FiiO FH5 headphone overview - technology, style and sound

One of the indisputable truths of the world of portabletechnology is the fact that FiiO, like no one else, can understand where the market is moving and follow it. Having staked a good piece of the lower segment of headphones, the company decided to go "up" and presented a four-driver hybrid model FH5.

They approached the development with characteristic diligence,The role of the woofer for low frequencies is a 10 mm speaker with a diaphragm made from a nanocomposite polymer, the rest of the range is given to rebar emitters from Knowles. ED30262 is used on the MF, the TWFK-31082 match is responsible for the HF. Complements this milled metal housing, with special spiral channels designed to improve the sound. The price tag also expectedly grew, but remained noticeably lower than most other models of the same configuration, for FH5 they ask about $ 260, although the price may differ slightly depending on taxes and appetites of distributors.

Specifications

• Emitters: 10 mm dynamic + 3 × with balanced anchor (Knowles)
• Frequency range: 15 Hz ~ 40 kHz
• Sensitivity: 112 dB / mW
• Impedance: 19Ω
• Maximum power: 100 mW
• Cable: 120 cm, removable with MMCX connectors, silver plated copper
• Plug: 3.5 mm TRS

Package and Delivery

The box is made in the standard FiiO style,minimalistic black dust jacket, black cardboard box inside. On top of the lodgement are headphones, a plastic storage case is placed below, a zig-zag cover made of cloth, a cleaning brush and a large set of nozzles neatly laid out in special sockets:

• 3 pairs of "balanced" sound nozzles
• 3 pairs of nozzles accentuating the vocal midrange
• 3 pairs of nozzles accentuating bass
• 3 pairs of foam nozzles

In general, product managers clearly did not stint on accessories.

Design and wearing comfort

Above the appearance of the FiiO headphones reallyhave worked. Designers of the company were inspired either by sea shells, or by the fruits of figs and made a very impressive case of aluminum alloy with magnesium. Appearance complements the corrugated surface of faceplate and covering them with a golden rim. In FiiO, we also tried to work out the sound part: the headphone spout contains three separate sound guides, one for each lane, at the output they are covered with a grid to protect against dust and debris. Inside the case, a special spiral channel was made, which amplifies the low frequencies of the speaker and filters its MF and HF component, this technology was called S.TURBO, we will probably hear about it again.

In terms of ergonomics, the headphones are just as good,anatomical shape and the absence of sharp corners provide comfortable wearing, the only, perhaps, the exception may be the owners of very very small ears. The headphone speaker comes out at the right angle, therefore, sound insulation is average for the form factor level, despite its short length. I saw on the Internet reviews of people who lacked a spout for proper fit, but I didn’t have such problems with the FH5.

Of course, the wire is made replaceable, usedMMCX connectors, they are tight, but you can still disconnect them, so there’s no doubt about reliability, although the founder of FiiO on Head-Fi mentioned that they are unhappy with the connectors on the market and are working on their own version, but this is a matter of the future. The bundled cable is quite unusual, silver-plated monocrystalline copper is enclosed in a thermoplastic polyurethane insulation, which gives the cable strength and durability, but not at the expense of softness and ease of use. Interestingly, below the splitter wires of the left and right channels run in parallel, and not retinue, as is done in most cases. The plug is angular and rather large, the wire is not prone to the microphone effect, it hardens a little in the cold and generally leaves a pleasant impression. This time they didn’t put a balanced cable in the kit, so you’ll have to buy it separately, since FiiO released a whole series of wires of different design with all common connectors: 3.5 and 2.5 mm, as well as Pentaconn.

In general, in my subjective opinion, the headphones on the exterior turned out to be comparable with many flagship models: design, build quality, wearing comfort - everything is done at a high level.

Sound

The following equipment was used for listening.

• Yulong DA9 and Resonessence Labs Concero HP as a DAC and Amplifier
• Apple MacBook Pro Retina 2016 as a source
• Fidelia as a player
• Lotoo PAW Gold, theBit OPUS # 2, Astell & Kern A & ultima SP1000 and others as portable players
• High-resolution recordings in Lossless-formats (Dr. Chesky The Ultimate Headphone Demonstration Disc and others)

Before listening, the headphones were heated for 48 hours, the changes in sound were observed for the first hours 2.

Apparently, FiiO was fed up with complaints about the HF peak in theirF9 series models, so for the following FH1 headphones they decided to dim the sound, or, more precisely, to make it less bright. The idea was liked by a wide audience, so FH5 decided to ottyuning in a similar manner, making them high-frequency quite comfortable. In general, the headphones were made with an eye to the "mass" sound, but at the same time, with an eye on connoisseurs, a more "expensive" supply.

The bass is slightly accented, or, more correctly.will say, it stands out a little against the background of slightly lowered lower midrange. LFs have a decent weight and weight, demonstrating why hybrid models use a dynamic radiator. Bass offers a very good speed and texture, but, of course, devoid of dryness, characteristic of most reinforcing models. Low frequencies go very deeply, almost to the limit of the headphone capacity of this form factor, apparently the S.TURBO technology makes itself felt. LF control is also quite good, almost always they know their place and stick to it, not crawling into neighboring territories.

