[adamt]

As this is my first IEM, I'm thinking about buying the FH3 instead of the moonlight aria as I don't have the money to get both, wanted to know whether the FH3 has twice as good sound compared to the Aria?
Here the FH3 is twice the price of the Aria's

I appreciate this is subjective. how much better do you rate them compared to the aria's ?

This will just be for watching YouTube and listening to music -hip-hop and R&B on iPhone so top quality thumping bass is wanted

Are there other iem's under $150 that you would choose over the FH3's, from my usage?

Thanks

 

[pjones5]

With audio, you'll rarely ever find something "twice as good" with consideration to price because of diminishing returns in technology. A $200 pair of IEMs is going to be 50% better than a $100 IEM and a $300 IEM is going to only be 40% better than the $200 (hypothetically of course). To find something twice as good as something else, you usually have to play leap frog from tier over to the one after next.

That said, I have the Moondrop Starfields (unfortunately, I do not have the Aria's to demo, but I presuming that its going to have that same Moondrop-house signature; warm, but articulate) and the FiiO FH3. I've found the low-end to be less bassy and more warm with the Starfields. Illustratively, tight bass gives you a punch with nice resolve (like a nice tight kick drum) whereas a warm-signature has bass but is smooothhh. With Hip Hop, you want the former. The FH3s have a tight bass response. So while the FH3s certainly aren't twice as good as the Arias, I'd go FH3. That said... you have cheaper options in my opinion. Jade Audio (a subsidiary of FiiO) makes some solid low-budget IEMs. I bought a pair for each of my groomsmen and they all love them precisely because of the bass response. The well-received Tin HiFi T2 Pro is also a great option. Recently, I acquired a pair of Blon BL03s and that one has been my go-to for rap, hip hop, etc. because of its spacious, fun, bassy sound signature.

I prefer to have several cheaper options versus one really good option - keeps things fun by changing it up. That's why I've got a dozen sub-$150 IEMs versus pulling the trigger on one or two really high end pairs.

 

[GabeM]

With audio, you'll rarely ever find something "twice as good" with consideration to price because of diminishing returns in technology. A $200 pair of IEMs is going to be 50% better than a $100 IEM and a $300 IEM is going to only be 40% better than the $200 (hypothetically of course). To find something twice as good as something else, you usually have to play leap frog from tier over to the one after next.

That said, I have the Moondrop Starfields (unfortunately, I do not have the Aria's to demo, but I presuming that its going to have that same Moondrop-house signature; warm, but articulate) and the FiiO FH3. I've found the low-end to be less bassy and more warm with the Starfields. Illustratively, tight bass gives you a punch with nice resolve (like a nice tight kick drum) whereas a warm-signature has bass but is smooothhh. With Hip Hop, you want the former. The FH3s have a tight bass response. So while the FH3s certainly aren't twice as good as the Arias, I'd go FH3. That said... you have cheaper options in my opinion. Jade Audio (a subsidiary of FiiO) makes some solid low-budget IEMs. I bought a pair for each of my groomsmen and they all love them precisely because of the bass response. The well-received Tin HiFi T2 Pro is also a great option. Recently, I acquired a pair of Blon BL03s and that one has been my go-to for rap, hip hop, etc. because of its spacious, fun, bassy sound signature.

I prefer to have several cheaper options versus one really good option - keeps things fun by changing it up. That's why I've got a dozen sub-$150 IEMs versus pulling the trigger on one or two really high end pairs.

I've heard that the tin t2 pro is a particularly nautral iem leaning toawrds bright and lean in the bass compared to all the other ones u mentioned.

 

[jmwant]

Thumpy bass? Get thr FH3. I upgraded from Aria to FH3 myself. The mids might sound "cuppy" occasionally on some songs, except this its an excellent IEM at it's price and worth double the price of Aria.

 

[galaxysound25]

As this is my first IEM, I'm thinking about buying the FH3 instead of the moonlight aria as I don't have the money to get both, wanted to know whether the FH3 has twice as good sound compared to the Aria?
Here the FH3 is twice the price of the Aria's

I appreciate this is subjective. how much better do you rate them compared to the aria's ?

This will just be for watching YouTube and listening to music -hip-hop and R&B on iPhone so top quality thumping bass is wanted

Are there other iem's under $150 that you would choose over the FH3's, from my usage?

Thanks

Just as pjones5 said, it is not like by increasing price the quality will increase in same proportion doesn't work in anything, be it mobile, laptop, or IEMs. But if you are ready to spend some, you can upgrade cables, eartips and DAC (even a cheaper one) will add lot of improvement in the sound quality including the soundstage etc...the source quality of songs also matters a lot, weather the song is in HD or not...

 

[podnosimyszafe]

As this is my first IEM, I'm thinking about buying the FH3 instead of the moonlight aria as I don't have the money to get both, wanted to know whether the FH3 has twice as good sound compared to the Aria?
Here the FH3 is twice the price of the Aria's

I appreciate this is subjective. how much better do you rate them compared to the aria's ?

