[ustinj]

Posted a formatted review of the FA1 right here!

I will be formatting it for head-fi pretty soon, so stay tuned (if you'd prefer to read on HF, but it'll be the same). Will add comparisons as I acquire comparable IEMs. Also one thing I'd really like to put out on this thread -- in terms of build quality, the FA1 is absolutely phenomenal. I've felt and seen IEMs with price tags over $1000 that don't stack up to the FA1.

 

[mhoopes]

Posted a formatted review of the FA1 right here!

I will be formatting it for head-fi pretty soon, so stay tuned (if you'd prefer to read on HF, but it'll be the same). Will add comparisons as I acquire comparable IEMs. Also one thing I'd really like to put out on this thread -- in terms of build quality, the FA1 is absolutely phenomenal. I've felt and seen IEMs with price tags over $1000 that don't stack up to the FA1.

The best photos I’ve seen of these so far; beautiful compositions. Nice impressions, concise review...gives a good sense of these without having to dive deep into the technical jargon. Listening to Murder Ballades, as performed by Eighth Blackbird, while reading. Not bad.

 

[durwood]

Any chance someone has the FA1 and the Pioneer CH9T that wants to do a quick comparison?

 

[Lurk650]

Any chance someone has the FA1 and the Pioneer CH9T that wants to do a quick comparison?

It's pretty simple. 9T has more sub bass due to being a DD. The Fiio wins otherwise in all other categories.

 

[durwood]

Hmm, I don't consider the CH9T as a sub bass earphone, more midbass than sub bass. It's all relative, IT01 or MH755 I consider sub bass types so if the FA1 is even leaner I have to think about it. The freq response signature looked nice, fairly close to the Harman curve.

 

[needmoretoys]

I know this has been asked 3 or 4 times already,but I haven't seen an answer so I'll apologize in advance for asking again. I'm looking to replace my 6 or 8 year old Etymotic HF5. The left earpiece has a sort of rattle below 30 Hz. It's not a problem on most music, but it is a good excuse to get another earphone. I have been thinking about the ER3SE, but now the FA1 is a contender. So does anyone have an opinion on how the FA1 sounds compared to any Ety BA earphone (ER4, ER3, HF5, HF3)? I currently listen to my HF5, Pinnacle P1 or FH1. I use either my Shanling M0, either directly or BT to the FiiO BTR3 or my X3ii.

 

[Lurk650]

Hmm, I don't consider the CH9T as a sub bass earphone, more midbass than sub bass. It's all relative, IT01 or MH755 I consider sub bass types so if the FA1 is even leaner I have to think about it. The freq response signature looked nice, fairly close to the Harman curve.

FA1 has less punch and depth since it's a BA and its a single one trying to do everything. One of the tracks on The Great Wall OST I got some really surprising rumble. Other tracks it's faint. I'm a bass head and these suit my needs unless the track relies on really punchy bass.

I'm gonna play my Hz Generator through it once I'm home and see how it does

 

[sainteb]

@JamesFiiO Do you have any availability dates on the FA1 in Blue & Red in the UK? At the time, there is only the Black version available on Amazon UK, sold by AVShop.

 

[mhoopes]

FA1 has less punch and depth since it's a BA and its a single one trying to do everything. One of the tracks on The Great Wall OST I got some really surprising rumble. Other tracks it's faint. I'm a bass head and these suit my needs unless the track relies on really punchy bass.

I'm gonna play my Hz Generator through it once I'm home and see how it does

Sub-bass is there, IF it's in the recording. A lot of masters, especially older ones, lean on the slower decay of dynamic drivers, and a lot of sub-bass was avoided due to needle-jumping issues back in the vinyl days.

By the way, there's a very handy app (SGenerator) for this in iOS. I've used it to tune the equalizer in my car (in conjunction with the Spectrum Analyzer RTA app, before I got a 2015 Mazda 3 and gave up on real audio quality), and also to look for audible frequency response peaks and channel imbalances.
Apple portable device microphone factory calibration is surprisingly good.

 

[Lurk650]

Sub-bass is there, IF it's in the recording. A lot of masters, especially older ones, lean on the slower decay of dynamic drivers, and a lot of sub-bass was avoided due to needle-jumping issues back in the vinyl days.

By the way, there's a very handy app (SGenerator) for this in iOS. I've used it to tune the equalizer in my car (in conjunction with the Analyzer app, before I got a 2015 Mazda 3 and gave up on real audio quality), and also to look for audible frequency response peaks and channel imbalances.
Apple portable device microphone factory calibration is surprisingly good.

Not to go off topic but I have a 2015 Mazda6 lol. Focal PS165v1 on a JL VX400/4i DSP also powering my rear stock Bose. Trunk is a JVFCUSTOMZ 15 on 3000rms. I'm Android I have an app called RTA Pro to constantly tune the speakers.

 

[sidecross]

I totally agree with mhoopes about how and when any recording originated.

Bass on vinyl recordings was limited to the grove width and time needed for reproduction. To have a heavy bass would limit a vinyl recording's time and play havoc with the balancing arm of a turn table.

Bass on digital recordings is not limited as compared to a vinyl recording.

 

[mhoopes]

I totally agree with mhoopes about how and when any recording originated.

Bass on vinyl recordings was limited to the grove width and time needed for reproduction. To have a heavy bass would limit a vinyl recording's time and play havoc with the balancing arm of a turn table.

Bass on digital recordings is not limited as compared to a vinyl recording.

Analog recordings are also affected by reel-to-reel tape speed. 30 ips was notorious for rolling off low frequencies, but 15 ips tended to produce a significant "bump" in the bass response.
http://www.endino.com/graphs/

 

[sidecross]

Analog recordings are also affected by reel-to-reel tape speed. 30 ips was notorious for rolling off low frequencies, but 15 ips tended to produce a significant "bump" in the bass response.
http://www.endino.com/graphs/

I agree, but recordings today are compressed, bass heavy, and are recorded at higher volume. If it was not for cd's and streaming, vinyl could not compete for many listeners.

 

[B9Scrambler]

In the midst of a camera change so I decided to pull out my 9 year old Nikon S570 to see if it still charged and functioned. Was able to squeeze out some decent shots I think. Lovin' the 4:3 aspect ratio . Review is in the pipeline and should be up in a couple days.

​

 

[crabdog]

Just posted my thoughts on the FA1 as well. Sooo comfortable! Enjoy.
https://primeaudio.org/fiio-fa1-review/