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FiiO FD5 Review (IEM)

Rate this IEM:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 1 0.5%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 14 6.8%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 53 25.7%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 138 67.0%

  • Total voters
    206

phoenixsong

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Received mine today. First impressions: Lots of stuff in this package, including a dozen sets of ear tips, none of which fit. Some of them don't fit the headphones, either. There are a bunch of little tools that don't make any sense. I managed to wedge the largest memory-foam tips into my ears, and wrap the cords around my ears; if I don't move, they stay. I can't lean back because the cord is so short it barely reaches across my desk.

As for the sound... it's bearable for a few minutes? The spatial effects are good, as has been mentioned. If I use the bass tips, there's bass and not much else. If I use other tips, there's some treble. I think if you don't mind messing with different tips, trying them out, spending weeks to perfect the sound, etc., you wouldn't mind this; as *I* type this, I'm staring longingly at my PM-3s and their rapidly disintegrating ear pads, thinking about how much more I prefer them. The FD5 is like listening to an iPhone speaker in a noisy room. If I use my fingers to apply a perfect amount of pressure to the headphone, I can get some music; too much and it shuts off (?!).

The whole experience is just annoying, and they're going back. My Airpods and Bose ANC headphones are a more pleasant experience, even though I'll never argue that they're "better."
Don't mean to be rude here, but either you don't know about IEMs or you received a fake unit. There is no way official included ear tips do not fit on a $10 IEM, let alone one this expensive and tested. The rest of your experience seems to have been marred by improper tip mounting or fit
 

Archsam

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Don't mean to be rude here, but either you don't know about IEMs or you received a fake unit. There is no way official included ear tips do not fit on a $10 IEM, let alone one this expensive and tested. The rest of your experience seems to have been marred by improper tip mounting or fit

@GoMrPickles

Could it be that you were not aware of the two types of tips in the box that are meant for the two different diameter sound tubes?

All the round silicon + foam tips are meant for the larger dia. large sound tube (which is fitted to the FD5 straight out of the box). There are two set of tri flange tips that is meant for the small sound tube, and they won't fit onto the large sound tube and vice versa.
 

GoMrPickles

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@GoMrPickles

Could it be that you were not aware of the two types of tips in the box that are meant for the two different diameter sound tubes?

All the round silicon + foam tips are meant for the larger dia. large sound tube (which is fitted to the FD5 straight out of the box). There are two set of tri flange tips that is meant for the small sound tube, and they won't fit onto the large sound tube and vice versa.
I'm aware of them. The tri-flange tips, for example, fit on the small sound tube; both sizes fall out of my ears instantly when used so I am unable to listen to them. I do not think it is a counterfeit unit. It's not like I've got elephant ears over here; for these, I wear the mediums, and can comfortably walk around without them falling out.
 

Bamyasi

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I'm aware of them. The tri-flange tips, for example, fit on the small sound tube; both sizes fall out of my ears instantly when used so I am unable to listen to them. I do not think it is a counterfeit unit. It's not like I've got elephant ears over here; for these, I wear the mediums, and can comfortably walk around without them falling out.
Same here, almost all tips included are the size of lemur ears I would say. Largest size ones would stay in my ears if I keep still and do not move my head at all but yet they do not provide enough seal to reproduce bass properly. I checked on Amazon for some replacement third-party ones and it looks like even L/XL variants of those actually measure smaller than the FD5 included (largest) ones? What's going on, is humankind shrinking in size? I still have ton of old (mostly, broken) IEMs like Shure, UltimateEars and such and while worn and greasy, their standard tips included at the time of purchase still fit my ears perfectly well, so apparently I have not changed. Well, at least not in terms of my ear canal size ;-)
 

Bamyasi

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A trick I discovered this morning - if I don't push the tips right down to the bottom of the sound tube, the extra 1-2mm extension really help with my fit. The left ear fit is much improved after this tweak.
Hi Archsam, this was a very useful tip, helped me a lot too! Still won't stay inside my ears for long when moving around but at least the seal improved while they stick inside.
 

