[scott1]

Has anyone compared these to FLC8N or FLC8S?

Go back once

I just recently demo’d the new Final Audio E5000 and it’s very competitive for $299 despite being a single dynamic.

I will see how the FH5 stacks up with the E5000, ER4XR/SR series, AKG N40, Massdrop Plus, Campfire Novas/Comets and DUNU DN-2000 when it arrives at my local retailer next week.

The E5000 has piqued my interest as well. Would love to hear that!

 

[BRSxIgnition]

Agreed, having never heard of final before but finally having given them a look - I'm very interested in what I'm hearing.

I tend to prefer bean-shaped/over-ear designs as I find them more comfortable so I hope they could do something like that too though.

 

[Dsnuts]

So I finally got my FH5s in today. Been listening to them on and off all day today and I think I know why HBB took the screen off of the front nozzle. I haven't done that myself but overall I am impressed with the FH5 as they are. However I took some liberties of doing a few things to make them even better for me.

I threw on a pure silver cable on my IT04 and those now sound even better than with the stock cable which is actually a very nice cable in itself. The cable that came on the IT04 cost $100 so why waste a great cable right?

Sacrilege! I threw on the CB12 cable on the FH5. What you know, now we are cookin with a wider stage and even better imaging. I suppose you have to be a believer in cables to know what I am talking about but it does make a difference.

These sound great for the money and they exhibit a smooth slightly vocal forward, musical yet detailed character, well balanced and I can tell Fiio paid particular attention to the treble end of these to not fatigue.

For those that are curious these sound great using a balanced source and balanced cable by the way. Better than single ended. Could be due to having more juice in balanced mode but they sound more dynamic to me in balanced vs single ended.

I know there are more than a few guys wondering of the FH5 in a similar configuration can come close to Ibasso's flagship earphones. I will just say No. The IT04 has a higher end tuning on them. Balancing is better on the IT04 and is a more refined sound vs the FH5. However this does not take away how good the FH5 is. IT04 don't sound twice as good as the FH5 but twice the amount of money is the going rate for more refinements in the sound game.

I haven't heard the FH5 long enough to have a conclusive view on their sound but I did enjoy listening to them today. Will have more to say about them as I get to know my FH5.

 

[Colors]

So I finally got my FH5s in today. Been listening to them on and off all day today and I think I know why HBB took the screen off of the front nozzle. I haven't done that myself but overall I am impressed with the FH5 as they are. However I took some liberties of doing a few things to make them even better for me.

I threw on a pure silver cable on my IT04 and those now sound even better than with the stock cable which is actually a very nice cable in itself. The cable that came on the IT04 cost $100 so why waste a great cable right?

Sacrilege! I threw on the CB12 cable on the FH5. What you know, now we are cookin with a wider stage and even better imaging. I suppose you have to be a believer in cables to know what I am talking about but it does make a difference.

These sound great for the money and they exhibit a smooth slightly vocal forward, musical yet detailed character, well balanced and I can tell Fiio paid particular attention to the treble end of these to not fatigue.

For those that are curious these sound great using a balanced source and balanced cable by the way. Better than single ended. Could be due to having more juice in balanced mode but they sound more dynamic to me in balanced vs single ended.

I know there are more than a few guys wondering of the FH5 in a similar configuration can come close to Ibasso's flagship earphones. I will just say No. The IT04 has a higher end tuning on them. Balancing is better on the IT04 and is a more refined sound vs the FH5. However this does not take away how good the FH5 is. IT04 don't sound twice as good as the FH5 but twice the amount of money is the going rate for more refinements in the sound game.

I haven't heard the FH5 long enough to have a conclusive view on their sound but I did enjoy listening to them today. Will have more to say about them as I get to know my FH5.

Sweet. I have a pure silver MMCX spare waiting for a IT04

 

[HerrXRDS]

From what I am reading, sounds like these have the highs pretty close to the FH1 which I found lacking and unexciting. I was hoping for a more detailed treble range like the F9 Pro.

Can someone with the FH5 please listen to this song. At the 0:33 and 0:40 mark there's a cymbal bell sound which should have a good presence and draw attention to it. It normally has a nice chime to it but with the FH1 it sounds dry and barely noticeable in the background. Is this the case with the FH5? Thank you.

 

[JamesFiiO]

So I finally got my FH5s in today. Been listening to them on and off all day today and I think I know why HBB took the screen off of the front nozzle. I haven't done that myself but overall I am impressed with the FH5 as they are. However I took some liberties of doing a few things to make them even better for me.

