[dweaver]

Ok, having had these for a couple days. The honeymoon is starting to wear off. Still loving them to bits but have started to understand the review comments about the sound stage width. Listening to song like Beck Paper Tiger on a good headphone with a wide sound stage such as my Nighthawks and then the FH5 shows the narrow stage clearly. Now I don't expect any IEM to be as wide as the Nighthawk but the XBA-Z5 was definitely wider than the FH5 but for less that half the price of that IEM is still a great option and it's 3D effects, while lot as wide or fully present. It is just a smaller venue than the XBA-Z5.

On the flip side these are much better tonally speaking than the XBA-Z5 which caused female vocals to be unnaturally husky and guitars to be a bit to smooth. These also have more forward mids which may be part of the reason for the narrower sound stage.

Comfort and ergonomic design wise there is NO COMPARISON the FH5 are the most comfortable IEM I have tried. I know some people struggle with fit because they are shallow but I actually prefer shallow fitting IEM's over deep insertion so love these. The Sony on the other hand are a weird Frankenstein bolt shape that are pretty comfy but are floppy in ear and have poor isolation.

 

[Tjdx]

I can also tell the stage is not as wide as a headphone and I was looking into the open back model, what are you using as a source? I havent try a balance output or cable on this.

Edit: that does not mean I dont like them, I can understand what you mean but i think is not a bad compromise on this ones, and yes they are comfy.

 

[samtvt]

Hi..I recently bought a used FH5 (nozzle grill/filter removed). I find the male vocals plasticky and overall they sound grainy. I felt the same with FH3 iems and returned. I guess both FH3 and FH5 share the same BA driver Knowles ED30262 for mids. Are they making the male vocals sound plasticky? I do enjoy female vocals, bass and instrument separation in FH5. I could not tolerate plasticky male vocals and slight grainyness. What I am doing wrong? I feel like selling them immediately. Any help will be appreciated.

 

[dweaver]

I am unsure what plasticky means?

My FH5 have the grill attached and I enjoy their sound as is so am unwilling to do a potentially damaging mod to them.

 

[samtvt]

I don't know how to describe the timbre other than plasticky.. Male vocals don't sound natural. It sounds grainy too. I wish the mod was never done to that iem.

 

[dweaver]

Ok grainy I understand better, that is EXACTLY the reason I have not modded my pair!. I did a mod similar to removing the grill on a pair of Sony XBA (not the XBA-Z5) and it changed to treble making it to harsh and I was never able to get them to correct again. So have been wary of making that kind of change again.

Do you have any tips with a filter built into them? This may help, no guarantee but may be worth a try. I for example have Technics AZ70 and their tips all have a foam like filter. I know I tried them on my unmodified FH5 and found they smoothed them to much but they might do the trick for your situation.

Another option may be foam tips as they tend suck out some of that type of sound as well. Comply work really well in that regard.

 

[dweaver]

One more question. What are you using to drive the FH5? When I got the FH5 I initially used a Pono Player or an ES100 BT DAC paired with my Samsung S20 phone. Both combo were right on the cusp of 2 bright and harsh sounding to me. I loved the imaging and the bass but the the mids and treble were just on the edge of being out of my comfort zone.

I bought the UTWS5 because I ultimately wanted to ditch a traditional cable configuration and they had just enough warmth in their DAC that the the midrange and treble came down to the perfect sweet spot for my ears.

So if you have any other DAC or a warmer headphone amp you can try, that might also make a difference for you.

 

[samtvt]

One more question. What are you using to drive the FH5? When I got the FH5 I initially used a Pono Player or an ES100 BT DAC paired with my Samsung S20 phone. Both combo were right on the cusp of 2 bright and harsh sounding to me. I loved the imaging and the bass but the the mids and treble were just on the edge of being out of my comfort zone.

I bought the UTWS5 because I ultimately wanted to ditch a traditional cable configuration and they had just enough warmth in their DAC that the the midrange and treble came down to the perfect sweet spot for my ears.

So if you have any other DAC or a warmer headphone amp you can try, that might also make a difference for you.

Really appreciate your help. I will try the tips suggested and also the foam tips. I tried them literally with all my daps I have like Fiio M11, cayin n3, Fiio m3k, activo ct10, Sony nwa45/55, some iPod classics and LG V30/40 and even on ifi hip dac2. It sounded harsh. The mids and treble are awful. I couldn't tolerate them.
I tried to stream apple lossless, Spotify as well as tried offline music files in FLAC and mp3 (320kbps).
I want to give it a fair chance. So I am burning them using my Fiio m3k for the past two days at 50% volume.
I regret buying them. Previous owner should not have done that mod.
Anyways I will try to get the tips with filter.
Thanks again. Hope you enjoy the unmodded FH5 more.

 

[dweaver]

If you can't find a tip with a filter in it or find foam tips uncomfortable, look are around for some porous foam and insert a small piece in each tip, this might also do the trick. Just make sure you don't over fill them and and that you can pull it out in case it doesn't help or needs to be tweaked.

 

[dweaver]

Did the seller disclose they had modified the IEM before you bought them? Also do they maybe still have the grills? I thought I read they could be put back in. So if they still have them maybe you could get them back...

 

[samtvt]

Did the seller disclose they had modified the IEM before you bought them? Also do they maybe still have the grills? I thought I read they could be put back in. So if they still have them maybe you could get them back...

Yes the seller said he had removed the grills. I will check with him if he still have the grills. Thank you again. I will try your suggestion.

 

[jananan78]

Really appreciate your help. I will try the tips suggested and also the foam tips. I tried them literally with all my daps I have like Fiio M11, cayin n3, Fiio m3k, activo ct10, Sony nwa45/55, some iPod classics and LG V30/40 and even on ifi hip dac2. It sounded harsh. The mids and treble are awful. I couldn't tolerate them.
I tried to stream apple lossless, Spotify as well as tried offline music files in FLAC and mp3 (320kbps).
I want to give it a fair chance. So I am burning them using my Fiio m3k for the past two days at 50% volume.
I regret buying them. Previous owner should not have done that mod.
Anyways I will try to get the tips with filter.
Thanks again. Hope you enjoy the unmodded FH5 more.

i tried the same thing removing the filter on my cca cra as an experiment, it immediately became grainy. you can fix it with applying an audio foam to tame the harshness.

 

[e-dub]

Listening to a pair of burnt in FH5 with a balanced LC-RC cable and these things are great. For my music, I prefer these to the FH7, if I'm honest. Well done, Fiio.

 

[Dts Bard]

Listening to a pair of burnt in FH5 with a balanced LC-RC cable and these things are great. For my music, I prefer these to the FH7, if I'm honest. Well done, Fiio.

I agree. I wound up selling my FH7 and sticking with the FH5. I now own the FH5S and am loving them. Still brand new so I’m not sure yet but I know I still love my OG FH5

 

[e-dub]

I agree. I wound up selling my FH7 and sticking with the FH5. I now own the FH5S and am loving them. Still brand new so I’m not sure yet but I know I still love my OG FH5

I miss the HUGE bass on the FH5S a whole lot. I couldn't deal with the higher mids/low treble and that was a painful realization to make