FiiO FD5 Review (IEM)

[Madlop26]

Crinacle review on the FD5:
“C+ Pretty standard V-shaped tuning though surprisingly proficient in technicalities.”
U12T:
“S class (top of the top; basically U12T is to Crinacle what the Dan Clark Stealth is to Amir) Amazing bass (for a BA), top-tier resolution and detail-oriented signature.”
At some point I was tempted to get the U12T, I am glad I did not, no one can deny the experience of Crinacle on IEMs after all the man has measured and subjectively tested more than 1000 IEMs, but Amir goes beyond FR, I have not seen any other reviewers discussing distortion proficiency, like they were immune to it to even for the worst offenders

 

[Guerilla]

What is a BA driver?

Cheers!

 

[mightycicadalord]

Is the world of expensive pro IEM's the next giant to fall?

 

[Robbo99999]

No idea about the distortion.

Moondrop Variations review would be nice

Moondroop Kato that Jimbob linked earlier (the Crinacle measurement), that would be a good one to be reviewed here on ASR then, see what the distortion is like, nice frequency response on that one....just needs distortion measurements to be good, then that could be potentially better than the FD5 reviewed here whilst £80 less money.

 

[phoenixsong]

I thought this way too for years and I theorized that pinnae interactions and such made headphones forever the better choice. My headphone demoing journeys led me to taste even the kilobuck monsters coming short of pretty much only the latest mighty Orpheus. Many early IEMs (Ultimate Ears and Shure) had that notorious "IEM veil" or lack in clarity in the treble that I couldn't stand and developed that dismissive view on IEMs in general. But then these chi-fi models hit the scene like a bolt of lightning and curiosity got the best of me and it was an absolutely revolutionary experience for me! They somehow overcame the "IEM veil" engineering flaw and sounded nothing like the IEMs of old. I totally changed my mind. In my brain's observation, anyway, I came to feel more immersed and the IEMs "disappeared" more than the top-dog headphones ever had. I now prefer IEMs for a mere fraction of the price given the perceived performance exceeding the best that headphones have to offer. Of course, this may change as headphone technology incubates and matures. But then again, why lug around a large pair of headphones when IEMs are so much more convenient and sound better to my ears and brain anyway?

I agree! The tuning of IEMs have shifted much in recent years. Back then, things like Ultimate Ears, InEarStageDiver SD2, Vsonic GR07 and the RE400 were the rave

 

[phoenixsong]

Moondroop Kato that Jimbob linked earlier (the Crinacle measurement), that would be a good one to be reviewed here on ASR then, see what the distortion is like, nice frequency response on that one....just needs distortion measurements to be good, then that could be potentially better than the FD5 reviewed here whilst £80 less money.

I think @Earfonia measured the distortion of his Kato unit and there is a persistent distortion mismatch between the left and right channels. The right channel of my Aria has recently started sounding off, not sure if it's a related issue. Would be interesting to have it measured by Earfonia or Amir

 

[Guerilla]

@phoenixsong Its goo.
Cheers!

 

[RichT]

BA= balanced armature

 

[Robbo99999]

Nice! My current favorite is the KZ ZAX. It has a bit of a bump in the upper midrange and part of the presence region but has better upper treble in the 10KHz range.

View attachment 197667

In-Ear Fidelity – IEM Graph Comparison Tool

Easily compare industry-standard frequency response measurements of hundreds and hundreds of IEMs.

crinacle.com

I am currently demoing the Elysian Annihilator from Malayasia. Just waiting on a balanced to unbalanced adapter cable and some small CP155 tips so I can actually listen to them tomorrow :

View attachment 197677

In-Ear Fidelity – IEM Graph Comparison Tool

Easily compare industry-standard frequency response measurements of hundreds and hundreds of IEMs.

crinacle.com

I think it's nice if you can get a headphone / unit that works well for you around the 10Khz and plus area....it's a bit of luck to get that area sorted because measurements you find on the internet won't help you EQ that area accurately. One of my K702 units (I have 3) I like better than the other two even when all are measured on my miniDSP EARS and EQ'd to the same curve from 20Hz - 8000Hz......what I could do is experiment with EQ'ing the other two to the same frequency response from 8000Hz up as my favourite K702 shows - to see if that makes them all equal. I'm getting some very consistent measurements even above 10kHz on my miniDSP Ears, so I feel confident I can make some meaningful changes up there based on the measurements I've done. I have done that experiment with my 3 units of another headphone - HD560s and it works for two of them (not tried it yet on the other unit), it does make them sound the same.....just my HD560s units are not as "sorted" in the 10kHz plus area as this one lucky unit unit of K702 that I have (I think that's the reason but it might also be down to the reference measurement I'm using for the conversion of my HD560s which might be affecting other areas of the frequency response), so it'll be an interesting final check to see if I can make all of my K702 units give exactly the same experience which should confirm the importance of over 10kHz. I could do a few EQ's matched only up to 8kHz vs those matched all the way to around 16kHz and see if there is a difference in the subjective sound matching between them all. But yeah, I agree, the area that you mentioned around 10kHz is quite important.

