[progdvd]

The FD5 is a complicated earphone. I am guilty of listening to stuff out of the box. I mean who wouldnt right? But if I based my judgement on out of the box sound I would have gotten rid of most of my IEMs and probably not happy with any of them.

FD5 does require burn in. It is finicky of sources, It is finicky of tips, it is finicky of cables. Some earphones are easy as far as plug n play goes, FD5 is not easy.

If your coming from a hyper clear all BA set up. Ya they arent gonna sound like that. If your coming from more neutral tuned sound the FD5 is gonna have a lot of bass and is gonna sound colored to you. ( News flash, earphones are all tuned differently)

After a good amount of burn in. It took me a while in trial and error to nail down the sound from the FD5 I was looking for. It does take a bit of an effort even more so than most IEMs. Look at it as a puzzle you gotta solve. Try this and try that. They are worth the effort, they just need a bit more attention than most IEMs thats all.

Synergy is a real thing with the FD5. Your quest, if your up to the challenge, is to find that synergy.

All true. I have bunch of different tips and cables laying around, and as for source I'm sticking with V50, ES100, BTR5, and planning to buy Q5K later this year, so no fancy DAPs or bulky sandwiches for me. I'm confidant ill find combo that works.

 

[Dsnuts]

Nobody wants to spend a chunk of cash for an earphone to be dissappointed. I do know the FD5 does really well with cable and tip combos and that is a good start.

 

[dpump]

I'm looking to purchase a used FD5 if anyone decides to sell theirs. You can PM me.

 

[CT007]

I'm just saying FD5 lacks clarity in the mids compared to the stuff I'm used to.
I left them on burn-in rig and I will check them in few days time.

What's got mids you like? How many ports does your rig have? I was thinking about getting a 5 or 6 port.

 

[progdvd]

What's got mids you like? How many ports does your rig have? I was thinking about getting a 5 or 6 port.

Fearless S8F still has the best tuning I heard in any price range IMHO.
Haha my burn in rig is whatever is turned on and has enough juice laptop or extra phone.

 

[CT007]

Fearless S8F still has the best tuning I heard in any price range IMHOhio.

Oh, ok. I haven't heard any Fearless or IEM that expensive yet. Probably nothing I have would have similar mids then lol. Maybe you'd like DM8, but boy, I wouldn't bet much on it :5

 

[IEMusic]

I'm coming from S8F, where mids are more elevated richer and clearer sounding.

This speaks volumes (no pun intended) to where your point of reference is. I still have not really gotten used to my S8P. Sure I can enjoy some music on it, and I definitely can appreciate its many strengths, but the tuning doesn’t gel with me personally. The upper mids are too pronounced and can easily sound way too intense for me. Slightly more than an easy-listening volume level, and every muscle in my head and neck tenses up, unless I use EQ. It’s not so much shouty, as really intense. The curious thing is that the S8F/P are almost universally considered to be “V-shaped”. While I don’t really consider the midrange recessed on the S8P, it depends on what part of the midrange one is referring to. Male vocals do sound a bit recessed relative to female vocals.

The FD5 is a complicated earphone. I am guilty of listening to stuff out of the box. I mean who wouldnt right? But if I based my judgement on out of the box sound I would have gotten rid of most of my IEMs and probably not happy with any of them.

FD5 does require burn in. It is finicky of sources, It is finicky of tips, it is finicky of cables. Some earphones are easy as far as plug n play goes, FD5 is not easy.

If your coming from a hyper clear all BA set up. Ya they arent gonna sound like that. If your coming from more neutral tuned sound the FD5 is gonna have a lot of bass and is gonna sound colored to you. ( News flash, earphones are all tuned differently)

After a good amount of burn in. It took me a while in trial and error to nail down the sound from the FD5 I was looking for. It does take a bit of an effort even more so than most IEMs. Look at it as a puzzle you gotta solve. Try this and try that. They are worth the effort, they just need a bit more attention than most IEMs thats all.

Synergy is a real thing with the FD5. Your quest, if your up to the challenge, is to find that synergy.

It seems that with more consumers getting the FD5, the opinions are becoming a bit more varied. Probably both based on personal tastes, and the fact that these are finicky IEMs, with tremendous potential, if one can get the synergy to mesh with ones tastes. This really reminds me of the JVC FD01/FDX1. I had a rollercoaster ride of...kind of like it, meh, hate it, really hate it, this is brutal, okay now it’s bearable, ok now we’re talking, still not quite right.......finally!!

 

[progdvd]

Yes S8F is V but I don't find anything recessed or elevated to be fatiguing, on contrary S8F gives me clarity and detail... Without stepping wrong anywhere. I took a listen a couple more songs on FD5 last night and good example of what I'm talking about would be song Wait from Maggie Reilly. I like this song her vocals are in the forefront of the mix, on S8F I go for volume button for enjoyment and exceptional clarity while on FD5 I go for volume button because that sparkle in mids is missing so I'm trying to compensate.
I'm not saying that FD5 is bad not at all, it has many strengths but comparing it with S8F would be little unfair it's totally different setup internally. But just from presentation of the (higher) mids I'll take S8F any day. Bass is insane on FD5, listening Blade Runner 2049 OST is mesmerizing experience.

 

[cleg]

FiiO FD5 — text review​

English: https://porta.fi/fiio-fd5-review-unexpected-and-pleasant-surprise/
Russian: https://porta.fi/ru/obzor-naushnikov-fiio-fd5-neozhidanno-priyatnyj-syurpriz/

 

[jarvincassidy]

Looks like Headfonics posted their review of the FD5 also.

https://headfonics.com/fiio-fd5-review/

 

[gavinfabl]

Right. Just a quick first impression of the FD5. I also got the Fiio EM5 at the same time. On first listen of the FD5 I wasn’t happy. Treble sounded brittle. So I left them burning in for 24 hours. After that what a difference. Very pleased with the sound of these now. My favourite IEM by far so far except one other. . And they have got better after another 24 hours of burn in.

The one other IEM that I’m really really enjoying is the Fiio EM5. I’ll add some comments on that in its thread. So different yet so hair raising good.

 

[Ace Bee]

Right. Just a quick first impression of the FD5. I also got the Fiio EM5 at the same time. On first listen of the FD5 I wasn’t happy. Treble sounded brittle. So I left them burning in for 24 hours. After that what a difference. Very pleased with the sound of these now. My favourite IEM by far so far except one other. . And they have got better after another 24 hours of burn in.

The one other IEM that I’m really really enjoying is the Fiio EM5. I’ll add some comments on that in its thread. So different yet so hair raising good.

EM5 is an earbud. I got confused, as EM-5 is a Simgot iem, when did Fiio released a iem by the same name.

 

[gavinfabl]

EM5 is an earbud. I got confused, as EM-5 is a Simgot iem, when did Fiio released a iem by the same name.

Not sure exactly, but I think it was around September last year.

 

[Ace Bee]

Not sure exactly, but I think it was around September last year.

Yeah, it's an earbud. You mentioned iem, it's not an iem.

 

[Ace Bee]

@gavinfabl I am sorry if I sounded rude...looking back on my replies they seem kind of rude to me. I did not mean to sound rude. Apologies for that.