[B9Scrambler]

My thoughts on the FD1:

Head-fi / The Contraptionist

​

 

[lgcubana]

My thoughts on the FD1:

Head-fi / The Contraptionist

​

" Sound is tuned with a familiar v-shape. Sub-bass steals the show, digging deep and providing plenty of visceral feedback with lots of texture and good control along the way. ..."

I was beginning to doubt my own findings on the presence of sub bass. As quite a few of the reviews have noted that the sub bass is kinda sorta there, but not an area where the FD1 shines.

You mentioned foam tips for better isolation; was that what you used for your review ?

 

[B9Scrambler]

" Sound is tuned with a familiar v-shape. Sub-bass steals the show, digging deep and providing plenty of visceral feedback with lots of texture and good control along the way. ..."

I was beginning to doubt my own findings on the presence of sub bass. As quite a few of the reviews have noted that the sub bass is kinda sorta there, but not an area where the FD1 shines.

You mentioned foam tips for better isolation; was that what you used for your review ?

I've deliberately avoided all FD1 content and still have yet to read others' thoughts on it. To my ears it has plenty of sub bass, and that's with the included medium wide-bore set that I used for all my testing.

 

[IEMusic]

" Sound is tuned with a familiar v-shape. Sub-bass steals the show, digging deep and providing plenty of visceral feedback with lots of texture and good control along the way. ..."

I was beginning to doubt my own findings on the presence of sub bass. As quite a few of the reviews have noted that the sub bass is kinda sorta there, but not an area where the FD1 shines.

You mentioned foam tips for better isolation; was that what you used for your review ?

Just for clarification on my 2c, I think the sub bass is present, and there is plenty of it, but nothing like the BL03. The mid bass is potent, and stands out more. With the main center vent taped, it becomes basically a bass head IEM, but even then, the mid bass is more prominent. It kicks a lot more than rumbles. Very good texture and speed.

 

[Hinomotocho]

Is anyone able to please compare these to the sound of the IT01?

 

[lgcubana]

Fiio FD1 vs JadeAudio EA1

After extensive testing (20 minutes) using the same balanced cable, connected to my Radsone ES100, playing Spotify,
.
.
.
They're the same. For $30, the EA1 should become the new standard, for forum members to use as a base comparison, for:
1. Soundstage
2. Fast, authoritative low end (including sub)bass
3. Clean mids
4. Clarity

It's always possible that with a lossless source and a THX poly-razz-matazz amp, you might hear a feather fall in the rain forest, on one set and not the other.

(copy from my FD1 review)
24 hrs in,...

I’m a basshead (there I said it), with an aversion to elevated spikes in the 4K range.

While The FD1 EA1 does not fatigue me, I wouldn't classify them as overly warm, like the Blon BL03. Skip the Blon BL05; I don't have them, but I know where I would rather spend $59.99 $29.99 USD. This is what you want: rich sub bass, without mid bass bleed. Instruments and vocals are clean.

Pros
Takes to EQ very well
Sub bass with authority,
Clean mid bass,
No discernible sibilance/hiss, that would cut my listening time
Wide presentation,
Vocals are well balanced, against instruments

Cons
Honeymoon phase. I'll check back at 48 hrs

Spotify
“In the Air Tonight”, Phil Collins
On most of my budget friendly IEMs the playback sounds pinched; on the FD1 It plays wide. That chorus of “Remember” is outside of my head.
“When I get my hands on you”, Lost on the River
The sub bass is deep, with no discernible mid bass bleed.
”Yesterday”, Beatles
Minimal instruments, but great separation. Vocals are just in the right place, forward, but not dominating.
“Hotel California“, Eagles (7:12 version)
1st 30 seconds are impactful and clear, kick drum feels like you’re at a live concert. Vocals are spot on; especially considering the era that this song is from.
”House of the Rising Sun”, Animals
This is a song (as much as I like it) that I can’t normally playback at a respectable level of volume, without fatiguing my ears. No irritation to speak of.

Running a 16 core, balanced cable, into my Radsone ES100

 

[F700]

After approx. 50 hours of listening time with my FD1, the left driver has started to rattle, and not just a bit. The IEM is unlistenable. It happens with my 3 sources… Last time I experienced such a thing was with the AKG K7XX (massdrop).

Talking about QC? Some will say "bad luck", I say something else, but it cannot be written here. Anyway, first and last IEM from FiiO for me. Actually, I am fed up with this entire chi-fi thing, especially the below USD 150.- bracket. BL-03 nailed it in terms of sound for me, eventhough the investment required to have a confortable IEM was as high as the IEM itself. Otherwise, deception after deception, soundwise and confortwise. Too many inexpensive sets bought without real pleasure at the end. After having reviewed the forthcoming KBear KS2, bye bye chi-fi.

