[rendyG]

Great write up! Interesting idea about those dampers - will they fit the FH5?

Not that I feel the need for damping or tweaking or anything of the sort; I’ve just finished a straight two-hour chillout seasion with the M9, FH5 (balanced) and Dekoni Bulletz tips (which I’m testing and reviewing for Dekoni), listening to two full albums by Australian duo Angus and Julia Stone, and I’m completely in love with this setup and the Bulletz.

Not only is the 2khz peak perfect for vocal clarity at lower volume listening, the separation and layering of sound is among the best I’ve heard with any IEM or over ear headphone for that matter. Completely and utterly engaging, relaxing and most important non fatiguing, all at the same time.

And with the chosen music, I had real instruments, electronic effects and both male and female vocals across the spectrum, and the FH5 delivered them all superbly.

I question - and eagerly await to see - how Fiio is going to try improve on this with the FH7.

Yes, dampers fit, I quickly tried to put in the damper into the mids tube, it fits without any problem and can be easily taken out as well. To my surprise the damper which is already installed in the highs tube isnt glued in or anything, it just sits there thanks to little friction.

I agree with you and I like that 2kHz peak, but as I said, there are people who likes the mids more relaxed so this could be the solution for them

FA7 will be different and I know it won't be for me as it has similar bass bleed like DM6 from what I've seen in measurements.
I have no idea how companies tune the bass in these full-BA iems (resonators?), but from what I know, only Moondrop was able to tune their bass BA to perform close to my preffered Harman target with their Blessing (and A8).

edit: remember that with Knowles dampers you can target only the peaks in the frequency spectrum and bring them down in 1 or 2dB increments. So even if you don't feel like 2k needs damping, using the damper with lower resistance can just smooth out the response and tame resonances, which would improve imaging and separation even more

 

[gLer]

Yes, dampers fit, I quickly tried to put in the damper into the mids tube, it fits without any problem and can be easily taken out as well.

That's very cool. Where do you buy these dampers from? May be worth trying some out, just for fun.

FA7 will be different and I know it won't be for me as it has similar bass bleed like DM6 from what I've seen in measurements.

Yeah, the FA7 definitely has a less linear, more bloomy midbass presentation, whereas the FH5 is all sub and a linear midbass, which is far more pleasing (to me). Then again some people like their sound fuller and warmer, in which case the FA7 would be perfect for them. The FA7 mids are also less forward, which some prefer, and the warmer bass also serves to fill out some of the mids in the FA7, which I actually do prefer. Will be interesting to see how FiiO tunes the FH7, which you'd think would be a step up from the FH5 based on numbering, but who knows?

 

[bgtip]

Hey guys, new FH5 owner here.
Lemme write some initial impressions and thoughts here

So far I'm really impressed. Recently I was looking for over ear iem for commuting, mainly looking for better fit and isolation, because I was tired of constantly adjusting my favourite iems with straight cable.
After trying many tips I realized the nozzle is really short so I made an O-ring spacer and its much better now.

I really like the sound with my Megamini (although slight hiss is audible). Recently I've tried some of the better iems around - IT01, DM6 and XBA-N3AP - and to my surprise I liked the IT01 the most. But FH5 is a lot better for me personally, with its deep fast bass without any bleed to the mids, nice forward mids and not fatiguing treble. Well it doesn't have the lovely mids of my Evos, nor the amazingly clean and extended treble like N3, but I would say it is a great allrounder.
One thing that amazes me the most is the separation/layering of FH5, something I expected from DM6 (being 5BA). If I could change one thing about its sound, I would like more treble extension, but I guess I can't have everything, right

I'm using FH5 without a nozzle screen, didn't have a chance to hear whether it sounds better than with the mesh, but it certainly doesn't sound worse, right..
When I saw the nozzle with 3 separated sound tubes and damper only in the tube for highs, I got an idea...
Knowles dampers!

Not sure if anyone tried it before, but you can tune the mids and highs separately with these dampers,
almost like your FLC or LZ iems
The smallest sound tube is for the lows, then there is one for highs - already fitted with a damper and finally the midrange tube, without any damper.
Dampers for mids and highs can be easily changed. I will experiment with these, just because I like to tinker with stuff

I've seen lot of reviews where people were kinda complaining about it's pronounced 2kHz region, which I actually like for vocals and guitars, but I understand you may not like forward mids.

But hey! I think the 2k peak can be easily brought down with these easy mods. Expect some measurements soon. I can try green damper from my zs4xr project as well as the brown and red ones I have...

Am I right to think that you suggest to insert the Knowles dampers into the midrange tube? If so can you share the diameter of this because I have no means to measure it. I suppose it is standard and those should fit in: https://bit.ly/2CLPo1c
Also since the dampers are not fixed in the sound tube (except for friction) I've had the impression that the FH5's mesh is in place to prevent them from getting lost? I've read some user comment on youtube that one of his dampers has fallen out after the mesh hack. So is there any possible way to fix the dampers in?

 

[davidcotton]

Hey guys, new FH5 owner here.
Lemme write some initial impressions and thoughts here

So far I'm really impressed. Recently I was looking for over ear iem for commuting, mainly looking for better fit and isolation, because I was tired of constantly adjusting my favourite iems with straight cable.
After trying many tips I realized the nozzle is really short so I made an O-ring spacer and its much better now.

