[fidgeraldo]

No this is not me.

Hahaha..pitty...this dude is cool (the other you )

Meaning...it's not that you are not too

 

[DaveStarWalker]

Hahaha..pitty...this dude is cool (the other you )

But I am the very best

 

[fidgeraldo]

But I am the very best

Hahaha...I knew that you French have biiiiig Ego...but that's what I am talking about; that's the right way !

I recently asked someone who makes headphones..." are your headphones the best on the market?"
What a disappointment because he avoided the question...and said, let the customers judge that

If you make headphones...I would instantly buy from you just because of that attitude...I am the best!

I will still buy his headphones...but I wanted that he said...yes..."I am the best"!

Cheers!

 

[DaveStarWalker]

Hahaha...I knew that you French have biiiiig Ego...but that's what I am talking about; that's the right way !

I recently asked someone who makes headphones..." are your headphones the best on the market?"
What a disappointment because he avoided the question...and said, let the customers judge that

If you make headphones...I would instantly buy from you just because of that attitude...I am the best!

I will still buy his headphones...but I wanted that he said...yes..."I am the best"!

Cheers!

Do you know how to kill a Frenchman?

You have to point and shoot him 15 centimeters above his head.

Right in the superiority complex.

 

[fidgeraldo]

Right in the superiority complex.

Hahahahaha...I was joking about French ego...but it seems that I hit the bull's eye
Well, with that much art history...I am not surprised at all

 

[Neweymatt]

I recently had the opportunity to spend a few weeks with 5 well-known “ChiFi” IEMs, the KiwiEars Orchestra Lite, FiiO FH15, 7Hz Legato, Hidizds MP145, and YanYin Canon 2, herewith my impressions on the FH15. While I’ve gravitated to the more expensive end of the IEM pool recently, I still think there’s plenty of interesting things to be heard at pretty much every price point in this hobby, and I really appreciated the opportunity to sample the FH15 among the others.

Many thanks to FiiO for providing the kit and as ever to @Damz87 for organising these tours in Australia!


FiiO FH15
$229
1x Dynamic Driver, 3x Balanced Armature Drivers



Fit & Ergonomics
The FH15 shells are average size metal, I believe machined aluminium, that feel nice in the hand and fit very easily. The design is a pleasing dark blue ‘dragon-scale’ motif with a gold surround that looks pretty good and gives the FH15 a premium feel.

Tuning
FH15 has moderate amount of sub-bass, if lacking somewhat in mid-bass and lower midrange warmth. Upper mids are pushed forward quite a bit, and sometimes female vocals borderline on shout. Treble feels fairly natural, but ever so slightly clipped off up top. This tuning is ok, and if I’m being generous very “safe”, but nothing particularly special really.

Technical
Stage here is reasonably wide and has some decent height to it. Depth is fairly shallow, so dynamics suffer a bit. There’s a good amount of detail there to be heard, likely on account of the pushed upper midrange. Timbre feels a bit disjointed between the smooth lower mids & bass vs the kind of plastic-y BA upper frequencies.

Summary
This is not a bad IEM at all, but there isn’t much very special or interesting about it, and I feel it's outclassed in most ways at and well below it's price point. For example, I recently picked up the $40 CCA Trio, which may lack just a smidge of detail resolution vs the FH15, but is a lot more fun and engaging at a fraction of the price.

 

[FiiO]

FIIO JH5

 

[DaveStarWalker]

So,

Another little tweak for the Fh9's and as far as I'm concerned the very last one (because after that I don't see what to do more ):

You take your small nozzle filter (green, red, etc.), you unscrew them...

... you remove the small colored rubber washer (so green, red... depending on what you use)...

...and you screw in place these newly "anonimized filters" and put back in place your usual tips.

Enjoy*

* You had to think about it and I'll let you discover by yourselves what it does (it's (not so) subtle but... )

**Otherwise for my part, with the Eros S cable, cat's paw tips and 250 over-filtering, Dap M1s, fast filter ; green filtrers to "mystery filters" . For other associations, I have no comment.***

***I have tried the "no filter at all option" : it just doesn't work. Lack of density, two dimensional restitution.

 

[DaveStarWalker]

In fact this is not subtle...

... and I can even say that this seriously makes you think about resonances, material(s) of the cannulas, grids, openings, diameter and length of the cannulas, insertion of the tips into the conduits, etc.; it can therefore come down to hairs it’s quite astonishing actually...

 

[PROblemdetected]

Ivr been trying the FA19...

Best FiiO I've tried since FH7

Its the new dealbreaker, the only bad fact is the price...

 

[DaveStarWalker]

The FA19's seem to be interesting. Far more than the FX15 as i think (I don't like very much the "(false) EST fashion"... )

This being said, the "old" FH9's are just incredible... they scale like no other iems I know. Call me impressed. 2 years for me and I find some new tricks and qualities
The tweakin possibilities (intrinsic and extrinsic) are just top notch. Fantastic. And a bargain in second hand.

 

[PROblemdetected]

The FA19's seem to be interesting. Far more than the FX15 as i think (I don't like very much the "(false) EST fashion"... )

This being said, the "old" FH9's are just incredible... they scale like no other iems I know. Call me impressed. 2 years for me and I find some new tricks and qualities
The tweakin possibilities (intrinsic and extrinsic) are just top notch. Fantastic. And a bargain in second hand.

I just received the K19...

Good time to re-discover the FH9

 

[krenky]

The FH9 are incredible set. Amazing sound, superb built and fantastic value. You can see this confirmed by many on their review page.
I got new upgrade cable for them called Grape God and its excellent looking and sounding cable.
I just posted my FH9 review few days ago there. I strongly recommend to try these IEM.

 

[DaveStarWalker]

The FH9 are incredible set. Amazing sound, superb built and fantastic value. You can see this confirmed by many on their review page.
I got new upgrade cable for them called Grape God and its excellent looking and sounding cable.
I just posted my FH9 review few days ago there. I strongly recommend to try these IEM.

Very good review.

Totally agree

Out of the box, they are really good. But with a few tricks (tips, cable, a few - very simple but effective - mods), they became just... terrific

Monsters

I am accustomed to some elite iems, some of the very best out there, if not the very best available (PMG APX, Vision Ears Erlkoning, my Aure Ringo, Final a8000, etc... and a lot more, about the most hyped products of the planet... every prices and technologies).

This being said, my "DSW Tuned" Fh9 (see my signature and different posts about my mods) are fully competitive. Everything. And a lot more better than a lot of so said "totl products" : balance in one word. But this is not the only word.

This is not a posture.

Main flaws : a little metallic flavor for the timbres. Not every time, but time to time. And a little lack of "magic" : no prisoners and no mercy . If I am thinking about the best products I know (APX, Ringo...), in comparison. That's all.

Period

 

[frkasper]

The FH9 simply checks all the boxes for me. No tweaks needed whatsoever. I use mine every 2 weeks (or more) on purpose. And every single time I try them there's the WOW factor. For me, the key to this hobby is diversity, i.e., a collection with multiple sound signatures.

FiiO will have to work really hard to make the new FH19 worthy to be called as successor -- unless they KZify or Moondropify themselves by re-shelling and re-packaging into a new product.

Bar was set really high with the FH9.