Please remember, I just received the proper FH5 yesterday, so itās possible that the sound may change over time. Lately Iāve had to take back my comments on a lot of units due to unit variation and defective units so I am shy to say anything definitively.
Like I said earlier, this is more of a case of different flavors and what you will prefer as a listener and not a worst vs best scenario.
I was listening to all three hybrids last night and have to admit they all sound great but they all have their own differences/flavors compared to one another. I even changed out the FH7 nozzle filter to black to allow more treble through to help it distinguish itself from the FH5.
As for the FH3 and where my preferences lieā¦ For my preferred music library, the FH3 is my preferred IEM out of all the hybrids because of its fun sound signature, elevated and extremely well controlled bass and itās smooth treble.
In comparison, the FH5 is no slouch, and I can see anyone preferring its sound signature to either the FH3 or FH7 if they want a very balanced listening experience. I donāt know if I would say the FH3 treble is more ārelaxedā than the FH5. I need more time with both to determine that, but itās safe to say that the FH3ās mids and treble are slightly more recessed than the FH5. They are probably about equally detailed. About detailā¦ The FH5 is a smooth listening experience overall. I would not describe it as a very detailed IEM in general, nor is it necessarily soft. Itās right down the middle with everything. It sounds like speakers. The FH7 is the slightly more detailed IEM with more defined imaging and boosted treble. Everything sounds coherent and how you would probably expect it to sound with the FH5, where the FH7 squeezes out more contrast and detail almost in an artificial way. Itās almost like forced detail like a sharpening filter in Photoshop. It might not be how the photo should look, but some might prefer to be able to see increased detail to help the image pop.
Hereās a good analogy I just thought up to compare the FH5 and FH7. If you wear glassesā¦ If you can see clearly without your glasses, but when you put your glasses on, everything just becomes a bit crisper and sharper. FH5 vs FH7.
Hope this continues to help describe the differences between the hybrids. Describing audio is challenging. Sorry for the long post.
I see that these come with 3 different types of silicone tips. It seems like the black tips are more warm compared to the black/red ones. What have you all found regarding the differences?
The black are the middle ground imo. The grey/red ones are bass heavy and the clear/red ones are a little more airy and let treble through a bit more. Theyāre not drastically different but itās enough to develop a preference. Iāve settled on the clear and red ones.
Just got these today, and these are only my first impressions so keep that in mind. First of all these are a very very great and balanced IEM. They are more than worth their price but at the same time I donāt think they are anywhere near what the hype around these promised. I expected a much higher tier iem lol. Either way, love the detail so far and the very balanced sound signature. The only real possible negative might be the bass so far, itās OK. Not the cleanest not the best, but itās OK. As long as you are expecting a great IEM for the price you wonāt be disappointed, but even if you expect something better you will still enjoy them.
Iāll be giving them more listens and see how it turns out.
I woke up early so iāve been listening to some music for a few hours! I woould like to dismiss any preconcieved notions about the hype that this iem had and whatever my statement and otherās statements may or may not hint at.
First of all, the only issue with the hype so far seems to be that the technicalities of this IEM were a bit of a stretch (major stretch, some might call it a reacharound). So forget that. However, the Fh3 indeed do deserve alot of hype based on tuning alone IMO. Most IEMs are deep V shapes or Harman Target (fuck off metal) but not these (using the transparent with red tips). I found the vocals to actually be the highlight of alot of my music giving the mids room to breathe and really do their thing! The vocal timbre iāve heard mixed stuff about but personally for my shitty ears (which canāt even hear a fire alarm apparently) the timbre actually sounds great! The tonality of the fiio also really really impresses me and i donāt find myself wishing for anything more. I think the bass is good, nothing special so far but itās definetly very nice. The mids are again forward enough, detail is great. Treble, here is where it gets interesting, i listen to alot of kpop (to say the least) most of which sounds fatiguing, thing at times (if you use a netural/bright headphone) and with darker/warmer headphones i find itās missing the sparkle that i long for. As Zeos says, theeze, i find to be suuuuper balanced where the bass makes all music fun including kpop, while adding a tiny bit of sparkle in the treble but maintaining a ridiculously smooth treble region. Honestly iāve struggled to find any of my kpop sibilant so far and iāve put hours in on this iem. Even K-Indie stuff is recorded like kpop like Heize - Your Name (which i recommend to basically anyone btw lol) and typically if i choose something like a sundara or elegia to listen on it can sound a bit too clean/analytical because of the pairing of the recording and headphone, if i choose the nighthawks or 58x it dosenāt have the sparkle or cleanliness that i want either. However i find that the fiio smooth out the treble enough as well as having good bass and mids peeking out to breathe and honestly this combination isnāt just great for kpop in general but most recorded music. So far iām enjoying this iem aton, i think while the hype of technicalities was bloated the hype on itās tuning should have always been the highlight because itās great. I put it right there with other enjoyable tunings like the blon bl03 (boy love???), ksc75 and 58x with enjoyable tuning. Oh yeah and another thing, the detail in general actually blows me out of the park, may not be the most detailed in a specific region but as a whole package and highlights little details that iāve heard before in a much more deserving way!
