[rendyG]

Hello FH5 owners. What other IEMs do you own/use?

I recently bought the FH5, and while this is the most technically impressive IEM i've ever used, its not for me. I really am not fond of the mid presentation, the lower mids are recessed when I personally like them to be forward. I find the FH5 fatiguing without EQ.

Now with EQ, these are as perfect as I can imagine any IEM to ever be, but I don't have access to EQ at all times, I plan on plugging these directly into the headphone port of synthesizers and samplers etc. I need something that has an inoffensive, non-fatiguing sound signature by default.

How does the Fiio FH5 compare to the other IEMs you own? Should I buy a Fiio FA7 or something else? Are there any FH5 owners that are happy with the FA7 (or vice versa)? What other IEMs does the Fiio FH5 compete with?

Thanks for helping out.

Can you post a song where you feel recessed mids? I dont hear them lacking in mids (hd580 as a reference) I find those pretty balanced with emphasis on sub bass and 2k, which I understand can be disturbing for some..
So far I really like them, 90% playtime on the go.

 

[dwil]

Can you post a song where you feel recessed mids? I dont hear them lacking in mids (hd580 as a reference) I find those pretty balanced with emphasis on sub bass and 2k, which I understand can be disturbing for some..
So far I really like them, 90% playtime on the go.

I didn't mean "recessed mids". Recessed lower mids with emphasized upper mids.


Idk, I think this is a personal preference thing, I think the hd580s are thinner than i'd like, I prefer the hd650. That said, I don't remember either of them to have similar mids to the fh5.

The way the fiio fh5 are right now it feels like the there is always too much of upper mids when compared to lower mids. Every song seems to benefit if I EQ down the bit between 2khz-4khz and add in a db or two around 400hz.

And its nothing too severe, just a couple of dbs, but imo it improves the fh5 a ton.

I noticed that the FA7's frequency graph looks similar to what i'm looking for, but I'm afraid it won't have the natural sounding bass that FH5's dynamic driver has. The FA7 also seems midbass focused rather than subbass focused like the FH5, so I was just wondering what all else I should look at.

TL;DR the fh5's 2khz peak bothers me, the fa7's midbass bloom will probably also bother me, so what else should I be looking at that competes with these iems?

 

[rendyG]

Okay, today I tinkered with FH5 damping some more.
If you find 2kHz too pronounced, just get micropore tape, tape over the smallest tube, which is for mids and make a small pinhole in the middle (to prevent overdamping).
This is equivalent for using a knowles damper with a smaller diameter. Every fraction of a milimiter counts here and you can prety much tame the 2kHz region in increments of 1dB depending on size and number of holes you make in the micropore. After taming the 2k peak, I found 7k more prominent now, so I also recommend using brown, green or red damper instead of the grey damper which is installed by default.
Dampers can be bought here: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...215-se315-se425-se535/830007_32580267018.html

I can provide some pics/measurements later if anyone is interested.

 

[expatriot]

dwil: I suggest you read the head-fi reviews of the LZ A5, this could be what your looking for. I own the FH5 and the LZ A5 and I find the A5 more to my liking.

 

[dwil]

Okay, today I tinkered with FH5 damping some more.
If you find 2kHz too pronounced, just get micropore tape, tape over the smallest tube, which is for mids and make a small pinhole in the middle (to prevent overdamping).
This is equivalent for using a knowles damper with a smaller diameter. Every fraction of a milimiter counts here and you can prety much tame the 2kHz region in increments of 1dB depending on size and number of holes you make in the micropore. After taming the 2k peak, I found 7k more prominent now, so I also recommend using brown, green or red damper instead of the grey damper which is installed by default.
Dampers can be bought here: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...215-se315-se425-se535/830007_32580267018.html

I can provide some pics/measurements later if anyone is interested.

Yes please, definitely interested, I'd love to see pics and measurements.

Also, what tips do you like to use? Are there measurements of the effects of different tips? (i'd imagine its crazy difficult to measure those accurately).

 

[dwil]

dwil: I suggest you read the head-fi reviews of the LZ A5, this could be what your looking for. I own the FH5 and the LZ A5 and I find the A5 more to my liking.