 

[FlowLikeWater]

After approx. 50 hours of listening time with my FD1, the left driver has started to rattle, and not just a bit. The IEM is unlistenable. It happens with my 3 sources… Last time I experienced such a thing was with the AKG K7XX (massdrop).

Talking about QC? Some will say "bad luck", I say something else, but it cannot be written here. Anyway, first and last IEM from FiiO for me. Actually, I am fed up with this entire chi-fi thing, especially the below USD 150.- bracket. BL-03 nailed it in terms of sound for me, eventhough the investment required to have a confortable IEM was as high as the IEM itself. Otherwise, deception after deception, soundwise and confortwise. Too many inexpensive sets bought without real pleasure at the end. After having reviewed the forthcoming KBear KS2, bye bye chi-fi.

good call, it tempt to go for cheap shiny chi-fi option (ppl r irrational and impulsive), but will end up more expensive in end (some german proverb)

took me hundreds of $$ to learn this too lol

 

[trumpethead]

Fiio FD1 vs JadeAudio EA1

After extensive testing (20 minutes) using the same balanced cable, connected to my Radsone ES100, playing Spotify,
.
.
.
They're the same. For $30, the EA1 should become the new standard, for forum members to use as a base comparison, for:
1. Soundstage
2. Fast, authoritative low end (including sub)bass
3. Clean mids
4. Clarity

It's always possible that with a lossless source and a THX poly-razz-matazz amp, you might hear a feather fall in the rain forest, on one set and not the other.

(copy from my FD1 review)
24 hrs in,...

I’m a basshead (there I said it), with an aversion to elevated spikes in the 4K range.

While The FD1 EA1 does not fatigue me, I wouldn't classify them as overly warm, like the Blon BL03. Skip the Blon BL05; I don't have them, but I know where I would rather spend $59.99 $29.99 USD. This is what you want: rich sub bass, without mid bass bleed. Instruments and vocals are clean.

Pros
Takes to EQ very well
Sub bass with authority,
Clean mid bass,
No discernible sibilance/hiss, that would cut my listening time
Wide presentation,
Vocals are well balanced, against instruments

Cons
Honeymoon phase. I'll check back at 48 hrs

Spotify
“In the Air Tonight”, Phil Collins
On most of my budget friendly IEMs the playback sounds pinched; on the FD1 It plays wide. That chorus of “Remember” is outside of my head.
“When I get my hands on you”, Lost on the River
The sub bass is deep, with no discernible mid bass bleed.
”Yesterday”, Beatles
Minimal instruments, but great separation. Vocals are just in the right place, forward, but not dominating.
“Hotel California“, Eagles (7:12 version)
1st 30 seconds are impactful and clear, kick drum feels like you’re at a live concert. Vocals are spot on; especially considering the era that this song is from.
”House of the Rising Sun”, Animals
This is a song (as much as I like it) that I can’t normally playback at a respectable level of volume, without fatiguing my ears. No irritation to speak of.

Running a 16 core, balanced cable, into my Radsone ES100

Just ordered the Jadeaudio Ea1 on Amazon (in stock) based on your rec.. if they sound the same or close to the FD1 based on reviews so far, I owe you one....

 

[Peddler]

Well I still enjoy listening to the FD1's and really like their sound character. They pair quite nicely with my Sony NW-A55 Walkman and I feel that listen to them for a long time without getting listening fatigue.

Whilst I don't think they're as good as my wonderful Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10's they don't cost as much either.

 

[jibberish]

Fiio FD1 vs JadeAudio EA1

After extensive testing (20 minutes) using the same balanced cable, connected to my Radsone ES100, playing Spotify,
.
.
.
They're the same. For $30, the EA1 should become the new standard, for forum members to use as a base comparison, for:
1. Soundstage
2. Fast, authoritative low end (including sub)bass
3. Clean mids
4. Clarity

It's always possible that with a lossless source and a THX poly-razz-matazz amp, you might hear a feather fall in the rain forest, on one set and not the other.

(copy from my FD1 review)
24 hrs in,...

I’m a basshead (there I said it), with an aversion to elevated spikes in the 4K range.

While The FD1 EA1 does not fatigue me, I wouldn't classify them as overly warm, like the Blon BL03. Skip the Blon BL05; I don't have them, but I know where I would rather spend $59.99 $29.99 USD. This is what you want: rich sub bass, without mid bass bleed. Instruments and vocals are clean.