I really like the sound with my Megamini (although slight hiss is audible). Recently I've tried some of the better iems around - IT01, DM6 and XBA-N3AP - and to my surprise I liked the IT01 the most. But FH5 is a lot better for me personally, with its deep fast bass without any bleed to the mids, nice forward mids and not fatiguing treble. Well it doesn't have the lovely mids of my Evos, nor the amazingly clean and extended treble like N3, but I would say it is a great allrounder.
One thing that amazes me the most is the separation/layering of FH5, something I expected from DM6 (being 5BA). If I could change one thing about its sound, I would like more treble extension, but I guess I can't have everything, right

I'm using FH5 without a nozzle screen, didn't have a chance to hear whether it sounds better than with the mesh, but it certainly doesn't sound worse, right..
When I saw the nozzle with 3 separated sound tubes and damper only in the tube for highs, I got an idea...
Knowles dampers!

Not sure if anyone tried it before, but you can tune the mids and highs separately with these dampers,
almost like your FLC or LZ iems
The smallest sound tube is for the lows, then there is one for highs - already fitted with a damper and finally the midrange tube, without any damper.
Dampers for mids and highs can be easily changed. I will experiment with these, just because I like to tinker with stuff

I've seen lot of reviews where people were kinda complaining about it's pronounced 2kHz region, which I actually like for vocals and guitars, but I understand you may not like forward mids.

But hey! I think the 2k peak can be easily brought down with these easy mods. Expect some measurements soon. I can try green damper from my zs4xr project as well as the brown and red ones I have...

If you do a search there was a mod similar for the shure 535 iems where they used this mod.

 

[mhoopes]

Am I right to think that you suggest to insert the Knowles dampers into the midrange tube? If so can you share the diameter of this because I have no means to measure it. I suppose it is standard and those should fit in: https://bit.ly/2CLPo1c
Also since the dampers are not fixed in the sound tube (except for friction) I've had the impression that the FH5's mesh is in place to prevent them from getting lost? I've read some user comment on youtube that one of his dampers has fallen out after the mesh hack. So is there any possible way to fix the dampers in?

I think you answered your own question. @Brooko did some comparative measurements with and without the mesh, and didn’t see more than an 0.1 dB difference across the audible spectrum (and it was basically uniform), likely within measurement session variation. Try the same trick with your speaker grills at home. Your sense memory will have a much better chance of keeping up if you can A-B them real-time. Try it blind, with a helper (or two, for stereo), for best results.

Dampening the mids will enhance the perceptual levels of adjacent frequencies, meaning that you will perceive a bit more treble volume.

 

[el-jorge]

I’m really biased between these and the JVC FW-01. I hope there is someone in this topic who heard them both, and can tell us a little bit about the differences?

I listen mainly to Hans Zimmer and soundtracks/ trance/ edm and pop music

 

[boneburglar]

I’m choosing between this and the Sony XBA-N3. Anything I should know?

 

[rendyG]

Am I right to think that you suggest to insert the Knowles dampers into the midrange tube? If so can you share the diameter of this because I have no means to measure it. I suppose it is standard and those should fit in: https://bit.ly/2CLPo1c
Also since the dampers are not fixed in the sound tube (except for friction) I've had the impression that the FH5's mesh is in place to prevent them from getting lost? I've read some user comment on youtube that one of his dampers has fallen out after the mesh hack. So is there any possible way to fix the dampers in?

I can't share the diameter now, I'm not gonna be home this week. But it is compatible with original Knowles dampers, I think you don't need exact diameter.. I bought my dampsrs from Soundlink store on ali, your link seems ok, but I'm not sure if you can choose exact type of the damper (I'm on phone)

 

[expatriot]

no longer available on ali.

 

[sidecross]

no longer available on ali.

I was told Friday that a previous order of a fiio am3b placed on 12/26/18 was canceled by fiio; this was a fiio usa distributor. What is the current status of fiio's production and shipping status?

 

[rusnak666]

I just ordered some knowles dampers from digikey, so im very excited to see the results... after i removed the mesh from FH5 i see that fiio is using only one damper, is it for mids?

 

[expatriot]

Is there a set you can purchase, or do you have to buy them individually?

 

[mhoopes]

I just ordered some knowles dampers from digikey, so im very excited to see the results... after i removed the mesh from FH5 i see that fiio is using only one damper, is it for mids?

I think that's the tweeter.

Is there a set you can purchase, or do you have to buy them individually?

The filters (and the extraction tool) can be purchased individually at Digi-Key. If you need to experiment, I'd say buy a variety of them, but measure the tube opening diameter before ordering. Also, I don't know about Digi-Key's shipping costs/limitations in the Philippines.
Another manufacturer (Sonion) has recommendations for filter placement (insert between 25-50% of the length of the sound tube) to prevent contamination of the filter. Alternatively, since the FH5 constrains the filter to the outlet of the sound tube, you could leave their mesh on. If you think that the treble is overly constrained by the external mesh, you could replace the tweeter filter with one of lower acoustic impedance to compensate for the mesh.

https://www.digikey.com/catalog/en/partgroup/acoustic-dampers/25361

 

[rusnak666]

So which one bore is for what purpose? There are 3 bores, 2 bigger and one small, i think the knowles dampers fits only in the bigger bores, or I'm wrong? Maybe FiiO could help to explain? Thanks

 

[expatriot]

mhoopes: Thanks very much for the info.