FiiO FH5 - Quad Driver Hybrid In-Ear Monitors || Knowles Balanced Armature Drivers
Nov 3, 2018 at 3:28 PM Post #1,187 of 2,258
if you check back in the post, there is someone mentioned about to pull
ear backward while inserting tips, it helps.
I don't have issue now with double flange eartip.

I second that idea, big time. When I first got the FH5's, I was convinced that none of the included tips worked for me. Couldn't get a decent seal at all, and they came loose in my ears after a few minutes. I then tried spinfit 155's and 240's (with good results) and various other generic double flange tips before reading the post about pulling one's ear back while inserting.

Then I went back to the FiiO large bass tips and found that when properly inserted they work great for me; not exactly the same as the spinfits as each tip has a slightly different sound signature, but I really liked how the FiiO bass tips sounded when properly inserted, and I preferred them to the spinfits. It was a complete revelation and made me feel foolish for having spent so much time trying other tips.

Having said that, I had already ordered Spiral Dots, model EP-FX9L-B, and think they beat everything else I've tried for both comfort and sound quality, so I've settled on them for now. Bought them on Ebay from a Japanese seller, and in spite of warnings about Japanese customs delays, they showed up here in California very quickly. They feel like they don't go as deep in the ear, but they provide an excellent, comfortable shallow-insertion seal. They bring some nice bass, too, which I like. I can HIGHLY recommend the Spiral Dots.

I'm still waiting for the Symbio's that I ordered nearly 3 weeks ago. I'm hungry to try them, but apparently Hungary is not in a hurry to get them across to the States. I will report on them if and when they show up, but in the meantime I'm completely satisfied with the Spiral Dots and the FiiO bass tips, when properly inserted.

Of course, Your Earage May Vary.
 
Nov 3, 2018 at 4:12 PM Post #1,188 of 2,258
I second that idea, big time. When I first got the FH5's, I was convinced that none of the included tips worked for me. Couldn't get a decent seal at all, and they came loose in my ears after a few minutes. I then tried spinfit 155's and 240's (with good results) and various other generic double flange tips before reading the post about pulling one's ear back while inserting.

Then I went back to the FiiO large bass tips and found that when properly inserted they work great for me; not exactly the same as the spinfits as each tip has a slightly different sound signature, but I really liked how the FiiO bass tips sounded when properly inserted, and I preferred them to the spinfits. It was a complete revelation and made me feel foolish for having spent so much time trying other tips.

Having said that, I had already ordered Spiral Dots, model EP-FX9L-B, and think they beat everything else I've tried for both comfort and sound quality, so I've settled on them for now. Bought them on Ebay from a Japanese seller, and in spite of warnings about Japanese customs delays, they showed up here in California very quickly. They feel like they don't go as deep in the ear, but they provide an excellent, comfortable shallow-insertion seal. They bring some nice bass, too, which I like. I can HIGHLY recommend the Spiral Dots.

I'm still waiting for the Symbio's that I ordered nearly 3 weeks ago. I'm hungry to try them, but apparently Hungary is not in a hurry to get them across to the States. I will report on them if and when they show up, but in the meantime I'm completely satisfied with the Spiral Dots and the FiiO bass tips, when properly inserted.

Of course, Your Earage May Vary.

Lol! They do take a while. The crappy thing is you can't even track them in the US. I would suggest that y'all try the multi size pack on the symbios. I usually wear large size foams but the symbios barely seal in the large size. I've got mediums on they way currently. There is a good thing to this caviet though. The foams are removable and work wonders on the bass silicones and even my generic triple flange. Perfect seal and wonderful bass without sound muffled.
 
Nov 3, 2018 at 7:40 PM Post #1,189 of 2,258
Lol! They do take a while. The crappy thing is you can't even track them in the US. I would suggest that y'all try the multi size pack on the symbios. I usually wear large size foams but the symbios barely seal in the large size. I've got mediums on they way currently. There is a good thing to this caviet though. The foams are removable and work wonders on the bass silicones and even my generic triple flange. Perfect seal and wonderful bass without sound muffled.
I wonder where I can get large size of those memory foams? The high density kind that comes with FH5, not talking about Comply with large pores.
 
Nov 4, 2018 at 1:06 AM Post #1,191 of 2,258
I second that idea, big time. When I first got the FH5's, I was convinced that none of the included tips worked for me. Couldn't get a decent seal at all, and they came loose in my ears after a few minutes. I then tried spinfit 155's and 240's (with good results) and various other generic double flange tips before reading the post about pulling one's ear back while inserting.

Then I went back to the FiiO large bass tips and found that when properly inserted they work great for me; not exactly the same as the spinfits as each tip has a slightly different sound signature, but I really liked how the FiiO bass tips sounded when properly inserted, and I preferred them to the spinfits. It was a complete revelation and made me feel foolish for having spent so much time trying other tips.

