FiiO New Generation Family Recommendation Plan

——First experience from the FH15 to the FH9

"What is your impression of FiiO headphones?" For recent years, I may have paid more attention to FiiO's playback devices.

I bought the M11 Pro a few years ago. I also experienced the M15 earlier, which was considered to be the prototype of the portable desktop-class DAP, and the updated M11S. After being recommended by people around me, I also came up with the idea of buying a BTR7...

In terms of headphones, the most impressive FiiO headphones in recent years should be the FD5. Compared with the 12mm large DLC dynamic driver using the beryllium-coated DLC diaphragm, replacable connectors and sound tubes, what impressed me about the FD5 should be its appearance. The design with the shadow of IER-Z1R really makes me, a long-term and permanent primary stage Sony user, very excited. Haha...

The appearance of FF5 also gave me a lot of surprises. It not only presents what the new generation of "flat-head" earbuds should look like, but also makes up for some regrets in the playability of FF3. Yes, simply put: "My most anticipated "flat-head" earbuds has finally appeared." There is nothing wrong with saying that, but since my wearing habits have changed, I still prefer the in-ear style. If possible, I would still like to experience the new generation of FiiO in-ear earphones. Here comes the chance.

Fortunately, this time I was able to borrow the newly launched FH15, FH7S and FH9 from FiiO. They are all my favorite hybrid IEMs, and they also cover the most frequently contacted price range of 200-600USD. With the previous LC-RE Pro 2022 and M17, this time it can really be regarded as a recommendation for the new generation of FiiO family.

Accessories

The packaging of the three earphones all adopts the magnetic suction inner box design, and the outer layer will have an additional layer of envelopes printed with product design, key selling points, and line drafts than the FF5 that is directly packaged with magnetic suction box. The cover of the FH9 is a little cleaner. The front only shows the shape of the earphone, and the bottom is decorated with the blue broken light commonly used by FiiO.

The three outer box covers will still be added with a bright mask, and the colorful effect on the surface can still be seen in a special light and shadow environment, but compared with that of FF5, it is relatively low-key. In terms of accessories, based on the similarity in design concepts and some changes in the general direction of FiiO, the accessories of the three are also very similar.

All three earphones are equipped with the basic earphones storage case

The difference is that both FH9 and FH7 use a leather storage box called HB5. The inner layer is made of fleece-like material to prevent the earphones from being rubbed and damaged on the inside of the case and storage box when carrying them. There are partitions of the same material inside, which is convenient for users to store according to the lanyard of the earphones, and can also be used to store the earphones separately after the earphones are detached.

The partitions can be moved, and can be divided into different forms according to the needs of users.

As for FH15, it may be a little lower in positioning, it is still the most familiar waterproof storage box HB1. The shape design of HB1 is a bit like the storage box design of Pelican 1010, with a transparent shell on the upper side and a non-slip soft material on the lower side of the inner box, so there is no problem in daily storage of headphones or accessories.

In terms of replaceable structure, the three earphones this time all support replacing cables, filters, connectors and eartips.

The three earphones all use the mmcx interchangeable cable interface, and FiiO comes with an MMCX quick release auxiliary on the three products. Although the interface can be opened directly by hand, it will be more difficult to replace it with bare hands when the wire with a metal part (such as LC-RE 2022) is used at the contact position, and it will be more convenient to replace it with the quick release auxiliary.

When it comes to cable replacement, the original cables of the three earphones all use FiiO's latest interchangeable connector design. But FH7S and FH15 only come with 4.4mm balance ports and 3.5mm connectors, while the FH9 with higher positioning comes with an extra 2.5mm balanced connector.

The three earphones are equipped with three pairs of filters, corresponding to the high-frequency enhancement, low-frequency enhancement and balanced modes. Each filter has a different color circle for quick identification during installation.

The eartips FH9 is equipped with The eartips are also very rich. In addition to the conventional silicone eartips, memory foam eartips, and double flange eartips, the three FiiO headphones are equipped with HS18 eartips that are positioned relatively higher than the conventional eartips. The surface of the HS18 is made of silicone with skin-friendly treatment, and the thickness of the cover is 0.4mm. Compared with thicker conventional silicone eartips, the HS18 can be worn more closely to the ear, thereby improving comfort.

