[Vamp898]

I myself was wondering what the possible benefits of a semi-open design of a BA IEM could be. After a Google search last night it appears that the mesh is cosmetic only based on the description and that there is no mention of it being a semi-open design on the web page.

https://www.fiio.com/fa7s

I was pretty sure I've seen a post on Twitter mentioning it, but it was deleted. Maybe it was an mistake.

If it is only cosmetic then I'm totally fine with it. It looks pretty cool. I really hope they are closed

 

[FiiO]

Yes, it seems to be even semi-open which is, with an BA only, completely useless and decreases isolation.

If this is really semi open, I do not understand the FA7s design at all.

Dear friend,

It is semi open still. You could find the FA7S follows the structure series of the FD5, so this design does not change though balanced armature driver does not require this design.

Best regards

 

[FiiO]

 

[Vamp898]

Dear friend,

It is semi open still. You could find the FA7S follows the structure series of the FD5, so this design does not change though balanced armature driver does not require this design.

Best regards

But this means there is less isolation and so an decrease in sound quality

First function, then the form imho

 

[XERO1]

Yes, it seems to be even semi-open which is, with an BA only, completely useless and decreases isolation.

If this is really semi open, I do not understand the FA7s design at all.

But this means there is less isolation and so an decrease in sound quality

First function, then the form imho

Personally, I can only use vented or semi-open IEMs because my ears are very sensitive to inner-ear back-pressure. All of the fully sealed IEMs that I've owned in the past like the Campfire Vega, Sony IER-M7 and Thieaudio Legacy 3 gave me instant discomfort in my ears and I could only wear them for a few minutes at a time. I ended up selling all of them for this reason.

However, vented/semi-open IEMs like the FD3, FD5 and FD7 give me no comfort problems whatsoever, and I can wear them all day long.

As far as isolation vs. SQ is concerned, vented IEMs are less ideal if you are looking to block out as much ambient sound as possible, but other than that, a vented design should have no other negative effects on an IEMs SQ, and in the case of 1DD and hybrid designs, it can actually improve the perceived spaciousness of their soundstage presentation.

 

[Vamp898]

Personally, I can only use vented or semi-open IEMs because my ears are very sensitive to inner-ear back-pressure. All of the fully sealed IEMs that I've owned in the past like the Campfire Vega, Sony IER-M7 and Thieaudio Legacy 3 gave me instant discomfort in my ears and I could only wear them for a few minutes at a time. I ended up selling all of them for this reason.

However, vented/semi-open IEMs like the FD3, FD5 and FD7 give me no comfort problems whatsoever, and I can wear them all day long.

As far as isolation vs. SQ is concerned, vented IEMs are less ideal if you are looking to block out as much ambient sound as possible, but other than that, a vented design should have no other negative effects on an IEMs SQ, and in the case of 1DD and hybrid designs, it can actually improve the perceived spaciousness of their soundstage presentation.

Campfire Vega, Sony IER-M7 and Thieaudio Legacy 3

I had the exact same issues with such IEM (I owned the IER-M9 but same issue)

There are ways to fix it, but it is cumbersome to find it. I fixed it by using memory foam eartips, a friend of mine was able to fix them with Spinfit. Most of the issue can be fixed by adjusting the insertion method.

But I never had issues with the FA9 and 3 people i know also own the FA9 (or at least tested it) and didn't had issues either (and they all had issues with the IER-M9)

So FiiO was able to create an sealed IEM that didn't had this issue. The FA9 is fit wise an excellent IEM and did not have the downsides of sealed IEMs. I also haven't heard of people yet who have this kind of issue with the Moondrop S8. So the chassy from HeyGears seem to have an excellent fit.

Would be sad if the FA9 would follow the FA7 Design and drop the HeyGears chassy. Without the isolation, it's no use for me. If I can't use it on train rides, I don't care about it.

The main advantage the FA9 does have over my Z1R is exactly that.

One of the very few IEM without the pressure issue should not drop one of their main features.

