Review: FiiO F9 – Prime
Author：Berkhan
Review from：Headfonia
→→ Read the original article on Headfonia：>> Click here
Disclaimer: The FiiO F9 was sent from FiiO free of charge for my opinion in this article, it doesn’t have to be returned. There’s also a Standard Edition of the F9, which doesn’t have the detachable connectors and balanced cable. This version goes for 100 $ and the Standard Edition costs 90 $. The FiiO F9 Pro will also be released in November, which will have Knowles BA drivers. That version will go for 150 $.
INTRO
While continually developing & updating their DAPs and portable DACs / Amplifiers, FiiO also have been stepping up their game in the IEM business. I’ve reviewed their F1 & F3 IEMs earlier this year, and as usual with FiiO they both had an excellent value, especially the F3. Both IEMs entered our Universal IEM Recommandations page, with their great performance for such tiny price brackets.
Now for competing in the low-mid tier IEM market, they recently introduced the FiiO F9 IEM. With a much more sleek and stylish design, and potentially a higher level of sound than their first couple of models, the F9 is a signal from FiiO indicating they have higher goals in the IEM market.
DESIGN OF BIONICS
Applied to airplane, car and pearly nautilus speaker, as well as the F9.
FiiO claims that they have applied bionic & aerodynamic principles in terms of designing the F9 IEM. Even though it doesn’t look unique or original apart from the “waves” which you can see in the photo below, I absolutely love it looks-wise. I think this is the best built IEM from FiiO as far as I’m concerned. The IEM earpieces are so smooth and well finished. I always praised the progress of FiiO products over the years, and it seems they continue to develop with IEMs too.
I also understand that they derived some inspiration from Westone & Shure IEMs. You can’t blame them though. If you want to produce IEMs with a low-profile design and great fit, this maybe is the best possible design route you can take. And, they used CNC cut metal which I think exceeds those IEMs from the past in terms of build.
The shell is first engraved by CNC as a whole, then anodized and sand blasted, making a beautiful metallic appearance.
Build quality is fantastic and for the price it can’t get better than this. The all aluminum body gives a compact and solid impression when you inspect it in hand. It looks like it can take some blows and stay perfectly in one piece. Yes, these really look like Westone IEMs, but to me the metal shells should be more solid than plastic. Or at least give a better premium feeling. It sure is a great job from FiiO putting up this smooth design and great build.
To eliminate the resonance, there’s also a plastic smaller shell inside the IEM that takes a supportive role for the structure as well. And there’s the MMCX connectors for detachable cables, which are very sturdy and you can pretty much rely on them for their entire life-span.
PACKAGE
The package is quite complete and there’s nothing missing. Maybe some foam tips would be nice and that’s my only small complaint. Otherwise, there are many silicone tips provided and there’s a weatherproof case that looks really cool. It’s shiny, full black and has rectangular shapes on the top; so you see some nice reflections with daylight. This is not a Pelican case but feels really close to that. Not bad for 100$ isn’t it? I absolutely loved the inclusion of this case and I think I’m going to use it for other IEMs in my possession.
FIT
Because of the ergonomic design, the FiiO F9 has great fit as you can guess. They don’t stick out from your ears and you can easily take a nap with them. Nozzle angle is perfect for the majority of the people. I personally would’ve preferred just slightly longer nozzles for better isolation and a snug fit. Even so, it’s still very good as it is.
Isolation is fairly good, not spectacular but not bad either. The good thing is there are many tips supplied in the package. If that’s not enough, I can recommend you to try out some foam tips. Foams provide better isolation and solid fit. However do note that you can sacrifice some treble response that way, but that could be your goal, as I will explain in the sound section.
The earphones are supremely comfortable and as long as your ears are not extremely small, you’ll feel very nice with them even for long periods. I can easily say the fit is almost perfect with the F9.
