o0genesis0o
Headphoneus Supremus
I guess AFUL Performer 5 could get more attentions with FiiO’s FH18 eartips paired.
Nope, Awful P5 would get more attention if there is a video of Crinacle (whichever famous reviewer) making “wow“ face with some hyperbolic statement. At this rate, it would fall to obscurity quickly, at least around here.
I have done a few of my main A/B tests for writing the review of FH15. Can confidently say that it is 5/5 in soundstage imaging now, easily trades blows with my Andromeda (using Shanling M6U as source). I can also confidently say that it’s resolution is 4 or 4.5 at most. Very good, thoroughly enjoyable and even fairly impressive, but easily schooled by TOTL (Monarch II and now Andromeda 2020). Comparing to JD7, FH15 does a better job at “macro detail” or separation, but at least half step back in terms of micro details or “detail-retrieval”. There are nuances in voices and instruments that JD7 can pick out, but FH15 can’t . At the same time, the whole stereo image is crisper and cleaner with FH15 due to better separation.
(And that’s why “resolution” is such a difficult beast to describe. It’s not just one aspect).
The bass is quite well done (?) Forget the graph, these IEMs rumble more than JD7. I was surprised how much more it rumbles when I A/B with JD7 using Skyrim main theme and some old soundtracks from Final Fantasy 8. At the same time, FH15 out-punches Monarch II, as I mentioned last week. I don’t know. It seems solid 4/5 or even 5/5 for me in terms of bass.
Tuning feels correct. Nothing is out of place. No unusually thick and warm tuning like Andromeda. No thin and shrill tuning. The treble instruments (e.g., cymbals and chimes) are arguably a bit more quiet than “neutral”. Still, I consider the tuning neutral and correct. It’s good, but does not “touch” me the way JD7 feels. I say 4/5.
In general, if we judge purely by average score, I don’t think FH15 completely out-rank JD7. If we consider the price difference, FH15 would likely be ranked lower than JD7. Still, I can’t quite decide whether to use FH15 or JD7 solely from now (until a new flavor of the month appears and flips the table).
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