[Ichos]

Hi, I'm looking for a new Iem, this new fh9 really caught my attention, can be a good choice for listening to rock music? from folk, alternative, to black, death metal?

I have the opposite opinion.
The bass is huge but still fast and articulated.
Combined with the crisp highs and the excellent mids and you have a winner for your use case.

 

[ldo77]

Is FH9 power hungry ?

 

[Ckfung]

I have both FD7 and FH9.
FD7's bass is emotionally connected to rock music. Pure beryllium diagram really makes FD7 the king of fast bass. FD7 is showing its strength in terms of time-domain.
FH9's bass is a bit relaxing which is not a bad thing for most music types. In returns, FH9 get more details in terms of frequency-domain.

 

[Ichos]

I have both FD7 and FH9.
FD7's bass is emotionally connected to rock music. Pure beryllium diagram really makes FD7 the king of fast bass. FD7 is showing its strength in terms of time-domain.
FH9's bass is a bit relaxing which is not a bad thing for most music types. In returns, FH9 get more details in terms of frequency-domain.

I also have both and I don't think that it is possible to hear ones bass faster than the other.
Both are super fast, I would base my choice in the overall presentation and tuning rather than bass speed.
From a technical point of view both have excellent bass for all kinds of music.
Presentation though is quite different.
As an example I wouldn't pick the FH9 for classical music.
If the op needs more scale and theater like presentation with a touch more dominant bass then the FH9 is the better choice.
FD7 is more balanced and less grand, more intimate and more coherent but less analytical and crispy at the highs.
Anyway I think that he can't go wrong whichever he chooses.

 

[WilliamBlake]

Tough choice indeed, I'm not searchin an analytical and neutral sound, neither a v shape signature, I would like well defined mids with a good boost from the bass, but not overwhelming...

 

[DarginMahkum]

Tough choice indeed, I'm not searchin an analytical and neutral sound, neither a v shape signature, I would like well defined mids with a good boost from the bass, but not overwhelming...

That is pretty much what FH9 is for me. But keep in mind that, when you have mids that are clear and not recessed (for vocals and acoustic instruments) those black metal guitars will sound too sharp. I tried some good recordings like Nile's last album, Necrophagist / Epitaph etc., and they sound good, but probably some old Satyricon wouldn't be too gentle to the ears.

FH9, for me, has a balanced neutral tuning with slight more fun.

 

[WilliamBlake]

That is pretty much what FH9 is for me. But keep in mind that, when you have mids that are clear and not recessed (for vocals and acoustic instruments) those black metal guitars will sound too sharp. I tried some good recordings like Nile's last album, Necrophagist / Epitaph etc., and they sound good, but probably some old Satyricon wouldn't be too gentle to the ears.

FH9, for me, has a balanced neutral tuning with slight more fun.

So mother north with the fh9 would be an ears massacre no seriously, do you consider the mids with this too forward?

 

[DarginMahkum]

So mother north with the fh9 would be an ears massacre no seriously, do you consider the mids with this too forward?

No, definitely not. The tuning is very good.

 

[FiiO]

The R&D Story of FH9-From @JamesFiiO: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/story-the-r-d-story-of-fh9-from-jamesfiio.961836/

