đŸ”¶ FiiO FD5 Flagship Single dynamic driver

IEMs / Other [Official] IEMs / Other
121

Is it true that nobody is using the bigger bass nozzle on the FD5? Heard that the IEM doesn’t sound good with that pair of nozzles.

122

I tried one of their wood iems before. The FW02, it is very overpriced that I returned it (thank you amazon). Blon 03 (mesh mod) > FW02

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123

The bass nozzle is badly designed IMO.

  1. Limited tips fits it.

  2. Reduces the quality too much from bass to treble.

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124

I only use the nozzle that comes installed.

125

Thats the “Balanced” nozzle. The superior one lol.

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126

Ha ha. My library is completely different from Currowong, but he is quite intelligent and has a ton of experience. I can’t believe anyone would enjoy the narrow nozzles. I find the FD5 as quite a fun, very punchy IEM. I think he would enjoy something like the Moondrop Illumination with better neutrality/less fun & enjoyable.

Watching it right now
 He’s NUTS concerning the cables. I own the other cable he compares the stock one to. It’s extremely light to the point where it wouldn’t stay behind my ears. It sounded fine but the cable that comes with the FD5 is incredible. The best stock cable I’ve seen since it can also change to any connection you might need. He’s WAY off base concerning the cable.

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127

yeah, the narrow nozzles dont work well with my ears at all.

128

A7 just doesn’t stand up, IMO. Feels like FD5 is ~25% better at everything, outside of neutrality and maybe vocals. I won’t be including FD5 in my will; she’s coming to the grave with me. :black_heart:

FD5 sounds like an open-back headphone, and an IEM. :slight_smile:

2 Likes
129

I am really considereing to get the Fiio FD5 as a birthday present for myself, my top IEMs at the moment are the Tape Pro (that I actually like dispite all the bad reviews) and the BGVP DMG. The Fiio BTR3k would make a good pair with the FD5?

130

What do you use your TP for? Just music? I think TP are excellent for gaming! They sound a bit nasal, and “incohesive”, with painful, sharp shell edges, otherwise are pretty good IMO! Great mids.

131

I use it just for music (Rock, Hip-Hop, Eletronic and Trip-Hop). Out of the box they did not sounded very good. Good bass but congested mids and harsh between 2 and 4K. Now after 200+ hours of use they are much much better, maybe I just got used to it.

I wonder if the FD5 is a substantial update over the tape pro. :thinking:

132

Ha. Not even a real question, man
 The way you think about that is, “Wow, I can get an FD5 for ONLY the cost of 2.317 Tape Pros??!!! :scream: :exploding_head:”, or, “Wow, these DON’T cost $1500??!!!111”.

Tape Pro is a child’s toy.

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133

I just pulled the trigger and ordered the FD5, it will take a while to be delivered. Hope it sounds as good as it looks (they are beautiful IMO).

2 Likes
134

I have the FD5 since yesterday, great IEMs and a real upgrade to the FH3.

I only have two “negative” points.

  1. Sometimes sibilant with podcasts, videos etc. but definitely got better after around 50h burn in. With music everything is just fine.

  2. Isolation is below average due to the open design. Usually not a problem especially when listening to music. But I have loud neighbours above me and they trample like hell sometimes and the FD5 don’t isolate that much when listening to quiet passages or spoken words.

But in comparison to the FH3, they have better bass, better mids, better treble, better/bigger soundstage, separation and imaging is maybe slightly better on the FD5.
And still the FH3 are a great pair of headphones for just 130$.

3 Likes
135

Are you my secret twin? I did the same, probably around the same time!

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136

Just keep listening to as much variety of content as you can, and you’ll keep discovering just how capable these are in so many areas :headphones:

137

FlowRecords, thanks for sharing, i am not far from ordering fd5. So this looks what i want to get from my fh3 that i like a lot but i feel there is room for improvement and seems that once more fiio made worth candidate. Not going to super expensive list. For serious desktop listening i have hifiman planars and fd5 i hope will be good match with dx160 dap and btr5 for portable listening. Already received good info from Rikudou and really not far for geting it. Only i am not sure what source is best for their tuning but this i hope is not a problem

138

I used the DX160 when I reviewed it, it matches well.

1 Like
139

Thanks for confirming. Dx160 should match with his most neutral with little warmth character. Then i will not need to think about source.

140

After more listening with them all yesterday, I currently rank them overall: FD5(wide tube+bass tips) >/= DM8(foam) > A7(gold+monitor+teal tips).

DM8 is totally smooth, slightly smoother than A7, zero fatigue, and has thicker mids with a more lush sound. Perfect mids and treble. These 2 IEMs are very close! DM8 also has a better fit due to longer nozzle. Bass on both are very similar
 it’s hard to tell a winner. But neither come close to FD5’s Ultimate God Bass. I feel that FD5 sounds significantly more natural/realistic than DM8, due to wider frequency range, better dynamics, and separation of instruments and bass/mids/treble, leading to a more ‘alive’, engaging sound. Though DM8 does the best vocals and acoustic instruments I’ve ever heard on an IEM so far.