In addition, the FH7S and FH9 come with eartips from SpinFit. Compared to the SpinFit W1, I feel that their rubber eartips are relatively soft and "sticky", and the wearing fit is better. Based on the soft material, the ear-supporting feeling brought by the rubber plug will be lower when worn, reducing the fatigue. For other accessories, the three earphones have small brushes for cleaning. For friends who like to go deep into the ear but will leave earwax after wearing it, this cleaning tool should be quite needed.

In terms of accessories, as long as it is a FiiO earphones, there is no need to worry. In addition to the eartips, FiiO will also consider the daily use scenarios including storage and cleaning, and the accessories can basically cover the above-mentioned scenarios. It's easy to get started and quite considerate. If I want to go further, I personally hope that the FH9 can be equipped with a lens cleaning cloth for cleaning the shell, and each earphone has a storage bag that can be bundled, so that you can store earphones in the bag and store accessories in the box. Of course, I know this is greedy.

Modeling

Since this is not a comparison but just an ordinary three-device joint test, I will talk about the styling part separately:

FH15

The shape of the FH15 is a conventional FiiO-style design. The shell adopts the metallic midnight blue commonly used by FiiO as the main color, and is matched with an aluminum alloy body with a rose gold-toned outer ring.

The 3D surface detail effect of the outer panel is similar to that of dragon scales. This kind of smooth curve detail is also very common in FiiO.

Based on the 1 dynamic 4 BA drivers structure and the 10mm dynamic driver, the size of the FH15 is smaller than that of the FH9 and FH7S. The advantage of the small size is that the FH15 does not stick to or support the ears when worn, and there are ear hooks for soothing and fixing assistance, so the earphones do not put too much pressure on the ears.

Preference aside, the FH15 should be the least stressful of the three when worn. Moreover, the fuselage is not too heavy, and the design that goes deep into the ears will not put too much pressure on your ears, and the overall wearing feeling is quite comfortable.

FH9

The FH9 and FH7S, which are slightly larger in size, will fit a little more snugly on the edge than the FH15.

After wearing the FH9, you can feel the complete coldness of the metal. The body uses a pure titanium earphone shell. The round shape is finished by five-axis CNC digital processing. When wearing it, it can just fill the space in the ear, and with the right size and the smooth curve of the case, the wearing pressure can be fully dispersed.

The fuselage uses a semi-open acoustic rear cavity design, which can balance the internal air pressure, reduce the pressure on the eardrum, and relieve the wearing pressure. It is not too tiring to wear it for a little longer. The outer side of the elegant black version uses a gold filter to form a classic black and gold pairing. The metallic luster on the appearance of the fuselage is more eye-catching, but it is also easier to leave traces of wearing.

Especially my oily body, it is easy to have the worries left by trying FF3. After wearing it, it will stick to the ear oil and need to be wiped frequently. This is also the reason why I expect FH9 to equipped with glasses cloth. Friends who have a physique similar to mine, I would suggest that you also develop the habit of bringing your own glasses cloth.

FH7S

To be honest, among these three headphones, the FH7S is my personal favorite design.

 

After inheriting the style of FH9, FH7S has changed the previous round design, from the outer filter to the whole body shape, it has added a sci-fi scale design, and the angular shape looks more mechanical. This is why I personally prefer the FH7S over the FH9, though FH9 has a higher positioning and a more wearing friendly shape.

Although the outer design is more angular, the inner side of the FH7S still has a rounded structure package, and with similar dimensions, the FH7S also inherits the wearing friendliness of the FH9. Moreover, the 9g FH7S is a little lighter than the 12.8g FH9, and it puts less pressure on the ears when worn. Although it is necessary to constantly switch back and forth to feel the difference, on the whole, the two will not be too tiring to wear for a long time.

The body of the FH7S is also made of aluminum alloy, with a gunmetal-like grain finish. The gloss is not as heavy as the FH9 with heavy mirror effect, but the existing effect will not bring out the problem that the mirror surface can draw with fingertips. Although it needs to be cleaned every day, it is still possible to be lazy once in a while. Sound Similarly, the hearing is also experienced separately from the three earphones. The three earphones all use standard sound filters. The main player used in the test is M17, and the three earphones will be used with the LC-RE Pro 2022 upgraded cable:

FH15

When you first listen to it, the FH15 feels very special.

