>>I am brazilian and I speak portuguese, so forgive my english, I’ll use translator tools to help<<
INTRO:
After review the FiiO JD7, a single DD IEM with excellent cost-benefit in its price range, now FiiO comes with another release of an IEM with a single dynamic driver on each side, the FiiO FD11. It should be noted that the FD11 enters as a line of IEMs with a much more affordable cost, it’s not the cheapest of the company because there is the JD3 (bullet) and the FF1 (earbud).
Price: $39.99 USD
Colors: Silver
Cable: No Mic
FiiO’s previous reviews: JD7, KA5 (english), FH3, KA1, HS18 (portuguese)
FiiO store:
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DCJMCUT
SPECIFICATIONS:
Single DD:
– (1) 10mm Carbon based Dynamic Driver (DD) per side
– Frequency range: 20Hz – 20kHz
– Sensitivity: 111dB/mW@1kHz
– Impedance: 24Ω @1kHz
– Termination Plug: 3.5mm (L design)
– Connectors: 2pin 0.78mm
– Cable size: 1.2m (detachable)
– Cable: 4 strands of 120 OFC wires each
– Shell: Zinc alloy
– Earphone weight: 9.1g (one side)
– Cable weight: 13.2g
– Total weight (packaging, iems, etc): 105g
– Packaging size: 14.5cm [H] x 9.5cm [W] x 3.8cm [D]
PHYSICAL ASPECTS:
Eartips. The eartips kit was very simple, just 1 type of silicone eartips, in sizes S/M/L. So, this is even strange because FiiO always puts a generous amount of eartips in their IEMs. Here specifically in the case of the FD11 the company disappointed us (or disappointed me), I think more eartips could have come, even because here there will be a very important development for the rest of the review. I found the FD11 to be a very “eartip dependent”, that is, it’s possible that the owner of the IEM will have to replace the stock eartips with other third-party companies eartips (SpinFit, AZLA, etc). The big question here is, the solution is within the company itself, yes, FiiO has the HS18 eartips that at the time solved my problem.
Explaining better. I started the tests with the stock eartips in size M, the sound simply became very pulled towards to the upper-mids, so from experience I went to test the size L, and then it already solved the sound part. However, eartips doesn’t only change the sound, the comfort is also a characteristic that can change. So, I decided to test with the HS18 precisely to improve the comfort aspect, because I don’t know what happened but in a short time I felt a certain “discomfort” using the stock eartips. In fact, it wasn’t discomfort, but rather that feeling that you have something inserted in your ears. Anyway, the HS18 removed this sensation and brought me more smoothness in the fit. So I think FiiO could have included these proprietary eartips in the FD11 (otherwise, I also understand that is an entry level product).
-The review was made with the FiiO HS18 eartips in size L.
Cable. An entry-level cable for an entry-level IEM. The cable is good and functional, although you find it to be a very simple cable, there’s nothing that makes it a great cable. I think that the Kiwi Ears Cadenza cable is a little better, or also the FiiO JD7 cable itself is superior (although the JD7’s price range is different). The positive points are that it’s a very light cable, easy to roll up to store, and doesn’t present microphonics. The not so positive points, some undulations appear (but nothing too accentuated), aesthetically I also didn’t find it so beautiful (subjective), and it gets a little tangled there after the Y-splitter. This cable doesn’t come with a chin slider. Analyzing in a general context, I don’t see the need to change the cable for another one, also because we will see something interesting in the next paragraph. FiiO is selling a separate cable that comes with a built-in microphone, but the FD11 itself wasn’t released with a microphone. Logically, the price will increase with the acquisition of an extra cable.
The Earhooks are very light and flexible, and they have a curvature that I found to be too closed, however, as they are very light and malleable, it doesn’t generate tightness. Now the part of the connectors. The great detail of the connectors is that they are “proprietary”, in fact there is a recess in the IEM at the location of the pin fitting, and this makes not every 2-pin cable be able to fit. I think it might even be rare to find a cable with connectors that fits in the FD11, I tested the Moondrop SSR cable and it didn’t fit, I tested with an Effect Audio Origin that I have here and it also didn’t fit. It will really be difficult to find a cable with connectors that work, unless the cables that FiiO just launched in its official store, which were already designed for their IEMs, it is “the river that runs to the sea”. PS: in the first photo above the connectors are inverted, but it was just to take the photo.