The average frequencies on the graph of the frequency response arethe ascending line, the lower half of the midrange is quantitatively weakened, and the HUD on the contrary is accentuated, the “height” of this difference is about 10 dB, not critical, but it has an effect on the way headphones are fed. The middle has a good resolution, but it is not reinforcing-dry. FiiO managed to give the MF sufficient weight, providing them with a good level of realism for this segment. The headphones convey the vocals well, especially the female ones, perhaps the only drawback of their MF can be called the lack of sharpness on some tracks (in my case it was the Iron Maiden recordings from the Powerslave album, which is funny - the same Metallica plays out pretty well). live and natural music of this problem is not. The imaginary scene is slightly larger than the average depth and width, and the width is slightly larger than the depth. The separation of plans is not perfect, but good, the tools are of adequate size and correctly positioned; in general, the headset is not extremely good in terms of “spatial” parameters, but it is quite decent.

For the upper frequencies, the updated one was used.version of the most popular mate, but tried to do everything to make this part of the range sound comfortable. Maybe, of course, the completely neglected TUs will be dissatisfied, but I think there will not be many such cases. Judging by the reviews on the network, some do not like raising the MF in the 2 kHz region, but to my ear there is no problem there, the usual step for many IEM models, which improves the readability of the upper middle. However, I was distracted, HF have a normal resolution, correctly play the attacks and attenuation, although the separation plans, of course, they are not enough. The uppermost frequencies are gently clamped so as not to create problems with bad sources or recordings, on the one hand, it deprives them of audiophile thin overtones and fading, on the other hand, it pleases all music lovers easier.

And, of course, some comparisons. Of course, I cannot compare these headphones with everything that exists on the market, so I will confine myself to just a few models. I must say at once that I intentionally did not make comparisons with multi-driver hybrids of other companies with a price tag above $ 400, which has recently appeared quite a lot, since the price gap is obvious and these models are not competitors to FH5.

FiiO FH1 Of course, the price difference is very large here, butIt is the junior FH that is the closest analogue of the “fives” in the general manner of serving. At the same time, when you listen to the FH1, they sound good, slightly darkened, but very involving and spectacular headphones. But the transition to FH5 tightens their sound in all respects, creating the effect of a “sleeping shroud” - better resolution, emotions, microcontrast.

FiiO F9 Pro In general, this comparison is true for non-proversion. Comparison of these models shows the departure of the company from trying to create a kind of "audiophile" sound (in its Asian sense) in favor of a more universal tuning. FH5 sound less harshly on HF, deeper on woofer and, perhaps, a bit livelier at mid frequencies. Therefore, if you are not a HF lover, the choice will be almost obvious.

iBasso IT03 Despite the close price range, hybridsiBasso is tuned in a different style, they are more neutral, have slightly better detail, a little less weighty (this is especially noticeable on the MF), so IT03 better cope with aggressive material, and the FH5 ridge - natural acoustic instruments.

Campfire audio comet Contrary to the use of different schemes, "Comets" alsosomewhat reminiscent of the FH5 in the general manner of filing. They, of course, have less weight and physicality on the low bands, but at the same time they are coherent and more detailed on the MF. On HF, the FH5 is still slightly better if you do not use Comet with a replaceable wire.

Lz a5 Another close at the price of hybrids, enoughvery different in sound. LZ A5 is denser and more shock on the woofer and have much more accented HF, which makes their presentation noticeably V-shaped with all the resulting advantages and disadvantages, and the choice between the two models is absolutely subjective.

Dunu Falcon-C Another model, about which you can say "littlein common. " The Dunu model has less LF, while they are drier and denser, they have a slightly lower weight on the MF, which allows the FH5 to sound more impressive, on HF, perhaps, parity, since Falcon-C has more top, but it is slightly worse decorated than in FH5.

Compatibility

I think you can immediately say that FH5 are made forThere is not a lot of sense to listen to them with phones and tablets, and it is desirable to have at least an initial-middle segment. Of course, first of all they sound good with FiiO devices themselves, and subjectively, I like their pair with the M7, but with other devices like iBasso or Shanling they also don’t succumb. The main thing is that the player is not quite "meaty" and assertive at the low frequencies.

Stylistically, the model is quite versatile,with the exception of brutal genres in case you are accustomed to an underlined-aggressive presentation of material. The quality of the recording headphones are moderately tolerant, so according to the conditional captiousness scale get 6 points out of 10.

As usual, several tracks as an example.

Gotan Project - Chunga's revenge Another track from beautiful Frenchcollective, expressively mixing tango with electronic music to form a unique alloy. Here FH5 shows itself in full beauty: powerful beats of the rhythm part effectively contrast with the instruments of the upper middle, giving the track convincing liveliness.

Brazil Beat - Aguas de Marco Summer is coming to an end, and nowhere are youhave you been to Well, then at least listen to this track. The rich lounge mixed with Latin jazz in the FH5 feed acquires such a spectacular bass and vocal setting that you can imagine yourself somewhere on the sea with your eyes closed, in a lounge chair with a cocktail ... Then open your eyes and find yourself again in an office chair at the computer.

Röyksopp - Poor Leno Are you too hot? Does the August heat squeeze out all the juice and the brain refuses to work? To the aid will come the famous electronics engineers from a country that knows a lot about the cold - Norway. The melody, saturated with light instruments and percussion, resembles summer in the northern tundra region, when the sun shines for almost the whole day, but cannot completely conquer the coolness. FH5 and then perfectly cope with their task, perfectly conveying not only the rhythm section, but all the nuances of the rest of the range.

findings

Headphones have turned out interesting, with delicious,even if they do not kill all competitors with sound, excellent workmanship and a rich set of delivery. In this case, FH5 is very adequately evaluated, which adds to their competitiveness.

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