Nathan Raymond

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Hi Archsam, this was a very useful tip, helped me a lot too! Still won't stay inside my ears for long when moving around but at least the seal improved while they stick inside.
There are a lot of eartip choices out there these days, which is good because ear canal sizes and shapes can vary a lot person to person. You might want to check out articles like this for some ideas:

https://www.headphonesty.com/2018/04/ultimate-guide-selecting-perfect-iem-ear-buds-tips/
 

xykreinov

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They are not snake oil. You can say they don't have a good cost benefit, but there are plenty of amazing iems at high prices. Um Mest mkii impresses everybody who listens to it.
While "snake oil" may be hyperbole, I do find the high end iem market questionable when so many brands are springing out of nowhere, and the material cost of iems is likely often miniscule in comparison to similar grade full size headphones.

Um Mest Mkii look very interesting! Perhaps bone conduction would help solve one of my bigger problems with iems: the booms of my footsteps drowning out any bass when I run.
I like bone conduction headphones like Aftershokz for their openness, but I'm very intrigued by higher end applications of bone conduction for sound quality.
 

WillPAudio

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Personal audio is what got me into this hobby but once I got my first pair of capable speakers I didn’t give headphones a second thought and sold off most of my cans and IEMs. I own AirPods Max and they’re good enough that I haven’t felt the urge to buy more serious cans but I bought a pair of FD5s after seeing this review and I’ve had to seriously recalibrate my perception of sound with these guys. The detail retrieval is insane and the whole presentation is just hyper exacting it’s almost overwhelming. Slowly but surely as I listen more and more my brain is adjusting to where it’s starting to sound “normal”. Nothing to do with the sound but the cable is lovely as well.
 
Last edited:

majingotan

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While "snake oil" may be hyperbole, I do find the high end iem market questionable when so many brands are springing out of nowhere, and the material cost of iems is likely often miniscule in comparison to similar grade full size headphones.

Um Mest Mkii look very interesting! Perhaps bone conduction would help solve one of my bigger problems with iems: the booms of my footsteps drowning out any bass when I run.
I like bone conduction headphones like Aftershokz for their openness, but I'm very intrigued by higher end applications of bone conduction for sound quality.

Unique Melody as a company in high end IEM market has been around for at quite a few years, maybe a decade IIRC though that market used to be dominated with the Shure and Ultimate Ears (before JH Audio split). Then Campfire Audio came up with Andromeda and 64-Audio (used to be 1964 Ears that only cater stage performing custom IEMs back then) took over that market leaving Shures behind, and in Asia QDC is the dominant player at the time. Wouldn't really think that UM is selling snake oil at first glance with their bone conduction drive given their history starting with UM Miracle IEM which made me aware of the brand at the time. Then again, manufacturers know if there are buyers willing to pay, the sky's the limit for their price gouging so manufacturers can come up with snake oil technology to justify their prices. It all started with Oriolus Traillii's incredibly absurd pricing (I've demoed it for about an hour back then. It sounded very good without EQ, but no way in hell it sounds 5x better than HD800 S or my Andromeda or even the Focal Utopia, Utopia in my subjective opinion is still superior sounding than Traillii without EQ) then when other manufacturers saw a good amount of people are willing to pay 6.5K for an IEM and add that 7.5K IEM cable on top of that (looking at PW Orpheus), UM simply wanted a piece of cake with their Red Halo FE, and another new brand "Aroma Audio" just came up with their Aroma Jewel IEM out of nowhere just a few weeks after Traillii's sales success.

TLDR: Lots of audiophools out there pushing the IEM market to stratospheric prices and manufacturers will come up with some sort of newest "snake oil" tech to rake more $$$. The reality is that the diminishing returns show that audio quality NEVER scales in a linear fashion to the cost, and IMO the quality to cost graph would be similar to the curve from the Dunning-Kruger effect where you can find the best quality for a lot less and anything beyond that can decrease audio quality overall
 

GeekyBastard

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@Maiky76 Sir, would there be an EQ profile made by you for the FiiO FD5 in the near future? Really looking forward to it, many thanks in advance!;)
 

Nicolas

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I gave up entirely on personal/portable audio a while ago; never had a really satisfying experience, certainly light-years away compared to music through large speakers. I have owned and tried a few headphones, mostly entry-level from Grado, Sennheiser, Bose, Sony, B&W, Audio Technica,...
Those ranged from over-ear to IEMs, wired/bluetooth, open/closed/noise-cancelling etc.
Not willing to spend any more time and money on uninformed and ultimately disappointing purchase decisions, I settled on the last one - sennheiser BT/NC over-ear headphones - for lack of a more satisfying option, or knowledge of such.

