[ledzep]

Just curious as to what led to this decision?

Touch of sibilance at the top end after a 100 hour burn in doesn't sit well with my ears. Probably as they are very resolving and the M15 is a resolving dap, they'd become a occasionally used set and I've enough sets already .... And many more to try !

 

[FiiO Kang]

On today's chat with @FiiO Kang, he said each piece is 11 grams

Right

 

[chickenmoon]

Got my FD5 this morning. They're very good but I ended finding them too bright/fatiguing rather quickly with default nozzles and narrowest bore tips. I didn't quite like them with the bass nozzles, perhaps because they are too narrow and prevented me from using wide bore tips, I thought they lost too much air and definition. So I looked into other nozzles and it turned out RHA nozzles were a match and so I am now using the RHA reference nozzles with the bundled widest bore tips and it's very likely to stay that way as it sounds perfect to me, no more fatigue with no loss of air/definition. With default nozzles the tuning is somewhat similar to that of the Focus Rythm although these are a bit more v-shaped but I find them less fatiguing for some reason. Some graphs to illustrate all this:

 

[Dsnuts]

I am almost done with my review of the FD5 but one of the things I suggested to Fiio is that they bring out a new nozzle that uses the stock nozzle with a mesh to lower the treble end. Ironically I find the narrow bored balancing to be actually better than the stock nozzle but the narrow bore restricts the stage height and depth. I hope they consider it. Stock nozzle sound is not bad but with the wrong source it will highlight everythig in the upper registers.
FD5 sounds better out of more colored sources vs neutral DAPs. It seems to be quite unforgiving of poorly mastered tracks too.

Note to @FiiO Kang Please read the post above. This was what I was talking about. I promise I did not have any communication with @chickenmoon

 

[RikudouGoku]

I am almost done with my review of the FD5 but one of the things I suggested to Fiio is that they bring out a new nozzle that uses the stock nozzle with a mesh to lower the treble end. Ironically I find the narrow bored balancing to be actually better than the stock nozzle but the narrow bore restricts the stage height and depth. I hope they consider it. Stock nozzle sound is not bad but with the wrong source it will highlight everythig in the upper registers.
FD5 sounds better out of more colored sources vs neutral DAPs. It seems to be quite unforgiving of poorly mastered tracks too.

Note to @FiiO Kang Please read the post above. This was what I was talking about. I promise I did not have any communication with @chickenmoon

The stock nozzle does have a mesh though?

But yeah, I dont see much use in the bass boost nozzle. It lowers SQ too much.

 

[Dsnuts]

The stock nozzle does have a mesh though?

But yeah, I dont see much use in the bass boost nozzle. It lowers SQ too much.

Just checked. It has nothing underneath the screen. It has a screen but no filter material. It is the full blast sound. I can probably mod the stock nozzle myself but at the same time. This is not what the manufacturer intended so I keep it alone. Having more sound options is not a bad thing. I can see a lot of folks just enjoying the stock nozzle sound and it will also come down to what your using with the FD5.

I have been using my Moondrop foams which are actually the same type of foams that are included with the package. However the included foams are medium in size.

These foams are good enough for me. They curb a bit of the upper registers and sound comes in clean without fatigue.

 

[RikudouGoku]

Just checked. It has nothing underneath the screen. It has a screen but no filter material. It is the full blast sound. I can probably mod the stock nozzle myself but at the same time. This is not what the manufacturer intended so I keep it alone. Having more sound options is not a bad thing. I can see a lot of folks just enjoying the stock nozzle sound and it will also come down to what your using with the FD5.

I think they should keep the stock (I love it) but the bass boost nozzle doesnt really compete.

 

[chickenmoon]

The RHA nozzles can be purchased from RHA for £5 a pair, very much worth it IMO.

 

[IEMusic]

Of course not for review purposes, but I wonder if placing a Tanchjim filter or a Moondrop filter would help tame some of the upper mids and treble well.

 

[Dsnuts]

I think they should keep the stock (I love it) but the bass boost nozzle doesnt really compete.

It sounds great with my DX160 and Shanling M6 pro both are more musical in presentation so matches up well. I gradually found out doent match up so well with the Fiios own M15. Which was a surprise to me but a highly resolving FD5 and a highly resolving M15 just don't mesh.

When the FD5 hits them notes it sounds wonderful but that detailed character. Lol. No middle ground between resolving and smooth. FD5 is just resolving.

The RHA nozzles can be purchased from RHA for £5 a pair, very much worth it IMO.

Might be a good alternative but it would be easy for Fiio to modify their own nozzle. We will see what comes about with this. Ultimately it is good to have a choice.

Don't know how good it will be for Fiio if a bunch of FD5 owners ended up buying another vendors nozzles if you know what I mean. Lets see how they respond and will go from there.

 

[chickenmoon]

Well, I think it was a bad design idea to make the bass nozzles of a smaller external diameter as it pretty much prevents (unless modding them to add thickness) using any tips with wide bores. For measuring I used some duct tape to increase the diameter of the bass nozzles so I could use the same tips for all the measurements but if i had used only the tips that fitted them, the treble would have been much more subdued so modding the bass nozzles so it can take wider bore tips is another possible option.

Whatever FiiO is going to do about it if anything will only affect future batches so if you have them and find them too bright/fatiguing these are nice and cheap remedies IMO.

 

[ledzep]

Got my FD5 this morning. They're very good but I ended finding them too bright/fatiguing rather quickly with default nozzles and narrowest bore tips. I didn't quite like them with the bass nozzles, perhaps because they are too narrow and prevented me from using wide bore tips, I thought they lost too much air and definition. So I looked into other nozzles and it turned out RHA nozzles were a match and so I am now using the RHA reference nozzles with the bundled widest bore tips and it's very likely to stay that way as it sounds perfect to me, no more fatigue with no loss of air/definition. With default nozzles the tuning is somewhat similar to that of the Focus Rythm although these are a bit more v-shaped but I find them less fatiguing for some reason. Some graphs to illustrate all this:

Hit the nail on the head 100%

 

[ledzep]

I've tried everything from cable / tip rolling to using acoustic foam inside the stock nozzles and even modding them with Knowles dampers, all seem to help with the issue but also reduce the excellent resolve they give, think I'll give the RHA a try ( kudos chickenmoon) and also wait for Dsnuts advice to Fiio see what happens. It's good in a bad way to know I'm not the only one with issues, any other suggestions are most welcome. Worse case scenario the covers are coming off and inside I go !

 

[ledzep]

Just ordered a full set from RHA ( luckily they are in the UK so no long wait )
Not a great saving bit use WELCOME10 for an extra 10% off.

 

[XERO1]

Just ordered a full set from RHA ( luckily they are in the UK so no long wait )
Not a great saving bit use WELCOME10 for an extra 10% off.

Please let us know if the RHA nozzles fix the too hot treble issue for you the way they did for @chickenmoon.