Fiio FD1 (Beryllium-plated DD)

IEMs / Other In-Ear Monitors (IEM)
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Haha, it’s all good. It’s good that people give recommendations on what to avoid though. Just curious, what about them didn’t you like? How are they in sound signature compared to the FH7? Are they really that stark in contrast when it comes to treble? I’ve listened to some painful gear over the past two decades or so, but rarely do I come across something that’s too much.

There are odd ones out there though. Grado GS1000 was a pair of headphones I could never get used to. My brother owned a pair for a year or so before he sold them off. The soup bowl sized earpads wouldn’t stop itching and the treble was piercing. This was on a Meyer Audio amp I forgot the name of and on a Harmony Design Ear90. So yeah those are my treble cannons.

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The FD1 has sibilant treble. I was listening to Paramore’s Crush, Crush, Crush and every consonant out of Hayley Williams mouth that could be sibilant was. The FH7 is at the threshold of what I can stand for treble. None of my other IEMs are harsh in this area and I would never put the FD1 in my ears again for any reason so it went back.

I had really high hopes for the FD1 since I really enjoy the FH7, but I guess you can’t expect much for 60 bucks. Treble is one thing, but when it makes vocals sibilant, I won’t deal with that. EQing the FD1 helped but what’s the point when the Blon BL-03 is so much better tuned and only costs 26 bucks? The Urbanfun sounds amazing for the same price as the FD1.

I’ve heard that in general, different regions of the world desire different tuning. I hear that Japan prefers treble, and the west want bass. This is why Fiio tuned the FD1 the way they did.

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I think the FH1s is an avoid since its a bit too much the BA placement or something make it a no go unless you just want that kind of sound. FD1 is good enough for a recc, but can be sibliant. It didnt hurt me, but it is there. Less harsh and a bit better bass. It sounds exciting, but it is a step behind in details overall compared to like the L3 and the Starfield etc.

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Couldn’t agree more. I do love the FD1 cable tho. :cry:

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Agreed. Mine was a bit finicky with the 3.5 mm plug, but the FH1s is the same cable and it was just fine. Best stock cable under 100 so far that I’ve tried.

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Maybe I should give the FH1 a try.

Which one is the Fiio FH1 you’re referencing?

EDIT: Nevermind…

“The punchy bass, sharp and edgy character made it so.”

“What I hear is a reasonably well balanced earphone with a w-shaped signature beset by a prominent upper midrange that skews the tune into being overly bright and quite fatiguing, at least for me.”

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I’m with you on that. This is what made me question a lot of the higher end IEM’s I have heard. Granted this was way back. But I had a pair of Shure IEM’s that went for like 180-200 bucks back around early 2000’s. Since then I’ve had a bit of everything amongst IEM’s, but once I found Hifiman RE-0 I stuck with those until they broke. Then I couldn’t find a pair to replicate that sound signature. It felt like I was using a pair of HD600 as IEM’s and nothing else could replace them.

It wasn’t until recently that I only used a pair of Denon IEM’s that came really close to that good old RE-0 sound, which I kept around till I got the Tin T2’s and later the BL-03. Now those two are the only IEM’s I ever look at and use amongst those that I still have around in the house.

It’s only now that I’ve started looking around for some other flavor and fit. Now it’s Starfield has me with stars in the eyes.

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Can’t say enough good things about that IEM for the price.

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Have to agree. The FiiO FD1 is not very good. The highs are harsh and not detailed. Very splashy and sibilant. Someone on YouTube said that you have to burn them in, but I have many other IEMs and I can usually tell the character of the IEM before burn-in. I doubt that burn-in will improve these much. The one outstanding thing of the FD1 is the soundstage, but the highs just ruin it. I recently received the new Tin HiFi T2 Plus. Better balance and detail than the FD1 but with a little less bass and less soundstage. As others have said, the Urbanfun and BLON 03 have better tuning than the FD1. Even the BLON 05 is better to my ears. And if you want to spend a little more, the Moondrop Starfield and the ThieAudio Legacy 3 are a step above and worth the extra $50.