Although headphones will likely never be my favorite way to enjoy music, I still have a real and frequent use for them (lots of traveling) and would very much like a better option.
Namely comfort, best possible noise isolation and enjoyable sound in a compact, durable and simple package.
I thought of CIEMs (best fit + excellent noise isolation) but the perspective is rather daunting (sheer number of brands / hype / time-consuming and expensive process) and if what came before is any indication, I'd rather not add to the list of disappointments.

Reading this review, I wonder if the FD5 could fit the bill ?
- Not too expensive for a quality product if it does the job reasonably well (I am not expecting it to change my perception of headphones).
- I don't have to look for it and rely on random opinions: it was properly reviewed and measured with good results, which is a better starting point than any of my prior purchases.

Also, if the supplied tips don't fit properly (had that experience as well before), can I be reasonably certain to find third-party ones that will ? (even if I must go the custom way if it comes to that) ?

I would welcome and appreciate your opinions on this.
Thanks for reading.
 
Last edited:

Jimbob54

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I gave up entirely on personal/portable audio a while ago; never had a really satisfying experience, certainly light-years away compared to music through large speakers. I have owned and tried a few headphones, mostly entry-level from Grado, Sennheiser, Bose, Sony, B&W, Audio Technica,...
Those ranged from over-ear to IEMs, wired/bluetooth, open/closed/noise-cancelling etc.
Not willing to spend any more time and money on uninformed and ultimately disappointing purchase decisions, I settled on the last one - sennheiser BT/NC over-ear headphones - for lack of a more satisfying option, or knowledge of such.

Although headphones will likely never be my favorite way to enjoy music, I still have a real and frequent use for them (lots of traveling) and would very much like a better option.
Namely comfort, best possible noise isolation and enjoyable sound in a compact, durable and simple package.
I thought of CIEMs (best fit + excellent noise isolation) but the perspective is rather daunting (sheer number of brands / hype / time-consuming and expensive process) and if what came before is any indication, I'd rather not add to the list of disappointments.

Reading this review, I wonder if the FD5 could fit the bill ?
- Not too expensive for a quality product that does the job reasonably well (I am not expecting it to change my perception of headphones).
- I don't have to look for it and rely on random opinions: they were properly reviewed and measured with good results, which is a better starting point than any of my prior purchases.

Also, if the supplied tips don't fit properly (had that experience as well before), can I be reasonably certain to find third-party ones that will ? (even if I must go the custom way if it comes to that) ?

I would welcome and appreciate your opinions on this.
Thanks for reading.
Etymotic ER range give good sound (but not for bass heads) and are guaranteed to fit well with the caveat that you have to not mind their very intrusive deep fitting flanged tips. They are so light and small there is little chance of them coming out due to own weight etc.

After that, its a crap shoot frankly if any given device will suit your particular ears AND have the right size and material tips for your ear canals. I have a decent stock of tips so can usually find something to fit moset IEM I try but some of the "shell" designs are just awful for my ear shape (straight edges and corners where they should nestle into the natural curve of your ear?!?!?!?!)
 

Archsam

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Etymotic ER range give good sound (but not for bass heads) and are guaranteed to fit well with the caveat that you have to not mind their very intrusive deep fitting flanged tips. They are so light and small there is little chance of them coming out due to own weight etc.

After that, its a crap shoot frankly if any given device will suit your particular ears AND have the right size and material tips for your ear canals. I have a decent stock of tips so can usually find something to fit moset IEM I try but some of the "shell" designs are just awful for my ear shape (straight edges and corners where they should nestle into the natural curve of your ear?!?!?!?!)
I love the sound quality of my Etymotic ER-4XR, but they have the most microphonic cable. I find them quite irritating to wear while I'm on the move, not only do I hear the sound of the cable rubbing but every thump from my footstep is transmitted into my ears.