Pros
Takes to EQ very well
Sub bass with authority,
Clean mid bass,
No discernible sibilance/hiss, that would cut my listening time
Wide presentation,
Vocals are well balanced, against instruments

Cons
Honeymoon phase. I'll check back at 48 hrs

Spotify
“In the Air Tonight”, Phil Collins
On most of my budget friendly IEMs the playback sounds pinched; on the FD1 It plays wide. That chorus of “Remember” is outside of my head.
“When I get my hands on you”, Lost on the River
The sub bass is deep, with no discernible mid bass bleed.
”Yesterday”, Beatles
Minimal instruments, but great separation. Vocals are just in the right place, forward, but not dominating.
“Hotel California“, Eagles (7:12 version)
1st 30 seconds are impactful and clear, kick drum feels like you’re at a live concert. Vocals are spot on; especially considering the era that this song is from.
”House of the Rising Sun”, Animals
This is a song (as much as I like it) that I can’t normally playback at a respectable level of volume, without fatiguing my ears. No irritation to speak of.

Running a 16 core, balanced cable, into my Radsone ES100

That's wild. I feel like the FD1 was a good bargain at $60, but at $30 that's really something.

Assuming it doesn't fall apart, although I feel like FiiO has a pretty good track record there? I can't say from experience, as the FD1 is my first FiiO set.

 

[d73b3e]

After approx. 50 hours of listening time with my FD1, the left driver has started to rattle, and not just a bit. The IEM is unlistenable. It happens with my 3 sources… Last time I experienced such a thing was with the AKG K7XX (massdrop).

Talking about QC? Some will say "bad luck", I say something else, but it cannot be written here. Anyway, first and last IEM from FiiO for me. Actually, I am fed up with this entire chi-fi thing, especially the below USD 150.- bracket. BL-03 nailed it in terms of sound for me, eventhough the investment required to have a confortable IEM was as high as the IEM itself. Otherwise, deception after deception, soundwise and confortwise. Too many inexpensive sets bought without real pleasure at the end. After having reviewed the forthcoming KBear KS2, bye bye chi-fi.

I don't know if you bought it from Amazon but if you did, you can return them

good call, it tempt to go for cheap shiny chi-fi option (ppl r irrational and impulsive), but will end up more expensive in end (some german proverb)

took me hundreds of $$ to learn this too lol

At least you have some cheap ChiFi to experience and explore your own tastes and come up with an endgame

 

[unchain]

Hey y’all,

I haven’t posted on Head-Fi in years, mostly because, for a quite a while, I was satisfied with my desktop setup (DT-990 Pro (typically eq’d to a Harman-esque target) and modded T50-RP sourced from an older but capable Matrix DAC/AMP with rolled op-amps), at least enough that I didn’t actively follow audio developments for a few years. Then recently, I ordered a pair of QKZ VK4 to my AliExpress cart on a whim and was astonished that they were not only better in many ways than my desktop setup but less than a tenth the cost. Since then, I have been won over by the insane price-to-performance ratio that these chi-fi IEMs offer, and have tried a few different ones over the last few months: KZ ZS10 Pro, Tin T2, Tin T3, Blon BL-03, and now the FiiO FD-1. While deciding if the FD-1 was right for me, I came across this thread, which proved helpful in my choice, and I’d like to make my contribution and share my listening impressions.

Let me preface this by saying that while I haven’t tried all that many IEMs in this market segment, I am an experienced musician, fervent music listener, and in general, I know what I like in speakers and headphones. Which, when it comes to listening purely for musical enjoyment is namely:

• Full bass that is quick and punchy, but not over-powering and which does not bleed into the low-mids.
• Detailed, smooth mids that are balanced from one frequency to the next and feel natural without any hyped frequencies or harshness.
• Relaxed to neutral treble that isn’t hyped or exaggerated; no excess/artificial sparkle or irritating spikes.
• An accurate and unexaggerated soundstage which can open up if necessary, without any exaggeration or artificial reverb.
• Overall, a slightly V-shaped response, leaning toward neutral/uncolored with just enough personality to make it interesting.

Given my preferences, I was delighted that the FD-1 seems to tick just about every box for me.

All tracks were played via foobar2000 or Qobuz over USB to a FiiO BTR5 in ASIO mode, or via Qobuz and Spotify on my Pixel 3 over LDAC Bluetooth to the same FiiO BTR5, all using a quality 2.5mm balanced cable. I listen to a wide variety of music including electronic, experimental, metal, classical, jazz, classic rock, and hip-hop. I burned in the FD-1 for about a day with a mix of pink noise and frequency sweeps, as I’ve always found dynamic drivers to benefit from a little work-out out of the box.