Having said that, I had already ordered Spiral Dots, model EP-FX9L-B, and think they beat everything else I've tried for both comfort and sound quality, so I've settled on them for now. Bought them on Ebay from a Japanese seller, and in spite of warnings about Japanese customs delays, they showed up here in California very quickly. They feel like they don't go as deep in the ear, but they provide an excellent, comfortable shallow-insertion seal. They bring some nice bass, too, which I like. I can HIGHLY recommend the Spiral Dots.

I'm still waiting for the Symbio's that I ordered nearly 3 weeks ago. I'm hungry to try them, but apparently Hungary is not in a hurry to get them across to the States. I will report on them if and when they show up, but in the meantime I'm completely satisfied with the Spiral Dots and the FiiO bass tips, when properly inserted.

Of course, Your Earage May Vary.
Haha.. got symbio, but waiting spirals dots. :) Symbio is not nice for me - ears hurts. Tried spiral dots at shop - yes, very good seal, waiting for mine (got at ebay for only 5.7 bucks)
 
Nov 4, 2018 at 8:20 AM Post #1,192 of 2,258
Haha.. got symbio, but waiting spirals dots. :) Symbio is not nice for me - ears hurts. Tried spiral dots at shop - yes, very good seal, waiting for mine (got at ebay for only 5.7 bucks)

Try taking the foam out from the symbios. Seems it turns it into a similar version of spiral dots.
 
Nov 4, 2018 at 10:52 AM Post #1,194 of 2,258
Nov 4, 2018 at 10:58 AM Post #1,195 of 2,258
What I meant was that taking the foam out of the symbios apparantly make them sound similar to the spiral dots.
The purpose of the foam is for keeping the silicone in shape. Even if you get a good seal with Spiral Dots, it still outputs different sound from the Symbio W. I don't like the Spiral Dot silicone material, it's dry and doesn't adhere as well as higher friction types, and flimsy compared to having the foam support underneath like Symbio W.

I could see for some people if they are a bit sensitive to pressure in their canals, Symbio with the foam support being too strong that over time cause uncomfort or worse case, a bit of pain? I guess i'm not much of a wuss (kidding)? LOL.
 
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Nov 4, 2018 at 11:01 AM Post #1,197 of 2,258
Just for info I found Comply 600s (Large for me) to be better (for me) than any of the supplied tips. The 600s seem to be pretty much the perfect size for fitting to the nozzles. I get a good seal (I always do that pull the ears back thing when putting in phones) and they are comfy.

Again, just for info, the FH5s are excellent when driven from an OPPO HA-2 teeny amp, but also pretty knock out just driven straight from a phone (iPhone XS, Apple lossless files).

I am still ridiculously pleased with the FH5s. Some people have commented that the sound stage (sense of space) is limited compared to other IEMs. This might be so, but for me the fine spatial separation of instruments within that sound stage still blows me away.
 
Nov 4, 2018 at 11:04 AM Post #1,198 of 2,258
Some people have commented that the sound stage (sense of space) is limited compared to other IEMs. This might be so, but for me the fine spatial separation of instruments within that sound stage still blows me away.
I don't find sound stage limited at all, it's more spacious than the typical. This sound stage depends on the right tips and fit in my experience (which is quite important to get most out of the iem). I think if the fit isn't right, you can get this narrow stage, or if the bore size is narrow, I have experienced a tunneling like sound response.

What I have experience is, if the bore is too large, the stage sound unambianced (sounding all over the place). If the bore size seems precise or about right, the stage seems at the right size radially all around. Or perhaps a sweet spot of sorts.
 
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Nov 4, 2018 at 11:16 AM Post #1,199 of 2,258
Just for info I found Comply 600s (Large for me) to be better (for me) than any of the supplied tips. The 600s seem to be pretty much the perfect size for fitting to the nozzles. I get a good seal (I always do that pull the ears back thing when putting in phones) and they are comfy.

Again, just for info, the FH5s are excellent when driven from an OPPO HA-2 teeny amp, but also pretty knock out just driven straight from a phone (iPhone XS, Apple lossless files).

I am still ridiculously pleased with the FH5s. Some people have commented that the sound stage (sense of space) is limited compared to other IEMs. This might be so, but for me the fine spatial separation of instruments within that sound stage still blows me away.

Did you remove the screens from the nozzles?
 
Nov 4, 2018 at 11:20 AM Post #1,200 of 2,258
I don't find sound stage limited at all, it's more spacious than the typical. This sound stage depends on the right tips and fit in my experience (which is quite important to get most out of the iem). I think if the fit isn't right, you can get this narrow stage, or if the bore size is narrow, I have experienced a tunneling like sound response.

What I have experience is, if the bore is too large, the stage sound unambianced (sounding all over the place). If the bore size seems precise or about right, the stage seems at the right size radially all around. Or perhaps a sweet spot of sorts.

I think you are right. If the fit is really bad then not only is there no sense of space, but also the bass response is awful. With the supplied tips I could get a reasonable seal with their medium foam tips. All the others were pretty awful. With the Complys the balance of sound across frequencies seems better than I got with the supplied medium foams, and the sense of spatial separation is fantastic. I don't really have the experience of instruments being outside my head to the side which I do sometimes get with Audeze EL8s (open back version).
 
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