The Fit. So, as mentioned in the Eartips paragraph, I had the issue of changing the eartips… At first, the fit was not the best, only after the changes did I manage to get a better fit. The issue was that the nozzle of the IEM is a bit long, and plus the size of the eartips, I wasn’t getting a proper seal, the IEM was kind of more out of my ear. With the HS18 I managed to make the IEM enter more into my ear canal, and then yes, the fit was improved 100%. With that done, I can say that stability is very good, and the IEM doesn’t have protruding parts outside my ears. I found the isolation to be good/ok, and insertion to be medium to deep.
In terms of comfort, I also had the issue of the Eartips again, and after the change, I achieved greater comfort, which was described in the Eartips paragraph. I found the FD11 to be quite comfortable, the only detail here is the weight of the IEM, it is certainly not a heavy IEM, but it’s also not a very light IEM, it’s made of metal, and then its weight is increased compared to resin or plastic IEMs. In comparison with the JD7, the FD11 weighs 9.1g while the JD7 weighs 8.2g, and in practice the JD7 as a whole is more comfortable than the FD11 (in my opinion). That said, the FD11 has a very anatomical design, the surface is 100% smooth, without strange parts. If you ask me if I think the FD11 is an ideal IEM for long sessions, well, I would say that the JD7 or even the FH3 are much better than the FD11 for this. Even though I stayed with the IEM for about 2-3 hours non stop without feeling discomfort, the weight really is a differential, there are lighter IEMs for those looking to spend a lot of time listening.
Accessories. Unfortunately, no extra accessory came with the FD11. It’s understandable because the value of the product, the company wanted to offer the lowest possible value to the consumer. However, I think that all earphones should come with a carrying case, rigid or semi-rigid (in my opinion), anyone who has had or seen other IEMs from FiiO knows that the carrying case they offer with other models is a very good item, for example we have in the JD7 and FH3.
SOUND ASPECTS:
The sound of the FiiO FD11 I understood as a V-Shape IEM. The FD11 has bass above neutrality, more forward mids, and more “linear” treble. For me, the great highlight of the FD11 was the upper mids, the region shows a lot of clarity without making the presentation fatiguing. It is a V-Shape sound, now, I didn’t find it such an extreme V-Shape IEM, today it would be what we call as Mild-V-Shape, which is a lighter V-Shape, sound that isn’t excessive at the both ends (bass and treble).
Personally, I still prefer the FiiO JD7, both in sound and construction, but of course I’m talking about the Single DD project, because of the FiiO IEMs I’ve tested, the FiiO FH3 is certainly my favorite. Quickly comparing the FD11 with the JD7: the JD7 has a warmer sound, a little more presence in the subs, slightly lower pinna gain, and smoother treble (very small difference). The FD11 will have a cleaner bass, “dry” pinna gain, and treble with a little more sparkle (very few)[comparing both IEMs].
The quantity of bass in the FD11. In my opinion, the IEM has a moderate level of bass. Here there can certainly be a variation from person to person because of what I said in the Eartips paragraph, the way the sound presented itself to me was at a moderate level. The FD11 has a good presence of sub-bass and mid-bass. As you may know, I always thought that the FiiO HS18 takes a little bit of the mid-bass out of the IEMs, so my experience with the IEM is that both sub-bass and mid-bass are in the same amount, that is, I didn’t notice an audible difference between one region and another. I didn’t feel roll-off, the extension is good.
In qualitative terms, the bass is fast, clean, controlled, and has good definition. The impact is “dry” and not very strong, there’s no “punch” here. I thought it lacked a little more texture here, and also a little more physicality, the behavior of the bass is as if they were bass that only accompany the recordings, that is, they don’t stand out, they aren’t the star of the presentation (in my opinion). They aren’t boomy, bloated, muffled, and don’t invade the mids. That said, I think for bassheads it would be better to go up to a JD7 or if you prefer even more bass, the FH3. Another example of an IEM with more bass could be the Tin C3. Now, those who prefer a more “balanced” presentation, then the FD11 would be more suitable. I will “not match” the genres EDM, Reggae, and Hip-Hop precisely because I like to listen to these genres with slightly more “meaty” bass. But for other genres the FD11 does very well.