 

[FiiO]

The FA7s is now available in our Amazon USA store:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JFNV76Z?ref=myi_title_dp

 

[FiiO]

The Story of FA7S-From @JamesFiiO

Link: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-story-of-fa7s-from-fiio-james.960613/

Chapter 1 Buying Advice for FiiO’s earphones in 300USD-class

Due to chip shortage, we were busy changing chip solutions for products in the first half of this year, which resulted in a backlog of new products until recently. It also leads to a series of launches piled up last month, but the promotion and marketing fail to keep up with our pace. Therefore, some people ask me that why not introduce and review FA7S.
Without further ado, let’s get back to the topic. How to choose among dynamic driver IEMs, balanced armature IEMs, DD+BA IEMs and open earplugs in 300USD-class? I remember that I posted similar content once when FH5S was launched, but it was still FA7 at that time. And now FA7 has been updated to FA7S, I shall start over again of course.
At the current price of around 300USD, FiiO has offered four completely different choices, namely, the 2BA+2DD IEMs FH5S (250USD), the collection-class DD IEMs FD5 (300USD), the uniquely designed open earbuds EM5 (300USD), and the latest 6BA IEMs FA7S (340USD)
The attached picture is a comparison table on the differences between the four products. Take an example, 911, Cayenne, Taycan and the Palamela, Porsche has provided four totally different choices in one price class. Similarly, FH5S/FD5/EM5/FA7S also have different positioning for different audience. We cannot simply tell the advantages and disadvantages of them.We’d better choose the most suitable one according to personal preference.
The listening experience in the table is on a ten point scale for your reference. It only represents some characteristics based on the comparison between the four FiiO earphones. Of course, there are some scientific evidences supported in listening experience. The following are some general rules.
1. Comparison of sound field, speaker>headphones>open earbuds>IEMs. Semi-open IEMs>closed IEMs.
2. The larger the caliber of the driver, the better performance in the bass. And the smaller the caliber, the better the treble. Dynamic driver IEMs excel in the bass and mids, while the balanced armature IEMs do a greater job in treble extension and resolution.
3. The higher the hardness of the diaphragm, the less vibration and distortion in the treble.
4. The sound insulation of the open earbuds is worse than that of the IEMs, so the resolution and bass extension will be affected to a certain extent.

 

[FiiO]

The Story of FA7S-From @JamesFiiO

Link: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-story-of-fa7s-from-fiio-james.960613/

Chapter 2 Aggressively Bold, the New Image of FiiO BA IEMs

FiiO's first pure BA IEMs FA7 should be the first in the Chinese industry to apply 3D printing on a large scale. Skin-friendly resin 3D printing shell imported from Germany + relief panels + mold body, it has become a symbol of the FiiO BA IEMs series. At that time, there were still relatively few similar industrial designs, so FiiO's BA IEMs can be easily recognized.
However, as more and more earphones manufacturers have introduced 3D printing technology and adopted a mold body design too, it has finally ended up with a similar appearance of earphones between various brands.
In addition, starting from the end of the previous year, we have begun to re-plan and improve the image of FiiO. The new image will be unified toward a technological and tough style. Therefore, we have also redesigned the earphones. The FD5 can be regarded as a symbolic start of combining the need of sound quality with the design of metal shell + metal breathable mesh required for semi-opening acoustic cavity + geometric 3D texture. This is also the core visual language of our current earphones.
Therefore, for the second generation of FiiO BA IEMs, we give up 3D printing and resin shell. Instead, we make a further step in order to keep consistent with our new DAP/AMP/IEMs in terms of design language and product image.
It is under this background that the FA7S is launched with a new industrial design. Its shell keeps in line with the FD5’s, but the angled MMCX is further improved for greater wearing comfort. Three metal meshes are separated by 120° to make a tri-circular faceplate (Some people say it is similar to the logo of Mercedes-Benz, it may also be a good choice for Benz owners, just kidding). Compared with the first-generation design of BA IEMs, there is obviously a huge difference.