1 Like
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I’ve been waging a war with that guy on YouTube. He even made another video titled “Fiio FD1 Crybabies Need to Chill Out & Burn in Their IEMs Before Bashing It”. I am the crybaby.

I completely agree with you about burn in. I burned-in the FD1 for a few days before coming to my conclusions, but the YouTube guy refused to listen to my opinion, probably because he had been hyping the crap out of the FD1 for weeks even before he heard them. Break-in did not help the FD1’s sibilance problem. That guy needs to realize other people may have differing opinions about gear than him. If he likes the FD1, great for him. I don’t. He doesn’t have to disrespect those that don’t agree with him.

2 Likes
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yea for the lower end Fiio 60$ options tip selection was the only thing that helped me. I think the lack of a BA makes the FD1 better than the FH1s, but its not better than the Blon or the T2 etc. Its a good package where you dont need to spend money on extras except for tips LOL.

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Yeah, the guy on YouTube seems to really hate Blon for some reason. He dissed the Blon 03 and reviewed the Blon 05 against the Tanchjim Hana (which costs 3 times more) and the Fiio FD1 (which is slightly more). His conclusion was that the Hana and FD1 are much better than the Blon 05, even in looks. While I will admit that Blon 05 sound is “meh”, it does have its good points and it definitely does not have the harshness and sibilance of the FD1. To each his own I guess. None of them are perfect for us audio addicts :slightly_smiling_face:

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The Urbanfun is easily the better choice in the price range…

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Disclaimer, these are the first IEMs I own. Before this, my only experience with iems is a small listening session with the Fiio FH1 and the FA5. The in-ears I have listened to the most are the AKG buds that came with my Samsung S9 (which are surprisingly good actually)

I found the Fiio FD1 for sale on a local classifieds site, for the equivalent of 52Eur (59USD), which I thought is a very good deal and low enough price not to be sorry if they were broken, so I called up the seller. I was actually surprised to find out that they were practically new. The seller tried them with his own tips for 2-3 hours, did not like them and put them up for sale.

First impression, connected to a BTR5, with foam tips, using the unbalanced 3.5mm cable they came with: a bit to many highs (harsh, sometimes sibilant) in certain songs, but they have potential, so, I left them playing metal, electro, jazz, classic, at 50% volume out of the MusicBee / BTR5 for about 20 hours.

I know, I know, burn in snake oil, but what harm can it do?

Well, it seems It actually did good. Now, after listening to them for a few more hours with the foam tips on, they have definitely relaxed, but in certain songs they still sound a bit harsh (Pendulum’s Immersion album for example, but this might be a mixing issue as well).
In most of the songs I listen to (metal in general) the highs are a bit more highlighted, but they are not fatiguing. Nothing I cannot fix from the BTR5’s equalizer if it gets annoying though.

Bass is nice and detailed. I managed to understand instruments and separate them better than with my AKGs. In some metal tracks I wished for a bit more bass “slam” though, but I never wished for less, which is more important to me.

Regarding the mids, sadly I have too little experience to explain how they sound. All I can say is that voices and brass instruments sound really enjoyable.

The songs Utopia, After Time, La Viflaim Colo-n Jos, Summer Dreams, are spot on for what I consider to be really enjoyable listening to subbass, lowbass, midbass, mids and some highs.

A little fearful I decided to try my benchmark song for highs and “speed”, Exercises in Futility V, especially starting from min 2:57. Conclusion is, YES, I APPROVE (also I can full on headbang with them in my ears)!!!

P.S.: As a curiosity, I did a low frequency test, starting from 5hz and up to 30. I can start hearing them from 13hz up (the official specs say they start at 10 hz), so, it seems they can go pretty low.

Also, here’s an image with how they fit in my ear.

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UPDATE:

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I have the Fiio FD1 and i must say that they are really nice and i have no problem with fit, sound and quality feeling.
I did let them soak in some radio music for about 25h before i even let them in my ears. Running Aune dac with a 789 amp and the experience so far is stunning!
Will compare them with the Tape Pro when they eventually show up.

Spotify Premium. List : Hifisentralen bass og morro

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I find them to have a really well balanced sound. They are particularly adept at very fast and percussive music, including the various metal genres.