(sorry, too much information!)

 

[mrbungle]

Moondroop Kato that Jimbob linked earlier (the Crinacle measurement), that would be a good one to be reviewed here on ASR then, see what the distortion is like, nice frequency response on that one....just needs distortion measurements to be good, then that could be potentially better than the FD5 reviewed here whilst £80 less money.

They provide some measurements here: https://www.moondroplab.com/kato

 

[Guerilla]

BA= balanced armature

Armaturer as for a fosset or a neonlight? Which part is the armaturer here?
Cheers!

 

[Robbo99999]

They provide some measurements here: https://www.moondroplab.com/kato

That's true, but looking now they don't say at what level (dB) the distortion measurements are taken at. There's a frequency response graph above it that seems to suggest 125dB at 1kHz was used to create the frequency response measurement, but that's a ridiculously loud level that is not necessary during measurement, and I doubt any IEM's or headphones can do such low distortion that they show at 125dB. I don't think we can really trust their measurement, we don't know the level it was taken at....always better to get it done by a third party (eg a reviewer like Amir for example).

 

[Hifihedgehog]

no one can deny the experience of Crinacle

No one can also deny his questionable profit-oriented focus. His content is totally geared to get money, from the constant paywalls nags to the cash grab collabs. Tyll Hertsens never was like that, and that really stuck in my craw, as did Crinacle’s unexplainable arbitrary praise of IEMs with obviously flawed FR and THD and Crinacle’s self-aggrandizement and ego-tripping through his site persona. What really tipped his hand was the recent KZ collab that totally blew up in his face, where an independent party found the infamous additional drivers made virtually no difference in effective frequency response. He has been totally defensive and in a state of damage control disarray since that little stunt he pulled. Never mind that this IEM that he and KZ cooked up is a side grade at best given the treble roll-off compared to other models in that price range.

 

[noel_fs]

that 5.8k ish peak would probably be a deal breaker for me

 

[noel_fs]

No one can also deny his questionable profit-oriented focus. His content is totally geared to get money, from the constant paywalls nags to the cash grab collabs. Tyll Hertsens never was like that, and that really stuck in my craw, as did Crinacle’s unexplainable arbitrary praise of IEMs with obviously flawed FR and THD and Crinacle’s self-aggrandizement and ego-tripping through his site persona. What really tipped his hand was the recent KZ collab that totally blew up in his face, where an independent party found the infamous additional drivers made virtually no difference in effective frequency response. He has been totally defensive and in a state of damage control since that little stunt he pulled. Never mind that this IEM that he and KZ cooked up is a side grade at best given the treble roll-off compared to other models in that price range.

His measurements arent very realiable either. What made it super clear for me was the ksc75 measurement, basically following the target almost perfectly, they really dont sound like that. If you look at oratory1990's you can see how they really measure and they do sound like that, futhermore if you apply oratory's eq it becomes obvious which measurements are correct.

My theory for the crinacle's ksc75 measurements is attracting views and clicks for the site. Honestly i like ksc75, especially eq'd so im not even mad about people being a little missguided to buy them. But still doesnt change the fact that they have been deceived with measurements that do not resemble how the product is supposed to sound.

 

[JWAmerica]

They are expensive, but they seem like a good value. Inasmuch as these might be used OTG, does any member have a recommendation for an Android PEQ app that could accomplish these corrections Amir, or, for that matter, Crinacle shows?

Neutron player has great EQ

 

[Madlop26]

No one can also deny his questionable profit-oriented focus. His content is totally geared to get money, from the constant paywalls nags to the cash grab collabs. Tyll Hertsens never was like that, and that really stuck in my craw, as did Crinacle’s unexplainable arbitrary praise of IEMs with obviously flawed FR and THD and Crinacle’s self-aggrandizement and ego-tripping through his site persona. What really tipped his hand was the recent KZ collab that totally blew up in his face, where an independent party found the infamous additional drivers made virtually no difference in effective frequency response. He has been totally defensive and in a state of damage control since that little stunt he pulled. Never mind that this IEM that he and KZ cooked up is a side grade at best given the treble roll-off compared to other models in that price range.

Well it is his occupation, the man needs an income to live, nothing wrong with that, I have watched some many other reviewers and I consider Crinacle a low offender, when compare to others who are a shame of human beings, besides he is an entertainer also, so funny. In my opinion I put Crinacle second to Amir in headphones reviewers

 

[Somafunk]

He has been totally defensive and in a state of damage control since that little stunt he pulled.

That's not how I interpreted his response with regards to the issue with KZ, his post below explains it well and underlines his thoughts.

Crinacle vs KZ

 

[Merkurio]

Armaturer as for a fosset or a neonlight? Which part is the armaturer here?
Cheers!

 

[Nicolas]

The manufacturer describes the design as "semi-open" and indeed holes are visible; does it leak sound in and out like open-back headphones ?