The midrange. Before the FD11, I evaluated the QoA Vesper 2, which brings exactly an opposite pinna gain to that of the FD11, there in the Vesper 2 I found that there was a noticeable recess in this region, but here in FD11 the things become much more evident, the sound becomes more “forward”, the presentation becomes very clear, transparent and resolved. Here certainly for me it was the region of greatest prominence, both in quantity and quality, the good thing is that there’s no aggressiveness or harshness, even being “forward” the sound doesn’t become tiring or fatiguing, it reminds me of the sound of Truthear Hola here in this region (I say reminds me because I no longer have it here to compare side by side). The timbre is more “dry”, “colder”, without that warming that usually IEMs with more bass and low pinna gain bring to the presentation. Wind instruments become very palpable, or even violin and piano, all with good detail and definition.
Voices. The female/high voices won the battle against the male/low voices, there was no doubt about it, as mentioned in the bass paragraph, there’s a lack of texture, besides the IEM having a more prominent pinna gain, this made the lower voices lose body, then on the other hand the higher voices end up taking this small advantage. Whispering voices are very prominent, as the “dry” timbre leaves breath sounds clearer and more evident.
In quantitative terms, I think the FD11’s treble are at a moderate level. The presence is somewhat linear, neither too much nor too few. For those who are very sensitive to treble, rest assured that the FD11 doesn’t cause listening fatigue. I believe that among the 3 frequency zones of sound – bass, mids, and treble – the bass and treble are more “equal” in quantity, while the midrange (upper mids) is slightly more prominent in the presentation. I didn’t feel roll-off, the extension is good.
In qualitative terms, the FD11’s treble are well “balanced”, pleasant, controlled, “linear”, have good definition, without peaks, without coloration. The treble have a very coherent sparkle with reality, the sound is well “balanced”, without a feeling of artificial sound. They have good detail (although not at the micro-detail level), and good airy. They are not strident treble, not sharp, not harsh, not fatiguing, and also didn’t present sibilance in any situation. Everything I heard didn’t present anything out of context, Hi-Hats always played with good definition and without sounding harsh, cymbals didn’t sound artificial, the fingerpicking on a mandolin presented itself with a very coherent timbre.
Soundstage. I found the soundstage sensation to be average. The sensation of depth is not very large, mainly because the IEM has upper mids more forward, so there’s always that feeling that the sound is closer to the eardrums. In height it is good, but in width it is medium, the sounds are more from the center of the head to forward. I think the JD7 has more spaciousness in the sound than the FD11.
Imaging. I found the instrumental separation to be good/ok. The IEM brings good detail and this helps a lot in defining the instruments, however, I don’t feel a great spacing between the instruments. It’s possible to hear all the instruments in the presentation, but genres with a lot of instrumentation I found that the FD11 had a drop in performance, the best situation is less intense music (remembering that separation can also vary according to recording and other processes during musical production).
Driver Flex Test. The FD11 is a Single DD IEM, so it’s necessary to check if it produces the driver flex noise when inserted into the ear. In my tests here, the FD11 didn’t present the sound of driver flex at any time, so I think it is an IEM free of this problem.
Amplification. I used the DAC/AMP FiiO Q11 connected to my notebook to do this review. The output was the 3.5mm SE and the device with the selector in “Low Gain” mode, that is, without gain activated. I left the volume at 100% on the Windows scale and on the Q11 I set the potentiometer at 12h (twelve o’clock). In my opinion, the FD11 is an IEM easy to drive, it doesn’t require equipment with a lot of power to play correctly. I always indicate that the person makes use of IEMs with at least some dongle, in this case here of the FD11 it’s not necessary, but I think it’s better to have one than not to have. I tested directly from my notebook and also from my smartphone (without dongle), both handled the IEM.
Music is subjective, so below is the list of some musical genres that I personally think that was better with this IEM. Remember that were only few genres and few artists tested. If I describe that one genre was better and the other don’t, it doesn’t mean that you can’t listen to your favorite music genre with this IEM and love it. So, here goes:
Better:
Jazz
MPB*
POP
Rock
Blues
Metal
Bossa Nova*
Samba*
*Brazilian musical genres.
Not so much:
Classical
Hip Hop
Reggae
EDM
PLAYLIST LINK:
Graphs by Super* Reviews:
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