[harry501501]

So this is the most I've spent yet on an iem. So I'm curious, does say jumping up price brackets to the £300-500 range or more, get you much more in terms of audio quality?

From a technical aspect... Like resolution, timbre, bass quality, soundstage... The fd5 is better than the sub £200 sets I've got or have had. For the price, i did expect bit more in terms of treble quality and detail levels which I've cheaper single BA and hybrids that can best it in.

The fd5 does sound more premium tho, there is a very natural quality to it's sound. I'm very aware how diminishing returns come into this hobby, but I do wonder how far the songs and music I like and know well can be pushed by extra spend?

 

[Ichos]

Spending more will give in return some extra performance, for example the FD7 or the IE900 have better quality treble, more refined and greater resolution.
But if you seek ultimate performance in this particular aspects you should go with a hybrid design.

 

[Nellie75]

Just got my FD5s tonight off Amazon $159 (open box deal). They arrived in perfect shape. Wow! I’ve never owned IEMs in thr $300 price range. They sound great but are very revealing and analytical, more than I’m used to anyway. I’m coming from the FH3. They pair really well with my iPhone playing Apple Music hires. Is break-in time important?

 

[yaps66]

Just got my FD5s tonight off Amazon $159 (open box deal). They arrived in perfect shape. Wow! I’ve never owned IEMs in thr $300 price range. They sound great but are very revealing and analytical, more than I’m used to anyway. I’m coming from the FH3. They pair really well with my iPhone playing Apple Music hires. Is break-in time important?

A highly contentious topic. Many on this forum testify to it though. For me, I did see a difference after 50 hours of burn-in. It smoothened out the treble. For the FD7 which is pure beryllium, 200 hours of burn-in recommended. Not sure what is recommended for FD5.

 

[harry501501]

Just got my FD5s tonight off Amazon $159 (open box deal). They arrived in perfect shape. Wow! I’ve never owned IEMs in thr $300 price range. They sound great but are very revealing and analytical, more than I’m used to anyway. I’m coming from the FH3. They pair really well with my iPhone playing Apple Music hires. Is break-in time important?

I don't doubt thats what you hear, but I find the FD5 far from an analytical earphone. Far too smooth sounding. That big, bold low end if anything, can put a slight veil on mid/treble detail.

I've genuinely no idea how powerful iPhones are as I only ever use my FIIO M6 or desktop setup, so no idea how they sound direct from that mobile phone unamp'd.

 

[Nellie75]

Just got the FD5 and I'm impressed with everything except the cable. Its like a big sticky rubber band. I wish it was more like the FH3 cable. The FD5 cable is a microphonic nightmare as well.

Anyone have any suggestions? I like the interchangeable adapters on the end but I just dont think I'm ever going to get used to this cable.

 

[FiiO]

Just got the FD5 and I'm impressed with everything except the cable. Its like a big sticky rubber band. I wish it was more like the FH3 cable. The FD5 cable is a microphonic nightmare as well.

Anyone have any suggestions? I like the interchangeable adapters on the end but I just dont think I'm ever going to get used to this cable.

Sorry to hear about that. Or you may try to find a third party MMCX cable with micorphone for help?

Best regards

 

[yaps66]

Just got the FD5 and I'm impressed with everything except the cable. Its like a big sticky rubber band. I wish it was more like the FH3 cable. The FD5 cable is a microphonic nightmare as well.

Anyone have any suggestions? I like the interchangeable adapters on the end but I just dont think I'm ever going to get used to this cable.

Sorry to hear that. I had no problems with my FD5 cable. Still using it without issues (though not on the FD5 but on another IEM).

 

[Chris Kaoss]

Same here.
No issues with microphonics at all.

 

[PopZeus]

The Dekoni Geminis are a good fit for the narrow nozzles, but I feel like there's a bit lof loss of detail. Not sure how much of the change to the sound is due to switch from silicone to foam tips, and not the nozzles since I can't do a proper A/B test. FAD even makes tip adapters but they're just slightly too small for this application. Anyways, the sound is quite different with this configuration. More mids (at least the character of the mids change) and treble is very neutral. Bass is slightly bloomier/slower. A bit less refined and more raw sounding.

This is an interesting case where both nozzles might have utility. The wider nozzles/silicone tip combo would be preferable with the N6ii, since I can use EQ freely and keep all the detail, just tuned down a bit. On something like the N3Pro, where EQ isn't the best choice, the foam tip/narrow nozzle combo might be preferable since I can play around with the tube settings instead to sculpt the sound.