The FH5 has forward vocals, and it doesn't give you too much spatial depth, but enough distance when you want to hear the singer's position. In addition, it highlights vocals, provides intimate vocals and a good separation effect between the vocals and the background. The feeling of unclearness or interference does not exist on the FH15. While the vocals are highlighted, they will neither be sharpened like a razor nor give you the feeling like a dry cough. The transition of the vocals is smooth as silk, which makes me feel really comfortable.

FiiO wants to present a reference-level effect in terms of sound style, which is mainly for the purpose of "representing reality". When I listen to them, I feel that they are similar to monitoring headphones: "every note needs to be caught".

Indeed, the FH15 has a brand new 10mm carbon-based dome diaphragm dynamic drivers with two Knowles RAD BA drivers as the basis. The carbon-based dome diaphragm used in the new driver is lighter, supports faster response, and improves transient performance. According to the FiiO official, based on the characteristics of the new diaphragm, the driver can reduce the impact of sound distortion from the root and improve the overall clarity. The addition of Knowles RAD driver naturally enhances the performance of the earphones in terms of high frequency and overall resolution of the earphones, and also enhances the "air sense" of the sound

In addition, the S.Turbo acoustic structure technology is used in the earphones, mainly to improve the low-frequency performance. It can filter out the high frequency band of low-frequency driver, reduce the impact of frequency overlap between low and medium frequency driver, improve the smoothness between drivers, ensure the output of the three frequencies, and improve the cleanliness of the sound.

The FH15 shows basically no ambiguity in detail, and the overall feeling is refreshing and not dry, and there is no problem of over-sharpening. Compared to the pure BA driver combination that is more obsessed with presenting monitoring, the FH15 hybrid driver combination sounds like a comfortable restoration, which may be one of the reasons why it is suitable for pop music. Same as the previous experience, after switching to LC-RE Pro 2022, the FH15 will have a more intimate sound, a better sound floor, and a more prominent bass effect. Although it was already supported by S.Turbo, I, a person who prefers more bass, still prefer the bass effect after switching to LC-RE Pro 2022.

FH9

As FiiO's signature product currently in the 400-600USD price range, FH9 uses the combination of  1 dynamic driver and 6 BA drivers.

The dynamic driver is a 13.6mm DLC diaphragm dynamic drvier. The BA part adopts the six BA drivers group customized by Knowles. The mid-frequency composite driver is jointly customized by FiiO and Knowles. The high frequency driver SWFK-31736 is also from Knowles. This dynamic driver is used for the first time, and it also uses DLC diamond-like material, which has the characteristics of high rigidity and light weight, and basically provides excellent transient response and reduces the influence of nonlinear distortion. The mid-frequency composite driver customized with Knowles is mainly to improve the connection effect of the earphones at the mid-frequency position, so that the connection becomes seamless. It has a balanced tri-frequency-band distribution. While presenting precise sound, the FH9 also has its own "taste". It has the characteristics of high accuracy and low distortion, which makes it sound smoother without monitoring fatigue.

The earphones are equipped with the S.Turbo acoustic turbo structural design, which can filter the excess mid-high frequencies to optimize the sound connection, and more importantly, strengthen the bass through the turbo shape. The drum beats have sufficient strength and thickness, and the whole beat to rebound is natural and smooth, without a digital sense that is forcibly added.

The low-frequency presence is strong and the volume is sufficient. Even in low-volume mode, it will not show a sense of fatigue only. The overall effect can satisfy the role of sound sorrounding and enhance the overall three-dimensional sense. Here, there will be a more prominent improvement after switching to LC-RE Pro 2022. The original 8-strand 224-core high-purity silver-plated headphone cable has the characteristics of silver-plated cable. The main job is to improve the brightness and transparency of the sound. When paired with FH9, the low-frequency quantity and quality are sufficient. But if you want to ask for more low frequencies like me, the sense of hearing presented by LC-RE Pro 2022 will be more suitable.

When listening to OST, FH9 can present the dense details of the song. I selected the fourth OST's "Mob: Unicorn Gundam" and "Mob: UXO-RX 0" for audition. The two songs are versions with more instruments and details on the original basis. FH9 presents the feeling of pushing the details closer one after another. The newly added details and the original songs can keep a distance. The two have obvious layers and will not interfere with each other. When the high-frequency instruments are displayed, they are transparent enough, and the sound will not be harsh and dry, and the dryness of scratching the palate of the throat will be less. With enough density, when a lot of information comes in, the whole sense of hearing is still a bit exciting.

