Nice. Iāve spoken to Jessie over e mail. Heās the one who reached out to me to offer a special gift for giving them so much business over 2020. Very nice people.
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Probably the FD5 because of timbre. I wouldnāt go with the Blessing 2 personally, but I did not purchase it because of Rikudou Gokuās comments.
Or you could take BGGARs word for it and check out his tier list. It sounds like his library is similar to yoursā¦
Check out where that Mangrid Tea sits!
Yeah I saw his list, but he doesnāt have the FD5 on it so I canāt use it to compare. Also he has the T2 and FH3 very low, which makes me wonder whether we like the same things. I can think of half a dozen reasons why Iād prefer the FD5; the cable, the vents, the fit seems nicer, no long waits, supporting companies selling their shit in EU, easier to resell. But your review, and Beggarās list makes me wonder whether the TEA wouldnāt be better.
However Crin only marked these only as a C calling them just short of āwonkyā. Last time I tried something like that (Gradoās) I ended up selling again within two weeks.
Donāt want to speak for him @hawaiibadboy but if I recall, the FD5 didnāt blow him away. Definitely not like the Mangird Tea didā¦ ācertainly better than the U12Tā.
There is no ābetterā only different. Itās all subjective.
It sounds like your mind is already made up. Stop second guessing and just do it.
You canāt go wrong with the FD5. For $300 bucks, you are getting a lot for your money and the IEM itself has many advantages over many other IEMs and is a joy to listen to, but nothing is perfect for everyone or every genre of music.
You can always do what I do and buy everything youāre interested in and find out first hand for yourself.
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Youāre probably right and Iām probably heading straight down the rabbit hole and ordering everything eventually, but Iām trying to at least make it look like Iām putting up a fight 
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Selling off a lot of old stuff at the moment, so I should be able to buy them pretty soon.
He did have them on the āBest of 2020ā list where they took 7th place.
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RHA filters and tips arrived today. So far, I like what I hear.
Their dual-density tips are really good for comfort, they distribute the weight much better than Spinfits, which I just couldnāt wear with these for longer periods.
I donāt know whether itās the tips (Iām using the RHA black/bass ones right now), the filter or both, but the bass quality seems a bit better (than the default filter and Sony EPEX tips). The slam is a bit less fatiguing, I think it might be tighter and a bit more detailed at the same time. No treble issues so far either!
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Thanks for sharing, looks really like a needed thing for fd5 owners, Isnāt the filters reducing transparency and openess of the fd5?. How do you fell? I always look at additional filter with a little bit scepticism. Thatās why i use wide bore (exept really bright or sibilant iems) and everything that is not interupting these qualities of the sound.
I bought those filters too but I went back to the stock wide nozzle. I havenāt been offended by the stock trebles though. I imagine those filters (would help with offensive trebles to some), theyāre nice to have anyway
Maybe, maybe not. Iām not sure what you mean by transparency, but my library doesnāt include much that requires āopennessā (Iām assuming youāre referring to something like soundstage). Iām also not a huge fan of changing parts, but I thought it was worth a try at the time. I think the treble issue got better over time anyway, as my brain and maybe also the driver burned in, ironically this happened whilst the order for the RHA filters and tips was being delivered.
However, I still prefer the RHA tips for comfort and they seem to be too narrow for the stock filter. Spinfits are too long and thin to support the weight, so I was using Sony EPEX, which are shorter and allow the IEM to actually sit inside my outer ear. Unfortunately, the IEM physically has a bit of a sharp edge, just enough to be annoyingā¦
RHA tips seem to be able to distribute the weight without collapsing like the thinner Spinfits. The IEM now sits more outside my ear and I can wear it for at least three hours without problem. Itās not the ādisappearingā level of comfort I got with the FH3 and Spinfits, but itās definitely acceptable. With Spinfits, I could only do an hour, with EPEX barely two.
If I can find a tip that affords the same comfort with the normal nozzle, Iād try that.