I threw on a pure silver cable on my IT04 and those now sound even better than with the stock cable which is actually a very nice cable in itself. The cable that came on the IT04 cost $100 so why waste a great cable right?

Sacrilege! I threw on the CB12 cable on the FH5. What you know, now we are cookin with a wider stage and even better imaging. I suppose you have to be a believer in cables to know what I am talking about but it does make a difference.

These sound great for the money and they exhibit a smooth slightly vocal forward, musical yet detailed character, well balanced and I can tell Fiio paid particular attention to the treble end of these to not fatigue.

For those that are curious these sound great using a balanced source and balanced cable by the way. Better than single ended. Could be due to having more juice in balanced mode but they sound more dynamic to me in balanced vs single ended.

I know there are more than a few guys wondering of the FH5 in a similar configuration can come close to Ibasso's flagship earphones. I will just say No. The IT04 has a higher end tuning on them. Balancing is better on the IT04 and is a more refined sound vs the FH5. However this does not take away how good the FH5 is. IT04 don't sound twice as good as the FH5 but twice the amount of money is the going rate for more refinements in the sound game.

I haven't heard the FH5 long enough to have a conclusive view on their sound but I did enjoy listening to them today. Will have more to say about them as I get to know my FH5.

Yes, we also found that the FH5 will benefit from a pure silver cable , that is the interesting part for the user to find !

 

[FactoryStock]

I was hoping for a more detailed treble range like the F9 Pro.

Yikes!
Detailed, sure. I remember them. At the same time, unforgiving. Brutal, murderous.

 

[Brooko]

Yes, we also found that the FH5 will benefit from a pure silver cable , that is the interesting part for the user to find !

Would love to see a volume matched frequency response measurement of the FH5 with both cables James. I know your engineers could do one. Interestingly enough there is zero measurable difference with a copper vs silver-plated copper cable.

 

[Brooko]

For those that are curious these sound great using a balanced source and balanced cable by the way. Better than single ended. Could be due to having more juice in balanced mode but they sound more dynamic to me in balanced vs single ended.

What was the DAP? Did you volume match (when comparing) - how?

I've already measured. Using a straight balanced vs a balanced to SE converter (from same output) - only difference is the volume difference.

Of course if your source has different output impedance from balanced and single-ended, or completely different circuit components, that could well be it.

 

[JamesFiiO]

Would love to see a volume matched frequency response measurement of the FH5 with both cables James. I know your engineers could do one. Interestingly enough there is zero measurable difference with a copper vs silver-plated copper cable.

the difference is too small to detect by the instrument we used.

 

[Brooko]

the difference is too small to detect by the instrument we used.

We already know that humans can't differentiate a 0.1dB change in volume - yet instruments can, and can do it easily. So "apparently" the FH5 benefits from a silver cable - yet we can't hear it (by inference) - tells me all I need to know. I'll pass on the silver cables.

 

[Titoyago]

There is no scientific proof that a € 100 cable produces better sound than a € 10 cable.
It is like believing that a food of € 100 per kilogram is more nutritious than a € 10 per kilogram.

 

[alffla]

Thanks for the quick response - does it sacrifice detail to achieve these improvements? How does it compare otherwise?

they're such different beasts it's kind of hard to compare. my personal preference is for warmer more musical signatures like the FH5 has. the B400 while it might bring out more subtle textural details, doesn't sound natural to me.

I think you do get a little more high frequency details in the FH5 with a little more extension in that regard, although things like the bass and lower mids will be less detailed as it's comparatively boomier and resounding.

 

[expatriot]

James @FiiO: Am wondering why the decision to put a screen on the FH5 instead of leaving the sound tubes open?

 

[mhoopes]

James @FiiO: Am wondering why the decision to put a screen on the FH5 instead of leaving the sound tubes open?

I can’t speak for FiiO on this, but I can imagine the increased difficulty of removing ear wax from discrete sound tubes would be a factor for me.
I can say that I have yet to hear a difference between Comply tips with and without the WaxGuard screens, in general.

Brooko’s own frequency-domain response measurements of the FH5 didn’t show any screen-related frequency dependence, though he did report an 0.1 dB difference in overall gain (if memory serves).

Perhaps transient response measurements might reveal a difference. Has anyone done CSD measurements (which add a time axis to the plots) on IEMs and looked at the effect of various grilles?