Personally I will not recommend these for portable use.
 

Jimbob54

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I love the sound quality of my Etymotic ER-4XR, but they have the most microphonic cable. I find them quite irritating to wear while I'm on the move, not only do I hear the sound of the cable rubbing but every thump from my footstep is transmitted into my ears.

Personally I will not recommend these for portable use.

I have a beard so all IEM cables are microphonic to me to one degree or another! The ER2 and 3 come with a more rubberized cable that isnt quite as bad as the 4 but yes, good point about microphonics on the Etys when walking.
 

danadam

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I love the sound quality of my Etymotic ER-4XR, but they have the most microphonic cable. I find them quite irritating to wear while I'm on the move, not only do I hear the sound of the cable rubbing but every thump from my footstep is transmitted into my ears.
Even when clipped to your shirt and with that chin-slider thingy moved under your chin?
 

Archsam

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Even when clipped to your shirt and with that chin-slider thingy moved under your chin?
I gave up using the clip a long time ago, too restrictive when I'm on the move, and it's only partially effective.

My current pair of Etymotics is my 3rd pair. I started with the cheaper ER-6i, then I went to a pair of the classic ER-4P. When those died a few years ago I traded them in for the ER4-XR. I always liked their accurate sound, but in recent years I have put them on less and less, especially when on the go. Modern wireless IEM like Sony WF-1000xm3 is just the ideal mobile solution.

Not that I am getting rid of my big cans anytime soon tho. Different sets for different use.
 
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Merkurio

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For those who have the FD5 and are willing to use (or already use) PEQ, try this preset to IEF neutral with bass boost and compare it with Amir's one (and other Harman presets):


Type​
Fc​
Q​
Gain​
Peaking​
151 Hz​
0.65​
-2.9 dB​
Peaking​
1072 Hz​
0.55​
3.0 dB​
Peaking​
3981 Hz​
2.44​
7.6 dB​
Peaking​
4856 Hz​
0.89​
-9.6 dB​
Peaking​
16039 Hz​
0.19​
6.7 dB​
Peaking​
16 Hz​
2​
1.0 dB​
Peaking​
1767 Hz​
2.75​
0.6 dB​
Peaking​
2478 Hz​
4.61​
-1.2 dB​
Peaking​
5458 Hz​
6.92​
-2.9 dB​
Peaking​
5473 Hz​
2.49​
1.4 dB​

I EQ'd all my current IEMs (AirPods Pro, iSINE LX and ER4SR) to that target and even a pair of wireless headphones (AirPods Max and Soundcore Life Q30) with superb results in all of them with minor or not tweaking at all, unlike the Harman target presets I've used in the past as a starting point.

Hope it works as well for you as it has for me. :)
 

Bamyasi

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There are a lot of eartip choices out there these days, which is good because ear canal sizes and shapes can vary a lot person to person. You might want to check out articles like this for some ideas:

https://www.headphonesty.com/2018/04/ultimate-guide-selecting-perfect-iem-ear-buds-tips/
Thanks, Nathan. What this site provides is mostly general information which is of course nice to have in one place. But it does not solve my problem unfortunately. Finding eartips which both give comfortable fit and sound good at the same time seemed to be an impossible quest.

Good news, I might have just found my Holy Grail! Arrived today in the form of Final Audio LL size Type E eartips ordered from Amazon. They have same outer diameter as FD5 included L size but protrude slightly further and the fit is definitely better as a result. They also cut on the 5-6 kHz peak in FR which original FD5 eartips had resulting in uncomfortably piercing highs. These Final eartips have as clean and clear highs as the original FD5 ones but put much less strain on my ears. Bass is also tuned perfectly to my taste although this is very much question of personal preference of course.
 

GeekyBastard

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For those who have the FD5 and are willing to use (or already use) PEQ, try this preset to IEF neutral with bass boost and compare it with Amir's one (and other Harman presets):
This AutoEQ result doesn't look too good, especially with the higher peaks at and after 8KHz, might result in quite a fatigue listening experience, I do think most AutoEQ results require manually optimization afterwards.

FiiO FD5 new.png
 
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