva Cassidy to fairly hard hitting rock/metal they work really well. Then when it comes to Slayer - Reign in blood or a bands like Tool and Opeth they again struggle a bit like they did with the classical music to bring out the details. It all gets a bit "messy".

They are not perfect, but I would argue they are exceptionally good value for money. I´m still looking to upgrade, but I honestly think I need to get into the 250USD+ range before I find something which is significantly better (not saying you can´t find better before than, but then we are talking slightly better which isn´t worth the upgrade for me).

Also - the design is quite nice. They are solid, but not heavy. They look more than decent for a reasonably priced set of earbuds. All in all a very good product.

Would love it if Fiio could come out with some high end earbuds as well. So far that is a company that gives very good value for money (even if the X5-3rd, which I do like, is not fantastic value for money).