I'm going to be getting some Fiio FH7's soon so I'm going to hold off doing a full review until then. I want to make sure to give the Monolith USB DAC a fair shot and I just don't think
the FH5's will do it given their limitations. The FH5's don't have the best soundstage and the treble is just okay. The music can also sound a little congested on complex songs. What the FH5's do offer is decent
tuning, great build quality and good comfort. I will say the Monolith USB DAC has improved the sound of my FH5's beyond my expectations. My guess is, the question for most people researching this DAC is whether or not it performs to the levels of the the DFR or even the DFC. Since I don't currently own or have access to a either of those I cannot do a direct comparison. I did own the DFR but I sold it before I bought the FH5's. I only know how it sounds when paired with Campfire Andros, JH Audio Angie II's, 64 Audio U12's and Noble Django's, Westone W40's.
I think I need to give some background at this point and explain how I ended up on this thread. My wife and I fell on some tough times a few years ago when I had to close my business. I had no choice but to sell most of my IEM's and DAC's. Initially I was so upset I kind of lost interest in the IEM scene. But, as a drummer I rely on IEM's for live performances so I had to have something. For a while I just used my Westone W40's and those sounded okay but they had their limitations. Like audiophiles, musicians who rely on IEM's for live performance, look for specific attributes in IEM's. Namely, wide soundstage, instrument separation, accurate instrument placement and tuning that works best with your instrument or voice. Even though the Westones were a live performance IEM they didn't work well for me. The fit was good, however, the tuning wasn't to my preference, it had a narrow soundstage and the separation was poor which was bearable during short sessions but made long sessions very difficult. They would be in my ears from anywhere between two to six hours per session, so needless to say at the end of a long night my ears would become very fatigued. Long story short I had to find better IEM's on a tight budget and eventually I came across the FH5's. I have to say although the FH5's don't perform at the levels of my other higher end IEM's, I'm quite happy with them for live performance use. And for personal listening, even happier now that I have them paired with this DAC. One thing I can say is that if you are on a tight budget this setup is really, really good. However, I can't wait to get my hands on the FH7's and see what this bad boy is really capable of! Sorry, I didn't mean for this to turn into an IEM review but if people are looking for good budget DAC's they also might be looking for good budget IEM's and the Fiio FH5's are incredible. I don't just mean for a budget IEM, I mean they stand on their own merit for the sound, build quality and comfort, regardless of the price.
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