SOUND
The FiiO F9 has 1 dynamic driver and 2 balanced armature drivers under the hood. There are lots of hybrid designs in the market now, yet the F9’s strong suit is the price. But of course the configuration is not everything, there needs to be a good cohesiveness, good control of the dynamic driver and good precision from the BA drivers.
Does F9 tick those boxes? Let’s find out.
BASS
The FiiO F9 has good amount of bass and if you like bassy type of IEMs, there’s a good potential for you to like it. Thanks to the dynamic driver it has a good amount but it’s not something I would call “bass heavy”. On the other hand, there’s certainly a focus on low frequencies. They’re the focal point most of the time, making their presence heard, especially on bassy recordings.
Mid & subbass balance is good, altough I think the midbass is ahead in terms of quantity. It’s important to set your expectations right in this price range so I think it’s quite nice. Is it nicely controlled? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. That depends on the source and the recording but you shouldn’t expect top notch control over the bass, like Mid-Class or TOTL hybrid IEMs.
The important thing here is the midbass. Altough it’s a midbass focused IEM, the midbass hump problem is almost non existent. I say almost because it’s not perfect. There’s a small midbass hump, yet I don’t think it will bother and you can use a small amount of EQ to make it flatter. Fortunately there’s no obvious bleeding on this part, so the mids can shine if they’re asked to. Not on a high level but you can’t ask more than this for the money. So fairly good separation between bass and mids but it could’ve been a little better if you ask me. It’s positive to hear that subbass is not overpowering, but just a little flatter midbass and slightly more kick from subbass could’ve made this IEM even better in my opinion.
The bass doesn’t reach very deep and altough the texture is not too bad, again I think a little more bass kick from subs would’ve been nice. Instead, the focus usually is on the midbass. That makes the IEM just a little slow for fast paced music genres. But that part can be better or worse in proportion with the source quality. But I should say bass is not artificial and not overly elevated as a whole. This is a natural bass response, maybe a little bit better tuning can be done in the future to make it better.
MIDS
This is not a mid monster and there are reasons for me to say that. The mids are slightly recessed overall, making the F9 a slightly V-Shaped sounding IEM. Mids are not too distant though, there’s still good resolution and definition in this part. Mids also contain very good tonality and naturalness so it in no way like is some entry level IEMs that sounds artificial or thin. The mids are full, dynamic, transparent and coherent. Along with good level of dynamism for the price, you won’t be disappointed but in terms of amount, if you like more forward mids in your IEMs than this obviously is not the first choice.
Mids are nicely separated from low frequencies. So despite being a little back in the stage, you can hear the good tonality and transparency across the range. I’m no way in discomfort in terms of mid presentation but I prefer more quantity from the mids. Maybe with a little less midbass presence, mids could shine more with the F9.
But for 100$, there’s no need to be harsh on this IEM really. In the past I heard worse or similar presentations with more expensive IEMs. However there’s a peak that lies down on upper mids & lower treble that needs to be equalized to some extent. Foam tips can be useful here, making them smoother and more coherent by sucking out those peaks. Is it too discomforting with sibilance? No, but it for me personally needs to be addressed. Either with foam tips or EQ.
TREBLE
Lower treble has some amount of peak as I’ve said, you either could face it or not, depending on the recording and source quality. But once you solve that with EQ or foam tips, you can focus on the good treble extension, resolution and detail retrieval. Treble is quite prominent, almost the same amount as the low frequencies, but not harsh except for the lower treble. The cymbals can be harsh for you so be aware. It’s good to tame down that part with EQ.
Highs have good clarity and resolution, and also can sound nicely articulated. The treble quality of the FiiO F9 is very very good and you’ll be pleased to hear the details from it, especially for this price. Highs give good lift for this IEM to sound airy and open, so it doesn’t sound congested in any way whatsoever.
