[FiiO FH7] Flagship 5-Driver (1DD + 4BAs) Hybrid In-Ear Monitors, Knowles DFK + SWFK Composite BA Drivers, 13.6mm Beryllium DD Driver
Oct 23, 2019 at 8:53 AM Post #1,321 of 1,922
I pulled the trigger on the FH7s. However, I am worried about "dryness" people are complaining about. I listen to my HD 650s most times. They are quite "wet" and organic. I would be disappointed if they were very "dry" sounding. Can someone help me here?

As a past owner of the FH7 I wouldn’t define them as organic. To my ears they were fine except for the bite in the treble and not quite offering up the bass I was looking for. Regardless, for the money they still punches above their selling point.
 
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Oct 23, 2019 at 8:54 AM Post #1,322 of 1,922
I don't find them dry. Clear, revealing, and a fine balance of all frequencies to my oldish ears, definitely. I have a pair of HD600's bought in the early 2000's and find them muddled and relatively dull to what I'm used to now, ie Beyerdynamic T1 on the overear front and the FH7 for IEM. Depends what you seek with your listening. Something euphonic and swaddling or something which is incisive and gets to the heart of a recording. The FH7 veers strongly to the latter. Again, choose tips carefully. I use complys which give a good seal and possibly reduce the treble bite a bit.

Also, if you've been used to the HD650's for a long time, give your brain a chance to get used to the FH7's different signature. It may take an hour or 2 for things to come in to "focus" so to speak.
I see. HD 650s sound euphonic to me. I think it is because how smooth and full the sound is. Is the sound on these smooth at least (especially the treble)?
 
Oct 23, 2019 at 8:56 AM Post #1,323 of 1,922
As a past owner of the FH7 I wouldn’t define them as organic. To my ears they were fine except for the bite in the treble and not quite offering up the bass I was looking for. For the money they still reach above their selling point.
Is the treble harsh or smooth?
 
Oct 23, 2019 at 9:04 AM Post #1,325 of 1,922
They weren’t harsh but just had a certain bite that I disliked. They’re still good though just wasn’t for me. You may be different.
What about the mids? I see you own the LCD 2 which shares the similar sound signature with the 650s. Are the mids full and weighty with natural timbre?
 
Oct 23, 2019 at 9:11 AM Post #1,326 of 1,922
I see. HD 650s sound euphonic to me. I think it is because how smooth and full the sound is. Is the sound on these smooth at least (especially the treble)?

Is the treble harsh or smooth?

Ok... the sound is full and lush, but also detailed and very clear. For me it's good enough for me not to want to look anywhere else at any price point. I tried the Andromedas for example and these were great and on par with the FH7 but really lacking in bass to my ears. I don't find the FH7 lacking in bass. It gives bass when there's bass to give and the bass is fast and agile so you can clearly hear what kind of bass it is, rickenbacker, fender, double bass or drum, etc and follow it in a good mix. This is how it should be. With thin recordings they'll sound thin. Talking of drums, these really do highlight percussion well, you can sense the skin on the drums and follow percussion lines also.

Earlier today I was on a walk with my dog and listening to Rush Signals HD 2496, Neil Peart's drumwork on this albums is so good and I was on another planet listening to that whilst I was walking along.


Bowed strings are sublime. I was listening to this just now and it was so palpable, the rosin on the strings, almost surreal...

xhfdai-intothesto-preview-m3_550x550.jpg


Treble is clear and smooth. Not harsh. Cymbals sound like cymbals and I don't hear sibilance to vocals.

Honestly, I can't speak highly enough of these gems. Hope you will find them to your taste :)
 
Oct 23, 2019 at 9:15 AM Post #1,327 of 1,922
You raise some ideas that contradict the original ideal of high fidelity and my own sonic ideals. There are no sound transducers that reproduce transients too fast and have too much control over membrane movement. Quite the opposite: All existing transducer principles have the problem that their membranes can't follow the music signal fast enough; it would require zero moving mass/inertia and an acoustic environment free from reflections and resonances – hence a physical impossibility. So we already have to accept a slower decay than desirable and some unwanted sustain after each note. And now you want even more of it and are trying to find a method to artificially make the sound even more inaccurate in terms of the timing behavior! I'm convinced that you would be heavily disappointed about the result.