To recap my impressions, decent bass, mids and treble (smooth and great) with actually pretty impressive imaging, detail imo, not too much slam or speed which makes this great as a chill out and enjoy iem. The tuning really focuses on a smooooth iem with outstanding detail, good technicalities. Forgiving of everything while still managing to sound balanced enough imo. Iām really enjoying these guys even tho iām only still like 6 hours in of full listening, buy they keep on making me want to listen more!
something to note (slightly worriesome) is that when i lay down there seems to be some chirping on the right earbud (i assume maybe driver flex?), i was worried that they were gonna fail on me but when i stood up the sound completely dissapeared. it was low enough to where it was only audible after a song finished.
i hope thatās the driver flex that people mentioned and not a precursor into its death lol
Not sure what specific āhypeā youāre referring to concerning the FH3ās technicalities. I personally feel there isnāt anything special ātechnicallyā about the FH3ās mids or highs other than they are tuned to be inoffensive. For me, the treble sounds great because of how smooth it is. Itās never sibilant. The mids are probably the FH3ās weakest point. Mids on the FH3 are recessed and are nothing special. Theyāre there, but they donāt have a lot of detail. For example, the Mangird Teaās mids & treble are more present and pleasing than the FH3ās.
I feel the technicality award goes to the FH3ās bass. Itās all about the bass on the FH3. The bass in the FH3 is elevated, fast, detailed and textured beyond all other IEMs Iāve listened to including all the Fiio hybrids. Then again, if you donāt listen to music with a lot of speed and sub bass, you wonāt be able to appreciate it.
Thanks for your reactions!
Iāve only had the one set fail, and that very well could have been from my agressive burn-in process. I might have pushed it too much. Donāt blame the FH3 for that one. My other two have been fine.
I donāt hear any driver flex on any of my Fiio earphones, so I personally wouldnāt worry too much about it. You might want to take it a little easy laying on them.
i think you might be the only who dosenāt know what hype i was referring to lol.
yeah im really really enjoying that about the treble!
i wouldnāt agree with that one bit,iāve heard a few IEMs and they all had recessed mids but these in particular have them decently showing, now super forward nor anything but def not recessed IMO
well that depresses me if i want to upgrade in the future lol. looking quite grim
i mean the bass is good, specially considering itās price but i would have expected the bass from a higher end fiio to be at least up to the obravo cupidās bass level
This is a 130 dollar IEM thatās competing with much more expensive IEMs easily. Itās not a technicality king like the LZA6. Like I said, itās mid and treble tuning are inoffensive but thereās nothing technical thatās impressive about them. The bass on the other hand is technical mastery, but onlly the bass. The sound stage and imaging are mediocre. Nothing great, nor bad.
I havenāt heard hype discussing the FH3 as a technically superior IEM such as the LZA6 or Blessing 2. I agree the FH3ās standout points are its tuning and bass technicalities.
Do you have some links to some āhypeā threads that hype the FH3ās technicalities I could read?
IDK, last time I heard the cupidās from memory they were better controlled, more detailed, and overall more refined than what the fh3 has to offer in bass, but ofc thatās not the most fair comparison
This is obviously subjective. What is neutral? Everyoneās definition is different. What is recessed? Same shit.
Iām comparing the FH3 mids to the Mangird in this case which is known for itās fantastic mid tuning. In comparison, the FH3ās mids are recessed. They arenāt recessed to the point you canāt hear them, they are pushed back slightly vs the Mangird. lol
I prefer the FH3 to the Mangird overall because of its āfunā tuning. But I wouldnāt consider the FH3 a master at technicalities other than in the bass.
Havenāt heard it. Another I need to add to my list.
i guess itās true that you havenāt claimed it to be a beast in terms of technicalities. but usually when we speak about something competing with higher end headphones/IEMs to my knowledge that means in terms of technicalities (since itās something slightly more objective that people can actually agree on) If you mean it competes with other headhphones that are technically superior i think specifying that the sound signature is what competes with them in particular is important. Thatās where i think the misunderstandings and hype really came from.
if you want to reread all 738 posts here you are welcome to do so lol.
Again itās more of a misunderstanding that anything imo.
bass quantity is something you can subjectively like while bass quality is more objective imo. iām still not super stoked about the bass, itās good nothing more nothing less
