REVIEW: FIIO F5 – GOING BALANCED
Author：LIEVEN
Review from：headfonia
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Disclaimer: The Fiio F5 was sent to us free of charge in exchange for our review. Fiio is a Headfonia partner but Fiio insists that we keep our objectivity as we do for all other brands.
Fiio
Fiio is going strong. Maybe even the strongest ever. Yes their renewal rate might be a little high and I totally understand my readers being upset because of that, but I have to give it to Fiio that each of their updates each time quality-wise remarkably improves compared to the original product. The F5 is Fiio’s third/fourth in-ear if I’m not mistaken with the F1, F3, EX1 in-ears and EM3 earbud as its predecessors. I’m pretty sure many other IEMs will follow but for now this is Fiio’s reference product.
Fiio F5
The new Fiio F5 is a one dynamic driven IEM that is made out of Anodized and galvanized aluminum alloys. The driver’s size is rather large with its 13.6mm and it features an aerospace titanium diaphragm. Fiio also got the yellow Hi-Res Audio label for their latest IEM. The Fiio F5 comes both with a single ended as well as a 2.5mm balanced cable, so the cables are detachable.
The 3.5mm single ended cable has in-line controls and is made with 24 strand OFC. The 2.5mm balanced versions adds 66 stranded copper wiring extra on top of its core, for extra shielding. It’s the first time that Fiio releases an IEM with a balanced cable. According to Fiio their balanced cable reduces left and right channel crosstalk as well as external interference to the audio signal and it improves the signal to noise ratio.
Connector wise Fiio opted for MMCX which seems to be the most popular choice at the moment with a lot of companies. Both the 3.5 and 2.5mm cable come with a cable tie attached to it. As said the 3.5mm cable will work with your Android and OS sources (MFI compatible). If you want to know in detail how this new F5 technically compares to the other Fiio IEMs, you can study the overview on Fiio’s website: http://www.fiio.net/en/products/69/comparisons
Price & Accessories
The Fiio F5 will retail for $64.99USD. The Fiio F5 arrived in a simple yet beautiful black box. The Fiio F5 comes delivered with a lovely little black hard case which makes transporting these IEMs easy and safe. IT will surely be used to transport other IEMS in the future.
Next to the waterproof case you get both the 2.5mm balanced and 3.5mm single ended cable, together with 6 sets of silicone tips: 3 black and 3 mixed-color, both in small, medium and large size. It’s nice to see the good hard box because that’s all you’ll find in the box, accessory wise the F5 doesn’t really excel but for the $64.99 price I guess it’s ok.
Comfort & Build Quallity
The F5’s nozzles are fairly big and with the included tips I can’t say it for me personally is a very comfortable experience as it – after like an hour or so – really starts hurting my ear canals. The Fiio F5 has an angled design which does make it comfortable to wear, size and weight-wise it is a comfortable IEM, it just seems the canals are a bit big for my ears and the tips a bit hard, especially on the inside.
The F5 itself has an outer aluminum shell but the inside and the nozzle has a plastic finish. Design wise you can still clearly see Dunu’s influence but the build quality (beside for them using plastic for the inside) and finish actually is very good. There are 3 ventilation ports on the inside of the shell and one on the outside.
It also is remarkable though to see a detachable cable in this price range. I’m happy to see Fiio chose to go with the MMCX connectors on their cables as it allows us to use it with a whole set of higher end aftermarket cables. The connectors click in nicely and you can give the cable a good snug without them popping out of the connector in the shell.
The standard 3.5mm cable is very basic: it’s terminated with a straight 3.5mm plug and it doesn’t really have a strain relief. The cable with in-line function is light and it won’t drag down your monitors from your ears. The 3.5mm cable doesn’t suffer from any friction noise and the in-line controls are very easy to use. There’s a very small button on the side which lets you switch between Android and OS sources. Be sure you have a paperclip available to flip the switch. All in all it’s a decent cable but it’s one of those “one in a dozen” cables.
The 2.5mm balanced cable has a nicer finish than the regular one and it seems to be a bit sturdier. Unfortunately it comes without in-line controls. Like the 3.5mm cable there is no real strain relief. It’s even more quiet than the regular cable and it sonically also is the best performing one. We’ll come back to this later in the part on “sound”.
The article continues on the next page where we look at its sound and driveability. Click HERE
Specifications
FR: 20Hz – 40kHz
13.6mm dynamic type driver
Impedance: 32Ohm
Sensitivity: 102dB/mW
Cable length: 120cm
Weight: 21g
The article continues on the next page where we look at its sound and driveability. Click HERE
und
According to Fiio, the F5 has a highly resolving nature, mid and treble frequency response with deeper and fuller bass (compared to EX1). The difference in sound between the balanced and the regular cable is pretty big in my opinion and as said earlier, the balanced cable performs best.
