- Kalnet's As A Kpop Listener Check-In -
Hi! Welcome to my final check-in and overall thoughts of the FD5! For starters, I would like to say that I love the FD5 and it's an IEM that I'm gonna be using for a long time! Thank you to those who have read my check-ins this past month! I'm not sure if I have helped on your decision of purchasing an FD5 or not, but this is, at the end of the day, my honest impressions and thoughts of this particular iem. So before I get started, I bought this IEM mainly for listening KPOP songs. Other genres are usually secondary so if you're looking for impressions in other music genres, I did one in my previous check-in
here. I don't think this will be a very long check-in but we'll see! For perspective, here are the iems that I have used over the years until the FD5:
TFZ Exclusive 1 (2017) > TFZ No.3 (2020) > Tin HiFi T3 (2021) > Moondrop Starfield (2021) > Fiio FH3 (2021) > Fiio FD5 (Present).
My ears seems to be accustomed to the V-shape sounding due to using TFZ iems longer, so my listens may differ from yours. I find the FD5 more of an upgrade from the TFZ No.3 than the FH3 for me so when I was listening on the FD5, I became quite familiarised with it's sound fairly quickly more than the T3, Starfield, and FH3.
Audio Source - Sony NW-A55 (MrWalkman DMP-A50 FEv2 (plus))
Listening volume - 63/120
Tips - Spinfit CP145 (M)
Cable - FD5 Stock
Links to my FD5 impressions and check-ins:
- First Impressions
- 2nd Check-in
- 3rd Check-in
As of this posting, the burn-in period should be about 180+ hours. Does it have any sound changes after my last check-in? No. It sounded exactly the same as a week ago. In terms of burn-in, I found the most "Night & Day" sound changes to be after a week of purchasing it and it slowly changes in the 2nd week. Treble was definitely more tamed and comfortable to listen to. Soundstage opens up a bunch and vocals sounded more natural and crystal clear. Bass is amazing as well but I would like to add that I'm not a basshead so for those who likes bass may have more insight than I do. The past few check-ins, I always complained about
Vocal Sibilance and unfortunately nothing has change after my previous check-in.
LOONA's "Hi High" still has vocal sibilance in the upper-midrange and those (ssss..) are definitely present throughout the song.
WENDY's 'When This Rain Stops' while it's less vocal sibilant, it's pretty much still present and that's very unfortunate. I even tried playing it on my Vivo phone which has an AK4377A DAC and even on a normal laptop (Macbook) audio source, the vocal sibilance is still very much present. It was all played in normal to below listening volume. I may have very sensitive hearing to these sibilance so from your end, you may not hear it at all. Fortunately! The rest of my KPOP music library doesn't have these sibilance. So far, only about 10% of my KPOP music library has vocal sibilance.
Rocket Punch "Ring Ring" sounded amazing with no vocal sibilance at all. For a synthwave-style Kpop song, the treble and those crashes just felt controlled. It's enjoyable from start to finish. Slower songs like
Solar's "Happy People" sounded great as well. Her vocals and the instruments doesn't overshadowed one another. Her vocals goes naturally forward when it wants to and it works like a charm. An even slower, calmer song from
Solar's "Alone People" really focuses on her Vocal lows and the FD5 really helps her vocals shined. The instruments backing up with her vocals really works well and it shows that her vocals are the focus of the song. This is one of the tracks that made me increase my listening volume a ton and there were no distortion at all.
Lee Jin Ah "RUN (with GRAY) focuses more on the dreamy bass and the keyboard. The male vocals feels great but somehow the female vocals felt a bit behind? recessed? It's weird. I decided to listen to her other songs like
"I'm Full" &
"RANDOM" and she sounded great. Her piano solos really brings out some of the best the FD5 have to offer. Jazz works super well with the FD5 in general and going along with some Kpop Jazz, you're in for a wonderful treat.