Treble also has good positioning with being at the right distance and not in your face. It usually sounds quite refined and has good control on upper treble. The roll off in this part is slightly apparent but it’s not something to complain about because the roll off isn’t too much. So extension is good in my opinion. Could it be better? Well it can always be better, but not for this price level.
Overall, except the lower treble region (which you can easily sort out with giving -2/3db on 8khz) treble is very nice with the F9.
TECHNICAL SUCCESSION
The FiiO F9 has good clarity overall, together with good emphasis on bass and treble. Mids are also very nice, smooth, coherent and consistent with good naturalism in the spectrum. My complaint is that they’re just a little back in the stage but I prefer them to be closer than that. Otherwise, I can’t be negative.
Resolution is quite good, which is always crucial with any headphone/earphone. Micro details are great for this class of an IEM, which was the surprising part for me. They achieved a very good performance regarding the detail level. Separation is also very good and although I didn’t too much like the midbass response, it’s still very natural and smooth in terms of bass and it has good amount of body too.
Sound stage is another plus for the F9, containing good width and depth. The midbass focus gives it good deepness, rather than a super wide sound reproduction. But still you have very good width with a nice channel balance and good clarity altogether. That said, it sets the stage a little higher than I’m used to but that’s not a huge problem. Overall the sound stage is excellent for the money.
The background is good, helping you to single out the elements and enjoy a highly separated sound with good imaging capabilities. So the FiiO F9 gets good points regarding the imaging and 3D feeling.
There’s no need for an amp to drive the F9, any source should be enough to drive it well.
BALANCED
FiiO supplies a balanced cable with the FiiO F9. This is terminated with a 2.5mm jack. FiiO wants to standardize the balanced output with all of their products so the inclusion wasn’t a surprise.
To me the balanced cable is clearly better to the standard cable. You get better imaging and separation, better staging and better frequency response. If you have the F9, go straight to balanced and don’t look back. The balanced cable is much better in terms of build quality too! It’s more like an audiophile type of cable, which looks and feels much better than the standard cable with built-in mic. So I recommend getting this version and hook up the balanced cable.
COMPARISONS
FiiO F1: The F1 is quite generous for the price it goes for, but it’s of course no match for the F9 in terms of… well, everything.
FiiO F3: This one puts up a better fight but not for long. It’s similar because of also having a v-shape sound, but it’s even more v-shape to me than the F9. It’s not this good in terms of tonality and overall coherency. Also the F9 has better staging and imaging. The build qualities are from completely a different worlds too.
Shozy & AAW Hibiki: I haven’t published its review yet but the Hibiki IEM is also a wonderful piece of work for the price. It doesn’t have the lower treble peak like the F9 does, but it also doesn’t have the tonality in mids. Bass is better controlled and more airy on Hibiki and the sound stage dimensions are similar. But it has very thin mids which is the only thing for the “cons” of it. And of course it’s a 1 DD monitor, so it doesn’t have that clarity.
LZ-A4: The LZ is wonderful in terms of bass and with its open back design it’s really atmospheric and has great stage depth. Mids and trebles are better also, but depend on the filters being used. FiiO has much better fit and isolation, similar amount of treble succession and build quality is better.
SUMMARY
For 100$, you get a very solid IEM with a great fit and ergonomic design and also a great sound quality. The only big problem here is the lower treble, which I think FiiO could make better with more precise tuning. There will be a FiiO F9 Pro model soon, and James from FiiO says it has better control overall, so it looks like you don’t need to worry about the peak after getting that version.
To be honest with you, it’s very hard to find an IEM with this quality at this price. Somehow I really associated the F9 to the old Westone 3. Very similar shape and fit, and very similar sound. The Westone 3 had a midbass hump and upper mid-lower treble peak, as well as the recessed mids and good extending treble. It couldn’t have gotten more similar than this. But of course you should remember the price of the Westone 3 back then.
Try out the new FiiO F9, especially with the balanced cable. You will be pleased for this price level.
It’s FiiO’s best & prime IEM.