In addition, it is quite comfortable when listening to human voices. Even listening to singers with high and sharp voices, FH9 can also maintain the humidity of this part. This should be the optimization of the notch resonant cavity. It suppresses sibilance by eliminating harmonic resonances in the cavity, sound tube and ear canal.

FH7S

It seems to have a relationship with the decentralization of flagship technology. FH7S has a lot of shadows of FH9 in the sound configuration.

FH7S uses a 1 dynamic 4 BA driver combination and the 13.6mm driver uses DLC diamond-like material. The characteristics of high damping, high rigidity and light weight remain the same as before. It is basically the same unit as FH9. For the BA driver part, the high frequency part uses SWFK-31736 from Knowles to enhance the performance of details. In addition, the DFK mid-frequency composite driver jointly customized with Knowles is also selected, which can make the connection of various frequency bands smoother, and make it more gentle in terms of human voice restoration. FH7S use S.Turbo and notch acoustic filter technology. These sound characteristics presented on FH9 are also inherited by FH7S.

Compared with other iems, the sound of FH7S is more "refreshing". The characteristics of the DFK mid-frequency drivers give a "boost" to the vocal reproduction: it is smooth when showing the details of singing. Just like a glass of beer with just enough foam, the amount of foam is just enough to maintain its desired effect on the taste, and the overall entrance maintains the refreshingness that the bubbles should have.

If you want to compare it with FH9, I personally think that the sound of FH7S tends to be a little more refreshing, while FH9 has a fuller taste, greater strength when dealing with low frequencies, and a slightly rounder effect. It's like the white foam on the beer is thicker and richer, and the taste is smoother and richer.

End

Finally finished. This experience not only gave me a detailed enough experience of Fiio’s flagship portable desktop-class player M17, but also a more detailed understanding of FiiO’s new generation of hybrid earphones.

From the entry-level to the flagship products, throughout the new FiiO product system, there will be a high-rigidity, lightweight material diaphragm that brings a new generation of dynamic drivers with excellent transient performance and low distortion. Combined with the custom-made BA drivers with Knowles ,S.Turbo and notch wave acoustic filter technology, as well as new specifications of cables... These are the new technical signs of the new generation of FiiO hybrid IEMs. Coupled with the accumulation of accessories and other product optimization, a new generation of product formula exclusive to FiiO was born. Back to the product itself, the three products are all stuck in their proper place for me.

The new FH15 has a little more of its own taste and tendency on the traditional IEM style, making the sound of IEM more comfortable. Coupled with the affordable price and the extremely detailed configuration of FiiO, the FH15 is a very suitable in-ear earphone for beginners. In addition to the wired connection with the dongle DAC and player, it is also very suitable to be used with the UTWS5 to have a true wireless experience. After switching back to 3.5mm cable, it can continue to shine on the old device, which is very good.

As for FH7S and FH9, I personally have more opinions. As mentioned above, I prefer the more angular design of the FH7S. The smaller and lighter design has more advantages in wearing. In this era when glasses and masks are required, it is not bad to be able to reduce the burden on the earphones. Of course, it is not that it is not suitable for wearing if it is a little heavier, and the wearing of FH9 is also very complete. The shape of the earphone can perfectly fit the gap in the ear. With the earhook and the inner shape, it can be fixed after wearing, and it will not be too different from the lighter FH7S for long-term use.

Some users may think that most of the configurations of FH7S and FH9 are similar, and if there are very few differences, they will be more inclined to the flagship FH9. But in actual experience, both of them are very perfect individuals corresponding to their current configurations. There is no concept that if A uses the configuration of B, it is more complete. Both of them have similar performance using the LC-RE PRO 2022 cable and work greatly on both M17 and M11PRO...... So if you really have to choose between them, I don't have the answer. Possibly, if the budget is an obvious guide for you, just follow the budget range. Both of them are complete individuals. Probably, that's it.

But, if you want to ask me the truth, then I will put aside my preference for styling and taste and say: "The 559.99USD FH9, is really attractive."