When I tune into some City Pop, YUKIKA's
"NEON" and
"SOUL LADY", they sounded naturally great despite digging into the 80s style. The vocals in "SOUL LADY" does sound a lil bit more behind than "NEON" so it shows that the midrange vocal-wise, the FD5 takes a step back. Other City Pop-style tracks like
IU "LILAC" focuses more on her Vocals and unlike YUKIKA, IU's vocal felt more natural here with the FD5. When I tried to listen to a higher volume, it can introduce to a bit of sibilance, but when listening on normal listening volume, it was fine.
Let's go to some Korean Drama OSTs.
Jinsoul's 'As Time Goes' and
Chuu's 'Spring Flower' works wonderful with the FD5. There were no vocal sibilance at all and it's very enjoyable to listen to.
TAEYEON's 'All about you',
Gummy's 'Remember me',
CHUNGHA's 'At the end', and
Heize's 'Can You See My Heart' from Korean Drama 'Hotel Del Luna' just works perfectly with the FD5. I thought it's gonna give me some sibilance since some solo Korean tracks have them but I'm amazed how Korean Drama OSTs provides everything the FD5 can handle. Personally, I rarely listen to Korean Drama OSTs but after using the FD5, it's been great listening to some OSTs again.
Lastly, going into modern Kpop songs! Recently released
EVERGLOW "FIRST" is just straight up fire with the FD5. Listening to just straight up lively Kpop songs like this really makes me glad to have bought the FD5.
ITZY's '마.피.아. In the morning' is one strange track but the FD5 highlights the Vocals and bass really well. No complains here. The groovy bass-focused
WJSN THE BLACK "Easy" doesn't overshadow one another. Their vocals and the instruments that focuses on the bass works really well together. This also helps me understand more on why the FD5 excels at being cohesive.
IU's 'Coin' also brings out the best of the FD5. While it sounded sibilant the first time, it slowly became one of my favourite songs to listen to with the FD5. It brings out all the details you need to hear in this track.
I don't really listen to a lot of male Kpop tracks but there are some that I can highlight. When listening to
iKON "LOVE SCENARIO" the first time with the FD5, there was a touch of sibilance but after going back into the song after a week, all that problems disappeared for me and it became quite enjoyable.
WINNER 'REALLY REALLY' almost felt like it's gonna have a treble peak but it didn't. It's just smooth sailing all the way. Last but not least,
SHINee's '1 of 1'. It's a pretty treble heavy track but I find this particular track to be a wonderful example of how amazing the FD5 can be. It showcases their melodically vocals, soundstage, trebles and bass. When their vocals goes into the highs, it doesn't go sibilant on me at all. This track and the FD5 just works amazingly well together and it has been on my repeats for the past 2 weeks now after revisiting this song. A definite recommended song if you have an FD5 with you right now or not.
In conclusion? As a Kpop listener, it's a wonderful IEM to have! Despite having some vocal sibilant troubles in some songs, as an overall package, you can't go wrong with this IEM if you're only listening to Kpop. As for female solo Korean songs, you may need to try it out on your own to check if it suits your needs. From my end, Korean OSTs works great with the FD5. In terms of burn-in, I feel the most changed after a week of using it. While some songs vocal-wise felt like a step back, when there are songs that focuses more on the vocals, the midrange really shines so it depends on the song that you are listening to. With the Kpop songs that I've been listening to? The midrange feels naturally great.
That's about it! Thank you so much for reading if you have read all of my check-ins! I doubt I'll be buying any iems since the FD5 is here to stay with me for a long time. When you find an iem that is fun to listen to, you're in it for the long haul! I'm not sure if my posts are any of help if you're currently deciding on the FD5 or not, but I hope it does! Lastly, Thank you so much especially to RikudouGoku and a few others who have recommended me the FD5 while I was in a midst of exchanging my broken Starfield a month ago. The FD5, for the most part, is perfect for me as a Kpop listener! Once again, thank you so much for reading. Until then, take care and stay safe!
Once more, time to make the FD5 scream.
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