Fiio EX1 earphones review - expatinjapan




FiiO EX1 review 
- expatinjapan.




Build
The Fiio EX1 is sturdy, solid titanium. Mine are in black and I was sure they were plastic until I tapped my teeth with them. These IEMs aren`t going to get damaged anytime soon.
The plug is L shaped which will appeal to many users.
The housing is small enough to sit comfortable within ones ear, the nozzle is on an angle and fits nicely into the ear canal.
The cable casing is clear and gives it that custom cable look.
There are some slight micro phonics as they are designed to be worn hanging down.
The IEMs have eleven vent holes on the inside shell, and one on the outside which leads to leakage when the volume gets turned up, so perhaps not the best choice for those busy commutes.
Beautiful and solid.



Sound
I tested the FiiO EX1 with the Centrance Hifi-Skyn as they scaled up well with added amplification, ipod touch 6G 128GB using Flacplayer app by Dan Leehr.

I set the volume at around just over halfway as they don`t need much juice to sound great.
The FiiO EX1 is a very clear sounding IEM, has a great sound stage, extended highs without ending up being sibilant.
It is very balanced between the lows, mid and highs, a very coherent sound.
It has great clarity, detail and imaging is beautiful presenting a spacious almost ethereal sound on some tracks.
The vents certainly add to the sense of space, the large and wide soundstage.
I could not find any signs of distortion. They are very fast in terms of response.





Fit
As mentioned in the build section they are designed very well and a comfortable satisfying fit can be had very easily. 
I sometimes have trouble getting the right fight with IEMs but the FiiO EX1 slipped right in very easily and provided a satisfactory isolation.
FiiO have been nice enough to include a wide range of tips to suit most peoples ear canal size.



Value
At around $70-$90 on amazon.com they fit within the budget zone for most but the very casual shopper, many readers of Head Pie seem to own IEMs in the $500 - $1000+ area.
So in that sense, yes they are great value.
The sound is clear and clean, they look fabulous and are built strong and sturdy.
Lots of tips and that oh so sexy cable.



Overall
The FiiO EX1 as a cousin to the Dunu Titan is a breath of fresh air. 
I really enjoyed listening to these whilst going through the review process.
They are well built, a decent and fair price, sound great and fit very well.
The only drawback for me is that most of my listening time is spent whilst I am commuting by train so the vents which add to the magic mean I can`t generally use these day by day.
For the price the sound is wonderful and reminds of some of the satisfaction and joy I had recently listening to Echobox X1, both perform very well within and above their asking price.
Great pies.





Thank you to FiiO for providing Head Pie with the EX1 for review.

Post a Comment

Previous Post Next Post