Thanks for explaining, Yeah openess i meant more soundstage openess wideness versus closed in, not breathable sound (open/closed headphnes analogy). And after planar open planar usage i feel more and more hooked up and value this particular aspect of the sound. Your experience i think really worth to know as you mentioned few keys aspects that could possibly be a problem for some potential fd5 users. So it is treble and some comfort issues because of your mentioned edges that are not the most ergonomically thought. Other than that i dont see what else could make any more noticable problems with this really good iem. So there is some solutions to this so thanks
If someone here understands russian so there is new review of fd5 (ukraine reviewer)
For those who doesnāt understand actually very interesting opinions as always with this reviewer. First of all this guy looks like he likes analytical signature and was expecting it here and didnt found for his surprise. Also he is familiar with fiio iems and this one was very unexpectedly different in all package. Triple flang for example was very unusal for fiio. Design language and unusal form from other older iems. Also cable and other inovations and so on. Yeah i can agree here - it is very unusal package as a whole for fiio. He described it as pop iem for consumer with added musicality and fun factor but even then he said he likes it as after review he didnt want to take it off as it makes you want to hear more. Good comfortable sounding in many genres. But in his opinion it is not strong from technicalities point at this price and it is more decorated sound with add on in every part of sound.
So as always depends on what you are looking. But if you need not analytics but jus listen music then this iems should be first choise i guess and as one commenter said: after fd5 my fh5 fh7 f9pro are left in the boxes. So will see if it will be truth in my case 
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Trying to get a feel for what this FiiO FD5 sounds like, so bear with meā¦
I have the Mangird TEA, but am looking for a bit āwarmerā sound signature. Will be keeping the TEA for itās superb soundstage and mid-centric clarity.
The FD5 appears to have a v-shaped signature with treble elevated (and staying elevated) significantly. Are the mids (vocals in particular) recessed, compared to the TEA?
In regard to my listening preferences, the upper mid/lower treble of the TEA is about as bright as I want to go. Vocals, acoustic/electric guitars are superb, but some female vocals are just at the edge of being too bright. Would the FD5 be considered ābrighterā than the TEA in this aspect?
There are some parts of my library that I actually prefer listening with iBasso IT01 (a warm syrupy sound)ā¦ where female vocals arenāt as fatiguing to my ears. Maybe the FD5 kind of falls in that category?
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FD5 is difficult to love in stock form. I would only use a pure copper cable with it, narrow nozzle and tips that attenuates the treble further. Only then can you begin to appreciate it as the peaks calm and the inner detail can be heard.
Yea, thatās what I was thinkingā¦ also eye-balling that silver RHA nozzle filter that LGC indicated worked pretty good to downplay that treble plateau. Itās the big azz single DD that caught my interest.
Thanks for pointing out that graph comparison.
Itās difficult to stop chasing down the iem rabbit hole. But, with more critical A/B listening, the IT01 and BL01 are going to stay. To me, itās amazing what the BL01 can do with a simple DD and cost so little.
And the TEAsā¦ well, some kind of fairy dust got sprinkled on these. Pretty sure I can live with female vocals being right on the edge. Just way too much clarity, true playback, and excellent soundstage for me to think the FD5 could be my holy grail. Maybe just ādifferentā I guess. Sheeshā¦ canāt get enough of Peter Greenās guitar with these TEAs - Supernatural, Albatross, Hiding In Shadows. 
I suppose I will never know if the FD5 would be appealing to meā¦ if I donāt get them in my ears. But what else is new, right?
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I can safely say that the FD5 is too flawed to be endgame. Personally, Iām missing bass density and tightness due to its semi open design. It cannot compete with the Urbanfun YBF for example in the bass nor in the midsā¦ Yes the FD5 technically has greater resolution in the mids but it has far less vibrant mids with less note contrast and āpopā, making for a slightly uninspiring midrange. YBF less extension in treble but far better behaved.
I also think that even if you fix the treble peaks, the sound is overall a bit strained as if the tuning is too much for the large single DD to keep up with.
I know. @hawaiibadboy would agree. The only thing I compare my Tea with is the Monarch. I could live out my final days stuck on an island only with my Mangird Tea.
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