FiiO Earbuds Discussion & Impressions Thread
Jun 16, 2022 at 11:45 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 286

FiiO

Sponsor: FiiO
Joined
Jul 30, 2008
Posts
11,742
Likes
9,193
Location
Guangzhou,China
One picture to learn about FF3

一图看懂--FF3-EN.jpg
 
FiiO Stay updated on FiiO at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.facebook.com/FiiOAUDIO https://twitter.com/FiiO_official https://www.instagram.com/fiioofficial/ https://www.fiio.com support@fiio.com
Jun 23, 2022 at 10:21 PM Post #3 of 286
Beautiful design and aesthetics!
 
Jul 6, 2022 at 11:06 PM Post #4 of 286
What a lovely FiiO FF3!🤩 The large-diameter drivers not only provide a strong and shocking bass performance, but also provide treble with nice extension and resolution because of the light weight and strong rigidity of the beryllium-coated diaphragm. Now you could get one from our Aliexpress store: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004396885661.html
9151653egy1h3vzuj6as1j237d24xqv6.jpg
9151653egy1h3vzulm8wrj250q3ch4qw.jpg
9151653egy1h3vzuni17lj24402qob2d.jpg
9151653egy1h3vzup5xjmj23qc2hkhdw.jpg
9151653egy1h3vzuqx04wj23pt2h8qv9.jpg
9151653egy1h3vzut26e7j241v2p8kjp.jpg
9151653egy1h3vzuxdimcj240s2oi1l2.jpg
9151653egy1h3vzuzbul9j23w72lhhdx.jpg
 
FiiO Stay updated on FiiO at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.facebook.com/FiiOAUDIO https://twitter.com/FiiO_official https://www.instagram.com/fiioofficial/ https://www.fiio.com support@fiio.com
Jul 14, 2022 at 7:12 PM Post #6 of 286
Is the cable MMCX, or not replaceable?
The cable is not replaceable. The plug is swappable between 3.5mm SE and 4.4mm balanced. You'll have to wait until September for the FF5 release for MMCX.
 
Jul 14, 2022 at 7:37 PM Post #7 of 286
I'm really enjoying the FF3. Nice bass with good sub-bass rumble, as long as the music you're listening to has that kind of bass impact. Overall sonic balance is excellent. Bass that doesn't step all over (muddy) the mid-range or treble. Nice clean treble extension, not so bright that it is fatiguing on longer listening sessions. These buds perform well with either neutral or warm amps / DAPs and perform well with any music genre.
 
Jul 24, 2022 at 2:36 PM Post #8 of 286
I'm really enjoying the FF3. Nice bass with good sub-bass rumble, as long as the music you're listening to has that kind of bass impact. Overall sonic balance is excellent. Bass that doesn't step all over (muddy) the mid-range or treble. Nice clean treble extension, not so bright that it is fatiguing on longer listening sessions. These buds perform well with either neutral or warm amps / DAPs and perform well with any music genre.
Hi there

just picked these up and can concur, excellent buds. Can i ask what foams you are using? I have only used the donut (treble) so far and can't see why i would change as they sound so good. And at £89, they are punching way above that.

Well done Fiio

David
 
Jul 24, 2022 at 7:20 PM Post #9 of 286
Hi there

just picked these up and can concur, excellent buds. Can i ask what foams you are using? I have only used the donut (treble) so far and can't see why i would change as they sound so good. And at £89, they are punching way above that.

Well done Fiio

David
I started with the balanced foams (thin full foams), eventually moving to the donut foams. I do like the balanced foams sound. I found the treble a little rolled off which makes long listening session easy on the ears. Switching to the donuts brings out that treble crispness which I sort of missed.
 
Aug 1, 2022 at 5:27 PM Post #13 of 286
I tried that today, still think I prefer the Fiio donuts. Felt the VE lost the richness of the bass a tad.
Everyone has a different anatomy. That’s just part of the reason why it’s good they included 3 different types. I just ordered the Trig Rain to see how they work with these as well. The baseline character of these buds should work for most people. I’m not sure how FiiO is going to improve on these with the FF5, but it will be interesting. I’m planning on resisting those for a while, but I’m glad FiiO continues to put their design and engineering acumen into buds. Nearly every bud I’ve tried with donuts doesn’t work well for me. I’m glad there’s a reason for them because I was beginning to doubt it LOL.
 
Last edited:
Aug 1, 2022 at 6:43 PM Post #14 of 286
I didn’t realise @FiiO had a thread for these wonderful earbuds. I share my initial impression from the other thread here in case any head-fier stumbles across this thread. Full review would come later, I need to finish the ones for Westone MACH first.

(Impressions with treble foam. Balanced and bass foams are too muffled for me and greatly reduce the resolution)

Lower midrange sounds flat. The ear gain sounds very Harman (it can be shouty on some tracks, but generally correct in terms of tonality). It’s certainly not 15db ear gain like the graph, but there is a correct ear gain for sure.

Now the bass is unexpected. I expected something like ER2SE, because the graph shows flat midbass and significantly rolled off subbass. However, I hear punchy kick drum with some physical sensation in my throat, which only comes from IEMs with strong subbass. I have been jamming to some electronic music. FF3 is no E5000 in terms of bass for sure, but I am surprised at how competent it is.

Soundstage is wider and deeper than usual IEM. It’s kind of reminiscent to FD5 or E5000: upfront center image, but the rest spread out widely. I don’t hear any tuning trick to push the image back like Andromeda and U12t / Trio.

Resolution is surprisingly good. I hear resolving treble, though treble is not loud.

Again, coming from IEMs, I’m shocked by what I am hearing. I think I need more time to nitpick be critical.
 
Aug 1, 2022 at 6:46 PM Post #15 of 286
I'm really enjoying the FF3. Nice bass with good sub-bass rumble, as long as the music you're listening to has that kind of bass impact. Overall sonic balance is excellent. Bass that doesn't step all over (muddy) the mid-range or treble. Nice clean treble extension, not so bright that it is fatiguing on longer listening sessions. These buds perform well with either neutral or warm amps / DAPs and perform well with any music genre.

Agree with you. The bass loudness is certainly neutral / flat, but the bass impact is quite strong. Perhaps it is due to the large driver? Perhaps because it is an ear bud. I don’t know. FF3 subbass can hit as hard as my IEM with 12db subbass sometimes, without having to do all the tuning tricks to avoid bass bleed.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top