I was looking at the lz a5 too, but it seems scary, it has even more energy in the upper mids, when I'm looking for a more relaxed, laid back mid presentation with more energy in the lower mids.

https://www.headphone-earphone.reviews/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/lza5-channel-graph.png

 

[Steve Guppy]

Got some Symbio N (medium) fitted to my FH5's and i have to say, this is the best I've heard or felt these fantastic value IEM's. I tried every tip they came with, and thought they were all pretty awful. Then tried the Symbio W that I had with my 1more's. They sounded so much better but just hurt my ears a little. So ordered the N's, also in medium (they are a touch smaller), and i have found the perfect tip for me. They were a exercise in patience to get on mind!

I've literally just stumbled across the affordable cable thread and hand on heart didn't have any clue or idea that Y**yoo was a banned brand or word! I feel terrible for uploading photos of the mentioned product, so if moderator's want to delete the photos, feel free, I honestly had no idea. Still not sure why the brand was (if anyone wants to DM me the abridged, laymens version, feel free) but now feel like using a different cable. Any suggestions welcome. 2.5mm balanced, copper or spc, in the £50 - £100 ball-park

 

[expatriot]

dwil: The "New" filters that come with A5 are improved over the older filters. The new red filter takes care of any harshness of the mids and lower treble area. Unrelated to sound, I want to mention that the build and comfort are second to none. The cable was the only thing I disliked, but some reviewers liked it.

 

[dwil]

dwil: The "New" filters that come with A5 are improved over the older filters. The new red filter takes care of any harshness of the mids and lower treble area. Unrelated to sound, I want to mention that the build and comfort are second to none. The cable was the only thing I disliked, but some reviewers liked it.

idk, according to review and measurements from @Brooko even despite the filters, the LZ A5's upper mid range dominates the lower midrange.. I wonder if he can himself chime in and compare the fh5 vs lz a5 red filter..

 

[expatriot]

I don't hear what his graph shows, but that just proves that sound perception differs from person to person. Hifichris said in a reply that it was good except for unrealistic timber of symbols for an example. In the past I have agreed 100% with Brooko's reviews. His reviews of the FH5 and what I heard about the FH7 I agree with. It's only the LZ A5 I disagree with him on so far. Have you read all the reviews by other people on this site yet?

 

[rendyG]

Okay, today I tinkered with FH5 damping some more.
If you find 2kHz too pronounced, just get micropore tape, tape over the smallest tube, which is for mids and make a small pinhole in the middle (to prevent overdamping).
This is equivalent for using a knowles damper with a smaller diameter. Every fraction of a milimiter counts here and you can prety much tame the 2kHz region in increments of 1dB depending on size and number of holes you make in the micropore. After taming the 2k peak, I found 7k more prominent now, so I also recommend using brown, green or red damper instead of the grey damper which is installed by default.
Dampers can be bought here: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...215-se315-se425-se535/830007_32580267018.html

Adding photo and FR of the mod:

Stock (grey) damper replaced by brown one and micropore with a small hole



Effect of micropore (ignore bass rollof, bad seal).
blue = stock / white = micropore

Percieved changes are actually bigger than seen in FR above, the 2k doesn´t "resonate" anymore, CSD confirms that, but I don´t have accurate rig so uploading it here would be meaningless..


Effect of changing grey damper to brown. You can use some stronger dampers - green or red one, if you still find 7k too prominent, but brown works for me. Great thing about knowles dampers is that in this case it actually attentuates only 4-10kHz withouth affecting air above 10k that much
white = micropore / brown = micropore + brown damper


The small 1.5k bump is from dynamic driver (no crossover..), it can also be tamed as seen few pages back, but I actually prefer it like this.

(previous bunch of measurements)

 

[domho7]

Just gotten the symbio tips. Fits very nicely..

 

[gLer]

Just posted my review of the Dekoni Bulletz, tested with the FH5. Best foam tips I’ve used to date.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/dekoni-bulletz.23621/reviews

 

[domho7]

Just posted my review of the Dekoni Bulletz, tested with the FH5. Best foam tips I’ve used to date.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/dekoni-bulletz.23621/reviews

Tks for the reviews Just ordered 1 pax and tried it out

 

[domho7]

Tks for the reviews Just ordered 1 pax and tried it out

Just wan ask a qn any big diff 3mm & 4.9mm.