Chapter 4 About the Cable

With the highest positioning in the current FiiO DD+BA hybrids series, FH9 is surely equipped with swappable plugs. We don’t even need to emphasize, as the plugs will be a standard with FiiO's mid-to-high-end headphones.
The high-purity monocrystalline pure silver of the cable can really be used to make silver jewelry. Oxygen-free copper, monocrystalline copper, and pure silver are different materials of the cable, and different materials make great difference to the sound. Although some gaps can be filled by tuning, some defects can never mend.
According to our initial plan, FH9 should have came with monocrystalline copper silver-plated cable in the consideration of cost. But when I made a comparison among monocrystalline copper cable (LC-RC), pure silver cable (LC-RD) and gold-silver-copper cable (LC-RE PRO), I found that it is not always true that the more expensive cable the better.
The pure silver cable with delicate performance and vivid sound, can be considered as the best partner of M17. Its extension in treble and vitality are beyond my imagination. Even if the overall cost has exceeded the budget, I still decided to use the pure silver cable for FH9. Only with this cable, the spirit of FH9 can therefore be complete. In addition, in order to maintain the texture and extension of bass, it has 8 branches of 28 wires each, which is different from the pure silver cable LC-RD that we are selling. In this way, we can effectively improve effect of bass.
In addition, in order to avoid the possibility that the cable may be yellowing after long-term use and affect the appearance (in fact, it has no influence on the sound quality), the pure silver cable used in the FH9 this time has also equipped with different outer sheath. We changed it from colorless and transparent one to a better-looking clear black sheath. Finally, we made it a monocrystalline pure silver cable for FH9.
After the FH9 was launched, this cable has received a lot of praise, and some users even said that this cable alone is almost worth the price.
During the offline gatherings, many users asked me if this cable would be sold separately. In fact, we have a four-strand pure silver cable LC-RD for sale. The sound is basically the same. As for the separate sales of FH9 cable, it is now being prepared. Anyone who like this cable can stay tuned for it.
PS, the above content is written by the product R&D manager, Mr. Hu. I will add something about the influence of the cable on the sound quality. To briefly summarize our views:
1. The headphone cable and the speaker cable have two special places in the audio system. Firstly, the length of the cable is relatively long. Whether it is in theory or practice, it is true that the longer the length of the cable, the better the electrical properties of the cable (including resistance, distributed capacitance, anti-interference, etc). Secondly, it is the power signal transmitted in the headphone cable and the speaker cable, so it has large current and high voltage. Therefore, the headphone cable and speaker cable are more likely to affect the sound quality in the audio system than the power cable, USB cable, optical and coaxial cable, and signal cable.
2. In the audio system, the influence of the cable on the sound quality is usually the smallest. Personally, I think the order of importance in the system is: headphones/ speakers - headphone amplifier/ power amplifier - audio source - cable.
3. Under the influence of people, systems and environments, different cables have different effects on sound quality. Therefore, not everyone can tell the difference in the sound quality of different cables. But whether it is tested by professional instruments or people’s blind listening, it has been proved that there is an objective difference. In blind listening competitions, there are quite a lot people can identify the difference every time. Therefore, it is recognized that cables have influence on the sound quality, but it should not be overemphasized.
Finally, even if you really can't hear the difference in the sound quality of different cables, I think it is still necessary for a high-end product to go with a high-quality, soft and delicate cable.

 

[Ckfung]

I

I also have both and I don't think that it is possible to hear ones bass faster than the other.
Both are super fast, I would base my choice in the overall presentation and tuning rather than bass speed.
From a technical point of view both have excellent bass for all kinds of music.
Presentation though is quite different.
As an example I wouldn't pick the FH9 for classical music.
If the op needs more scale and theater like presentation with a touch more dominant bass then the FH9 is the better choice.
FD7 is more balanced and less grand, more intimate and more coherent but less analytical and crispy at the highs.
Anyway I think that he can't go wrong whichever he chooses.

FD7's bass is faster.
The term "fast" means impluse reponse to bass signal.
This perception can only be done when using a DAP with low output impedance.(e.g. less than 1 ohm or even lower).

 

[Ckfung]

I

FD7's bass is faster.
The term "fast" means impluse reponse to bass signal.
This perception can only be done when using a DAP with low output impedance.(e.g. less than 1 ohm or even lower).

But make no mistake.
Fiio did a great job.
Both FD7 and FH9 are very good earphones for their price points.
They just show their strengths in different ways.

 

[Ckfung]

I

FD7's bass is faster.
The term "fast" means impluse reponse to bass signal.
This perception can only be done when using a DAP with low output impedance.(e.g. less than 1 ohm or even lower).

But make no mistake.
Fiio did a great job.
Both FD7 and FH9 are very good earphones for their price points.
They just show their strengths in different ways.

 

[Joong]

I

FD7's bass is faster.
The term "fast" means impluse reponse to bass signal.
This perception can only be done when using a DAP with low output impedance.(e.g. less than 1 ohm or even lower).

Scientific explanations makes it clear, but it might not be relevant to musiccal expression.
But somehow we try to find the relevance.

 

[Ichos]

I

FD7's bass is faster.
The term "fast" means impluse reponse to bass signal.
This perception can only be done when using a DAP with low output impedance.(e.g. less than 1 ohm or even lower).

I know exactly what it means.

In real life scenario it is difficult to tell them apart unless you are doing A/Bing to nail the differences and then I doubt so.
There is no way to say that the FH9 is slow for fast moving bass music and it should be my criteria for choosing the FD7 over the FH9.
There are other much more important factors.

 

[Scubadevils]

Sharing further thoughts that I've posted elsewhere on Head-Fi and Facebook today, clearly I'm smitten! Fantastic job @FiiO

I'm spending any available time with FH9. They have the soundstage of MEST MKII, deep/powerful bass, lush & captivating mids, excellent crisp treble - the sheer sense of space is quite incredible, but still coherent.

They work with every genre I've tried, and while they are considered 'fun' tuning, I find them spectacular even with ambient music, giving a huge, holographic presentation that's totally immersive and all encompassing. I absolutely adore them, what started as a dirty weekend when they arrived in error last week, has become true love! Did I mention the bass?!

The 2 years of R&D that FiiO put in have clearly paid off. I'd honestly say these could sell for twice the $599 asking price, if not more. The cable alone looks and feels like something you could pay $200-$300 for separately.

They are big, bold, engaging, emotive and technically competent, all in one package...