[lgcubana]

Da Cable Wars

I would qualify the following to be aimed at those that believe in absolutes: cables are cables, as long as they're of good quality; they make no difference, to any IEM. But the FiiO FD5 is one of those IEMs, where cable materials will make a noticeable difference to the output.

On my 4 cores 4N OFHC High Purity Oxygen-Free Copper Cable, the floor is a beast. Well recorded versions of Eagles', "Hotel California", Led Zepelin's, "Stairway to Heaven" take on a new life. Yes, on some questionably recorded Hip-Hop songs the synthesized sub bass can get a little sloppy on the finish. But overall, on a good, high purity, copper cable, the FiiO FD5 is a stand out.

On the stock cable, the FD5 looses an appreciable amount of that bottom end (which may very well to be some listeners liking); in this setup, they sound much closer to the JVC HA-FD01, in overall presentation. Also, I didn't find that the stock cable boosted the upper frequencies; they just x'ed out some of the character, of the low end.

Footnote: as @Dsnuts has stated, the FD5 will probably need some tweaking, for you to achieve the best that they can be, for your preferences. So when I say that the stock cable didn't add to the overall upper frequency response, I have to point out that I'm also using:
1. My homemade foam filters (inside the stock nozzles)
2. Foam tips
3. Quedlix-5K, with PEQ

 

[ChrisHeld1989]

I ordered the RHA filter nozzles and tried on FD5. Yes, they're changing the sound, but not where i need it. Now i ordered the Moondrop Starfield filters and i hope they will work. And last week i ordered a UPOCC cable from Y*ny*o.

 

[progdvd]

@FiiO Kang
Once again please
Unfortunately I'm very impatient when it comes to these iems. You already answered soon, but can you give me approximate date whem will FD5 be available on Amazon DE or Hifi Passion (Germany)?
Ideally I would like to buy them from EU, but if "soon" is in a month or two then I have to look for other sellers. Yes I know Fiio Official Store at Ali Express has them so does Hifigo, but as I said I would very much prefer European seller.

 

[Rudivanb]

With the BTR5 as the balanced amp and the standard cable I find the FD5 most of the times sounding natural and very engaging. Instead of listening to the hardware the music draws my attention. However with some recordings the upper registers can become, to my ears, a tiny bit aggressive. The budget cable KBear Rhyme makes the FD5 less spectacular, some I am thinking of a few options:

• A very good UPOCC copper litz cable,
• A pure silver cable plated with gold. I love what gold can do in the upper registers. But I don't want to lose any of the FD5 qualities
• Fiio LC-RE
• Or maybe even gold plated copper ?

Dilemma, because these options will cost me each about 30% to 60% of the price of the IEMs, buying two or more would be too much for me. So I am eager to learn about your experiences with cable rolling on these imho musical FD5s.

 

[Dsnuts]

You try out the foam tips that come with the FD5 first? Give those a go first before trying out cables as it is something they include. If not try to get some Compy TX400 with wax guards. Should take a bit off the edge there.

 

[Rudivanb]

Thank you so much, will try tip rolling first and see how that works out.

 

[mochill]

Can it compete with IER-Z1R ?

 

[Ichos]

First listening experience and I think that the tuning is very natural and well balanced.
With the balanced tips I don't feel that I need to change something.
This seems to be the best tuned FiiO iem till now , at least for my ears.

 

[krumplib430]

I think these IEMs need a lot of burn-in (or maybe my brain needed more burn-in...no idea), they sound much better after about 100 hours. Initially, I was missing some clarity and detail but now it sounds much better. The spacious 3D like feeling is very unique, the bass is also superb. I can also highly recommend the Sony hybrid tips with these. It makes the bass even more punchy/visceral (it won't increase quantity but improves bass quality even more), the highs became a bit more precise as well. My second favorite tips are the included vocal tips. I don't recommend final-e tips, those made the sound a bit muffled and bloaty.

 

[FiiO Kang]

Yes, because of the property of Dynamic diver.
A proper burn-in will make the sound smoother.
The recommended time is 100~ 200hours.

 

[YCHANGE]

For first 24 hours I think I had the 4.4mm adapter in backwards lol. Noticed my Ray Charles vocals were on opposite side upon second second listen.

Foam tips were most comfortable, but too much bass out of the M15 for me. It was CA Vega/Atlas type bass. Silicone balanced tips work best for me so far. Still very comfortable with minimal driver flex in my right ear.

I've used M15 4.4, ZX300 4.4, and WM1A 3.5. In High gain all 3 players put out really good sound ootb.

The packaging and sound match up and sometimes surpasses CA DD's of mine from years ago(Lyra II,Vega, Atlas). The added adapters and changeable models included with the FD5 make it all the more attractive.

 

[FiiO Kang]

一片晕红才著雨，几丝柔绿乍和烟。
倩魂销尽夕阳前。

 

[CT007]

一片晕红才著雨，几丝柔绿乍和烟。
倩魂销尽夕阳前。

Try the bass tips

 

[ChrisHeld1989]

I gave the FD5 a short burn-in of around 50 hours and i must say, that the sharpness that i don't like slowly dissapears. I will let them burn-in for around 200 hours plus i'am waiting for my pure copper cable. But for now i like them alot. The Bass is so deep and rumble, that you can feel the housing shaking. The impact, attack and decay of the bass is perfect to my ears. What i absolutely love are the stage and imaging. I never listened to a iem under 1000 bucks, that have such a wide and deep stage. It comes close to a over-ear. The imaging is very three dimensional / holographic. FiiO did a very good job. Oh and of course the detailing is excellent for a single DD! I really like the FD5. When i finished the burn-in a will tell something about mids and highs. But for now it is very nice.

 

[CT007]

What i absolutely love are the stage and imaging. I never listened to a iem under 1000 bucks, that have such a wide and deep stage. It comes close to a over-ear. The imaging is very three dimensional / holographic.

I would say the spatial capability/accuracy of these in FPS games beats(AKA is more accurate, and sounds more natural/connected) every headphone I've ever heard into the $500's, by a long shot. IEMs seem to provide a more connected, natural sound to the game space than headphones, probably mostly due to much better isolation(but I'm not quite sure). It just feels like headphones are more external, and therefore there's more things that can get between your brain and the drivers to pollute the sound, compared to IEMs. No headphone I've heard has impressed me with SQ like this besides HE6 & LCD-3, which is a terrible shame that SQ at this level costs so much in a headphone The FD5 probably still has more impressive spatial performance than HE6 & LCD-3, even at that price range.