The impression of an overly dry and fast bass is often coupled with a somewhat elevated upper bass (105-160 Hz) and a roll-off down to 20 Hz. The FH7 suffers just slightly from said roll-off, actually less so than most contenders, and its upper-bass emphasis is virtually nonexistent. At least that's how I hear it with my ears, which is reflected in below EQ curve (from FiiO X3II, with FiiO pure silver cable):



I also wonder how you can perceive the bass as too strong – most here have reported a slightly underrepresented bass, if anything. To my ears its low-frequency amplitude response is close to perfect, it just can use a slight low-bass boost. Maybe that's in fact the remedy for your problem, too, since a slightly dominant low bass with reference to upper bass usually leads to the perception of fullness and even slowness. Have you ever tried foam instead of silicon tips? They're reported to offer better bass extension, i.e. increased low bass. Moreover one crucial advantage: They absorb high frequencies instead of reflecting them within the cavity between ear drum and driver. Of course this leads to reduced treble intensity, but keep in mind that all that's eliminated is the artificial sustain created by the reflective silicon surface. Although this may contradict your original concept, I'd say it's worth a try. (In my book it's even a must.)

There's actually one thing that supports your wish for reduced dryness: the fact that the music we usually listen to is meant to be heard through speakers. Headphone listening lacks the additional reverberation contributed by living rooms in the case of speakers. However, artificial sustain isn't the solution for this issue – it would only muddle the sound and severely compromize transparency. What you need (if you can't live without it) is a life-like artificial reverberation. That means the original signal still has its sharp starts and stops, whereas the reverberation follows a few milliseconds later. It's nothing I would really recommend, because the added reverberation masks a lot of the spatial information (particularly depth) on the recording. What I really recommend instead is a feature I can't renounce myself: Crossfeed. It's an important tool for overcoming a decisive incompatibility between speaker-based recordings (hence virtually all) and headphone listening: low-frequency channel separation. You'll be surprised how more realistic and comfortable music will sound with a good Crossfeed (à la Chord Electronics or Meier-Audio). Also, it may absolutely contribute to a fuller, warmer bass reproduction in your sense.
And now you want even more of it and are trying to find a method to artificially make the sound even more inaccurate in terms of the timing behavior!
Not exactly. I'm just trying to remove the manufacturer's "artificial flavouring/extra-overflowing awesomesauce" and re-calibrate the entire thing.

My goal is to somewhat use the world as the reference, such that after "calibration", the IEM seem be busted or not working; because of the 1:1 sameness between what the IEM is doing and the actual live world in front of me & my surroundings.

Something that keeps fooling me that there is a live band in my vicinity, but when I remove the IEM to ascertain it, there is nothing. Only when I resumed as I were, I would realise it's just the recording and smack my own forehead.

Only the Havi B3 was able to do this. I only ask that one of the manufacturers, Chinese or American (or German, heck WHOMEVER) pick up from where Havi left off, ever since they pulled a DB Cooper and ghosted us.
 
Oct 23, 2019 at 9:26 AM Post #1,328 of 1,922
Further... for me, it's all about finding gear which basically disappears when I'm listening so I listen to the music rather than facets of sound. This can take the form of wallowing in the richness of an instrument's timbre, the melody, the cerebral interplay or fleeting combinations of all of these. If the kit does this then I'm sold, I forget about treble, bass, midrange, etc. It means that the kit doesn't need to be perfect in any way, just to have that certain magic which allows me to forget it's there for a while. I get that with the FH7 alot.

What FactoryStock says above also applies alot with the FH7 for me:

"Something that keeps fooling me that there is a live band in my vicinity, but when I remove the IEM to ascertain it, there is nothing. Only when I resumed as I were, I would realise it's just the recording and smack my own forehead."
 
