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
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
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