This will just be for watching YouTube and listening to music -hip-hop and R&B on iPhone so top quality thumping bass is wanted

Are there other iem's under $150 that you would choose over the FH3's, from my usage?

Thanks

I own FH3 and the best way I can describe its bass, that it is very focused on sub-bass range. It does not have a lot of bass rumble but to my ears it has a quite thumpy initial bass attack. However our music choices are very different, so no idea how similar your experience will be with your ears and your music library. In my opinion FH3 is solid pick, but the way it was tuned may make some music sound weird. With some songs I get a little bit more raspy vocals than they really are and some songs tend to sound a little bit less energetic on FH3 than on other gear. On the other hand some songs sound as if they were trailor made for this IEM. It is very difficult to describe it.

From your post I assume that you want to buy from local sellers, however if you consider buying from China, then Fiio FHE seems like a better choice. It is Fiio FH3 retuned by Crinacle. It has a little bit more bass than FH3 and slightly different treble, so in theory that raspy vocals effect should not be present on FHE.

I have not heard Moondrop Aria yet, but reviews generally tend to point at its midrange as the strongest aspect of these IEMs, reveiws generally do not have anything particularly positive or negative to say about its bass. A little bit silly to compare IEM that I own to one I have not heard, but Aria is much better all rounder, but FH3 is beter package with nicer stock cable, more accesories and lack of qc issues with paint like Aria sometimes has (some people have chipping paint and bubbles on their Arias).

A surprising pick but IMO worth being taken into consideration is Samsung's Galaxy Buds line. Despite the fact that it is TWS, it is fairly competetive sound quality wise. I own Galaxy Buds+ and this pair has spectacular bass rumble. If it is what you prioritize in bass, it might be great IEM for you. Additionally this model's popularity makes it easy to find second hand pair. However, as always, there are some possible dealbreakers. Galaxy Buds tend to be very picky about bluetooth codec. They sound best with Samsung's proprietary codec. In case of sbc or aac it might be necessairy to experiment with phones settings too hear how well they performed with each.

To sum up this lengthy post:
If you heavily prioritise sub-bass and do not mind lack of rumble and occasional weirdness in vocals - Fiio FH3
If you want slightly better FH3 and do not mind ordering from China - Fiio FHE
If you want safe pick and are not afraid of potential paint problems - Moondrop Aria
If you have Samsung phone - Galaxy Buds/ Buds+/Buds 2/Buds pro might be interesting choice (keep in mind that Buds 2 and Pros do not have mountable rubber wings that buds and buds+ have - they night be helpful getting good fit)

 

[jmwant]

I own FH3 and the best way I can describe its bass, that it is very focused on sub-bass range. It does not have a lot of bass rumble but to my ears it has a quite thumpy initial bass attack. However our music choices are very different, so no idea how similar your experience will be with your ears and your music library. In my opinion FH3 is solid pick, but the way it was tuned may make some music sound weird. With some songs I get a little bit more raspy vocals than they really are and some songs tend to sound a little bit less energetic on FH3 than on other gear. On the other hand some songs sound as if they were trailor made for this IEM. It is very difficult to describe it.

From your post I assume that you want to buy from local sellers, however if you consider buying from China, then Fiio FHE seems like a better choice. It is Fiio FH3 retuned by Crinacle. It has a little bit more bass than FH3 and slightly different treble, so in theory that raspy vocals effect should not be present on FHE.

I have not heard Moondrop Aria yet, but reviews generally tend to point at its midrange as the strongest aspect of these IEMs, reveiws generally do not have anything particularly positive or negative to say about its bass. A little bit silly to compare IEM that I own to one I have not heard, but Aria is much better all rounder, but FH3 is beter package with nicer stock cable, more accesories and lack of qc issues with paint like Aria sometimes has (some people have chipping paint and bubbles on their Arias).

A surprising pick but IMO worth being taken into consideration is Samsung's Galaxy Buds line. Despite the fact that it is TWS, it is fairly competetive sound quality wise. I own Galaxy Buds+ and this pair has spectacular bass rumble. If it is what you prioritize in bass, it might be great IEM for you. Additionally this model's popularity makes it easy to find second hand pair. However, as always, there are some possible dealbreakers. Galaxy Buds tend to be very picky about bluetooth codec. They sound best with Samsung's proprietary codec. In case of sbc or aac it might be necessairy to experiment with phones settings too hear how well they performed with each.

To sum up this lengthy post:
If you heavily prioritise sub-bass and do not mind lack of rumble and occasional weirdness in vocals - Fiio FH3
If you want slightly better FH3 and do not mind ordering from China - Fiio FHE
If you want safe pick and are not afraid of potential paint problems - Moondrop Aria
If you have Samsung phone - Galaxy Buds/ Buds+/Buds 2/Buds pro might be interesting choice (keep in mind that Buds 2 and Pros do not have mountable rubber wings that buds and buds+ have - they night be helpful getting good fit)

Second this!