Oct 23, 2019 at 9:31 AM Post #1,329 of 1,922
Ok... the sound is full and lush, but also detailed and very clear. For me it's good enough for me not to want to look anywhere else at any price point. I tried the Andromedas for example and these were great and on par with the FH7 but really lacking in bass to my ears. I don't find the FH7 lacking in bass. It gives bass when there's bass to give and the bass is fast and agile so you can clearly hear what kind of bass it is, rickenbacker, fender, double bass or drum, etc and follow it in a good mix. This is how it should be. With thin recordings they'll sound thin. Talking of drums, these really do highlight percussion well, you can sense the skin on the drums and follow percussion lines also.

Earlier today I was on a walk with my dog and listening to Rush Signals HD 2496, Neil Peart's drumwork on this albums is so good and I was on another planet listening to that whilst I was walking along.


Bowed strings are sublime. I was listening to this just now and it was so palpable, the rosin on the strings, almost surreal...

xhfdai-intothesto-preview-m3_550x550.jpg


Treble is clear and smooth. Not harsh. Cymbals sound like cymbals and I don't hear sibilance to vocals.

Honestly, I can't speak highly enough of these gems. Hope you will find them to your taste :)
If the mids are lush and full, then I am not cancelling my order. I am all up for trying a new signature, but I can't stand thin mids.
 
Oct 23, 2019 at 9:33 AM Post #1,330 of 1,922
As a past owner of the FH7 I wouldn’t define them as organic. To my ears they were fine except for the bite in the treble and not quite offering up the bass I was looking for. Regardless, for the money they still punches above their selling point.
Just a similar sound impression here with FH7s. I miss 'organic'bass, too fast, mids or voices sound a bit recessed and treble is OK but not too extended nor 'natural'. Compared with a single DD like the JVC FX850 (wood driver)....
 
Oct 23, 2019 at 1:23 PM Post #1,333 of 1,922
Ok, my small update for FH7 dry bass. I should say that this is great bass for instruments, **** I love drums, I love strings, Hellfire by Barns Cortney is insane. Its just too dry for edm, seriously.
So, what helped me a little, I have Q5S as source, and neutral-neutral combination is just not working for me, but aptx adds the warmth that I was looking for. It's not the best in general, cause hight is messed a little, but at least it something for now. Also I ordered Oriolus BA300S, which should help me to fix it without loosing details, so when I'll receive it, I'll tell if it helped.
 
Oct 23, 2019 at 1:30 PM Post #1,334 of 1,922
Not exactly. I'm just trying to remove the manufacturer's "artificial flavouring/extra-overflowing awesomesauce" and re-calibrate the entire thing.

My goal is to somewhat use the world as the reference, such that after "calibration", the IEM seem be busted or not working; because of the 1:1 sameness between what the IEM is doing and the actual live world in front of me & my surroundings.

Something that keeps fooling me that there is a live band in my vicinity, but when I remove the IEM to ascertain it, there is nothing. Only when I resumed as I were, I would realise it's just the recording and smack my own forehead.

Only the Havi B3 was able to do this. I only ask that one of the manufacturers, Chinese or American (or German, heck WHOMEVER) pick up from where Havi left off, ever since they pulled a DB Cooper and ghosted us.
Who doesn't want to hear the musicians in front of them through head- or earphones, as if they were there! Maybe you just used the wrong terms for what you want to achieve, because technically they make no sense. A slower impulse response will inevitably make the music less realistic, less musical and shrink the soundstage. The only thing that makes sense is adapting the amplitude response to the perceived tonal balance by means of equalizing. Of course, if you like deliberate coloration (instead of unvarnished sound), you could also use tube equipment or a software tube-sound emulator.
 
Oct 23, 2019 at 2:16 PM Post #1,335 of 1,922
Ok, my small update for FH7 dry bass. I should say that this is great bass for instruments, **** I love drums, I love strings, Hellfire by Barns Cortney is insane. Its just too dry for edm, seriously.
So, what helped me a little, I have Q5S as source, and neutral-neutral combination is just not working for me, but aptx adds the warmth that I was looking for. It's not the best in general, cause hight is messed a little, but at least it something for now. Also I ordered Oriolus BA300S, which should help me to fix it without loosing details, so when I'll receive it, I'll tell if it helped.
Too dry for EDM? you mean the bass is lacking or the decay is too fast?
 

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