One last thing I noticed with the FD5, is on low gain, everything sounds fine but on M gain, the driver jumps to life a bit faster. Dynamics increase. Despite its efficient rating, this 1DD likes some power.

 

[Nellie75]

One last thing I noticed with the FD5, is on low gain, everything sounds fine but on M gain, the driver jumps to life a bit faster. Dynamics increase. Despite its efficient rating, this 1DD likes some power.

I've currently got my FD5s plugged into my 1971 Marantz 2245 headphone jack. They sound great! The headphone jack on the Marantz has some serious output and puts most headphone amps to shame. Its perfect for my HD650s with loud listening at about 11o'clock. The FD5s sound perfect at about 8 o'clock but this is not something I do often as I don't know what the actual output is on this vintage receiver. I'm sure I'd experience some serious hearing damage if my kids turned the knob up.

 

[Nellie75]

So what is the general consent on decreasing the treble? The treble is a bit much for me as I listen to a lot of rock. Even songs like Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon” or “Say You Love Me” the snare is very piercing.

Cable: I’ve read on here to get a copper cable to smooth/reduce treble. What exactly do you look for in a cable? Isn’t the OEM cable copper? Do I stay away from anything that mentions “plating” or “silver”? Some options out there are quite expensive.

Tips: I’ve read on here about several recommendations. Frankly too many to keep straight in my head. So maybe I just buy a few and test them out. This is definitely less of an expense than the cable.

Thanks!

 

[Dsnuts]

Good question. The included cable has very highly resolving properties and accentuates the high notes. This was my only real complaint to Fiio on my review of the FD5. They used the same cable on their FH5S as well also accentuating the highs on that set.

If you followed recent Fiio happenings Fiio introduced a new "pro" version of their FH5S. And a "pro version of their newer FD3 earphones. So the Pro version of these are a simple cable change up. If you want to stick to Fiio sound they introduced a new LC-RC cable sold on Fiio web site on aliexpress. While the descriptor of the new LC RC looks identical to the descriptor of the FD5 included cable. The new LC-RC we specifically made to address brightness while retaining fullness and body of the intended sound. It is more pure copper in sound emitting properties which smooths the highs of both the FD3 and the FH5S.

I am very certain this cable will do the same for the FD5. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...o.store_pc_groupList.8148356.2.4edd7fa79shU3h

Of course if you don't want to spend that much on a upgraded cable for the FD5. Look for pure copper cables on aliexpress, ebay and amazon and just about any of the pure copper varieties will help smooth out the high notes.

 

[Nellie75]

Good question. The included cable has very highly resolving properties and accentuates the high notes. This was my only real complaint to Fiio on my review of the FD5. They used the same cable on their FH5S as well also accentuating the highs on that set.

If you followed recent Fiio happenings Fiio introduced a new "pro" version of their FH5S. And a "pro version of their newer FD3 earphones. So the Pro version of these are a simple cable change up. If you want to stick to Fiio sound they introduced a new LC-RC cable sold on Fiio web site on aliexpress. While the descriptor of the new LC RC looks identical to the descriptor of the FD5 included cable. The new LC-RC we specifically made to address brightness while retaining fullness and body of the intended sound. It is more pure copper in sound emitting properties which smooths the highs of both the FD3 and the FH5S.

I am very certain this cable will do the same for the FD5. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...o.store_pc_groupList.8148356.2.4edd7fa79shU3h

Of course if you don't want to spend that much on a upgraded cable for the FD5. Look for pure copper cables on aliexpress, ebay and amazon and just about any of the pure copper varieties will help smooth out the high notes.

Thanks so much. I’ve read a lot of your posts on this topic and learned a lot. Your right though, when I first came across this cable and read the description “High Purity Silver” I had originally ruled it out. If your confident the Fiio LC-RC should preform like the pure copper cables you’ve recommended, then I’d prefer to get the Fiio with interchangeable adapters than a cheaper one. Its expensive but is essentially a stock cable so I’m sure I could recoup the cost by selling my “silver version”

 

[Dsnuts]

I can vouch for that cable it is worth every cent paid. It is a very high quality copper based cable. The issue with cheaper copper cables is that copper is not as resolving as silver so you loose some definition of something like their monocrystalline silver plated cable or a pure silver cable. The LC-RC is every bit as good as any of the higher end UPOCC or crystal copper varieties of cables. Not to mention the modular plugs which is an added bonus.

I have been using a gold plated copper cable on the FD5 with great results but I will try out the LC-RC for you here in a bit and will report back.