Bass extends low and is very responsive with great speed and slam that doesn’t overpower the rest of the sound. I love bass (my main musical instrument is bass guitar and I have a particular soft spot for it), but I don’t think I fall into the “basshead” category of listener, in that I much prefer bass quality over quantity. The Blon BL-03 has huge bass response that I love, but I do find it a bit flabby and overwhelming at times. The FD-1 on the other hand certainly has less bass quantity than the BL-03, but I much prefer the speed and accuracy of the FD-1. Sawtooth synth basslines growl and cut like intended. Kick drums are punchy and clean, with great slam. Bass guitars are articulate and forward. I suppose I could do with -slightly- more mid-bass quantity, and might try taping the vents as outlined in this thread as soon as I get some micropore tape. (Edit - I tried taping the ports and was pretty disappointed with the results - at first, it sounded like a nice boost and I didn't really notice too much of a difference in texture, but upon removing the tape and listening again it was apparent that it wasn't for me. Too much mid-bass bloat and the bass just seemed to be kinda smeared out, opposed to the sharp, clean bass of the stock config.)

Mids are smooth and recessed, but maybe not as smooth as the Blon BL-03 or VK4, with a little graininess at times, especially with certain female vocals and piano pieces. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s something lacking about the FD-1’s presentation, maybe the word I’m looking for is creaminess – the FD-1 feels somewhat clinical in that respect, maybe some weird energy from 2k-4k, but I’m really nitpicking here, and in general enjoy the mids on the FD-1.

Treble is where the FD-1 really shines for me, and my preferences. A little tangent that might help explain my position - as a bassist I like a little dirt in my signal, and generally can’t stand tweeters in speaker cabinets because of the unnatural way they sound with any sort of distortion, and I think the same goes for my preferences in IEMs. The Tin T3 has sparkling highs with wonderful extension and sound incredible with a full orchestra, but with half of my listening material, which tends to feature distorted or aggressive sounds, that BA driver is just fatiguing. The FD-1 has clear, wonderful treble that is just so easy to listen to, even with very aggressive distorted sounds. They are resolving, but not overtly so, and not fatiguing in the least. Cymbals crash and decay quickly, accurate and agile. I would say they are maybe on the bright side at times, but I dig it, and I can listen to these things all day.

The soundstage and presentation of the FD-1 aren’t anything to write home about, but that’s kind of why I like it; nothing feels exaggerated here, but I feel neither in my head nor stretched right and left. While I’ll be sticking to open-back headphones for gaming, I could probably live with these for that purpose if I had to, and didn’t have any issues with inaccurate positional information after playing a few different titles.

In terms of comfort, these things fit my big ears like a glove and are the most comfortable pair of earphones I own, bar-none. The included tips all sounded fine and different in their own way – I particularly liked the fit and bass emphasis of the included black tips, but ultimately settled on a pair of medium Dekoni Bulletz memory foam tips for comfort and overall sound – I find the foams take a little off the top, maybe steal a little sparkle, but in terms of comfort and isolation win out.

The packaged accessories are great, as other reviews can attest to, but I swapped the 3.5mm cable for balanced pretty early on. The included case is really rad though, and fits the FD-1, cable and my BTR5 perfectly and securely. Given the price point, you couldn’t ask for more. Big thumbs up.

Overall, I’m a big fan of these. They really fit my personal sonic preferences and are extremely easy for me to listen to. Between the actual physical comfort of the form-factor and the non-fatiguing sound signature, these things have been in my ears pretty much non-stop. Previously, the BL-03 was my go-to, but between the leaner, faster bass, the more revealing (but not fatiguing) treble, and the extremely comfortable form factor, the FD-1 has won me over. I was previously considering venturing north of the $100 mark and trying some other well-liked IEMs like the Thieaudio L3, but I’m actually super happy right here and will probably take a break from searching for something better (at least for a while).

Thanks for reading!

 

[Faizalfx]

this kind of paper is ok cause it is not 100% stuffiness （ not sure whether this word is suitable in here )

Yeah, used the micropore and i dint have any ear pressure issues since it is breathable. earlier i was using double tape to cover the hole. And it was slightly causing discomfort.

 

[IEMusic]

The more I listen to the FD1 with the center vent taped with MP tape, the more I’m starting to like them perhaps more than the UF. What I can’t figure out is why should anyone buy this over the EA1?