Measurement
[1. Appearance ]
Fiio EX1
Fiio, the company which is known for cost-effective headphone amplifiers and DAP products, has released their first IEM called EX1.
But it is OEM product of Dunu, not developed by themselves. Based on Dunu Titan 1, the plug and cord of EX1 have been slightly improved.
According to Fiio, EX1's housing is made of stainless steel and duralumin, and the cable consists 42 strands of OFC intertwined with Kevlar fiber.
Fiio EX1 Measurement
[2. Frequency Response ]
Uncompensated
Diffuse Field Target Compensated
Olive Welti Target Compensated
CSD - Olive Welti Target Compensated
[3. Square Wave ]
300Hz
30Hz
[4. Minimum Phase ]
[5. Harmonic Distortions ]
94dB SPL at 500Hz
[6. Impedance ]
DC Ohm
Black: Impedance Magnitude
Green: Electrical Phase
[7. Difference between the Fiio EX1 and Dunu Titan 1 ]
Uncompensated
(measured at 5.6 mm away from the reference plane)
Magenta: Fiio EX1
Black: Dunu Titan 1
Impedance Magnitude
Black: Fiio EX1
Red: Dunu Titan 1
[8. Comparison ]
Uncompensated
Black: Fiio EX1
Orange: iSound Muix IX1000 Flat Sound Mode
Uncompensated
Black: Fiio EX1
Orange: Dunu DN-2000J
[9. Vent Blocked ]
EX1 has 11 front vent on each earpiece.
Uncompensated
Black: 0
Red: 2
Orange: 4
Yellow: 6
Green: 8
Magenta: 10
Blue: All
Numbers of blocked vent
Difference
Red(Flat): 0
Orange: 2
Yellow: 4
Green: 6
Magenta: 8
Blue: All
Numbers of blocked vent
[10. Comply Foam Tip ]
Uncompensated
Black: Stock Silicone EarTip
Orange: Comply Foam Tip T-500
Green: Comply Foam Tip TS-500
Olive Welti Target Compensated
Black: Stock Silicone EarTip
Orange: Comply Foam Tip T-500
Green: Comply Foam Tip TS-500
It would be interesting to see measurements with vents blocked, partially and completely. I just ordered them and would like to see if they could still have high fidelity with the vents closed for noisy environments like the gym.
ReplyDeletehttp://i.imgur.com/kMI9MHjl.jpg
DeleteBlack Line(Flat): General
Orange: Front Vent Blocked
Green: Back Vent Blocked
Although the sound isolation is not good, blocking the vent skews the frequency response, therefore it is not recommended.
Thanks fo the advice.
ReplyDeleteI just recieved the Ex1's and immediately noticed that it's very easy to press the tuning holes up against the Cavum part of the concha
ReplyDeleteI see. Numbers of blocked vent may vary from person to person so I'll check that as soon as possible
DeleteThat could unintentionally change the tuning for the wearer.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this can partly explain the difference between Tyll's. Measurements and you own.
ReplyDeleteThat is a matter of insertion depth, as far as I know.
DeleteThis is what I've noticed . Listening to a song with cymbals sounds beautiful and airy with a shallow insert. While the same song is playing, I pushed them in for a deeper insert and the highs from the cymbals completely disappeared. Nothing. Profound difference.
ReplyDeletehttp://i.imgur.com/SUhII9Hl.jpg
Deletehttp://i.imgur.com/9N1dfKMl.jpg
Thing that you have noticed is quite right. Blocking the vent gradually reduces the response over 6kHz.
Looks like users should be careful not to block the vent unknowingly.
Thank you for checking this out. Once again, outstanding and thorough measurements!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Glad that I could help out
DeleteThe scary thing about this is that there is only a couple of mm difference between outstanding and abysmal sound. When I first put them in my ears, I thought they were broken. It wasn't until I tried a shallow insertion that I realized the problem.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I didn't realize that problem at all until you mentioned that to me. How about using a bigger eartip to adjust the insertion depth shallower?
DeleteI ordered Comply Tx-200 in the large size. It should stay in place and put some distance between the holes and my ear with a shallow insertion. I'll see what happens..
ReplyDeleteI have to say, the tuning method is ingenious. I bet more companies start doing it.
ReplyDeleteAgree, unless the sound isolation is terrible.
DeleteIf you pair these with comply's, they should measure very flat in the high treble with the O. W. Target curve, just like the Quadbeats did.
ReplyDeleteAdded the data on [10. Comply Foam Tip ]. It's not exactly the flat, but smoothens the treble at least.
Delete+/- 1db from 5 to 12 kHz (High treble). That's about the flattest I've ever seen it in that range. It does slope down above 12khz more than I thought it would though. Below 5khz? Eh..not so flat.
Deletethanks a lot for these measurements :) may I ask what earphone tips were used? Were they the default medium ones (look bluish)?
ReplyDeleteYes. Check the photo at the top.
DeleteOne very interesting thing I have discovered on your website, is that Comply plugs do measure way different in the high frequencies all other stock plugs. Innerfidelity did a small study and found no discernible difference. This did not make any sense to me because compliant foams are going to be absorptive, relative to silicone and rubber. Another measurement that would interesting would be cold comply's vs ones heated to 99 degrees. Those two states seem very different from one another.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds interesting. Didn't think about temperature of the foam tips. I'd better try that out
DeleteI BOUGHT ONE. THIS SOUNDS LIKE SHIT IN FRONT OF ER4SR. THE SOUND SIGNATURE MATCHES MY OWN AND YOUR MEASUREMENTS. I DONT KNOW HOW TYLL GOT HIS MEASUREMENTS.
ReplyDeleteBUT I DID FIND THAT IF IT IS POSSIBLE TO INSERT DEEPLY, IT WILL SOUNDS PRETTY GOOD.
he must have been using a different tip. I asked him and he doesn't remember, but says he has a couple of different tips he might have used. The measurement he had was almost perfectly in line with the Harman Target response.
DeleteAnother interesting thing, note the response is very similar to the Noble Kaiser 10, and these two IEMs are top 1 and 2 IEMs on head-fi.org. People really like this sound signature.
I managed to get that sort of response with triflange tips: https://telegra.ph/Dunu-Titan-1-impressions-and-FR-04-09
DeleteThis really helped me in deciding between Iriver AT500 and FiiO EX1. Please do 1More Triple Driver e1001 as well.
ReplyDelete