 

[FiiO]

One picture to understand FA7S

 

[FiiO]

The Story of FA7S-From @JamesFiiO

Link: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-story-of-fa7s-from-fiio-james.960613/
Chapter 3 More than Superficial Changes
Let me start with a slight digression. Some people think that FiiO can only piles up good materials and fail to do a good job in tuning. I don’t know why they think so. Because FiiO is not the first to make desktop DAC equipped with chips like 4499/9018/28/38Pro, nor is it the first to adopt dual DAC or use four-channel amp. And we haven't stacked over 10 drivers in one earphone.
The only one possibility that can explain is that at the same price, FiiO’s products are better in configuration and materials. This result is actually due to multiple reasons, such as the business model of the enterprise (FiiO tends to make small profits but quick turnover), purchasing costs (large procurement volumes naturally brings low cost), and management methods (we are very proud of this. FiiO has always been stable in inventory management, so there is no inactive stock. I personally think our inventory management can reach the top level in the electronics manufacturing industry).
Therefore, we cannot conclude that a certain brand has no strength and makes up by piling up good material, simply because of it sell better products at the same price.
Back to the topic, in addition to some changes that we can easily tell from the appearance, the biggest change of the FA7S is actually the internal configuration. FA7, the previous generation, has been equipped with quad driver balanced armatures. Specifically, they are a piece of CI-22955, the largest diaphragm of Knowles using for bass; a piece of ED-29689 used for mids; and a customized dual-BA 31736 for treble. So the overall configuration adopts a 1+1+(1+1) structure, or say, a four-way crossover design.
However, 2 drivers have been added to the FA7S, so that the total number will be 6. To be specific, they are the dual-BA 31638 from Knowles using for bass, a dual-BA unit customized by FiiO for mids, and the Knowles 33518 with dual BA drivers for treble. Therefore, FA7S has been upgraded from 4 drivers of FA7 to 6 drivers, and it turns into a classic three-way crossover design.
This design invites obvious merits to the earphones. Each frequency range takes two different drivers and they work at the same time, which results in a effective increase in the density of sound. In addition, it highlights the advantages of multi-BA drivers IEMs, that is, more drivers can be placed in the small cavity because of the tiny body of BA driver. In this way, under the same sound pressure, the work load can be greatly reduced because of two pieces of BA drivers working together, which enables less vibration distortion (generally speaking, the greater the vibration of diaphragm, the greater the distortion will be)

 

[harry501501]

Anyone able to help me decide between fd5, fa7 and this fa7s? Looking for balanced sound, lots of detail but not fatiguing, not overly bright. I like good bass depth, but not the thumping kind, even if it's good quality. Find bass more fatiguing than treble. I don't listen to much classical, jazz... mostly classic 70/80s rock. Thanks in advance!

Should add i like the FD1, which made me upgrade to FH3 which I enjoy as it's fun, but the bass can be overpowering. It still offers great value tho at it's price point and as far as fit, it's just the right size for me.

 

[FiiO]

The Story of FA7S-From @JamesFiiO
Link: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-story-of-fa7s-from-fiio-james.960613/
Chapter 4 Iron Man in Earphones
The FA7S is probably the only earphones of FiiO that are mainly made of metal, including its appearance or internal parts. Let's take a look.
FA7S is equipped with six balanced armature drivers. Electric current passes through the coil and generates a changing magnetic force, which drives the iron sheet to vibrate and thus make sound. This is how the balanced armature driver produces sound. The shell, vibration, magnet, and coil of BA driver are all made of metal.
Medical-grade 316L stainless steel chosen as the body material, and its faceplate is processed through a five-axis CNC machine. The cavity is meticulously handled through a powder metallurgy process- 1000 degrees Celsius of high temperature sintering after injection molding to form the whole earphone construction. Finally it is carefully polished by hand for a shiny, dazzling, mirror-like finish.
FA7S comes with a high-purity silver-plated monocrystalline wire cable. Each wire is braided together in the Litz style with 8 strands of 19 wires each for a total of 152 wires.
FA7S is designed with interchangeable plugs, and comes standard with 3.5mm single-ended/2.5mm balanced/4.4mm balanced plugs. Of course, all of them are made of metal materials such as aluminum alloy and copper.
The MMCX mini coaxial plug on the earphones body, is also a metal connector made of aluminum alloy and copper.
Therefore, FA7S can be said to have the highest proportion of metal components among all the earphones in FiiO family. It is quite suitable to call it the Iron Man in earphones.

 

[Ultrainferno]

In our latest article we check out the Fiio FA7s. According to @nanotechnos it is a definitive upgrade from the classic FA7. Everything has been enhanced, it has better looks and it also sounds better.

Find out how we feel about the FA7s now on Headfonia! -> https://www.headfonia.com/fiio-fa7s-review/

 

[cleg]

And here is my video about this excellent IEMs