The IEMs I’ve compared this time are the Fiio FD5, Sennheiser IE 300, Final E3000 & Campfire Honeydew with the end goal being the discovery of an IEM that’s better than the Hook-X. I’m mostly a Headphone guy but have recently started experimenting with IEMs.
I have used HiFiMan EF400, Chord Mojo 2, Fiio BTR7 & LG V60 as sources for this testing.
Build: IE 300 > FD5 > E3000 = Hook-X >= Honeydew
IE 300 feels like it’ll survive a nuclear blast, there’s no paint to chip which is great. FD5 and E3000 are also solid but I think the mirror like finish can get scratched overtime. Hook-X seemed well built at first but my unit dropped from my bed and ended up with a small dent which does not inspire confidence in it’s longevity. Honeydew looks and feels like a children’s toy and for me and has major driver flex.
Cable: FD5 > Hook-X > IE 300 = Honeydew = E3000
The FD5 has the best cable among these IEMs, it’s light weight does not tangle much and has interchangeable jacks. Hook-X stock cable is good in terms of weight and looks but the outer cloth layer gets weirdly bent which happened to my Aria Cable too. The swapping mechanism is much better on the Hook-X cable. None of the other 3 IEMs have good cables, IE 300 feels like a catheter tube and tangles a lot, it also uses a weird MMCX connection and so not all replacement cables are compatible with it. The E3000 has a thin cheap cable that tangles and is not replaceable. The Honeydew has the most tangle prone cable I have used to date and looks as cheap as the E3000 cable.
Comfort: IE 300 > Honeydew > E3000 = Hook-X > FD5
IE 300 is the most comfortable IEM I’ve used, it’s also the only IEM that I can use lying down on the side without any major issues. Honeydew has a major driver flex (for me) but apart from that is very comfortable and light weight. E3000 is comfortable but has a tendency to droop which feels weird and I end up constantly adjusting the fit. Hook-X is alright for the most part but gets slightly uncomfortable after an hour or so. FD5 for me creates some pressure and pain where it sits on my ear lobe after just a few minutes of use.
Signature: Hook-X (mild U, mostly balanced), FD5 (U), IE 300 (V), Honeydew (reverse J), E3000 (V)
Sound Overall: Hook-X >= FD5 > E3000 > Honeydew >= IE 300
A few points before I get into the details.
- IE 300 stock tips have a foam like filter for earwax protection which is also useful to tame some sibilance and using them gave me the best results for the IEM In my testing, using other tips resulted in some harshness.
- I used the wide nozzle with the FD5 as that sounded the best to me.
- I had a XINHS Cable that I was using with the Hook-X which improved the sound a tiny bit but for this testing I used the stock cable for fairness.
Frequency Response: Both the Hook-X and FD5 are top performers here with good clarity and trading blows with each other with the Hook-X being on top for my personal tastes. The FD5 fixes the issues I had with the Hook-X by giving a stronger bass response and more natural sound with slightly better clarity but it lacks the detail and resolution of the Hook-X. The Hook-X also has better balance between male and female vocals where as the FD5 slightly favors female singers. On busy passages the FD5 blends some of the background sounds while Hook-X does not. I was afraid the FD5 might be sibilant after reading some reviews but it has a pretty smooth overall sound.
The E3000 does a good job for it’s price but cannot compete with the texture, refinement of the above two IEMs. The vocals here (like the Honeydew) are a bit too recessed for my tastes and similar to the IE 300, the vocals sound thin. The IE 300 is barely better than the E3000 which was a shock to me, I don’t know if I got a faulty IEM but overall the IE 300 sounds thin and has a grainy/distortion like sound all over. The Bass, which is sub-bass focused lacks control, is wooly and lacks punch. The vocals are thin, lack body and lack proper tonality, especially male vocals. The Honeydew is a Bass tuning gone wrong, It’s whole identity is being Bass monsters, everything else is just meh.
Sound (Stage): Hook-X >> E3000 > FD5 = IE 300 >> Honeydew
The Hook-X is better by a margin among these and many other IEMs I’ve heard in this price range. They don’t provide a vast out of the head stage that some HiFiMan Headphones are capable of but there’s an effortless quality to the stage similar to the feeling I get from open-back headphones. I was a bit disappointed by the FD5 here cause I was hoping it would stage just as well as the Hook-X being a semi-open design. Both the FD5 and IE 300 have similar stage size but there is a diffuse like feeling to the center image of the IE 300 that gives it a wider sounding effect. The Honeydew has the most intimate stage of the bunch. The E3000 is barely wider than the FD5 but lacks depth compared to FD5.
Sound (Imaging & Depth): Hook-X > FD5 > IE 300 > E3000 = Honeydew
None of the IEMs here have good depth. The Hook-X, FD5, IE 300 provide a slight sense of depth where as the E3000 and Honeydew are mostly flat with sounds playing left, right and center. The Hook-X has better separation of different instruments with plenty of air in-between. The FD5 and IE 300 are mostly in the same league but with FD5 having slightly better separation while the IE 300 has a hazy imaging. The Honeydew has Imaging capabilities that are barely better than 5$ earphones.
Conclusion: At the end of the day, my goal to find an IEM that’s better than Hook-X has not been achieved yet. I’ve tried some 20+ IEMs like Blessing 2, Tea, FH5, Timeless, Norn… in the sub 400 USD category and for me the Hook-X is the one that sounds the best if not perfect. I think I’ve come to a stage where I have to move up in price to get a meaningful upgrade in sound.