Fiio’s marketing team focuses on the F5 being balanced and I do think they agree with us that is simply sounds best in that config. Their website states this about the balanced cable:
Results in a wide and open sound stage and impactful yet tightly controlled bass
Single Ended
The Fiio F5 sounds reasonably balanced with the stock 3.5mm cable and bass and treble are only slightly lifted over the mids. There’s a good level of clarity and a black background and the Fiio F5 sounds very clean as well. The level of detail at this price point is good, the same goes for its sound stage but only for the width as the depth isn’t that spectacular. The Fiio F5 does sound natural with a normal amount of space between the instruments and it has a natural and airy presentation.
Bass is fairly tight but it doesn’t go really deep. As said, with the stock cable, layering and depth isn’t where the Fiio F5 performs best. The mids section is slightly more forward sounding, and especially the voices get the focus. Detail, clarity and cleanness is good though and the mids sound fairly rich Treble is energetic and detailed but don’t expect the most extended or layered treble at all. Depending on the source used and the music you’re listening to, treble can sound harsher.The bass and treble have a good contrast though which is keeping the F5 musical and energetic sounding.
Balanced Mode
Using the balanced cable completely transforms the Fiio F5. You get improved detail from bass to treble making everything sound a lot richer and more energetic. The bass, mids and treble are also more balanced and now have the same amount of body. Besides the extra detail the Fiio F5’s depth and layering especially improve by using the balanced cable. All in all using the balanced cable really makes the Fiio F5 perform on a different, way above its price point, level. In SE mode it’s just another OK sounding IEM but in balanced mode you get this soft, musical, rich and natural sounding IEM. I especially like the softer and natural voices in the balanced setup as the SE config made them clean but too forward and unnatural sounding.
The balanced configuration is the way to go to get the most out of this IEM. Of course using different tips such as Comply and Spinfit will have an impact on the sound as well. I advise you to play around with your own favorite set of tips to tune the sound most to your liking. I sound wise quite like the Fiio F5 myself with the colored tips, sized medium.
Driveability & Sources (using a 2.5 to 3.5mm convertor for all non 2.5mm devices)
The Fiio F5 should be fairly easy to drive and it didn’t pick up any noise in single ended mode or fromFiio’s balanced AM3 module on the Fiio X7, the Fiio X5III and AK’s KANN.
From my Samsung S6 streaming over TIDAL, the Fiio X5 sounds clean but a bit thinner overall with sharper sounding treble and forward vocals. I don’t really like this combination myself as it doesn’t sound as balanced as it does on all the DAPs I tried it with. From the Cayin N3 you get a more energetic and musical sounding Fiio F5 with good balance between bass mids and treble. Bass has great impact and they’re perfectly in line with the mids and energetic treble. With some songs, treble can still a little harsh though. Voices are still slightly more forward but it isn’t annoyingly so. The N3 & F5 combo sounds detailed, clear and very energetic/musical.
Compared to the N3, the Fiio X5III has little more detail with a wider and deeper sound stage but treble still can be kind tough to listen to on some musical types. Bass is great and the mids sound rich while the voices just like on the N3 are more forward sounding. In SE mode the voices and treble“issue” get emphasized so balanced here is the way to go. On the Fiio X7 with AM3 installed (balanced module) the F5 sounds most detailed and clean/clear so far but treble with treble based music can get very lively even in balanced mode. The X7 makes the F5 sound musical and detailed with a lovely natural and musical presentation. A fully recommended combo.
My favorite DAP for the Fiio F5 however turns out to be Astell&Kern’s KANN which delivers a detailed, smooth, yet musical and detailed sound with no sense of forward vocals or harsher sounding treble. The Kann, even single ended, is a warmer and smoother player but my ears seem to like it most in combination with the F5. With other monitors the KANN can sound so smooth and warm, but here it simply works. On the balanced output you get a more spacious presentation, better depth and a richer sound.
If you’re not convinced with your phone’s or DAP’s output you can always hook it up to an external amp or DAC/Amp. Fiio’s A5 amp (the E12A replacement), of course only offers a single ended output so treble again will be a little harsher with some types of music. You do get a rich and musical sound with more power than you’ll ever need. I very much liked this full Fiio combination. You don’t really need an amp for the F5 at all but if the treble bothers you an amp could be the solution for that (or some EQ’ing).
The bad news is that Brooko/Paul and Berkhan reviewed the other Fiio IEMs for HFN but as a result I don’t have these IEMs to compare them to the new flagship. Sorry for that!
Conclusion
The Fiio F5 in balanced mode certainly punches above its price point. Depending on the DAP used or the musical style you’re listening to, treble can sound harsher sometimes but some EQ’ing or an external amplifier can help with that if you’d want that. The Single Ended mode surely isn’t bad but it’s nowhere near the level of the balanced configuration.
For the $64.99 price there is very little to complain about and with the balanced cable on a balanced source, the F5 certainly sounds better than it $80USD (TBC) price would suggest.
