FiiO FD1 Review – Faster Pussycat
Pros — Dynamic sound; big soundstage and headroom; great accessories; value.
Cons — Rather fast decay for a dynamic driver; recessed mids.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The FiiO FD1 is a fast, energetic dynamic-driver earphone with a strong sub-bass, a forward upper midrange, and a well resolving treble. It excels through a huge headroom but cold be a bit more organic sounding and less dynamic.
INTRODUCTION
FiiO (est. 2007) is a Chinese company that originally produced good quality, affordable portable amps and accessories for iPods and iPads. Today, the company has diversified into into bluetooth and accessories, and they have, among others, produced some popular high-quality earphones. The FiiO FD1 is the sibling of their FH1s model and both their currently their lowest priced earphones at $70.
SPECIFICATIONS
Driver: 10 mm Beryllium plated dynamic driver unit
Impedance: 32 Ω
Sensitivity: 109 dB/mW
Frequency Range: 10 – 40,000 Hz
Cable/Connector: 0.78 mm 2-pin
Tested at: $70
Product Page: https://www.fiio.com/fd1
Purchase Link: https://hifigo.com/products/fiio-fd1
PHYSICAL THINGS AND USABILITY
The FiiO FD1 share the generous accessories of the FH1s with the content coming in a high-quality waterproof acrylic box. There are two different sets of silicone tips (S/M/L), and one pair of foam tips. I found the largest of the black silicone tips produced the best sound for me, the grey ones with the red interior were a bit boomy to my ears….I measured the frequency responses with both sets of tips – and they were identical.
The cable is connected via 2-pins with 0.78 mm spacing, it feels smooth and pliable, it is tightly braided, comes with a chin slider, has no microphonics, and is therefore perfect for my purpose. The shells are made of resin with some special celluloid faceplate, they are relatively thick (because of the dynamic driver) however light, and they appear to be well built. The whole assembly looks and feels as crisp and clear as it sounds.
Despite their size, the earpieces are very comfortable, the seal is good, and they are easily driven with my iPhone SE (first generation).
TONALITY AND TECHNICALITIES
My tonal preference and testing practice
The FiiO FD1 is a vivid, upper midrange and sub-bass forward earphone with strong dynamics and speed across the frequency spectrum. It has a lot of headroom and can be easily driven by a phone.
The low end is dominated by a healthy sub-bass: it is well-extended, well-layered visceral, and punchy. But since the main push comes from the very low end, it is never boomy or fatiguing. While this is not very realistic, it can be lots of fun in some tracks.
The bass sometimes bleeds into the lower midrange, which is somewhat recessed. Vocals are of decent quality, well shaped, but could be richer and denser. They can be a bit thin, pointy, and aggressive fuelled by that immense upper midrange elevation. And there is some sibilance. But if you took the upper midrange out, the bass would be overly dominant.
Treble is the star of the mix: high notes are well resolving, well extended, and have a good weight and clarity. Really well done!
Soundstage is of slightly above average in terms of width and depth (because of the somewhat buried upper bass), but really tall, which results in headroom above its class. Timbre is acceptable but the sound could be more organic: the strong dynamics and speed overpixelate the image to some extent and make reproduction too brash/brazen to be natural. Decay is super fast for a dynamic driver and too fast for classical music imo. Again, good for certain musical genres but not realistic. But it has the advantage that is freshens up old recordings from “analog to digital”. Imaging is also soso: spatial cues, instrument separation and layering are average.
FiiO FD1 COMPARED
The $45 Tin Hifi T2 Plus offer a much less dynamic sound however better tonal accuracy. They are the opposite of the FiiO FD1 and cater more to the classical/acoustic crowd. The $70 FiiO FH1s offer the better detail resolution and imaging however a less realistic timbre. The $80 KBEAR Diamond sound more organic but are also more recessed in the midrange. The $50 Tanchjim Cora are perfectly middle-of-the-road tuned and somewhat boring against the FD1.
You find reviews of all of the iems mentioned below here.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
This is another glass half full/half empty situation. You get a lot of technical abilities for your $70. The FiiO FD1 are an attractive choice for people who like a lively, dynamic sound that does not need amplification. They will shine particularly with electronic or rock music and not so much with classical or acoustic music. Because of their elevated sub-bass, they are well suited for the daily commute, as this signature counters the street noise.
On the other hand, the Beryllium coating makes the drivers very fast so that you perceive the dynamics are overdone if you expect natural reproduction: the FiiO FD1 is very punchy (inasmuch as the Tin Hifi T2 Plus is not) and therefore not quite laid back.
Independent of my rant, I kept pulling them out to use on my neighbourhood walks.
Until next time…keep on listening!
You find an INDEX of all our earphone reviews HERE.
DISCLAIMER
The FiiO FD1 was kindly supplied by HifiGo for my analysis. Thank you very much.
Our generic standard disclaimer.
You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.
Hello Jürgen!
I’ve read both this and your FH1s reviews and would like to ask you a couple of questions if I may:
I’m in the process of replacing my old and twice soldered (those ridiculous thin cables) Sony MDR EX500LP, which to me sounded like perfection incarnate, very balanced but bassy, crisp highs but not clinical, warm and well defended middles (I’m nowhere near audiophile levels, but I like good sound of course).
So I’ve come across this brand and these two models fit (barely, third world problems!) my budget, and find it somewhat puzzling that the FD1 are bassier with a smaller driver than the FH1s…
I used my EX500 to run and cycle, on lonely nights when you fall asleep to your favorite music, and on long bus trips to another city. Besides loving their sound, I liked that they could sound loud on meager sources (iPods Shuffle and Nano!)…
So, my main question I guess would be, do you think any of these two, and which, would be on the level or an improvement of my old Sonys?
Thank you in advance and best regards!
FD1…as they sound more natural. Both have quite a bit of punch, so good for outside…